From The Wreckage - Complete (44 page)
Read From The Wreckage - Complete Online
Authors: Michele G Miller
Jules drops her jaw. Her hand itches to grab West and pull him to safety.
“Yeah? Why’s that?” Rick asks; slinging his arm around Aubrey’s shoulder and yanking her forward with him. Jules is pretty sure she sees Aubrey flinch at the weight of his arm, but when she looks up and sees Jules standing there, she plasters on her mean girl smile.
“Aw, West… why did you have to bring your little whore here with you? Is no place sacred anymore?” she drawls, her words sloppy.
West’s low voice warns calmly, “Shut up, Aubrey.”
“Is that pretty thing yours, Rutledge?” Rick asks and Aubrey balks. “A redhead, huh? Is she as hot and fiery as that hair?” he suggests, and Jules feels the need to barf.
He’s not bad looking, but his face is all sharp angles and wide cheeks. His dark hair is a little longer than West’s and tucked behind his ears, but his eyes and demeanor scream
prick
. West clenches his fists and Jules holds her breath as she starts to silently chant,
No fights, no fights.
“I’d watch what you say. Remember what happened the last time you opened your big mouth?”
Rick laughs loudly; throwing his head back and letting out giant guffaws as if West just told the funniest joke in the world.
“Where’s your back up, Rutledge? I don’t see Austin. You seriously think you can take me all by yourself?”
“Baby, come on,” Aubrey breaks in and tugs on Rick’s arm. “Let’s go back to your place.” She rubs her ample chest against his arm suggestively.
“In a minute,” he barks; shaking her off and advancing a step towards West. “Come on, West. Let’s go another round.”
Jules squeaks and West’s hand waves her back as he moves forward. “Look man, my girl is here. You’ve got Aubrey. Just leave. There’s no need to get into it tonight.”
“You really think you can tell me to leave? This isn’t your house! Where’s Lauren? Only Lauren tells me to go. Lauren!” he shouts.
“Dude, you don’t need to see Lauren. You know damn well you shouldn’t even be here. We can call the cops if necessary, but nobody wants that.”
Cops? What the hell?
Jules wonders as Aubrey tugs on Rick’s arm again. Her voice rises to that whiny nasal tone Jules has had the displeasure of hearing at school many times, as she begs him to leave.
They stand there in a standoff with both West and Rick primed, ready for a fight if necessary, and Jules holds her breath. A crowd has grown, but unfortunately at this point in the night, they’re all well into their buzzes and most likely won’t be of any help.
“Baby, come on…I want to play.”
Another urge to vomit hits Jules as Aubrey uses all of her womanly wiles to try and coax her man away.
Rick nods finally and puts his arm back around Aubrey’s waist before grabbing her rear. “You’re lucky, Rutledge. I have better things to do than waste my time with you tonight.”
West shrugs arrogantly. “If you say so.”
Jules gets the overwhelming desire to punch her boyfriend with his attitude.
“We’ll resume this later.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
The air remains tense as Rick and Aubrey walk away. Aubrey looks back over her shoulder once, although her face doesn’t look quite so victorious or bitchy now, and West drops his head.
“You’ll look forward to it?” Jules mumbles; creeping up next to him and hugging him from behind. “I’m going to need some explaining on this one, West.”
“I know.” He rubs his hand over her cold fingers and then looks over his shoulder. Jules follows his gaze to see Lauren standing in the doorway of her house. She offers a small wave and West gives her an almost imperceptible nod before she turns and gets lost in the crowd.
“Come on, let’s go back to my place. We’ve got a little time left before you need to get home, and I’m pretty damn curious to see if you got any tan lines on your tropical vacation.” His low voice arouses every nerve in her body, even as her mind still screams for answers.
“Really? No explanation about this huge pissing contest you just had with the freaking Hulk, all because of Lauren?” she shoots out, and West unwraps her arms from his waist to face her.
“I’m pretty smart, you know. Obviously that was about Lauren, and although I’m not the jealous type, I can’t help but wonder how you could put yourself in a situation like that. I think I deserve an answer, because you just scared the hell out of me.”
“O, ye of little faith,” he grumbles, and a smirk crosses his face.
“It’s not a joke, West.”
She doesn’t crack. She crosses her arms over her chest and turns on her heel, heading towards her car.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“We’re leaving right? I’ll meet you at your place and you can explain all of this,” she barks; waving her hands around and gesturing to the party.
“Um, no! You drank a few beers. You’re
not
driving.”
“Are you joking? You drank more.”
“Yes, but I can handle my alcohol.”
“Ugh!” Jules blurts and stomps away in disgust.
West grabs her hips and pulls her back to his warm chest. The air temperature has dropped significantly in the past hour, and her thermal shirt and sweater are no longer keeping her warm. “Baby, please,” he murmurs into her ear; his arms like bands of steel as they wrap around her. “I’m sorry. Let me drive you and I’ll explain everything. Don’t be mad.” His mouth closes on her ear, sending shivers running up and down her spine, and she collapses into him.
“I’m not mad,” she admits, before weaving her hands into his and leading them up across her chest to hold her tighter. “I’m confused and scared and worried. All vastly different from mad.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He leans over her from behind and traces the curves of her lobe with his tongue as he grinds into her rear lightly, provocatively. “God, you taste so good.”
“Take me to your house.”
“Yes ma’am.”
They’re just pulling down the street away from Lauren’s house when Jules turns to West and says playfully, “By the way, I
did
get some tan lines.”
“You planning on showing me?”
“You explain the scene back there and I will. They’re pretty tiny though…you know, they match my little string bikini.” She raises her brows suggestively and only laughs when he groans.
“What the-”
High beams flash behind them, a horn blares and West slows down; pulling to the side of the road to let the angry driver by.
“Idiot,” he mutters before looking to the right and seeing the car come up beside him.
“Is that…?”
“Rick,” he replies flatly, and slows down to let them pass, but Rick slows too.
The road they are on is vacant and dark, with only an occasional street lamp and two lanes, and Rick has decided to play ‘Chicken’. He rolls the passenger side window down and West unzips his driver’s side window.
“Wanna go a round of chicken, asshole?” he shouts across the car. Aubrey clutches the handle above the window and Jules feels a twinge of sympathy for her when she sees her face full of terror.
“Don’t be stupid, Rick!” West tries to argue. ”Go around me.”
When West slows, Rick slows. When he speeds up, Rick speeds up. Headlights appear in the distance and Aubrey screams.
“Would you stop the damn car and get in the right lane before you get us all killed?!”
Jules sees Rick laughing even though she can’t hear him. West puts on the brakes and pulls the Jeep almost to a stop. Rick races past them and Jules gasps when his car pulls into the left lane just in time to narrowly avoid a head-on collision.
West slams his fist into the steering wheel and speeds up, and Jules lays her hand on his arm.
“West, slow down! Can we just go another way? I don’t even want to ride on the same road they're on.”
“He’s going to get them both killed.”
“No,
you’re
his target. Can’t we just goooo!” She finishes the plea in a scream as they top a small ridge and spot Rick’s car. He’s driving as slow as molasses, and West slams on the brakes to keep from ramming them from behind. She presses a hand to her racing chest and sees spots behind her eyelids.
“There’s no other way back home. I’ll go around and leave them behind. It’s either that or sit behind him and let him play stop-and-go with us.”
Jules is mildly surprised when Rick lets them go around him. As her passenger side goes past him, he blows her a kiss and she cringes. West pulls back into the left lane and they speed up; reaching almost seventy miles per hour before he starts to slow again. Rick’s lights are just a small glow in the rearview mirror.
“I want a damn explanation,
now
. We should call the cops.”
“Maybe we should,” he agrees; his eyes flicking from the road to the rearview mirror and back constantly. “Lauren and Austin had a thing.”
“A thing?”
“Yes, a thing. Rick screwed it up.”
“How old is the guy?” she asks; looking behind her to make sure they are still at a reasonable distance.
“He’s a year ahead of Austin; he graduated high school in ‘eleven. He’s just a prick who played ball and was thrown off the team his senior year because of drugs. Lauren was only a freshman.”
The Jeep accelerates slightly and Jules tugs on her seatbelt out of habit. They are almost out of the country, near a more populated area.
“Look, essentially Rick screwed with Lauren, got her wasted at some party just to spite Austin and then took advantage of her.”
Her hand covers her mouth. “Did he rape her?”
“No, but he wasn’t easy on her, either. Austin didn’t want to see her anymore, but they remained friends. We all did. Rick would come back occasionally just to screw with her. Two years ago she finally decided to stop letting him hurt her. Austin and I just happened to be there.”
Jules nods. “I get it. Fight ensues, and you guys kick his ass. He’s bitter.”
“Pretty much.”
A regular knight in shining armor, again. If he was a boy scout, she bets he’d be covered in badges.
“Son of a bitch! Why won’t he just let up?”
Jules spins around in her seat to see Rick flying up next to them again. Aubrey is screaming for help and yelling so loud, they can hear her with West’s window shut.
“Call the cops, babe,” he orders. Jules lifts up to remove her phone from her back pocket, and the next thing she hears is screeching tires, West’s voice shouting and the blaring of horns.
Her mind takes it all in, similar to a camera catching a moving subject. Her head lifts, headlights hit her eyes, horns blare, tires peal, West curses, Rick’s car slices in front of theirs…but not before it gets clipped by a car heading directly at them. The car spins in front of the Jeep and West can do nothing but barrel straight into the passenger side. Aubrey’s blonde hair flying around her face is the last thing Jules sees before she hears the sound of tearing metal and shattering glass.
The Jeep buckles at the impact, the doors fly off the hinges and Jules’ body goes airborne. The bitter night air slaps at her skin as she flies from the Jeep. She lands roughly and slides across the rough, hot surface; her body cracking apart at the impact and rolling to a stop like she is a rag doll.
She blinks and stares up at the clear night sky. Fiery white stars cover the expanse, twinkling down at her, and she recalls something her parents told her when she was a child after her Papa Blacklin died.
“Each of those stars represents the people who have gone to heaven. They watch over us and protect us, and if you’re lucky Jules, you’ll see them wink at you. It’s to let you know they love you.”
She fights the heavy pull to close her eyes and catches sight of a bright star. She holds it in her view as long as she can; its radiance spreading out around and casting a glow over the blackness of the sky. Just as her lids close, the tiny star winks and she knows it’s Tanya looking over her.
“Jules! Jules! Can you hear me? Baby, hold on…they’re coming, baby.”
West’s voice fills her head as she lays there. Something heavy presses into her arm, almost like someone is sitting on it. Her entire body screams — no, she’s screaming —on the inside. Outside, she’s not moving at all.
Sirens sound in the distance.
She hears shouting voices, and then softer, someone cries a low, deep sob.
West
.
Hands touch her carefully and she feels herself being lifted. Her mind dimly registers the movement; it registers the voices telling her it’ll be okay.
A door slams loudly, then two more slam and sirens blare. She feels like she’s moving again. Something sticks her arm, and then there’s another prick. Voices murmur, orders are given, but she can’t grasp any of it. It’s all just a blur of tiny moments, like the build-up before the beat hits in a song.
Bright lights blind her eyelids but she can’t seem to open them. She hears voices. Familiar sobs of pain or relief, she can’t tell, but she
knows
those voices. They belong to her mom and dad.
Where’s West?
West?
her brain screams again. She recalls hearing his voice earlier. Where is he?
“Her pulse is racing, Doctor! Her blood pressure is spiking.”