Hot Pink Heels (The Street Series) (18 page)

Chuck and Jackson had continued to argue for a few minutes about whether to look for the necklace or not. Finally, Jackson grabbed his phone, pulled the door handle and slid out despite Chuck’s pleading. Stepping around the front of the car, Jackson used his cell phone as a light to search for the necklace.

Chuck joined him in order to move the search along, but he was more worried about Billy returning to finish the job or pass on another “message.” At Jackson’s gasp, Chuck swung around to see his son proudly holding up the silver chain. He grinned and then
stood up too quickly, nearly dropping it again when he wobbled.

The two men returned to the car and Chuck pointed the Focus toward Redlands. It was half an hour before Jackson remembered he had a voicemail from a missed call. He saw that his mom had called and he wondered what she wanted, but figured he’d better listen to it in case the women needed them to pick something up before they returned.

As he listened to the message, his mouth tightened perceptibly. Chuck was sneaking sidelong glances at him as he held the phone to his ear, and as Jackson pressed the button to end the message, Chuck raised an eyebrow, waiting.

“It was Amanda,” Jackson said. “She was warning us that Billy might have a way to find you and mom. She wanted us to call and
she said to forget about getting her stuff.”

“Are you going to call her?” Chuck
pressed down on the accelerator, easing it the car over the speed limit as he waited for Jackson’s answer.

“I don’t think so,” Jackson said. “I don’t think it would help, because I don’t want to get her riled up about what just happened without being there so she can see that we’re both okay. Plus, she would probably freak mom out and I don’t want that either.”

Chuck nodded in agreement and encouraged the car to give another burst of speed. “We’re only about 20 minutes out anyway, so we’ll just tell them when we get there.”

Laura laughed as Amanda finished up the story with Jackson’s offer to double her nightly fee. “Oh, I can just see him, he probably played it so cool,” Laura joked. “He was always able to fool us pretty easily.”

Amanda grinned, forgetting for the moment about her fears as she remembered the way Jackson had played the offer with a straight face. “Yeah, he was pretty believable,” she said. She replayed the scene in her mind, along with the feeling she’d had as he’d offered her water and his jacket when she’d lost her lunch in his boss’s car.

“He saved me that night,” Amanda mused, lost in her thoughts. “I’m sure he doesn’t know,
but that night changed my life.”

Laura held her breath. The moment had finally come. “I don’t think Jack is the one who saved you,” she said with a smile. She took Amanda’s hand across the table.

“What do you mean?” She sipped her cooling coffee and tried not to think about Laura’s hand on hers. She wasn’t use to someone showing her such affections, which were designed merely to comfort with no ulterior motives.

Laura tilted her head, her eyes sparkling as she bit her bottom lip. “Well, I think God had a hand in it,” she said. Amanda stiffened, but Laura pretended like she hadn’t noticed her hand tense up.

Her parents use to say things like that, and Amanda use to believe them, but somewhere along the way, she’d forgotten everything they’d taught her.
Forgotten? Or pushed away?
The voice in her head taunted her. Basically, she’d turned her back on everything she’d believed as a child, and until now, she’d never given it another thought.

Her teenage years were filled with arguments and, as she could now see, rebellion.
Still, she’d come too far now to turn back. She’d said horrible things to her parents, not once, but for years. She’d pushed her brother and sister away and had deserted them all to come out here and selfishly follow her dream.

Amanda had slept with hundreds of men, most of the time for money, but sometimes just for fun. She didn’t smoke or do drugs, but she’d gone bar hopping plenty of times just to drown out the reality she
now lived, and she’d spent plenty of nights hunched over the toilet wondering why she’d ever left home.

And now, she’d decided to terminate an unwanted baby. What
was it the clinic had said?
You are making the right decision, because it’s the one that’s best for you and your future family
, the nurse had said. She was questioning that decision more each day, but she couldn’t go back, so she’d tried to push the thoughts out of her head each time the pictures from the pamphlet had crossed her mind.

No, Laura was sweet, and maybe when all she’d done was break a few of her parents’ rules she could see God helping her out, but she was too far gone now. Even God couldn’t save her from everything she’d done. Pulling her hand from Laura’s, she rushed from the kitchen, taking refuge in the room that was now hers. She was surprised to discover her cheeks were wet.

Really, Amanda? You’re surprised? You knew all along that you were making a mistake by getting rid of the baby. Weren’t you the one that pushed your friend
not
to have an abortion your sophomore year? It’s because you knew it was wrong. And now you’re paying the price.

Jackson doesn’t want to want you, you don’t even like yourself, and you can never go back. You can’t go back to your parents and you can’t go back to God—not after what you’ve done.

Laura was still at the kitchen table when she heard Jackson’s car pull up. It was old enough to make a very distinctive sound and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard two car doors slam.

After Amanda had raced from the room, Laura had sat still, reviewing their conversation and hashing things out with God. She feared she’d pushed Amanda farther away, but she wouldn’t change what she’d said. She’d asked God for an opening and he’d provided it, but she couldn’t know what Amanda was thinking as she pulled away.

Moving to the door, Laura was alarmed to see Jackson limping heavily. She opened the screen door and ran out into the yard to meet them halfway, but Jackson waved her off as he looked for Amanda.

“She’s in her room, but what in the world happened?” Laura pulled his hand from his head and gasped when she saw the gash and crusted blood he had been covering with the tissues. “Chuck?” She turned toward her husband with a questioning glance, only to notice he had a bruise blooming on his lower right cheek.

“Oh my god! Are you okay? Tell me what happened right now,” Laura fussed and fluttered around the two men, trying to hurry them into the kitchen. She grabbed a pack of peas from the freezer and held it out to Chuck. He took it gratefully, holding it against his aching jaw.

Then she turned to face Jackson, who, in the harsh kitchen lights looked even worse than she’d feared. “Mom, it’s not as bad as it looks,” Jackson started.

“Did you even think to call us?” Her voice rose a bit, just as it had many times when he’d gotten hurt as a child. “Amanda left you a message over an hour ago and she was a basket case here at the house.”

Chuck’s head rested against the wall while he held the impromptu ice pack against his face. Jackson sat still as Laura began cleaning his head wound, which looked much worse than it was. “Okay, someone had better start talking right
now
,” Laura threatened, putting on her best teacher voice, which was left over from her days as a third grade teacher.

Jackson sucked in his breath as she applied an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to his head. “Amanda’s pimp showed up as we were leaving with her stuff,” Chuck said simply.

“What?” Laura’s head came up and she drilled Chuck with a questioning glance. “Okay, spill it, Brennan,” she said, still looking at Chuck.

“Ow, mom, you’re hurting me,” Jackson said as she squeezed his chin a little harder than necessary. She loosened her grip but said nothing as she stared at her husband.

“Billy showed up with some of his guys and passed along a little “message” for Amanda,” Chuck said. “That’s it. Then they left and we came home.”

“Alright, since I’m cleaning blood off my son’s face and you’re holding frozen peas to your head, I’m going to assume there’s more to that story, but for now, just tell me what the message was,” Laura said, calming herself.

“Yes, I’d like to know what the message was too,” Amanda piped up from the doorway.

Jackson’s heart sank. He’d been planning to avoid telling Amanda about the message. He didn’t want it to affect her stay with his parents and he also didn’t know how he’d react to the threat about Whitney.

Having no idea what had happened to Amanda’s roommate, he could only assume the worst, and he felt certain if she knew the threat Billy had made, she would do her best to get back to the life or at least to warn Whitney. He stood to face her, and it was the first time since she’d walked into the room that she could see what had really happened.

“Oh my god, Jack, what the hell happened?” She rushed over to him, edging Laura out of the way before running her hands over his face. He grimaced when she got close to the gash near his brow, but she continued her examination with a focus on the torn shoulder of the
jacket he wore.

“I’m okay, Amanda, we just ran into a little bit of trouble,” he said, looking directly at his father. He hoped Chuck got the silent message to let him tell the story.

She followed up with a sharp look back up at him as she checked out the torn knee of his jeans, determining it was bruised, but otherwise fine. Of course, she was no doctor, but it looked like his face had gotten the worst of it. Her hands ran up his arms and back to his face, causing Laura and Chuck to glance away awkwardly.

Jackson pulled her hands down from his face as he realized his heart was hammering and it wasn’t because she was staring at him, waiting for him to spill the details. Her hands were soothing and firm at the same time, causing his stomach to jump into his heart and the rest of his body to react accordingly to a beautiful woman running her hands over his body.

Injured or not, he knew he still had to maintain a distance from her, because even now, all he wanted to do was scoop her into his arms and kiss away all her worries. He knew that wouldn’t go over well at this point, so he shared as many details as he could without addressing the “message” Billy had left for her.

When Jackson was finished telling the slightly edited version of the episode in front of her apartment, Amanda stepped back. “Okay, something doesn’t quite add up,” she began. “I know Billy too well to think he would knock you out and then rough you up a bit and just let you go. What are you leaving out?”

Chuck looked at Jackson, who shook his head slightly, but Amanda pounced. “What is it, guys?” Laura stood up, taking her exit cue seriously.

“C’mon, Chuck, I need to look at that bruise in a better light,” Laura said simply. “Let’s go to the bathroom and check it out there in the bright lights.” Chuck followed her silently as he threw a “good luck” glance back at Jackson.

“Jack, I can’t believe all this, I am so sorry, it’s all my fault,” Amanda whispered, her emotions barely in check. “Everything is my fault.” Her shoulders slumped and she looked away, unable to stand the sight of his bruised and bloodied face knowing it was because of her that Jackson and Chuck had been hurt.

“It’s okay, Amanda, I’m al
l right, and so is dad,” Jackson said, tipping her face up with one finger under her chin. “I have something for you.” She looked at him in shock as he dangled the silver chain in front of her.

“I told you to forget about all of that stuff, you big
jackass,” she said, a smile wandering onto her face in spite of her worry. “Thank you so much, but you should have listened to me. Billy has a way of making people disappear.” Gratefully, she accepted the necklace, holding it tightly in one hand as she reached up with the other to hug him.

Jackson couldn’t resist her charm. One minute she was fiery and in charge, and the next she was all sweetness and softness, practically begging him to sweep her off her feet. He stopped her hug by bringing his hands to frame her face
, threading his fingers into her hair as his large hands brought her closer.

Amanda expected a hug, so she was surprised when his lips gently brushed hers. “Thank you for being worried about me,”
he whispered as his teeth lightly nipped at her lower lip.

She groaned, swaying against him
, and all her good reasons to never put herself in this position again flew right out the window. She waited for him to sink deeper into the kiss, but her eyes popped open when he broke the contact with her lips. Frowning, she looked across the room, surprised that he had already put the table between them.

“Amanda, I care for you,” Jackson said, surprising himself with the admission.
“It seems like every time I’m around you, all I want to do is kiss you, but I need a relationship that’s based on more than physical attraction.”

Dumbly, she nodded, still reeling from the surprise of his kiss.
He actually kissed
me
! He said he cares about me!
Her heart was dancing in her chest and she didn’t really hear what he was saying, because all she could think about was his kiss and his admission.