24. Sam
SAM
The man holding Alyssa turned at the sound of squealing tires, and I took my shot. Charging forward, I grabbed the man’s hand just as I crashed into both Alyssa and her attacker, wrenching the knife out of his grip.
Terrified, Alyssa rolled away, scrambling out of his reach as I slammed my fist into his face over and over again. My rage blocked out everything else as the man’s face morphed into Joe Rubin’s. I imagined we were back in the ring, and I was beating the shit out of him for ending my career.
But slowly, my senses returned to me and I backed off, staring down at the bloody heap of a man as my breaths turned ragged. I slid my shaking fingers through my hair as I stood, realizing I had just nearly ended the man’s life. Not that he deserved anything less after he attacked a woman.
“Sam!”
I spun, looking around in the dark for Jeff’s voice. He was crouched in the street, hovering over something.
Once again, my heart kicked into overdrive. Brown strands of hair lay strewn across the pavement, connected to a body that was twisted in an unnatural position. I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing, to get any closer and have this nightmare turn into a reality.
But I forced my feet forward until I was by her side. Those locks of hair were not brown, but stained with red from the blood gushing from her scalp. Gashes slashed across her face as she laid in a pool of shattered glass.
“Cass,” I whispered, my voice barely registering in my own head.
Kneeling down at her side, my mind took in every cut, every broken bone as she laid unconscious on the ground.
“Put pressure on it!” Jeff shouted, pointing to the gash in her side as he wrapped a torn piece of his sleeve around her arm.
Blood pooled beneath her, spreading by the second. I did as he said, pressing hard to staunch the bleeding. Sirens wailed and chaos erupted in the street as officers stormed out of the police station, crossing the road to us.
“What happened?” Wayne asked.
“I don’t know! Alyssa was attacked, and I was trying to help her. When I turned around—”
“It was a hit and run,” Jeff jumped in. “The guy ran her down.”
“On purpose?” Wayne asked.
“He steered right for her.”
Wayne quickly got to his feet and called his boss. Within minutes, an ambulance was wailing as it stopped not too far from us. The paramedics rushed over, pushing me out of the way to take care of Cassidy.
Blood stained my hands, but it wasn’t because of the beating I gave to the man who attacked Alyssa. This was all from Cassidy. Every drop of blood was on my hands, all because I didn’t protect her like I swore I would.
Taking out my phone, I did the one thing no one in the Parker family wanted me to do. I called Knight.
“Cassidy was just hit by a car,” I said as soon as he picked up. “It was him. I fucking know it!”
“Where are you?”
“In town. Alyssa was with us,” I said, running my hand over my forehead. “She was attacked by someone, and when Cassidy ran for help…It had to have been planned,” I said, thinking back to the rev of the engine. “It was a distraction. He wanted her in the street.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Austin is behind this. He fucking set up Alyssa, and then he ran down Cassidy while I was distracted. He fucking tried to kill her!”
“Not just her,” he muttered. “Alarms are going off at the ranch. Stay with her. Don’t fucking leave her side.”
I couldn’t if I wanted to, not when I had already failed her. I sent out a group message, hoping someone got it. My sister was at her house with my niece, but at least she had the panic room and the house was weaponized.
“Sir, we’re leaving for the hospital. Do you want to ride with her?”
I nodded. “Try to stop me.”