When Love's at Work (11 page)

Purity continued to give information on her
location and the situation at hand and then hung up.

“
Hey, man, I don’t want
any trouble,” Derek said to Alex.

“
Good, me either,” Alex
said confidently and with such a commanding presence that Derek
seemed to shrink about three inches.

Purity secretly hoped that Alex would keep
him talking so the police would have enough time to arrive. Maybe
this time there’d be some kind of repercussion for his actions.
Heaven knows all the other times there weren’t.

“
I just want to talk to
her. She won’t return my phone calls,” Derek explained, playing the
victim.

“
Generally speaking, when
someone has a restraining order against someone, there is to be no
contact, including phone calls,” Alex explained.

“
My mother had a stroke,
okay?” Derek’s voice was agitated and he was beginning to shift his
weight back and forth from his left foot to his right.

“
Purity, go back to your
office,” Alex said quietly, but firmly.

When he didn’t receive a response, Alex
turned to look Purity in the eyes. Instead of meeting her gaze, he
found her lying on the cement.

Derek stated casually, “She must have
fainted.”

Alex quickly bent down on one knee to check
Pure’s breathing and her pulse. She was breathing and her heart was
beating a steady rhythm.

Alex heard the sound of tires on asphalt and
then saw the police car pull up.

“
Fuck,” Derek muttered
under his breath. He thought about running, but it was too late,
they’d already seen him. He should have left sooner.

One of the police officers called in for an
aid car as the other officer began asking for details. He promptly
put handcuffs on a raging Derek. “I didn’t do anything wrong! We
were just talking.” He was read his rights and placed in the back
of the squad car.

When the aid car arrived, they administered
smelling salts and Purity awakened. Shaking her head as if to clear
her brain, the memory of recent events came flooding back. She
searched the parking lot for signs of Derek.

“
He’s in the back of the
police car,” Alex told her, holding Purity’s hand for comfort and
support. There was fear in her eyes, even though he could tell she
was trying to hide it. Pure’s face was pale and her hands were
clammy.

“
Do you think you can sit
up?” one of the EMT’s asked.

“
Yes. Yes, I think so,”
Purity responded as she made her way from a prone position to a
sitting one. The other EMT gave her oxygen and instructed her to
breathe deeply.

The two police officers were talking within
earshot and both Purity and Alex heard them say they could take
Derek in but they wouldn’t be able to hold him. He’d violated the
restraining order, but he hadn’t actually hurt anyone. They would
document the violation but, realistically, that was all they could
do.

Purity didn’t want to explain her
relationship with Derek. She was sick of talking about what a fool
she had been to trust him. What a fool she still was. Love was for
teenagers, the idealistic young who still believed in happily ever
after.

Pure felt Alex’s hand in hers and turned her
eyes upon the sight. Alex wanted more than she would ever be able
to give. She was damaged goods. She’d never be able to give her
heart to him, or any man. There was just no trust left in her.
Besides, with Derek Worthington hiding around every corner waiting
to pop up and ruin any chance she might have of happiness, it
wouldn’t be fair to get involved with someone and drag them into
the muck, too.

Purity removed her hand from Alex’s grasp.
It felt cold immediately and she missed his gentle touch.

Alex knew that Purity’s walls were firmly
intact, even more so than before the guy from her past showed up.
He watched her eyes and saw the shadowed veil fall silently into
place. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to lift it again, but he was
damn well going to try.

The policemen left, letting Purity know they
would file the paperwork on the violation and she should also be in
touch with Brad Thompson, who was following the case. Pure removed
her oxygen mask so she could speak and assured them she would
contact Brad tomorrow.

Purity refused any further treatment by the
EMT’s and said she wanted to go home. They had her sign paperwork
and then left the scene.

Instead of asking Pure if she wanted to go
to his home, which is what he wanted to do, Alex said, “I’ll call
your friends for you, if you’d like.”

The lump in Purity’s throat made it
impossible to talk, and the tears of vulnerability that she hated
to show came pouring from her eyes. Pure nodded her head at Alex’s
offer and handed him her cell phone. She couldn’t see clearly to
find the numbers.

“
Courtney and Meg,” she
half sobbed. She wished she had Dorothy’s ruby slippers right this
very minute. She wanted to be home, safely tucked in her
bed.

Alex explained the situation to Purity’s
friends succinctly and they were pulling into the parking lot
within ten minutes.

“
That sonofabitch!”
Courtney yelled as she approached her friend. “If he comes within a
mile of you again, I will castrate him. I’m going to buy a knife
tomorrow.” She sat down on the ground next to Purity and wrapped
her arms around her.

Meg was calmer and quieter, but nonetheless
enraged that Derek was still hurting her friend. Meg sat on the
ground next to Purity and Courtney and searched her friends’
darkened eyes. “Are you okay?”

“
I will be,” Purity
replied.

No one noticed that Alex McCallister
silently left the scene.

There were only two Derek Worthington’s in
the telephone book. Alex wrote the addresses down. One street he
recognized immediately as being close to the new movie theater; the
other was across town, he’d need to Mapquest that one.

He’d already called the police station and
found out that Derek was being released within the hour. Those
restraining order laws were a joke.

Alex hated seeing that look of fear in
Purity’s eyes. It was true he didn’t know what had transpired
between them, but he was confident Derek Worthington had crossed
the line, not Purity.

Would she ever be able to trust him? How
long and how hard would he have to fight to break through her
carefully crafted defenses?

With Mapquest directions in hand, Alex
headed for Derek Worthington’s home.

Courtney, Meg, Tapestry, and Purity were all
sitting on Pure’s bed drinking hot chocolate. Tapestry had been out
of town and had to be informed of all the activity that had
occurred.

“
Holy crap, Pure!” Tap
exclaimed. “I’m gone and all hell breaks loose.”

“
Wasn’t it nice of me to
wait until you were gone to have all my escapades?” Purity said, a
touch of sarcasm scarring her words.

The doorbell rang and Meg eagerly jumped off
the bed. “I’ll get it.”

“
Gee, you think she’s
anxious to see Bobby?” Courtney remarked when Meg was out of
earshot. The trio smiled knowingly. Meggie had been crushing on
Bobby for a couple of years, but it wasn’t until last December that
Bob had noticed Meg. Pure thought it would be ideal if they ended
up getting together. One of her best friends and her brother. Her
biological family and her family of choice melding together. She
liked the idea. A lot.

“
Hi Bobby,” Meg welcomed,
adding a big smile.

“
Hey, Meg,” Bobby said,
surprised that Purity didn’t answer the door. “You look
great.”

“
Thanks. You, too.” He
hadn’t changed much since she’d seen him last. He still had those
full lips and deep sea-green eyes. His sandy colored hair was
tossled in a way that made him seem even sexier.

“
Come in.” Meg moved aside
so Bobby could enter Purity’s apartment.

“
Where’s Pure?”

“
She’s in the bedroom.
There was an incident. With Derek.”

Bobby’s face lit with anger and he walked
briskly into the bedroom.

“
Hey, bro,” Purity
addressed her brother, then saw the look on his face.

“
What did that low-life
scumbag do now?”

“
How ya doin’? Nice to see
you. I’ve missed you, too,” Purity commented, hoping to lighten the
situation.

“
I’m not foolin’ around,
Purity, this is serious.”

“
You don’t even know
what’s going on, so how do you know it’s serious, Bob?”

“
Why else would you have
three of your best friends surrounding you while you’re in bed? I
just talked with you not three hours ago and everything was
fine.”

He had a point, Pure conceded, so she filled
him in.

“
Does he still live over
on 4th Street?” Bobby inquired.

“
Yeah, why?”

Bobby headed for the door.

Pure jumped out of bed, almost spilling her
hot chocolate. “Bobby, wait,” she said as she put the mug on the
side table and then followed him. It was too late. He was half way
up the stairs before she even made it into the living room.

“
Shit!” Pure exclaimed.
“Nothing good will come of this. He shouldn’t get
involved.”

Meg ran to the window and saw Bobby’s car
heading out toward the main road.

Purity tried to call Bobby on his cell phone
but he wasn’t answering. “Of course not,” she grumbled, tossing the
useless phone on the sofa.

“
Should we go after him?”
Tapestry asked.

“
No,” Courtney said with
venom in her voice. “The best thing that could happen to Derek
Worthington is for Bobby to beat the living shit out of
him.”

Everyone turned their heads and stared at
Courtney.

“
Hey, I’m not going to
apologize for saying what every single one of you is thinking,”
Courtney defended herself.

“
Court’s right,” Meg
said.

“
She sure is,” Tap
agreed.

Purity nodded her head. She had been
thinking the same thing. She just didn’t want Bobby to become
involved in all of this, or get hurt. Nobody really knew just what
Derek was capable of.

As Bobby closed the distance between Pure’s
apartment and Derek’s house, his anger was at a frenzied peak. He
was sick and tired of this asshole abusing his sister. It was going
to stop and it was going to stop now. He’d make sure of it.

He found the home fairly easily as the area
hadn’t changed much over the years. Bobby parked his car and
surveyed the surrounding neighborhood. He noticed a car with
someone inside it parked just across the street. He wondered if
that could be Derek. He hadn’t seen him in a while and it was dark
out.

Alex had been sitting in front of Bobby’s
house for half an hour. All the lights were out and he didn’t know
if the douchebag was home yet or not. The other location he checked
out turned out to be the home of a young couple with two kids.

He saw the car pull up directly in front of
the house he was watching, but the figure inside didn’t seem to
have the same build as Derek. Besides, he had a full head of hair
and Derek didn’t.

The two men sat in their cars for about
twenty minutes. Neither sure of what their best plan of action
should be.

Finally, Alex got out of his car and headed
for Derek’s front door. Bobby watched him walk up the path and
decided that this might be his opportunity. He got out of the car
and followed Alex’s trail.

As he approached Bobby said, “Are you Derek
Worthington?”

Alex turned around and replied, “No, but I’m
looking for him.”

“
Me, too.”

“
I’m Alex McCallister,”
Alex commented, raising his arm to shake Bobby’s hand.

“
Bobby Zyetta,” Bob
replied, shaking Alex’s hand firmly.

“
Any relation to Purity
Zyetta?”

“
She’s my sister,” Bobby
said, surprised that this stranger would know Pure. “How do you
know Purity?”

“
I’m a board member at The
Kids’ Place where she works,” Alex paused, “and I’d like to be more
than that.”

So, Bobby thought, his sister had kept this
beau under wraps. He’d have to drill her for more information when
he got back to her place.

“
It’s my intention to beat
the living crap out of this guy tonight,” Bobby explained without
remorse.

“
That’s my intention as
well,” Alex remarked. “I’ll flip ya for who gets to hit him
first.”

“
Heads,” Bobby
replied.

Alex pulled a quarter from his pocket and
flipped it in the air, catching it on the way back down and then
placing it on the back of his hand. Heads.

“
Damn,” Alex said with
regret in his tone.

Bobby smiled. Purity had made a good
choice.

Derek Worthington told his friend to keep
driving.

“
But your house is right
there,” his buddy pointed out.

“
So are two guys who know
Purity. Keep driving.”

Derek wasn’t sure what the men wanted, but
he knew it couldn’t be good. He hadn’t seen Bobby Zyetta in a few
years, but there was no mistaking his presence. The other man was
the guy Purity had been talking to earlier in the day. Purity must
have sent them over to give him a good talking to, or worse.

The thought crossed his mind that if he just
let them beat him up, then he could press charges against them, and
Purity for sending them on the mission. He liked the feeling of
power he had over Purity. She had tried to hide it earlier, but he
saw through her facade easily. She was scared.