Two hands grab me from my back and before I know it, I’m thrown to the ground, my face cracking against the hardwood floors. My gun scatters across the floor and underneath the first of two couches. I flip over onto my back just in time to launch a kick against my attacker’s stomach. He fumbles backwards, loses his footing, and falls down onto the loveseat.
I jump to my feet and ready my fists just as he forces himself back to his feet. He rushes towards me, but I’m too quick for him. As he’s charging me, I spin away from him and hook one arm around his neck before throwing him to the floor. His back lands with a crack and an audible groan is thrown from his throat.
From behind me, Ella screams and it steals all of my attention. I rush forward, jump onto the couch and then jump off the back of it. I land on the man’s back and am able to throw him off of her. He rolls against the oversized windows and then shuffles himself to his feet.
Ella scoots herself backwards along the floor and away from her attacker. I stand in between her and him, serving as her literal bodyguard as I ready my fists for battle. He lunges forward and throws a fist, but I duck out of the way. He overshoots and dives right onto the floor in front of Ella.
“Not so fast,” I grunt out, dropping to grab him by the throat and then dragging him backwards. His feet kick against the floor as I hold him firmly in place. My eyes search the room for the other man, and I notice the front door swinging.
Damn coward. “Your friend left you,” I say, taunting the man as I tighten my grip on his throat. The ultimate goal is to knock him out so that when he wakes up, I can get answers from him.
A security alarm begins to blare, piercing straight through my ears. I cock my head to search for where the noise is coming from. I only have my head turned for a good second, but it’s enough for the man to make his move. He proves to be more flexible than I could have calculated and manages to land a kick squarely against my face from a sitting position.
I drop backwards, loosening my grip on his throat just enough for him to be able to scuttle away. As I force myself to my feet, I notice Ella giving chase to the man. She follows him out the doorway and out onto the grass. I scream for her, “Ella, stop!”
But I’m not sure she can hear me over the screaming security alarm. I grind my teeth as I finally climb back to my feet. I race out of the house, down the steps, and down the sidewalk. At the end of the street, Ella takes a sharp turn and disappears out of my sight and around a house. I push myself to run faster, but by the time I reach the end of the road, I race around the corner and see her still running in the near distance.
Without thinking twice, I continue chasing her all the while realizing I’ve lost track of both men and they could be anywhere right now. I come to a standstill just behind Ella as she comes to a stop too and twists around to face me. Her white pajamas are contrasted against the night sky. She locks her eyes with me and swallows a gulp. I scan the area with my eyes as I approach her.
A dog barks from behind a closed-in fence nearby.
She’s breathing heavy, her chest heaving. She drags one palm through her hair and then holds it firmly against her forehead. “He’s gone.” She fights to catch her breath and then whispers, “I tried to catch him, but he’s gone.”
I want to comfort her. I want to make this all go away, but this situation is quickly spiraling out of control, and if I’m going to keep her safe, then I need some concrete answers and I need them now. “What the hell is going on?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” She answers my question with a question, and I’m stunned at the nerve she must possess to try and turn this around on me.
“You literally are crazy.” I take a step back and point at her squarely with one finger. “How the hell am I supposed to know that when you don’t even know?”
“Stop pretending!” she screams, her lips trembling out of fear or frustration or a potent combination of both. “Stop pretending that you’re not getting the same type of mysterious phone calls and texts!”
My blood runs cold. I cock my head, perplexed. “How do you know that?”
She bats her eyes away first and then meets me again. “Because I can see it written all over your face. You have some kind of interest in this case that extends beyond the want or need to protect a perfect stranger.”
“I don’t buy that,” I say lowly, out of breath, but I’m too distracted to continue by my phone ringing in my pocket.
I continue to make total eye contact with her, as I reach for my phone and answer it. It’s Marcus.
“Yeah?”
“Okay Luke, I got answers, but I don’t think you want to hear them.”
“About what?” I question, all the while continuing to fight to catch my breath. My chest heaves with each forced exhale.
“It’s about the letters.”
My eyes zero in on Ella, as I realize that I’m probably about to find out something about her that’s going to change everything I think about her. “Just tell me what the hell you know.”
“I was able to piece together four sets of fingerprints…”
“And?”
“They were yours, a girl named Kara Jean—”
“Yeah,” I nod, “that’s Ella’s best friend.”
“Ella Gold wasn’t a match,” he says and then pauses. “But there’s an Ella Stone.”
I nod again and shelve that piece of knowledge for later. “Who else?”
“I don’t know if you’re ready to hear this…”
“Just answer the damn question,” I seethe, running out of patience and with a low tolerance for bullshit. “And tell me now.”
“It’s Dom…”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LUKE
I had to leave Ella behind, although I still had a lot of questions for her. Most notably, why she changed her name from Ella Stone to Ella Gold. I’m sure there’s a simple answer there, or maybe I just want that to be the case so I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Either way, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
After finding out that Dom had met with Mason Cartwright before Taylor’s abduction, I began to question everything I thought I knew about the man I look up to so much. Finding out that his fingerprints are on the letters that Ella has been receiving is just another strike against him, and I can’t wait any longer to confront him.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. But you’ll never fool me again. That’s the attitude I’m carrying with me as I march up the sidewalk leading to Dominic’s front porch. I rush up the three steps and push my finger against his doorbell once, and then hold it for a good three seconds for emphasis.
When I hear footsteps clattering down the stairs from inside, I push my finger against the button once more. Again, for emphasis.
Dom rips the door open and then drops down into somewhat of a sulk. He’s wearing a tee shirt and underwear and looks like he’s just been dragged out of a dead sleep with his eyes barely open.
“What are you doing at my house at three in the morning?” he questions groggily, wiping away sleep from his eyes. “This better be damn important, King.”
“Do you really want to have this conversation on this porch?” I question, but don’t wait for a response before I’m pushing past him into the foyer. Of the five of us boys, he by far has the nicest accommodations. A fancy house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. I’m pretty sure he’s the only single person without kids living in the entire neighborhood.
He shuts the door with a thud and twists to face me with his arms crossed over each other. “I’m really going to have to start re-evaluating my relationships with the four of you,” he says with a hint of snark, but by the flat expression on my face, he should know I’m not here to play games. “You look terrible, by the way. Would you like some ice for that busted face?”
I hold my hand up between us, cautioning for him to slow down on the jokes. I’m prepared to speak, but my throat is dry and coarse. This isn’t easy for me,
but I’ve reached a boiling point and I need answers. First, I see that footage of him talking to Mason Cartwright in the factory a day before Summer Smart’s sister is kidnapped and now this?
I don’t want to drag this out with him because I admire him and respect him, and whatever he’s done, he’s still one of my best friends on top of being my boss. “How do you know Ella Gold?”
“Who?” he questions, as he takes a step back towards the steps that lead to the second floor. “The name doesn’t ring a bell.” And just like that, he turns his back to me and begins to ascend up the steps, leaving me to hang high and dry.
If he thinks I’m satisfied with his bullshit of an answer and I’m just going to walk back out that front door, then he’s mistaken.
“Stop lying to me,” I scream at him and then immediately recoil as he turns to stare me down from the top of the landing. “Just tell me the truth,” I say softly, almost as low as a whisper, like I’m begging him for the truth or something. Or even worse, pleading with him because we used to be best friends and ever since I saw him on those tapes talking to Mason Cartwright, I’ve been slipping away from him. He steps carefully down the first few steps and takes a seat. “Tell me how you know Ella Gold because I need to understand. She’s in some serious danger, and I don’t know how to help her.”
“Her name’s not Ella Gold.” He pinches at the bridge of his nose and shakes his head with a sigh. He’s clearly not supposed to be divulging this information.
“Yeah, Marcus said there’s no real record of her before she finished college.” I don’t tell him everything I know—don’t tell him that I know her real name or that I know his fingerprints were found on the letters.
“No, there wouldn’t be.” He folds his hands between his legs. “Ella Gold is a figment of a young girl’s imagination. A girl who was always dreaming of a different life. A girl who used to be so fragile and timid, who became somebody else because that’s who she was expected to be. Only, she didn’t like that version of herself, and the only way she could escape her own anxieties was to change her last name.” He nods and purses his lips, can’t help but to smile just slightly. “She went to school with my sister, back when she was still Ella Stone. They were very close friends for a while.”
“Were you both just going to keep this from me?”
“I doubt if she even knows who I am, or remembers. Besides, it’s a secret that’s better left buried.” He places a hand on each of his knees and rises to stand. He’s towering over me again from his perch at the top of the stairs. He’s about to retire from this conversation and I still don’t have the answers I need. “There are people out there looking for her.”
“Why?”
He shifts his eyes to the side, sighs, and then shifts his attention back to me. “Since you’re so close with her now, maybe that’s a question you should ask her.” He nods once more before turning to clear the last few steps. Once he’s on the landing again, he says to me, “Lock the door on your way out.”
Then, he disappears around a corner, and as I’m standing at the base of the stairs, I hear him slam his bedroom door shut behind him. I turn and drop down onto the first step. It’s an awful feeling knowing your best friend is keeping secrets from you, especially when you’re supposed to be in an equal partnership. The fact that he was able to withhold this information from me makes me second guess everything.
I need to go back to Ella’s place, but I’m hesitant in doing so. I’ve got one more piece of information on her and it should make things easier, but it doesn’t. People don’t just change their names for nothing. It’s all the more clear to me now that she’s running from her past, and it’s finally catching up with her.
She knows the truth about who’s coming after her, but she’s too afraid to admit it. I don’t know how to begin to drag that information out of her, but I’m going to have to try. For now though, I think I just need some time to myself to assess my own feelings in the matter. I need to assess what’s worth fighting for and what’s worth sacrificing. Right now, I’m not sure of anything.
I see my way out and hold my hand against the doorknob before finally pulling it closed. I can’t bring myself to ask Dom why his fingerprints were on the letters and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I know he wouldn’t give me a straight answer, or maybe it’s because I still want to hold onto some imaginative image of who I think he is.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s easier to dig my head deep in the sand.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ELLA
I woke up in the early afternoon feeling alone, which is weird because even though I prefer to be alone, I never actually feel alone. But when Luke didn’t come back last night after he took me back to my home, it made me feel alone. It made me feel disappointed, as if I had done something wrong, but most of all, I didn’t sleep because I didn’t feel safe without his presence.
I tossed and turned all night until I just resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, and then, as soon as the sun rose, I rang up Kara to talk to her, hoping that by the time I hung up that Luke will have returned.
I’m still waiting and I’m still talking to Kara while sitting on the couch, curled up underneath a thin, fleece blanket. My eyes are sore from staying awake so long, and I’m running on next to empty when it comes to my energy levels.
“I’m just glad you have someone watching over you,” Kara says and sighs. “I know I came off as overprotective the other day, but if I were in your shoes, I’d be scared shitless.” She laughs, and it’s contagious. I let out the first laugh I’ve had in twenty-four hours.
“To be honest,” I begin, “I was scared, but you know me.”
“Oh boy, do I.” She chuckles again. “It’s okay to not have everything in order at all times. It’s okay to be vulnerable. God knows I’ve been there. Just make sure you’re as open and honest as you can be with this guy, because he can’t protect you if you’re not.”
I exhale sharply, so loud that she can hear me through the phone.
“You weren’t honest, were you?” she questions with an exasperated sigh.
“Not in so many words…”
“Ella!” she scolds me in her best motherly voice. “You didn’t tell him about your past, did you?”
“He’s found out a little on his own, but I haven’t been upfront. Again, you know me. It’s not easy for me to talk about.” I push my tongue against the inside of my cheek. “After I fired him—”
“You fired him!?” she shrieks. “Girl—!”
“I’ll get to that part, but yeah, after he came to visit me, I received a warning through texts to not involve anyone else, so I fired him. And then, I decided to take matter into my own hands, so I went downtown to try and secure a gun from David Matheson…”
I’m just waiting for her to judge me.
“Have you lost your damn mind?” I can practically see the scowl written into her face. “He was worst mistake you ever made.”
“Yeah, I know and it’s not like he’s changed. He’s still the same old shady David he’s always been.” I push the fleece blanket off me and rise to my feet as I hear a car zipping by outside. I pull the curtains sideways and take a peak outside to see a delivery truck turning around the corner. “Anyways, that situation ended with Luke kicking David’s ass.”
“Well, that I can get behind. He’s had one of those coming for as long as I can remember, and trust me, I have an extensive memory.” She pauses, shifts the conversation. “But tell me more about this Luke.”
“Well, like I said, I fired him, but he’s back again. Or at least, he was back last night until I was attacked in my home, and then he left again and he hasn’t returned. I’m just worried that the more he learns about me, the less likely it will be that he’s going to stick around.”
“What are we talking about here, Ella? What do you mean, stick around? Like, you want him to stick around for the long haul?”
“No.” I shake my hea
d, though she clearly can’t see me. It’s more about convincing myself otherwise. “I mean stick around long enough to see this out. At first, I thought it could be nothing, but after I was attacked, I realized that I can’t deny the truth anymore, and the truth is that there’s someone from my past after me. I just wish I could figure out whom.”
“You’ll need to talk to him about that,” she drops her voice. “But for right now, I just want to know all the sordid details about this Luke King. Is he as sexy as I’ve built him up to be in my imagination?”
I let out a heavy sigh and find myself drifting back down onto the couch and switch the phone from one ear to the other. “He’s tall, dark, and handsome,” I begin, dropping my head slightly to the side as I get lost in the memory of him. “He’s strong and cocky, a little bit of a smartass too, but he’s smart and perceptive.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… Enough about the boring stuff. What about his body?”
I laugh again, for the second time in the span of only a few minutes. After last night, I thought I’d never laugh again, but I’m instantly reminded why Kara is the only person I still talk to from my past. “He’s got this body of a Greek god with strong arms and an even stronger chest. When he was sleeping right behind me—”
She lets out an audible gasp. “When…”
“It was nothing sexual. He literally just lay with me as I fell asleep. It was the only way I could force myself to sleep.”
“Girl, you’re playing with fire and I’m so damn excited.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not the one who’s going to get burned to the ground…”
“Don’t say that.”
“Well, what do you want me to—?”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Each pound against the door is harder than the one before and my heart begins to race and then begins to pound. I jump to my feet and pull back the curtains once more to see Luke standing on my porch dressed in dark jeans and a white tee.
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