Beautifully Wounded (The Beaumont Brothers) (20 page)

Jackson

I’d called out to Lena to ask her what she’d like to eat, and when she didn’t answer, I went looking for her. It didn’t take long to realize she was nowhere inside the house, and I’d searched every room. I ran outside and saw the car door open, the bouquet of roses scattered on the ground. I quickly scanned the front yard before I ran up the stairs to the cottage. I didn’t think she was up there, but I hoped. When I reached the top step, I saw Lena and some guy, who I realized must be her son of a bitch ex, heading into the woods. He had his arm gripped around her neck and his hand covering her mouth. I opened my mouth to yell when I saw the gun he had stuck into her back. I swallowed the urge to shout out for fear he would shoot her.

I ran down the stairs. “Rufus stay,” I demanded, but I think Rufus figured out what was happening
, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t listen to me and took off toward the woods.

I
didn’t see them anywhere, but Rufus charged ahead, and I was grateful that he hadn’t stayed when I told him to. I lost sight of him and called out, but he continued at full speed. I was surprised, considering he was always so lazy, but I couldn’t stop him. Rufus had fallen in love with Lena, just like me, and he was determined to save her.

I didn’t really know what I was going to do when I caught up to them. The guy had a gun
. I had nothing but my hands. I’d have to sneak up on him, but Rufus had his own agenda, and it wasn’t about being sneaky. I lost track of him when he turned toward the left and his barking became a consistent howl before turning into a growl and two shots rang out. The sound echoed through the trees, and my heart leapt into my throat. My God, had he shot Lena? Or did he shoot Rufus? Or both?

I
ran as fast as I could, and when I caught sight of the guy standing in a small clearing, I stopped and tiptoed to the edge, crouched down and peered through the bushes. Oh no, Lena’s body lay to his right, one of the roses clutched in her hand, and Troy stood over my dog’s limp body, blood oozing from his side making his dark mange look wet. I needed a plan. He still had a gun, so I figured my best approach would be from behind. He was a big guy. I couldn’t tell how tall he was, he looked to be my height, but clearly had twenty pounds on me. I didn’t know if I could take him, but I had to try. He stood with his back to me, the gun in his right hand pointed at the ground.

“Fucking dog! Who’s dog is this Lena?” he asked aloud.

She didn’t respond. I didn’t know if she was alive or not. “Please, God, please let her be alive. Let them both stay alive.”

Blood dripped from the guys left forearm
, and I realized Rufus must have bitten him. “Fucking dog!” he yelled again, and kicked Rufus in the gut. Rufus whimpered, unable to defend himself anymore, and rage took over every cautious bone in my body as I jumped up and ran toward the guy, wrapping my arms around his body and shoving him to the ground. I didn’t know if he still held the gun or not, but I turned him over and slugged him in the jaw. The guy hit back, and caught me in the cheek as he shoved me off of him. We scrambled to our feet, but I was a bit quicker, and laid another set of knuckles into his face. The gun nowhere in sight, I gained my courage and charged him, taking us both to the ground again. We wrestled in the dirt until I managed to get on top, and I hit him in the jaw again with my right hand, then again with my left. I kept hitting him and hitting him until Lena shouted, “That’s enough!” but I didn’t pay any attention. “Jackson! That’s enough. He’s out cold. Stop! You’re gonna kill him.” Lena’s hands were on my shoulders urging me off of him.

I
stopped hitting him and got up, and Lena embraced me. Her face soaked from tears, horror on her face when she saw Rufus. “Rufus!” she gasped. We hurried to Rufus and knelt beside him. His breathing was shallow, but he was still alive. “Sorry boy, I’m so sorry. We’ll get you fixed up.”

“So brave,” Lena said
, stroking Rufus’ head as he looked up at her. His eyes turned glassy and then closed. 

“Let’s get out of here,”
I said. But I only got Rufus up about an inch off the ground when Troy’s fist pounded into the side of my head, knocking me backwards with Rufus on top of me. I managed to place my dog back on the ground without dropping him. Troy charged at me, pinning me to the ground, punching me again in the jaw. Then his fist jammed into my left eye, his legs straddled my torso, and the twenty pounds I estimated felt like fifty as his hands went around my throat.

“She belongs to me,” he said through clenched teeth
, and continued choking me. I tried to pry his fingers from my neck, but with all his weight and his advantaged position over me, I couldn’t budge them. I used every ounce of strength I had to pry his hands from my throat. Somewhere deep down inside of me I saw this guy punching Lena over and over again if I didn’t get free of him. I don’t know where the strength came from, but I fisted my right hand, forcing it up and connecting with Troy’s mouth. He loosened his grip around my throat, and I shoved him off me. I rolled over, coughing and sputtering, trying to catch my breath.

Before I had a chance to stand up
, Troy was on me again. This time, a very large rock in this hand ready to pound into my head. “She’s my wife!” he shouted, spitting blood into my face.

“
Not anymore!” Lena shouted, and he glanced at her. “I hate you, Troy Harrington,” she cried, and once again the forest filled with the deadly sound of gunfire.

The bullet hit Troy smack dab in the middle of his chest
, blood trickled out and dripped onto my face, adding to the muck he’d already spit at me as his body stopped moving above mine. Maybe two or three seconds later he collapsed on top of me, his blood soaking my shirt.

Lena stood shaking
, and Brodie ran into the small clearing and over to her. “He was choking him. He was killing Jackson. I had to. I had to shoot him.”

“I know,” my brother soothed, taking the gun from her hands. “I know. It’s over now, Lena.
It’s all over.”

I managed to get on my knees as she ran to me, wrapping her arms around me
, almost making me tumble backwards again. “I love you, Jackson,” she sobbed into my neck. “I love you so much.”

I held her, rocking back and forth.

“Sorry I didn’t get here any sooner,” Brodie said. “When I got home from the bar, it wasn’t until I heard the gun shots that I realized something was wrong. I ran out here as fast as I could. Just in time to see …” He didn’t say what he saw, but we both knew what he saw.

Lena

Y
ou were very brave, too,” I whispered into Jackson’s ear, leaning my head on his shoulder. I didn’t know if he smiled or not. It didn’t matter. I sat between him and Brodie in the veterinary emergency waiting room. They were operating on Rufus. Poor sweet, brave Rufus had lost so much blood; the doctor didn’t seem too hopeful about the outcome, and warned us to be prepared for the worst. Jackson turned into me and buried his face against my shoulder. I held on to him, unable to contain my own tears as I closed my eyes, praying silently that Rufus would make it.

I don’t know how long we waited. It felt like hours, but every time Jackson asked
Brodie what time it was, each time, only about ten minutes had passed. Brodie’s phone rang, and he got up, speaking into it as he walked a little bit away. Jackson stayed with me, his elbows resting on his knees, his face in his hands. I had my arm around his back, and I rubbed my hand gently up and down. I figured it was the police on the phone. I dreaded to hear what they were saying. I had just killed Troy. I really killed him this time. Brodie had called the police on our way to the vet’s, telling them what happened. Neither Jackson nor I could utter a word, our thoughts on Rufus the entire ride.

A few minutes later,
Brodie sat down beside me. “The cops located Troy’s body. They’re going to want to talk to all of us.”

Jackson nodded and wiped his face with the palms of his hands.

“They know it was self-defense. It’ll be okay,” Brodie said. “Brad Grayson is a friend of ours, and was a good friend of our uncle’s. He’s leading the investigation. He said he’d wait until after we get Rufus home before he comes over.”

“
If
we take him home,” Jackson said quietly.

“The bullet went into his right hip just above his leg,”
Jackson explained to Derrick who’d been tending to the bar almost exclusively by himself while Brodie and Jackson spent most of their time with Rufus at the veterinary hospital, and then a couple days at home. Even though Rufus was, by all accounts, Jackson’s dog, Brodie loved him just as much. Rufus lay on a thick burly blanket in the corner of the room, gnawing on the largest rawhide bone I’d ever seen. His leg and hip remained bandaged, and he would need to stay off it for a few days, which meant he needed to be carried everywhere. Brodie rigged up this cute little transport using some old wagon wheels and a rug covered board he’d found in the shed to help during potty times. The doctor sounded very positive that Rufus would gain full use of his leg in no time. I couldn’t have been more relieved. To think that I had anything to do with the possible harming of such a wonderful dog sickened me. It sickened me to know what a monster I had been married to.

Jackson put his arm around me and pulled me against him, almost as if he sensed my thoughts. He stopped hiding his affections for me from
Brodie, not that he’d managed to do that in the first place. Brodie always knew.

The comforting feel of Jackson’s body against mine soothed me.
I never would have made it through the past couple of nights if Jackson hadn’t spent the nights sleeping next to me. I’d woken up three separate times screaming. The visions of Troy’s face as his words taunted me Saying, “She belongs to me.” Demanding it. Those were Troy’s last words before
I’d
killed him. Right after I’d stopped Jackson from doing the deed. I’m glad though. I didn’t want Jackson to carry that guilt around for the rest of his life; the guilt of killing another human being, even if it was to stop him from killing someone else.

The door to the bar opened, letting in a path of brightness and warmth from the sun, which was also blinding, making it difficult to see who was entering until the door closed tight again.

“Lena?”

I turned to see
Gabby, my friend from the band and the girl who’d apparently seen me at the parade and had unintentionally revealed my whereabouts.

Jackson

L
ena rushed to hug the girl who’d just entered the bar as we stood by waiting to see who she was.

“Oh, my, God! Lena, are you all right? I had to come and see you. Weezer called and told me what a mess I’d made of everything. I’m so sorry.”

“Gabby, it’s okay. How were you to know? I never told you about the kind of person Troy was.”

“Well, I had my suspicions. How could I not? You dropped out of the band and never wanted to come out anymore.
I should have been a better friend.”

“You were the perfect friend. I didn’t want you or anyone involved.” Lena grabbed the girl by the arm and walked her over to us. “Jackson,
Brodie, this is my friend Gabriella, Gabby for short.”

Gabby
smiled and tucked a loose strand of her long dark hair that hung down to her slim waist behind her ear. The slight curl in the strands made it look thick and luxurious. My brother elbowed me, grinning, and I instantly knew what he was thinking.

“Hey,” she said, shaking my hand
and then Brodie’s.

“Any friend of Lena’s is a friend of ours.”
Brodie gave her his best, I’m-available-to-show-you-the-town-anytime, smile.

“She sings backup with
Weezer’s band,” Lena added, proudly. “She’s very good.”

“Not anymore,” she said.

“What? Why?”

“Weezer decided to stay in southern California to be closer to his sister. He said he needed his family. His sister was all he had left. The band fell apart without him.”

“Oh, so how long will you be here?”

“
Not too long, but I just got here. I haven’t even made arrangements yet. I’m on my way to San Diego. I’m moving there. I am looking for a change now that the band split up, but I wanted to make sure you were okay first. Oh, God, Lena, I can’t believe it was me who gave you away to that creep. I wish I’d known.”

I decided to do the brotherly thing, for
Brodie’s sake. “You’re welcome to stay with us for a few nights.” Brodie elbowed me in the arm again, but managed to keep his face placid. I knew what was going through his mind though. My brother may have wanted to show this girl the town, but he sure as hell didn’t like the idea of his lifestyle being put in jeopardy. Having a beautiful girl in the house that he wanted to get to know better meant he’d need to keep his “other lady associates” to a minimum during her stay.

“Really?” Lena said. Neither of the lad
ies noticed Brodie’s sudden change in moods.

“Well, it
is my brother’s house. What do you say, Brodie?”

He cleared his throat. “Well, sure.” He managed without a
hitch. This was going to be interesting. Who knows, maybe Brodie’s demons were beginning to fade away.

Lena had made an awesome lasagna for dinner, being the perfect hostess for her friend. Brodie actually helped make Gabby’s stay very comfortable, setting her up in the spare bedroom for the next few nights. Giving her extra pillows and showing her around the house, making sure she had everything she needed. Gabby, it seemed, promised to be quite different from the girls Brodie usually spent time with, and she made it quite clear from the beginning that she wasn’t going to be the easy conquer he was used to. He had his work cut out for him that’s for sure. I wondered if he would just leave, and find some other girl to give his attention to for the next few days, or if he’d rise to the challenge, and put all of his efforts into Gabby. She was a knockout, and just the type he liked, but Brodie had his own demons to deal with. I hoped to God he’d come to terms with them some day.

Lena watched them sitting on the sofa perusing some of the music sheets that were scattered over the coffee table. Gabby giggled at something Brodie said, and Lena shrugged.

We said goodnight to Gabby leaving her in the company of my brother. Lena was a little reluctant at first to leave Gabby alone with Brodie, and I had to remind her that Gabby was a big girl. She seemed very capable of handling herself with a wolf like Brodie. Brodie might try to seduce her, but he knew what the word “no” meant.

“Come with me, baby,” I tugged Lena into my bedroom
.
Our
bedroom I corrected. I needed some alone time with her lovely body. With all the worrying about Rufus I’d forgotten about how she must be feeling about killing Troy. And besides, she looked too good in the new dress she’d purchased today when she’d gone shopping with Gabby during their “girl time” they’d insisted on having. I needed to see if she had anything exiting on underneath. I pulled her against me as we entered the room. “I love you, Lena, you know that? I think I fell for you the moment you walked in my bar.”

She smiled. “Good
, because I’m not going anywhere. I happen to love you too.”

I flipped the switch on the wall that illuminated a small bedside lamp, giving the room a soft glow, light enough to see her beautiful eyes sparkle, but dark enough to keep a hint of mystery as we explored each other’s bodies.
“You saved me,” I whispered against her neck. “Thank you.” Those two words of thanks didn’t seem to be nearly enough. I didn’t think there were enough words in the universe to express my undying thanks to her. I needed her to know how much I admired what she’d done for me. It had taken a great amount of courage to pull that trigger. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my lips. Then she kissed the corner of my mouth, then the other side, making her way down my neck to my chest. She shoved the cotton material of my unbuttoned shirt aside and laid little kisses down to my stomach. I shuddered with excitement, almost forgetting what I wanted to say to her. I took her face in my hands and brought her lips back to mine. I kissed her slowly, tenderly, before pulling away. “Lena, I want you to know how much I admire the strength it took for you to do what you did for me. You saved me, baby. Do you get it?”

“Yes,
I saved you, but you saved me first, Jackson Beaumont. And I will never forget that.”

“Sweetheart, you couldn’t have been saved if you hadn’t wanted to be. It had to come from here,” I pointed to her head, “and from here.” I rested the palm of my hand in the center of her chest.
“You left him on your own. I was merely a stepping-stone to your recovery. You’re a strong, beautiful, independent woman, Lena. Don’t ever forget that.”