Page 18 of Waves of Reckoning (Echoes of Camano Island #1)

Chapter Seventeen

T wo days later, Nikki was at the house cleaning when her phone rang. Amy had started working at the restaurant the same day they’d talked to Paul, and she had been very excited after only day one.

She wrinkled her brows when she heard the phone. It couldn’t be time to get Amy already. Where had the time gone?

She wiped her hand across her brow, and her heart raced when she saw Paul’s name. It was like getting a call from the principal of your child’s school. “Paul?” she asked when she answered.

“I’m afraid I have a bit of bad news,” he began, increasing Nikki’s anxiety as her knees suddenly weakened.

“What?” she asked, dreading that Amy had taken off without saying anything to her.

“Remember that guy we saw with Amy when we went to Seattle?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. “She’d said it was a rude customer complaining about the menu or something like that.”

“That doesn’t seem to be the case now,” Paul told her.

“What do you mean? What’s going on?” Nikki could feel the heat rising under the bandanna she wore.

“He showed up here, and it’s pretty clear they know each other,” Paul said.

“What? Why would she lie about something like that?” Nikki asked furiously.

“I don’t know, but you can ask her when she gets there. I’m going to take her home now. She’s pretty shaken up.”

“Oh my God,” Nikki exclaimed and sank onto the edge of the bed. “Okay, thanks, Paul.”

The chores were instantly forgotten as she hurried downstairs to await their arrival. A lump formed in her throat when his truck pulled into the driveway, and she hurried onto the porch. Amy got out and walked, hugging herself like a victim of a crime.

Nikki put her arm around her and led her inside, but she didn’t want to attack her with questions right away. She just wanted to be sure she was alright, so she led her into the living room, where she perched on the edge of the seat.

Paul shared a concerned look with Nikki before he took the armchair to Amy’s right. Nikki eventually sat down on the sofa next to Amy.

“Are you okay?” she asked her.

Amy rocked and shook her head. She quickly brushed away a tear.

“What’s going on?” Nikki asked as calmly as she could. “Who was that?”

“That was Jake Tapper,” Amy replied with a shrewd smile. “My ex-boyfriend. But you can’t tell him that. He won’t leave me alone.”

Nikki remembered the name from Greg’s report and became even more concerned.

“Why didn’t you tell us that the last time?”

“Why? I didn’t know you,” Amy retorted.

“I guess,” Nikki admitted. “Why is he here? What does he want?”

Amy sighed. “He just won’t leave me alone.

We were together for a while, but he is a hothead and such a douchebag.

We fought all the time and broke up even more times than that.

We got back together after a couple of those fights, but now, I’m just done, but he won’t take no for an answer,” she told them. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, first of all, what he’s doing is criminal,” Paul advised her. “You can file a police report. Get a restraining order. He tailed you all the way from Seattle and knew where to find you.”

“It wouldn’t be hard for someone like him to do that.” Amy sighed. “He has money. His family is rich. He gets away with a lot of things because of that.”

“That doesn’t mean jack squat,” Nikki fumed. “Did he hurt you?”

“Not really,” Amy replied, almost like she was trying to defend his actions, though abusive toward her. “He roughed me up a couple of times. Grabbed my arm too tightly, you know? Stuff like that. Nothing serious.”

Nikki wasn’t convinced. “It usually starts out like nothing. A poke here. A jab there. Next thing you know, you have a broken arm and a concussion. Guys like that shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“I know,” Amy said. “There was a time when I used to blame myself for it—like if I hadn’t talked back to him, he wouldn’t have been angry.

Or maybe if I loved him, he would change.

After a while, I realized it wasn’t going to happen, and I needed to get out,” she said, averting her eyes to stare at the floor.

“That’s when he told me that if he can’t have me, no one will. ”

Nikki gasped and covered her mouth. “Amy, that was a threat against your life! Oh my God!” Nikki got up and paced the floor as her anger intensified. “You can’t go back to the restaurant.”

Amy laughed incredulously. “You don’t think he knows where I am now? Where to find me? He always does!” she said angrily. “It’s like I can’t get away from him, and it’s been months of this. I can’t take it anymore.”

“You need to go to the police,” Paul told her. “If there’s no formal report, he can get away with anything. If anything should happen to you, God forbid, they’ll want to know why you never said anything. They’ll make you an accomplice after the fact.”

Amy shook her head. “I know. I’m tired. Can I just go shower and get some sleep, please.”

“Sure,” Nikki said right away.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Paul told her as he got up.

Amy walked upstairs while Nikki followed Paul to the door. “Thanks for looking out for her.”

“I’m just glad I was there to see it happen,” he told Nikki. “Don’t let her sweep this under the rug. There are too many losers like that out there. You didn’t take so long to find her for her to be taken by some jerk who can’t let go.”

“I know,” Nikki said and hugged Paul. “Thanks for everything.”

She was shaking and nervous after Paul left. She remembered what Amy had said—what if Jake was lurking outside? Suddenly, she didn’t feel safe in her own home. She switched off the lights and walked upstairs.

Amy was in her bathrobe and sitting on the floor by the bed. Nikki stood in the doorway and leaned against the doorjamb.

“Please don’t ask if I’m okay,” Amy muttered.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Nikki told her and walked over to sit next to her. “But have you ever said anything to anyone?”

“Like who?” she asked and wiped away fresh tears. “The girls think I’m stupid for letting someone like him get away. And my parents?” she asked and scoffed. “My father was the same.”

“Oh no,” Nikki replied sadly. “Did he hurt you?”

“Not me,” she admitted. “But he would come home drunk many times and hit Mom,” she recalled.

“She never once called the cops. I was the one who did that, and many times, she accused me of wanting to break up the family. I didn’t care, but he never stopped, and she never pressed charges.

That’s why I had to leave and why I never called the cops either.

They don’t do anything, and even if they tried, Jake’s family would probably pay them to keep things quiet, and I would be slandered.

I figured the best thing to do was to disappear. ”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that,” Nikki said. “But is Jake one of the reasons you left Seattle?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I couldn’t take it anymore, but I should have known better. That he would find me. He always did. Would you believe I told him I would call the cops on him, and he handed me his phone?”

“What?” Nikki asked with disdain.

“He knew nothing would come of it,” Amy replied.

“Well, he just met his match,” Nikki told her. “He’s never going to bother you again. I’ll make sure of it, and I’ll start by making sure the cops know his name, even if he wants to bury it under money.”

Amy sighed. “How did my life get to be like this?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Nikki said, and for the first time, she pulled her niece in for a warm embrace. “I can’t tell you why these things happen, but I can promise things will get better.”

“You know what’s worse?” Amy asked as she pulled away.

“What?”

“He’s here, so does that mean I should stay locked up in the house? I can’t go to work. I can’t go down to the beach. None of those things without looking over my shoulder?”

“No!” Nikki told her. “He won’t steal your life from you. First thing tomorrow morning, we will make this right. And let’s see how well Jake Tapper and his family will do when this hits the press.”

“The press?” Amy asked with confusion.

“That’s right. It’s what I do. I’m an investigative journalist, and my father made a career on people like those.

No celebrity or wealthy family wants an irresponsible son dragging their name through the dirt.

I might have to make a call to his family and see how they handle it, but either way, this nightmare is coming to an end.

You can take my word for that,” she said and got up.

She stretched out her hand for Amy. “Come on, go take a shower and get some sleep.”

Amy got up. “Thank you,” she said and flew into Nikki’s arms.

“It’s going to be alright,” Nikki told her as warm emotions flooded her. “In fact, I have an idea if you want to keep working.”

“What?” Amy asked as her eyes widened.

“If you want, you could work at the inn, just so I can keep an eye on you.”

“Doing what?” Amy asked.

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll find something for you to keep you occupied until this thing blows over.”

Amy thought about it for a second. “I guess it’s better than nothing.”

“What do you mean better than nothing?” Nikki laughed. “There’s work to go around. Not as glamorous as Lot 28 restaurant, but you could learn to love it.”

“We’ll see.” Amy grinned.

“Okay, go get some rest. I’m going to finish some work I have.”

“Journalism work?”

“Yep,” Nikki replied and walked toward the door. “The one thing I know how to do best.”

She was almost in her room when she heard the bathroom door click as Amy entered it and locked it.

She couldn’t imagine how she must feel to constantly be suffering abuse at the hands of ingrates.

She was almost happy that Trish wasn’t around to know how much Amy had suffered growing up and how much it still followed her.

As soon as she got into her room, she pulled out her laptop and looked up the Tappers. Amy hadn’t been kidding—they were loaded and seemed to have a hand in every charitable donation and school funding in Seattle. They would be a tough crowd, but she reveled in a challenge.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and began surfing for information. She’d do her due diligence first, but the one thing she was sure of was that Jake Tapper had harassed her niece for the last time.

His family would pay, and she was the one who would bring them to their knees.