Hot Pink Heels (The Street Series) (19 page)

“Amanda?” She realized Jackson was asking her a question and she was just staring at him. He winced as he tried to remove his light jacket and she remembered hearing something about his shoulder.

“Oh, Jack, I’m sorry, let me help you with that,” she said, rushing to his side. He sucked in a gasp as she gently tugged on one sleeve and then the other. His dad had taken the peas with him, but Amanda checked the freezer and found some strawberries in a Ziploc that looked like they would work.

“Sit down, Jack,” she said, guiding him back to the table. She pressed the frozen berries to his shoulder and his sharp intake let her know she was on the right spot. “I’m sorry, I know this hurts,
and I can’t believe this happened to you guys. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse. My roommate ‘disappeared’ after she tried to skip out on Billy.”

Jackson froze, not knowing what to say.
He tried to keep a nonchalant look on his face, but it was too late. Amanda had noticed, and she stepped back to look him straight in the face.

“Jack, what happened back there tonight? I find it hard to believe Billy and his buddies just came up and hit you and walked off, so
what did he really do or say,” she said, hands on her hips.

“It was nothing, Amanda, we got what you needed and Billy recognized me, that’s all,” Jackson said, trying to steer away from the dangerous waters of the threats Billy had made.

“Fine,” Amanda said, shoving the bag of strawberries into his hands and stalking toward the door. “If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll go ask your dad.”

“Amanda, wait,” Jackson stood up and tried to catch her in the hall. “Okay, come back and sit down. I’ll tell you what happened. I just didn’t want you to get upset.”

She turned, facing him in the hallway. “You’d better tell me the truth,” Amanda said as she brushed past him. “When you deal with men and sex all the time, you get very good at figuring out when one is lying.”

Jackson didn’t need the reminder of her past career, because it had already hit him in the head tonight, literally. He sat down again and held the bag to his shoulder, trying to figure out where to begin.

“We were in and out pretty quickly,” Jackson said. “We checked outside and didn’t see anyone or really anything, so we headed to the car. I opened the car door and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground in the middle of the street, and I could hear my dad hollering. I looked over and saw two guys on top of him, and there must have been a third guy sitting on my back, because I couldn’t get up.”

Amanda’s face whitened as he told the story, but she kept silent, not wanting to cause him to hold back details. She didn’t know if Billy would be smart enough to catch the license plate on Jackson’s car, but she was worried now for sure, because it was obvious that he’d been waiting for her to return to the apartment.

“Billy said a few things to me, made some threats, and then told us to tell you to get back where you belong,” Jackson said, attempting to brush past the threat part.

“What sort of threats?” She eyed him suspiciously, and he knew she wasn’t going to let it go.

Sighing, Jackson gave in. “He said to tell you to come back or he was going to take it out on your friend Whitney,” he said. Billy’s exact words came back to haunt him and he realized the threat had been that he would kill Whitney, just as he must’ve done to Amanda’s roommate.

Her blood turned to ice and she shivered. Whitney was in danger and she didn’t even know it. She probably didn’t even know Amanda was still alive. Billy was going to take it out on Whitney, and she was completely innocent in the situation. “What did he say, exactly,” she asked
slowly. “Word for word, Jack. I have to know.”

He didn’t want to tell her, but she was like a dog with a bone and the look on her face said she wasn’t going to back down until he told her. “He said if you didn’t come back, he was going to do to Whitney what he did to your roommate,” Jackson said, closing his eyes at the look on her face.

Fear was clawing at her throat, and she knew she couldn’t let that happen to Whitney. She was not even involved in the situation, and she couldn’t possibly know where Amanda was or even if she was alive. Billy was going to kill her just because she knew Amanda, and Amanda couldn’t let that happen.

“Give me your car keys,” she said simply, holding out her hand. Jackson just stared at her.

“Are you out of your mind? You can’t go back there,” he protested. “It’s insane, too dangerous, and I won’t allow it.”

Seeing red, Amanda put her hands on her hips. “You won’t
allow
it? Since when did you become my boss? You can’t keep me here against my will, and I can’t let Whitney pay for something I’ve done! I’ll get her out—just like you did with me. You don’t own me, and saying you care about me doesn’t give you the right to order me around.”

“Amanda, I
do
care about you, and I’m not trying to order you around, I’m trying to protect you!” He jumped up before remembering his sore hip and shoulder, but he hurried after her. “Can’t you see that? I don’t want anything to happen to you!”

Turning, she pushed him backwards with both hands on his chest. “You jerk! So you think that if you keep me safe, that’s all that matters? Where’s your compassion? You can’t save my life and sacrifice Whitney’s—he’s going to kill her!” She was shouting now, but she didn’t care if Chuck and Laura heard them.

Jackson continued to follow her as she threw the screen door open and burst out onto the driveway. “Amanda, think about this for a minute,” he pleaded. “There has to be a better way. You can’t just go up there to your old street and demand that Billy let Whitney go. And how are you going to get there, anyway?”

“I’ll take the bus,” she said, calming now that a plan was forming in her mind. She didn’t notice Chuck and Laura watching and listening through the open window of their bedroom. Laura had her hand on Chuck’s arm, keeping him from going out and demanding that Amanda stay.

“Come on, Amanda, let’s be reasonable,” Jackson said. “Please, just wait for a minute and let’s talk about this.” He reached for her arm, but she yanked it away and continued down the sidewalk. “What’re you going to do?”

“It’s simple, really, I’m going to make a trade,” she said, still moving forward with her back to him.

“A trade?” Jackson had a bad feeling about this, and he hurried to catch up to Amanda, putting himself in her path so she was forced to stop. “What sort of trade?”

Her mind set, she let a small, less-than-convincing smile slide across her face. “If he agrees to let Whitney go, I’ll trade myself for her.”
She pushed past him again, leaving Jackson to stare at her in horror.

“The hell you will,” he shouted at her, losing control. “I don’t care
what
you think of me, or if I have to lock you in the house, but you are
not
going through with this crazy plan!”

“Nothing you can say will stop me, and if you don’t get out of my way, I’ll give you another bruise on your face,” she fought to get past him.

Jackson grabbed her by the arms, shaking her hard enough to rattle her teeth. “Amanda,” his voice was ragged with emotion. “Amanda, please don’t do this. I can’t let you go and I have no right to ask you to stay, but I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”

“Jackson, I don’t belong to you, and you’re right, you can’t ask me to stay,” she said, lowering her voice. “I appreciate your concern, but
Whitney was the only friend I had, and I’m not going to just stand by and let Billy hurt her, or worse.”

“Amanda, you can’t go,” Jackson said,
putting his hands up. “I’m putting my foot down.”

“What? Why? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just punch you in the face right now,” she yelled, not caring anymore who might hear them on this quaint little street in Perfectville.

“Because I’m in love with you, you idiot woman!” He shouted the words he’d meant to tell her in private, at a time when he was more sure of her feelings for him. They were the words he wanted to share with her in a tender moment, but he’d wanted to wait until he knew where she stood with God, and he certainly had wanted to wait until he wasn’t shouting at her.

Amanda was frozen
in place, her mouth forming an O, and her hands were still fisted at her sides. “For crying out loud, Amanda, I just bared my soul to you—say
something
!” He stood there, not sure what she was thinking, and not sure how he’d expected her to react, but he certainly had not expected her next move.

The breat
h whooshed out of him as her fist plowed into his stomach, a solid punch for such a small woman. He looked up at her from his bent position, unable to catch his breath. She was still staring at him, but Jackson saw tears in her eyes before she turned and walked back to the house and slammed the door.

Jackson leaned against his car, still catching his breath when his phone started ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. The name on the caller id had him laughing, the irony too much for him to take. Punching a button, he answered on the third ring.

“Clarissa, what a surprise,” he said, wondering at God’s sense of humor. Having just declared his undying love for Amanda, it only seemed fitting that the woman he thought he’d spend forever with was calling him now.

“Jackson, hello,” Clarissa said, her perfectly modulated voice sounding pleasant over the phone. “How are you doing?”

“Well, Clarissa, as a matter of fact, this really isn’t a good time,” Jackson said, trying not to sound flustered. In a perfect world, Jackson had wanted to share the special moment with Amanda, but he wanted to have it planned out, not a shouted declaration in the middle of an argument. Then, to top it all off, he couldn’t even hold her and celebrate their love. Instead, he was talking to his ex-girlfriend, which only brought on feelings of guilt.

“Oh? What’s going on, Jackson?” Clarissa was all concern, but he didn’t want to involve her because she had already had a difficult time because of his feelings for Amanda.

“Just a few things going on, and I sort of need to take care of them,” Jackson said impatiently, trying to catch his breath.

“Oh, okay, well I just wanted to call to ask a favor of you,” Clarissa said, sounding hurt. “Really, it’s just a little thing, Jackson. Do you know how I can get
a hold of Amanda?”

Jackson felt terrible. It seemed like he couldn’t say or do anything without hurting Clarissa. He laughed ironically. “Actually, she’s staying here with my parents again,” he said, waiting for Clarissa’s criticism.
Jackson was surprised for the second time in a single night.

“Really? That’s great!” Clarissa’s tone brightened perceptibly. “I’ll be over first thing in the morning. I’ve got to talk to her. I acted like such a jerk to her, and I feel terrible about it.”

“Rissa, it’s really not a good time,” he protested.

“Jackson, don’t get between two women and an apology,” Clarissa fussed.
“Tell Amanda I’ll be over to pick her up for brunch at 10 in the morning. Love you, Jack!” Her former parting phrase slipped out automatically before she could stop it. “Um, I’m sorry, I mean goodbye, Jack.”

Jackson was sure her face was a pretty shade of crimson right about now, but he let her off the hook. “Okay, goodbye, Rissa.”
That woman is on a mission
.
When Clarissa Black was on a mission, it was best to get out of her way.
That’s when she would steamroll anyone who got in front of her.

He figured he’d better go inside and confront Amanda, first to tell her about Clarissa’s impending visit and then to make sure she wasn’t going through with her ridiculous plan.

“Chuck, we can’t interfere,” Laura said in a hushed voice. The two were whispering quietly in their bedroom. Arguing was more like it, and Laura was determined to win.

It seemed like there was a theme of female domination
going on against the Brennan men. Chuck was not one to let Laura win easily, and this was more important than the little things they usually got snippy about.

“All I’m saying is that we cannot let Amanda go back there,” Chuck said. “Look what happened to the two of us—she’s smart and quick, but she’s outnumbered. There has to be a different way to get word to her friend about the danger she’s in.”

“But Chuck, this is something that has to be hashed out between Jack and Amanda,” Laura insisted. “I don’t want to see her hurt either, but just because she’s living here doesn’t mean we get to tell her what to do.”

“The hell we don’t,” Chuck said, surprising Laura with his vehemence. He stood up from where they’d been talking on the edge of the bed. “I have a feeling that little girl is going to be around for a long time, and I’ve gotten rather attached. I’m not willing to let her turn herself into a martyr just to save someone else.”

“But don’t you see,” Laura pushed. “This is just what God did for her, and I really think she needs to see that. I think she use to be there, right with God, but whatever happened back at home soured her against the whole situation. She’s willing to do this for her friend, and she needs to see that’s exactly what Christ did for her.”