Redemption Road (Roughneck #3)

by Nicole Hart

  “This is Mackenzie, can I help you?” I said into the phone.

  Silence.

  “Hello?”

  Nothing.

  “Hello?” I repeated.

  Then I heard a click.

  I wasn’t stupid, I knew it was Jake. He knew I couldn’t answer my phone at work, so he was resorting to this. Kash had it right, he was a dick.

  I walked to the front office and headed over to Lauren.

  “Was that a guy that called?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, as she was shuffling through files.

  “If I get any other calls today, will you tell them I’m unavailable?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said, and looked up and gave me a quick smile before focusing her attention back on the files.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “No problem.”

  I finished working the rest of the day, trying to keep my mind off the craziness of Jake and the sexiness of Kash. My life really was a mess.

  I was a paranoid freak all the way to my house, constantly checking my rearview mirror and scanning my surroundings. I was relieved when I finally pulled into my driveway. Everything seemed normal; I would just sprint into the house and lock myself in for the night, hoping there was no trouble brewing. And when I put my car in park, that’s exactly what I did. I double checked all the windows and doors. I was probably being overly paranoid, but I didn’t care. Besides, there was no one here to witness it anyway. Once I felt like I was secure, I went to my closet to grab some pajamas and take a quick shower. I opened my closet door and realized someone had been in here. I closed my eyes, thinking they must be deceiving me. But when I opened them again, I started to rummage through all the clothes on the hangers. All of my work scrubs were gone. Every. Single. Thing. I had just done all my laundry the night before, so I knew everything was hanging up. What the hell? This didn’t make any sense. This was crazy. Jake. How could he get in here? Why would he take my work clothes? But, who else would have done it? I felt like I was going to throw up, knowing he had been in here. What if he was still here? Shit. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, and then dialed Sam’s number. I didn’t want to bother her, but I was freaking out right now and didn’t feel like I had a choice.

  “Hey bitch, what’s up?” Sam said.

  “Um. Can you come over, like right now, and bring Moon? Please?” I said, my voice shaking more than I thought it would.

  “What’s wrong?” Sam asked, sounding nervous.

  “I think Jake came in the house today. Please, just come over. I’m sorry for being a baby, but I’m scared,” I said.

  “We’re on our way. Give us ten minutes,” she said, and hung up the phone.

  I started walking through the house, knife in hand, checking under the beds, in the closets and showers, looking like a freaking nutcase. When I walked to the other side of the kitchen, I saw broken glass on the floor. It was the wine glass I had left on the counter last night.

  He really was a psychopath. When I heard the front door open, I almost jumped out of my skin. I couldn’t help but gasp, and it must have been really loud because Sam came right over to me.

  “It’s just us,” she said, and patted my shoulder. I saw Moon go into my bedroom and look around. He went from room to room, checking everywhere. He was huge, and in a weird way I hoped he would find Jake hiding, because he would seriously hurt him. And right now, I wanted him to be hurt. I was sick of him doing this to me.

  “Here, let’s sit down,” Sam said, and led me to the couch. “How do you know he was here?”

  “Well, there’s broken glass all over the kitchen floor, from a wine glass. But I went to my closet and all my work clothes are gone.”

  “Your scrubs are gone?” Sam asked, looking confused.

  “All of them. I know it sounds crazy. But Jake was always trying to make me late for work, like he wanted me to lose my job, so I had to depend on him even more. I think that’s what he’s thinking - if I lose my job, I have to come back to him. Shit, I don’t know,” I said, and put my face in my hands trying not to cry, but feeling like I was on the verge.

  “But how would he get in here?” Sam asked.

  “I don’t know. I locked everything up. But I swear he’s losing his mind, I don’t know what he’s going to do next. I’m freaking out,” I said, and the tears started to flow.

  “We should call the cops or something,” Sam said.

  “And tell them someone stole all my scrubs?” I said with a laugh through my tears. They would think I was crazy.

  Sam put her arm around me and squeezed me, trying to console me.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Sam said.

  “I guess I can just wash these and wear them over and over until I can get more,” I said, as I pointed to my outfit. Sam was too tiny, so I knew borrowing hers wasn’t an option. My boobs would burst through the tops.

  “Actually, Lainey still has all hers and she’s not using them. I’ll call her and get them for you,” Sam said, as she nodded her head.

  “That would be great,” I said, feeling relieved about the clothes situation, but scared to death about Jake coming back.

  “Yeah, it’s no problem, bro. Ok, bye,” Moon said as he walked into the living room, and slid his phone back in his pocket.

  “Kash wants you to stay with us tonight,” Moon said with a grin.

  “What?” I said.

  “I called him on the way over. He lives here, too, and I wasn’t sure what all was going on so I wanted to give him the heads up,” Sam said.

  “I can’t stay the night with y’all,” I said, shaking my head. I didn’t want to be more of a burden than I already was.

  “Yes you can, and you are,” Sam said as she stood up. “Now, pack a bag while I clean the glass up, so we can get out of here.”

  “Thank you,” I said to Moon and Sam.

  “It’s no big deal,” Moon said, as he started checking the windows.

  I walked into my room to pack an overnight bag when my phone went off. God, I didn’t even want to look. I didn’t have the energy to fight with Jake.

  But it was Kash. Relief washed over my body as I hit the little green button.

  “Hello.”

  “Are you ok?” Kash said, sounding nervous.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, my voice still shaking.

  “You don’t sound fine,” he said.

  “I am, I promise, Sam’s here,” I said.

  “You’re staying the night with them right?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

  “Yeah.”

  “Ok, I gotta get back to work. I just wanted to check on you,” he said.

  “Thanks, Kash.”

  “I’ll talk to you soon, ok?” he said sweetly.

  “Ok, bye.”

  “Bye, sweetie,” he said, and my heart did a little flip.

  I loved that he called me sweetie. It was nice to be called something other than bitch or whore. I knew Sam and Moon were waiting on me, so I got some stuff together pretty quickly and headed back into the living room.

  The next morning I was leaving for work a little early. The scrubs Lainey dropped off at Sam’s last night fit well, so I was relieved. Moon had left the same time Sam did to go fishing with Jase, so I was alone in the house. I decided to go grab some breakfast on my way to work. I ate in the parking lot, just listening to music. I hadn’t run in a few days, and I missed it, but music always soothed me. As I listened to Lee Brice singing about eating more drive thru chicken, I noticed Jake’s car pass in my rearview mirror. I got pissed off, and lost my appetite. I was so sick of his stalking, and being a jerk. So I wadded up the fast food bag, and opened my car door. I got my purse and lunch, then stepped out. I looked back and noticed he had circled around and was driving by again. Slowly.

  I wasn’t going to be scared of him anymore. I wouldn’t allow it. I had a long talk with Sam last night, and she showed me that I wasn’t alone anymore. I had friends that I could co
nsider family, and they would be there for me. It was a good talk. We laughed, I cried, and then I actually felt a little better about my life.

  So, I turned around and stared him down. Why the hell wasn’t he at work? He drove slowly, but I wasn’t budging. I wasn’t going to let him scare me. So I did the boldest thing I have ever done in my life. I was shaking on the inside, but wouldn’t let it show on the outside.

  I looked him right in the eye as he stared back, and stuck up my middle finger and mouthed, “Fuck. You.”

  Then I turned around and walked into the clinic without looking back, with a smile on my face.

  Chapter 10

  As I drove home from work that evening, I had mixed feelings about my little outburst this morning. It felt good to finally stand up to Jake. I was sick of being his doormat. On the other hand, I’m sure it would only piss him off more and fuel his fire. But I hadn’t had any phone calls from Jake today; things had been peaceful. Thank God. Hopefully, it would stay that way. But if I knew Jake, he wasn’t going to give up so easily. He was used to getting his way, in every aspect of his life.

  When I pulled into my driveway, I was immediately concerned. I noticed Sam’s car, an older blue pickup, and a white van. What was going on? As I got closer, I noticed the business name on the van. Marten’s Alarm Company. I pulled my car into the driveway and got out, looking for Sam. She was standing on the front porch, on her phone when I spotted her.

  “They’re almost finished,” she said into her phone. I looked at Sam as I waited for her to explain what was going on.

  “Kash,” she mouthed to me, and pointed to her phone. I just shook my head and waited.

  “Ok, damn, dude, I got it,” she said with a laugh, and then hung up.

  “Hey girl!” she said with a smile.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Kash is having an alarm installed,” she said.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” I said, but feeling guilty that I was causing so much drama.

  “He said he wanted to make sure nobody messed with his shit, but I’m pretty sure it has more to do with you than anything else,” she said to me with squinted eyes, trying to read my thoughts.

  “I don’t know about that,” I said. Kash probably just didn’t want some psycho rummaging through his stuff.

  “He asked if you were ok at least five times, but got pissy with me when I asked why he was so worried about you. You’re not sleeping with him, are you, Mackenzie?”

  “No, I’m definitely not,” I said, in complete honesty.

  “Good, because Kash is my family. I’m forced to love him, but he’s bad news when it comes to women,” Sam said as she eyed me, trying to read me, I could tell.

  “You don’t have to worry, I’m not looking for anything like that,” I said, that part was a complete lie. Because the truth was, I wanted Kash more than anything in my life, but I couldn’t let it happen.

  “Well, girls, he’s just about done.” A large bearded man walked over to us.

  “Thanks for coming by, Uncle Jimmy,” Sam said to the man.

  “The alarm guys have been here most of the day, so Uncle Jimmy came to watch over everything until I got off work,” Sam said, as she looked at me.

  “Well, thank you both, so much,” I said, because I was extremely grateful. I didn’t know how I would ever get to sleep tonight otherwise, knowing that Jake had the nerve to come in here.

  “It was all Kash,” Jimmy said. “That little fucker was fired up this morning and made sure this got done today, I just waited around.” He smiled.

  “The tech does want to go over the instructions with you and set your code, all that good stuff, so if you’ll run in the house real quick,” He said.

  “Absolutely, thanks again,” I said, as I headed inside.

  Sam stayed with me while the alarm technician went over all the instructions and did a walkthrough with me. I felt so much better knowing that if Jake pulled this crap again, the police would be here within minutes. Once everyone left and I was home alone, I decided to microwave my dinner and relax with a glass of wine. My phone was sitting on the table and went off as soon as I sat down.

  Jake: The alarm was a nice touch.

  Me: Please leave me alone.

  Jake: Or what? You going to flip me off? Turning into a brave little bitch aren’t you?

  Me: Go to hell.

  Jake: You sure are mouthy to be all alone, without your new fuck buddy to protect you.

  Me: Please stop. I don’t want anything to do with you. Just leave me alone. It’s over. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.

  Jake: Because it’s not your choice.

  Me: IT IS!!! I don’t want you! I don’t need you anymore! I don’t love you! I hate you actually!

  I hit send before I could even change my mind. I’m sure it would just piss him off more, but I was sick of him. I was sick of being scared. I was sick of not speaking my mind and letting other people run my life.

  Jake: Cunt.

  Fuck him, I thought as I poured myself my third glass of wine. I wasn’t much of a drinker, especially alone, but I really needed to calm my nerves. Plus, I was hoping it would help me sleep. The only way he would stop calling is if I changed my number, so that was exactly my plan for tomorrow after work. My only option was to make it impossible for him to get to me. So I would take every step necessary to do just that.

  My phone started to ring as I was climbing in bed. Three glasses of wine was definitely my limit tonight; I was about to fall asleep, and didn’t really want to answer. Especially if it was Jake. But my heart did a little flip when I saw HIS name on the screen.

  “Hello,” I said through a smile, trying to stifle my buzz giggle.

  “Hey,” Kash said. He sounded sleepy. And sexy. So sexy.

  “Hey,” I said with an exhale, as I crawled in bed.

  “You ok?” he asked.

  “Yep,” I said with my eyes closed. I was so sleepy.

  “The alarm set?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir,” I replied with a giggle.

  “You been drinking sweetie?” he asked.

  “Little bit,” I mumbled.

  He started to laugh and I felt a tingle between my thighs.

  “Your laugh is sexy,” I said without even thinking. My eyes popped open. Oh, my God. Did I really just say that?

  “Everything about you is sexy,” he said without a hint of laughter.

  I didn’t even know how to respond, so I just sat there in silence.

  “So, anyway, I was just checking on you. I wanted to make sure the alarm was all set up. Get some sleep, ok?” he said.

  “Ok,” I whispered.

  “Fuck,” I heard him mumble. It was so quiet. If the house hadn’t been silent, I wouldn’t have heard it at all.

  “Goodnight, Kash,” I said quietly.

  I heard him exhale loudly before he replied.

  “Night,” he said, and then he hung up.

  God, his voice. It was so sexy. Everything about him screamed sex appeal. From his piercing eyes, to those full lips. To that tattoo…damn, that tattoo. My hand found its way inside my panties when I thought about him. I wanted him to touch me so bad, it made me ache. And I knew I had to get rid of that ache or I would never sleep. So, thoughts of Kash helped me along, and I did what needed to be done.

  The next morning when my alarm went off, I realized I had slept through the entire night. I don’t know if it was the wine or the alarm, but I was so thankful for the rest. I got ready for work and headed out the door, once I turned off the alarm.

  Son of a bitch. You’ve got to be kidding me!

  Whore. Cunt. Bitch. Slut.

  All the horrible names Jake liked to call me were written in some sort of red polish all over my car windows. I looked around for some sign of him, but of course I didn’t see anything. This was getting ridiculous. So I called the office and left a message for Dr. Weston, letting him know I would be a little late, a
s I ran into the house and grabbed cleaning supplies and towels. I took pictures with my phone of all the disgusting words on my car before I cleaned them off. I wasn’t driving down the road with that stuff written on there.

  I headed straight to the police station to see what I could do. I walked through those glass doors trying to force my feet to keep moving. I couldn’t believe it had finally come down to this. But I couldn’t handle this anymore. It was too much. Luckily, this was such a small town, not much ever happened, so the room was virtually empty.

  “Can I help you ma’am?” An older lady sitting behind a desk asked.

  “I need to see about filing a restraining order,” I said quietly.

  “Have a seat, someone will be with you shortly,” she said with a sad smile.

  I sat in the chair trying to keep my knees from bouncing around. I was so nervous.

  “Ma’am?” An older man opened one of the doors and looked in my direction.

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  “Come with me, please,” he said, as he held the door open for me to walk through. I followed him down the narrow hallway, and then turned left into his office.

  “How can I help you?” he said, as he pulled out a yellow notepad.

  “I need to see about filing a restraining order against my ex-boyfriend,” I said quietly, holding my bouncing knees in place with the palms of my hands.

  “What’s his name?” he asked.

  “Jake Edwards,” I said.

  “Hmm,” he said with a smirk. I wasn’t sure what that was about, but he seemed to have lost his compassion for me in an instant.

  “Why do you feel like you need a restraining order?” he said, as he took a sip of his coffee, and put the notepad down.

  “Well, he hit me for one,” I said with a bite to my tone. I didn’t mean to, but he was already pissing me off.

  “Did you call the police?” he asked.

  “No,” I said, quietly.

  “And, why not?” he asked, with that same tone.

  “Because I left him, instead,” I said. “But he won’t leave me alone. He broke into the new place I’m staying.”

  “He burglarized you’re property?” he asked.