Wild Angel

by Shari Copell

  He continued to carry Nicks off as he mocked Stone with laughter. When the guy got to the parking lot, he stopped and turned. Four or five men took their places beside him in a flanking maneuver designed to intimidate.

  Stone clenched his jaw when he got a good look at them. It was the same assholes he and his DJs had thrown out earlier for smashing beer bottles.

  “Why don’t you come and take her from me, pretty boy?” the kid sneered. “She wants a guy with a big cock. Not a scrawny loser like you.” The man cupped one cheek of Nicks’s ass in his right hand and squeezed. She squirmed, pounded on his back, and launched into another flurry of obscenities. “See how much she likes me already?”

  “Put her down.” Stone didn’t think he’d get very far trying to reason with him, but it was worth a try. “If you put her down, you can leave and nothing will be said.”

  “Problem here, boss?”

  Stone exhaled with relief. Thank God. Tiny was right behind him.

  Tage stepped in front of Stone, his fists clenched tightly. “I’ll drop you right where you stand if you don’t put her down.”

  “Think so, blondie? You’re a little old to be taking on a bunch of young guys by yourself. Can’t really count on the weakling pussies standing behind you for help.”

  “Jesus. Nicks! Where the hell do you think you’re going with my daughter?” Chelsea cried.

  Stone closed his eyes. Goddamnit. He hadn’t wanted Nicks’s mother to see this.

  Tage growled and took small steps toward his daughter’s abductor. But the big dude didn’t move. He wasn’t scared, and he wasn’t bluffing. There was going to be a knockdown, drag-out fight tonight if this escalated. Stone wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Nicks got hurt.

  Nicks whimpered, softly called his name, then went limp over the guy’s shoulder. Stone’s heart nearly stopped. He needed to get her back, and fast.

  “Tiny? You want to do something about this?” Stone asked.

  For all that he was the size of a full-grown Angus bull, Tiny could move like lightning. He surged forward with a snarl, snagged Nicks around the hips with one arm, and shoved her captor backward with the other hand. The kid tried to hang on to her, but he had to let go to prevent himself from falling on his ass. Too bad it didn’t work. He went to the ground with a solid thud.

  Nicks, now on her feet and sobbing pitifully, clung to Tiny. He patted her back with both beefy hands, whispering, “It’s okay, honey. Tiny wasn’t about to let anyone take you.”

  Stone had murder in his heart, but the kid’s posse had bolted. He was now on the ground, left to Tage’s tender mercies. Only Nicks’s father was showing no mercy. He straightened, just once, and turned to address his wife. “Chelsea, call the cops. Now!” Bending at the waist, he resumed the pummeling.

  And then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, Marybeth appeared in the doorway next to Chelsea, wide-eyed and panting. “You better call the fire department too. Nicks’s car is fully engulfed in flames out in the back parking lot!”

  The sky had turned from gunmetal to light grey. It was the only way you could tell the sun was coming up this time of year in Pennsylvania. Sometimes they went for weeks in the fall and winter without seeing blue sky. “Fifty shades of...” her mother had joked once. Nicks shook her head. Not even close to being funny this morning.

  She stood in the parking lot with several coats over her shoulders. She didn’t even know who they belonged to. She’d shivered so hard as she watched her car burn that people kept draping them over her, as if that would help. True, they’d warmed her. But the coats and the kindness of their owners had done nothing to ease the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  A light rain was starting to fall on the still-hot, burned-out hunk of metal that had been her beloved Little Red. It hissed as it hit, sending up puffs of steam, like small bombs exploding on a wasteland.

  The gravel crunched under someone’s feet behind her. She caught the scent of her father—dryer sheets and lemons this time—before she felt his arm across her shoulders. Tage pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “You’ll have another car before the sun sets today. I promise you that, sweetheart.”

  “Yeah, but it won’t be Little Red. Little Red is gone forever.”

  “Would you like a Camaro?”

  That made her smile. “Seriously?”

  “I’ll buy you whatever you want if you’ll cheer up. It’s a car. They make them every day.” He tickled the back of her neck, something he used to do when she was a child to make her laugh. It had the desired effect. “That’s my girl,” he said.

  The fire chief stood behind her car taking notes on a metal clipboard. He finally turned and headed toward the two of them. It was his job to investigate unexplained fires, but she really didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

  He stopped in front of them, tipped his fireman’s hat upward with an index finger, and gave Tage a grim look. “It’s definitely arson. There’s a small plastic gas can melted in the front seat. Someone smashed the driver’s side window out, poured gas all over the interior, then stuffed a t-shirt in the spout, lit it, and threw the can in.”

  If Nicks was nauseated before, she was ready to hurl now. The chief’s report meant that someone had deliberately destroyed her car. The only unanswered question was if they were targeting her personally, or if they’d just picked any car in the parking lot. Given the strange things that had happened to her lately, she wasn’t sure.

  Stone came to stand beside her. “The cops told me Seth denied having anything to do with the fire. So did his friends, at least the ones they could find. He’s a dickhead, but I think I believe him. They were all out front, and the car was set on fire out back at nearly the same time. He was after Nicks. He really had no reason to torch her car.”

  “I don’t know that I believe it,” said Tage. “Who else would’ve done it?”

  Nicks hesitated a moment. “Emily?”

  Stone clenched his jaw and nodded. “I thought of that too.”

  “Emily who?” asked Tage in that belligerent tone that meant someone was in big trouble.

  Nicks bit her lip. With all the chaos of the past week, she hadn’t told her parents of her adventures at Point State Park last Saturday. She relayed the story to her father, only giving him the need-to-know stuff. It wasn’t something she felt like reliving, especially after this.

  Tage looked at Stone. “So she was an involuntary committal? Do you think she’s out of the hospital yet? Do you think she could’ve done this?”

  Stone shrugged and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. “I don’t know. I want to say no, but I didn’t think she’d shove a hunting knife through a porta-john either. I doubt the hospital will tell me anything, but I can ask some of her friends.”

  “Well,” Nicks pressed her lips together and stared at what was left of her car, “if she didn’t do it, I think she knows who did. She’s the only one I know who’d be crazy enough to do something like this. Or arrange to make it happen.”

  Her father was as good as his word about getting her another car, but it took Nicks until Tuesday evening to decide what she wanted. Though she was a dyed-in-the-wool Chevy girl, she really liked the look of the new Ford Mustang. She couldn’t bear to get a bright red one though, out of respect for her late, great Chevy Cobalt, so she chose one that was Grabber Blue instead. To add to the coolness factor, it had a sunroof and a USB port for her iPod. And freakin’ heated seats. Hallelujah! Just in time for winter.

  Stone whistled, ran his hands down the fender, and proclaimed himself jealous when he came for T.J.’s bass lesson Wednesday afternoon.

  “Don’t worry. If you’re nice to me, I’ll let you drive it, ” she said.

  He lunged at her; she tried dodge away from him but he snagged her around the waist. “How nice do I have to be?” He nibbled on her neck then traced a warm, wet tongue around the shell of her outer ear.

  She curved against him, closed her eyes, a
nd gasped. Sparks flew behind her eyelids. Now that the pesky first time was out of the way, she couldn’t wait to make love to him again. She wanted to bang him hard, actually. She knew he felt the same way. It had been there in his eyes, the tilt of his head, when he’d invited her to his place for her birthday. He had more than dinner and a movie planned for the two of them. She couldn’t think of a better birthday gift.

  They walked into the garage together, hand in hand, Stone carrying his bass with the other. She could hear T.J. rumbling down the stairs as soon as they got into the kitchen.

  “Stone! Stone!” The boy flew through the doorway, skidding to a stop at Stone’s feet. “Nicks doesn’t really know how to play bass, but wait until I show you what she taught me!”

  She ruffled T.J.’s hair. “Nothing great. The intro to Naughty Naughty is all. I am no bass player, I can tell you that.”

  “Go get ready, T.J. I’ll be right there.” Stone turned the boy around and urged him toward the sunroom. “I want to talk to your sister before we start.”

  “Uh oh.” Nicks furrowed her brow as T.J. ran off. “Now what happened?”

  Stone set his bass down and took off the black pea coat and scarf he was wearing before draping both across a dinette chair. “ I asked around about Emily. It seems she’s out of the hospital, but no one has seen her. No one knows where she is.”

  She wouldn’t have been more shocked if he’d applied a cattle prod to the base of her skull. For God’s sake, the woman had tried to kill her! Why wouldn’t they keep someone like Emily in a mental ward for a long, long time?

  “That scares me a little.”

  “Well, it scares me a lot.” Stone removed his brown leather boots and placed them on the boot tray near the door. “Your mother and father need to know about this. And I’m not going to tell you what to do, but you shouldn’t be out and about alone.”

  Nicks shook her head vehemently. “No! You can’t tell my father. My mother—okay—but if Daddy finds out, I won’t be allowed out of the house. He’ll insist on driving me to school.”

  “Maybe he should do that anyway. Didn’t Seth make his first moves on you at the school in the parking lot?”

  She winced. This was why she kept certain things to herself. A man flexing his protective muscles usually resulted in a woman being smothered. She wouldn’t be able to stand it if Stone and her father circled the man-wagons around her like that. Her dad was bad enough.

  “After the beating Seth took from my father Friday night, I doubt he’ll come after me again.” When Stone opened his mouth to protest, she put both hands on his chest. “I know. I know, and I appreciate your concern. But I can take care of myself. Dantre walked me in and out of school after I parked in the upper parking lot today. I’ll park in that parking lot from now on. It’s up near the school in full view of the office.”

  He tilted his head, clearly skeptical. ‘That’s great, but I still—”

  “I’m not clueless, Stone. Give me some credit here. I managed to stay alive for nearly nineteen years. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to change.”

  “Do you know how scared I was when I saw that musclebound baboon carry you out the front door of Tapestries? Two times within one week and both times when you took off to pee. I’m telling you, Nicks—my heart is not going to be able to take one more close call like that.”

  She turned to make sure no one was listening then leaned into him. “If you tell my dad about Emily, you can forget about lasagna and clean apartments and sexy time on my birthday. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “God, you drive a hard bargain.” He stared at her for a moment. “But I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  A Belgian waffle piled high with strawberries and a lit candle in whipped cream waited for Nicks at the breakfast table Thursday morning.

  Her whole family ambushed her with a loud “Happy birthday!” said in unison.

  While greetings were normally exchanged at the breakfast table for the birthday boy or girl, this one was especially boisterous. Nicks was delighted. “Wow! Thanks. And a strawberry waffle. My favorite!”

  “I lit the candle,” T.J. informed her. “Blow it out and make a wish.”

  She closed her eyes but really didn’t have a wish to make. Instead, she gave silent thanks that she was even alive to eat the waffle in front of her. The weird things that had happened this week left her feeling unexpectedly emotional.

  They were expecting a wish from her though; she gave them the only one she could think of. “I wish everyone could have a family like this one. You guys are the best.”

  “You’re not supposed to tell us!” said T.J. “It won’t come true now.”

  “It came true for me.”

  The look of surprise on her mother’s face was priceless. “Aw, Nicks, that’s such a nice thing for you to say.”

  “Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I’m not going to get all sweet and disgusting like that ever again.” Nicks stuck her tongue out at T.J., but he just laughed.

  “Yeah, you being nice is kind of weird,” said Reese. “Like the planets are out of alignment or something.” He dodged and laughed when Nicks poked at him with her fork.

  Tage clapped his hands and stood up from the table. “Let’s go, guys. Time for school.”

  The four of them grumbled but dutifully stood and took their empty plates to Chelsea at the sink. Nicks dug into the birthday waffle with gusto.

  Her father came around the end of the table and kissed her on the head. “Happy birthday, Nicks. It’s been a great nineteen years. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

  Her throat seized up. She was so grateful this man had opened his heart to her mother. “Thanks, Dad. I love you.”

  “Love you too. We’ll have a small get-together this weekend if you want. With cake and ice cream. Mom told Grandma and Grandpa Whitaker about the situation, and they want to make sure you don’t feel left out.”

  “I know it sounds funny, but I don’t feel left out. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I belong here.” Nicks put her hand over his on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks for giving Mom and me a chance.”

  “How could I do anything else? I couldn’t let the two of you get away.”

  “Yeah, but your life might’ve been normal if you had.”

  “Normal is highly over-rated.” He kissed her again and turned to go upstairs.

  Nicks eyed her mother’s back as she loaded the dishwasher. Now was the time to tell her she was going to Stone’s after school. It wasn’t going to be phrased as a question, either. She was nineteen now.

  “Hey, Mom, I wanted to let you know that I’m going over to Stone’s apartment right after school.”

  Ech, the word ‘apartment’ sounded all wrong. Yeah, we’re going to eat and get naked then do more of what we did in my room while you and Dad were gone. She grimaced and shook her head. That was just guilt talking.

  Chelsea closed the dishwasher and turned it on. “Is he doing something special for your birthday?”

  “He’s making lasagna for me. And he told me he’s cleaning his apartment, which doesn’t sound like it happens very often.”

  “You better go over and see it then, if he’s going to that much trouble. Any idea when you’ll be home?”

  Oh, shit. “No.”

  “If you have schoolwork, don’t make it too late. I promise I won’t bother you unless it’s important, but I don’t want to worry. And we’re supposed to have strong thunderstorms later on. Be careful on the roads.”

  Nicks looked up. “Thunderstorms? On the last day of October?”

  “You know how it is around here. It’s nearly seventy degrees this morning, and there’s a cold front coming through later on today.” Chelsea sat down at the table across from her. “I wish it would stay warm like this for trick-or-treating tonight.”

  “You taking someone? What time’s it start?”

  “Seven o’clock. I hate that it gets dar
k so early now. Anyway, Reese and Aimee are going with friends. I’m taking T.J. and Lindsay, if she still wants to go. It depends on what happens with the storms. T.J. will be hiding under the bed if they get too severe.”

  “Lindsay’s going trick-or-treating?” Nicks frowned, wondering what was up. Her sister was usually too cool to go out on Halloween. She nearly choked on a strawberry when she put two and two together. “That explains the sexy fairy outfit she was modeling in the bathroom last night.”

  “Oh, dear.” Her mother sat up straight. “Is it inappropriate?”

  “Not if the other part of your costume is a stripper pole.” Nicks stood and waved a reassuring hand at her mother. “Don’t sweat it though. If it gets cold tonight, she’ll have to wear something over it or under it.”

  Stone’s apartment was located on the eastern edge of South Oakland, on the lower floor of an old row house that had been converted to a duplex. Though it had its own small parking lot out back, Nicks parked her Mustang along Frazier Street under the street lights. Soon the sky would darken and the sidewalks would be full of costumed children going door-to-door for candy. It seemed more prudent to park her new car where it was well lit.

  She didn’t want to admit it, but the torched Chevy Cobalt made her nervous as hell. Oh, she put on a convincing air of bravado for Stone, but she was taking serious precautions to keep herself safe. Emily had tried to kill her. Seth seemed to think it was okay to just take her. Though the bullies had occasionally gotten physical with her, this current level of aggression was unlike anything she’d ever faced.

  It was still weirdly warm outside, but a thick blanket of gray had covered the sun while she was still in school. Roiling purple-black clouds on the eastern horizon heralded the storms she’d been warned about that morning. The wind whistled through the upper atmosphere, blowing away the few autumn leaves that still remained in the tops of the highest trees, but nothing moved on the ground. Strange days indeed, thought Nicks. It was a line from one of her favorite Lennon songs.