Chapter 7
Levi
I have no idea why I am on this side of town. I went to a diner near my place to grab a burger.
I don’t particularly like to cook. I can. I just don’t like to. The girls spoiled me when I was younger.
I never had to fix anything. Micah would fix my salad for me. Macy would fix my baked potatoes. Kelly would fix my drink.
I never had to worry about anything except eating. Whenever we are all together now, each girl still does the same things. I don’t complain.
It only sets it in place that I can’t fix my own stuff, so I eat out a lot.
After I left the diner, I decided to drive. Not that I’m not going to get enough of it tomorrow, but I just really like to hear the sound of my car. I also like to see people’s heads turn to look at her when I’m driving past. It’s a power trip. I love my car. I want other people to envy the fact that I have it.
What?
I’m a jerk. I know it. It’s nothing new.
I’m on the rich side of Martinsville. I have money, but I never blow it on this side of town. These places are for doctors, lawyers, financial executives, investors, and such. Those type of people, people like my sponsors, are different from me.
They came from money. They know what to do with it. They even have more than they know what to do with. That’s not me. I came from nothing. I moved down here because I was running from something. I didn’t have a pot to piss in. I think Zant, Micah’s husband and one of my best friends, gave me a couple hundred dollars. That’s all I had to my name.
Once Ron got here and we found Dale, everything started to change. I still acted the same, though. I still thought the same. I never needed money to live. I do that just fine on my own.
I notice the traffic starts to slow down once I get closer to the restaurant that’s ahead. A dark sedan is park across it’s lane and partly in the other one. What are they doing?
I look around to see where the driver could be. Not that I know who is driving it, but someone has to be coming back for it. I throw the Demon in park. It looks like I’m going to be here a minute anyway.
As I sit there, looking around, something catches my eye.
A big guy, because no girl can be this big unless she is abnormal, walks up behind a woman and wraps his arms around her. I watch her face. The only reason it is catching my attention is because the guy is dressed in all black, and not the suit and tie type all black. His jacket is black leather and he has gloves on. It is way too hot here tonight to wear gloves.
I watch as terror crosses her face. Her mouth is open, but I can’t tell if any sound is coming out. Before I know what, I’m doing, I’m getting out of the Demon. I leave the door open as I make my way towards them. As I come around the end of the car parked in the street, they step off the sidewalk and walk towards me. Right then, she sees the car and lets out an ear-piercing scream.
If I didn’t know she was in trouble before, I do now.
The guy loses his grip on her a bit but doesn’t drop her. I go around him, so I can come up from behind. My adrenaline is pumping so hard, I don’t even know what I’m doing. I have no plan. I’m just going with my gut.
I raise my arm and punch him as hard as I can in the back of the neck.
It’s my best idea.
He drops the girl and before he even knows what’s going on, I pick her up.
“Hold on,” I tell her. I run around to the driver side of the Demon and drop her. “Get in, quick. I’ll get you to safety.” She quickly climbs in and to the passenger side. I lay on my horn and back up enough to turn around. I almost get hit three times, but somehow, the Demon gets out without a scratch. I don’t let up off the gas until I get as far away from the restaurant as possible.
I check the rearview mirror several times to make sure I’m not followed. After several miles, I let up off the gas and think about what I’m doing and where I’m going.
I haven’t even looked at the girl. She is probably freaking out again. I just took her from a possible kidnapper, but she probably thinks I’m one too.
I don’t know what to say to her, though. Looking at her to make sure she’s ok could be a good start. Once we get to a well-lit part, I turn to her.
I hear her quiet intake of breath. “You’re Levi James,” she whispers. Well, there goes that. I pull over on the side of the road under a street light.
“Yea. Do you want to get out?” She nods her head and reaches for the handle. The door doesn’t open, and she looks back at me with eyes that are about to fall out of their sockets.
I quickly hit the unlock button. “Sorry. Go ahead.”
We both get out, and I walk around to her side of the car.
“Obviously you know me. Who are you?”
“I’m Katie...” Before she can say anything else, a phone starts ringing. “That’s me,” she says as she reaches into my car for her phone.
She quickly answers, and I stand there like a creeper listening to her side of the conversation.
“Hey daddy. Yea, I’m ok. Something happened. I’m safe now, but I was almost kidnapped.” I hear a booming voice come out of her phone, and she pulls it away from her ear. She looks at me and I try to read her expression.
“Dad, listen. I’m ok now. I was rescued before he could take me. Listen. I think Wilson was involved somehow. I heard him on the phone right after I talked to you.”
She paces as her dad talks. Or screams. I can still hear him.
She stops pacing and puts her palm to her forehead. I see her fingers shaking. “I’m ok, Dad.” She looks up at me. “I have a way home.” Her eyes are questioning, so I give her a slight nod. I’ll take her home. Anywhere she wants to go. As she keeps talking, I look at her.
She is beautiful. Dark, silky hair. She’s wearing black, tight jeans with a loose red blouse and red high heels. She couldn’t get away from any attacker in those things. Just like I checked her out from head to toe, my eyes travel just as slowly back up. Once I get to her eyes, I’m caught. She saw me checking her out.
If I cared, I would be embarrassed. I don’t care.
I watch her cheeks turn a beautiful pink, and she spins around, giving her back to me. She finishes her phone call and waits before turning back around.
“Will you take me home?”
“Just give me the address. You have my word.”
As she gives me her address, she turns back around. We stand on the sidewalk and just look at each other. Some sort of recognition flashes through my mind and it feels like I’ve seen this girl before. But where?
I don’t go anywhere, but to the track, the office, and to the food joints next to my house. Looking at her and judging by her leaving that restaurant, I can pretty much say that she isn’t a racing fan and wouldn’t be caught eating at the places I do.
She looks familiar, but I can’t for the life of me think of where I would have seen her before. She knows me, but that doesn’t mean she’s a race fan. My face has been plastered all over this town. It’s no surprise that anyone knows me here and as far as two counties around.
“I can’t believe you’re Levi James.”
I give her my panty melting smile. “That’s me.”
She shakes her head and gets in the Demon. I walk around to my side and do the same.
Once we pull out and head to her house, my phone goes off with a text. I look down to see who it’s from.
Unknown number: This is the last time you screw me boy. I’m going to get that girl.
I look at Katie. Her eyes are about to pop out of her head again. “Who is that?”
I pull over again and look out at the dark night. My mind is running a million miles an hour.
I like speed, but this is giving me a headache.
“Tell me everything you know.”