Officer Clark, a kind, middle-aged gentleman, leaned forward and patted the hand resting on my knee. “Now, we get your statement and then let you go home. I want you to know that Joe has already been picked up and is currently being processed. Based on everything the kid said, his mom will probably be given custody back by the beginning of next week. Another officer took her statement earlier today, and she’s beside herself. Sounds like she knew her husband was a jerk but had no idea he’d turned abusive. She’s been an American citizen for over six years, so not sure what the dad threatening to send her back to Mexico was all about. He probably just said it to scare Michael.”
I sighed, rubbing my temples, trying to get a little relief from the raging headache that had come on sometime after lunch. Doing my best to press on, I recounted everything I could think of to the police. When I finished, both officers thanked me and gave me their cards, telling me not to hesitate to reach out if I had any questions. Then they left, and I was alone.
It was already 6 p.m., later than I almost ever stayed. I bent down to pick up my bag and was immediately lightheaded when I rose. I leaned against the wall, realizing I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. Crud. All I wanted was a hot bath and a warm meal and someone to drive me to both.
I pushed open the office door, and my eyes widened. Sitting on the bench opposite the door was Austin. My soul seemed to sigh at the sight of him. Decked out in workout pants and a hoodie, he rose and prowled toward me. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me into his chest. “You were supposed to meet me at the gym at five. When you didn’t show and weren’t answering your cell, I freaked and drove over here. Joanne told me you had to report a case of abuse and were in with the police. So, I just waited. I’m so sorry, baby.”
I sighed into his chest and then inhaled the scent of clean laundry, spice, and Austin. Something about that smell just calmed me. “It was awful, A. I can’t even talk about it because I’m all talked out, but it was awful.”
“Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
“You can’t, my car’s here,” I groaned.
“Yes, I can. Just leave your car here for the weekend, and I’ll bring you to work on Monday. Do you need it for anything this weekend?”
“I guess I don’t. But you’ll have to chauffeur me around if I decide I need to go anywhere.”
He massaged the back of my neck and pointed me towards the exit. “I’ll even take you to In-N-Out on the way home.”
I smiled a faint smile, my first of the day. “You are a god among men.”
“I know I am.”
I spent the weekend soothing my soul with Ben & Jerry’s and mindless television. Austin kept me company through most of it too, not pushing me to talk about anything but just lending me his silent support. Monday morning had arrived far too soon, and Austin was now driving me to school. “You ready for this?” he asked.
I blew out a breath. “Ready as I’ll ever be. The social worker called me last night and told me that Michael is back with his mom. They were granted an order of protection against Joe, so that’s good.”
“That’s real good, baby.”
What was with this baby stuff? “Baby” was way worse than “babe,” and it had me wondering if just maybe Austin was getting ready to take us out of the friend zone. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I couldn’t help longing for more. Things were so effortless with us. I knew taking things to the next level might complicate things in the beginning, but I had no doubt we could end up in an amazing place.
Austin swung his car into a spot by the front of the school. “Want me to walk you in?”
I grinned at him. “No, I’ll be fine.” So overprotective.
“Okay, I have a late training session tonight, but I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow it is.” I swung out of the car but leaned back down. “And thanks again. For everything.”
“Anything for you.”
I pushed the door shut and watched Austin pull away. As I made my way toward the school, I remembered that I had left my travel mug of stale coffee in my car over the weekend. I needed to grab that to rinse it out. I turned around and headed back towards the parking lot. Just before I reached my car, I heard, “Excuse me, do you know where I can find a Miss McCarthy?”
I turned and saw a large man who looked as if he hadn’t showered or slept in days. His clothing was rumpled, and his eyes were bloodshot. I looked around at the mostly empty parking lot, suddenly uneasy. “Um, yes, I’m Miss McCarthy.”
The man’s gaze darkened, and I took a step back. “You fucking bitch!” His hands struck out faster than I thought possible and grasped my throat. I clawed desperately at his arms, trying to loosen his hold. Panic was rising fast. I couldn’t breathe, I could barely think, and then, my vision started to go black.
15
Austin
As I sat going over my training plan with Mel in his office, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Carter’s face flashing on the screen. “Hold on a sec, Mel, it’s Carter calling, and she’s supposed to be teaching right now.”
A knowing smile spread over Mel’s face. “Go ahead and take it, son. Tell her I said hello.”
“Hey, Firecracker, what’s up?”
A voice that wasn’t Carter’s filled the line, and a chill skittered down my spine. “Austin? It’s Taylor.”
Her sniffling sounded across the line, and my muscles locked up as I gripped the phone hard. “Taylor, what’s going on? Is Carter okay?”
“They say she’s going to be fine, but she was attacked in the parking lot this morning.”
My whole world slowly ground to a halt, and my ears began to ring. Images flashed in front of my eyes of Carter’s devilish grin as she switched the car radio to a country station, knowing I hated that shit, her eyes twinkling as she shut my car door to head into school. Why didn’t I fucking walk her to her classroom? That thought jarred me back to the reality in front of me. “Where is she?” I barked.
“We’re at the school, with police and paramedics. I can’t leave, but I didn’t want her to go to the hospital by herself. I tried calling Liam, but there was no answer, and I didn’t want to leave something like this on his voicemail.”
“I’m on my way.” I punched the end button on my screen and fought the urge to throw my phone against the wall. “I gotta go, Mel. Carter was attacked at school. I don’t know what the fuck is going on.” I didn’t wait for an answer, I just charged out of the gym and towards my car. All I could think was that I had to get to her.
I slammed the door to my car and took in at least three cop cars and an ambulance, lights all flashing. I elbowed my way through the crowd of onlookers as I made my way towards the ambulance. Carter was sitting on the edge of a gurney, staring off into space with what looked like an ice pack pressed to her neck, an EMT taking her pulse.
It was as though she sensed I was there because she suddenly looked up. When our eyes connected, she dropped the ice pack and tried to stand, but the EMT pressed her back to sitting. When the ice pack fell away, I saw a hideous string of reddish marks around her neck that I knew would soon turn purple, and the side of her beautiful face was clearly swollen. By the time I reached her, I couldn’t seem to take a full breath. “What happened?” I choked out, my voice raw. I fought the instinct to pull her to me, to touch her anywhere because I didn’t want to cause her any more pain.
Carter reached out and grabbed the side of my shirt, fisting it and pulling me closer to her. “Michael’s dad,” she said. Her voice was so hoarse, it sounded like someone had scoured her throat with steel wool.
I silently cursed and moved even closer to her. I gently and so very cautiously began to rub my hand up and down her back. “I should have walked you in.”
She pushed her weight into my side. “Not your fault.”
“Why the fuck wasn’t he in jail?” I fought to control the level of my voice.
Struggled to breathe evenly. With every slow pull of air, I could hear the blood roaring in my ears.
A nearby police officer heard my outburst and turned to walk over. Taking in my proximity to Carter and her clearly leaning on me, he started to speak, “He was out on bail, but he’s back in custody now. His bail’s been revoked, and he won’t be getting out anytime soon.” I clenched and unclenched the fist that wasn’t touching Carter, trying to take comfort in the fact that this monster was behind bars. The knowledge did nothing to calm me. “You should be proud, though. Your girl here did a number on him. Kneed him in the balls and broke his nose.”
I tilted my head down to meet Carter’s eyes.
“I remembered what you taught me,” she said in that same hoarse whisper that made me what to murder someone.
“You did real good, Firecracker.” I turned back to the cop, jaw working. “What happens now?”
“Like I said, he violated the terms of his bail by even being on school grounds, so he’s in jail. At least until his trial. We’ve put an order of protection in place for Miss McCarthy, and he’ll be charged with assault on top of the abuse charges he’s already facing.”
As the cop finished speaking, the EMT chimed in. “We should get her to the hospital now to get checked out.” He looked at Carter. “Is anyone riding with you?”
Before Carter could answer, I jumped in, “I am.”
“Okay, let’s get going.” He laid her back on the gurney, buckling her in place with what looked like three seatbelts.
I cringed as she was loaded in. I fucking hated seeing her like this, all weak and helpless. But I reminded myself that she wasn’t either of those things, she had defended herself and had taken that bastard down. I inclined my head toward the cop. “Can you do me a favor and give my car keys to the receptionist in the office? Tell her I’ll be sending someone to pick them up.”
The officer extended his hand for the keys. “No problem. Listen, man, I see that look of rage in your eyes. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Just be there for her.”
I swallowed words that I wanted to hurl at the cop and instead said, “Yeah, man, I got it.” And with that, I hauled myself into the back of the ambulance.
The ride was a quick one, and we were swiftly ushered into an ER exam room. I stayed close by Carter’s side, bending down to gently brush the hair back from her face. “I texted the guys to let them know what happened and ask them to pick up my car from the school.”
Carter blanched. “Tell Liam not to call my parents.”
“You sure about that?”
She started to nod but then stopped herself, the action clearly causing her pain. “I’ll call them tomorrow when my voice is back to normal.”
A nurse bustled in, taking Carter’s vitals and prepping an IV. Carter’s eyes widened a bit at the sight of the needle, and I took her hand in mine. She squeezed it as the nurse inserted the IV. “We’re just getting some fluids in you now, but once the doctor examines you, we’ll get you some pain meds,” the nurse said as she hurried back out.
Turning back to Carter, I saw that her eyebrows were pinched together in pain. “Your head hurt?” I asked.
“A little.”
She was lying through her teeth. I kept a hold on her hand, hating that there was nothing else I could do for her at the moment, nothing I could do to take her pain away. I would gladly take a hundred hits to the head to ease her suffering. Where was the fucking doctor already?
I heard the door swing open, and a man entered who looked like he was in his fifties and was wearing a white lab coat. “Hello, Miss McCarthy. I’m Dr. Baines. It sounds like you had quite the scare. How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad,” Carter croaked.
“I know your throat has got to be hurting you pretty badly, but I’m going to need to ask you a few questions. As soon as I’m done, we’ll get some pain meds in that IV, and you’ll feel a lot better. Did you ever lose consciousness?”
I felt Carter’s hand twitch in mine. “Not really.”
The doctor looked up from the chart he was holding. “Did your vision go black?”
“It started to,” she said so softly I could barely hear her answer.
Dr. Baines made a note. “Did you hit your head?”
Carter briefly closed her eyes. “He hit my head against my car.”
The rage inside me felt like it was boiling my blood. It took everything I had not to destroy the hospital room around me. The only thing holding me back was the fear in Carter’s eyes, I didn’t want to do anything that would frighten her further. I took a deep breath and made sure I wasn’t gripping her hand too tightly.
The doctor clicked his pen, placing it back into his pocket and removing a penlight. “I’m going to look in your eyes to check for a concussion and then examine your throat.” He moved quickly through his inspection. When he probed the swollen side of Carter’s face and the back of her head, she winced, sharply sucking in air.
“Careful,” I barked at the doctor.
“He’s just doing his job,” Carter said, squeezing my hand. “Sorry.”
“Not a problem. You’ve got a bit of a goose egg on the back of your head, but all in all, you are very lucky. You don’t have a concussion, and I don’t feel any broken facial bones, but I want to get an x-ray just in case. Your neck and throat will be sore for the next week or so. I’m going to write you a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and a painkiller, they should help. If you have any worsening pain or blurry vision after you’ve been discharged, I want you to come back immediately. Do you have someone who can stay with you tonight?”
“I’ll be staying with her tonight and can drive her back to the hospital if anything gets worse.”
The doctor smiled kindly. “Great, I’ll just inject this fast-acting painkiller into Miss McCarthy’s IV, write up her prescriptions, and order that x-ray.”
Just moments after the doctor had left, the door flew open, and Liam and Ford rushed inside. They screeched to a halt when they saw Carter, face swollen, neck bruised. “What the hell happened?” Liam said through clenched teeth.
“A parent of one of Carter’s students attacked her in the parking lot this morning.” Just saying those words brought my simmering rage back to a boil. “She’s going to be fine, and he’s in jail, but her throat and head have her in a lot of pain, so she’s not going to be doing much talking, got it?” Carter turned towards me and stuck out her tongue. Clearly, the pain meds had started to kick in. I squeezed her hand. “I’ll be right back, you guys. Stay with her.”
I didn’t look back at Carter as I made my way to the door and out into the hallway. My sneakers squeaked against the linoleum in an annoying rhythm until I reached the end of the hall. Sucking in a deep breath, I leaned my forehead against the wall, pressing my fingertips into the cool surface, battling my desire to pound a hole into it.
A hand landed on my shoulder. Turning my head to the side, Ford filled my vision. “Hey, you okay, man?”
I pushed off the wall. “Not really. Shit, Ford, I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life.”
“You care about her.”
“Of course, I fucking care about her,” I spat. “She’s my best fucking friend.”
Ford paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. “You ever think it’s more than that? I’ve seen the way you look at her, how you treat her. And I know she’s in love with you, it’s written all over her.”
I pushed at Ford’s chest, harshly but not aiming to hurt. I just needed him and his words away from me. “Don’t tell me that. I’m not in a place where I can be in a relationship. I need to be focused on my career. Fuck! I don’t even know if I’ll ever want that again.”
Panic began to take a firm hold on my pounding heart. Images flashed through my mind at a rapid pace. Carter cooking me dinner. Carter nibbling on the corner of her lip as she tried to figure out who the killer was on whatever true crime show we were watching or listening to. Carter beaming up at
me as my arm was lifted in victory at my last fight. Carter tucked perfectly under my arm as I held her on the couch.
Fuck. Carter had snuck through my defenses with her disarming innocence, and now I knew she was too close.
Ford smoothed out his shirt. “Well, time is ticking by, and I just hope you don’t miss out on the best thing that may ever happen to you.” With that, he turned and walked back towards Carter’s room.
I just stood there, clenching and unclenching my fists, listening to the blood roaring in my ears. I could not deal with all the shit raining down on me right now. Taking a few more deep breaths, I straightened my spine and made my way back to Carter, the girl who had my insides twisted up in knots that might never unravel.
I rolled my car to a stop outside of Carter’s apartment and cut the ignition. “Stay where you are, I’ll come around and open your door.”
“I can open the car door, Austin, it’s not like my arms are broken.”
I cringed at the thought of that bastard breaking one of Carter’s arms. This all could have been so much worse. She could have fucking died. “Stay put,” I barked out, harsher than necessary. Carter shrank back, and I reached a hand over to brush her unmarred cheek. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just pissed as hell and worried about you.”
She pushed her face into my palm. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, but you will be.” I broke away from Carter and got out of the car. She waited for me to open her door, and I helped her out of the car.
We made our way into the apartment, and Carter turned to face me. “I’m going to change into pajamas.”
“Do, uh, you need help changing?” Good God, I really didn’t think I could handle helping Carter undress tonight—or any night for that matter. My restraint only went so far, and her sleek curves were far too tempting. Ford’s words echoed in my head, and I fisted my hands. He was wrong, he had to be wrong.
Further To Fall Page 9