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43 - Vincent
“Get it, Bo! Come on, bring it back, you damn gremlin.”
Sighing, I watched as Haribo picked up the tennis ball I’d thrown for him, running in circles as he tried to keep it away from Jojo. The concept of “fetch” had never gotten through to him. Traipsing across the yard, I picked up the slimy ball when he dropped it and tossed it back toward the house.
“You’re getting more exercise than he is,” Manson said, laughing as he watched me from the garage. Jason was working with them today, helping to recalibrate the software on the car they were fixing. Bo grabbed the ball, but instead of bringing it back, he ran toward Jason instead.
“Wrong person, Bo,” he said as the little dog sat snorting and panting at his feet. “There’s not much going on in that little head of yours, is there?”
Lucas had his earbuds in, bent over with a welder in his hands as Cherry sat perched on his shoulder. That little kitten had settled in quickly. Most of her aggression had melted away, at least with Lucas. She barely left his side, and would mewl pitifully if he was out of her sight for too long.
We were trying to kill time before we went to meet with our realtor. We were finally getting the house listed for sale, and our appraisal had gone better than expected. Manson was still only cautiously optimistic, but I wanted to celebrate before the damn place was even on the market.
“Is that Jess?” Manson said suddenly, looking toward the gate. An old red convertible had pulled up, having kicked up a cloud of dust as it barreled down our street.
“She’s hiking with Julia today,” Jason said, getting out of the driver’s seat so he could see.
“That’s Julia’s car,” I said. Before the doors even opened, a strange feeling of trepidation made my stomach go cold. Something was off, but I didn’t know what until Julia opened the passenger door and had to help Jess stand up out of her seat. “What the fuck...”
Sprinting across the yard, I reached the gate first. The dogs thought this was an exciting new game, and I had to shoo them back so I could get the gate open. Jess had her arm around Julia’s shoulders as she limped into the yard, her face tight with pain.
“What the hell happened?” I picked Jess up right away, getting her weight off her leg. Manson, Jason, and Lucas had reached us, and they were all talking at once, nearly drowning out Julia as she tried to explain.
“We were hiking,” she said, obviously trying to sound calm. “Nate and Alex —”
“What the fuck did they do to her?” Lucas’s voice shook with the effort to control his volume. He had Cherry clutched in one hand; with the other, he reached for Jess, grasping her hand and holding it tight.
“Everyone except for Jess and Julia need to shut the hell up!” I said, and silence fell instantly. It was rare that I raised my voice, but I couldn’t think with them all talking over each other in a panic. Jess had squeezed her eyes shut tight. She was in pain, and it made me so livid that I saw red. “Tell us what happened, Jess.”
“Nate and Alex followed us,” she said, her teeth clenched as she sucked in another breath. “They stopped us on the trail. They...shit...” She hissed in pain, and her next shuddering breath sounded dangerously close to a sob.
“I’m going to kill them,” Lucas said. “I’m going to fucking kill them.”
“Killing them would be a mercy,” Jason said. “They need to suffer.”
“Get her inside,” Manson said. “We need to call a doctor.”
“It’s not broken,” Jess insisted as I carried her across the yard and into the house. She pressed her forehead against my chest, and she was sweating despite the cool temperature. “It’s twisted, it’s happened before. I need...it just needs...”
“Ice and elevation,” I said, looking at Jason pointedly as I carried Jess into the living room and laid her on the couch. He got my meaning, and within a minute, he returned with a small bag of ice wrapped in a dish towel. Julia piled pillows beneath Jess’s ankle, and I carefully peeled up her leggings so I could get a better look at it.
Manson swore loudly when he saw the bruises and swelling. Jason held the ice against her, wincing when she whimpered in pain. “I’m sorry, Jess. Fuck...”
“Alex grabbed me,” Jess finally said, forcing out the rest of the story. She sounded far too calm considering what had happened, but at least one of us was. “I got them with pepper spray, but he pushed me. That’s how I twisted it. He said that since we broke something of his, he was going to break something of yours.”
The impact those words had on me was far deeper than mere anger. One look at the others and I could see the same emotion on their faces too.
Rage. Pure blinding rage.
