Anonymous

by L. P. Dover

  “Ellie, you still there?” Vikki asks.

  I clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, I was a little distracted.”

  “I know. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind handling everything on your own for a few days? I hate not taking on new orders, but I just don’t have the time to decorate elaborate cakes right now.”

  She scoffs. “I’ve got it handled. I may not do the fancy stuff like you, but you know I can decorate cakes.”

  I smile. “I have faith in you.”

  “I’ll be by the hospital this afternoon. I’ll bring Jake some of these chocolate-covered strawberry truffles.”

  Jake is still asleep and hasn’t spoken since those few words last night. “He’ll like that. He spoke a little bit last night, but he’s been quiet ever since. I’m hoping he wakes up today. The police are going to stop by and ask questions when he does.”

  Vikki blows out a breath. “This is insane, Ellie.”

  “Tell me about it. I thought I knew Bryan. He was never violent or anything like that when we dated. I mean, yes, he always said we were meant to be together, but I never thought he’d try to kill my husband to make that happen.”

  “Exactly,” she agrees. “What do you think set him off?”

  I shrug, even though she can’t see me. “Hell if I know. Maybe there’s something wrong with him? Jake has a friend who has multiple sclerosis, and then one day, out of nowhere, he decides to stop his meds and leaves his wife and kids. No warning, no nothing. All they know is that he’s living on the coast and not coming back.”

  “Wow. I can’t imagine if my husband did that. I’d probably hunt him down and beat the shit out of him.”

  Taking a seat beside Jake, I stare at him. My heart would break in half if he left me like that. “We’ve seen the news though, Vik. People can flip in a matter of seconds. All it takes is a trigger.” I can hear the bell ding in the background and Vikki gasps.

  “I’ve got to go, Ellie. We have customers. I’ll see you tonight.” We hang up and I focus on Jake’s face. His breathing is steady, and everything looks good on the monitors.

  I move closer to the bed and rest my head against the mattress. I’m exhausted, but I can’t relax enough to sleep. The second I feel fingers in my hair, I bolt upright.

  Jake’s eyes are open and his lips tilt upward slightly. “Hey,” he murmurs.

  “Oh, my God, Jake.” I grab his face and kiss his lips, making my way over to his cheeks. “It feels like forever since I’ve heard your voice.” I want to fling my arms around his body, but I know he’s in pain from the bruised chest.

  He takes my hand and doesn’t let go. “I heard your voice though.” The nurse had brought in a pitcher of water earlier, so I pour him a cup and hold it to his lips.

  “Drink. It’ll help your dry throat.” It takes him a few minutes, but he gets it all down. “How do you feel?”

  Moving his body around, he grunts a few times and shrugs. “Other than a headache, not too bad.” He rubs a hand over his side. “I feel a little bruised around here, but that’s it.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief. “You’re bruised from the seat belt, and you had some bleeding around your brain from trauma. The doctor said you’ll be fine.”

  Gently, he places a hand on his head. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

  “What all do you remember?”

  His eyes blaze. “There was a man in the road, just standing there. When I took the curve, I reacted when I saw him, and swerved away. It all happened so fast. I don’t even know what he was doing there.”

  “Did you see who it was?” I ask curiously. He has never met Bryan, but he knows what he looks like.

  Jake shakes his head. “It was snowy and dark. His face was hidden behind a hood.” I nod and look away. It sounds like Bryan was wearing his Arrow costume again. “You’re not telling me something, Ellie. What is it?”

  “The man in the road was Bryan.”

  A low growl erupts from his chest. “Did the police tell you this?”

  I turn back to him and pull out my phone. “Not yet, but I know it was him.”

  “How?” he snaps.

  Handing him my phone, he reads the texts from last night. His blood pressure skyrockets and the monitors beep. “I’m going to kill that fucker. I don’t want you texting him again, Ellie. Can’t you tell he gets off on it?”

  “I know,” I say. “But at least he didn’t deny anything. We have more proof.”

  “I don’t care. When I get out of here, I’ll get an alarm system on our house and I’ll work from home. I don’t want you going back to the bakery until he’s found.” He squeezes my hand so hard it hurts. “You’re mine, Ellie. He’s not going to take you away from me.”

  “Or you from me,” I counter. “We’ll get through this, together.”

  He nods. “Let’s call the police. I need to tell them what happened.”

  Now that Jake’s allowed to have more than two visitors at a time, I sit across the room while his parents visit with him. His boss has already left, promising to have boxes of groceries on our front door step when we get home. It seems a bit much, but I’m grateful. Sometimes I think he likes to show off how much money he has, as if to impress me.

  His mother loves on him and offers to stay in town for a few weeks, but he politely declines. The last thing I want is his mother staying with us all that time. There’s only so much time I can handle being around the in-laws.

  He doesn’t tell them about Bryan and I don’t blame him. His father already has heart issues, and any amount of stress added to that could be detrimental to his health. They’re going to stay at a hotel tonight and fly back home once Jake is back at home. Luckily, they leave before the police show up.

  Detective Bradshaw knocks on the door and walks in, followed by Officer McGee. I stand, and they nod at me. “Good morning, Mrs. Kingston,” Terry says. “Thanks for calling us.” He marches over to Jake and extends his hand. “Glad to see you’re awake, Mr. Kingston.”

  Jake shakes both his and Charles’ hands. “Happy to be awake, Detective.”

  “He remembers the accident,” I say, joining them by Jake’s bed.

  Terry nods and I can see the turmoil in his brown gaze. “We have some information for you regarding that. First,” he begins, turning to Jake, “what all do you remember?”

  Jake tells him everything, from seeing the man to running off the road. Terry and Charles take notes, but it’s obvious, they’re just passing time before dropping the bomb. Jake can sense their unease as well. “What is it? You obviously have something you need to tell us.”

  Terry and Charles stare at each other and Charles nods for Terry to continue. He rubs a hand over his face. “We were at the scene all night, searching for any bit of evidence we could find. We analyzed the footprints, and it turns out, they could very well be Snyder’s. The prints are the same size and style of boots he usually wears while on duty.” He clears his throat. “We traced the footprints to a set of truck tires that disappeared once they hit the main road. The tires are the same as what’s on his truck.”

  “So, it is him,” I state.

  Terry nods. “It’s a possibility, but we don’t know for sure. At this point, he is most definitely our top suspect. Although, there are a ton of men around this city with the same size foot and same truck as Snyder. I tried tracing the phone numbers to him, but came up blank.”

  “Bryan texted her last night,” Jake adds.

  Both men focus on me. “What did the messages say?” Terry asks.

  I show him the messages.

  He shakes his head. “Out of all the years I’ve known Bryan, I never would’ve believed he could do something like this.” Charles looks at the messages and shakes his head in disgust.

  I look at both officers. “What do we do now?”

  Charles is the one who speaks up. “We can always put you two in protective custody, until Snyd
er’s found.”

  “Fuck that,” Jake growls. “I’m not hiding from that cocksucker.”

  It’s exactly what I knew he’d say. Terry doesn’t look surprised. “We can always put your wife in protective custody.”

  Jake looks to me, but I shake my head. “I’m not leaving my husband. We’re going to get an alarm system at the house and work from home for a while. Hopefully, Bryan will be found soon.”

  Terry shakes my hand. “We’ll keep you updated on everything we find. Right now, we have men searching for Snyder, so we can bring him in for questioning.”

  When they walk out, Owen stops them in the hall. Once they’re done, he hurries into the room and goes straight over to Jake. “Look who finally woke up,” he teases.

  Jake snorts. “I’ll trade places with you.”

  Owen chuckles. “Not interested, buddy. So, I hear they found footprints at the scene. Hopefully, they can find his sorry ass sooner than later.”

  “They mentioned having us go into protective custody,” I say.

  Jake cuts in. “But I turned it down.”

  “What about your wife?” Owen replies, brows furrowed with concern. He looks over at me and then back to Jake. “Bryan wants you dead and Ells for his own. Do you really think her staying in town keeps her safe?”

  “I’ll be fine. You both need to stop talking about me as if I’m a porcelain doll that’ll break the second she falls. I know how to take care of myself.”

  Both look at me, and Jake nods, trying his best to hide his fears. “She’s right. She can take care of herself. But,” he reaches for my hand, “if things get too crazy, I want you to get as far away as you can.”

  I shake my head. “Jake . . .”

  He squeezes my hand. “Promise me, Ellie. If things get bad, I need you to be safe. When it’s all over, we’ll see each other again.”

  Tears fill my eyes. “I promise.” I look over at Owen. “In the meantime, I need your help. We need to get an alarm system put in.”

  Owen nods once. “On it. It’ll be done today.”

  Twelve

  Ellie

  Jake’s way past ready to leave when we finally get the discharge papers. All in all, he’s only had to stay in the hospital for two days. His boss wants him to take off a couple of weeks from work, and we’re hoping it’s enough time for the police to find Bryan. The time off from work helps me because we still have to find a house in Arizona.

  We pull into our driveway, and Owen is there waiting for us, along with Jake’s parents. On our front doorstep are three huge boxes, no doubt filled with groceries, just like Randy had promised. I’ve never known an employer to care so much. Then again, I would do the same thing for Vikki.

  Owen opens Jake’s door, but Jake gets out without assistance, as if he’s perfectly fine. Pride is one of the virtues he takes all too seriously. He likes to be the one giving help, not receiving it.

  Jake’s mother rushes over and puts her arm around his waist, walking him inside. They’re followed by his father. Owen shakes his head, trying to hide his smile. “No wonder Jake’s happy they live in Florida. She treats him like he’s five.”

  I shrug. “It is annoying because she makes comments on how nobody could ever take care of him like she can, but then I remind myself . . . it’s her only son. I don’t know how I’m going to feel when I have a child of my own.”

  “Not like that, I’m sure of it.” He nods toward the garage door that leads into the kitchen. “I’ll grab the boxes off the front porch and then I’ll show you how to work the alarm system.”

  We go inside, and Jake is in the living room with his parents. I can see the annoyance on his face, but he humors his mother and lets her get him a bottle of water. She likes to feel needed.

  Owen sets the boxes down on the counter and points at the small box on the wall beside the kitchen door. “It’s pretty simple. Right now, the code is 1234. Just think up a different four-digit code and replace it. All you have to do is type it in and press pound.”

  Lips pursed, I close my eyes. “Let’s see.” So many numbers run through my mind, but I pick the first four numbers I think of. “I got it.” Owen looks away while I plug in the digits. “Bryan knows a lot about me. I can’t use my birthdate because he’ll know it. The numbers I picked are random so there’s no way he’ll guess it.”

  Once the alarm beeps and the screen turns green, Owen focuses back on it. “You’re good to go. If it ever goes off, it’ll alert the police.” He shows me how to turn it on and off.

  “Why do you need an alarm?” Joanne asks, coming up behind us.

  I shrug. “You can never be too careful.”

  She snorts. “Nothing bad ever happens here.” If she only knew.

  “When are they leaving again?” Owen asks under his breath.

  I giggle and whisper back, “Not soon enough.”

  “Good luck. I’m going to head out.” He says his goodbyes to everyone else and hugs me before he leaves.

  While Jake’s parents talk to him, I put away all the groceries Randy sent. From all the meats and vegetables he gave us, I won’t have to go to the store for a month. Joanne pampers Jake a little more and is determined to make her meatloaf for him. I let her take over my kitchen, which kills me because I’ve never let anyone cook in there, other than myself. I know it’ll be a mess when she’s done. I sit beside Jake on the couch, and he puts his arm around me. His father is asleep in the recliner.

  “Just a couple more hours and they’ll be gone,” he says, trying to comfort me.

  I gently rub his side. “Do your bruises not hurt?”

  He shrugs. “Only a little. I’m tough, remember?”

  “You could’ve died, Jake. All of this could’ve been so much worse.”

  Tilting my chin up with his fingers, he kisses me gently. “But it’s not. I’ve never felt more alive. Staying home the next couple of weeks is going to be different though. I mean, I haven’t had that much time off in years.”

  I kiss him again. “It’ll be good for us. I’m looking forward to spending more time with you. You’ve been gone so much lately.”

  His gaze lingers down to my stomach. “Maybe now we can concentrate on making that baby of ours.” My whole body tingles and I lean up to kiss him again, but his mother clears her throat.

  “Dinner’s ready.”

  He kisses me anyway. “We’ll continue that conversation tomorrow, when I’m not doped up on pain meds.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  Thirteen

  Ellie

  Night time scares me more than anything, but it comes and goes without any issues. Having the alarm gives me peace of mind, but if Bryan is an undercover agent, he probably knows how to disarm them.

  “What’s on your mind, cupcake?” Jake asks from the passenger seat. The bandage is off his head now, and I can see the tiny incision where the doctor had to drain his blood.

  Shrugging, I turn down the street toward the bakery. “Nothing, really,” I lie. “I feel bad for dragging you out to the bakery.”

  He rubs a hand up my thigh. “I don’t mind. I like watching you work.”

  “It’s only one cake. I totally forgot about it, until Vikki found the order form. She has it all baked and ready for me. All I have to do is decorate it.”

  “It’s okay, Ellie. I’ll just eat all of your chocolate-covered strawberry truffles.”

  I burst out laughing. “Vikki won’t mind. She’ll be glad to know you love them.”

  By the time we get to the bakery, it’s late morning. Jake and I had slept in and it felt great. We haven’t been able to do that in a long time. Feeling his arms around me when we woke up was the best feeling in the world. It’s something I don’t want to ever take for granted. In the blink of an eye, he could’ve been gone.

  Vikki has everything ready to go when we walk in. Her eyes light up when she sees Jake and she flings her arms around him. “Looking good.”

  He winks at her. “Thanks.
Got any of those chocolate-covered strawberry truffles?”

  She takes his arm and leads him over to the display case. “Tons. They’re all yours.”

  While they talk about anything and everything, I get busy decorating a little girl’s fifth birthday cake. She loves Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony, so the cake is nothing but color. The inside layers are a rainbow of swirls, and the outside is going to match. It’s not very difficult, just time consuming with all the colors.

  When the cake’s done, I help Vikki by making a few batches of giant sugar cookies, so she can put icing on them. Jake even helps, which makes my day even that more fantastic. Out of everything that’s happened, having him in the kitchen at my bakery has been one of the best days of my life. He’s always been too busy to see me in action.

  Saying our goodbyes to Vikki, we head out the back door. I look up at Jake and I can’t help but smile.

  He stops and places his hands on either side of my head, pressing his body against mine. “Why are you grinning like that?”

  I wrap my arms around his waist. “I’m happy you came with me today. It feels like it brought us closer.”

  His gaze saddens. “I know I’ve been working a lot lately. You have to know I’m doing it for our future.”

  Placing a finger over his lips, I nod. “I know. I just wish you knew how much I missed you.”

  He brushes the hair off my face. “Things are going to change when we’re in Arizona, Ellie. I won’t have to travel while we’re there. We can be together every single day. You’ll eventually get tired of me.”

  I shake my head. “Not going to happen.” His lips press against mine and I melt into his arms. However, everything stops when my phone beeps with an incoming text. I freeze, while Jake tenses.

  He slowly steps back, a murderous glare aimed at my purse. “If that’s him, I’m going to lose my shit.”

  Heart pounding out of my chest, I pull out my phone.