55. Daisy

FIFTY-FIVE

DAISY

I had called Kye five times as Jax headed towards the garage, but he never picked up.

"I'm going to kill him. Why is he choosing now not to answer my calls?"

"Maybe he's a little tied up."

"Is that supposed to be a joke about getting arrested? Are you thinking this is funny?"

"No," he said fast. "No, I just make jokes when I'm stressed. I can't help it," he said, nearly laughing. "I swear I'm not happy about this."

"You're laughing!"

"Not on purpose," he yelled back.

I sat back, calling Kye again. "Fine, joke all you want, but drive faster. I don't know what Mark's plan is. If he wants to pin all of this on Kye, he could do anything to him." Panic welled until my chest hurt. "Can you please go faster, Jax? What if he tries to arrest Kye? Or worse, kill him?"

"Why would he kill Kye?"

"Why would Mark, the guy that just killed a girl, kill Kye so that it's easier to blame it all on Kye so he can still go run for sheriff?"

He shifted again, the car picking up more speed. "Okay, point proven."

We turned onto the road of the garage, the red and blue lights already visible.

Jax pulled the car to a stop at the road, and I was already taking off across the parking lot.

Three of the sheriff's cars were there, and I could see Kye's car barricaded in against the garage.

The rest of the crew was standing near an open garage door, the shock so clear on their faces.

"When did they get here?" I asked, running up next to them.

"A few minutes ago. They are arresting Kye for killing her," Quinn said, the tears mumbling her words.

"What?"

Then I saw it. Mark walked over to Kye, who was calm and unmoving, until Mark grabbed him, ripping him backwards and pulling out handcuffs. Kye jumped back. The cuffs had to be his worst nightmare.

"No. I will go, but you are not handcuffing me."

"You killed a girl. Like hell am I not handcuffing you. Now hold still or you will be on the ground."

Kye's eyes widened and nostrils flared. I knew it was taking everything in him not to fight back, and I didn't know if he could handle being handcuffed, especially by Mark.

I pushed past the crew to my dad. Every part of me was a screaming mess of emotions, but one broke through.

I had to protect Kye. I sat around doing nothing the last time this happened, and then Kye disappeared. I couldn't let it happen again.

"Stop. Stop this right now. You know he didn't do it."

I couldn't stand to see Kye like this. His eyes squeezed shut, and I knew it was because of how Mark was grabbing him, handcuffing him, leaving him defenseless to whatever Mark wanted.

"Mark has found evidence that he did it," my dad said. "I'm sorry, Daisy."

"Mark found it? The same Mark who has been stalking me? The one who slashed my tires, broke into my house, and I'm pretty sure killed Mia? That's the one who happened to find evidence against the guy I left him for?"

"What are you talking about, Daisy?"

"I'm talking about the knife that slashed my tires belonging to Mark, and why someone would break into my house to steal nothing, and that the phone call to Mia before she was killed was not Kye."

"What phone call?" Kye asked. "I didn't even know Mia."

"They have a phone call twenty minutes before she was killed and they say the number belongs to you, but I checked. It doesn't."

His eyebrows jumped up and mouth fell open. "Did you think it did?"

"No, of course not, but I kind of had to check to help you not get arrested."

He smiled, taking one small step away from Mark.

"What do you mean it isn't Kye's number? Mark ran it and showed me the printout. It's attached to Kye's name. Did you break into my office?"

"I walked in. I didn't break in. And it isn't his," I said.

"He probably just has a second phone you don't know about," Mark said.

"Then call it," Kye said. "Call the number. The phone would either be on me or in my car."

"Maybe you hid it," Mark said.

"I didn't know you two were coming. Why would I hide it?"

"Is this all a setup?" Mark asked. "Are you playing some stupid game so that your new boyfriend doesn't get arrested?"

He reached for Kye, slamming him down onto the car, even though he had already been handcuffed.

I headed towards my dad, his eyes following me as I walked to his side.

"No," I said, grabbing his gun out of his belt before he even knew. "Let him go. Kye isn't getting arrested because you're too damn lazy to do your job. I don't care if you don't like Kye. He didn't do it, and there is plenty of proof to show that."

"Daisy, stop! Stop!" my dad yelled.

"Daze, please, you're going to get hurt," Kye said.

I held up the gun, comfortable enough to use it after years of learning with my dad.

"Uncuff him," I said, keeping the gun trained on Mark.

My dad was yelling behind me, but I ignored him.

"Daisy, I am not uncuffing him. Do you know what he did?"

"I know what you did, and you will not blame him for it. Take them off. Now. "

Mark pushed harder down on Kye, but he didn't flinch, his eyes locked on mine. "You don't know what you're talking about, Daisy. You're trying to protect a murderer."

"I know it was your knife, Mark, and I know you killed Mia. I saw her keys," I shouted, feeling the burn of tears in my eyes. "I'm not going to let you do this. Kye didn't do anything wrong."

"Shut up, Daisy. This is not your business."

"What keys?" my dad asked.

"Mia's keys. I thought it was strange that Mark suddenly had a sparkly keychain, and then I saw your note in the files. You didn't find out how the killer locked the door. Mark took her keys with him, and I saw them the night it happened, when we went to the station."

Mark's face twisted with rage, veins pulsing at his temples. "I found the keys in Kye's car today. I didn't have them that night."

"Yes, you did."I remembered the call and pulled out my phone. I had written the number down, and I entered it. "How about I solve this and call that number right now?"

"She is lying for him," Mark said.

I hit the call to connect, and as soon as I saw the panic in Mark's eyes, I knew my answer.

He did it.

Everyone went silent, the faint ringing of a phone filling the air.

My dad was already following it, heading straight for Mark's car.

Kye smirked. "Forgot to plant the evidence first, Mark?"

Mark picked up his head, slamming it back down onto the car. The crew started yelling, but I stepped closer, the gun still raised at him. Kye groaned, but his eyes were still open, and I hoped that meant he was okay.

My skin crawled for Kye. Every time he told me how he had been hit and beat was burned into my mind, and the pain of being touched now.

My dad held up the phone, the shock on his face almost making me feel bad for him.

"I didn't mean to kill her," Mark yelled out. "I thought it was Daisy. When I came up behind her, she freaked out. I was just going to try and talk to you more about this. She was fighting and screaming so loud that I threw her down to stop her. She hit her head."

Everyone was silent, waiting to see if he would say more.

"I don't get it, Daisy. We had it planned. Everything was working out. We were together, I was winning my campaign, your dad likes me. Why? Why would you leave all that for someone like him?"

"Because I love him," I said. My voice sounded far away, even to my own ears. Was he really saying that he accidentally killed Mia because he thought she was me?

"But why?" he screamed now. "What is he going to give you that I couldn't? Why would you want to give up everything we had for a guy who can't even stick around? Why do you think you can run around spreading your legs and come back to me when he leaves you again?"

He raised his gun, pointing it at me, and everything froze, my world crashing down with the realization that he could kill me right now.

My dad screamed in the background, but I couldn't make out what he said, everything sounding like I was underwater.

Bailey, Kye, the crew. It could all be gone in a second now.

Mark yelled, and I watched as Kye bent down, slipping his legs under the cuffs until they were in front of him.

Kye looked at me once before he reached up, slipping his handcuffs over Mark's head until they were in front of his neck. Kye pulled back fast until the metal of the cuffs dug into Mark's neck. His gun waved around, and everyone ran, but I could only watch as Kye kept choking him. I raised the gun, ready to shoot, but there was no way to when Kye was so close.

Mark fought, swinging the gun back, attempting to hit Kye, but he ducked out of the way. Mark spun, dropping and getting out of Kye's hold.

Kye ran to me, and Mark turned, running towards the road.

"Mark," my dad yelled. "Stop right now."

There was no point, though. I would not let him get away. He tried to take it all away from me, and I knew how this worked. I knew how Dean got to walk away, with not a single consequence of what he did to me that night or the two thousand days that came after that without Kye.

Now Mark would, too.

I raised the gun again, pulling the trigger this time. Mark yelled as it hit his leg, making him drop to the ground in seconds.

"Daisy," Kye breathed behind me. "You shot him."

"I did. He will live."

" Daisy, " he said again. I turned as his handcuffed hands came down over my head. "You just shot him."

"He deserved it!"

"He did. He for sure did. Look at you, coming to rescue me."

"Well, I wasn't going to let history repeat itself. I didn't want to stand around watching you get arrested. I didn't want you to feel like you had to run off again."

"I'm not going anywhere ever again. You're stuck with me in this town, chasing after you every damn day."

"Good. That's what I want. You're okay to be touched right now?"

He laughed, leaning down to kiss me once. "I'm going to need you to touch me everywhere. Erase it all for me, Daze."

"I think I can do that."His arms wrapped around me, pulling me hard against him. "I've told you before. Your hands always erase it. I need them on me forever. I need you forever. Come on, we need to see if we can go home."