She and Park were sitting on the sofa, binge-watching Supernatural since he’d missed a lot of TV when he was overseas. Her cell rang. Hailey. Park paused the show for her.
Hailey’s voice was high and fast. “There was another break-in at Ludbury House.”
“Oh shit. What’d they take this time?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid to go look. The police gave me the all clear, but…” Her voice faded out.
“Are you in the car?” Mad asked.
Hailey’s voice came back loud and clear. “Yes. The security system is supposed to be installed next week. Mad, I don’t want to go to work tomorrow.”
“Do you have to?”
“I have three appointments, but I can’t! It’s like the place is haunted or something. I feel all jumpy like someone is just waiting around the corner or hiding in a closet.”
“Remember you’re strong, you’re fierce—”
“I’m not you.”
“You did great in self-defense class.”
“We’ve only had two classes. I’d hardly call myself qualified to face off with an intruder.”
“I’ll go with you tomorrow. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
“Thanks, Mad.”
She hung up to find Park staring at her. “What?”
“What’re you doing for Hailey?”
“Just checking out Hailey’s work with her after someone stole something. The police already gave the all clear.”
His hazel eyes narrowed. “Wherever you’re going, I’m going with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m a black belt.”
“Don’t care.”
“I’ve fended off men twice my size at the bar I used to work at in the city.”
Park blanched. “Geez, Mad, what happened to you? When I left you were an honor student. Then no college—”
“I went back.”
“Why were you working some crap bar where you had to defend yourself?”
She tried to grab the remote, but he held it out of reach. “Answer the question,” he ordered.
“Because of you, okay?”
His head reared back. “Me? But I told you to study hard and stay in school.”
Her throat got tight. Fine. She’d put it all out there. She had absolutely nothing left to lose at this point. “Because I was devastated when you left,” she said quietly. “I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep.” She met his eyes. “You broke my heart.”
His brows scrunched together. “You were fifteen.”
“My heart didn’t care,” she choked out. She dashed at her eyes with a fist. Dammit. She’d told herself she wouldn’t cry over Park anymore.
His arms wrapped around her, his hand cupping her head against his chest. His voice came out low and soothing. “I wish I could redo all that for you. It was like we weren’t ready for each other then. I needed to make a man of myself, to prove I could. You weren’t even technically an adult.”
“And now?”
His hand dropped from her head and he gazed down at her. He cupped her cheek and her breath caught. Was it possible that he could want her after all that he’d seen? That he could look past all that and see her on the inside?
There was a knock at the door. Mad heaved a sigh. “To be continued.”
She crossed to the door and peeked through the glass on the side. Hailey. She flung open the door. “Your timing sucks.”
“I’m sorry,” Hailey said, dashing inside. “I know you didn’t invite me, but I feel so creeped out. I just didn’t want to be alone tonight.” She glanced over to the sofa. “Hi, Park.”
“Hi. You want me to go check things out?”
Hailey wrung her hands together. “Would you?”
He stood.
“No,” Mad said. “You and I will go tomorrow when you need to get to work. You’ll be fine. You said the cops gave you the all clear.”
Hailey gestured to Park. “But he’s so nice and big.”
“I don’t mind,” Park said.
“She’s fine,” Mad said.
Hailey pulled a DVD of The Princess Bride from her purse. “I brought a movie.”
“Isn’t it cheating to watch the movie before the book?” Mad asked.
“I already read the book.”
“Hailey! I’m surprised at you. Weren’t you the one who gave Lauren a hard time for skipping ahead? We’re supposed to read chapter one together.” Hailey was very insistent on the group experiencing the start of a book together. She’d even postponed the book club meeting until next Thursday since Mad had been so sick. She probably could’ve gone, but she hadn’t been sure before today.
Hailey bit her lip. “I need to watch something happy.”
“Oh, fine. Just don’t tell the others.”
“Like I would.” She handed the DVD to Mad, who set it up.
“You want to watch?” Hailey asked Park.
“Sure.”
Mad thought that was awfully sweet of him considering they were right in the middle of Supernatural season two.
The three of them sat on the sofa, watching the movie. Mad sat between Park and Hailey. It was actually a great movie. They all laughed a lot. By the time the credits rolled, it was late.
“Can I stay a little longer?” Hailey asked.
“You can have the couch if you want,” Mad offered.
“Great!” Hailey said brightly. “I’ll just get my overnight bag from the car.”
She rushed out the door to get it.
Park raised a brow at Mad, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
~ ~ ~
The next morning Mad agreed to drive with Hailey to make sure everything was okay at her work. It was early. They’d go in, do the all clear, and Hailey would drive her home. Her friend didn’t want to be alone for one moment, even in the car. She was that freaked out.
Mad ordered Park to stay behind when he tried to follow. “You need to get used to the fact that I’ll still be alive without your help,” Mad told him. “Seriously. This is an important milestone in our relationship.”
“You guys have a relationship now?” Hailey asked.
“Sort of,” Mad said. “He’s still afraid to touch me.”
Park hauled her up against his side. “Who’s afraid?” he asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Lame. But she didn’t push him away.
“You guys are so cute!” Hailey exclaimed.
“Yeah. Cute.” She eyed Park, who stared back at her, a gleam in his eye. “See ya, Park.”
Once in the car, Hailey yammered on a mile a minute the way she did when she was nervous. Mad wasn’t nervous at all. First of all, the robber would have to be an idiot to make an appearance in broad daylight. Second, he or she probably just needed someplace warm to spend the night.
Hailey parked in back, still babbling on about who knew what. Mad tuned her out as all of her stilled, focused on the task at hand.
Mad made a shushing gesture. “Be cool,” she told Hailey.
“Should we sneak in the back or go through the front door?” Hailey whispered.
“Good idea. Let’s sneak in the back. That way if someone’s there, we can surprise them. Get out your cell phone to take a picture.”
Hailey’s hand went to her throat. “You really think the robber is in there?”
“No, but I hope so. I want to catch him or her in the act.”
“Wait. First let’s check the perimeter.”
Mad rolled her eyes but followed Hailey around the entire mansion. Everything seemed to be locked up tight. Hailey always made sure of it.
They got to the side of the house and stopped dead in their tracks where a curtain blew gently through an open window.
Chapter Sixteen
“Maybe we should call the police,” Hailey whispered.
Mad shook her head. She went up on tiptoe, lifted the curtain, and peeked inside. It was the dining room off the kitchen with only a table and chairs in the center of the room. She turned to Hailey. “I think th
ey just left in a hurry last night and forgot to shut it.”
“Wouldn’t the police shut it?”
“Maybe it wasn’t obvious. I mean, it was dark.”
Hailey shivered. “I’m getting a bad feeling.”
“You want to go back to your car and call the police?”
Hailey nodded.
“Go ahead. I’m going in.” She put her hand out. “Give me the key.”
“Mad, I can’t leave you alone in there!”
“Then come with me.”
They snuck around to the back door. Hailey unlocked it and they slowly stepped inside. Hailey reached for the light switch, but Mad stopped her. If there was someone there, she wanted the element of surprise. They tiptoed over to the dark dining room with the open window.
Empty.
Mad went over to shut the window and locked it. She pulled out her cell, set the flashlight app, and peered around the dim space. Nothing.
“We’ll go room to room and see what’s missing,” Mad said, flicking on the overhead light.
They did a tour of the downstairs—nothing was out of place—and finished in Hailey’s office.
“My laptop’s missing,” Hailey fretted.
Mad relaxed. “That’s actually more normal than stealing candlesticks. You have a backup of all your important work stuff?”
“Of course. I print everything important and leave the duplicates at my place. Never screw up a bride’s special day. My calendar synchs to my phone.”
“Okay, we’ll report that to the police and the insurance should cover it. Let’s check upstairs.”
They toured the mostly empty rooms, opening closets at Hailey’s insistence, finding everything untouched.
“See?” Mad said. “Completely normal. Now you can report the missing laptop and go back to being your happy wedding planner self.”
Hailey gave her a small sheepish smile. “I guess my imagination got the better of me. Thanks for putting up with me last night and today.”
“No problem.”
Hailey went downstairs to her office, where she called to report the missing laptop. Mad wandered back to the kitchen, curious if the fridge was emptied. She opened the refrigerator door and a large hand covered her mouth from behind. She immediately bit that hand, elbowed backward, and twisted out of the hold.
It was a man with long stringy brown hair and a trench coat.
“We already called the cops,” Mad said.
He grabbed a blender off the counter and threw it at her, hurrying toward the back door. She kicked his feet out from under him, and he hit the floor, immediately twisting to grab her ankle.
She went down, hitting her head on the side of the stainless steel prep table. She saw stars for a moment. Her vision cleared. The man held a pocketknife, not huge, maybe a three-inch blade, but the crazy gleam in his eyes had her scrambling to her feet.
“Back off!” she hollered at the top of her lungs so Hailey would hear.
He lunged forward and she sidestepped him easily. She whirled, maneuvering around the prep table to the stove. She grabbed an iron skillet off the stove and felt her cargo shorts snag tight by her left knee. She glanced down to see he’d thrown the knife, which stuck out of the huge side pocket of her shorts. Thanks for handing over your weapon. She dropped the skillet on the stove within reach, twisted and bent to yank out the knife when the man rushed her. Off-balance from her position, her head and shoulder took the impact, slamming to the floor. Light exploded behind her eyelids and then everything went black.
~ ~ ~
Park drove to Ludbury House in Mad’s car, checking up on her even though she told him not to. He didn’t care that she was a black belt. She was a petite thing still recovering from a serious bout of food poisoning. Call him overprotective or paranoid, he didn’t care just as long as she was safe.
He was on Main Street, about a block away, when a gut-deep sense that she was in trouble had him hitting the accelerator. Adrenaline surged through him as he got closer. By the time he pulled into the back parking lot, every part of him was on high alert. He leaped out of the car and raced to the back door. Through the glass he took in a nightmare scene—Mad’s body sprawled on the floor, a gleaming knife next to her, and a large man going through her pockets. Raw anguished fury sent him bursting through the door, barreling toward the man, who looked up in surprise before he backed away. Park leaped over Mad, knocked the guy to the ground, leapt on top of him and pummeled him with his fists in a red haze of rage.
Someone was calling him, someone far away, but he couldn’t stop.
“Park!” the voice rang out, reaching him clear as day. Mad. She was alive.
The haze cleared. He looked down. The guy had a bloody nose but was conscious.
The man spat in his face. “You’re ugly and you’ll burn in hell.”
“Shut up,” Park snapped, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the floor. The man slumped unconscious. Park quickly got off him, kicked the knife away, and rushed to where Mad was now sitting up. He wiped his face with his sleeve. “Where are you hurt? Are you bleeding?”
She got to her feet, wincing. “I hit my head, but otherwise I’m fine.”
He crushed her to him, nearly collapsing with relief. His heart thumped a glorious halleluiah. Alive. Alive. Alive.
A bloodcurdling scream snapped him back to reality. He whirled to face the threat, tucking Mad behind him. But it was just Hailey screaming at the top of her lungs, staring at the unconscious man on the floor.
“Call nine-one-one,” he told her.
She nodded in a jerky fashion, pulled out her cell, and dialed.
“Stay here,” he told Mad.
“Park—” Mad started.
“We’ll talk later.” He stood next to the man, wishing he had some way to restrain him until the cops arrived.
“Now what?” Hailey asked in a high-pitched voice. “What if he comes to?”
“You have any rope?” he asked.
Her brows scrunched together in concentration before she said excitedly, “I used twisty red rope to tie the greenery to the front banister!” She raced to get it.
A few minutes later, Hailey returned with several hanks of rope, all of them too short to tie the guy’s wrists together. He glanced at the guy. Still out cold. “Any leftover rope longer than this?”
She smacked her forehead. “Duh. It’s in the back storage closet.” She headed out the other side of the kitchen and returned with it. He rolled the guy to his stomach and tied his wrists behind him.
Chief O’Hare and his deputy came, slapped some handcuffs on the man, and talked to them while the guy was still unconscious. Hailey promised to follow them to the station for a full report. They hauled him away.
Finally his worst nightmare was over. He walked Mad back to her car in silence. She thanked him, but he couldn’t even speak. Now that the danger had passed and he knew she was okay, the full force of what just happened hit him in a wave of nauseating anguish. He could’ve lost her. Gone forever. Gone, gone, gone. Like his baby sister.
He sat in the driver’s side, silent and still, staring out the front window, not really seeing anything.
She put a hand on his arm and squeezed. “You want me to drive?”
He slowly turned to her, reaching out with one shaking hand to stroke her cheek. She covered his hand and pressed it against her cheek.
“I’m okay,” she said.
His voice came out hoarse. “How can you take chances like that, Mad? You’re a little thing just getting over being sick. Don’t you care what happens to you?”
“I thought Hailey was overreacting. How was I supposed to know? The cops gave the all clear.”
He took a long shaky breath. “How do you expect us to have a future together when you take chances like this?”
Her eyes widened. “A future?”
“Yes!”
“You mean you’re not just taking care of me because I’m that little twerp you a
lways have to look out for?”
“No.” He cupped her face with both hands. “Don’t ever do that to me again. Not alone. I’m your backup. You got that?”
“Yes.”
He gripped her shoulders, the pure anguish in his heart pouring out in a rush of words. “I can’t bear it if anything happened to you.”
“Park, it’s okay. I’m okay.”
He needed to hold her, to feel her safe and sound. He shifted the seat back and hauled her into his lap, tucking her sideways against him. She rested her head against his chest. “I know this sounds crazy, but I’ve always had a tight connection with you. I knew you were in trouble before I saw it. And then…” He swallowed hard. “My baby sister died and there was nothing I could do about it.”
She lifted her head. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“Her name was Maya and she didn’t live to see her first birthday.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I guess your dad didn’t want to burden you with my fucked-up home life.”
“What happened?”
He stroked her hair absently, his memories somehow more bearable with her in his arms. “They said it was crib death, but I always suspected it was neglect. You know about my parents, both of them addicts. Different poisons, same crappy results. I was in school by then, kindergarten. I guess I was lucky to have school when my parents got worse. Anyway I came home and the police were there asking questions. And she was just gone.” His hand stilled. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Five years later, I’m living with your dad and there’s this loud sassy little girl. I put everything I had into keeping you alive, like I couldn’t do for my little sister.”
She stroked his cheek, looking up at him. “Is that why you always treated me so nice when all the guys told me to scram?”
Inviting Trouble (Happy Endings Book Club, Book 2) Page 17