Page 19 of Waves of Reckoning (Echoes of Camano Island #1)

Chapter Eighteen

T he following morning, Nikki called Paul, and they met up along a trail by the seaside.

It was a beautiful morning, and the pinkish hues from the rising sun still colored the horizon. The trail was raised, so it was like being on a cliff, and Nikki and Paul sat on the bench overlooking one of Nature’s glorious wonders in the crashing waves.

“Why did you have us meet out here?” he asked.

“I don’t want Amy to know about this, but I think I should hire Greg to find out more about Jake,” Nikki began. “Last night, I tried to find dirt on them on the web, but there wasn’t as much as a dirty sock to be found.”

“I’m not surprised,” Paul replied. “There’s a lot you can hide under money.”

“What do you think about hiring Greg?” she asked anxiously.

“I’m all in,” he stated. “He needs to learn a lesson. I’ll call him for you and see how soon he can get started.”

“Thanks,” Nikki told him. “I just can’t believe all that she has been through. First with her abusive father and now with the boyfriend.”

“I’m glad Trish isn’t around.” Paul chuckled. “She would have gone loose on that poor boy.”

“Nothing poor about that boy, but I had the same idea last night—that she would be hurting so much to know about everything that Amy had to endure all those years that we weren’t in her life.”

“It’s good that she doesn’t, then,” Paul replied. “But let me get on this and get back to you.”

“Okay,” Nikki replied as they got up and left.

It didn’t take long for Greg to work his magic. The trio met a few days later at the same bench on the trail overlooking the sea.

“You’re not going to like this,” Greg began as he pulled out a file. “I wish I’d dug a little deeper the first time, but that boy has always been trouble.”

“What now?” Nikki asked as she took the reports from Greg, and she and Paul looked them over.

“He’s been in all sorts of trouble over his lifetime, and this isn’t the first time he has harassed a former girlfriend either.”

“Shocker,” Paul replied sarcastically.

“Yeah, shocker,” Greg agreed. “Anyway, he got a little too handsy before, and the young woman, Michelle Maddix, had to file a restraining order against him. Of course, he couldn’t keep away.

He stalked her continuously and openly, a clear violation of the restraining order.

He was arrested, but then he got off with a warning.

A slap on the wrist really. Again, shocker,” Greg said and shook his head in disbelief.

“You’d be surprised how common this kind of thing is. ”

“I can,” Nikki replied. “I’ve seen my share of gossip at my father’s hands and twenty years of my own. What else?” Nikki asked as she flipped the pages.

“Well, he was warned that if he appeared before the courts again, they wouldn’t be so lenient next time. He would be charged to the full extent of the law and serve hard time.”

“It would serve him right,” Nikki replied bitterly. “He can’t continue to prey on young girls, destroy their self-esteem and damage them emotionally, and then move on to the next. He can’t get away with it.”

“You need to get her to press charges and take out a restraining order against him. She’s the only one who can.”

“I don’t see why she wouldn’t,” Nikki said.

Greg glanced over at her. “Victims often blame themselves and rarely do what needs to be done. Make sure she does.”

“I will,” Nikki told him. “Thanks for the great work again.”

Greg got up and left, and at that time, Nikki asked Paul to be there when she told Amy the truth.

It didn’t go over the way Nikki saw it in her head. Amy seemed to have been familiar with the information they presented to her.

“What now?” she asked after Nikki had told her all about the other offenses Jake had committed.

“You need to make a report and file for a restraining order,” Nikki told her.

Amy got up and raked her hair backward. “Do I really need to do that?” she asked. “I mean, Paul roughed him up pretty good at the restaurant. I think he got the message.”

“Has he ever gotten the message before?” Nikki asked almost angrily.

“No, but that’s because no one has ever stood up to him,” she explained. “No one’s seen him around town since then.”

“How would you know? He’s always been good at sneaking around,” Nikki snapped, and Paul gave her a warning look.

“Look, I don’t mean to come down on you, but this boy has abused you, and abuse like that doesn’t just go away.

Even if you won’t do something for yourself, do it for the next girl he will prey on because there’s always another. ”

“I don’t know,” Amy replied. “I don’t want to mess up his life.”

“You’re not the one doing that,” Nikki said as she stood before Amy. “He’s the one making a mess of his life and that of others. Why can’t you see that?”

“I don’t want to go to the cops, okay?” she said and stormed off.

Nikki was flabbergasted as she watched Amy stomping up the stairs. “This is unbelievable. Why is she protecting him?”

“I don’t know,” Paul replied. “But maybe it’s like Greg said, the victims always feel responsible somehow. I just think it’s important that you not let her forget.”

“You can be sure I won’t,” Nikki replied as she stormed off and headed for the Nestled Inn. She was fuming so much she could barely see the person in front of her, and she almost collided with Nelly as the old woman entered the lobby.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Nikki gushed.

“That’s okay.” Nelly laughed. “I’m still standing.” Then her eyes narrowed on Nikki. “What’s wrong? You’re upset.”

Nikki sighed and wiped her hand down her face. “I just have a lot going on.”

“Come. Sit with me and tell me what’s going on with you,” Nelly said and hobbled off.

Nikki followed her, feeling the need to offload and not be rude at the same time. They sat in one of the loveseats along the wall in the lobby area. Nelly waited patiently for Nikki to speak.

“It’s just that my niece had this boyfriend who’s been harassing her because she broke up with him.

She’s not the first girl he’s done this to, and she knows it, but she refuses to file a report or a restraining order.

I don’t get how she can’t see how dangerous this guy is.

He needs to be locked up. And that’s not even what I’m asking her to do.

But he’s been stalking her for months. That’s why she showed up here.

What’s it going to take for her to see who he is and what he’s capable of? ”

“Oh, I see,” Nelly replied. “Did she love this boyfriend?”

“I don’t know,” Nikki replied honestly. She’d never thought to ask.

“Was there any other kind of abuse in her life before him?” the old woman asked wisely.

“Her adoptive father used to abuse her mother, and she was forced to call the cops on him several times.”

“I think I’m beginning to see the picture now,” Nelly remarked.

“Her biological mother abandoned her. Her adoptive parents abused her, and now her boyfriend, possibly someone she used to love. She doesn’t trust anyone, and certainly not an aunt who just showed up in her life.

Everyone she should be close to has abused her or left her.

She feels alone and thinks she’s better off on her own. ”

Nikki sighed. “But if that’s the case, what do I do?”

“You can’t do anything but support her and hope she comes around. All of this has to make sense in her mind, or she will end up in the same cycle over and over again. She must conquer this demon herself.”

Just then, Kaylyn motioned Nikki over, and she excused herself and thanked Nelly for her encouragement. Her words never left Nikki that day, but she already knew that she couldn’t force Amy to make a choice. All she could do was present the facts to her.

* * *

Over the next few days, Amy was more like her usual self, and it was as if Jake never existed. Nikki let her guard down and allowed her to go down to the beach with some newly made friends. Amy had just returned from one such excursion while Nikki was upstairs finishing up an investigative piece.

“Amy, is that you?” she called when she heard the front door open. No answer came. “Amy?”

Just then she heard a loud thud, and then something crashed to the floor. She tossed her laptop aside and crept to the edge of the stairs. “Amy? Is that you?” she asked as her heart pounded.

Still, no answer came, and the hair on the back of Nikki’s neck stood.

“Release my arm!” Amy cried.

When Nikki reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the front door open, but no Amy.

“Let me go!”

Nikki’s head snapped to the right when she realized Amy’s voice was coming from the kitchen.

She moved closer, inching along the wall, and peeked around the corner.

That was when she saw Jake rough handling Amy.

Anger spurned inside Nikki, and she made a mad dash for the supplies closet, where she grabbed a baseball bat she knew was tucked away inside.

She dialed 911 and left the line open so they could hear before placing the phone on the mantel.

Amy was still struggling against Jake when she returned, and she appeared in the kitchen doorway just as he lifted his hand to strike Amy.

Nikki positioned the bat in her hand. “If you bring that hand down on my niece, it’s the last thing that hand will touch!” she said in a deathly calm voice that would chill even a ghost.

“You need to stay out of this,” Jake warned her.

That didn’t help his cause. Nikki moved closer. “I’m going to say this one more time. Let go of my niece and leave now if you still want that hand!”

Jake held her stare and then started backing away. “This isn’t over!” he said as he pointed threateningly at Amy.

“Just go! I called the cops, and I’m sure you don’t want them here.”

He got nervous upon hearing that, and he turned on his heels and prepared to run when he collided with Paul’s steel chest.

“What’s going on here?” Paul asked, just as Amy ran from the kitchen and into Nikki’s arms. The bat fell from her hand as she hugged Amy.

“He attacked her,” Nikki told Paul.

A dark cloud shadowed his face as he collared the boy moments before the sound of sirens filled the air.

“Not this time,” Paul snarled at Jake, and Sarah, who’d come over for a visit, stepped aside so Paul could drag Jake outside.

The cops came, took a report from everyone, and handcuffed Jake. Considering he would be a repeat offender, Nikki hoped they would lock him away for good.

“This is not what I expected to find when Sarah and I left the house,” Paul told Nikki.

“Let me see your arm,” the nurse in Sarah spoke up as she hurried over to Amy.

She examined her for bruises and realized she had a few from Jake’s earlier abuse.

Her left eye had already begun to swell, and Nikki’s heart seized in her chest when she realized how much she had just endured.

“You’ll need to get some ice on that, and when you’re feeling better, I can go with you to the hospital. Would you like that?”

Amy nodded in agreement. Tears continued to roll down her face, and Sarah leaned in and hugged her. “Shh,” she hushed her. “It’s okay now. It’s over. No one’s going to hurt you again.”

Amy cried even more, and after a couple of seconds, there were no dry eyes near them.

“I can’t believe I was so stupid,” Amy said as she cursed herself. “I should have listened to Nikki and Paul and had him locked away.”

“There’s no need to go backward now,” Sarah told her. “He’s locked up now, and you’ll get better. Stronger even. I can tell.”

Sarah’s kind eyes were all that Amy needed, and in an instant, the two connected on a deep level.

“Now, how about we get you cleaned up and pretty again, huh?” Sarah asked. “Maybe we can play some online games where we get to beat up some boys.”

Amy laughed despite her situation. “I like that idea.”

“Okay, come on,” Sarah said.

Paul and Nikki looked on like spectators at the two young women, and Paul marveled at how much his daughter had grown.

“That was the introduction, by the way.” He laughed. “Now you’ve met my Sarah.”

“She’s incredible, Paul,” Nikki congratulated him. “You raised a good kid.”

“It was mostly God, but I’ll accept on his behalf.” He smiled.

Nikki laughed. “Come on. I think we need to find a way to occupy our time. How about we cook?”

“Together? We haven’t done that in a long time,” Paul beamed.

“No time like the present,” Nikki said as she looped her arm through his and led him to the kitchen.