Tom Rutherford stood in the front row, staring at her.
Jennifer stood frozen, and everything around her seemed to move in slow motion. Tom raised a gun and aimed it straight at her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jake jumping over his drums and he shoved her to the ground as the gun went off.
Chaos ensued. The crowd yelled and scrambled to get out of the theatre. The security detail rushed to Tom and wrestled the gun away from him.
“Are you hurt, Jennifer?” She heard Jake’s voice in her ear as she felt the full weight of his body on top of her.
“I think so, my arm,” Jennifer moaned weakly. She looked at the sleeve of her dress and saw blood covering her arm. It was stinging like someone had hit her with a rubber band.
“Stay with me, Jenn.” Jake looked up and yelled, “Call an ambulance.”
“Already did. Is she okay?” Vincent yelled back.
“Looks like he put a bullet in her arm,” Jake answered as he gazed down at Jennifer.
* * * *
The ambulance came and took Jennifer to the Hobbs General Hospital. Jake followed behind in Jenn’s car. The band members stayed to pack up the instruments and then went to the hospital to see how Jennifer was doing.
Jake paced back and forth in the waiting room then was finally allowed into her room. The doctor was still in the room when he entered. “How is she?” Jake asked.
“She’ll be fine. The bullet went through her arm, missing the bone but tearing some of the muscle. We cleaned the wound, stitched it up, and bandaged it.”
After the doctor left the room, Jennifer looked at Jake, visibly upset and crying. “I knew it, Jake. I knew he’d come. What am I going to do now? What are we going to do?” She laid her head on his chest and sobbed as he put his arms around her.
“We’ll go home and talk this out and decide what to do. Right now, he’s in police custody and they won’t be releasing him any time soon,” he reassured her quietly.
They kept Jennifer at the hospital overnight for observation, and Jake was allowed to stay with her. They gave her a sedative to calm her down and help her go to sleep. Jake held her until she finally drifted off to sleep.
He went out in the hallway for a few minutes to call his sister. He explained everything that had happened that night and asked her to bring a set of clean clothes for Jennifer. He didn’t want her to have to put the bloodied dress back on when she left the hospital.
He went back into her room and sat in the chair. He looked at Jennifer’s drug-induced, sleeping form. If it wasn’t for Jennifer lying there hurt, he would have beaten Tom to a pulp. He didn’t know what he would have done if she had died. As he watched her chest rise and fall, he knew exactly what he wanted. Whatever Jenn wanted, was fine with him. If she wanted marriage and a family then that was what he wanted too.
At peace with everything now, he drifted off to sleep.
* * * *
Early the next morning the doctor told Jennifer she could go home. Anna showed up with some clean clothing and Jake left to go talk to Joe.
“Jenn, I’m so sorry about what happened,” Anna said. She helped Jennifer put on a shirt and a pair of jeans then helped her tie her gym shoes.
“Jake thinks Tom won’t bother me anymore, but look at how he’s found me again. Anna, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Jennifer began to cry.
“You’ll be fine, Jennifer. Jake won’t let anything happen to you,” she said reassuringly.
Anna just kept hugging her, listening, and talking to her.
“He saved my life. He jumped over the drums and pushed me aside so that the bullet just grazed my arm. I don’t know if I’d be alive now if he hadn’t done that. Oh, Anna. I’m just so tired of all this.” Tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
“I bet you are.” Anna hugged her.
Jake returned, and when they left the hospital, he took Jennifer back to his house. She sat down on the couch and Jake brought in some ice tea for them to drink.
“According to Joe, what this man did was first degree attempted murder. In New Mexico, that’s punishable by up to nine years in prison. Joe thinks they may also be able to tack on more charges because of his years of stalking you. He has to talk to the DA, but he’ll let us know something later this morning. If the guy confesses and agrees not to go to trial, it’s all over and you won’t be bothered anymore. But if he pleads not guilty and goes to trial, then you’ll probably have to testify against him. But don’t worry, you’d have a lot of folks there to support you because we all saw what he did.”
Jennifer listened to Jake explain the details while she sat in the corner of the couch, with her left arm up over the back, twilling her hair. “I hope I don’t have to testify, Jake. I’m so tired from all of this.”
“I know you are, honey. I hope you don’t have to testify either.” He reached over and stroked her hair, then grabbed her hand and held it.
“Jake, if you hadn’t been there, if you hadn’t shoved me out of the way, that bullet might have hit my heart and it would’ve been all over for me.” Tears began to fall.
“No matter what happens, I’ll always be here for you, Jenn. We’re inseparable,” he vowed solemnly as he stared into her eyes. “Honey, when I see you with another man, I get crazy insane with jealousy. I can’t help it. I love you and want you with me. That’s why I got drunk that night, and that’s why I got angry in the dressing room at the White Eagle. I’ve known ever since we first got together, all those years ago, that we were meant to be together. My problem is that I’ve always been afraid of marriage. I was afraid I’d have a marriage like my parents had. I don’t want that. My parents fought all the time until my father ended up killing my mother. My fear of that kind of marriage has kept me from asking you to marry me. But then my sister pointed out that we didn’t have the kind of a relationship my parents had, so my fears were unfounded. Also, my pride stood in the way. I just couldn’t bring myself to leave with you when you signed that recording contract. I couldn’t let you be the breadwinner. But I didn’t want to hold you back. You needed to get out in the world and take advantage of your singing talent. I knew you wouldn’t have left if I’d asked you to stay. My pride kept us separated for five long years. But after what happened last night I decided that I want you in my life any way you’ll have me. Jenn, honey, I don’t know if now is the right time to do so, but I guess I’m just going to have to come out and ask you something. I’m rambling, damn it.” He let out a sigh. “Jenn, will you marry me?”
Jennifer didn’t know if she had heard him correctly. She sat there staring at him for a few minutes, not saying anything.
Eventually he said, “I’m sorry, honey. Maybe this is too much for you to take in right now.”
Jennifer tried to take in everything Jake had just told her. “Are you really sure about this? I don’t want you to marry me out of fear or because you have to in order to keep me here.”
“No, Jenn. I want you. I want you as my wife, and I want to have a family with you. So, what do you think?”
Jennifer threw her good arm around Jake’s neck. “Oh yes, Jake. I love you more than anything! I want to be with you the rest of my life, and raise a family with you.” Jennifer’s eyes began to fill with tears again.
“Why are you crying, love?” Jake asked as he wiped a tear from her eye.
“These are tears of joy. You’ve made me a very happy woman today, despite the almost tragic situation we had last night.”
Jake leaned over and kissed her.
* * * *
Joe came over to Jake’s house about mid-morning to talk about the situation with Tom Rutherford and what the DA had to say about it. Jake let him in and offered him a cup of coffee. As he gave the Joe the coffee, he and Jennifer sat down at the table with him.
“First off, Jennifer, the attempt on your life yesterday is the second attempt that Rutherford has made to take a life. I interrogated him last night and got him riled up to the point where he s
lipped and admitted that he had attempted to kill you, Jake. He was surprised to find that you were still alive.”
“Really?” Jake looked stunned. “How did he know me?”
“I don’t know yet. He clammed up after that outburst and said he wouldn’t say anything more until he talked to Jennifer.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Jake snorted.
Joe waved his hand and said, “Hold on, Jake. He said he would answer all my questions and make his confession in Jennifer’s presence He seemed adamant about wanting Jennifer there before he’d say anything else. He’ll be on the other side of the window, and we’ll be recording the conversation as well. If we can get his confession, and get him to agree to plead guilty and let the sentencing be handed out by the judge, it means no trial and no one has to testify. The other thing is this—once he let it slip that he shot you, we tested the bullet he fired yesterday at Jennifer with the bullet from your wound and they match. So, rather than facing one count of attempted murder, he’s facing two counts. That will probably net him at least eighteen years in prison.”
* * * *
After talking to Jake and Joe, Jennifer decided she would talk to Tom Rutherford and see if she could get him to confess what he’d done. That afternoon Jennifer and Jake went to the sheriff’s department to face Tom, hopefully, for the last time. Even though Jennifer knew there would be extra security and Jake would be with her, she still felt nervous. She couldn’t believe that Tom had shot Jake and almost caused him to die. She felt horrified by it even though Jake did all he could to reassure her that everything would be okay.
“Jake, I don’t even know how he knew you. I never talked to anyone about you and me. My relationship with you was a very private affair. How could he possibly know about you?” she asked.
“You can ask him, Jenn. See if he responds to your questions.”
The sheriff, district attorney, two deputies, a public defender for Tom, Jake and Jennifer all sat on one side of the glass window as two deputies brought Tom Rutherford in. They sat him down on the other side of the window, cuffing his hands to the bar alongside the window, and turned on the tape recorder.
“Hello, Jennifer. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. Where have you been all this time?” Tom asked.
“It’s not really any concern of yours, Tom. Tell me how you knew about Jake and why you shot him,” she spat out icily.
The district attorney then spoke. “Tom, you agreed that if Jennifer was present, you’d talk about what you’d done. She’s here now, and we’re ready to proceed.”
“I didn’t expect that she’d bring her lover with her,” Tom grumbled.
“Well, you’ll just have to put up with that. We want answers and you agreed to provide them,” the district attorney stated emphatically.
“Tom, I want to know how you knew about Jake and why you shot him,” Jennifer repeated while trying to maintain her cool.
“I knew you were pining for someone in the band called White Sands, but I couldn’t figure out who. I would follow you sometimes when you stopped in the casino in Jarillo to listen to the band. When you dropped out of sight, I became frantic trying to find you, and I broke into your house in New Hampshire to see if there was anything there that would indicate where you went. While I was there, I broke open the safe to see if I could find something about your whereabouts, and instead I found some love songs that he’d apparently written for you and I saw an article you kept about White Sands and their debut, along with a clipping of his hair. I got angry as I thought about the possibility that you’d slept with him, and I decided that he had to be eliminated.”
“Explain to us how you tried to do this,” demanded the district attorney.
“I bought a gun in New Hampshire and drove to Jarillo in a car rental. When I got here, I asked around about White Sands and where they were playing. People were very friendly and gave me all the information I needed. I went to the casino and asked someone listening to the band which one was Jake Ackerson, and they pointed him out to me. I went outside and waited by the side door, thinking the band would come out that way. It seemed like a long time before they did exit. In fact, I went back in to see what the holdup was or what they were doing. It was about three in the morning. I saw them dismantling their instruments and getting ready to take them to the truck. I went back outside and waited. I hid behind a tree and bush area. He…” Tom pointed at Jake. “…came out by himself, and I thought I had a good shot at his heart. I aimed the gun, fired, and he fell immediately. Then I left the area as fast as I could.”
“Now explain what you did and what happened that led up to last night’s shooting,” the district attorney said.
“What Jennifer doesn’t realize is that I read the stars and the zodiac. The zodiac says that she and I are meant to be together forever. She was unwilling to accept that, I guess, and kept running from me and calling the cops. She told everyone I was stalking her and threatening her. All I was trying to do was show her that I love her. Two years ago, she disappeared. I couldn’t find her. I’ve never had problems locating anyone before, but I just couldn’t find her. No one would tell me anything. I broke into her New Hampshire home to try and find out information about her. There was nothing there except the information about Jake. I went and took care of him, and then I waited and waited for her to return or to show up somewhere. A few weeks ago, rumors started up about her being in Jarillo. I came here to find out if they were true. When I got here, I saw it was true, and started following her. She kept going back and forth between that ranch house and his house, and was apparently singing in his band. Many nights, I saw them in bed, having sex.”
Tom paused and swallowed, then continued.
“I checked with the zodiac signs, and my sign said that Jennifer had betrayed me by sleeping with this man Jake, who surprisingly was still alive. It told me that she should also die now. And then I could die too, and be with her in eternity, or at least, be relieved from her betrayal. I decided that we would both die. I’d shoot her and then turned the gun on myself.” Tom looked at Jennifer, his eyes burning from unshed tears. “You see, Jennifer. I would never have hurt you, not in a million years. You became a part of me, my companion. I longed for you.”
Jennifer pointed her finger at Tom and scolded him angrily, “You deliberately set out to harm me! You stalked me, looked into my windows, followed me around with a gun, and broke into my home. There’s nothing you’ve done that was anything in the least loving, or protecting, or caring about me. You made up your mind that if you couldn’t have me, no one was going to have me. You know what, Tom? No one owns another human being. You certainly didn’t own me then, and you don’t own me now. I will give you one chance to prove you love me. Don’t force me to testify against you and relive all the bad memories. If you’ll do that, then I’ll believe you might actually care a little about me. Plead guilty to the attempted murders and do your time in prison. Either way, I’m glad that you’re finally caught and will never stalk me again.” She turned to the district attorney and asked, “Is there anything else you need here from me?”
The district attorney shook his head. “I think we have everything we need. Thank you, Jennifer, for coming down for this meeting.”
Jennifer and Jake stood up, walked out of the sheriff’s department, and headed toward his truck.
“You came to the casino to see me?” Jake asked.
“Yes.” Jennifer looked up at him and smiled.
“Why didn’t you ever come up and talk to me?” he asked, looking at her with curiosity.
“Probably the same reason you never came to see me.”
“We have a lot of loving to make up for.” Jake reached over and took her hand.
“Yes, we do.”
Jake leaned down and kissed her. “It starts now.”
About Constance Bretes
Constance Bretes is an author of contemporary romance and suspense. Her romance books are often set in different
parts of the country, but her favorite site is Montana.
She’s married to her best friend and resides in Michigan with him and a houseful of cats.
When she’s not at her regular 8 to 5 job, she can be found writing, researching, and spending time with her husband.
Constance’s Website:
www.conniebretes.weebly.com
Reader eMail:
[email protected]
Love Songs Page 12