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With Joey’s Challenger currently in the shop until tomorrow for upgrades, they had opted to take one of her two cars. It was parked about a half block down from the gastropub they had just eaten at. She pulled her keys out of her jacket pocket and hit the remote start to get the engine rolling to warm up the interior of the car.
Next, what sounded like a loud crack of thunder filled the air, followed by a rumbling of the ground underneath their feet and a sudden flash of heat. In the vicinity of where her car was parked, an explosion rocked the area with a furious mix of metal, glass, fumes, and flames. Lucky for them, they were far enough from the blast that they were barely outside the edge of potential harm. A few people who had been too close to the blast were not so lucky.
The bomb that went off was strong enough to take her off guard and Layne stumbled into Joey. Protectively he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer into his chest and turning in case of any flying debris. Her ears were ringing, dulling the sounds of people screaming and yelling at the violent scene that had just unfolded in front of them.
Once Joey was sure that everything was in the clear, he pulled Layne away from his chest and held her face in his hands as he looked at her. “Layne? Are you hurt?”
The typically unshakeable Layne O’Reilly was visibly trembling. Her eyes were still focused on the remnants of that burning vehicle that used to sit in her garage. Deep inside her brain, her memories rushed back to vividly relive one of the worst days of her life…
A young Layne at barely ten years old shouted back at her mother. “Why can’t I go to Rebecca’s?! It’s not fair! You and dad never let me go hang out with my friends!”
Shannon O’Reilly, with her hands resting on her hips, sighed as she was about to repeat herself for the fortieth time in the last hour.
“I told you Layney, not tonight. Things are very hectic for your dad at work right now. I have already repeated myself multiple times, you can spend the night with Rebecca another day, okay?”
Layne stomped her foot in anger. “Why are you being so mean?!”
Her mother frowned at her slightly, feeling terrible that her daughter was too young to understand. “Layney, it’s for your own good. Now, go upstairs and start getting ready for bed.”
To continue putting on a display of how displeased she was, she stomped off past her mom to hide away in her frilly pink room upstairs. Once she was slowly calming down from her outburst, she sat in the reading nook set into her bedroom window. Drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on top of them, she watched what was going on outside in front of the house.
Her mom stood a few feet out from the front door, leaning in to press a kiss to her dad’s mouth briefly. Shannon’s hand patted the side of his arm and she gave him that sweet smile that could warm a million souls. Layne’s mom followed the walkway to where her car was parked right out front. When she got inside, she sat there for a minute, and then that’s when the explosion happened. Layne bore witness to that great flash of fire blossoming, felt the rattle of the windows of the house, and experienced a sudden onset of fear seizing her heart.
Her mother was in that car. If Layne had gotten her way, she would have been in there with her to be brought over to Rebecca’s house. It was the darkest day of Layne’s life riddled with grief and guilt, accompanied by a gruesome visual of the personal attack that robbed her of her mom.
Joey shook her by her shoulders. “Layne! Layney, look at me!” Suddenly, she was mentally back there in the present, on the sidewalk with him. She blinked her eyes several times trying to refocus on what had just transpired. Smelling the distinct burning of various fluids and metal it caused her chest to seize up. She felt like she was beginning to suffocate and she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs which felt constricted, not helped by the shakiness of her body.
“Oh, God, I… I… I… Can’t breathe. I can’t…” Her hand went to her chest searching for any sign that her heart was still beating in there. The more she thought she couldn’t breathe, the faster and shorter her breaths were as she heaved in response to the traumatic memories that were physically overcoming her.
“Yes. You can.” Joey kissed the top of her forehead, clutching onto her and bringing his face up close in front of hers to force her to come eye-to-eye with him. “Look at me! We have to get out of here. You’re fine, I’ve got you.” Holding her close to his side, he was quick to hurriedly walk her away from the burning heap of metal.
Joey’s eyes were on the lookout for their surroundings as he escorted her off to some place further away and safer than their current location. After several minutes he sat her down on a bench. He squatted down in front of her, placing his hands on top of her knees as the concern flooded his eyes. “Just try to breathe.”
Tears were stinging her eyes as she shook her head with certainty. “I… can’t.”
His hands began to gently rub up and down over her legs to provide reassurance. “Yes, you can. Focus on me.”
Layne’s lower lip quivered as she shut her eyes tightly, forcing the tears to trickle down her cheeks. After a few minutes of keeping her eyes closed like that, slowly she was finding a bit of ease in her chest. “It’s happening again.”
“What’s happening again?” He inquired, keeping his words soft.
“My mom… She…” Layne couldn’t even bring herself to speak the words as to what transpired over fifteen years ago to her mother. Thankfully, Joey didn’t make her say it either.
He stood, wrapping his arms around her as a cloak of protection. “Shh, it’s ok. Nothing is going to happen to you, I won’t let it.”
Layne felt him kiss the top of her head, while the strength of his arms remained locked around her. He continued to hush into her ear. It felt like an eternity that he sat there while he let her work through the emotions that had overtaken her. Gradually her trembling ceased and she felt calm enough to open up her eyes.
Joey hooked a finger under her chin and lifted it to face him. “We will figure this out. Someone wanted to scare you. I will find whoever it is, and I guarantee you that that fucker will regret the day he was born.”
Normally, Layne would have argued that she didn’t need a man to go off and fight battles on her behalf, but she was too emotionally wrecked to argue with him. She also trusted that he would do just as he promised her: this person would pay dearly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Once Layne was settled down enough, Joey took her back to his apartment. She sat down on the cushy sofa, leaning back. Joey brought her over a heavy pour of straight Jameson in a rocks glass. “Drink this, it will help.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She took a small sip at first but then parted her lips more to suck down more of the liquid gold. It didn’t take long for the alcohol to take the edge off of things. Layne offered him up a light smile. “Thank you.”
“Thank me when I pull the spine out of the asshole that set off that explosion.” His words promised a whole new level of violence to keep her safe.
