Not Expecting to Collide (COMPLETE) - ABP Fanfiction

Chapter 19 - Respect The Danger

Bam waited in the truck for a minute, then five, then ten. Thinking perhaps October was waiting for him inside, he stepped out of the truck back into the cold November evening and returned to the gallery. The front door was locked. He looked through the window to see only the waitstaff cleaning up from the party. He knocked on the door until a young bartender came over and opened it. 

"Party's over dude. There's nobody here." He made to close the door. Bam stuck his foot in the opening and stopped him. 

"Wait. Is Jaime still in there?"

The young man shook his head. "Nope, he left about ten minutes ago." He tried to shove Bam's foot away from the threshold. Bam didn't budge. 

"Was anyone with him when he left?" Bam persevered.

The barkeep yelled the same question over his shoulder. One of the waitresses wiping tables yelled back. "Yeah, he was with that leggy, blond photographer from the show tonight."

Bam's blood ran cold.

~*~

Suddenly it seemed like all the air had been sucked out of October's lungs. Every one of August's warning to her about Jaime came flashing back into her mind. She kept her eyes focused on the road ahead while blindly feeling around for her purse and, more importantly, her phone inside it.

Three words screamed into her brain. Respect the danger. And her next thought was of Bam. Surely he would come looking for her, wouldn't he?

"Jaime, where are you taking me?" She said evenly, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"I know a place where we can finally be alone." He replied without taking his eyes off the road.

October's heart began to thump in her chest. "Jaime, I'm really tired. Maybe you can take me there another day. I'd just really like to go home." Her mouth was so dry she couldn't swallow.

"No!" Jaime shouted, making her jump. "He's there, waiting for you. I know what he wants to do to you." He turned to her and ran a finger down her cheek. "I won't let him touch you. I won't let him defile you." October shrank away from his touch and pressed her back closer to the car door.

Her eyes searched the back seat for her purse, then she remembered handing it to Bam. "Will you just let me use your phone to text Bam and let him know I'll be late?" She said with a forced brightness as she reached into the console for his cell. The impact of her head slamming against the door window happened faster than she had time to think. He grabbed the phone from her grasp, rolled down the window and threw it into the night. She gasped more from surprise than pain. 

"It's okay, baby." Jaime cooed. "He knows that I'm the one you should be with." He put his hand on her leg and caressed her thigh with his thumb. October was still stunned from the blow to her head, but she fought to regain her wits. 

 "Jaime." She whispered. "Why?" She thought if she could keep him talking, maybe she could make him see reason.

Jaime smiled at her but his eyes held something sinister in them. It made October sick to her stomach. "Tonight was supposed to be our night. I've been planning it for weeks, months. Then you had to show up with that -." Jamie's hands gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. "That Neanderthal!" He spat.

Up until this point she still trusted that Jaime wouldn't hurt her, despite the fact that he had already slammed her against the door. With his last admission, all bets were off. October realized that if anyone was going to come to the rescue, it would have to be herself.

Somewhere in the recesses of her brain she remembered back to highschool when a police officer had come to talk to her class about dating safety. 

He asked the class, "What should you do if you are in a car and a boy starts getting physically aggressive?" 

All the girls had the same answer. "Get out of the car and run."

"No!" Shouted the officer. All the girls in the class jumped, he had shouted so loudly. "If you get out of the car, then the entire world is a mattress on which he can roll you over. Stay in the car. Stay in the confined space. Lock your arms around the steering wheel if you can. He can't rape you if he can't get to you." 

It's funny how things come back to you when you really need them. October held on to that officer's words from years ago. She was determined that whatever was going to happen, was going to happen inside the car. She calmed her trembling hands, steeled her resolve and waited for Jaime to make his next move.

~*~

"I'm telling you, there's something wrong!" Bam pleaded with the officer at the front desk to see reason.

After realizing that Jaime was long gone and October with him, Bam had raced back to October's house in the hopes that that's where Jaime had taken them. Finding the house dark and empty, Bam quickly changed into warmer clothes; jeans and boots, tshirt, hoodie and long coat; all the while remembering how little clothing October had on and how cold the night had become. 

He gave a passing thought to his gun back in Browntown, hoping he wouldn't need it. He wished he had at least his knife, but he had relinquished it to Gabe before he went through airport security. 

His next thought was about August and perhaps he should call him to alert him of the situation, sure he would be able to locate his contact information in October's phone. Then he thought better of it. No use in getting August worried if it's just nothing right? Bam knew in his gut that this wasn't nothing.

He left October's house and drove back into the city. Using her phone, he found the nearest city police precinct. He argued with the front desk clerk for several minutes before he got fed up, offered to find someone else for him to talk to and disappeared behind a locked door. Bam sighed heavily and sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chair by the window. He cradled his head in his hands and stared at the grey floor deciding what his next move would be.

~*~

October watched Jaime from the passenger side of the sleek black car as he maneuvered around the curved country roads. Glancing between him, his hand that was still on her leg and the road ahead, she tried to keep track of where they were going. The route he took was vaguely familiar but she wasn't sure of the destination. Her head hurt and she was sure there was already a bruise forming on the right side of her face.

Finally Jaime slowed down and turned into a yard. An old abandoned church loomed ahead in the beam of the car's headlights. "Do you remember this place?" Jaime's voice startled her.

"Oh my god!" October gasped and brought her hands to her mouth.