Page 62 of Spyder
He looks at me, frowning. “What’s with all the questions tonight?”
I flash back to a conversation I had with Derek about answering questions with questions, and it confirms my thought for me: he’s hiding something. And I have a pretty good idea what it is.
“Your first name is Peter, isn’t it?” I ask him.
“What of it?”
“And Derek is the one who gave you those bruises, isn’t he?”
“I told you those guys are bad news, Bellamy. I tried to tell you they—”
“And the reason you’ve been getting cozy with me is to find out about him. About what he’s up to, isn’t it? You’ve been trying to keep tabs on him through me. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
“You’re being ridiculous, Bellamy. Paranoid.”
“Am I?”
He looks at me and I see the anger bubbling below the surface which tells me I hit the nail on the head. I don’t know what his endgame with all of this subterfuge was, but I’m done playing by his rules.
“You need to get out of the way, Jacob… or rather, Peter,” I snap. “I’m leaving. And I have no desire to see you again.”
“That’s how it is, huh?”
“Yeah, that’s how it is. I don’t like being deceived. And I like being used even less. I guess I’m funny that way.”
“Bellamy, I’m tryin’ to help you here. I’m tryin’ to make you understand what you’re involved with. Derek is a piece of trash. They’re all garbage. And he’s only goin’ to end up hurtin’ you. Or worse.”
“And I told you before that my life is none of your business,” I fire back. “Now, get out of my way. I need to leave.”
“You should be with me. I’d be better for you than he’ll be. I’ll treat you right. A guy like that don’t know how to treat a woman like you.”
“Not going to happen,” I tell him. “Now, please get out of my way.”
He moves with that unsettling speed and grabs hold of my arm, squeezing it tightly. I grimace and try to pull away but can’t break his grip.
“Let go of my arm. You’re hurting me,” I say.
“Why can’t you see what a fuckin’ asshole that guy is? How bad he is for you?”
I swing hard with my free hand and connect with his face. The crack of my hand meeting his skin is sharp and loud, but it only seems to make him angrier. With a scowl on his face, he spins me around and slams me up against my car hard enough to drive the breath from my lungs.
“Stop it, Jacob. You’re hurting me,” I gasp.
“This ain’t half of what he’s gonna do to you. Look at my face, Bellamy. Look at what he did to me. Take a real good look because this is what you’re gonna look like if you stay with that prick.”
“Jacob, let go of me!”
He slams me up against the car again so hard, my vision wavers and I see darkness creeping in at the edges of my vision. I’m barely clinging to consciousness when I hear somebody shouting at us.
“Hey,” the newcomer calls out. “Hey, stop what you’re doing there. I’m going to call the cops if you don’t let her go right now!”
It’s Mr. Kettering. I recognize his voice. I open my mouth to call out to him, to tell him to stay away, but my throat is dry, and I don’t have the air in my lungs to scream anyway. Mr. Kettering is standing on the far side of the parking lot, his phone in his hand. Jacob releases my arm and turns to Mr. Kettering, a snarl on his face. But then, he turns back to me.
“This ain’t over,” he says. “Better watch your back.”
He stalks off and I lean against my car as I hear his truck roar to life. He screeches out of the parking lot, leaving me there shaking wildly, fear gripping me so tight I can barely breathe.
“Are you all right, Bellamy?”
