5. Amber Jaymes
Chapter 5
Amber Jaymes
The air in my lungs froze. I couldn’t get them to move as he approached. I had to swallow back bile as I turned to face him.
“Get. Out!” I hissed as I reached for my hip. The panic button on my keys. I needed it… I found it and squeezed it hard a few times.
“Is that any way to treat me? Hmm? Did you really think I would let you get away with your antics?”
“There were no antics. You attacked me; I fought back!”
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that. You know that, right?” He moved closer, menace clearly written across his features. The automatic door started to move down on its own. He’d hit the button when he came in. Why hadn’t I disconnected that stupid thing? Panic rolled up through me. I was alone. Diesel was gone. My gun was in the toolbox under the bench. There was no way I’d get to it quick enough to grab it before he was on me.
I had no choice but to fight. I could do that. I had to. No backing down. No fear.
While I was trying to gear myself up to fight, he charged me like a damn bull. His body slammed into me, sending us sprawling across the cluttered concrete floor. Pain flared through my back and shoulders as he pinned me to the floor. Air...I couldn’t get any air. I wheezed for breath when he raised himself up. His hand connected with my cheek, sending my head rolling. I swear it had been removed from my body with the amount of pain I was feeling.
I couldn’t go out like this. I was not going to let this man, this monster, make me into a cowering sack of tears and fear. I had to learn to stand on my own two feet. There was no way around it. I was a Daniels; we were cowards for no one.
I tried to grab his wrists from around my neck, but I didn’t have the strength to pry him off of me. Gasping, I tried to think while the little bit of oxygen I had was slowly squeezed out of me. My hands went out to the floor around me. I was a messy worker. There had to be something I could reach. My body jolted as his grip loosened slightly, his face inches from mine.
“You’ll wish you were dead by the time I’m done with you.” I could feel him shift, and one hand left my throat to slide up under my shirt. “You remember the times we had in Corpus? You screamed for me then; you’ll scream for me now.”
Corpus. I’d tried to forget that night... I’d said no then, too. God, not this again. No, he was not touching me without my permission again. He thought he had a claim to my body then. We were dating, yes, but no still means no. I’d been drinking that night. I’d never told anyone about that night. I was ashamed of myself for getting drunk. Shame was a hard pill to swallow. It wasn’t my fault, but yet, I felt like it was. It had taken that night to wake me up to the man he really was. That night helped me move on and get free of him.
I didn’t have the strength to stop him that night, but, dammit, I was not that same girl. He was not doing this to me again.
My hand gripped a rubber tube and, god help me, it was all I had, so I was going to use it. I swung it as fast and as hard as I could. It struck him across the face. The loud ‘thwack’ was enough to shake him off me. I coughed, trying to push the stars from my vision. It didn’t work.
“You stupid bitch!” His fist met my face, again, hard enough it had me seeing more than stars. It felt like my face had split into two pieces, but I wasn’t giving up.
“Fuck! You!” I rasped out. My throat was on fire. I had to use that pain as a reason to get up. I took a breath in and snarled as I wiggled, reaching for my open tool tray that lay just feet from me. I used his distraction of a car door slamming to wiggle further away. He got me by my hair, but I had what I needed when he jerked me back. His hand gripped my throat again, erasing the air in my lungs. With all the strength I had left in me, I slammed the screwdriver down into his wrist. Or I hoped it was his wrist. What I hadn’t expected was the searing pain in my chest.
I’d stabbed us both.
His roar of pain and anger loosened his hand from my throat. I got a leg free and around him, throwing him back. His hand was wrenched away from me, pulling the screwdriver out of my chest. I screamed in pain and fell to the side, losing my lunch.
Sweet mother of Christ.
“AJ!” Someone grabbed me and turned me over. It hurt so bad. It wasn’t Tom though, thank god. My brother knelt down beside me, a rage unlike I’d ever seen in him rolling across his face. He pulled his T-shirt off and pressed it to my chest. I could feel warm liquid squishing underneath it. The pain did nothing to stop the panic that the sound of fighting induced.
I fought to sit up.
Chip was fighting with Tom. They slammed into the side of Henry’s truck, bounced around and knocked the tools off the workbench, then Tom was down. His head slammed against the floor. Chip’s fist pounded into his face over and over again. I started to shake as I gripped my brother’s hand.
“S-stop him!”
Trace refused to move. Thankfully, another body came through the door in a rush. Then, one wearing a badge moved in behind him. Charlie, one of my brother’s friends, and a fellow club man tackled Chip while the man wearing a badge, Drew, tackled Tom, who was staggering up to his feet. Two more bodies came through the door and orders were barked out.
Overwhelmed by dizziness, I fell onto my brother.
“Hey, you got to stay with me, okay? What hurts? Talk to me, kid.”
“Let me go! I’m gonna kill him.”
A sob broke from me at Chip’s words. He couldn’t do that. They’d take him from me. “No…” I pleaded.
“She’s going to get what’s coming to her!” Tom fought to get free of Drew’s grip.
“You’ll die before you touch her again!” my brother snapped.
“They’ll never find your body, asshole,” Chip, oh so helpfully, announced.
“No!” I croaked, trying to get free of my brother to go to him.
“Chipper…” Trace’s gaze snapped to the man I loved as he fought to get free of Charlie’s grip. “Shut the fuck up and get over here!”
Trace, my always calm, always cool, brother leveled both Chip and Tom with a look that would have burned the hair off of Satan’s balls. Every man in the garage froze for a moment then jumped back into gear. Chip fell to his knees by my side, followed by Charlie, who had the first aid kit from the wall opened up beside him.
“Let me see how bad it is.”
“I did it...” I winced as I tried to talk. Damn, my throat hurt like hell.
“Easy.” He pulled the T-shirt away, causing the wound to burn like fire.
“What did this?” Charlie asked.
“Sc-screwdriver,” I whispered.
“How did you stab yourself, kid?”
“Stabbed him…” I grimaced. “He was attached to me…”
“I’m gonna kill him!” Chip snarled.
“God dammit!” My brother tried to move. He looked ready to kill someone, too. I did the only thing I could as sobs rolled through me. I gripped his hand and held on as tight as I could.
“N-no…” I grabbed Chip’s hand as well with the strength I had left. They couldn’t—wouldn’t— shove me away. Not here. Not now.
“I swear, I will sedate you assholes. Hold onto her and shut the fuck up.” Charlie leveled them with a glare then pressed something against my wound.
“Son of a whore!” I whisper-yelled, yerking, trying to get away from the burning.
“Hold on, kid. Let him help you. It’s gonna burn a bit. You would stab yourself with the dirtiest thing in this garage,” my brother groused.
I sobbed, tears still pouring down my cheeks.
“Bus will be here in five.” Drew squatted beside Trace.
“You the reason he has a bloody hole through his hand?”
“Y-yes. He?—”
“Save your air. Let us get you patched up, and then you can tell us what happened.”
“Have Derek pull the security footage. You can see what happened.”
At his words, I looked over to the corner. I’d forgotten they’d installed new cameras. The old one didn’t work. Hadn’t worked in years. Dad never used them, but let’s face it, we live in different times, and people nowadays have no respect for other people’s property in the slightest.
The big rolling door opened, sending in a wash of fresh air, voices, and the snarl of a big dog.
“Amber!”
“Ollie.” I released my brother’s hand as he got to his feet. I lost sight of him, but the silence that suddenly surrounded us let me hear him. He gave Diesel a command, and the dog quieted.
“Ollie.”
“What happened?”
“There was an incident. She’s been hurt, but she’s going to be okay. Can you hold onto him for a bit? Go sit in the back of my truck with him.”
“Sure. Sure.”
Trace came back in and scrubbed a hand through his hair.
“You know he’s going to call Keith.” Chip wrapped an arm around me, and I let him. Being held by him felt good.
“Don’t let him,” I begged. My words were brushed aside when the EMTs came in.
“What do we have?”
I tuned them all out. How had today gone tits up so fast? Everything around me crashed down, and my body was far from being able to keep up with anything anymore. I let my eyes close and allowed the darkness in my mind to take over.
“Her wound, though torn, will close up just fine. We irrigated the area, making sure to get anything in there out, and started an IV antibiotic. Barring infection, she should be back to normal in a few days.”
“It wasn’t deep then? She didn’t damage anything vital?”
I could hear my brother’s voice pulling me from the fog I’d been blissfully enjoying.
“No. It was about an inch deep. Other than the puncture itself, she was in no danger of damaging anything. She scraped her collarbone, so that may be sore. She’s not doing any lifting for a couple of weeks. I don’t want her straining that muscle until it’s healed.”
“Her X-rays were clean?”
“Yes. There were no rib fractures, just some bruising. You said she’d fallen?”
“She was tackled to a concrete floor. The video didn’t show if she’d landed on anything that was strewn across the place.”
“Ah, I see. Now if she has extensive pain in that area any time over the next few days, you can bring her back in and we can have another look.”
“The nurse said she’d need a follow-up with her doctor, is that all we need to do? They could check for breaks if the pain worsens?”
“Yes. Now if you notice any redness, puss, or heat around the injury, you bring her back in. Don’t wait to see a doctor if that happens. Infections can cause bigger problems quickly.”
“No worries. A family friend is her doctor, so she’ll make a house call if we need that.”
“Very well.”
“Can we take her home now?”
Chip... that voice. I needed to open my eyes so I could see him, make sure he was okay, but I just couldn’t. Sleep tugged me back down into the fog. I went willingly.
“Is she awake yet?”
“No.”
The voice was right next to me. Instinctively, I shifted, pressing closer. That was a bad idea. My chest felt like it was on fire. A small groan escaped me.
“Easy. I’ve got you.” Lips pressed against my forehead. “You’re home, in your bed. Trace is here, too.”
“Kid, you okay? Need something for the pain? You’ve been asleep for a while now.”
“Water,” I rasped out. My mouth felt like I’d been sucking on cotton. Gross.
“I got it. Diesel wanted to come up. Ollie, too. Poor kid’s about to wear a hole in the carpet.”
“Thank you.” I took the bottle of water, and with Chip’s help, I sat up and leaned against the pillows. I downed the whole bottle of water in seconds. It felt so good going down my sore throat.
The bed jostled when Diesel jumped up. He came to my side, flopped down, and put his big head on my lap. My fingers immediately went to his ears, scrubbing my nails just behind them in the spot he liked.
My gaze came up and went around the room. “I’m okay. Just sore as all get out.”
“Are you sure? Uncle Keith and Dad are on their way over,” Ollie said, moving to sit on the bed beside Diesel.
“I’m surprised they’re not already here,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes.
“They were, but they had to go check on the dogs and get Uncle Elton something to eat.”
I looked at Ollie and shook my head. The men in this family. I swear, they worried too much. I loved them, but they were a bit much sometimes.