Chapter 10
AVERY
Once we're away from the crowd and I'm sure there's no innocent bystanders around to get hurt, I start fighting.
It earns me a hard punch that lands against my shoulder as I manage to twist out of Clayton's grip, but the thick insulation of my winter coat helps pad the blow a little.
"Let me go!"
Clay's hand manages to keep hold on my coat as I work to get away from him. the zipper is done up under the row of snaps, preventing me from easily shedding the thing so I can get free.
We're a few blocks off the main street and it doesn't look like we're in the best neighborhood. Everyone seems to be down at the parade, and if anyone is home, this is the kind of place where people turn up their TVs to drown out a fight, not call the police.
Still, I make plenty of noise that should make it clear to anyone in hearing distance that I do not want to be with this guy.
"Fucking Avery Huxley, man." Clay sneers, triumphantly catching my hair in his fist when my knit cap gets knocked off my head. "You haven't changed. Still the goody two shoes little whore I remember you being. I got plans for you."
Eight years ago, I was only seventeen when I watched this man-- who was technically still a teenager himself-- carry one of my classmates away from a bonfire party.
A week later, her body was found. She was still chained to a post in a storage shed, naked, and brutalized.
Her autopsy report couldn't determine if she'd died of dehydration from not being given anything to eat or drink since she'd gone missing-- or from the repeated assaults she'd endured.
You better believe I went to the police and told them that I'd seen Clay take off with her.
When they tested his DNA against what was found on Tricia's body-- he got life in prison for her murder.
When my brother insisted I take several self-defense classes, neither of us expected it would be Clayton himself that I'd need to defend myself against; it was more out of an abundance of caution after something horrible had happened right in our back yard.
Instead of continuing to struggle to get away from Clay, I rush toward him. It relieves the eye-watering tension of his grip on my hair, and catches him by surprise.
My fist plows into his Adam's apple.
Then my knee drives into his groin.
I don't realize I'm still screaming until Booker pulls me off the man on the sidewalk.
Booker
The local cop that raced me up the street when Avery started screaming has the guy's face against the frozen concrete while he cuffs him and radios for a ride.
I have to hold Avery tight to keep her from kicking the shit out of the escaped convict that tried to kidnap her, but by the time a patrol unit shows up to take Clay to the local lock-up and I've had a chance to explain the situation to the officers, the adrenaline crash has set in and Avery is pale and shaky in my arms.
"I need to get her warm, can we meet up with you later for statements?"
"If you need medical attention--" The officer shoots the shivering woman under my arm a sympathetic glance but I cut him off.
"I think we'll be fine. She's a nurse, her brother's a surgeon. If we need anything, we'll be sure to get her into the right hands."
After assuring we don't need further attention or a ride anywhere, the officers leave us on our own and I'm finally able to assess Avery's condition more closely.
"Are you okay?" I spin her around, patting her down, then checking every visible inch of her body. "Did he hurt you?"
I'd have killed the son of a bitch if the officer hadn't been present. It would have been worth every piece of paperwork and the headaches that go with it to discharge my weapon if it meant taking that piece of shit out for good.
"Yeah, I'm fine... I mean; he didn't hurt me. I just want to go back to the room and spend Christmas with you."
"Anything you want, cupcake... by the way, you were amazing. Remind me not to piss you off. If we hadn't gotten there when we did, I think you'd have killed him."
Avery giggles, holding tightly to my waist as we walk back down to where we parked.
"Caspian made sure I took a bunch of self-defense classes after the trial. I'm surprised I remembered any of it."
"Shit...Cap." I make sure Avery's buckled in and then I close the passenger door and circle around, dialing my buddy's number while I settle in behind the wheel and get the truck warming up.
"We got him... for real this time... yeah, she's okay. Shaken up..."
"I missed the end of the parade," Avery says to the man on the other end of the call. "And Booker drank my cocoa."
"I did not drink her cocoa," I assure her brother when he questions why I'd do that. "Yeah, we're going to go down to the PD on our way out tomorrow and give our statements. Should be cut and dry from there..."
Slipping the truck into gear, I pull away from the curb and get us headed back to the hotel for one more night. A night I plan to spend worshipping my girl's body and guaranteeing she only remembers the best parts of our time in Hope Peak.
Leaning across the center console to meet her lips in a quick kiss, I turn my attention back to my call.
"Hey Cap, by the man, I'm going to marry your sister."
I love the way Avy's eyes light up at hearing that, and that's when I know that whatever's been keeping my buddy busy is serious, because the only thing he says before ending the call is, "cool."