Amy’s dark hair was a knotted mess that framed her bruised and bloodied face. Her lips were chapped, and her cheeks sunken in. She was half the size she usually was, and right now she was curled in on herself like a frightened animal.
I swallowed back my urge to demand who had done this to her and instead focused on getting her out of this place as soon as fucking possible.
“Amy,” I said softly as I moved to my knees and crawled a little ways inside her hiding spot. “Amy girl, what happened?”
“J…Jay?” She chewed on her lower lip as her eyes darted all around.
“It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you anymore. I’m here.” I held my hand out, knowing the only way I was going to get her out of here was if she decided to come with me.
She swallowed and craned her head out to the side, trying to look around me, so I shined the light in that direction to let her see it was just me.
“Jay… I’m sorry. I really messed up.”
“Shh. You don’t have to do that, not with me.” I trailed my eyes down over her, trying to see if there was any damage beyond what I could see on her face. But there was no way to tell, curled into herself like she was. “I need you to come with me. That’s why you called, remember?”
A shiver racked her tiny body, and she squeezed her eyes shut, then winced and gripped her head.
“I… No…”
“Amy, you can’t stay here.”
“I have to,” she said, frantically shaking her head. “I have to stay. If I leave, he’ll find me.”
“Who? Who’ll find you?” As my voice got louder, she withdrew into herself a little more, and I ordered myself to calm the hell down. Getting emotional wasn’t going to help anyone right now. “Do you mean the guy who did this to you? Who is he?”
Tell me so I can fucking kill him.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Amy, you can tell me anything.”
“Not this.”
“Okay… Okay. You don’t have to tell me.” I held my hands up. “But I need you to come with me now. I need to make sure you’re okay. Are you hurt anywhere other than your eye and cheek?”
She reached up to touch her swollen face. “My side, it kinda hurts.”
I looked down to where she was protecting herself with her knees and tried not to think about what had been done to her. She wasn’t dressed warmly enough to be outside in this weather. A baggy sweater and thin leggings wouldn’t do shit, and as thin as she was, she had no body weight to help keep her warm either. I needed to get her out of here, and fast.
“Amy, listen to me. I don’t know how badly you’re hurt, but you called me for a reason. Let me help you.”
“I won’t go to the hospital, Jay.”
I already knew that. She knew how the system worked, had been through it enough times to remember. There’d be drug tests, psych tests, cops, and she’d rather take her chances out here than risk any kind of intervention in there.
“I won’t take you there.”
The doubt that entered her eyes was expected, because in the past I’d been the one doing all those things in an attempt to save her. This was different, though. She wasn’t high. I hadn’t walked in to find her passed out on the floor from an overdose. She’d been beaten, and if promising her no hospitals was the only way to get her out of the cold and somewhere I could at least check her out, then I’d give her whatever she wanted.
“I promise. No hospitals. I’ll take you to Jon’s. We’ll get you some warm clothes, warm food, then make sure you’re okay. That’s it.”
“That’s it?”
“You have my word.”
Amy finally uncurled her legs, wincing, and I backed out of her hiding place and held out my hand to her. She slipped her cold fingers into my palm, and as I gently guided her to her feet, she gasped and wrapped an arm around her waist.
There was no way she was walking out of here on her own, so I brought the phone up to my ear and said, “GQ, you still there? Everything good?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Something in his voice was a little off this time round, but I didn’t have time to analyze it.
“We’re coming your way now, but I have to hang up. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be here. Just get her out safely.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call and saw Amy staring at me, suspicion in her eyes. “Who was that?”
“A friend. He’s going to drive you to Jon’s.”
She chewed on her lower lip, clearly trying to decide whether she trusted me. “He’s not a cop, is he?”
“No, he’s not a cop.” I shoved the phone in my pants pocket, and just as I was about to pick her up, she passed out in my arms.
Fuck, it was time to get out of here.
Chapter 37
Ryan
THE SNOW GLIMMERED in the beam of my headlights as it fell soundlessly to the ground outside. I had no idea how long I’d been sitting in my car with the doors locked and my hand clutching my phone. But the longer I sat there, the harder it began to fall.
Jameson had disappeared from sight some time ago now, and when he finally found his sister, what I’d heard was gut-wrenching.
I knew very little about Amy, but what I did know was how much her brother loved her. It was evident that night he’d told me he saw her at the fire. The pain and sadness of having lost contact with one you loved—I’d caught glimpses of that even though he’d tried to put up his shield. Tonight, when he found her, that shield had come back down.
“GQ, you still there? Everything good?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” I glanced outside at the thicker layer of white covering the ground and sent up a quick prayer that they were on their way back. I wouldn’t feel good again until the two of them were safe and in this car.
“We’re coming your way now, but I have to hang up. Are you sure you’re okay?”
A lump formed at the back of my throat, making it difficult to speak. I was touched that he would even to think to ask about me, with all that he was dealing with.
“I’m sure. I’ll be here. Just get her out safely.”
“Will do,” he said before he ended the call, and when my phone went dark and silence filled the car, I suddenly felt as though I was the last person on the planet.
I stared out the windshield, the blood ringing in my ears the only sound I could hear. I thought back over the course of the night and couldn’t help but think how justified Jameson was in what he’d felt tonight.
This was his life, and though I’d felt ashamed of myself when we left dinner earlier, I was now truly humbled. I thought I’d understood where he came from, that we really weren’t all that different. But as I sat in my locked car, staring at the unfortunate way life could so badly treat and disappoint people, I realized I knew nothing.
Small fires were popping up here and there under the tracks, people huddling around them searching for any kind of warmth they could find. It was heartbreaking to think they would spend the night out here, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency to be better and do more.