Giving in to Him~

Chapter 21

"Wow, you remembered. Impressive." Joey was standing casually next to her.

"It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"I was dropped off down the street and I came in to grab a drink. Then I saw you and came over to say hi." He glanced behind him. What was he.... She turned her gaze to follow his and her eyes found Rick talking with someone towards the back of the bowling alley, a folder tucked under his arm.

The sight of the folder brought back memories of her trying to break into his car in the mall parking lot. Now here he was again, with another mysterious folder, talking with another guy. What was going on? Who was he?

She felt a movement and she glanced over at Joey. He had moved closer to her as if he was going to tell her something important.

"Is that something you knew about?"

She turned back around to look at him, "No. There's a lot about him I don't know about."

"That doesn't sound too safe. I'm worried for you Jennifer, he's dangerous."

She narrowed her eyes at him "What?"

"Yeah. What did he tell you about me leaving you guys before?" She tried to think back and recall the exact conversation.

"He said you bumped into your friends again and you were going to hitch a ride with them."

"Jennifer. He lied. He threatened me, told me if I didn't get lost, he'd beat me."

Disbelief and shock punched her in the face as she sat there and tried to absorb what Joey just told her. Rick lied to her? But why? Joey did nothing wrong. He was just looking for a ride. All her doubts about Rick pushed their way to the front of her mind once again as she sat there, unable to move. She trusted him and he had lied to her .... What else had he lied to her about?

She looked up and met Joey's eyes.

"I-I can't believe he'd do this. Wh-what reason did he have to-"

"No reason! That's what I'm trying to say, I didn't do anything and he threatened me... what are you even doing with him."

"I...we... he's taking me to my aunt's place..."

"Jennifer.. you can't trust him."

"But then, what can I do-"

"Come with me."

"I can't-"

"Jennifer trust me, I can help you. I live by here and my parents can help you get where you need to be."

She looked back at Rick and saw he was still talking to his friend. She turned to look back at Joey and nodded her head once.

Gathering up her stuff, she quickly walked behind Joey as he led her to the back door. She took a deep breath and walked out into the sunlight with him. She would finally be getting some answers.

********************************

"Thanks Marshall, I really appreciate you coming around." Rick patted his old partner on the back.

"It's no problem Rick, why is this Joey guy so important?"

"Me and Jennifer picked him up on the side of the street, I got a bad feeling about him," Rick opened up the folder and spoke as he looked over it, "I kicked him out but I just want to make sure he stays away."

"You got it, Nick and Anthony are looking for him now."

"Holy shit, is all of this true."

"Hell yea man, it's straight from the data base."

"Guy killed a bunch of teenagers, thank God I got him away from her."

"You're getting too involved with her Rick, you need to pull back."

"That's not gonna happen," Rick snapped the folder shut after being disgusted with everything he read. "It's become personal."

Marshall raised his hands in surrender, "I'm staying out of it, just call me if you need me. I gotta get back home to the family, I'll see ya bud. Stay outta trouble."

Rick nodded as Marshall left. Tucking the folder under his arm, he looked up to where Jennifer was waiting for him but he stopped when he didn't see her. She was just there and now her seat was empty. His training taught him to assess the situation and environment before he panicked. So he did just that. He scanned the bowling alley and was about to head over to the ladies room when he caught site of her walking towards the back door. His eyes widened as he tried to understand what she was doing.

What? Where was she going?

He followed her movements and then he saw the man that was walking in front of her. His features were unmistakable and when he turned to hold the door open for her, he knew without a doubt who it was. It was fucking Joey.

"Jennifer!" he called, she turned around, and with eyes widened she ran with Joey out into the parking lot.

"Jennifer!"

He began to run to her but they got in a car and drove off.

"FUCK!"