Stuck between two bad boys

My eyes flickered open the moment my phone vibrated on the bed. I jolted from the bed and turned to pick my phone.

It was James calling and a sudden emotion surged through me. I had slept off shortly after giving Nelly my clothes and telling her to get out of my house. I still don’t know how I feel about what had happened but I was hoping I could get Emily out.

“James,” I called.

“Good thing you didn’t let me come over.”

“You know -”

“I don’t know shit. You have two days left. It’s a fucking reminder, Devin.”

I thought of telling him what I know. I felt the urge to tell him I knew he had Emily but I was scared of what James could do. I was also afraid of what I did to Nelly. I’ve been a bad boy half of my life and I’ve done a couple of things but I knew this one was bringing me to my doom.

I spent a second quiet, I didn’t say anything on the call. He reminded me again that I had two days left.

“I’ve heard you,” I blurted. “I have two days and until the last day, I can do nothing.”

“Don’t dare me, Devin!” He yelled. “I’ll feed your skin to hungry dogs if you try to be smart.”

“I’m not trying to be smart, James. I’ll keep to my words.”

“You better do!”

The call beeped and ended abruptly. I hurled the phone away and took a deep breath. I had two days left and I needed to think of something quick.

I stood up from the bed and walked to the sitting room. I looked around and my house was a mess, it needed cleanup.

I picked up the vase and kept it by the window. I removed the glasses and bottles on the floor. I got a duster and cleaned around the table. When I was done with that, I walked into the bathroom to have a quick bath.

The water felt cold as it touched my dry skin, I grabbed the soap and moved it around my body in circles. I kept doing it till my body was soapy and sloppy. I used my hands to trace and then rinsed off with water. I grabbed the towel that was on the door and tied it around my waist.

I didn’t have much time so I grabbed a cargo pant from the wardrobe and checked around for the T-shirt I wore the previous night. I dressed up as fast as I could and called Xavier

The phone rang twice and then he picked up.

“I haven’t gotten anything yet,” he explained.

“You have one day left, Xavier. Just one day.”

“Shit, I know.”

“I need to see you right now, meet me at the spot.”

I ended the call before he could say anything and stormed out. I locked the door behind me and kept my face fixated at the road. I didn’t want to get attacked abruptly so I kept turning my neck, scanning the area.

“Hey,” Xavier called when he reached where I stood. He was wearing a hoodie and blue jeans. His hands were inside the pocket of his hoodie.

“Hey.” I was still turning my head and scanning for possible danger. I didn’t want to get in any trouble with James because I knew he was keeping an eye on me.

“Is everything good?” He asked when he noticed my body language.

“Uh yeah- meet me at the toilet, James’ men are after me.”

A frown appeared on Xavier’s forehead till he heard James’ men were after me.

He twitched his lips and gave a slight nod. I turned to leave and returned to the apartment. I flung the door open and walked inside. I stayed there for a while till I noticed a stain on my shirt.

“Fucking hell.”

Xavier walked into me. His face filled with confusion as he looked at me. I paused and returned his stare. He walked into me in an awkward position and would be wondering what was going on.

I was checking my T-shirt. I realized blood was on my shirt and it could serve as a trace to what happened. I didn’t want anything to implicate me or shit so I was trying to wash the blood off.

“Why the hell are you staring at me that way? Are you into men now?”

I tried using humor to get his mind off it. I know Xavier well and I knew he’d try to overthink what he saw till it made sense to him.

Xavier didn’t respond at first, he just stood trying to decipher what he saw. When he couldn’t wrap his hand around it, he scoffed.

“I’m not into men you asshole.”

“Just into your sister then.”

I said that to trigger him and it worked. He rolled his eyes and folded his hands.

“Why the fuck are you shirtless?” He asked.

“Just washing off a stain. I got stained while running.”

“I see,” he blurted. “So why did you call me here?”

I stood upright and walked closer to him. “I want to do something risky.”

His brows raised up. “What’s that?”

“Just shut the fuck up and listen. I’m about to play a risky game and I need you to be with me.”

“Uh?”

“You heard me. You stay with me or I call the cops.”

I exhaled and clenched my fist. “Find a good hacker and get someone who can make posts go viral.”

I checked my bag and hurled the money at him. “That’s 1000$, use it to get the hacker.”

He caught the bunch of money and looked at me suspiciously. He was waiting for me to explain how I got the money and why I wanted to give him such an amount for just looking for an hacker.

“It’s the money I got from Emily’s Kidnappers, you have to eat from it too.”

“No way!” He huffed but I didn’t respond to him.

“You should get going, you’ve been in here for a long. I’ll text you after the deal.”

He gave a slight nod and turned to leave. When Xavier left, I walked out of the building and headed to the bank. I needed to finish up my plans, I didn’t have much time.

I raised my phone and dialed her mother’s number. I promised Emily’s mother that I was going to call her and keep her updated if I found out anything.

I wasn’t going to tell her about James yet but I just wanted to inform her about other things.