Page 93 of Taking the Pitch
I suck in what breath I’m able to with his other hand still wrapped around my throat and let out a scream that echoes through the garage. My vision starts to blur around the edges from the lack of oxygen and my strength starts to fade.
This can’t be it. This can’t be how I die. I still have things to do, like figure things out with Judd. Get married, maybe even have a family. This just can’t be it.
Just as I’m about to succumb to the darkness, tires squeal behind me, and I hear my name.
“Amelia!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
judd
I feel lighteron the drive back from my parents. Having one thing go right when everything else has gone terribly wrong in the past few days gives me a shimmer of hope that things are turning around.
I pull into the parking garage, but instead of turning left towards my section, I make a right. I don’t know when Amelia is coming home, so I’ve been driving past her spot every time I return, just to check. Making a left, I’m halfway to her spot when I see her vehicle with the hatch open. My heart increases at the chance of finally being able to see her.
But what I see when I get closer makes my blood turn cold. Even with my window closed, the scream I hear coming from Amelia’s throat will be one that forever haunts me. Slamming on my brakes, I throw open the door and leap out of my Jeep, barely getting the vehicle in park before exiting.
“Amelia!” I yell, making the short distance from my car to where she’s fallen back onto the ground. Her chest is rapidly rising and falling as she tries to suck in as much air as possible.
The man, whose hands were around Amelia’s throat just moments ago, is scrambling to get to his feet. There’s no way I’m letting that asshole get away. I charge past Amelia and slam into his back, knocking him back to the ground. He struggles to turn over, but I place my knee into the middle of his back and wrench one of his arms behind him, then the other. He struggles to get free, but it’s useless. He’s about as tall as me, but I easily have a good thirty pounds on him.
“Let me go,” he bites out, still trying to jerk from my grip.
“Not a chance, asshole,” I growl back. “Amelia, talk to me. Are you okay?” She’s not where I left her, but I can hear a whine and her crying.
“J-j-Judd, he, he stabbed Bruno.”
Fuck.
“Mills, listen to me. Call 911 and try to put pressure on Bruno’s wounds to help stop the bleeding.”
I hear her say something to Bruno, then her face appears. Her lip is split and bleeding. Tears are streaming down her cheeks and there’s a giant bruise forming on one side of her face.
I’m going to fucking kill this guy.
My knee presses down onto his back, causing him to scream.
“You’re going to break my back!”
“I’d break every bone in your fucking body if I could, you piece of shit.”
“Judd, I don’t have my phone,” she says frantically.
“In my car, center console, passcode is 1-0-3-0.”
She dashes off to my car as I hear another vehicle approach, followed by voices, then footsteps. Two guys I’ve made small talk with in passing off and on since moving here come over.
“Holy shit, what happened?” John asks.
“I don’t know the whole story, but I found this guy choking my girlfriend when I was driving by.” I nod over to where Amelia appeared from. “He stabbed her dog.”
Eric looks to the spot I nodded at and peels his sweater off, heading towards Bruno. I can hear him talking in soft, low tones to him.
Amelia rushes back over with the phone to her ear, talking rapidly to the dispatcher. She rattles off the address and tells them we’re in the parking garage. I can see the tremor starting in her hands and moving throughout her body. Likely from the adrenaline crash.
I look up at Jake. “Got anything in your car that we can use to tie this asshole up?”
He nods and runs back to his car, returning a few seconds later with paracord.
