I hear something that sounds like a combination of a sob and a restrained scream. It feels a lot like one of my dreams—everything is telling me to run except now, in reality, there is one thing pulling me forward. Sam.
I put my hand on the doorknob, unsure if it’s locked. It turns. The moment I step into the house, I can smell the metallic scent of blood.
"You should have stayed at the hotel.”
It feels like my own blood freezes in my veins. I could never forget Francis’s voice and it sounds like prison only made it more cold and callous.
I force myself to keep moving forward because I know it can’t be his blood that I smell. He would not be calm if he were bleeding that much blood.
There’s no lights on in the kitchen, but I can discern Sam lying on the floor, a dark pool of blood around him. There’s an array of measuring cups around his body, some partly filled with blood.
“Francis…” I say, trying to find the right words to get Sam and me out of there alive. If he is still alive…I’m praying that Francis wouldn’t still be here if he was dead.
“I was going to call you,” he says. “I’ve been working for Steve Rolf—his apprentice, you might say—and convince you to meet me here because your lover wanted us all to meet together. When you came, I would have had him in pieces…I suppose I should have called sooner before he blacked out, so you could watch, but I got lost in the moment. It doesn’t matter. Now that you’re here you can tell me what pieces of your lover you want. Maybe I can wrap it in a bow for you and we can call it an anniversary gift.”
He wipes some sweat off his brow with his right hand. It leaves a streak of blood on his forehead.
“Francis, don’t do this,” I say. “You kill a medical examiner and you’ll have every police force in Virginia coming after you.”
He shrugs. “You think I care about prison? I thrived there. I met people just like me who were screwed by people just like you. You used to tell me that if I believed I could do something, I would be able to do it. And now I have you here, so I suppose you were right.”
“You’re right,” I say, trying to appease him. “I was wrong. I should have seen how much you cared. I should have cared for you in the same way. You’re the one I should have been with.”
“You’re lying.” He hisses. “You’re a manipulative bitch and you deserve everything that’s happening right now.”
I take a step forward, trying to get closer to Sam, but I slip on a pool of blood. In the dark kitchen, lit only by fading outdoor light, Francis must mistake my movement for a lunge because he dives at me, knife ready. I instinctively roll out of the way and the knife slams against the floor tiles. I grab one of the heavy wooden kitchen stools that are used at the kitchen island. Without thinking, I thrust it in Francis’s direction. It knocks him down. As I scramble to my feet, he’s already on his knees. I grab the stool and hit him again. He stumbles backward, but grabs onto the stool’s legs. He yanks it out of my grasp. He swings it at my legs, but I manage to step out of the way.
I haul myself on top of the kitchen island as he tries to hit me again. When I see his eyes glint in the dimming light, I pick up a Mexican-pottery fruit bowl and throw it at him.
He ducks and I drop to the other side of the kitchen island. I grab a knife from the block. Once again, it's a desperation move, but this time, fear isn’t controlling me. I know that Sam is closer to losing his life with every drop of blood that seeps out of him. I know I need to end this now to save him.
“Really?” Francis sneers. “Haven’t we been through this act before? You know how it ended last time…but this time, I won’t leave you alive. Your mommy isn’t here to save you this time.”
“I don’t need anyone to save me…and I’m leaving with Sam alive. You asked me what part of him I wanted. I want all of him. Every bit of him. Intact. I love him. I’m going to marry him.”
He growls, a sound more feral than any animal could emit, and launches himself at me.
He’s right. We have been through this act before, but I am not the same woman.
His hand reaches up, preparing to grab my arm so I can’t use the knife. I drop the knife back onto the counter. Confusion clouds his eyes and his footsteps falter. With my other hand, I hit him as hard as I can, aiming for his eye.
He stumbles back, clutching the right side of his face.
“You bitch,” he snarls, but I’m already picking the knife back up. I thrust it into his throat. He makes a gurgling noise and stumbles into the kitchen island. I jerk the knife from his body. Blood gushes out. His knees buckle and he falls to the floor.
I rush over to Sam. I grab his wrist, wrapping my fingers around it to find a pulse. I don’t feel anything. I feel the warmth of tears in my eyes when Sam stirs, his eyes flickering open.
“You’re doing it wrong,” he mumbles.
“Sam. Oh, thank God. Wait, I’m going to call 9-1-1.”
I grab his phone and dial 9-1-1. I glance around the kitchen, still a bundle of nerves. Either we’re going to need to sell another house or we’re going to need a massive amount of bleach.
Chapter Forty-Two
Sam, 2015
(Tuesday Morning; St. John’s Hospital, Richmond, Virginia)
BEEP.
Beep.
Beep.
“You two need to go live in a monastery or something. Where there isn’t any violent people,” a man’s voice says. I think it’s John. Yeah. It’s John.
“We would probably encounter a cannibal monk,” Grace says.
“At least you don’t have any more crazy people stalking you, right?”
“I hope not. I’m not sure how many more people I can kill in self-defense.”
It takes me a few seconds to open my eyes, but I eventually get a blurry image of John and Grace. They are both sitting beside my gurney. A heart monitor is beeping behind me.
“Sam!” Grace’s smile is so big that I can’t help but smile too. She stands up, steps up to the bed, and takes my hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Um, I have some asthenia and there’s some pain in my abdomen…” I mumble. I stroke her hand with my thumb. “But, I’m okay.”
“You better be,” she teases. “You can’t get out of our argument that easy.”
“Argument?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says. “We were arguing about whether or not your actions showed you loved me. Remember? You told me that you were protecting me.”
“It doesn’t seem like I did a good job.”
She kisses my cheek, then my lips. “You’ve always done everything you can to protect me since we met. We met because you were protecting me. You’ve been doing a great job.”
“So, did I convince you that I loved you?” I ask. “Because I do. I really, really do.”
“I know,” she says. “I love you, too.”
“I want to marry you.”
“I want to marry you, too,” she whispers.
My heart soars. It literally feels like it leaves my chest and I can hear the heart monitor beeping even faster.
“I can’t get on one knee right now,” I tell her.
“That’s okay.”
“Grace Anna Ellery,” I start. “Will you marry me?”
She grins. “I will. I will marry you and love you for the rest of my life.”
She grasps my hand. The heart monitor begins to beep faster but my heart stays strong. It has someone to protect and someone to be protected by now. It has more than blood pumping through it. It has purpose, courage, love.
It has Grace.
Chapter Forty-Three
Grace, 2015
(July; Venice Beach, Venice, California)
SAM ONCE TOLD ME that heart cells beat on their own when they’re in a petri dish—minuscule heart cells, all beating independently at their own pace. Once they’re all together in a heart, though, they become interconnected and beat together.
Right now, my heart feels like it’s in a petri dish and
every cell is beating at a different rhythm. Fast, slow, erratic, steady, to the tempo of jazz music…all I can do is take deep breaths and pray that it will calm down.
The dress is a white French lace wedding gown with crystal embroidery decorating the bosom. It’s strapless with a full train and lace that clings to the silk material and curves around the dress. The veil is made of Italian silk tulle.
There’s a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I call out.
The door opens and Kevin steps in. His hands instantly clasp his face as he gasps. “You look stunning!”
I haven't seen much of Kevin in the last few months. The Schneiders moved to Kentucky a week after Zach's funeral and the house sold a couple weeks after that to a family with a psychic mother. Apparently, the mother found the idea of living in a house where a boy had been murdered appealing. I had my doubts about selling the house to someone who found pleasure in a child's death, but the mother told me that she only had the best intentions and that my deceased father was happy with my choice of a future husband. I never mentioned my father had passed away, so I took it as a sign that she had some genuine connection to something supernatural and I shouldn't mess with that kind of power. I signed the house over to her.
“Hurry, shut the door,” I tell him. “Sam can’t see me yet.”
Kevin shuts the door and walks over to me. “How do you feel?”
“Nervous,” I admit. “I don’t know why though. I know I want to marry him, so why would I be nervous.”
“Maybe because your whole life is about to change?”
“We already live together,” I say. “I don’t know how much could change.”
“You would be surprised,” he says. “Marriage changes everything. You’re bound by a promise to love each other forever. It’s the best thing in the world if you truly love your partner.”
“I do love him.” I turn back toward the mirror. “I can’t believe I didn’t accept his proposal the first time. I don’t know what I was afraid of.”
“You needed time,” he says. “It’s understandable.”
“I don’t need any more time. This is what I want.”
The “Bridal Chorus” begins to play.
“It’s time,” Kevin says, offering me his hand. I take it.
“Thank you…for doing this…walking me down the aisle.”
He smiles. “It’s my honor to do it. I never knew the man, but I am absolutely certain that he would be so proud of you. But I can promise you that he’s looking down from heaven, cursing me for being the one to walk you to your future husband.”
I kiss his cheek. He leads me out to the beach, where Sam is waiting…where I can finally find the last pieces of my heart and all of my cells can beat simultaneously.
Chapter Forty-Four
Sam, 2015
(July; Venice Beach, Venice, California)
THE “BRIDAL CHORUS” BEGINS and I stand up straighter. My brother, Jake, Grace's brother, Connor, and John are beside me. My mother and Grace’s mother are across from me. The twenty-two guests—our friends and family—sit in white, wooden folding chairs. All eyes are watching the lifeguard house that Grace is supposed to step out of.
And then she does.
Her steps are a bit wobbly, unfamiliar with the two-and-a-half-inch heels, but she looks more radiant than I have ever seen her. She is truly the most beautiful woman in the world.
Kevin holds her hand as they walk toward me. When she’s almost halfway to me, she stops. I think for a second that she’s about to run—that she decided to not marry me after all—and my heart begins to break. But then, she pulls her heels off and tosses them to the left of her. I sigh in relief as the crowd laughs, she smiles, and they continue to walk toward me, following the rhythm of the music.
When she reaches me, and Kevin sits down in the front seat, it takes all of my self-restraint to not kiss her. She smiles up at me, and her joy is contagious.
“Friends, we are joined here today to share with Sam and Grace one of the most important moments in their lives. You have watched their love grow, prosper, and strengthen. Now you will watch them commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. It will be a new chapter of hope, dreams, but most of all, love.”
As the pastor continues to talk, I keep my eyes on Grace. I see her beauty, but also her strength. She has overcome so much that it’s a miracle that she’s standing in front of me today. I know that I will do anything to protect her, to love her, to cherish her, to ensure that she is happy.
I love you, she mouths to me.
I love you, too, I mouth back.
“Now, the couple will exchange vows,” the pastor says. He turns to me. I laugh, a bit unprepared that the ceremony is this far along, but I’m still happy. It’s not an uncomfortable surprise.
“Grace,” I tell her. She smiles even bigger and my heart swells with happiness. “Our life together has been tumultuous so far. Not many couples have to deal with two serial killers…but I wouldn’t change a single moment. All of it led me to you and then it made me realize how much I loved you. You are the best thing that ever happened in my life. I am so happy to commit myself to you. I would repeat all of the trouble that we’ve had in our lives just to be able to be here today. I love you, and that love has only grown stronger. I will continue to love you more every day. That is my promise to you.”
The pastor turns to Grace. She bites her lip.
“Sam,” she says. “You are the only man in the world who could have survived through all the chaos I brought into your life. You are the only one patient enough to deal with me, and I love you so much for it. You are the best person I have ever met, and I couldn’t choose a better person to spend my life with. I am so blessed to have you in my life, so thank you for sticking around. I will love you until the day I die…which, hopefully after everything we have survived, isn’t for a long time.”
I lean in to kiss her, overwhelmed by the moment, but the pastor raises an eyebrow at me. I stand up straight and the guests laugh.
“Sam and Grace will now exchange their rings.”
Jake hands us the two rings. I slide Grace’s ring on her first, my fingertips brushing over her whole hand, hoping to convey all my feelings to her in my touch. When she slides my ring on my finger, she holds my hand for a second longer than she needs to and I know she feels the same way I do.
"By the power vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss each other.”
I lift her veil, cup her face, and kiss her as softly as I can, savoring the moment. Our friends and family all cheer and I remind myself that I need to pull away from her. I give her another quick kiss before I rock back onto my heels.
“Everyone, I present to you Mr. And Mrs. Meadows.”
I take Grace’s hand. The guests stand up and applaud, but all I can see is my wife. She is my rock, my best friend, my heart.
She is my Grace.
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About the Author
Charlotte Raine is a best selling romantic suspense author. She lives near Vail, Colorado with her cat Jackson. If she isn’t writing her next novel she is skiing, meditating, gardening or chatting up the locals at her favorite coffee shops. If you are ever in the high country of Colorado look for her at Yeti’s Grind or Loaded Joe’s.
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A Trinity of Death (Romantic Suspense)
Do You Want To Play (Prequel)
Voice of the Spirit
Violence of the Father
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Titanium Blood Series (Paranormal Romance)
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; Blood Honor
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Grace Ellery Series
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Disturbed Mind
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Trigger Point
Safe At Last
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Disturbed Mind (A Grace Ellery Romantic Suspense Series Book 2) Page 14