Page 68 of Saved By Love at Christmas
“Sue, do me a favour and call this number and ask for Officer Lynch. Ruby’s had problems with a stalker. It could’ve been him. Give them as much information as you can.”
After I’d given her the number and asked if her son could keep an eye on the chickens, I went inside and hurriedly grabbed my things. Poor Fred couldn’t understand what was going on and had sensed my anxiety. I needed to get back to Ruby as soon as I could.
CHAPTER21
RUBY
“Ruby, do you think you could grab some of the frozen rhubarb from the chest freezer, please? I thought I’d make a crumble. I know it’s one of Ben’s favourites. There’s a large tub of it. It should be near the top.”
“Sure.” I kissed his cheek. “You do spoil him. I think you love him more than you do me,” I teased.
“He’s brought that smile back to your face. He’s made you happy, so I think I’m allowed to spoil him.”
“Of course you are.” I popped on my coat as the chest freezer was in the garage.
I unlocked the garage door and headed inside. Fortunately, Grandad had labelled all the boxes. The rhubarb was on the top. The sound of the garage door being lowered startled me. I thought it might be Ben or Grandad.
“What else do you need?” I asked as I turned around.
“I don’t need anything, bitch. Your days are numbered.”
The sound of Jamie’s voice filled me with terror. My heart was banging so much that it hurt my chest. The air around me turned even colder. Being confronted by my abuser brought all my fears back to the fore. The same anger clouded his eyes and as always when angry, his nostrils flared, along with the tic in his jaw. My thoughts turned to the poor woman who’d ended up in hospital because of his actions. Regardless of my fear of him, I needed to remain calm.
“You need to turn yourself in, Jamie. You’ve hurt enough women and need to pay for what you’ve done.”
He stood at the door with a nasty smirk on his face. The one he wore before he did something bad.
“I’ll finish you before anyone gets in here or the police arrive. You should never have left without my permission.” He advanced towards me.
I could have screamed, but Grandad would never hear me. Getting to the garage door was a no-no because Jamie was in the way. My adrenalin rush began to kick in, along with survival instinct.
“You don’t own me.”
He gritted his teeth as I moved to the other side of the garage. His eyes were alive with hatred.
“You made a laughingstock out of me, Ruby. And left me to explain to my clients why their houses were half-finished.”
Now or never.I raised my arm holding the box of frozen rhubarb and aimed for his head. Jamie didn’t even try to move out of the way. It connected with his head, and he hit the deck. The sound of a car engine came from outside. I screamed at the top of my voice as I pushed the garage door open. Ben caught me in his arms and Grandad appeared from inside.
“Ruby?”
“In the garage… Jamie. I… hit… him… rhubarb.” I collapsed against him, unable to explain myself any clearer.
Ben took the key to the garage from me and quickly locked the door while Grandad called the police. A loud bang came from the inside of the garage as Jamie thumped the door with force.
“Let me out of here, you bitch. I’m going to kill you,” he roared.
I stepped back and whimpered in Ben’s arms. He kept on banging and shouting until the police arrived. Officer Lynch was first on the scene. Ben handed him the key to the garage. When they opened it, it took three officers to hold him down as he tried to launch himself at me. Ben put himself between me and Jamie. There was a large lump forming on his forehead. Good.
Jamie was taken away in a police van, still snarling. “I want her arrested for assault,” he demanded.
“It was self-defence,” I retorted.
Officer Lynch went back inside the house with us while I gave him a statement about this latest event.
“I guess he’ll press charges for the assault,” I murmured as I leaned into Ben for support.
“He can try, but it was self-defence. He made threats to kill so he hasn’t got a leg to stand on.”
