Page 26 of Risk

His men never intervened, except when he asked them to hold me down, or touch me. The only one to ever show any emotion, other than hate or offer pain, was Tyler. It was him that came to me that night, cleaned me up, treated my wounds and dressed my broken ribs.

I come backto the room as Ryder touches my cheek, and I flinch back from him. Confusion at my reaction swims in his eyes, I offer a small smile and a shake of my head that I hope tells him it was nothing. I reach for his hand as it drops back to his side, slipping my fingers between his, and before he can ask me what just happened, I pull him towards Jamie and ask her what the nurse said.

After Jamie fills us in on what the nurse said, Ryder doesn’t waste a second getting to what he’s here for. Jamie tells us how she left her shift early because she got a message from her neighbour to say there was a man loitering outside. Apparently, Jamie has herself a man I didn’t know about, I give her quizzical look, then tell her I’ll be getting all the details later. Thinking it was just her man arriving early, she didn’t think anything more of it, but when she arrived home, there was nobody there. After showering, she came down to get some food and that’s when she noticed the back door was open.

My sharp intake of breath, as them both spinning to face me. Shit! I realise that I never told anyone about my incident with the back door the other night. I wave it off for now, I tell Jamie to carry on. She does, but I can feel Ryder’s eyes on me, burning the side of my face with their intensity, and I give his foot a kick to get him focused back on what Jamie is saying.

Jamie tells us that as she pulled the door closed, someone hit her from behind, and as she fell to the floor, they started dragging her backwards by her hair.

“He was dragging me; my vision was blurred. I started kicking and screaming, trying to loosen his hold on me, but it just made him angry, yanking my hair harder. As we neared the door from the utility, I grabbed the frame, and I tried to spin around so I could see him and maybe kick out at him, anything to get him to let go. He kicked my arm, I think that’s how my wrist got broken, after that I couldn’t hold on, he was too strong. I fought so hard, Cam.” Her voice breaks, and I move closer, pulling her hand to mine.

“It’s okay, Jamie, you’re safe now,” I say, but the words taste like another lie on my tongue.

“I started to look around for anything that I could use as a weapon, I still couldn’t focus properly. As he pulled me down the hall, I saw one of your shoes, and I’ve never been so grateful for your laziness. Snatching it up, I swung my arm out, hitting him in the knee. It was enough for him to loosen his grip on me, and I scrambled away. Just as I got to my feet, I felt him at my back and ran. I ran for the back door, but he reached me before I could open it. Spinning me round and slamming my back against it, he lashed out, but I dodged it and he hit the window, smashing the glass. After that I don’t remember much else, just his fists, and the kicks as he hit me over and over again. I’m sorry.”

Those two words from my only friend, cause the tears that welled in my eyes as she told her story, to overflow and stream down my face. “What the hell, Jamie! You do not need to apologise. It’s me that should be sorry. It’s my fault this happened to you, and for that, I will never forgive myself.” I drop my head, unable to look at her for a second.

Then I feel Ryder’s hand on my back, remembering his words from earlier, I harden my resolve, and turn my guilt and pain into anger. And that anger has only one focus. Sean Donovan. Looking back up at Jamie, I say, “But, I promise you, Jamie, he won’t get away with this. He will pay, I’ll make sure of it. I will do whatever it takes.”Even if I have to pay with my life!I won’t allow him to hurt one more person I care about, and if that means I end up dead, then so fucking be it!

“Jamie, did you get a look at his face at all?” Ryder asks.

“No, he had a hood on, like the hoodie from a jumper and a scarf covering the lower half of his face. He didn’t speak, and from what I saw his clothes were all plain and dark.” Her brow creases for a second and then, “Hold on, he had a tattoo, on one of his forearms, I caught a glimpse when his sleeve was pushed up in the struggle, but I don’t remember what it was of.” She frowns, and I can see as she struggles to remember.

“That’s great, Jamie. Every little thing you can remember will help. I imagine the police will want to speak to you at some point, just tell them everything you told me, but I have to ask you not to mention anything about Sean.” Jamie agrees without question, and whilst I understand his reasons, I’m a little pissed he’s asking my friend to lie to the police. Before I get a chance to say anything, the door opens, and Dominic and Louise enter carrying a bag for Jamie.

After a quick chat with Jamie’s parents, Ryder ushers me out the door as I promise to come and see her tomorrow. As soon as we are in the car, Ryder turns from understanding, caring friend to overbearing arsehole.

“Start fucking talking, Cam!” He starts the car and peels out of the car park like his arse is on fire.

“Woah! Slow down, Ryder, for fucks sake,” I say, as I’m slammed into my seat from the force. “I forgot about it because in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve had other things on my mind. You know, like some grumpy,” he looks at me from the corner of his eye, “sexy,” I smirk at him, “arsehole that may have distracted me,” I finish with a wink, trying to calm his rage-y beast some. He just looks at me with eyes that tell me to get on with it. “Okay, fine. Jamie was at work and I’d been in the garden. When I’d finished, I was dirty and went for a bath, but when I came back down the back door was open. I just assumed that I didn’t close it properly when I came back in. That’s it, nothing else to report, sir,” I snark at him.

I let him rant and rave about my safety, and how I need to tell him of anything suspicious like that in the future. Had he have said all this before, then I may have thought he was overreacting, but given what happened to Jamie last night, I agree without argument.

It’s dark when we pull up to the house, and as we turn into the drive, I see a flicker of light in the house across the road. Spinning in my seat to get a better look, there’s nothing there. I search all the windows for any sign of movement but nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Ryder asks, as he turns off the engine, turning to follow my line of sight.

“Nothing. I’m just tired.” Despite our conversation just now, I honestly just think my brain is fried, and I need to sleep. “What are we doing here? Are we even allowed in? Shouldn’t there be a cop here, you know to make sure the scene is secure?” I say, looking at the house and seeing the police tape. Ryder side eyes me, arching a brow.

“You watch too many crime shows.” I tilt my head at him, raising my own brows. “Fine. Yes, and there is, but I have a friend on the force, so we’re good. We’re not staying, you’re coming home with me, but I thought you’d like to collect some of your things.”

I’m not even pissed at him telling me I’m coming with him, or for bribing a cop. If I’m honest, I don’t want to even step foot inside the house right now, but Ryder’s right, I could definitely do with some clothes and other bits and pieces. “Okay, let’s get this over with then.”

He seems surprised by my quick acquiescence. I may not appreciate his bossiness, but I’m not fucking stupid.

Getting out of the car, I realise I don’t have my key, it’s in my handbag at Ryder’s apartment. As if he can read my mind, he pulls a key from his pocket, dangling it in front of me.

“Hey, how did you get that?” I ask, more than suspicious now.

“Jamie gave it to me,” he replies, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Why do I get the feeling he’s not being totally honest?

“Ryder…” I say, drawing out the ‘r’.

He drops his hand holding the key to his side. “Alright, fine. I took it from the key hook in the kitchen marked spare keys—” He realises the importance of that revelation just as I do. We both rush up the drive, ducking under the police tape and to the front door. Stepping into the house, eerie silence greats us, and my skin tingles as goosebumps cover my flesh. I stop as I see my shoe on the floor, spotting the drops of blood that dot the floor in the hall. Ryder has gone on ahead but stops when he sees I’m frozen in place.

“Cam?”

“I’m fine. Go, I’m right behind you.” Pushing the fear aside, I lock down my emotions and follow Ryder to the kitchen.

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