He couldn’t explain what he felt at that moment, seeing her like that; he wanted to hurt the person responsible and hurt them bad. He wanted them to feel the way Cara felt, if not worse. He pushed the anger aside, and took her to his room. He cleaned her cuts, and put ice on her bruises. He held her as she cried for hours, and didn’t say a word. When she was ready, she would tell him, he figured, for at that moment she needed him to assure her she was okay.
It wasn’t until the following morning, when she told him that her father had been the culprit of her attack, and that it hadn’t been the first time. He wished that she would’ve come to him sooner, but she had explained that she was too embarrassed. He vowed that night that he would never let anything bad happen to her again, and he was a man of his word. He also vowed to make sure that Cara’s father paid for what he did to her.
He made good on that promise years later. He knew that the son of a bitch would be driving a trailer out of Riverdale, filled with automotive parts. Being a tractor trailer driver, these runs often sent him out of town for a couple of days. He didn’t know where the trailer was headed, and he didn’t care, he just knew he’d make sure it would never make it to its destination.
He had followed her father down the interstate, when he pulled over at a truck stop, he made sure the motherfucker, got his. Until this day, Jake couldn’t tell you what he did, or how he did it. He had no recollection. He didn’t even remember, calling Nick and he only assumed he called him because he didn’t want his brother involved when he had Ava to worry about. He did remember sitting in the back of the trailer, throwing car parts around. He thought he struck the lotto with the load her father had been carrying, and knew that Luke and Nick would benefit from it. In fact, he was in the trailer, when Nick found him that night.
“I don’t know where we are going to put all this shit. We’re going to have to make a couple of trips.” Jake said as held a bloody tire iron, clutching it as if his life depended on it.
Nick just watched him for a moment, as he started kicking the contents of the trailer around. “Jake, what the fuck happened here?” Nick asked, a little breathless.
“What does it look like happened? I got you what you needed.” He said, the adrenaline pumping through him.
“At what fucking expense,” Nick pointed to the front of the trailer. “That’s Cara’s father! Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“I know who he is, he’s a piece of shit. That bastard used to beat the shit out of her. She didn’t get jumped like, you all thought,” Jake responded.
Nick swiped his hands over his face.
“Jake, I don’t even know if he is alive.” Nick said, frustrated while, Jake began to throw parts of the truck onto the road below, aiming for Nick to catch them. “JAKE STOP!” He jumped onto the trailer and grabbed Jake, who was shaking.
“She didn’t deserve it.” Jake cried. “I should’ve been there for her. She’s always there for me, always!”
“It’s okay. She’s okay,” Nick said reassuringly.
Jake pulled back and looked at Nick, tears falling from his eyes. “Oh my God, Nick. What did I do?” He said coming back to reality. And then the both of them turned, noticing the flashing lights.
“Jake, look at me,” Nick said, slapping Jake who was frozen. Jake turned slowly and looked at Nick. “You need to get out of here, you hear me?” He reached into his pocket and grabbed his keys. He placed them in Jake’s hand and closed his palm. “Take my car and go home. If anyone asks you anything, you don’t know anything about what happened here. Are you listening to me?” Nick yelled.
“Nick.” Jake started, but was cut off.
“Get out of here now!” Nick shouted, and pushed him off the trailer. He watched Jake disappear into the woods along the side of the highway.
“Freeze; Put your hands where we can see them!” A police officer shouted. Slowly Nick lifted his hands above his head. Within seconds, the cops had jumped onto the trailer and had him thrown on the floor handcuffed.
That was all Jake remembered seeing, between the trees, before he ran as Nick had told him too. He was just thankful that Nick had been released, and the charges dismissed. To this day, he didn’t know how Nick had managed that one, but he didn’t ask either. He tried really hard not think about it. It only made him feel guilty. Cara had no idea that Jake was the one that left her father beaten and bloody, or that Nick had been arrested that night. Come to think of it, the only people who knew were Jake and Nick. Jake laid his head against the pillows on the bed and closed his eyes. He didn’t regret what he did; he only regretted that he wasn’t able to stop Cara from getting hurt. If he had to do it again, he would, the only difference being, he’d make sure the bastard was dead.
Chapter Four