Under The Moon's Shadow

by T. L. Haddix

  As Chase passed Jason and Hannah, Jason gave a low whistle. “Hope you don’t get thrown out of the snooty lawyers club for having that shiner, bro.” He fell into step behind his brother, winking at Hannah and Paulo as they went past. Paulo giggled, and Chase smiled at the sound, then turned to see Jason behind him.

  He started up the stairs. “Why’re you following me?”

  “Shirts, Chase. I’m getting you guys some clean t-shirts, remember?” Jason responded. “Besides, I’m hungry, and I know how you are about your clothes. If I leave you up here by yourself, you’ll take forever.”

  “Keep talking, brother. You aren’t too big for me to kick your butt.”

  Jason snickered. “Yeah, I’m real scared.”

  Chase stopped on the landing and let Jason come alongside him. He leaned in so the others couldn’t hear and spoke.

  “You’re just jealous because you don’t have any wounds for Hannah to attend to. If you want, I can bloody your nose so you can get some sympathy.”

  Jason’s face flushed and he frowned. He looked Chase up and down. “You know, it isn’t too late to add a few more bumps to your bruises.” Scowling, he headed into his old room to get the promised shirts. When he heard Chase’s hearty laughter, he didn’t bother hiding his pleasure. “About time,” he said under his breath. It was nice to get his brothers back, both of them.

  Chapter Sixty Two

  Beth led Ethan into her parents’ bathroom and closed the door. She leaned up against it, and closed her eyes, her heart racing. Now that the confrontation was over, she didn’t know what to say.

  Ethan stripped off the ruined t-shirt and dropped it to the floor. He approached her slowly, his sock feet making his steps quiet on the tile. As she opened her eyes and looked at him, he stopped.

  “Are you angry with me? You haven’t said a word since we came back in.”

  She shook her head, pressing her lips together as she looked over his torso and saw the bruises and scrapes.

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  When she started to answer, there was a knock on the door, and Jason’s voice came through. “I’ve got a shirt for you.”

  Ethan nudged Beth gently to the side and opened the door wide enough to accept the shirt. “Thanks. When you go down, could you let everyone know that we’ll be a few minutes and to not wait for us?”

  Jason raised his eyebrows. “Okay, but you’re taking your life into your own hands. You’re the one who’ll have to face Mom.”

  “I’ll risk it. Thanks.” He closed the door and turned around, laying the clean shirt on the counter. He watched quietly as Beth got the first aid kit out and opened it. She got everything she would need ready before she turned toward him.

  “Go ahead and wash up. I’ll wait outside.”

  As she moved to walk past him, Ethan stopped her with a hand at her waist. “You don’t have to go.” She looked away from him, and he whispered her name. He gently tipped her chin up so that he could see her eyes. When she finally met his gaze, he saw that she was fighting tears.

  “Honey, what’s wrong? Please, tell me so that I can fix it.”

  Beth shook her head wildly. The tears overflowed and slid down her cheeks. As he saw her despair, Ethan felt his heart stop and he grew cold all over. Certain that his fight with Chase had used up his last chance with Beth, he let his hands slid away from her and took a step backward.

  “So this is it?”

  She shook her head and walked to the door and spoke without looking at him. “I can’t do this right now, Ethan. I just can’t talk to you right now. I’m too - too ... I have to go.” She hurried through the door and left him standing there, at a complete loss as to what to do next. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the shirt off the sink and hurried after her, tugging it on as he went downstairs.

  “Beth, wait!”

  As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard exclamations coming from the dining room and headed that way just in time to see Beth hurry out through the door to the kitchen, Chase hot on her heels. The family turned to look at him with shocked expressions. Ethan ignored them and edged around the table, intent on following her. He heard several chairs being pushed back as he went into the kitchen, but didn’t let that stop him.

  Exiting the French doors, he stopped on the patio, stunned to see Chase standing there with blood streaming down his face. The door to the guest house slammed just as everyone else came through the door behind Ethan.

  Jackie took the situation in with a glance, and sent Jason back inside for the first aid kit while she went for ice and towels. Richard hurried over to examine Chase, who was holding his hands over his nose.

  “What happened upstairs?” He shot Ethan a stern frown as he guided Chase to one of the patio chairs and eased him down into it.

  “I don’t know.” Ethan was completely baffled. “She was upset and wouldn’t talk to me. She just ran out the door.”

  Sampson spoke up, his hand on Paulo’s shoulder. “This young man and I are going to go inside and finish our dinners.”

  Hannah shot him a grateful smile. “I’ll go talk to Beth.” She headed around the pool to the guest house as Jackie came back outside, Jason not far behind her.

  “What’d you say to her, Chase?” Jason asked as he put the first aid kit down.

  Chase sent him a glare. “Why do you think I said anything to her?” His voice was muffled as his mother eased Richard aside and wiped the blood off his face.

  “Gee, I don’t know - because you’ve done nothing but tick her off since she’s been back, maybe?” Jason drawled. Jackie shot him a chastising look as she rinsed the towel out in the bowl she’d brought. She wrung it out and wiped the last of the blood from Chase’s face. Stepping back, she let Richard back in to check the damage.

  Chase held his hand up to stop his father for a moment and spoke. “All I asked was if she was okay. Next thing I know, I’m seeing stars and she’s yelling at me.”

  “Why’d she yell at you?” Jackie asked.

  “Apparently she’s mad because I hurt Ethan.” He looked toward his friend and shook his head, looking just as baffled as Ethan felt. “Was she angry with you?”

  Richard stepped in and turned Chase’s face toward him. He gently checked the area around Chase’s nose.

  “She wouldn’t say anything to me one way or another,” Ethan confessed.

  Jackie glanced over and saw that his cuts still needed to be tended. She ordered him into a chair beside Chase and sent Jason inside to fetch a clean bowl of water and more ice. As she examined Ethan’s hands, Richard finished his examination of Chase’s nose. He wiped his hands on one of the towels before he looked over Ethan’s injuries. He gave Ethan the all clear, and squeezed his shoulder before he turned back to Chase.

  “Well, I don’t know why your sister hit you, or why she’s not speaking to Ethan, but I’ll tell you this. The girl’s got a damned strong right hook.” As he turned to take the bowl of water Jason had brought out for Ethan, he looked at his oldest son, not quite able to hide a glimmer of amusement. “You’re going to have two black eyes, and as hard I imagine Ethan must have tried to avoid it when you were fighting, I’m not sure your sister didn’t just break your nose.”

  Chapter Sixty Three

  By Thursday, Beth had calmed down enough to feel guilty about hitting Chase, and she called him that morning to ask him out for lunch. He agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly, and they decided to meet at the paper. When he arrived to pick her up, she was waiting for him on the sidewalk. As she got into his car, she turned to look at him, unable to see behind the dark sunglasses he was wearing.

  “How bad is it?”

  With a very put-upon sounding sigh, he removed the glasses. She winced as she took in the two rather spectacular black eyes her brother was sporting.

  “Surely I didn’t do that...” Her voice trailed off as he glowered at her before putting the shades back on.

  “Where are you taking me for lunch?
It’d better be good, because you owe me for this.” He pointed at his face.

  “How about the Brown Bag? I’ll even buy you a whole cheesecake and you can take it home.”

  He grunted as he made the turns around the square. “A whole cheesecake? I don’t have to share?” He parked on the street in front of the café, and Beth shook her head.

  “Not even with your cat, if you don’t want. Who, by the way, I told you would be a permanent addition, if you remember.”

  Chase just sent her a look as a rueful smile crossed his lips. “So you did.”

  The week after Beth had been shot, a half-drowned, nearly grown kitten had shown up at Chase’s condo. Chase had tried to find him a good home, but the kitten’s quirky behavior had made him a less-than-desirable adoptee. Even though he wasn’t a cat person, Chase had ended up adding Murphy to the family permanently, something Beth had predicted from the moment she’d learned Chase had named him.

  They went inside and stood in line to place their orders. By the time they made it up to the counter, Chase had her laughing hysterically with the tales he was telling her about Murphy and his antics.

  “You’re making that up,” Beth accused as she struggled to contain her laughter. Chase did his best to ignore her as Lauren waited to take their orders.

  “Are you some big celebrity attorney this week, Chase Hudson?” she teased, a reference to his sunglasses. He pulled them off and tucked the earpiece into his shirt pocket.

  Lauren whistled when she saw the black eyes. “Ethan sure can hit hard, no doubt about it.” Her eyes twinkled as Chase shook his head at Beth.

  “You had to tell her about it, didn’t you?”

  Beth apologized and tried to look innocent. “She is my best friend. It’s kind of the code that I tell her about certain things.”

  As he leaned against the counter, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else was in line behind them. “I guess Annie knows, too?”

  Lauren snickered, and Beth hung her head to hide her grin. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about what Annie thinks. We might start believing you have a crush on her or something,” Lauren said. As he turned his scowl on her, she burst out laughing and covered her mouth with her hands. She tried to stop, but the harder she tried, the more she laughed.

  Chase turned to glare down at Beth, who was struggling with her own laughter. “You’d better make it two cheesecakes.”

  Lauren finally calmed down enough to take their orders, and as she was totaling it up, she glanced up to see Jason standing on the sidewalk outside the café, talking on his cell phone. “Hey, are you guys missing a member of your party?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Beth said as she and Chase turned to see who Lauren was pointing at. As they watched, he hurried inside, a somber expression on his face.

  Beth knew immediately it wasn’t a social visit. “Oh, no, something’s wrong.” She straightened as Jason reached them and didn’t take her eyes from his face.

  “Ethan’s been hurt. He’s at the hospital. I don’t know how seriously he’s hurt, just that he was brought in about twenty minutes ago by another deputy.”

  As his words sank in, she felt her knees give way. Chase caught her and slid his arm around her waist for support, but she quickly recovered.

  “I have to go.” She looked at Jason to make sure he understood. “Take me to him.”

  He grabbed her hand and turned toward the door. Chase started to reach into his pocket for his wallet, but Lauren waved him on.

  “Just go. Don’t worry about this.” He shot her a grateful glance and hurried after his siblings.

  Reaching the door, he told Jason, “I’ll follow you in my car.”

  Jason quickly changed directions with a curse. “I walked over here from the courthouse to get lunch.” He ushered Beth out the door after Chase. “We’ll ride with you.”

  As Chase drove, all Beth could think about was that the last time she had seen Ethan, she had hurt him. Although it was less than a five-minute drive to the hospital from the Brown Bag, she was terrified that they wouldn’t be in time, and that Ethan would die not knowing how she really felt or why she had acted the way she had Sunday.

  Pulling the car up alongside the emergency room doors, Chase let Jason and Beth out, then quickly pulled away to go find a parking spot. Jason grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the doors, but she slammed to a stop as a paralyzing wave of anxiety swept over her body.

  “Come on, sis.” Jason turned to see why she had stopped. When he saw her pallor and the fine sweat that had broken out on her face, he took a deep breath and forced himself to slow down, presenting a calm front to Beth. She was relieved to see he understood. The whole family was familiar with the symptoms of a panic attack, as they’d seen Jackie suffer with them from time to time.

  Placing his hands on Beth’s shoulders, Jason spoke in a low, soothing voice, and encouraged her to take some slow, deep breaths. When he saw Chase approaching out of the corner of his eye, he nodded toward the hospital.

  “Head on in, see if you can find out anything?” Chase hurried inside, and Jason focused on Beth again. She could feel that some of the color had returned to her face, but she was still in the grip of the adrenaline rush that accompanied one of the debilitating attacks.

  “Can you talk to me?” She shook her head and swallowed as frustrated tears sprung into her eyes. “Okay, it’s okay.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms lightly. “Let’s go sit down on that bench over there, okay?” He nodded toward a bench about twenty feet away from the emergency room entrance.

  Beth nodded and held out her right hand. He clasped it and held on tightly as they walked to the bench and sat down. She hunched over and wrapped her free arm around her stomach, and he watched as she struggled for control. As the attack finally eased, she released a shuddering sigh and loosened her grip on his hand. She sat back and wiped at her face.

  “Are you okay now?”

  She nodded, unable to stop more tears from falling. “Yes. I’m sorry. I just can’t go in there, Jason. What if he’s dead?”

  “He isn’t,” Chase said as he walked up to the bench. “He’s hurt, some pretty serious cuts from what Wyatt says, but he’s not in any immediate danger.”

  The relief left Beth lightheaded. “What happened?”

  Chase held his hands up and shrugged. “Wyatt said Ethan went out to look at something one of the other deputies had called in about, and apparently he got knocked over by a big dog. He landed on some broken glass and got sliced pretty badly. The deputy brought him in.”

  “Did the dog attack him?” Beth asked.

  “Not sure, but apparently Ethan’s pretty good and ticked off. Are you going in there, or are you going to sit out here all day?”

  Beth looked down at her hands and ignored Chase’s question. “Has anyone called his mother?”

  Chase moved to sit on Beth’s other side. “Stella’s in there with him now.”

  Jason stood up, and squeezed her shoulder. “I’m going to go talk to Wyatt. I’ll be back out as soon as I can.”

  For a couple minutes after he left, Beth and Chase just sat there and watched the flow of traffic and people. When she started talking, he had to lean closer to hear what she was saying.

  “I had a panic attack, Chase. I couldn’t go in.” She didn’t look at her brother. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “I froze, just like I did the other day in the bathroom.”

  He sat back as everything from the other day suddenly made sense. “Is that why you couldn’t talk to Ethan? Because you were having a panic attack?”

  She tugged at a loose thread on the knee of her slacks as she spoke. “Seeing him all bloody and bruised, I just - I don’t know. It petrified me. All I wanted to do was help him, comfort him, and I just froze. I had to get out of there. When you tried to stop me, all that panic turned into anger, and I hit you. I’m sorry, by the way.”

  Chase placed his hand on top of hers and gave it a gen
tle squeeze. “Forget it ever happened. I know I have.” He made his eyebrows jump as she looked up at him, and she laughed for a second.

  “I’ll bet you remember it every time you look in the mirror,” she scolded. He grimaced, unable to disagree.

  Her levity disappeared. “I need to go in there. I want to. I just know that he’s going to be mad over what happened Sunday, and hurt, and I don’t know what to say to him. What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

  A wistful expression crossed her brother’s face. “I don’t think there is much danger of that being the case. The man loves you. Go to him.”

  After a moment, she stood and straightened her shoulders. “Let’s go then.”

  Not waiting to see if Chase was following her, she headed toward the doors. As she stepped inside, the doors that led into the emergency department itself opened and Stella came out. Her eyes lit up as they saw Beth.

  “I’ll wait in here.” Chase ducked into the waiting room, giving them privacy.

  “Thank God.” Stella hurried over to Beth and took her hands. “Sweetie, I’m so glad you made it inside. Please tell me you can come back and see Ethan. He’s as grumpy as an old bear, and if you don’t come back there soon, the doctors and nurses may very well bludgeon him with a bedpan.”

  “Are you sure he wants to see me? We didn’t exactly part on the best of terms, last time we saw each other.”

  Stella reached out and smoothed a stray lock of hair away from Beth’s face. “I’m absolutely positive he wants to see you. He may not say that exactly, but I can tell he’s terrified that you won’t want to see him. I don’t know what happened between you two, but he’s certain you’ve written him off. It’s made him unbearable, and they can’t do anything to treat him. Your brothers both told him you were here, but I don’t think he believes them.”

  “Okay, then. Lead me to him.”

  Stella gave her a brilliant smile and turned to wave at the clerk who controlled the button that opened the door. As it swung open, Beth could see Wyatt and Jason standing outside one of the rooms. The sheriff had a huge frown on his face, and as he saw Beth hurry inside with Stella, his frown cleared up.