Saving Ella (29 page)

             
I had never driven my Dodge so fast over ice, I literally slid around the corners and as I approached Annie’s apartment I could hear the distant sirens. I had been searching for Ella all day. She had seemingly vanished without a trace. I didn’t know whose number she had called from, but I didn’t miss the ice in her voice. She masked her terror behind that frightening indifference she was a pro at. I knew that coldness meant she was one of two things; she was either upset or frightened. The confusing call confirmed the later and I quickly put two and two together. Annie’s husband, Phillip had come looking for her and Eli, and Ella was caught in the crossfire. I jumped from my truck not even bothering to shut the door. I simply ran taking the stairs two, three at a time. I slowed as I approached the obviously shattered door to Annie’s apartment and listened. I had to control myself, Ella and Eli’s lives depended on it. I could hear a man’s voice, his words low and threatening. I peered around the corner and saw a large man holding Ella by her throat, his body forcing her against the wall. Ella reached up and sunk her fingers into his face and in a fury he let her go and I just snapped.

             
Moving into the room I grabbed Phillip by the shoulder. He turned and swung blindly, his fist connecting with my jaw. The next punch I easily ducked around and my own fist connected with a sickening crack in Phillips face, blood spurting from his nose like a faucet. He stumbled backwards and Ella scrambled to get out of the firing line. I didn’t stop, I raised my fist and I hit him again, and again. Somewhere he found the energy to slip in another quick jab and it connect with my eye, but I barely felt it. I punched him once more, twice and he fell to the floor as the police yelled from the doorway for me to put my hands up.

             
“It’s me Frank,” I called over my shoulder, knowing very well that Frank Hollywell was back there with his gun trained on my back. I looked down at Phillip for a moment making sure he didn’t move, if the fucker did I would put him to sleep permanently. He was out cold, the slow ragged rising of his chest the only indication I hadn’t already killed him.

             
“Fuck Jax, what the hell is going on?” Frank demanded.

             
“This is Phillip Longergan he has schizophrenia and is currently off his meds. His wife Annie and son Eli have been in the shelter up until two weeks ago when they moved in here. I only just got here but I assume he came looking for them.”

             
“Is that Annie?” Frank asked as he approached the scene slowly. My eyes fell to Ella who looked up at me, fear bleached into her features. The way she looked at me would haunt me till my dying days. She was terrified, and after the violence she just witnessed it was most likely of me.

             
“Angel,” I whispered as I sunk to my knees in front of her. Her eyes wide with shock took me in, then as if in slow motion she moved forward and crawled into my lap, her arms wrapping tightly around my neck as I squeezed her body to mine.

             
“Don’t let me go,” she moaned. “Don’t let me go, don’t let me go,” her quiet mantra echoed in my ears.

             
“Never angel,” I murmured back, running my fingers through her hair.

             
“This is Ella, Annie is at work.” I said to Frank, my voice stiff as emotion choked my throat.

“Where
’s the boy?” Frank finally asked. Ella suddenly scrambled from my lap and ran across the room. I followed her into the bathroom as she collapsed onto the floor in front of the vanity. She pulled the doors open and Eli, as white as a sheet stared up at her. She grabbed him out of the small space and hugged him close. I knelt beside them both and wrapped them in my arms.

             
“The call for help came through from the boy,” Frank spoke gently from behind me. “How do I get a hold of his mother?” Somehow I managed to disentangle myself from Ella and Eli long enough to reach for my phone. By the time I moved them into Eli’s bedroom Annie burst into the apartment, her face laced with tears.

             
“Eli!” She screamed. She raced through the bedroom door and saw Ella holding him protectively. Her face bruised, her neck red and sore, not a single tear has spilled. She moved forward to hand Eli to Annie.

             
“I’m so sorry,” Annie sobbed.

             
“No Annie, this isn’t on you, it’s on him. I’m fine, Eli’s fine.” Annie nodded as she clutched Eli to her chest. She pulled Ella forward and kissed her forehead.

             
“Thank you,” she murmured. “Thank you for protecting him.” Annie’s tears broke my heart, Ella’s lack of tears hurt more.

             
Ella turned back to me and I took her into my arms, holding her close.

             
“Where’s your tux?” She said with a muffled voice into my chest. I bowed my head forward slightly closing the distance between us and kissed her forehead. She was so small, so fragile and I had almost lost her.

             
“If you had of answered your phone just once I could have explained.” She tried to pull away but I refused to let her go.

             
“David has taken Selena to the ball.” I wanted to tell her everything, how much she meant to me, how not seeing her for the last week had almost killed me, how I had found my peace with Sarah. Seeing her only a short time ago in the hands of Phillip had fired a rage in me, and holding Ella now was the only thing that would douse the fury. “Fuck, seeing his hands on you, I wanted to kill him angel.” She nodded, her arms holding me tight.

             
“Jax, we’ve taken Phillip to the hospital, he has guards on him. Would your girl there be able to answer a few questions tonight?” I glanced up.

             
“Tomorrow?” I suggested. Ella shook her head though.

             
“No, tonight is fine. I’d prefer to get it over with.” Annie sat rocking Eli whose sobs had softened. Ella leaned forward and ran her fingers through his soft brown curls.

             
“You did good little man, I’m very proud of you,” she said with a smile. Eli’s big blue eyes blinked up at her.

             
“He hurt you,” Eli gently cried.

             
“Not really Eli, it didn’t hurt much and now he’s going to be taken away and get the help he needs. He won’t be able to hurt you or your mom ever again.” Eli looked worried.

             
“What about you? Will he hurt you again?” Ella smiled and shook her head.

             
“She’s got me to protect her buddy,” I glanced over Ella’s shoulder. Eli smiled, apparently satisfied. “Might have to find that cape after all,” I joked and he managed another smile before I led Ella from the bedroom and down the short hallway.

             
In the living room Frank hovered awkwardly. He was fifty-five and ready to retire, but for some reason Frank couldn’t seem to part with active duty on the police force. He stayed fit, gray hairs dotted his dark brown hair, the only sign that this man actually had two grandchildren. He turned to face us with a kind smile taking in Ella who clung to my hand, her grip a tight vice that spoke volumes. She wasn’t about to let me go and I was more than happy with that.

             
“Do you mind telling me what happened here Ella?” Frank asked. I pulled Ella down beside me on the couch. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears, she wasn’t hiding right now and she wanted Frank to know that, to know she was telling the truth and that she stood up to this bastard. As she recounted the evening, Frank listened intently, taking notes. My hand gripped hers in what was no doubt a punishing grip as she explained how she hid Eli in the bathroom cupboard, how she confronted Phillip, how he hit her and held her against the wall, his large hands wrapped around her tiny throat. The marks of his fingers were evidence on her neck and Frank took some pictures. He also noted the bruise beginning to form on her cheek. When Ella was finished she glanced at the destruction around her, the door was splintered off its hinges and the room was a mess. From the doorway another uniform called to someone outside the room.

             
“Hey, Tom, come help me with this door, see if we can’t do something with it until morning.” Frank stood and I joined him, shaking his hand gratefully.

             
“I’ll call you tomorrow Jax. I’ll leave my boys here to secure the scene. Maybe you can do something about the door?” I nodded as Frank made his way out of the room, passing a tall, gangly looking cop with a scowl on his bird like face. Ella stood beside me and I glanced down at her.

             
“I’ll call Charlie, have him come over and fix that now. Annie and Eli will be safe here, but I want you to come home with me angel. I need it. Beth was organizing a volunteer to cover me as I left, so I’m not needed at the shelter. Tonight scared the crap out of me and I need you close by.” She simply nodded, her attention moving back to the officers who struggled with the smashed door. As I reached for the phone in my back pocket I felt Ella go tense beside me. Her nails dug into the skin on the back of my hand. I glanced at her and followed her gaze to the tall thin officer at the doorway. He stared back at her, his mouth agape.

             
“Ella?” He murmured. Ella was pale, her breathing quickly becoming labored as she descended into a full blown panic attack.

              Having Jax right by my side had helped me keep calm, even with the police presence which always made me nervous. I knew not all police were bad, but the fact Marcus had one on his payroll scared the crap out of me. In a moment of sheer terror and blinding rage, something completely right had happened. Jax had saved me, he had dragged Phillip off me and beaten him senseless. I had crawled into his lap and begged him never to let me go and he said he wouldn’t, not ever. When Jax told me he had sent David to the ball in his place, my heart had leapt for joy. Man what I would have given to have seen Selena’s face when he dropped that bombshell on her. Then when he confessed he needed me to come home with him, I wanted to wrap my arms and legs around him and never let him go. Seeing Tom Brennan standing in the doorway, in uniform was a slap in the face. I was truly cursed. Could not a single good thing happen to me without something shitty following it? My life seemed to be falling into a pattern. Something amazing would happen, followed quickly by something completely fucked up. It was unfair and I wanted to whine like a petulant kid, but as I saw Tom standing there I was drowned in a sea of memories. Tom was always there. He helped make the drug charges go away for Marcus. He dragged me from the back seats of cars kicking and screaming, he saw the bruises and smirked like the vulgar animal he was. It was Tom who found me and returned me to Marcus the first time I ran away, now he was here no doubt prepared to return me to him one more time. My mind was seized by panic and my lungs gasped for air.

             
“Fuck angel, deep breaths. Come on baby come back to me.” I was on the ground, my head in Jax’s lap as he whispered words to bring me out of the attack.

             
“I knew her in Duntson she has an active missing persons file.” I could hear Tom somewhere in the room and his voice sent me spiraling into another panic.

             
“For fucks sake, will you get him the fuck out of here?” Jax roared. My hand gripped his helping to anchor me to the present. I took long deep breathes, my eyes finding Jax’s hovering above me. Those steel gray eyes demanded my compliance.

             
“Good girl, concentrate on your breathing, let the past go,” he whispered. It didn’t take long before the panic attack had fully subsided and I glanced around the room. Tom had gone and I wondered if he had even been here at all. Highway to Hell played from the floor somewhere close by and Jax grabbed the phone.

             
“Charlie, I need you at Annie’s, the door is busted. You’ll find something in the factory, it needs to be fixed tonight, it needs to be secure.” He listened to something Charlie said.

             
“No no, everything’s fine now. Just get over here and fix it up for me please. I have to take care of Ella, she’s been hurt.” My fingers rose to the ache in my cheek but Jax stopped them, cupping my bruised cheek with his hand.

             
“She’ll be fine, I just want to get her home. Annie will explain everything, there is a uniform on the door until it’s fixed. Maybe check with Annie, she might like you to stay for the night, you can bunk on the couch.”

             
Jax ended the call and helped me to sit. His eyes searched the room till they found my backpack and he slung it over his shoulder.

             
“Annie,” he called. She appeared at the end of the hallway, her eyes tired and still full of tears. “Charlie is coming, he’s going to fix the door and he’ll stay with you tonight.” Annie went to protest but Jax stopped her. “Annie, he wants to, he wants to help and Charlie can keep you safe. It will be comforting for you to know someone is here and you know Charlie, I know you trust him. Just make sure you feed him breakfast and you will have him wrapped around your little finger.” A small smile played at her solemn lips.