A Rescued Heart(19)
Author: Natalie Replogle

Ava undressed from the pajamas that she’d sported all day and pulled on shorts, a tank top and sandals. To help quicken the process she pulled her hair back in a ponytail and put on a light layer of makeup.

As she grabbed her purse and keys, there was a knock at the door. Detouring, she looked through the peephole. The hallway appeared empty. She smiled at the probability that it was her next door neighbor’s kids who were too short for her to see and liked to play hide-and-seek with her often.

She whipped the door open. Her smile faded as Ray pushed her back into her apartment. Anger radiated from his gruff features, and if he had been a cartoon character, he would probably have had steam blowing out from his ears.

Ray slammed the door behind him, blocking her only exit. Her body trembled from the fear that paralyzed her as an evil grin spread across his jaw, clearly enjoying her terror.

A bubble popped in her throat as her shock wore off and a high shrill of a scream escaped. She could only hope her neighbors were home and could hear her shout for help. Ray lunged toward her, placing his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. She bit the inside of one of his fingers hard. He yelped in pain, taking his hold off her enough that she was able to free herself to run toward her phone on the counter that separated the living room and kitchen.

She snatched the phone up but didn’t have enough time to place a call before strong hands gripped her, tearing the phone from her ridged grasp.

Ray threw her phone against the wall. It shattered into pieces. Panic set in as she realized it would have been smarter to have tried to escape the apartment than to waste time grabbing her phone. She took her purse and began hitting him with it while screaming for help again. The battled seemed pointless, but she wouldn’t give up without a fight. If the opportunity presented itself again, she would be a blur as she raced out the door.

Without much force Ray grabbed the purse from her in one fluid motion. He pulled out a Swiss army knife and flipped open the blade, pointing it in her direction.

She backed up a few steps and fell silent, afraid of what he would do if she screamed again.

His laugh held no humor. “I thought you’d see things my way, Miss Williams.”

Her voice quivered as she spoke. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to leave Kim alone.” As he talked, he moved slowly closer. “You have caused us all these problems. If you had just left us alone like I told you to, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Ava’s anger surfaced, her face twisted in disgust. “I don’t regret helping Kim! The things you have done to her are pure evil. You deserve to rot in jail.”

Not her most shining moment of wisdom, she realized, as his features darkened. She had just provoked the beast.

Ray stepped forward. “No one speaks to me that way.”

Ava crossed her arms, grabbing her elbows for balance. She did her best to act calm, unfazed while her insides shivered.

When she didn’t answer him, he continued. “I love Kim and I am going to get her back. You hear me! You leave Kim alone, if you know what’s good for you.”

“She will never go back to you.” At least Ava prayed she wouldn’t. She finally had been released from the spell Ray had held over her. Kim was standing stronger now. She was living more confident and had at last gained some much-needed self-esteem and self-respect. Would that all change if Ray came groveling and begged her to take him back?

“She will if she wants her precious Tessa kept safe.”

Ava stared at the devil himself. She stood up taller. “No, she won’t.”

Ray unexpectedly sprang toward her. His fist rushed at her face, giving her no time to defend herself. The blow connected to her jaw and the force propelled her onto her back as she slid across the floor.

Then everything went black.

Kim finished packing her suitcase for her visit to her sister’s house, thankful that she and Stephanie had made amends. Piece by piece she was getting her life back together again. She had taken Ava’s advice and called Stephanie as soon as they had hung up. When Stephanie heard that Ray had been released from jail, she insisted that she and Tessa move in with her until everything settled. Kim didn’t need much convincing to accept her invitation.

She stood facing her closet, debating between her tennis shoes, sandals, and flats, and then just threw them all in the suitcase. Kim didn’t know how long they would be gone. She might as well be over prepared. The last time she had seen Stephanie was two years ago. At that time they were still the same size. If worse came to worse, she could always borrow clothes from her.

After zipping up the suitcase she lifted it off the bed and made her way toward Tessa’s room to pack a few more items for her. Tessa would stay at her friend Kelly’s house tonight. In the morning she would pick up Tessa and head straight to Stephanie’s.

Kim could breathe easier knowing Tessa was safe and away from the house. She had a restraining order for Ray but had just barely obtained it. Per law, a person can’t file a restraining order against someone they live with. She found that pretty messed up, but the law was the law. However, Ray still had his house up for sale, and that worked in her favor. She obtained the protective order because he could live there.

Last week she had come across his keys, boxed up all his stuff and moved it back to his house. Enough was enough.

Kim stopped at the threshold of Tessa’s bedroom, soaking up the details of her butterfly decorations. She had painted the walls a pale purple. A border that displayed the fluttery insects at play ran along the top of the wall. The curtains were a solid deep purple, both for fashion and to help block out the sun’s morning light. Kim had found seven butterflies made out of mesh to hang from her ceiling. The room gave a calming effect, a peace in the midst of the war that surrounded her.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she imagined the hours her innocent daughter waited up here, listening to her and Ray fight, sounds of her mother crying, pleading for him to stop.

She was going to get her life back in order, she demanded of herself as she wiped the wetness off her cheeks. Tessa deserved more than this.

Kim glanced up at the clock, noticing how late Ava was. It wasn’t like her to be five minutes late, let alone the twenty minutes it was creeping to now.

She headed down the stairs to give her a call. At the bottom of the stairs she jerked to a stop.

“Hi, Kim. Did you miss me?”

“Ray! What are you doing here?” Kim’s heart slammed against her chest. How did he get in here? She had a locksmith come out just this morning to change the locks. Her mind raced throughout the house, trying to figure out where she messed up. She stopped the mental tour when she remembered the kitchen window she opened earlier to get rid of the burnt smell from her lousy attempt at making chocolate chip cookies for Tessa. How could she be so absent-minded?

“I live here.”

With a strength she had never possessed before, she took a step forward. “Not anymore. I moved all your things back to your house. You know I have a restraining order. You can’t be here.”

He stood still as his features softened. “Kim, baby, I love you. I know you are upset with me, but things will be different this time. I’ll change. I promise.”

She mocked a laugh, “Like you know what love is. All you do is hurt people.” She took a brave step toward him, determination backing her renewed spirit. “And you are done hurting me.”

She made her way around him, surprised by the fact that he let her pass without resistance. He followed her into the kitchen where she retrieved her phone, noticing how her hands trembled.

“Please, Kim. Just give me another chance.”

Kim couldn’t be sure, but she thought his lips quivered as he made his pathetic request. He could grovel until his face turned blue, she would never take him back. She was young with a full life ahead of her. She wanted to get her GED, attend college, maybe become a teacher or work in a field that involved children. The possibilities were limitless and that awareness excited her. But not as much as the idea of a life that did not have Ray in it.

“No, Ray. We’re over. You need to leave.”

“No, you are mine!” he growled.

She ignored his degrading statement of claim, letting it roll off her shoulders as she turned. Grabbing her car keys off the counter, she slowly tried to head toward the back door. “Listen, there is somewhere I need to be. You can go now or have the cops escort you out.”

She flashed her phone in front of him, proving the seriousness of her threat.

An evil smile broke across his face. “If you are planning on meeting Miss Williams, you are wasting your time. I don’t think she will be showing up.”

Kim froze, but her heart quickened with each beat. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying she and I had a little talk and I don’t think she will be getting in between us anymore.”

Frustration came out as a ragged sigh. “There is no ‘us,’ Ray.” She stepped backward, attempting to keep her anger at bay. “Please tell me you didn’t hurt Ava!”

“She got what was coming to her. We would have been fine if she hadn’t gotten in the way.”

“You are crazy!”

Kim covered her mouth with her shaking hand. Poor Ava. This was all her fault. She had brought Ava into her messed-up life and now her friend had also paid for her mistakes.

Adrenaline jolted her as he started to invade her space. She needed to get out of here, first to get away from Ray and second to check on Ava. What had he done? But despite her worry for Ava, she didn’t have time to dwell on that question.

Kim raced for the back door in the kitchen that led outside to the driveway. She held it open for a second until strong arms encircled her waist, dragging her kicking and screaming back into the kitchen. Ray slammed the door shut with his foot.

Through the open window above the sink she could see her neighbor pulling weeds in her flower bed.

Kim’s throat burned as she screamed for help. Ray lifted her up even higher and threw her against the butcher block island. Kim gasped in pain as she clutched the left side of her rib cage, certain a rib had cracked.

Ray closed the window and rushed back toward her, his eyes burning with fury, nostrils flaring. She’d never seen him so crazed. Kim closed her eyes, praying that there was a God. The one Ava spoke about. The one she loved and served. And that He would save her now.

Matt parked his cruiser in front of Ava’s apartment and broke out into a full sprint toward the entrance. The phone call from Ava’s dad scared him to his core. He had been held up at a deadly car accident and this was the first he could get away.

It made him sick knowing that Ray had been in her apartment, threatening her, touching her. Ray Connors didn’t realize who he was messing with.

Rushing through Ava’s unlocked door he found her family had already arrived. Her mom perched on the couch holding an ice pack to Ava’s jaw. Her dad stood in the kitchen on the phone while Lucy fidgeted with the coffee maker. Her brothers paced the floor, like tigers ready to pounce.

He reached Ava and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Kneeling down in front of her he let himself soak in the damage. Her jaw was swollen and the left side of her face had a bruise the size of a plum. Thankfully nothing looked broken.

His anger boiled over. “I’m going to get this guy, Ava!”

“Matt, don’t get him for me. Get him for Kim. I’m so worried about her. I can’t get ahold of her. What if Ray has already gotten to her?”

Ava’s mom rubbed her shoulder in attempts to keep her calm. Matt couldn’t believe how under control she seemed after being attacked. It was just like Ava to put others before herself.

“I can send an officer to her house, but I’m not leaving you.”

Tears filled her eyes as he reached up to stroke her cheek with his thumb. Lightly tracing the bruise he swiped a tear that escaped down the outside of her face.

“Please, Matt. Do everything you can to help her. I’m fine, really.” A slight grin lightened her eyes in hopes to convince him. “Kim needs you.”

Matt stood, stretching his aching muscles from his workout earlier in the day. They were both too stubborn to have this conversation right now. Did she not understand the depth of the danger she had been in?

He figured Ray just wanted to scare her enough to back off. But he could have, without much effort, done so much more damage than a bruise and a sore jaw.

Matt suppressed a humorless chuckle to himself. Ava was a spitfire. Ray probably realized as he jumped in blindly that Ava was a force to be reckoned with. She stood up for what was right, for those she loved. Pity the fool that tried to butt heads with her.

Which brought him back to the conversation at hand. The one he would lose if he didn’t think a little faster on his feet.

“I know you think you are fine, babe, but the shock will wear off.”

Ava stood and pulled him into the short hallway that split the bedrooms to keep their conversation semiprivate … or so he could save face. She reached up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, placing the good side of her face against his.

“Thank you for loving me so deeply and always wanting to protect me.” Her words trickled out, barely above a whisper. She leaned back and he took a moment to savor the love her eyes radiated toward him. “But I am fine. Plus, my family is here and I’m pretty sure my brothers could take on an army right about now.”

He was still in disbelief that she was okay. That the drama she experienced didn’t rattle her more. Matt was sure her fear for Kim ranked higher than her own. Defeat exhaled out with his sigh while he nodded his agreement. In his heart he wanted to be here with Ava, but it was his job, his duty, to check on Kim.

“Okay. I’ll go. But you have to promise to call if you need me.”

“Deal.” She brushed his lips with hers as she repositioned back into hugging him tightly. “Thank you,” her breath tickled his ear as she spoke.