First Love (21 page)

The second I move, my ribs scream in protest. I almost forgot about my own beatings at Beau's hands. But, compared to Darcie's, mine were nothing. I slowly sit up and slide my legs over to the floor, a wave of dizziness sweeping over me. I look to my own cuts and bruises, deciding to care for them after. I slowly ease off the bed and walk to the other side where I can reach her better. I quickly start looking over her face. There is a bad cut above her eyebrow that probably needs stitches. Hopefully there is something in the first aid kit that would do for now. I clean everything with water first. Jesus, she’s a mess. He beat her worse than I thought. As I am wiping the large cut with an alcohol wipe, Darcie starts coming to. I put a butterfly bandage on the cut, and it seems to close it up. Darcie looks up and gives me a small smile.

“Thanks, Amber. Why are you being so nice to me? I really don't deserve your kindness … not after the things I have done to you." By the way she is gasping and pausing in between the words, I can tell it hurts her to breathe. She probably has some bruised ribs, possibly broken.

“It’s my fault he did this to you. I am so sorry," I say as guilt washes over me again. If I wouldn't have tried to get Beau to leave me alone, he never would have gone after her in the first place.

“I am the one who should be apologizing. You wouldn't be here if I would have had the guts to leave him when I had the chance. I just felt hopeless, like no matter where I went he would find me. I never should have let him talk me into bringing you here. I hope someday you will be able to forgive me. I'm really not a bad person, I promise," she says as she starts to cry.

I sit next to her and wrap my arm around her. I can sympathize with her. I haven't been through as much for as long as she has, but I have felt pretty damn hopeless in the last twenty-four hours. As I sit here, trying to comfort her, I start to think Darcie is right. We are never getting out of here. I thought Kyle would have found us by now and Beau isn’t going to leave me alone forever. Neither one of us is in any shape to try to overpower him, especially when he has a gun somewhere. We just need to hang on for as long as we possibly can without pissing him off. Hopefully that will save both of us another beating.

We must have fallen asleep. When I open my eyes, I notice that it’s getting dark outside. My stomach starts growling so loudly it wakes Darcie up. She looks over and laughs which makes me laugh. And, it feels good. After everything we’ve been through, are still going through, it gives me hope and the strength I need to survive this.

Unfortunately, I hear the all too familiar footsteps walking down the hallway. I can feel Darcie's body start to tremble as dread consumes me. I don’t know what the hell he plans on doing next and I really don’t want to find out. I just want to run as far away from here as I can.

Darcie reaches over and grips my hand tightly. We both jump when we hear the click of the latch being unlocked. Beau walks in slowly, looking between the two of us and shaking his head.

“Are you two bonding or some shit now?" he scoffs. "I hate to break up the girl time y’all have going, but I am going to need some alone time with Amber, so you are going to need to wait for me in the other room, Darcie," he says, never taking his eyes off me. My stomach starts rolling, nausea settling in. The last thing I want is to be alone with him.

"No," Darcie says so quietly I almost don't hear her. She squeezes my hand tighter as soon as the words leave her mouth. Beau looks at her in disbelief and moves around the bed until he is next to her.

“I don't think I heard you, Darcie. Let's try this again. I said, go and wait for me in the other room. Now!" he says sharply. The look on his face dares her to mess with him. I look at Darcie, her face set with determination. Normally, I would say “go girl" and high five her, but now is not the time.

“You heard me. I said NO. I am not leaving Amber alone with you." She is looking him straight in the eyes. For a second, it looks like Beau is going to back down. The corners of his lips twitch like he is smiling. I should have known better. He’s not the type of guy to back down. Before I realize what is happening, he has her by the neck and is picking her up off the bed. She is still clinging onto my hand for dear life, but he is pulling her so hard that I am getting closer to the edge of the bed. She is gasping for air because he is squeezing her throat so hard. Once he gets her off the bed, he holds her up so her feet are barely touching the floor and hurls her against the wall with so much force, it jerks me right off the bed and I land with a thud on the hard wood floor face first. SHIT! That hurts. Beau kicks me out of his way and stomps over to Darcie. I have to do something. Blood is steadily flowing out of my nose and I can feel my cheeks starting to swell, but I latch onto any amount of adrenaline I have and pull myself up. I launch forward, jumping in front of Darcie before Beau can get to her.

"What are you doing?" Darcie whispers to me.

“We are in this together."

Beau is livid. His nostrils flare, his eyes get hard, his jaw clenches, and his breathing picks up. He hates that I took the control away from him. Hates that I dismissed him so boldly. Hates that I am standing up to him. Above all, hates the fact that the two of us are standing up for each other. It’s much easier for him to control us when he could keep us apart.

“I have had enough of the two of you," he growls as he pulls a gun from the waistband of his jeans. "You," he points to me, “get the fuck back on the bed now!" I’m torn. I really don’t want to get shot, but I don’t want to leave Darcie alone either. Before I have a chance to decide, we all hear something. It sounds like an airboat. Hope blooms once more in my belly. Oh, please, let that be someone here to help us.

“Both of you be quiet. If either of you make a sound, I will shoot you both. I am done playing games." He quickly leaves the room and locks the door. Darcie and I huddle together and slide to the floor in the corner, praying we are about to get out of here.

B
EASLEY DOESN’T
want a huge group of people and several roaring airboats to tip Beau off to our arrival, so it is only Paul, Angel, Beasley, and me. It’s enough people to overpower without freaking his ass out with a shit load of cops coming at him. However, Beasley has the sheriff's helicopter with backup and a medical helicopter on standby if we need them. We were all given sheriff-issued Kevlar vests, but hopefully they won't be tested.

Beasley is the only one armed. With good reason. At this point, I would shoot Beau just for the hell of it. I hated him before. Now, there isn't a word strong enough to describe what I feel for him. The plan is for Beasley and me to contain Beau. Paul and Angel are supposed to find Amber and Darcie.

We still have no clue what role Darcie is playing in all of this. We know she is the one who initially took Amber, but with everything we have learned about Beau, he could have forced her to do it.

The boat ride to the cabin only took us about twenty-five minutes, although it felt like two days. I just held onto the hope that they were here and Amber was okay. I honestly don't know what I would do without her. Especially when I didn’t force her protection a much as I should have. I love that woman more than life. She is my life. My everything. I cannot get her back just to lose her all over again. I don't ever want to know what life is like without her again. I lived through it once and I damn sure wouldn’t do it again.

Thank God for the guys. I couldn't ask for better friends. These past days, I don’t know what I would’ve done without them. Not many people would be willing to put themselves into harm’s way for someone else. Goes to show that I’m not the only one who has had their heart stolen by Amber.

As soon as the cabin comes into view, hope swells in my chest. There are lights on inside. That has to be a good sign. I try not to let it overwhelm me. Someone is here, I tell myself. It doesn’t mean Amber is here. An airboat rests at the dock … another sign of life. Beasley cuts the engine a little ways away from the cabin so we can go in quietly. I feel my body tense as hope turns to fear. There is no way of knowing what we are going to find once we walk through that front door.

We get the boat docked and make our way to the cabin door. Beasley motions for us to stand back while he tests the door knob. It gives. Not locked. He slowly turns the knob, pushes the door open, and steps in with his gun ready. My heart is thuds I my chest, beating so fast and hard I can feel it in my ears. The cabin is small. You can easily see the entire space, including two doors toward the back. Bedrooms? Beasley pauses, tearing my concentration from the doors I hope Amber is behind. He motions with one hand toward the back door. Through the kitchen, we see that it is open. He wastes no time.

"Check the bedrooms for the girls!" he shouts as he runs out the backdoor.

The three of us tread lightly down the hallway. The first door is open and we can see that it is empty. For a second, my stomach drops. I remind myself there is still one more. When we get to that door, it is latched with a padlock. She has to be in there. Now, we just have to figure out how to get it opened.

"Amber, are you in there, Princess?" I yell through the door. I’m holding my breath, praying I get an answer. When I finally do, I fall to my knees. It is the absolute sweetest sound I have ever heard.

"Kyle, is that you? We are in here!" she cries.

"We have to figure out how to get this lock off. Are either of you hurt?"

“A little, but I don't think it’s too serious. Please, just hurry and get us out of here." She sounds so tired and shaken. Paul runs into the kitchen to see if there is anything in there we can use to get in the door. He comes back empty-handed. Beasley is behind him saying Beau took off. Shit! He must have the key. I hope they can find him before he gets too far away.

“Amber … you and Darcie stand as far away from the door as possible, and get on the ground," Beasley instructs her. Once she yells back that she is all set, he tells us all to get back. He stands back, fires a shot at each hinge, then walks up to it, kicking it. The door flies open, broken from its hinges, yet still connected by the lock. If I wasn't so anxious to get to Amber, it might have been kind of funny.

I run past Beasley into the room. I stop dead in my tracks the second I see Amber's face. Fuck! What did that bastard do to her? She has blood all over her clothes and face. There are bruises all over her face, including a huge black eye. If I ever get my hands on that son of a bitch, I am going to kill him. She stands up, and I can see it hurts her to do so. We need to get her to the hospital and get her examined. We meet each other in the middle of the room and I am almost scared to touch her. I don't want to hurt her. She must know that's what I am thinking because all of a sudden she crushes herself against me. So, I wrap her in my arms and hold her tight.

“You came. I knew you would find me," she cries.

“Always, Princess. I will always find you," I tell her as I gently hold her face in my hands to look it over. It feels so good to have her in my arms. Paul and Angel come over and kiss the top of her head, saying how glad they are that we found her. Angel grabs the first aid kit from the bed and brings it over to Darcie. She definitely got the worst of it. Amber must notice me looking.

“First, she was beat unconscious so that he would leave me alone. Then, he wanted her to leave the room so he could be alone with me. She stood up to him knowing what he would do to her." She has tears streaming down her face. “Kyle, I don't want her punished. She has been abused by him for years. None of this is her fault."

“I don't think that is up to us, but we will talk to Beasley." I kiss her forehead. Paul has brought in a wet towel and another first aid kit from the boat so we can clean Amber up. She sits on the bed and I kneel in front of her. I gently use the towel to clean all of the dried blood off her face. She tells me what has happened since Darcie took her from the center. Every time she tells me about Beau hurting her, I feel sick. And so pissed I want to hit something. Primarily Beau. She never should have gone through any of this shit. I take a deep breath to calm myself down and focus on getting her out of here and to a hospital.