“Oh, I want to play, too. Dylan brought me to a shooting range. It was fun.” I held the pistol but I didn’t hit anything and became a little embarrassed. “I think it is rigged.” I joked.
“Let’s do it again.” This time Dylan stood behind me, he pulled my hair to the side and kissed my neck as he steadied my aim.
Bradley helped show Jess what to do and we tried again, winning a goofy little stuffed toucan prize but feeling quite excited at our improvement. Soon Dylan and Bradley had arms full of stuffed animals that they had won for Jessica.
“I think you may have to sit on the roof, Jess.” Bradley joked.
“I think we all may have to sit on the roof!” They laughed as they made their way back to the car.
“Cotton Candy! We almost forgot the cotton candy! You can’t come to a carnival and not get cotton candy, right Jess?” Dylan stopped in his tracks. Jess’s eyes lit up.
“Hurray!”
I noticed a bench and sat down. “Dylan, how about if you and Jess go and get the cotton candy and I wait here with Bradley? My legs are getting tired. And we can babysit all of the stuffed animals.”
“That sounds perfect. Do you all want any?”
“No thank you. You enjoy.”
Dylan put Jess on his shoulders and the two went off in search of cotton candy. I smiled, watching them together as they disappeared into the crowd.
“Bradley, if I asked you something, would you be honest with me?”
“Of course, Nikki. What’s up?”
“I know you liked me and I know you told me to choose Dylan…I just wanted to make sure this isn’t weird for you.”
“Truth?” He took my hand. “The truth is there is a piece of me that wishes it was me you had chosen. But to be honest, the love I feel for you as my best friend is stronger than anything. And to see you happy…the two of you look so happy. My two best friends and my new little ‘niece.’ He loves you, Nikki. He loves you so much. I have never seen him like this with anyone.”
“Why are you here? I mean, shouldn’t you be looking for your perfect girl?”
“I already found her so it doesn’t make much sense. To be honest with you, Nikki, I have gone out with a lot of girls. And I would prefer to be with you as a friend than waste my time with anyone else. I love being around you. This is exactly where I want to be. I will always love you, Nikki. You are my best friend.” I kissed Brad’s hand and smiled. I didn’t want to hurt him.
“I really love him, Brad. I really do. And Bradley, I cherish your friendship. I will love you always too. You are my best friend!” I put my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead. “Thank you, Bradley. Thank you for everything.”
Jessica returned with a cotton candy bigger than her head. They decided to let her finish it before hauling all their winnings back to the car.
They gathered all of the prizes and began walking out of the park. A clown popped up from behind a crowd of people and leaned over handing Jessica a yellow carnation.
Dylan dropped the stuffed animals, grabbed the clown and Bradley quickly escorted me and Jess away from the line of fire. Dylan’s punches pounded the clown, jabbing his ribs then blooding his face. His uppercut dropped him to the ground. Dylan lifted his shirt, pulling him back up and realized it wasn’t Steve.
“What the hell are you doing giving her that flower? Why the hell would you do that?”
“A guy gave me twenty dollars. He gave me twenty dollars. It’s just a flower, man. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What guy? Where is he?”
“I don’t know. It was when you were on the bumper cars. He told me to wait an hour.”
“Dammit!”
“It’s just a flower man.”
Chapter 70
*Nicole*
Coming home from the Carnival, we were stopped at a light and I noticed a bar on my left. I tilted my head and smiled. “I’ve been there before. I went there with a really pretty girl. She had long hair, and was about my height. She seemed nice. I can see her dimples. She’s got the most adorable dimples. We were here. We came here together.” The light changed to green and Dylan proceeded through the intersection.
“That sounds like Emily. You came to Alaska with your best friend, Emily.”
“Emily.” I let her name roll off my lips. “Emily.” I tilted my head again and pouted. “That’s all I remember. “Can we come back? Can we come back later tonight?” I grew excited to go inside, to see if I could recover any more of my past. It was the first time I saw her. My best friend, Emily. “Where is she? Does she live around here?”
“She is somewhere in Tennessee. Her dad has cancer, so her family relocated to be close to him during his treatments.”
Emily. I wanted to remember Emily. “Can we come back tonight?”
I tucked Jessica in bed and read her a bedtime story. As she drifted to sleep, I kissed her and went into the living room.
“We won’t be back late. We’re just going to grab a couple drinks. Thank you for watching her.” I gave my parents each a hug and Bradley, Dylan and I grabbed our jackets and headed out. As we opened the door to the bar, the music blared. Bradley stopped suddenly and pulled us back outside.
“Ronald, I think that’s Ronald, over there. I’m pretty sure that guy at the bar is Nikki’s ex.”
“My ex? Like Jessica’s dad?”
“Yeah, remember the picture, Dylan? It looks just like him.”
I peeked inside, eager to see if I could remember something. But I knew if I entered with the two of them, the father of my daughter probably wouldn’t talk to me.
“Can I go in alone? I want to see what comes back to me?”
“Nikki, he wasn’t a nice guy. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Bradley warned as I pressed my hands against their chest so they wouldn’t follow me.
“I don’t like this. She could remember the abuse or worse, not remember it, and remember their life together. I’m not waiting out here. Let’s go into the bar,” I overheard Dylan tell Bradley as they walked over to order their drinks.
Abuse? Is that why we are not together? My curiosity grew, and I took a seat at a table where I could check out this guy that I supposedly conceived a child with. Surely there would be some memory. But nothing came. Ronald? Is that what Bradley said his name was? I watched as he leaned against the bar, drinking some kind of mixed drink. He was tall and muscular like Dylan, but I wasn’t attracted to him at all. What had I seen in him? I turned, watching the crowd of people, hoping someone would jolt a memory inside of me. Again, nothing.
A skinny guy, sitting at the bar with Ronald, nudged him and pointed back towards me. Ronald turned and looked at me. He had Jessica’s blue eyes. A look of shock filled his eyes and he came toward me with his drink. I got a little nervous. What would I say?
“So, you decided to come back to town, did you?”
“Hi, Ronald. How are you?” I tried to make conversation.
“The question is, how are you? You think you can just come and go as you please?”
I tilted my head. Memory, please come. Please, let me remember something.
“Don’t look at me like you’re stupid. You know what you did. Where’s Jessica? You think you can leave me and get away with it? You think you can put me in jail and get away with it?” The smell of alcohol reeked from his body as his words slurred together.
“Excuse me?” What was he talking about?
“Little bitch, you think you can just come back in here like nothing happened?” He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me out of the chair. Dylan and Bradley jumped to their feet and rushed over to the table. Dylan took Ronald and threw him off of me and Ronald stumbled to the ground.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Don’t you dar
e lay a hand on her.” Dylan shouted.
All of a sudden at least five guys ran to Ronald’s defense and fists were flying from every direction at my two guardian angels.
“What have I done?” I backed away from the commotion. “What have I done?”
One guy smashed a beer bottle and thrashed it against Bradley’s cheek drawing blood. Dylan landed a hard left on Ronald’s jaw, throwing him off balance again, and he turned, blocking the chair the skinny guy swung at his head.
“Bradley!” I screamed. He jerked around just in time to duck a hammer punch, a giant man threw from behind. Using the momentum from the swing, Brad threw the huge guy to the ground. Two more charged. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t watch. What could I do? I peeked through my lashes. They were outnumbered.
Dylan smashed Ronald to the ground again and turned to defend himself from the swings coming at him from the side. Somehow they were winning. My angels were winning.
Shit, a gun. Ronald pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. Dylan charged him, knocking the gun out of his hand before Ronald knew what hit him and Bradley took his gun out from under his shirt and aimed right at my ex.
“You Son of a Bitch. I’m ganna kill you. You touch her again and I swear I will kill you.” I had never seen Bradley so angry.
“We don’t want no trouble,” one of the guys from the crowd yelled out.
Dylan slammed Ronald against the wall and pulled out a knife and held it against his throat.
“If you go anywhere near Nicole, Jessica, or anyone in her family, we will slice you up so bad, they won’t recognize you. You think it’s okay to hit a girl. I swear we will fuck you up. Touch her again and you will die!”
Bradley kept his gun pointed at Ronald and every so often, swung it around the crowd to make sure no one moved. He slowly came over to me. Putting his arm around me, he led me out of the bar backwards so he could keep the gun pointed at them as we walked to the door. When Dylan saw me get to the door, he threw Ronald to the ground again and threatened anyone who came after us. Dylan and I jumped in the back of the car and Bradley sped away. The blue and red lights of the police cars swarmed the bar as we pulled onto the highway.
“That was close.”
“You okay, Nicole?”
“Me? You’re the ones who are bleeding.” I dabbed at the blood dripping from Dylan’s nose.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
I took Dylan’s arm and put it around me, playing with his fingers. Flashbacks entered my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping they would go away. An anxiety overwhelmed me and my body began to shake.
“You okay, baby?” Dylan pulled me close to him. “Nicole, are you okay?”
“Make it stop, please make it stop.” I began rocking back and forth.
“What’s wrong, baby? Nicole, what’s wrong?”
My voice broke as I spoke. “He hit me, Dylan. He hit me so bad I couldn’t move. I remember lying on the ground as he smashed my paintings over me. Over and over again, he wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop!” I began to rock. “And Jessica, Jessica can see him hitting me. My baby is crying, and he won’t stop. He won’t stop. Make him stop.” I buried my head in Dylan’s chest. “His fist are coming at me.” I flinched, then covered my ears. “He’s screaming at me. I can hear him screaming. Make it stop. I don’t want to remember. Please make it stop. I don’t want to remember!”
“We won’t let him hurt you again, baby. He will never lay a hand on you again.”
Chapter 71
*Dylan*
Dylan and Bradley didn’t go back to the hotel room. They ended up sleeping on the couches in the Carlisle’s living room because Nicole broke down. Vivid flashbacks of the abuse, haunted her over and over again. Dylan had never seen her like this, shaking and hyperventilating as if she were reliving every ounce of the pain her ex had inflicted on her. She fell asleep, weeping in Dylan’s arms. As he carried her to Jessica’s bedroom, his anger grew. How could Ronald have laid a hand on someone so innocent, someone so sweet? If either one of them had known how traumatized she was from his abuse they would have taken Ronald’s life when they had the chance.
Dylan couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Nicole suffering the agony of her memories. A gateway inside her opened and suppressed pain rose to the surface. He worried what would happen if Nicole began to remember the night Steve almost beat the life out of her. No wonder she has amnesia. Thank god she has amnesia! In the morning, when he cracked open the door to the bedroom, it comforted him to see her resting, cuddling with her little princess. They looked so cute snuggled up together. Please let her be okay.
Dylan heard Mrs. Carlisle in the kitchen. He didn’t know what to say. Silently they each grabbed a cup of coffee, still traumatized by Nicole’s breakdown the night before. As they sat at the table, Brad came over and joined them.
Dylan finally broke the silence. “What happened to her? Ronald put her in the hospital?”
“Multiple times, we tried to convince her to leave him, but she thought he would change. She had a scholarship, you know. A full ride for art at a couple of universities. He wouldn’t let her even consider it. He would beat her anytime she even mentioned anything about art. He broke her hands one time when he caught her painting but she wouldn’t leave him. It was like she was brainwashed. She kept forgiving him. The last time he beat her, Jessica was there. My granddaughter still remembers seeing her mommy beaten. She still has nightmares. We convinced Nicole, for Jessica’s sake, to put him away.”
“She never really talked about it, but I wondered why she had such a hard time entering the art museum.”
“She told me about that. She told me you were helping her to see the world the way she used to.” She put her hand on Dylan’s. “That’s when I knew you were good for her. All she did was talk about her wonderful boyfriend and her amazing boss.” Mrs. Carlisle’s eyes filled with tears. “You brought her back to us. I know you have sacrificed so much for our little girl. What can we do? What can we do to repay you?”
“We love your daughter. We would do anything for her.” Dylan assured her.
“Please don’t let anyone hurt her again. She has been through much too much. Please take care of my sweet baby. I thought we had lost her. I really thought my baby had died. You don’t know what that is like, to have your child stolen from you. I can’t handle that pain again. I need you to keep my Nicole safe boys. Please don’t let anyone hurt her again.”
During the next few days no one talked about her break down, but every so often Nicole would just lie her head against Dylan or Bradley’s chest or take one of their hands as if she needed comfort. She wouldn’t say a word. She just wanted to feel their presence. By the end of the week she grew stronger and her smile came easily.
“Do I look pretty, Mommy,” Nicole looked down at her beautiful daughter. She still had no memories, but the feelings she had were undeniable. Her heart warmed when Jessica looked up at her.
“You look beautiful, angel! You will be the prettiest little girl in the play.”
“Do you like my dress, Uncle Brad?”
“You look like a princess!”
“The prettiest princess around!” Dylan picked her up, giving her a peck on the cheek.
Nicole turned to her parents. “Dad, will you show them where to sit? Mom, show me how to get backstage?” She followed her mom. Once there, she put Jess down and gave her a big hug.
“Mommy, I love you.”
“We will be sitting right up front.” Nicole gave Jess another big hug and a kiss and went to join the others in the audience. The lights went down and they smiled at the adorable kids and their hand motions.
“Jess is on next,” Nicole whispered as proud as she could be, hoping something she would do would trigger a memory. When Jessica pranced out on st
age, they all turned white. Yellow carnations decorated Jessica’s hair.
Dylan and Bradley stood immediately and their eyes scanned the auditorium for someone who could possibly be Steve in disguise. They approached the rear of the theater and a trail of yellow carnations led out the back door.
“Nicole. Mrs. Carlisle. Go backstage with Jess and make sure she’s okay. Brad, let’s go.”
“Be careful!”
Mr. Carlisle realized the boys could be in danger and left to call the police.
The trail of carnations led into the woods behind the school for about a hundred feet. It was dusk, and the moonlight helped a little, but the further the boys got into the trees, the darker it became.
“Did you bring my Glock?” Dylan asked as he lifted his gun out from under his shirt. Brad nodded, pulling it out as well. “Let’s end this.”
Brad had loaded the gun before he put it in the glove compartment so he didn’t bother checking it when he grabbed it earlier. But now he realized--it felt light. The magazine was missing. The bullets were gone.
Dylan motioned for Brad to give him his gun. Brad gave it to him and Dylan handed Brad his. “I can’t take this.” He couldn’t leave Dylan with an unloaded gun. “Dylan, I can’t let you…”
“Shut up before you get us both killed.” Dylan snapped back.
They searched the woods for a movement or some sign as to where Steve was hiding. They knew he was waiting silently…waiting for the right time to ambush the two of them.
They heard a twig snap, their bodies twisted around. Stillness. “Should we split up?” Brad whispered to Dylan. Through the tint of moonlight Brad saw Dylan’s nod to go left.
He crouched, searching the forest for a sign. All of a sudden Brad noticed a note on a tree. He scanned the area as he ripped it down.
Obsession and Sacrifice (Alaska #2) Page 28
