“What?” His eyes were round with worry and confusion.
“Jaxy, baby, you have to do as I say.” I looked over and saw the white car coming closer still. “Go inside. Now!” He ran from me, terrified, and my heart hurt for scaring him, but I had to keep him safe. The white car pulled to a stop across the street and I watched as the door opened and a man got out. Distantly, I heard the door lock behind me and Ruby yelling at Jaxy, trying to figure out what was going on, and the only thing I could think was that I was the last thing standing between whoever it was in the white car and those kids.
As the man stepped closer, I finally recognized him and my heart stopped cold.
“I only want to talk,” he said, now in the middle of the street, walking straight toward me.
“I have a restraining order against you. You’re not supposed to be within fifty feet of me. You need to leave.”
“Not until you listen to me.” His hand was in the pocket of his hoodie and the thought of what he could have in it made a huge lump form in my throat. My eyes were glued to his arm where his hand disappeared into the black fabric, but he kept talking. “Listen, this is all just one big misunderstanding. I’m not a criminal. I don’t deserve to go to jail.”
“You should have thought about that before you assaulted me behind the bar.”
“I don’t even remember that!” he screamed at me, moving even closer, his body jolting and jumping erratically. I heard more yelling from inside the house and all I could hope was that the kids would stay inside. “I was drunk! I’m not some scumbag who’d rape someone behind a bar.” One of his hands came up to run through his hair, but halfway through his fingers gripped it and he tugged. “There’s just so much pressure,” he said, coming closer still. I took a step back but he just continued forward. “I’m supposed to graduate this year, get a job, be the successful businessman my father is, but I can’t do what my father does. I can’t be my father. I hate him.”
My eyes kept glancing at his hoodie, hoping and praying he kept his hand in there, for fear of what he was holding.
“If I get charged with assault, my father will disown me,” he said as if it were explanation enough. As though at his words I should just shrug and say, “Oh, well why didn’t you say that in the first place?”
But I didn’t say anything. I just took another step back, silently cursing when the back of my legs hit the bumper of my car. I was effectively trapped.
He came closer and my breathing quickened. I had nowhere to go and I had no idea what was in his pocket. I feared the worst, scenarios running through my mind. Would he shoot me? Stab me? Would Devon get here in time? Would the kids find me dead? All thoughts caused a whirlwind in my brain. My lungs worked overtime. Suddenly, there were spots, and my vision was spinning.
The last thing I saw was the man coming closer and standing over me, pulling his hand from his pocket.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Devon
“Daddy? Please come home. Fast. There’s a man outside. He was in a white car, and he’s talking to Grace and she looks scared.” My blood chilled in my veins at the sound of Ruby’s voice, scared and worried, and my heart thumped wildly in my chest. I didn’t think. I just moved.
“Call 911. Now, Ruby. Stay in the house. Do not go outside. Do you hear me?”
“Daddy, I’m scared,” she whispered. I jumped in my SUV and drove recklessly from the parking lot.
“Ruby, listen to me. Call 911 and give them our address. Stay inside. I’m on my way. Everything will be all right.” I said the words even though I had no idea if I’d end up being right, but nothing would ever wipe away the memory of Ruby’s voice crying over the phone, telling me she was scared, and I’d do or say anything in that moment to make her feel safe. Ruby had been through a lot. Hell, both my kids had, but fear was not something they’d had to deal with a lot. So to hear her scared, and be miles away, was not something I’d get over easily.
The five minutes it took me to drive to my house were the scariest five minutes of my life. I had no idea if Grace was okay or if my kids were okay, but I was driving like a madman to get to them.
When I pulled up to the house, I didn’t see a white car. It could have been there, but I wasn’t looking for it. My gaze was locked on Grace, lying on the ground with a pool of blood around her head.
I threw the car in Park, not bothering to turn it off, and ran to her. As soon as I was on the ground next to her and saw her chest move up and down with a breath, I let out my own breath of relief.
“Daddy!” I heard Ruby cry from the front door.
“Are you and your brother all right?” I asked, and she nodded, tears streaming down her face. “It’s okay, sweetie. Everything’s fine. Did you call 911?”
“Yeah,” she cried. It was then I heard the faint sound of sirens in the distance.