Twisted Rock

by Jill Sanders

  He’d be hot one moment, then that evening when he’d come home, he’d be cold.

  She confided in Sawyer that Isaac had told her that he wasn’t impressed with her career choice, but since he made all the “real money,” it didn’t matter to him what she did in life, so long as it was a respectable career and didn’t hinder him in any way.

  When she’d talk to him about it at other times, he’d act as if she wasn’t making sense, and tell her he was incredibly proud of her for her work.

  She’d also shared that she had always felt like she had to be perfect around Isaac. He wanted her to elaborate but was unsure how to approach the topic. After lunch, he decided a short walk through town would be a good way to get some time alone together.

  She’d applied makeup to cover the bruises on her face and wore a knitted stocking hat to cover the bump on her forehead.

  She had wrapped up in a thick jacket, a knitted scarf, gloves, and dark sunglasses, and was wearing her snow boots even though the sun was out and most of the snow was melting.

  He’d removed his own jacket altogether and left it in the car before heading inside to eat lunch. She hadn’t removed hers even during the meal.

  “Are you warm enough?” he asked as they started walking.

  “Yes.” She smiled up at him. “I just don’t want to take a chance. I’m still a little… wobbly.”

  “We could…” He nodded back to the car.

  “No, I’m good. Besides, I wanted to stop in the bookstore for something new.” She nodded to the building at the end of the street.

  Taking her hand, he started walking.

  “You mentioned last night that you felt you had to be perfect around Isaac.” He glanced sideways at her.

  When she stopped walking, he turned and looked at her. She was frowning.

  “I did?”

  He nodded. “You said, and I’m quoting here, ‘I would make sure every piece of hair was in place, my lipstick was perfect, and that I was wearing an outfit I knew he’d like.’ You mentioned Stepford Wives.” He shook his head and she sighed heavily.

  “Yeah. She started walking again and he fell in step with her. “Sometimes I felt like one.”

  “Isaac wasn’t abusive, though?” The question had been burning in his mind all morning long. He’d been so preoccupied by it, he knew Rose had gotten the idea he was upset about something.

  “No.”

  “You do know that abuse is more than throwing punches, right?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said quietly.

  “Did he ever yell at you or tear you down?” he asked, unsure of why he wanted to know.

  “Not really,” she said after a moment. “Sometimes, he liked things to be a certain way. I mean, who doesn’t? Other times…” She shrugged. “He acted like he didn’t care. He’d never been like that before…”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Before he left for college.”

  He stopped her and put his hands on her shoulders. “You know, with me, you only have to be yourself. Always. I don’t expect or want perfection.” He removed her dark sunglasses and she blinked a few times until her eyes adjusted.

  Her left eye was so black now, even the makeup she’d put on earlier couldn’t hide it.

  “I mean it. I’m not perfect, and I would never expect anyone I’m with to be.”

  She nodded slowly. “I’m over that part of my life.” She bit her bottom lip. “I think after realizing everything… Isaac and Kristy.” She sighed. “I’m not… I can’t… That’s the old me.”

  “Good.” He bent down and kissed her softly.

  “Rose?” someone said from behind them. They both turned to see a woman about their age rushing over to them. A small child was clinging to the woman while another was trying desperately to stay next to her.

  “Nikki.” Rose turned, and he felt her entire body stiffen.

  He’d seen the woman around town before and knew that she was married to the manager down at the local bank. Ken. Or was it Kirk?

  “Corey and I were just talking about you,” the woman said, stopping in front of them a little breathless. Nikki’s eyes ran over him quickly and then locked on his hand still holding Rose’s.

  “Oh?” Rose slid on her glasses again and Sawyer could tell she was feeling self-conscious.

  “Yes, I’m sorry we haven’t been by the house to check in on you. You know how it is with kids…” The woman chuckled, and Sawyer narrowed his eyes at her. There were some people you could tell hadn’t meant to offend when they said something that upset someone. Nikki wasn’t one of those. She knew full well her statement would affect Rose and it did. Her body went even more rigid.

  “I’m just fine,” Rose recovered.

  Nikki leaned closer, her eyes narrowing. “We heard about your little fall yesterday. You really ought to be more careful walking down those stone steps. Maybe have them replaced with something a little newer and more practical in this sort of weather.” She shifted the kid on her hip and held the baby closer. “I just don’t know how you do it, living in that old drafty place all by yourself. I mean, there’s something to be said for having a new house built.” The woman’s smile brightened. “We’ve so enjoyed the custom home we had built a few years back.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you have,” Rose said dryly. “I rather enjoy classic things,” she added, but it didn’t matter. Rose could have said anything. Nikki was beyond hearing or caring.

  Nikki’s eyes once again went to him. “I’d heard that you two were… an item?” The last part was meant as a question.

  “Yes,” he answered for Rose.

  “You’re a police officer?” Nikki asked.

  “Yes,” he answered again.

  “Oh, that’s just great. I always said…” Sawyer tuned out when the woman started talking about other couples in town. She went into a string of gossip that kept him and Rose glued to the sidewalk for the next five minutes.

  Finally, when he felt Rose shiver next to him, he wrapped his arm around her and interrupted Nikki. The woman’s own kids looked cold and bored, but that hadn’t been enough to stop her from chatting about everyone else in town.

  “I’m sorry, Rose still hasn’t quite recovered from the attack yesterday. I need to make sure she gets inside someplace warm.” He started to walk.

  “Attack?” Nikki asked.

  He turned back quickly. “Someone hit her over the head with a rifle and tossed her down the stairs, where she lay in the snow for almost two hours until I found her.” He added quickly, “Or didn’t that bit of gossip spread around town yet?”

  Nikki gasped. “Oh my god, I had no clue.” The woman touched Rose’s shoulder. “I had only heard you fell.”

  “I’m okay,” Rose assured her again, but he had turned and started walking towards the bookstore.

  “I hope you feel better,” Nikki called after them.

  “Thanks,” Rose said back.

  “Tell me that’s not one of your close friends,” he said softly.

  “No, she was my arch enemy in school. She wanted Isaac, but I had him.” Rose smiled.

  “At least there was that.” He opened the bookstore door for her.

  A wave of hot air hit them as they stepped in. He’d been in the store plenty of times himself and had met the owners, Debra and Rick, shortly after he’d moved into town.

  “Hi, Sawyer.” Debra waved at him as they walked further into the warmth.

  “Hi, Debra,” he called out.

  “Is that Rose?” Debra blinked a few times. “Is it that cold outside?” The older woman moved around the countertop.

  “No, it’s actually nice and warm,” Rose answered. “I’m just… recovering from a fever.”

  “Oh, I’d heard about your fall.” The woman stopped a foot from them, a frown on her face. “Obviously, the rumors were greatly understated. You look like death.” Then Rose removed the sunglasses and Debra gasped. “Oh, honey.” The older woman closed the gap between
them and took Rose into her arms.

  Sawyer was a little surprised when Rose burst out crying and held onto Debra.

  “There, there, child. You’ve had it bad for a while now.” Debra stroked Rose’s hair and held onto her.

  Sawyer felt useless and wished he was the one holding Rose instead of the bookstore owner. Finally, Rose’s tears slowed down.

  “I’ve known you since you were yay high.” Debra held her hand to her waist. “You come on back here and have a cup of—”

  “Don’t say tea,” Rose added with a groan. “Jenny almost drowned me with it last night.”

  Debra chuckled. “How about some hot cocoa?”

  “Yes.” Rose wiped her face and then looked at him and mouthed. “Sorry.”

  He nodded, then walked over and hugged her. “Go sit down, relax. Enjoy yourself. I’ll get us some books.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What kind of books?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I’m not picky. I love all books equally.” She smiled slightly, then turned and followed Debra to the back room.

  He spent the next fifteen minutes wandering around the bookshelves, looking for something Rose would like. He decided that if it sounded like something he would like, she would as well. After all, they practically had the same taste.

  By the time he set a large pile of books on the counter, Rose was walking out of the back room, a big smile on her face. Her eyes seemed brighter and she was even laughing.

  “He took a deep breath. “Feel better?”

  She nodded and walked over to wrap her arms around him. “Thank you for being patient.”

  “Anytime.” He kissed her and turned as Debra walked out, smiling at them.

  “We should stop by the store on the way home. I need chocolate.” Rose smiled.

  “I could go for some chocolate.” He held onto her tightly as Debra rang up the bill.

  They left the bookstore with two large bags of books weighing him down and walked back to the end of the street.

  They stopped off at the local grocery store and bumped into a few more people they both knew. They quickly filled everyone in on what had happened to Rose and then made their way back home.

  “If it’s alright with you, I have to stop off at my place and pick up a few things,” he said before the turnoff.

  He’d stopped by yesterday, but he hadn’t been cleared for duty yet, so he hadn’t picked up his uniforms.

  “Sure,” she said. She’d been resting her head back and he was pretty sure she was too tired to care either way.

  “Why don’t you rest, I’ll just be a few minutes,” he suggested when they arrived at his place.

  “Sure,” she said again, and she closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat.

  He reached over and touched her forehead. “You’re still a little warm.”

  “That’s funny because I feel cold,” she countered.

  “I pushed you too hard today.” He frowned at her and could see that she was tired. Her eyes were dull, and she was still a little too pale.

  “No, I needed to be out. Thanks.”

  He got out and rushed to gather the items he’d need, making sure to take all three of his uniforms and his service weapon, which the chief had signed back over to him.

  When he walked back out with the duffle bag, Rose was asleep.

  When they got back to her house, he carried her in and laid her gently on the sofa and covered her with the blankets before carrying everything into the house.

  After letting the dogs out and taking a short walk with them, he wandered the big mansion and somehow ended up in Isaac’s office.

  He found himself wondering more about the man who’d won over Rose so unconditionally. Walking around, he frowned at the law books that filled the shelves. Most of them looked like they had never been handled, let alone opened.

  The large wooden desk that sat in the middle of the room screamed of superiority, quality, and wealth with its massive size and ornamental decorations.

  He sat down in the large leather chair and opened the top drawer.

  They had already been through Isaac’s things, removing anything that they believed would serve as evidence, but he was hoping for some insight into the man, not the murder.

  Most of the files in the lower drawer were legal paperwork that, if Sawyer had to be honest, didn’t mean anything to him. Nor did they give him insight into Isaac Clayton or his relationships.

  He found an old photo book in the middle drawer and pulled it out.

  There were pictures of Isaac and Rose. Sawyer leaned back in the chair and scanned through each one, enjoying the ones of Rose when she was a child. Still, seeing her with Isaac, he could tell that the two had been devoted to one another when they were young.

  Then, as the subjects grew older, something in both of their eyes dimmed. He’d seen it many times in relationships. They were working on autopilot. The spark that had once been there was long gone by the time the last picture, which happened to be a wedding picture, was taken.

  The love was still there—there was no doubt about it, seeing the way they looked into each other’s eyes—but something major was missing in Isaac’s eyes and Sawyer could tell that it had nothing to do with Rose, who looked up at the man she’s married with nothing but love.

  Setting the book back in the drawer, he continued through the drawers. When he didn’t find anything further, he stood up and walked over to the window. From here, he could see the basement wall and the new glass door that had been installed. Tilting his head, he thought about the logistics of hiding a man in a cement wall.

  He’d helped remodel a few places himself in his life. Nothing as big as adding a load-bearing cement wall with steel footings and rebar, but he had the basics down and knew what materials were used: rebar, steel beams for support, aluminum studs to hold the extra weight. It wasn’t rocket science, but still, how would someone go about hiding a one-hundred-seventy-pound man?

  RJ Gamet had claimed that when his crew had arrived that morning, the large plywood forms and the plastic coverings were already in place, which would have kept Isaac’s body hidden from view. The only way someone would have been able to spot him was to stand on a tall ladder and use a flashlight to look down between the two plywood forms before the cement had been pumped in to the area.

  RJ had sworn that the outer support hadn’t been in place the night before, since Nat Willis had planned to arrive early the next morning to install the last piece, which was the size of the entire cement wall.

  Someone would have had to push Isaac back on the protruding rebar, which punctured his left lung and sliced his heart, killing him immediately, then install the framework over him, closing him in and allowing the cement to be poured from the top so that the body near the bottom of the wall was hidden completely.

  He could see it all clearly in his head, now that he was looking at the outside wall.

  Was it Willis who had hidden the body? It could account for the large deposit into his bank account. Had the second amount been a payment to attack him? Or had he, like so many others before, gotten greedy and demanded more for his silence? Maybe that was why he’d been killed.

  Then why kill Kristy Owens? If she had been killed, that was, and it wasn’t a suicide like everyone still believed. Something in his gut told him that the woman he’d met hadn’t seemed overly depressed. Then again, he’d only meet her twice.

  Walking back into the library, he pulled out the folder they had put all their notes in and started rearranging the sticky notes.

  They had agreed to keep it a secret, which meant putting it all away after each use. He laid everything out and stared down at the notes for more than an hour.

  He even took to pacing the small library area while he thought about every angle. Ozzy whined to be let out and when he walked towards the door, a thick book caught his eye.

  Here, in the library, the shelves were full of books Rose enjoyed—mystery, fantasy, ro
mance. So why was there a law book sitting on the top shelf?

  Reaching up, he pulled the book down from the shelf over the doorway. The shelf was easy for him to reach, but Rose would have had to stand on a stool or a chair to reach it.

  Setting it on the table, he let the thick book fall open and frowned at what he found inside.

  “What’s that?” Rose asked from the doorway, causing him to jump slightly at her voice.

  Too late, he tried to shut the book and hide the stack of images that someone had hidden inside. But he heard her gasp and knew that, once again, Isaac Clayton had broken her heart.

  Twenty-Seven

  The answer to life, the universe, and everything…

  Rose looked down at the images of Isaac and Kristy with the newborn baby they shared and felt her heart break once more. Seeing the family that they were together, the family she should have had with him, broke her. Tears started filling her eyes, but before they could fall, Sawyer was there, his hand on her shoulder, comforting her. Then something amazing happened. Before the misery of Isaac’s betrayal could consume her completely, she looked into Sawyer’s green eyes full of concern, and it disappeared.

  “Hey.” His soft voice broke into the haze of self-pity that always came when she thought about Isaac and Kristy together. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

  “I am.” She took a deep breath as she felt her world shift to a new center. Him.

  The way Sawyer looked at her, his light touch, the way she knew and trusted him made all the betrayal and deceit in her past seem mundane. She took another deep breath and, this time, when she exhaled, let all the pain leave her body with her breath. She smiled up at him. “You’re not him,” she said clearly.

  “No,” he agreed and smiled back at her. “And you are no longer the Rose you used to be with him.”

  “No, I’m not.” Her chin went up slightly and she leaned up to kiss him.

  “Don’t touch anything,” Sawyer said as he stepped back and pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the chief.” He took a step back and she got a better look at the pile of things on the table.

  “About the pictures? Why would he need to know about them?” It was then that she noticed the note. It was simple, yet to the point.