by Marie Wathen
“You really are good. Kole’s compliment earlier about you being an excellent student is true. I’m proud of the work you did today and I’ll see you back here tomorrow afternoon. You’re ready for more advanced floor exercises. It won’t take much work to get your body conditioned to expect my attacks.” We lock eyes and in this moment we both know that the meaning behind my words are meant for so much more than the training she has signed up to learn.
Kole opens the door, looks at me and then to Breesan.
“So how did my girl do?” he asks. Cheeks flushing with embarrassment, she turns glancing at him then silently walks out of the room.
“Breesan,” I yell. She turns back around and leans in through the doorway. “Buy a karategi for your next class.” She nods and leaves.
“Are you sure there’s not something going on here? She’s never been weird like this. Just walking away without speaking isn’t her style,” Kole asks.
“No, believe me she doesn’t even like me, so there is definitely nothing going on between us.” He bobs his head and walks out of the room. I grab my bag and follow him out.
“Good, that’s good,” he mumbles but I hear him clearly.
He wants her and it makes me want to rage with the knowledge of how familiar and comfortable they are with each other. She hugged him earlier and it’s obvious they have known each other for a long time. I shake it off and glance down at my watch. I’ve got to head over to Granddad’s to make up for not being there for breakfast this morning.
“I’ve got to run. I’ll see you later Kole,” I yell, walking out the door.
“See ya bro,” Kole replies.
Cool air hits me as I exit the gym to my car. I can smell the ocean water blowing in and hear the sounds of the seagulls screeching above the sands and waves. The gym is located just a block away from the ocean and tonight’s a perfect night to walk the beach. If I didn’t have to get to Granddad’s like five minutes ago I would head that way.
My vehicle is parked around the corner of the building and as I round the side I notice a large man dressed in dark clothing standing in front of someone smaller. They are standing near the wall beside a dark sports car. I hear faint voices and a soft feminine laugh. Everything appears to be fine. Forgoing the walk around, I climb through the open top of my Jeep and slide over to the driver’s seat. In the process, I look up to see the man has effectively caged the woman against the wall with his body. She’s trying to free herself from him pressing against her. His voice raises an octave and becomes a tone that appears to frighten her. She’s pushing against his broad chest, but he remains immobile.
My frustration with jerks like this propels me to intervene. It may just be some silly lovers spat but I’m not about to let any woman get hurt. I jump out of my Jeep and walk over. I reach around for my duty weapon and realize I stored it in my bag, which is resting in my Jeep. I scan the area as I approach to make sure that Mammoth Man doesn’t have backup hiding somewhere.
I stand directly behind him, attempting to ascertain the mood between them. “Is there a problem here?” I calmly say.
He’s a large man, maybe two inches over me, about twenty pounds heavier, and he’s bulky. His head is shaved and he has a tattoo of a serpent’s head peaking above his shirt collar. His back is to me, blocking my view of the woman. The side of his face looks as if it has been used as a punching bag during boxing practice. His ear is swollen and there are cuts above it.
“No problem. So you can mind your own damn business.” He puts his large hand on the woman’s bicep, spinning her away from me. The aggressive action causes her to yelp. My body tenses when I recognize the voice now cussing him.
She slaps at his hand, “Get your fucking nasty hand off! Marcus, help me!” Breesan’s voice is shaking and I hear the fear as she rushes her words. I grab him by the arm that holds her and jerk it away. She scrambles away from us and runs to my Jeep. She’s safely away from the guy now so I can focus on pummeling the hell out of the bastard. A vicious grin snakes across his face and he nods his head repeatedly. He cracks his knuckles and steps toward me. This fucker is huge, but unless he’s skilled he’ll wear himself out before he lays a finger on me. I mock his grin with my own smirk and it’s on.
I yell at Breesan, “Call the police now!” I reach for the mountain of a man rushing toward me with his body bent and shoulder leading.
Chapter 9
Breesan
The big creep attacks Marcus and they are on the ground in seconds. Marcus’ jujitsu skills are impressive and the guy is nearly subdued once on the ground. I realize I’m wasting time standing here watching the fight. I notice I don’t have my bag in my hand so I search around until I locate it lying on the ground next to the two of them. Dammit. My phone is in my purse.
A smaller man rushes over to Marcus and the creep to join in the fight. On approach, he yells at the large creep who acknowledges him then orders him to grab Marcus. Before he jumps into the mix he spots me clinging to the roll bar of Marcus’ Jeep. He changes course toward me. I begin to shake realizing that he is coming after me. I decide not to be a victim and shift my posture to a fighter’s stance. I stand with my back straight and my fists in front of my face to block an attack. He rushes me, with his arms immediately going around my waist. I begin punching the side of his head as he lifts me off the ground then dropping me onto the pavement. My head bounces off the blacktop. I tuck my knees into my chest while I grab the back of my head with both hands. He doesn’t slow his assault.
I see his foot draw back and kick at my head, his intended target. I shift just before impact. His momentum causes him to stumble and lose balance briefly. I shift onto my knees and crawl toward the large truck. With its oversized tires, I can crawl under it. It’s only a few feet away but it feels more like miles. I scramble and in seconds I reach the undercarriage just as the point of his boot grazes over my hip.
Quicker now, I struggle to drag my body further under the truck when I feel his hands grab hold of my leg. He jerks hard and I fall on my face and stomach. He continues to pull, dragging me out from under the truck. One hand goes into my hair. The other grabs my collar. He brutally tugs on the flimsy hoodie material managing to close off my air. I cough and try to draw in a breath, but he twists the material tight around my neck, holding me in place. I can’t breathe. I’m clawing at the collar but all my efforts are ineffective. Flashes of bright spots begin to cloud my vision until it darkens; I’m passing out.
“Get the fuck off her!” Marcus yells.
I strain against my attacker’s hold and turn my head to face Marcus. He strikes the large guy, knocking him down, and runs at me. My attacker releases me but not before pressing my face against the sidewall of the trucks wheel. I drop down and lay on my stomach, one hand on my face, the other clutching my throat. I gasp for air. I hear Marcus and the small guy scuffle but I can’t watch. I squeeze my eyes tight against the pain and the horror of this situation. What the fuck is going on? I begin focusing on slowing my heart rate so I can calm down and help him. Before I can get back up, I hear a loud thud and the sound of heavy footsteps. My heart pounds harder with fear that more attackers are joining in on the fight.
I twist my body around, placing my back against the truck and begin searching the area. I’m still struggling for breath as I grab the side of the truck to stabilize myself. I struggle to get off the ground, and thankfully my vision begins to clear as I rise up straight. It’s quiet now and I see something large lying on the ground near the area Marcus was fighting. It’s Marcus. Ohgod. I shuffle over and drop to where he lays, unmoving on his side. I pull hard on his shoulder to turn his body toward me. He grumbles in protest and I have never been so thankful to hear a complaint before.
“Oh, Marcus, are you ok? You’re bleeding. Can you hear me?”
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Marcu
s
Her voice is heavy with emotion and her breathing is erratic. She is sitting on the ground with my head and upper body pulled on top of her lap. One of her arms is draped around my shoulder, holding me tight, while her free hand trembles as it repeatedly attempts to remove sweat soaked hairs stuck to my forehead. Overwhelmed with the need to comforter her, I seize it and place it on my chest.
“Shhh Baby,” I whisper and then cough from the pain in my chest. She squeezes my hand with both of her tiny ones then tugs it to her.
“Thank the lord, Marcus. The ambulance is almost here please be ok, please.” I can hear the ambulance sirens as they approach and it’s causing the pain in my head to intensify. I open my eyes and see watery gray ones staring down at me. She appears uninjured, yet hurt.
“Why are you crying Baby? Are you hurt?” She shakes her head and a single tear drops off her chin and onto my shoulder. I lean up, but she pulls me back down to her lap.
“Marcus, no please stay still. They’re here. Just wait for them to help you.” She waves a hand at someone. “Hurry, please help him. There is a knife sticking in his chest. Please don’t let him die.”
I hear additional voices soothing her and working efficiently to check over my injuries. They place an IV in my hand then I am removed from her lap and placed on a gurney. She hasn’t let my hand go and I’m comforted by her. The medics place me in the back of the ambulance and assure her that I’ll be fine and that she can follow behind us.
“Wait, I need to speak to her,” I tell the medic. He nods his head at me then holds out a hand to help her up the steps and inside with me. She leans down to me and I take a deep breath to speak clear but her scent is sweet and I close my eyes to savor the moment. She clears her throat and I slowly lift my eyelids to see her lips quirk up on one side.
“Hey, I’m going to follow the ambulance to the hospital so don’t try to talk me out of it,” she says with determination and it causes me to smile. I nod.
“Baby, find my keys. I dropped them when we started fighting. Get my cell and my bag out of my Jeep. Call Tristan for me. I don’t want him worrying when I don’t show up at his place. Just make sure he knows everything is okay, but don’t tell him about the guys. Save that for me, ok? He’s going to want to put out a search for them and get their asses off the street before they attack someone else.” She nods. “I’m going to be ok and I need you to believe me.” She nods again. The medic taps her shoulder to get her attention, explaining that they need to get going. With a sad smile, she turns from the medic and back to me.
“I’ll follow you and call Tristan. See you there?” she whispers with her eyes closed then swallows hard. I raise my hand to her face, placing my thumb on her cheek and splay my fingers on the back of her neck before lightly tugging her down to me. Her ear is just over my mouth when I speak.
“You get your ass to the hospital safely and prepare to answer my questions when they get through bandaging me. I want to know what the hell that guy thought he was doing,” I grumble with as much hostility through gritting teeth as I can manage.
She looks confused and then anger spreads across her eyebrows. My threat appears to be successful. She pulls away from me, and without a word jumps out of the back of the ambulance. I hear her yell at the medic that she’s done with me and includes a few choice words to prove she is indeed angry.
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Breesan
“As you requested Mr. Walker, we’ve got him settled in a private room for the night. He’s a very lucky young man, the wound is superficial. Just a few more inches and this conversation would be very different. He only has a few stitches and the nurse will return soon to give him a tetanus shot. I ordered a battery of tests just as a precaution. As for now, he’s out of trouble. He’ll remain overnight so we can monitor him but I don’t foresee any complications. Discharge paperwork is signed already so he won’t have to wait long. Someone can pick him up first thing in the morning.” The same emergency room doctor, who reluctantly released me after checking my injuries, explains treatment and prognosis to Tristan and his granddad. The emergency room waiting area is empty except for us. They are only a few feet away from me so I can hear everything.
I’m so pissed at Marcus right now, but I refuse to let his bullshit attitude mess with my head. So I focus on what happened. I keep replaying the whole scene over in my head. I can’t believe the guy thought he could just come up and get aggressive with me. He suggested that he knew me but then asked my name. He didn’t look familiar to me, but he was creepy as hell and made me very uncomfortable. I have trained for years to be able to defend myself, but when the moment came and he put his hand on me the only thing I could do was yell for help.
Wouldn’t you know that help would be in the form of the one man that I desire to be my knight and shining armor, but he can’t be, or is it that he won’t be? We’ve been at the hospital for three hours and have yet to see Marcus. I need to see him. After the way he spoke to me I’m not sure if he wants to see me. I only want to make sure he is better and then I’m going home. What if he starts demanding answers from me, answers that I don’t have? Well, I’ll just explain that don’t have fucking answers. But I have a helluva lot of my own damn questions. Tristan turns from the doctor and walks over to me.
“We’re going back to see him. Do you want to go with us? We’ll only be a minute.”
His dark hair is a mess from running his hand through it all night. His hands are pushed deep down into his front pockets and he’s waiting for my answer. I shake my head and glance at the clock on the wall.
“I just wanted to make sure he is ok. He said he would be and I guess he was right. So I’ll just head on home since it’s so late.”
I gather my running jacket and bag and begin walking toward the exit. Tristan grabs my hand and heads for the entryway to the ER patient rooms. I’m starting to get nervous. What purpose does he have on dragging me back here tonight? Marcus has to be asleep by now. I’m sure they drugged him, besides he is not going to want to see me.
“Oh damn. Did we miss her giving you the shot in the ass? Tristan jokes.
“Yeah, just missed it. Thirty seconds earlier you would have seen my bare ass.” Marcus discloses.
My blood begins to heat and I squirm at the thought. I bite down hard on my bottom lip to suppress a groan. He does not need to know that I’d much rather bite down on his bare ass.
What?
“If he gives you any trouble just give me a call and I’ll take care of him,” Mac Walker, Marcus’ granddad, says to the cute nurse taking care of Marcus.
When I enter the room, his eyelids lift up and he looks straight at me. His look is almost like perplexed, as if he thought I wouldn’t be here for him.
“Hey, you came?” he says in disbelief.
As if he hadn’t demanded I come here. Of course I came. I nod my head and he smiles. I remember we aren’t alone when Tristan grabs my attention by placing his hand on my upper arm in a protective move.
He turns to Marcus. “Want to tell me what happened and how the hell someone put you in here instead of the other way around Mac?” Tristan blurts out with anger. His face is drawn with fury while his hands clench and release numerous times.
“I guess Breesan didn’t tell you about the guy harassing her then. Good. I half expected her to disobey me.” I cut my eyes to him but remain quiet.
The faster he gets through his questioning, the faster I can get out of here and away from him. I need away from him before I do something else to make me look stupid. I frown and he notices. Resentment and confusion rush through me and I feel the need to flee.
“Can we get started so I can get out of here? It’s late and I’m exhausted.” I slump against the closed door, avert my eyes to the ground, and stare at my feet.
“Did you know that guy or his buddy B?” I shake
my head to Tristan’s question.
“Never seen them before tonight. They didn’t even look familiar. The bigger guy stopped me by saying he thought he knew me, but then asked my name. I told him that I didn’t know him and I refused to tell him anything. He said…” I clear my throat and glance around the hospital room at the three men staring at me. I struggle with telling them the embarrassing lies the man spoke to me. Tristan drops his head and leans in close toward me, indicating he’s waiting for me to finish my story.
“Did he threaten you? Or lay his hand on you? Is there something more you can remember about his description?” I couldn’t make eye contact with him. He begins tapping his boot out of frustration with my delayed response. My hand instinctively moves to my arm and rubs the spot where he left his mark on me.
“He didn’t threaten me, but he did lie by saying that he remembered me from a time when we were together and he wanted to reenact that memory against the brick wall. Besides what I already told you about both of them, I remember now that he had a scar above his collarbone and a tiny burn mark on the right side of his neck that was half-moon shaped; maybe made from the side of a cigarette. He said something that I didn’t think about until now, but it doesn’t make sense and maybe it doesn’t mean anything. But he said that if he gets his way, I’ll stay alive for a little longer than they intended so he could play with me. That’s when Marcus walked over and started the fight.”
Silence
The room remains quiet until I finally drag my eyes up to see the worry on each of their faces. I can’t deal with their disappointment. I have to go now. My voice trembles but somehow I manage to get through my excuse to leave.