by L. G. Davis
“From my body,” I can’t help adding.
“Give her back.” She gets to her feet and crosses the room so fast it takes me by complete surprise. She yanks the sleeping baby from my arms. It’s hard to breathe when I see the gun so close to my child. What if it goes off by mistake?
I do my best to hold it together until she turns her back to me. As soon as she bends to put the baby back in the crib, I press a small, red button on the baby monitor, then bring my hands to the armrests, pushing myself to my feet. “Tracey, how do you sleep at night knowing you murdered Dylan Baxter?”
She spins around, her mouth twisted in a way that makes my skin crawl. “He deserved to die. And I sleep just fine; thank you for asking. Now, move.”
That’s all I needed from her. Now it’s time for the next stage of my plan.
The gun is pressed against my temple as we leave the room. I want to glance back, to take a look at my baby in case it’s for the last time. I’m about to do something that could lead to my death or my freedom.
Outside the door, Tracey moves back behind me. I keep walking. As soon as we reach the stairs, I stop and lean against the wall, facing the opening of the staircase.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? I said move.”
“I need a break. I’m tired ... in pain.” I allow my head to loll to the side.
“Do you think I care? Start walking.”
“No.” I plant both hands on her chest, shut my eyes, and use every ounce of energy I have to shove her away from me, in the direction of the stairs. A loud gunshot rings as she stumbles backward, eyes wide with shock.
To my horror, she catches her fall by grabbing onto the railings just in time, letting go of the gun which slides across the floor.
Everything happens fast after that. One moment I’m watching her trying to regain her balance, and the next, she lunges for me so fast I don’t get time to shield myself from her attack. Her body slams into mine with such force the wind is knocked from my lungs and pain like I’ve never known before explodes in my entire body.
Groaning, I slide down the wall to the floor and fall to my side. My lungs scream for more oxygen, my vision blurs. I can’t move. Through my swimming vision, I notice the gun only a few inches away from me.
Tracey is towering over me now, her face red and sweaty.
“That was a big mistake,” she drawls. “I told you I don’t handle betrayal well. Since you betrayed me, there will be a change of plans. It’s over.” She swings back her leg. Before I can protect my middle, her foot comes crashing into me.
I don’t even scream this time, too numb with pain. I feel myself slipping away, falling into oblivion, but an image of my daughter flashes across my mind.
I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out.
“What? Is there something you want to tell me before you die?” She lowers her gaze to the floor. I know what she’s searching for.
No, I’m not ready to die. I won’t let her get away with this. I can’t let her take my life. I can’t let her steal my baby. It has to end here.
I have no idea where I get the energy, but the next thing I know, my arm swings away from my body and my hands clamp around the handgun before she retrieves it.
I don’t waste time. I don’t give in to my fears or the pain. The last thought on my mind before I close my eyes and pull the trigger is that of my baby sleeping in her crib, waiting for me to rescue her. I hear rather than see Tracey stumble back.
I try to open my eyes again, but my eyelids are too heavy.
Then the light inside my head switches itself off.
CHAPTER 48
I open my eyes only to shut them again immediately. I give it another try, taking my time so they can adjust to the bright lighting.
Gazing up at a white ceiling, I wait for the pain to attack me. It doesn’t come. The only sensation I feel from the waist down is total numbness.
I turn my head to one side. My eyes fill with tears when I notice an empty bed on the other side of the room. I’m in the hospital. I’m alive. It’s really over. Relief sweeps through me, but panic follows at its heels.
“My ... baby.” The words are hard to push through my tight throat.
“Thank God you’re awake,” a male voice comes from the other side of me. “The baby is fine. She’s perfect.”
I turn my head to see Jared, his face as crumpled as his shirt, sitting in the chair next to my bed.
More tears come when he leans in to brush my hair back from my face. He kisses away my tears before they trickle down the side of my face. Then he moves his lips to mine. As I sink into the comfort of his love, I pray I’m not dreaming. This feels way too real to be a dream. “Our daughter is beautiful.” He plants more kisses on my forehead, my chin, and my cheeks.
“She’s really okay?” My lips tremble with a smile.
“More than okay.” He brings his face closer to mine. His mint-tinted breath is warm against my skin. “You’re both safe now.”
“Where is she?” I turn to look at the other side again in case I missed the bassinet.
“She’s at the nursery. You don’t have to worry. She’s in great hands.”
I chew a corner of my lip. “She’s yours, Jared. You are the father.”
“I know.” He slides his gaze from mine, then leans back in the chair. “I saw the test results back at the house.”
“You—” My stomach clenches. “What happened to your arm?” A sling is supporting his left arm. I had been so focused on the baby’s safety I didn’t notice it at first.
“She shot me.” He exhales sharply.
I blanch. “Who shot you?”
“That Tracey something woman. But I don’t want to talk about her now.”
“Tracey shot you? How? When?”
“I came back home, Caitlin. I returned to you and the baby.”
“Why?” I cringe inwardly as I remember his rejection, the way he had walked out on me. “Why did you come back?”
“Ralph ... He called me. He told me everything you told him.” He lifts my hand from the top of the covers. “He told me that someone was trying to hurt you. That’s why I came back. I wanted to protect you. And I listened to your message that you were leaving town. I couldn’t let you go. Leaving you was a mistake.”
“But ...” I cough, choking on my tears.
“When I arrived at the house, the door was opened by the doctor who was filling in for Dr. Collins.” His Adam’s apple lifts then drops as he swallows hard. “At first I was relieved someone was there with you. She congratulated me on being a father, then out of the blue she shot me in the arm.”
How did I not hear anything? Actually, I did hear a gunshot. I thought it was from my nightmare.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” I push down the lump stuck in my throat. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“Not as much as you got hurt, baby.” His voice is thick with worry.
I press my lips together. “She wasn’t a real gynecologist. She pretended to be one in order to get to me. She manipulated the paternity test results. I’m so sorry, Jared, for everything.”
“No, I’m sorry. I was a complete jerk.” He drags a palm down his cheek. “If I had believed you, you wouldn’t have been hurt by that monster. I would have been there to protect you. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost you.”
“What happened after she shot you?”
“She hit me over the head with something to knock me out. When I came to, I was locked in the basement.”
“You were there, the entire time ... inside the house?”
He nods. “Good thing we keep the first aid kit down there. It saved my life. But it drove me nuts knowing that monster was around you.”
“Did she say anything else to you?”
“Before she knocked me out, she said she was going to kill you and take our baby. I tried to get out of the basement, but that door is tough. No matter what I threw at it, it wouldn’t budge. And I d
idn’t have my phone.”
It all makes sense now. The sounds I heard when I was upstairs with Tracey must have come from him trying to get out of the basement. And there I thought it was Tracey’s accomplice.
“Jared, I should have told you everything from the start. I wasn’t honest with you for years.”
“You know what? I’m just glad you’re alive. That’s the most important thing to me right now.” He tightens his fingers around my hand. “We can deal with everything else later. We’re in this together.”
“There’s so much you don’t know, Jared.” I take a breath. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I really thought I killed—”
“Your first husband? I know.”
“I should have told you I was married before.”
“I get why you didn’t. But now that Ralph told me everything, let’s focus on your recovery, okay?”
“I didn’t kill Dylan ... That was his name. All these years I worried that I did, but I was set up.”
“I know that, sweetheart. If you had told me, I would never have believed you killed someone. You’re the most loving person I know.” He pauses, shaking his head slowly. “And the way you cared for your brother after everything he did to you is unbelievable.”
“I couldn’t turn my back on him. He was my blood.” Jared and Ralph must have talked for a long time for Jared to already know everything I didn’t have the guts to tell him. In a way, it’s a relief that I don’t have to.
“What you did for your brother makes me love you even more.” He lets go of my hand and rubs his temple. “It drives me crazy to think she could have killed you.”
“I shot her, Jared. I had to, or she would have killed me.” I suppress a shudder. “I ran away from a murder I didn’t commit only to end up being a real killer, even if it was in self-defense.”
“Sweetheart, she’s not dead.”
I stare at Jared, baffled. “That can’t be. I shot her, then she fell down the stairs. She must be—”
“You must have missed. The cops found her at the bottom of the stairs, unconscious. She must have fallen and hit her head.”
My fingers touch my parted lips. “But I shot her before I fell unconscious.”
I close my eyes, thinking back to what had happened. I see myself pull the trigger, but my eyes were closed. I didn’t get a chance to see if I actually hit Tracey. Maybe in her attempt to dodge the bullet, she went tumbling down the stairs.
“You didn’t kill her.”
I open my eyes. “Who called the cops?”
“Ruth. Apparently, she heard a gunshot.” Jared’s face tightens. “I did, too. I thought ... I thought she shot you.” He shifts in his chair. “Look, babe, you went through hell. Get some rest. We can talk about it later.”
“No. I want to know everything.”
Jared’s shoulders rise and fall. “Ruth called the cops, but it turns out that she was actually involved in helping Tracey torture you. So were a few other people. They’re all in police custody as we speak.” He runs a hand across his mouth. “You should have told me someone was stalking you. That’s why you changed the locks, am I right? I had a feeling something wasn’t right.”
I nod. “I couldn’t tell you without revealing who I really was.” I pause. “Was Lilliana one of the people who helped her?”
He nods. I’m tempted to ask why he never told me they dated, but after going through hell, Lilliana no longer bothers me. “Yes. She gave Tracey our spare key. I think Tracey paid them all. The press is saying she comes from a very wealthy family.”
“I still find it hard to believe Ruth was involved. I don’t want to. When I was about to leave town, she came over. She was nice again. She made me tea.”
“I think she was paid to keep an eye on you. So, she pretended to like you. She confessed to the cops that she came over to our house to stop you from leaving town.”
“Why did she hate me so much? I don’t get it. I understand why Lilliana didn’t like me, but not Ruth.”
Jared scratches his beard. “Apparently, before we moved to Faypine, she was desperately trying to buy the cottage ... our cottage. We outbid her.”
I’m quiet for a long time. “Wow. I guess she didn’t want to accept that her friend wasn’t coming back.”
“I guess not. But that doesn’t excuse what she did to you. That Tracey woman is dangerous.”
“She’s demented. She said our baby was hers. She tried to breastfeed our child.”
“That’s sick.” Jared frowns. “Why would she think that?”
In a few words, I fill in the holes for Jared, telling him everything Tracey had told me during our time together. “She blames me for the loss of her baby.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”
Before we can continue the conversation, a nurse with a braid around her head walks into the room. Her smile brightens when she sees me. “Look who’s awake. Let’s see how you’re doing.” She moves to my other side to check my vitals. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired.” It’s the truth. I feel as if I ran a marathon.
“You just need a lot of rest. You should be fine. You are lucky to be alive after the amount of blood you lost.”
“Why can’t I feel my legs?”
“Don’t worry, you will. It takes a while for the anesthesia to wear off.” She plumps my pillow. “Your incision had opened up quite a bit. You needed surgery.”
“Am I fine now? It won’t open again?”
“You’re fine. You just need to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. Take all the time you need to heal. Get as much rest as possible.”
I place my hand on my belly. “I will.”
“How long will she be here?” Jared asks.
“As long as it takes for her to heal and get her strength back.”
Once the nurse walks out of the room, after telling Jared to leave soon so I can rest, I return to the topic of Tracey.
“I can’t believe she’s still alive?”
“Yeah,” Jared says. “Unfortunately she survived the fall down the stairs with only a minor head injury. She’s being treated here.”
“In this hospital? You’re kidding.” My hands grab the sheets. My shock yields to fury. “How could they? How could they bring her here? What if she steals or harms the baby?”
“There’s a guard at both the door of the nursery and in front of Tracey’s room. As soon as she’s released, she will be placed under arrest.”
“Please, Jared, don’t let her come near our baby.”
“I’ll never let that happen. I promise. I won’t let you down again.”
“You don’t understand. She’s dangerous, and she’s very sick. You should take the baby home immediately.”
“They want to keep the baby here overnight for observation. As soon as they release her, hopefully tomorrow, I’ll take her home. Since I only have one arm at my disposal, I’ve arranged to have someone help me out for a while.” He pauses. “You keep calling her baby. Didn’t you give her a name?”
“Too much was going on for me to come up with the right name. I wanted to be clear and happy when I chose one.”
“How about now? Should we come up with one? I’d like to call her something.”
I think for only a moment before deciding. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to call her Hope.” She was the reason I didn’t give in until the end. She was the reason I didn’t let the pain destroy me. She gave me the strength to fight Tracey. And she’s giving me a reason to start a new life. Hope would be perfect for her.
“I love it.” Jared kisses me on the lips. “Hope Lester. It has a nice ring to it.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you,” a deep, dusty voice comes from the door.
A uniformed police officer with a full, well-trimmed beard is standing in the doorway. “I’m Officer Ted Nash. Glad to see you’re awake, Mrs. Lester. May I ask you a few questions?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea
, officer.” Jared gets to his feet. “My wife needs to rest.”
“I fully understand, but I won’t be long.” He steps closer to the room.
My gaze meets Jared’s. “It’s okay, honey. Go and check up on Hope.”
“Okay,” Jared says and approaches the door. He turns to look back at me. “I’ll be right back.”
After Jared leaves, Officer Nash takes the seat Jared had occupied. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.” Sudden panic grips me. What if he’s here for me? What if they don’t know that Tracey killed Dylan? What if I’m still a suspect? But Jared hadn’t given me the impression that I was in trouble.
“Why are you here, officer?” I ask.
The officer removes his cap and scratches the bald patch on his head. “What name do you want me to call you?” he asks, and my blood runs cold.
“You know who I am?” Why did I even ask that question? I’m pretty sure the whole town knows everything about me by now.
“Yes. But I need to know what name to call you during our conversation.” A corner of his mouth quirks up. “I prefer first names.”
“Caitlin. Call me Caitlin.” I square my shoulders. “If you’re here to arrest me, you should know that I’m innocent. I did not kill my first husband.”
“Caitlin, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Tracey Pikes confessed to everything.”
My mouth drops open. “She did?”
“Yes. And your baby monitor helped as well. Smart move.” He pulls his cap back on his head.
I feel my body sag into the mattress from relief. “So, what is it you want to talk to me about?”
He pulls out a notebook from the front pocket of his shirt. “Tell me everything that happened since Tracey showed up in your life.”
“Okay.” Determined to do whatever it takes for them to lock her up for good, I close my eyes and launch into one of the most painful times of my life.
When I’m done, his beefy hand pats mine. “That will be all for now. Get your rest. You deserve it. If I come up with more questions, I’ll be back.”
“What will happen to her?”
“I’m pretty certain she’ll be locked away for a long time. You never have to fear for your life or that of your family again. I’ll keep you updated.”