Austin's Revenge (The Townsends Book 4)

by Angie Campbell

  “You can make excuses for your failure all you want,” she shrugged. “It doesn’t change the fact you failed.”

  “So, what?” he snorted. “I’ll get her back.”

  “Really?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at him and almost sounding like she really cared what he had to say. “I’m starting to believe you aren’t capable of accomplishing anything.”

  “You asked me to meet you,” he grumbled. “You can cut out the insults or go.”

  “Whatever,” she huffed. “Why do you eat in here? You know it’s going to kill you, one day, don’t you?”

  “The foods good,” he answered, rolling his eyes. “Do you need anything else?”

  “Yes! Get Amanda back, you moron,” she snarled. “And take a shower. You stink.”

  Chapter 26

  Monday, September 8

  Zane walked slowly down the cereal aisle, looking for something he hadn’t had in a while. Finally deciding what he wanted, he grabbed a couple of boxes off the shelf and tossed them in the cart. “Amanda, what kind of cereal do you want?” he asked, walking up behind her.

  “I don’t care,” she answered, sounding absent minded. “I’m not much for cold cereal. I only eat it once in a while. That’s more your thing.”

  “It makes a great snack,” he said, grinning at the back of her head. “Of course, I know something else that makes a better snack.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, not bothering to look up from the grocery list in her hands, or she might have had some warning.

  “You,” he replied, spinning her around so he could lean in and playfully chew on her neck and ear lobe.

  She laughed, blushing to her roots. She smacked him in the shoulder and pushed him back far enough to look him in the eyes. “You are so ornery.”

  “Maybe so, but you love me, just the same,” he said, leaning back in to continue his playful assault on her senses.

  “Zane, somebody’s going to see us. What if Joe walks up this aisle?” she screeched, smacking him on the shoulder again when she felt his hands slide under the hem of her t-shirt and up her back. “He’ll have a heart attack.” She shook her head, finally pushing him back far enough to bury her face in his shirt. It was going to take a while for her to get used to his more colorful banter.

  “I can assure you, there isn’t anything I’d be willing to do in this store that would cause Joe Harris that much shock,” he replied with a chuckle. “He’s seen enough at this point, there’s really not a whole lot that shocks him anymore. Some of it good. Some of it bad. And unfortunately, some of it really bad.”

  “Really bad?” she asked, giving him a thoughtful look.”

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “Remember he was in the military.”

  “Oh, yeah, he was in the Vietnam war,” she sighed. “I forget sometimes he’s about fifteen years older than your dad. I know he came back without any physical wounds, but I’ve heard some of the stories of what it was like for the soldiers coming back from that war.”

  “Yeah, it wasn’t easy,” Zane mumbled. “I’ve heard some of the stories. Suffice to say, if it hadn’t been for Martha, things might have turned out a lot different for him. She helped him heal the emotional and mental scars no one could see.”

  “Yeah, love can do that,” she said, giving him a bright smile.

  “I’ve heard him say more than once, his wife and kids are everything to him,” he grinned, wrapping his arms around her tight. “Are you still wanting six kids?”

  “Yes, but I want to be married first,” she answered, giving him a big grin and batting her eyelashes.

  He didn’t get a chance to reply before they heard snarled behind them, “You’re not going to be marrying him.”

  Amanda had barely managed to turn her head before Zane had moved her behind him, placing himself between her and Austin. “You’re not going to have a say in the matter.” Zane could feel Amanda behind him. She had practically glued herself to him, and she was shaking so hard, he felt like he was quaking. Her fear was making it really difficult for him not to reach over and attempt to rip the guys head off. She meant more to him then anyone else on earth and he didn’t like knowing she was so scared.

  Austin snorted, throwing his shoulders back and doing his best to puff his chest out. “You can’t stop me.”

  “Yes, I can,” he smirked back, barely holding in the laugh at how ridiculous the man looked. “And you know it. I’m not going to let you hurt her. Where I come from, women are protected and respected. Not beat on and treated like property.”

  “She was mine first,” he snarled, taking a menacing step forward that Zane obviously ignored. “And I wasn’t done with her.”

  “Yeah, I know what you want,” he growled low. “But it’s over, and it would be in your best interest to walk away. I’m not going to step out of the way, so you can beat on her to get at me.”

  The other man took a step back, his eyes growing huge. Zane wasn’t sure if it was more from fear or shock he had obviously told Amanda what Austin had said about using her to torment him with. “You’re a cop. You can’t threaten me like that.”

  He snorted, shaking his head at the smaller man. “I’m not on duty. Besides, I am allowed to protect her.”

  “You know, she’s not really worth all this trouble. She’s an ice queen,” Austin sneered.

  “She’s worth a lot more trouble than this,” he snarled, feeling the need to punch the man in the face. It was bad enough, he actually took an unconscious step forward, causing Austin’s eyes to grow even bigger. “And why is it that some men automatically call a woman cold when they can’t get the response they want from her? Did it not occur to you, she just didn’t want you that way?”

  “What?” he sneered again. “Are you saying she’s not cold?”

  “I’m not going to discuss that with you. It’s none of your business.”

  When Amanda heard the sirens outside, she took a deep breath, trying to relax. Joe must have saw Austin come in. She was starting to wonder if all he did was sit and watch the security cameras. She had been afraid from the moment she heard Austin’s voice, this might come to blows. Thankfully, it appeared he was too afraid of Zane to start anything physical. Or at the very least, he was afraid if he hung around, he would end up arrested.

  He didn’t wait to be sure the patrol cars coming down the road were actually headed this way. He snarled, “This isn’t over,” as a final warning before turning to make a run for the doors at the front of the building.

  “Yeah,” Zane mumbled. “I didn’t figure it was.

  She moved around Zane to wrap her arms around his waist and bury her face in his shirt. He hugged her close, kissing her on top of the head. “I got you, Baby. It’s going to be alright.”

  ******

  Luckily, when the patrol car finally got to the store, it turned out to be Jeff Campbell and Jackie Andrews. It didn’t take a lot of explaining what had happened for the two officers to be on their way and Zane and Amanda were able to finish their grocery shopping.

  Once that was done and they had taken the groceries home, Zane decided they needed to go somewhere they could be around other people. For whatever reason, and he had his suspicions what they were, even though she wouldn’t tell him, Amanda was trying to get him to make love to her. And she had a single-minded determination he had never seen in her before. Even if he had been inclined to throw out his decision to wait till they were married, he wasn’t going to let Austin be the reason, in any way.

  Deciding his mom and dad would be the best deterrent he could ever come up with, he had brought her out here for lunch. They had been silently working together to cut up vegetables for salad to go with cheeseburgers when she asked a question, from out of the blue, that nearly made him want to go back to town and hunt Austin down to beat the crap out of him.

  “Zane, am I an Ice Queen like Austin said?” she whispered with her head down, tears silently sliding down her cheeks.

  He laid th
e knife he had been using down and pulled her into his arms. “Not even close.”

  “You’re not just saying that, are you?” she asked, still sounding really small. “It’s not like we’ve actually done anything for you to know for sure.”

  He chuckled, holding her closer. “Baby, that’s just a cop out for guys when they can’t get what they want from a woman. He was using it to make you feel bad. And trust me when I say this. We may not have done anything yet, but when the time comes, we’re likely to set the place on fire. If you were truly cold, which I don’t believe any woman really is, you wouldn’t respond to my attentions the way you do.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t believe any woman really is?” she asked, truly looking puzzled.

  “Women aren’t as easily turned on as men. What they respond to is different,” he shrugged. “For most women, they have to be interested in a man for more than a pretty face and a good body.” He picked up the knife he had been using and went back to chopping up vegetables before he continued. “I don’t believe any woman is really cold, but there can always be men that she might be cold to.”

  “Well, I know you have to want me for more than my face and body,” she grimaced, copying his actions as she went back to chopping up tomatoes.

  His head snapped back, and he eyed her hard. “What is that supposed to mean?” he growled.

  “Well, I know I’m kind of chubby and not that beautiful to look at,” she shrugged, turning red in the face, obviously forgetting what he had told her weeks ago about being beautiful.

  He slammed his knife down on the counter and spun her around to yank into his arms. “Where on God’s green earth did you get that kind of notion?”

  “Well, it’s kind of obvious, just by looking at me,” she mumbled, doing her best to hide her face in his shirt.

  He wouldn’t let her hide from him. He lifted her chin with a gentle finger, so he could look her in the eyes. “You’ve told me before that Austin has called you fat. Has he called you ugly as well?” She sniffled, nodding her head, doing her best not to look him in the eyes. “While you are right that I want you for more than your face and body, you are the sexiest, most beautiful woman I have ever seen. You are absolutely gorgeous and far from fat. Austin is a moron, and you need to, starting now, forget anything he has ever told you about yourself. He’s obviously wrong.”

  “Do you really mean that?” she asked, finally looking him square in the face.

  “Yeah, I do,” he grinned, bobbing his eyebrows.

  “What, Zane?” she chuckled, giving him a wary look.

  Without any more warning, he leaned down and kissed her with enough passion she felt sure he was doing his best to wipe her memory of Austin completely. If he kept at it with the kind of determination he was showing, he might just get it done.

  When Jamie walked in the kitchen, she found them still kissing, and from the look of it, if she had been any longer getting in there, they could have been doing a whole lot more. “Zane, put it away,” she said, in a very dry tone.

  Zane’s head came up with a twinkle in his eye. He just laughed and shook his head.

  “Yeah, put it away for now,” Amanda whispered. “You can take it out later when we’re at home, if you want.”

  Jamie gave them both a very irritated look and said very dryly, “I thought you said you were planning to wait until you were married.”

  “I did,” he said, nodding his head very seriously. “But I also told you she was likely to make it very difficult for me. And she is.”

  Amanda ducked her head, her cheeks flaming. “He’s been good. I’m the naughty one.”

  Jamie laughed, shaking her head. “It’s okay, Dear. I figure it’s okay if you make him suffer for a little while.”

  Chapter 27

  Wednesday, September 10

  Zane and his dad had gone to town, so he could drop his motorcycle off at his house before they went to get his jeep. Phillip had called the night before and told him, after several weeks of mechanical and body work, with the addition of four new tires, it was good as new again. The blue, red and yellow paint with the Superman logo on the hood looked like it had never been touched. His dad had only been gone from the body shop a little more than five minutes, and he was getting ready to leave as well, when he got a frantic call from his mom.

  “Zane, he’s here,” she shouted through the phone, her panic ringing in his ear. Under most circumstances he would have had to ask who was there, but his gut immediately told him who she was referring to. He could hear Amanda screaming at the creep to leave her alone, and it was making his blood boil.

  “Has Dad made it back yet?” he shouted, making a run for his jeep.

  “Zane, what’s going on?” he heard Phillip shout from behind him.

  “Austin!” he yelled in answer, slamming the jeep into gear and peeling out, throwing gravel in every direction. He could tell by the look on his brother’s face, his one-word answer was enough.

  “Mom, is Dad there yet?” he asked again, this time nearly screaming.

  “No,” she breathed, sounding a little calmer. “But I think I hear him coming up the road.”

  “Good! Now call the station,” he growled. “I’m on my way.”

  Zane breathed a sigh of relief when he finally turned into his mom and dad’s driveway and he could already hear sirens coming down the road. He skidded the jeep to a stop and threw it into neutral, pulling the emergency brake. He didn’t even bother to turn the motor off. He had barely come to a stop before he flung the door open and jumped clear of the vehicle and started across the yard without closing it.

  Austin had Amanda by the hair and was trying to drag her across the yard, toward his car. His dad was trying to stop him, but he seemed to be afraid they were going to hurt Amanda if he wasn’t careful. Zane just ran up to him and punched him right in the face. The guy dropped like dead weight just as Carl reached out and caught Amanda as she collapsed. Zane wasn’t sure if it was from relief or fear.

  Zane started pacing back and forth in the front yard, seething, waiting for Austin to make it back to his feet. Anger must have made the man braver than usual. Once he was up right again, he charged at him, literally lowering his head like a bull.

  Their battle was so chaotic, the next thing Zane really knew, he was coming to. He laid there for a second, staring up at the sky. He knew there was no way Austin had gotten the better of him, and when he heard Jeff’s voice, he knew what had happened. Jeff had obviously knocked him out to keep him from killing the guy.

  “Zane,” Jeff broke through his thoughts. “Take care of Amanda. She’s not going to let anyone else touch her.”

  He pulled himself to a sitting position and looked over where she was cowering on the ground. After he managed to get back on his feet and he walked over to her, he saw her cringe away from him. He had a vague memory of her trying to pull him and Austin apart, herself. He realized they must have knocked her down.

  He ignored her protest when he leaned over and picked her up off the ground. He cradled her in his big arms and carried her up the porch steps and over to the porch swing to sit down.

  At first, when he settled her against him, she tried to get up, but he tightened his hold. “No, Baby. I’m not going to hurt you. Only thing I’ll ever do to you, is love you.” All of a sudden, she went limp against his chest, and buried her face in his shirt. He could feel her warm tears soaking through the cotton.

  He sat, holding her in his arms, watching the commotion still going on in the front yard. Jeff and Jackie weren’t the only patrol officers that had made it. Rogers and Daniels were there, along with a couple of other officers he didn’t know quite as well. Officer Daniels had Austin down in the dirt with his knee in his back and was just now getting cuffs on him. The man was screaming obscenities and was struggling like he thought he had a chance of getting away.

  “If he keeps it up, they’re going to get to add resisting arrest to his charges,” Carl huffed, watchin
g Daniels yank the man up to his feet.

  Jeff shook his head. “That’s already been added. Along with more than one count of assaulting an officer. He’s taken several pot shots at Boston and I already. That’s not counting the one really good shot he got in on Rogers,” he said in the low tone he got when he was truly angry.

  “How did he manage to get a pot shot in on you?” Zane asked, giving him a rather surprised look.

  “I was still trying to knock you out,” he growled. “It was a cheap shot. That’s why Boston has him. He had to pull him off me.”

  “I’m sorry,” he replied, truly looking contrite.

  Jeff grunted and shook his head at him. “You’re not the one who owes me an apology. I can think of a few others you might need to talk to, but not me. Honestly, I can’t tell you who hit who during some of that. The only one you were aiming at was Austin. The same can’t be said of him. He swung at anyone who got in his path,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “Come by the station after she’s calm enough and file a report. You know the drill.” With that said, he just walked off to help the others finish up.

  Once everything had settled down and Austin had been hauled off, Carl sat down in a wicker chair across from Zane. When he finally looked up at his dad, he noticed he had a black eye that wasn’t done swelling.

  “Did Austin hit you?” he asked, feeling a new wave of anger.

  “No,” he answered, giving his son a hesitant look. “You did when I tried to pull you off of him. I got in the way of one of your fists when you were aiming at his jaw.” He rubbed his bruised cheek and managed a small smile. “You pack quite a punch. I think the reason you didn’t manage to knock him out cold was, once you were rolling around on the ground together, you were getting mostly body shots in.”

  “Sorry,” he said, actually feeling embarrassed.