Free Fallen William by Tiffany Aaron

made a fist. She knew
she had to do something or he would kill the man. She climbed to her feet.
Touching his arm, she spoke.
    “Don’t
do it, William. He isn’t worth it. Let the police take care of him.”
    William’s
face was ravaged by fear and anger. “He hurt you.”
    “He was
supposed to. Thompson sent him to warn me. He said I had to stop seeing you or
my punishment would be worse.” With a weak smile, she shrugged. “Right now I
can’t think what worse might be.”
    William
growled as the man turned an alarming shade of purple.
    “Please.
I need to get to the hospital. I think something’s wrong with my arm.” She
wrapped her good hand around his forearm. Feeling dizzy, she knew the pain was
starting to overwhelm her.
    Dominic
appeared. “I’ll take care of him. You take Abby to the hospital.”
    William
opened his fist and the man dropped to the ground with a thud. He lay there
gasping like an air-deprived fish. William caught Dominic’s eye and the Cajun
nodded. Satisfied that the man would be taken care of the right way, he
gathered her in his arms and carried her to her car. Her purse had fallen to
the pavement when the man grabbed her. Her keys hadn’t fallen too far away and
he picked them up. He got her settled in the seat and then climbed in.
    She
wondered why he wasn’t talking. Why hadn’t he given her a hug or comforted her?
She was feeling shaky and wanted to cry. At a stoplight, he turned to look at
her and she saw the rage still simmered. She realized he was fighting the urge
to go back and inflict damage on her assailant. She reached out and took his
hand in hers. His grip tightened until she wanted to beg him to let go. He took
a deep breath and loosened his hold.
    “What
the hell were you doing out there?”
    She
knew he was trying not to yell at her and she appreciated the effort it was
taking. “I got out of work early and thought I’d head home.”
    “Why
didn’t you wait for me? You knew I would be here to get you. Or at least why
didn’t you call me?”
    “I
tried calling but you didn’t answer. I didn’t think there would be a problem.
We haven’t seen or heard from Thompson in days. I figured he had given up.”
    “Thompson
has gone to ground. If a stalker disappears, you have to take precautions
because that’s when they usually escalate into violence. I don’t want anything
to happen to you, Abby. You’re too important to me. I’d go crazy if you were
seriously hurt or even killed.”
    She
could see the way his hands were shaking from the letdown of adrenaline. She
knew it was fear for her that caused this strong man to shake like a child. She
lifted the hand holding hers to her mouth and whispered a kiss across his
knuckles.
    “I’m
sorry, William. I promise not to take chances anymore.”
    He accepted her apology as they
pulled up to the emergency room.
    *
* * *
    William
stood on the deck at Abby’s house. She was tucked in and sleeping off the
painkillers the doctor had given her. He sent a short prayer thanking the
Father that he had gotten to her before the man could do something more than
sprain her arm. He had never felt the rage that swamped him when he saw her
attacker hitting her. If it hadn’t been for her stopping him, he probably would
have killed the man. He wouldn’t have felt bad about doing it either. The man
was slime who got off on hurting women. The world would have been a better
place without him. He wondered what Dominic had done to him.
    He
stared out at the sparkling lights that twirled and spun on the facades of the
casinos. They soothed his restless feelings. He could never explain to Celeste
what he liked most about Reno. Maybe it had to do with the gambling and the
chance to alter his life with one turn of a card. From the moment he arrived in
the city, he had felt more alive than anywhere else. His heart beat to the
rhythm of the clanging slots. His blood pounded as the jackpots were won and
the shouts were heard. He was an