Broken Bear (8 page)

She assumed that as the
night wore on, he would drink more than he should, as he often did, and then at some point his friends would get him home. Time went by and indeed, he seemed to adhere to the plan she’d imagined, at least until around eleven o’clock or so. Daniella glanced up and noticed a group of men surrounded Jett in the far corner of the room.

At the center of them
was Billy.

Fuck.

She knew from her history with him no good would come of whatever might happen. By the looks of things, Jett seemed to be under control but Daniella knew from the body language of the other men, something wasn’t right. She was in the midst of a conversation with a few friends when the urge to do something about the situation overcame her.

“Excuse me for a moment,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

Everyone stepped aside and she walked across the room. As she approached, the conversation among the men took a dark turn. By the time she arrived, Billy’s liquor fueled tirade was underway.

Billy got in Jett’s face as she neared.

“Here’s the deal,
Jett
, or whatever the fuck your name is.” He said. “I don’t trust you.”

The comment
didn’t seem to upset Jett in the slightest.

“I get that, man.” He replied. “If I was a friend of
Daniella’s, I probably wouldn’t trust me, either.”

“So what are you saying?” Billy asked as he stepped closer to Jett.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I
said
what I mean. If I was in your shoes and didn’t know anything about any of this, I would be suspicious as well.”

Billy moved closer again until he was about six inches from Jett.

“Come on man, really?” Jett said.

“What?” Billy scoffed as he puffed up his chest and passed his beer to a nearby
flunkie.

“You want to do this?” Jett said.
“Right here? Right now?”

“I’m not doing anything,” Billy replied. “I’m just standing here. Talking…”

“Right,” Jett said.

“Kick his ass, Billy!” an anonymous male voice called out.

“Just what is it you think I am doing to Daniella?” Jett asked.

“Did I say you were doing anything to her?” Billy replied. “All I know is that I’ve been a cop long enough to spot a perp. I don’t know what you’ve done or why you’ve come here but I can promise you, I will find out.”

“Great…” Jett said with a smile. “When you figure it out, please let me know since I have amnesia I haven’t got a
FUCKING CLUE!
”

The entire party fell silent and looked in the direction of the small group of men.

Billy looked at Jett and nodded.

After a few seconds of
silence he said, “Alright, fine. You know what? Out of respect to Daniella, I won’t beat your head into the carpet.”

Jett scoffed but in the next instant, Billy was in his face with his index finger outstretched.

“But, let me tell you this,” he said. “If anything, I mean
anything
happens to her, I will find you. And, I can promise you when I do, you will beg for mercy.”

Jett nodded.

“Looking forward to it,” He said.

Jett elbowed his way out of the group of men that surrounded him.

As he walked by Daniella he said, “I guess I am wearing out my welcome here, aren’t I?”

“Jett,” she said. “Wait…”

Before she turned to follow Jett, she looked at Billy and shook her head.

Asshole.

The good news was everyone there was well aware of Billy’s tendencies. Within an hour, the whole event had faded away and for Daniella’s sake, the rest of the evening proved to be as enjoyable as she’d hoped. There wasn’t any drama with Tricia or anything else of the sort. On the heels of the relative success of the party, Jett and Daniella arrived back at her house a little after midnight.

“Thanks
Daniella,” Jett said as they entered her house. “I had a great time tonight.”

She set her purse down on the kitchen counter and said, “What? How can you say that after what happened with Billy?”

“Ah,” he scoffed as he waved his right hand. “That was no big deal.”

She smiled and said, “Well, I’m glad one of us felt that way.”

She picked up her purse to head to her bedroom. As she turned, he stood right in front of her. He was so close; she almost walked right into him.

He nodd
ed at her, smiled and said, “Aww, were you worried about me?”

Daniella
could smell him. The space between them felt tense, unfamiliar and a bit dangerous.

“No, I…” she stammered.

“You?” he said as he moved closer to her. His dark green pools flickered with risk. Daniella’s breath shortened. Her purse seemed as if it weighed a ton. God, he was hot. All she wanted to do was jump him. Every corpuscle in her body urged Daniella on and begged her to take action. While she fretted, doubted and restrained herself, he reached up with his right hand and touched her face.

She was desperate to moisten her lips but she knew it would betray her need for him. Instead, her breath locked in her throat as she watched him and waited to see what he would do next.
He smiled and moved in to her left cheek. He moved quickly and before she realized it, his lips were a whisper away from her flesh. Any instant, he might kiss her.

He moved another inch higher and whispered, “Thank you for your concern.”

Daniella’s lips quivered as he lingered in her ear but just as soon as he moved in, he withdrew from her.

He smiled and said, “Well, we should get to bed don’t you think?”

The next thirty minutes of inner dialog Daniella engaged in was unprecedented in her short life. It took every ounce of restraint she had not to throw him down on the kitchen floor. Nothing about any of their conversations or time together could have prepared for what
almost
happened.

Still, she
would not
masturbate over it and give him an edge he didn’t deserve. Somehow, she managed to get to sleep in a short period in spite of what had occurred. It was rough but she did it.

***

“
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh, aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” a voice screamed from outside of the house.

Daniella
shot up from a dead sleep, her heart pounded.

Holy shit, not again…

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!” the voice screamed once more.

Panicked,
Daniella threw on clothes and ran out into the hallway. Jett’s door was open so she approached it with caution. As she reached it, she looked inside and noticed he wasn’t there. She grabbed a flashlight, a pair of nearby shoes and hurried out the back door of the house. Moments later, she headed up the trail behind her house that led into the woods.

“
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!” the voice cried out again.

Her hands shook in an almost uncontrollable way. She wanted to utter his name but was too terr
ified to do so. His screams stopped. The only sounds she heard now were the crunches of twigs and leaves beneath her feet as she walked.

She followed the trail for anot
her twenty yards when at last she saw something.

His clothes, tattered and shredded
, littered the path beneath her feet. She reached down and grabbed a fragment of his shirt. As she looked at it, she noticed it was cool and wet to the touch. Terror gripped at Daniella as the cloth fell from her hand and hit the ground. She raised her hand up under the light of the moon and saw blood coated her fingertips.

“Jett!” she screamed in horror.

She started to run up the trail and called out his name as she did. For another fifty or sixty yards, she followed the traces of clothing he left behind until they too disappeared, just as he had.

She stopped, looked to her left and then her right when something caught her eye. In a clearing, she noticed a large shape on the ground. Panicked, she tore through the underbrush and within seconds came up on him.

Jett lay unconscious in his underwear. As she rushed to his side, she could see he was blood stained from head to toe but did not appear to be injured.

What the fuck?

She knelt down beside him.

“Jett!” she cried as she shook him. “Jett, wake up, please!”

For several seconds he remained unresponsive until at last he awoke. But, Daniella had startled him and as he came to, he swung his right arm and struck her in the face, just below the right eye.

The impact was terrific, as if a club had hit her. She shrieked and hit the ground.

“Daniella!” Jett cried out as he scrambled to his feet.

The impact jarred her.
Daniella hadn’t realized how strong he was. She was dazed but, otherwise all right. She looked up at him through eyes made glassy from the strike.

“
Daniella, oh my God!” he said as he knelt down and caressed her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m
think so,” she said. “What happened to you, Jett? What are you doing out here?”

Jett looked at her. His eyes seemed distant.

“I don’t know, Daniella.” He said. “I have no idea how I got here.”

“Jesus,”
Daniella said. “Are you sure? I mean, where did all of this blood come from, Jett?”

“I told you I don’t have any idea,
Daniella!” He shouted. “What else do you want me to
fucking
say to you?!”

Daniella
recoiled from him in a mix of fear and pain.

This is insane. What is he doing out here? Who passes out in the middle of the woods covered in blood?

Jett saw the anguish in Daniella’s face.

“
Daniella, I’m sorry,” he said as he helped her to stand. “I didn’t mean to frighten you but I swear I am telling you the truth. You believe me don’t you?”

“
Ahhh!” she exclaimed. She winced in agony and caressed her cheek. “Yes, I believe you. Are you hurt anywhere?”

He looked down at his body and smeared the blood along his skin in search of a wound.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t appear to be injured at all.”

Daniella
looked around and said, “Well, we have to get you back to the house to get cleaned up and make certain. Can you walk?”

“Yes,” he replied. “You have to lead the way. I have no clue how I got here.”

About ten minutes later, they arrived back at Daniella’s house. Jett headed towards the bathroom to shower but as he did, he turned back in her direction.

“
Daniella?” he said.

“Yes?”

“I have no idea what to say.” He replied. “I’d like to tell you that I’m sorry but I know it’s not enough.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “As long as you aren’t hurt, that’s all that matters to me.”

“But,” he said as he looked down at the dried blood that covered his skin. “What about this? Where did this come from and why can’t I remember?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t know, Jett.” She replied.

He exhaled, walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. A few seconds later, she heard him enter the shower. Exhausted,
Daniella walked out to the living room and plopped down on the sofa. As she sat, the sound of the water in the shower soothed her. Daniella leaned forward to rub her eyes when her hand brushed against the cheek that Jett struck by accident.

“Ahh!” she exclaimed. “Fuck…”

She got up from her couch and walked over to a large wall mirror that hung in the foyer of her home. She flipped on the overhead light and turned to examine the source of the pain. Her eyes widened as she saw that it had formed into a large, reddish purple bruise.

“Oh my God…” she whispered as she rubbed it with a light touch.

She bit her lip and walked to her freezer to get an ice pack. A few minutes later, she sat down on the couch once again, leaned back and placed the ice on her face. The first twenty or thirty seconds were agony. The sharp cold of the ice against her fresh bruise nearly brought tears to her eyes but, in spite of the pain, she tried to relax. Before she realized it, she must have drifted off to sleep for a few minutes because the next thing she knew, Jett stood over her.

“Oh!” she exclaimed in fright. “Jesus Jett, you scared me.”

“Sorry Daniella, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jett said. “The icepack started to slide off of your cheek. I was trying to put it back for you.”

“Thank you.” She replied. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Um, maybe fifteen minutes or so,” he replied.

She sat forward as he moved away and looked down at her.

“Daniella, I…” he said. “I am so sorry about your face. Does it hurt a lot?”