“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.
