“Dad?” I whispered, barely able to get the word out of my mouth. My throat was sore, and I had no doubt it would bruise from the impact of the force Curtis had shown me.
His intake of breath ricocheted over the line. “Belle?”
“I…” I stared at Curtis, feeling the cool metal of the gun against my legs. I’d killed a man, and it was only now starting to really sink in. “I…I need your help.”
“What’s the matter, baby girl? Where are you?” I opened my mouth to reply, but I heard him shouting, “Jord, trace the call!”
“Dad,” I whispered again, only this time it was broken. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what I’d done, I couldn’t form the words. I needed to tell him the reality of the situation, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “I need you, Dad.”
“I’m on my way, baby girl. I’m on my way.” The line beeped several times, and tears streamed down my face—relieved tears, sad tears, happy tears. I was a jumble of emotions, and I wasn’t sure how to handle any of it. The beeping sounded again, and I realized I hadn’t charged the cell for long enough. It was going to die any second. “Just wait where you are, and I’ll come—” Another beep and then…nothing.
I pulled it away from my ear and placed it next to me on the wood floor. It wouldn’t be able to help me right then, but I couldn’t summon up the energy to move to put it back on charge. My body was lagging, all of the adrenaline waning from me at lightning speed. I wasn’t sure how long I sat in the same position, but at some stage, I realized I was directly across from the front door and in the firing line, so I shuffled to the left so the sofa would be between me and the front door, but so I could still see Curtis’ body.
I knew I had a while to wait, I was a seven-hour drive away from home, which meant I had time to process everything Curtis had said. But the time got away from me, and all I could think about was how many times I’d been with him and felt safe. I’d trusted him when he was the very person I needed to run away from.
I’d been naive.
I’d been stupid.
But most of all, I’d been too trusting.
It was a life lesson I’d never forget, and I had no intention of letting my guard down with anyone ever again. I trusted the people I’d grown up with, but other than that, everyone else was off-limits. I couldn’t put myself in the position I’d had with Curtis. It was my own fault, and there was no one else I could blame.
It was my fault he’d killed Justin and Stella.
My fault he’d “taken care” of Ford.
My fault Leopold’s dead body sat outside the cabin.
Tears streamed down my cheeks silently as I sat there, thinking it all over, but I didn’t move to wipe them away. I could feel the swelling in my face, and I was afraid if I moved, I’d cause more pain. So I kept deathly still and waited.
The sun went completely down, and I didn’t expect my dad to turn up until it started to get light, but headlights shone across the cabin at 2 a.m. My heart raced, my hands shook. Was it the people who had come to talk to Curtis the other night? Had they come back to speak to him again? What would they do when they saw Curtis’ dead body in the doorway?
The engine didn’t turn off as the tires squealed to a stop. I heard several car doors opening, and I pointed the gun at the doorway. I’d fought Curtis to the death, so there was no way I was going to give in, not now.
Flashlights swept over his body and into the cabin as slow footsteps moved forward. My finger pressed against the trigger, ready to take a shot if I needed to, but a voice calling, “Belle,” had me letting out a relieved breath.
“Dad?” I whispered.
The flashlight ran across the room again, this time landing on my face. “Belle.” I couldn’t make him out in the darkness, so I had no idea what the expression on his face was. “Where’s the light switch?” he asked.
“In the kitchen to your left,” I croaked out, not letting go of the gun in my hand. I tried to move to stand up, but my body wasn’t cooperating.
“Body,” I heard someone say from outside. “That makes two.” I’d recognize that deep baritone as Jord any day of the week.
A second later, the main lights switched on, nearly blinding me. I covered my face with my hand I held the gun with, reminding me of only hours ago when Curtis had turned the light on in my bedroom. Had Leopold’s dead body been in the cabin when he’d brought me the soup? Had he sat with me while Leopold was bleeding out on the floor?
Footsteps neared, and I pulled my hand down, meeting my dad’s gaze for the first time in six months. The last time I’d seen him was at the lake house when he’d demanded I come home with him, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d have been in this situation right now if I’d have just listened to him.
“Dad?” I asked, feeling like the little girl I used to be.
“Belle,” he replied, his body not moving an inch. I wasn’t sure whether he was in shock from seeing me or at what surrounded us. Footsteps echoed behind him, and I glanced at the door as Uncle Jord and Uncle Ky’s faces appeared. They stepped over the body, guns drawn, and checked the entire cabin at lightning speed. I could have told them I was the only one here, but I couldn’t get my voice to work.
I placed my hand on the wall behind me and started to move up it, causing my dad to dart forward, past the sofa. His hands were outstretched as he walked toward me, and when he was a couple of feet away, he placed his hands under my arms and helped me up.
“What happened?” he asked, and immediately shook his head. “Don’t tell me that yet,” he said. “You’re hurt, and you need to get checked out.” He didn’t move his gaze off mine. “But first, you need to give me the gun, baby girl.”
I swallowed, afraid to give to him what little protection I had. Deep down, I knew I was safe with my dad, but I was still scared to hand it over. He backed up a step and held his hand out, waiting patiently. I glanced down at his palm as I tried to steady my breathing. My hands shook as I hovered over his hand, and slowly I let go of it.
“Ky, you and Ryan stay here and take care of things,” Dad demanded, not looking away from my face. He was trying to silently comfort me, but I wasn’t sure if that was what I needed or not.
“On it,” Uncle Ky replied, and I turned to look at him where he was standing in the doorway to the hallway, which led to the bedrooms. He smiled sadly, his gaze tracking over my body, most likely taking stock of the injuries he could see. The long T-shirt I’d worn to bed came to just above my knees at the front and past my knees at the back. His eyes widened as his gaze moved to my face and then back to my stomach several times.
“What the fuck is that?”
“What?” Uncle Jord asked, and nerves rolled throughout my entire body. It wasn’t enough that they’d come here and found two dead bodies, but they also had found me very pregnant. Something which none of them knew about. Something I’d been planning to tell them once I’d come home, not that you could have missed it.
“That.” Uncle Ky pointed at me, specifically my stomach, and Uncle Jord stared at me, seeing what Uncle Ky had.
“Holy shit.”
“What?” Dad ground out, turning his head to look back at them, but neither of them answered, so he turned back to face me, his brow raised.
I may have been tired and in pain, and altogether exhausted, but I wasn’t sure how best to tell him he was about to be a grandfather. The thought hadn’t occurred to me once while I’d been waiting for him to come here, but now I had to improvise, so I placed my hand on my stomach and tried to smile as I said, “I’m pregnant.”
Dad stumbled back a step, frowning as he glanced down at my stomach, and I swore I heard him gasp. “Fuck.” His chest heaved, and he stared back at my face. The silence stretched while we all stood in the cabin, and I was afraid of what he’d say. Would he ask who the dad was? Was he assuming the dead body in the room was the dad? Was he coming to his own conclusions? Something flashed over his face, and his expression changed instantly. “How hurt are
you?”
“I…” I cradled my arm against my chest, not sure how to reply to that. I couldn’t localize one specific pain because I felt like it was all over.
“Jord,” Dad commanded, pushing his shoulders back and not waiting for me to formulate an answer. “Find the nearest hospital.” He stepped toward me, placed his arm around my shoulder, and pulled me with him. “We’ll get you checked out before we go home.” He glanced down at my stomach. “And make sure everything is okay with you and…and…the baby.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say, but halted when we were a couple of feet from the front door. For the last time, I stared at Curtis’ face and his open eyes, and then with the help of my dad and Uncle Jord, stepped over him.
The front of the cabin was lit up from two SUVs' headlights, and Dad helped me into the back of one of them, then slid in beside me. Everything was moving at lightning speed, but I couldn’t help notice it was only the four of them. Hope had been festering inside of me that Ford was still alive, and I’d somehow been mistaken, but knowing he hadn’t come with them solidified it in my mind for the final time.
I was alone in the world, at least until the baby came.
Dad’s hand reached for mine and held it tightly as Jord whizzed through the small town and toward the city. The silence was deafening, and I could practically hear my dad’s unsaid questions. I knew I’d have to explain to them all what had happened tonight, and why I’d not come home for the last six months. I wasn’t sure where I’d start, but I knew I first had to make sure the baby was okay.
Uncle Jord pulled up outside the emergency room, and Dad helped me out of the SUV and inside. Uncle Jord walked ahead of us, talking to someone at the front desk who looked over at us, nodded, and then waved for us to follow her. We moved single file behind her, first Uncle Jord, then me, with Dad taking up the rear.
She opened up a door to an exam room and waved her arm to indicate we go inside. “Go on in there. I’ll get you some forms to fill in and get a doctor.”
“Thank you,” Dad said, and closed the door behind her. He signaled to the bed in the middle of the room, and I heaved up onto it, cursing at each twinge of pain.
A couple of minutes later, the nurse returned with the paperwork and handed it to me. “Doctor is on her way,” she informed me and moved toward the left side of the room. She opened several cupboard doors and retrieved things from them, and just as I was finishing up the paperwork she’d given me, a doctor walked into the room.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Mortis.” Her hands were pushed into the pockets of the white doctor’s coat she wore, and she glanced at me, then did a double take. “Looks like you’ve been through a war.” I swallowed and kept my mouth closed, scared I’d let something slip. If she was expecting an answer from me, she’d be waiting a while because I had no intention of talking to her unless I absolutely had to. “Let’s take a look at you.” She closed the door and moved toward the nurse as she pulled a pair of latex gloves over her hands. “Can you tell me where it hurts?”
I glanced at Dad, who was standing on the other side of the room next to Uncle Jord. He smiled gently at me and tilted his head, letting me know it was okay, and that was all I’d needed to open my mouth and tell her, “Here.” I pointed at my eye. “And my arm, I think it may be broken.” I paused and then continued, “My throat and stomach hurt too.”
I stared down at my clothing, seeing the dried blood on them, and I wondered what it looked like I’d been doing. Was the doctor making assumptions about the kind of person I was? Was she thinking I was the kind of person who needed escorting in here by two officers of the law because I was a bad person?
“Do you need the clothes?” she asked, and at first, I thought she was talking to me, but then realized she’d directed the question to my dad.
“Yes,” he said, and I wasn’t sure what that meant. I’d killed Curtis, but it had been self-defense, so why did he need my clothes? Were they evidence? What would happen after we left here? My mind was swirling with thoughts that I couldn’t get under control. I’d never been in any kind of situation like this, and I was putting all my trust into my dad, but I couldn’t deny the little voice in the back of my head that told me I still wasn’t safe. I’d been fooled for so long, and I wouldn’t allow myself to live my life through rose-tinted glasses any longer.
The nurse handed me a hospital gown and told me, “I’ll find you something else to leave in.”
I took the gown from her with a whispered, “Thank you,” and swallowed, wishing I hadn’t because my throat was in agony.
“Do you need help?” she asked, and although I wanted to tell her I was fine, the reality was I did need help. I was aching all over, and I wasn’t sure I had the energy to even lift my arms.
Dad and Uncle Jord turned around, and the nurse helped me out of the long T-shirt I’d been wearing and into the gown. The doctor checked my face and passed me an ice pack to press against my cheek, then prodded at my wrist.
“This needs x-raying,” she commented, causing my dad to turn around at the exact time she lifted up part of the gown and exposed my stomach. His nostrils flared at the sight of it, and when I looked down, I could see purple bruising starting to take effect. The doctor didn’t seem fazed by it, and I wondered if she was used to seeing this kind of thing. She grabbed a small machine and placed a wand-shaped piece of plastic on my stomach.
I could still feel my baby kicking inside me, so I wasn’t overly worried, but as soon as I heard its heartbeat, my shoulders dropped in relief. The doctor waited and stared at her watch, counting the seconds, and then finally pulled the machine away and let my gown drop back down. “Your wrist needs x-raying to see if it’s broken, which I suspect it is.” She jotted something down on some papers. “I also want you to have your face and neck x-rayed just in case, but I’m almost certain it’s just bruising, which will heal over time.” She paused and glanced at my dad and then back to me. “You need to book an appointment with your OBGYN to get the baby checked properly with an ultrasound. You’ll be sore for a while, and all the bruises will take time to come out fully.” She turned to the nurse. “Give her the smallest dose of painkillers and get her to x-ray.” She handed the nurse her clipboard. “Take care, Miss Easton,” she said to me, but the look in her eyes said she doubted I would. She was coming to conclusions from the evidence right in front of her, but she should have known better than to judge a book by its cover.
I knew what I looked like to her, I just wondered if that was how my dad was viewing me too, but one look at him told me he didn’t. He was trying to put on a front, trying not to let anything out, but I could see the sadness in his chocolate brown eyes.
I just wasn’t sure whether he was sad for me or with me.
BELLE
The ride back home was long, but I’d fallen asleep shortly after we’d left the hospital. We were only there for an hour, and in that time, I’d had my arm x-rayed, a cast applied, and been given orders on what to do once I was home. Apparently, Uncle Jord had told the nurse I needed to get in and out as soon as possible for my safety. I wasn’t sure if that was the truth, but they still didn’t know the whole story, so maybe they were being cautious. Either way, I’d have to tell them at some stage. I just hoped I could at least get some proper rest first, and maybe some food too.
The bleeping of Dad’s cell roused me awake, and I slowly opened my one eye and looked over at him. I’d somehow made my way into the middle of the back of the car and was using his arm as a pillow. At my movement, he glanced down at me, smiled, and pushed some hair out of my face.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” He’d always said that to me every single morning since before I could remember. And the memories caused a smile to come to my face.
“Morning.” I slowly sat up, pressing my hand against the side of my stomach at the twinge of pain. The morning sun was streaming through the windows of the car, and one look at the dash told me it was nearly 11 a.m. “Where are we?”
<
br /> “Not far from the offices,” Dad murmured, typing something on his cell and then pushing it back into his pocket.
“The offices?” I asked, frowning and wincing from the pain in my eye. “Why are we going to the offices?”
Dad huffed out a breath, and I turned my body to face him. I’d only been to his offices a handful of times, and the last time had been when I was twelve. “We need to take your statement, Belle.” He placed his hand over mine on the seat between us. “I need to make sure that if anything was to come back on you, you’re covered. It’s for your own good. I promise.”
I nodded. I’d been naive to think he’d take me right home. I’d pulled the trigger and killed someone. They had no idea what had happened, and they wouldn’t until I told them. But now it made sense as to why Dad had told me not to tell him what had happened when he’d first come to the cabin.
Staring out of the window, I watched all of the cars go by on the highway, and finally, Uncle Jord took the exit. It hurt to see parts of the places I grew up in, but the closer to Dad’s offices we got, the more nerves shot through me. Would they believe what happened? What if they thought I was to blame? What if they thought it had happened differently?
I shook my head as Uncle Jord pulled through the security gate and parked. All I had to do was tell the truth, and everything would be okay.
The scrubs the nurse had given me scraped against my skin, and I pulled the top farther over my stomach as I got out of the SUV with Uncle Jord’s help. He squeezed my hand, and I glanced up at him. “Glad you’re back, Belle.”
I smiled. “Me too.” And I was glad I was back. I’d made the decision to come home before all of this, but I didn’t tell him that. I hadn’t realized how much safer I felt now that I was back around my dad and uncles. But I couldn’t deny the dark cloud hanging over me as I made my way inside the building with them.
Ford had worked here for years, longer than I’d been alive, but now he didn’t. I was about to enter the first place he’d been since I’d found out he was dead, and the thought had me stumbling as I got out of the elevator onto my dad’s floor. He gripped my arm, and I gasped, causing him to let go almost immediately.
Bonded Duet: Ford & Belle: Torn Bond & Tied Bond (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 3) Page 27