Emily's Choice

by Heather McCoubrey

  “Jason, listen. I have to tell you something,” her voice cracked. “Please, it’s important.”

  She could do nothing but stare into Lila’s eyes while she tried to do as she’d been told. Even in the few seconds she’d been on the phone, she could tell Lila’s patience was thinning. She shrugged her shoulders to let her know it wasn’t her fault, but Lila glared and motioned with her head toward the phone.

  “Where are you? Did he take you against your will? Just tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.”

  Emily sighed. “Jason!” she yelled into the phone.

  “What?” he asked, confusion evident in his tone.

  “Please, I need to tell you something. I hate to do this over the phone, but I think it’s the easiest way.”

  “Do what?”

  Emily took a deep breath. “I don’t love you, Jason. And it’s time for you to stop pining for me. You need to move on with your life, find that special someone to be happy with. You’ll always be Sadie’s father, but you’ll never be my husband.”

  “Emily,” Jason breathed, voice cracking with pain. “What are you saying?”

  “You know what I’m saying, but let me be perfectly clear. I don’t love you. I don’t want to move back to Mosquero. I don’t want to be with you. I don’t want to marry you.”

  “If you’d just let me explain, Em, I know you’d see things differently.”

  “Jason, you think no one has given me other scenarios? Like I’ve never thought of different scenarios?” Emily laughed. “Everyone is on your side, Jason. Everyone. And they all tell me that it’s not entirely your fault. Bully for them. But I was there that night. I know what I saw. And I cannot forget it, Jason. I can’t. You messed up, and the consequence is losing me forever. It’s over, well and truly over.”

  “You can’t mean it, Em. You can’t. I love you!”

  “You think you love me, but how would you know? You’ve spent all this time chasing after me, even after I told you I didn’t want to be chased. You haven’t given any other woman a chance.”

  “I don’t want any other woman.”

  “It doesn’t matter because I don’t want you.”

  “Em.” Jason sighed.

  “No. It’s over. I don’t want to hear from you again.” Emily turned her face from the phone and Lila pressed the end button. “It’s done. I think he gets it now,” she said sadly.

  “We’ll see, won’t we.” Lila reached down and ran the barrel of the gun down the side of Em’s face.

  Emily eyed Lila warily. “What now?”

  “Now, I’m going to make myself a drink, sit by the fire, and call my future husband.”

  “What?” Edward grunted. “I’m your future husband.”

  Lila smiled and slowly walked toward him. She stood in front of him and raised her face. “Just joking, darling,” and pressed her lips to his. “Of course you are.”

  As they kissed, Lila raised the gun and shot him in the head.

  Emily screamed and slammed her eyes shut. She’d seen his head explode and knew that image would never leave her.

  Lila laughed. “You’re probably wondering why I did that.”

  Emily moaned and nodded.

  “Because I no longer needed him.” Lila smiled. “He’s been a thorn in my side since I was a teenager. Frankly, it’s a relief to be done with him.”

  “You’ve known him since you were a teenager?” Emily asked, astonished.

  “He’s technically the reason I came to Mosquero to begin with.”

  “Your stalker,” Emily breathed.

  “Exactly. And the man who knocked me up, which was the final nail in the coffin and the reason I really had to leave Boston. If Mom and Dad had found out, I’d have been done for. Socially and within the family. They would have shipped me off to God knows where, forced me to give up the child, and then cut me off.”

  “They wouldn’t,” Emily began.

  “The hell they wouldn’t! Their place in society meant the world to them then. I’m sure it still does, though I barely speak to them.”

  “But you’re their daughter.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Hope was lucky, she got the good Daddy. Mine, not so much. Power, fame, money—those were important to my father and having a daughter knocked up at sixteen would have been an impossible pill for him to swallow.”

  “I can’t even fathom having parents like that,” Emily said sadly.

  “That’s because you hit the jackpot on parents,” Lila said meanly. “You could murder Mother Theresa and they’d still love you. They might be a bit disappointed in you, but you’ve been blessed with unconditional love.”

  “That’s not my fault.”

  “No, but it is your fault when you flaunt that all over town. Rubbing it in people’s faces and excluding them because you’re better than they are.”

  “I do not!”

  “You never accepted me, not once.”

  “Because you were such a bitch!” Emily said, exasperated. “You were always getting us in trouble, always butting in, always just in the way. You expected us to treat you like we’d known you forever when we didn’t know you from Adam. You were manipulative, tricky, mean. Where in any of that was there room for us to open our arms and let you in?”

  “Don’t you know the people who need love the most are the ones who ask for it in the least appropriate of ways?”

  “Sure, I know that now. But who knows that when they’re in high school?”

  “And yet, even knowing that now, you still hold me at arm’s length.”

  “I hold you back because I don’t like you, Lila. I don’t like your personality. I don’t like you as a person. You don’t make my life better, you make it worse. And beyond all that, I could never forgive what you did with Jason.”

  Lila giggled. “Oh darling, we didn’t do anything beyond what you saw.”

  “What do you mean?” Emily snapped.

  “Tsk, tsk,” Lila murmured. She raised the gun slightly, pointing it directly between Emily’s eyes. “You need to be nice.”

  Emily’s eyes darted to the doorway, revulsion and panic rising steadily. Lila was definitely not in her right mind and Emily needed to keep that thought in the forefront of her mind.

  “I’m sorry,” she said earnestly.

  Lila nodded and lowered the gun. Smiling slyly, she continued her taunting. “We kissed, he fondled me, and then he passed out. About two minutes after you fled back home.” She walked over to the door. “You can stew about how everyone was right and you were so, so wrong. How you could have had him all this time. How your pride was your downfall.” Lila laughed a deep throaty laugh. “Now he’s going to be all mine. I’m going to let you think about that for a little while. I need to go call Jason.” She turned and waggled her fingers in Emily’s direction.

  Emily watched her walk gingerly around the pool of blood on the floor and then step lightly over Edward’s body. She half expected his arm to shoot up and grab hold of Lila’s ankle.

  Barely suppressing a shudder, she turned her head and began working at her restraints again. Her hands had fallen asleep, and as she began to move them, the pins and needles vied for first place in the pain department.

  She wanted to cry. Lila was right. Her pride really would be her downfall. He’d been telling the truth all along and she’d just ignored it. Ignored him and everyone else who’d tried to tell her.

  Was it too late? Could she fix it? Would he forgive her? After the words he’d spoken to her this afternoon, she wasn’t sure. He’d sounded finished with her and the whole situation.

  She cursed herself for wasting all this time. She could have had the family she wanted. She could have been happy. She could have been loved.

  She could have had Jason.

  Chapter Thirty

  Jason pulled up in front of the Camancho Ranch and jumped out of the truck. He took the porch steps two at a time and didn’t bother to knock on the door.

  “Tyler!” he
bellowed from the entrance.

  Clint popped his head out of the living room and eyed Jason warily. “Something the matter, son?”

  “Where’s Tyler? I need to speak to him.”

  “He went home; Sophie thinks she’s in labor.”

  Clint’s sister, Elizabeth, came out of the living room to stand next to him. “I should go help. Her mother isn’t expected to arrive until the day after tomorrow.”

  “Shit,” Jason said, looking down at his feet. “Perfect timing.”

  “Tyler said he’d call if they need you. Just sit tight, Lizzy.” He turned to Jason. “Something I can help you with?”

  “No, sir. Sorry to disturb you.” He turned to Elizabeth. “Ma’am, have a good night.”

  He turned and walked out. Climbing into his truck, he tried to center himself. It couldn’t be helped. He had to speak with Tyler, baby or no baby.

  He waited until he was out of their driveway before he hit the gas and sped to Tyler’s house on the other side of the property.

  All the lights were on in the house, and Tyler’s three boys were running wild in the front yard. They pounced on Jason as soon as he stepped from the truck.

  “Mommy’s having a baby tonight,” Noah, the youngest at four, informed him. “Mommy wants a girl, but we hope it’s another boy. Right, guys?”

  “Right,” they both answered.

  “Where’s your mom and dad now?” Jason asked.

  The oldest, Matt, was trying to knock Jason off his feet. “Can we wrestle you?”

  “No, I need to speak with your dad.”

  Matt sighed. “He’s busy with Mom. Sent us outside and told us if we come in before he’s ready, we won’t be able to go to the rodeo next weekend.”

  Jason grimaced. That was a serious threat. The rodeo was a big deal in these parts, and he knew most boys waited with bated breath to go. Their favorite was the bull riding. He remembered watching as a child and for the longest time that was what he wanted to be when he grew up.

  “All right, boys. I really need to go inside and talk to your dad. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  The middle child, Adam who was five and very precocious, let out a low whistle. “Good luck, man. Dad’s in a mood.”

  Jason grinned. “You would be too if you had a baby on its way.”

  “I don’t want kids,” he informed Jason. “Just dogs. Lots of dogs.”

  Jason laughed. “We’ll see if you’re still saying that in twenty years.”

  He turned and headed up the stairs of the front porch. He knocked loudly on the door.

  “Just go in. They’re upstairs in the bedroom,” Matt called to him.

  Jason nodded his thanks and entered the house. He could hear anxious voices upstairs and walked up. “Hey, Ty!” he said loudly.

  Tyler stuck his head out of the bedroom door. “Uh, what’s up?”

  “Sorry to barge in. I know you’re up to your eyes in a situation right now. But I really need a minute.”

  “Babe, you okay? I’ll be right back. Swear!”

  He stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him.

  “Is it really time?” Jason asked.

  “Seems so. Waiting on Lizzy and Clint to get here. I should know what I’m doing, but I freeze up and panic every time. I’m useless.” He chuckled nervously.

  “Okay, listen. I’m sorry, but I need some info, and you can’t panic and I don’t want your dad to know.”

  “Whoa, man, you’re freaking me out.”

  “I know, sorry. Listen. Em was out drinking with Gina and Phoebe tonight.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Right, but what you don’t know is Emily’s missing.”

  “What?” he asked, eyes wide.

  Jason nodded. “She went outside for some air and disappeared. The guy that showed up today. Do you know him? Do you remember what he looked like?”

  “You think he had something to do with her disappearance?”

  “I don’t know, but it seems odd, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah. Yeah. Look.” He glanced at the door to the bedroom. Sophie was moaning inside, and Jason knew he only had a minute left with Tyler.

  “Anything you can tell me would be helpful. We’re going to find her and maybe she’s just off getting herself centered. But no one has heard from her and she hasn’t called my father once to check on Sadie.”

  Another loud moan drifted through the door.

  “Tyler!” Sophie yelled through the door.

  “He was about my height. Dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He was dressed nicely, richly. Big city, I’m thinking. Definitely not from around here. He sounded like Grace did when she first moved here. New England accent. He was driving a car that looked a lot like Lila’s. That’s all I got. I gotta go,” he said, pointing toward the door.

  “Yeah, man, thanks.” He darted his eyes to the door. “Good luck.”

  Tyler sighed, clearly torn between his wife and his sister. “Keep me in the loop.”

  “I will.”

  “Better get out of here. Dad’ll be here any minute.”

  “I’m out.” Jason ran down the stairs and out to the truck.

  “Ready to wrestle?” Matt asked.

  “Can’t, bud, but your Gramps will be here any minute.”

  “Oh, he’ll wrestle!” Noah shouted. “Gramps is always up for a match.”

  Jason jumped in his truck, and speeding down the driveway, he called Gina.

  “Jase? Did you talk to Ty?”

  “Yeah, and his wife is having her baby tonight.”

  “What? Seriously?”

  “Yeah, perfect timing, right?”

  “Wow.”

  “He remembered the guy. Edward. Said he was dressed nicely, big city. Had an accent like Grace’s. Drove a car like Lila’s. Brown hair and brown eyes.”

  “I don’t know if that’s enough for Fred to do anything with. Where are you?”

  “Just leaving Tyler’s. Do you know where Lila’s parents are staying?”

  “Hope mentioned they were staying in town at the B and B. They said something about Lila having to work and already having company staying with her.”

  “Interesting,” he said slowly. “Who could be staying with her? I’m going to see them.”

  “You do realize the time, right? They’re on east coast time; they’re probably sleeping.”

  “Your point? If Em’s in trouble, I don’t care who I wake up.”

  “Right. Okay, I’ll head to the station and see if I can light a fire under Fred’s butt. See if the deputies found out anything at the bar.”

  “Let me know.” He hung up and tossed his phone on the seat next to him. Edward. That named sounded slightly familiar. It hung back, just on the edges of his memory. He could swear he’d heard Lila talk about an Edward before. But when? And why?

  Just then, his phone rang and he snatched it up. He looked at the caller ID but didn’t recognize the number. The area code was Boston; he knew because he had Hope and Emily’s cell numbers programmed into his cell.

  He pulled over to the side of the road and answered the call. “Hello?” he barked into the phone.

  “Jason, it’s Emily.”

  “Emily! Where are you?”

  She wouldn’t answer him. Instead she kept telling him that it was over. She didn’t love him and she didn’t want to see him again. She sounded scared. Her voice wobbled and cracked—and for someone who was bent on convincing him it was over, she did a poor job of it.

  “Em,” he sighed, trying one last time to get a location or a clue or something.

  “No. It’s over. I don’t want to hear from you again.” The phone went dead, and he had half a mind to throw his phone out the window in frustration.

  Now more than ever, he knew something was wrong. Ninety minutes at the most had passed since she’d disappeared, and with as much as she’d had to drink, she sounded too sober for the situation. Instead of going to his father’s to pick up Sadi
e, she was who knew where trying to convince him she didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

  Not to mention the fear. He knew fear when he heard it and Emily’s words were drenched in it. Someone had her. And someone forced her to call him. And based on the phone number, it was a good bet it was this Edward person.

  He put the truck in gear and broke the speed limits to get into town. He was having that conversation with Lila’s parents; he didn’t care what time it was.

  Twenty minutes later, he pulled up outside the bed and breakfast, and just as he was getting out of the truck, his phone rang again.

  This time he recognized the number.

  “What do you want, Lila?”

  “Now, is that anyway to talk to your future wife?” she slurred sweetly.

  “I don’t have time for this,” he growled.

  “Did you lose something?” she purred.

  He paused on the porch steps. “Why would you ask me that?”

  “Just curious,” she said.

  He could hear her drinking something before she came back on the line.

  “Are you lonely? Because I’m lonely. I want you to come over. I have a present for you to unwrap.”

  “I can’t right now. I have something to do.”

  “Please,” she begged. “I miss you. I miss us.”

  “There is no us. There never was,” he roared. “I have to go.”

  He hung up and continued up the steps. He pulled open the door and rang the front desk bell. He knew the owners; they were from California. They’d moved out here a few years ago wanting a simpler life. They were friendly and the perfect couple to own a bed and breakfast. They’d been all over the world in their previous lives, traveling had been a huge part of their careers. Their children were grown with families of their own. They truly liked people and loved hearing their guests’ life stories.

  “Jason! How lovely to see you,” Betty greeted him. “Is everything okay? It’s very late. Do you need a room?”

  “No, ma’am. I actually need to speak to one of your guests.”

  “All of our guests have gone to bed.”

  “I realize that, ma’am, but it’s important. Emily Camancho is missing and I think Mr. Hillcrest might know the man who took her.”