Chapter 75: Chapter 75
/Amber’s pov/
Jake burst through the front door only a few seconds after I heard the sound of a car approaching the driveway. As he raced towards us, fists clenched, he gave the impression of being murderously furious.
"Everything is in working in perfect order, Jake," we had just come to the end of a conversation. He's made the decision to drop the charges and leave the city behind. "Right, Stephen?"
When his name was brought up, I snorted and recounted what had happened. While looking at me, Jake's expression was filled with shock and astonishment. In the midst of his glare at my father, I felt him grab my arm and tug me behind him. If only external appearances had the ability to kill! Prior to releasing my grip on his arm, I lightly squeezed it to catch his attention.
"Everything will be fine, Jake; all you have to do is relax and have fun." It was difficult to resist the temptation to let Jake kill him, but it was impossible for me to let Jake get himself in any kind of difficulty. Then I told them, "I've taken care of everything."
"Did you manage to get things sorted?" he inquired, never taking his gaze away from my father, who was frightened of Jake at the moment. To be completely honest, I wasn't surprised to learn that he was afraid. Jake has the ability to be downright intimidating when the situation calls for it.
I instructed him to contact them and request that the charges be dropped. My father snarled at both of us as he turned to reach for his phone in his pocket.
Jake turned his head to look at me while he had his back against the wall. What exactly is going on?" "Could you explain what is going on?" What the hell are you doing here, he demanded, yelling out in a panicky tone.
I had a wry grin on my face at the time. "Look at your phone."
He snatched his cellphone from his pocket and gave me a disgusted expression. "One voice message," he said as he played the file from his phone’s media. During the course of listening to it, his expression changed from one of fury to one of surprise to one of delight. In the process of re-tucking the phone into his pocket, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and brought me closer to him, and I could see the gleam of accomplishment in his eyes.
When I started to feel dizzy on my feet, I recognized I needed to take a break and rest a little while. The only thing I wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the day. I'd like you to maintain your composure and finish this, please. He's getting ready to pack up his belongings and depart the city.
Everything has been forwarded to Mom, Mike, Josh and Abigail; all you have to do now is ensure that he follows through on his promise. The only thing I needed was for Mike to be free, so I mumbled to myself as I sat in the recliner next to him.
"Are you all right?" he said, his voice tinged with worry.
With a smile on my face, I nodded my head in agreement. "I'm completely OK." All that's left for me to do is take a break. "I'm sure you can handle it from here," I said, allowing my body to relax as I realized I wouldn't have to speak to him again for the foreseeable future. "I'm sure you can handle it from here," I said. Jake would take care of everything, like he always did.
The fact that I was standing there seeing my father contact police and have the accusations against him dropped made me feel helpful. Mike's accusations were dismissed when Jake called their number from his phone, and no more action will be taken against him, they affirmed. For the entire time, he stood protectively in front of me, acting as a physical barrier between my father and myself. He was, without a doubt, the best brother anyone could have ever wished for or imagined.
Jake continued to stare at me for nearly five minutes after that. "We're ready to go, Ambs," he said. He took my hand in his and assisted me in getting up from the sofa. Throughout the procedure, he dragged me towards the door in front of him, without taking his gaze away from my father and myself. "You'd better not come back, old man," Jake yelled.
Unless you surrender, I'm going to kill you the next time I see you, or we're all going to the police station together to press accusations against you.
Personally, I'm undecided as to which of the two alternatives I prefer the most. His words were delivered with a faint smile on his lips, almost as if he were dreaming it, "I'd love to be standing here, staring at you as you burn," he said. No matter how much he was joking, there was no doubt in my mind that Jake would kill him, and even if Jake didn't, Mike certainly would.
"Get out of town as soon as possible!" In the midst of yelling and pushing me towards his car, which was parked nearby, Jake slammed the car door in my face. In the final moments before turning around to his side and speeding away down the road without saying anything, he double-checked to make sure I was in the car.
His car came to a complete stop and he shut off the engine after approximately two minutes of driving. For the first time, his knuckles had turned white from holding the steering wheel for such a lengthy period of time. We were both surprised that his teeth didn't snap under the force of his palm.
His teeth were under such immense pressure that I was surprised they didn't snap under the force of his palm. I readied myself for the possibility that he would be upset with me. He took several deep breathes, as if he were attempting to relax himself.
"What the f**k was that?" he demanded, his voice ablaze with rage.
I winced and looked at him, tears in my eyes as I expressed my regret. If I assume you have no understanding of how absurd it was, Amber, am I correct in thinking you don't know what you're talking about? Consider the worst-case scenario: what if it doesn't work? What if it doesn't work? What if anything that happens if I don't receive a message from you? What if he made the conscious decision to harm you? His hand slammed into the steering wheel as he exclaimed angrily. "It could be worse!" he added.
I felt a flinch creep up on me. It was so loud that it reverberated throughout the vehicle, amplifying the overall volume of noise. "Please calm down you’re scaring me, Jake. It was the only means I could come up with to free Mike from his sentence, and I had no choice but to use it to accomplish my goal.
Because we have the recording, he won't be able to get close to us again," I explained, begging with him to understand my reasoning. He didn't say anything because he was still unhappy over something. The only thing I could say was quietly, with a puppy dog expression on my face, "You should be proud of me."
He let out a long, deep sigh. I like your foresight, Ambs, but what you did there was completely and completely unacceptable. Just because something worked doesn't necessarily imply that it was the best course of action. For the love of God, you're supposed to be in the hospital. How did you manage to pull yourself out of that situation? He muttered under his breath, a dejected expression on his face. "Please tell me you didn't sneak out or something and they're on the lookout for you," he said.
"I was permitted to go," I said, a smile on my face and a toss of my head in response. To be honest with you, I'm OK; all I need is some bed rest, which I'll be able to have after my beloved is released from custody," I explained, a grin on my face.
Jake burst out laughing uncontrollably. "Are you interested in learning something? You are absolutely correct. In the future, the tone of my voice will no longer be threatening. It is likely that Mike will become quite annoyed with you as a result of your actions. In between re-starting the car's engine and saying "I'll leave it to him," he chuckled and said, "I'll leave it to him to deal with it."
The fact that I put myself in such danger was a tremendous miscalculation, and Mike was going to be unhappy with me. In the midst of his staring at me, Jake burst out laughing. "It's a relief to know that I won't have to be the one to continually keep you under control, Mike have the ability to assume command."
Seeing his relieved expression, I couldn't help but chuckle. He appeared to be relieved, which I thought was amusing. "Do you think it's necessary for you to return to the hospital?" he inquired.
The move I made with my head was unsteady. No, I wasn't sick or anything like that; I was just fatigued and needed to rest. " My body had the sensation of having completed a marathon, but I was in no pain or discomfort. "To be completely honest with you, I'm OK. My head rested on the headrest of the car as I continued, "We could go pick up Mike and then go back home," I explained. All I needed to keep myself together was Mike's support.