A look of doubt flitted across his face as he reached for her purse. When he turned his attention to digging inside to find her phone, she made her move. Slipping to her left, she cleared the foot of the bed, and by the time Gary looked up to see what was happening, she held the canister securely in her hand, pointed in his direction.
She pressed the button and swept the liquid across his eyes. He dropped her purse as he threw his hands up to block the stream of burning solution, but it was too late. She jammed the canister into her pocket, then used both hands, and all the anger she could muster, to shove Gary as hard as she could. He fell backwards, hitting his head on the table under the window.
Expletives flew from his mouth, but Jessica ignored him, and instead snatched her purse from the floor, then flew toward the door. Her hands shook as she worked the locks, but after only a moment she was able to throw the door open and dash out to her car.
She dug through her purse and quickly found her keys, but by the time she’d slid behind the wheel of her car and thrown it into reverse, Gary had lumbered out of her room. Rubbing his swollen eyes, he stayed where he was as Jessica backed up as quickly as she could. A moment later she was headed toward the police station.
“I can’t believe I got away,” she whispered, as tears of relief filled her eyes. Adrenaline still pounded through her veins, but after a moment it started to recede and she started to shake. Gripping the steering wheel, she drove the rest of the way to the police station.
Parking haphazardly, she stumbled inside, getting the attention of those near the entrance. “Is Detective Barnes here?” she called out, not waiting to be asked if she needed any help.
“Yeah. I think he still is,” an officer said.
A moment later Barnes walked into the waiting area. “Jessica? What happened?”
Holding back a sob of relief, she took a deep breath. “You were right. Someone threatened me.”
He held up his hands. “Hold on. Maybe we should talk in private.”
“But you have to go get him before he gets away.”
Shaking his head, he said, “Who? Before who gets away?”
“Gary Fuller. He said he was going to kill me. He’s at the motel.”
“What motel, Jessica?”
She told him where she’d been staying.
Barnes turned to a nearby officer and instructed him to go to the motel and pick up Gary Fuller, then he turned back to Jessica. “Okay. Come with me.”
Nodding, she followed him to the same conference room where they’d met the day before. The day Kyle had broken her heart.
He motioned to a chair. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Nodding, she sank into the chair, then starting with the intruder coming to her apartment early the previous morning, she went through everything that had happened, ending with pepper spraying Gary Fuller. “Did they get him?” she asked, although there was no way he would know that yet.
“I don’t know.”
“Is Douglas Harrington still in jail?”
“Yes. I didn’t submit your amended statement yet. And with this new information, Harrington won’t be going anywhere.”
“Good.” She stared at the table top, then looked at Barnes, who had sat across from her as she’d begun to tell her story. “What if Harrington sends someone else after my family? Can you make sure they’re safe?”
“Yes, we can check on them.”
“Do you know anything about Gary Fuller? He’s just a car salesman, right?” Hoping that the man wasn’t really dangerous, she nearly held her breath as she waited for his answer.
“Unfortunately, Gary Fuller is known to us.” Barnes frowned. “He’s spent some time in prison for assault, so I’m afraid he’s more than just a car salesman, Jessica.”
“Oh no.”
Barnes nodded. “You were right to be afraid. But don’t worry. We’ll get him.”
She dearly hoped he was right.
A few minutes later an officer poked his head in the door and motioned for Barnes to come out. Jessica twisted her hands in her lap, anxiety rocketing through her. Her head pounded, but she didn’t know if that was from breathing in some of the pepper spray, or from stress.
When Barnes came back in the room, Jessica’s gaze went to his face as she tried to get a clue to what was happening. “Did they get him?” she asked, frantic to know.
He sighed, then shook his head. “When they got there, he was already gone. They’re looking for him now.”
A moan escaped her throat. “Please send someone to my aunt’s house. Please.”
He smiled gently. “We already did.”
She jumped to her feet. “I’ve got to go over there.”
“I understand.” He paused. “Would you like an escort?”
“I don’t know. I guess so.”
“I’ll follow you over.”
She gazed at him a moment. “I’m so sorry I lied to you.” Tears filled her eyes. “I was just so scared and I didn’t know what to do.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything for a minute. “I don’t blame you for what you did, but sometimes you have to trust us to get it right.”
“I know that now.” Her gaze fell to the table. “And Kyle hates me now.”
“Jessica.”
She looked up and met his eyes.
“I don’t think he hates you. I think he was just upset.”
She thought about what Kyle had said on the phone earlier that day, and shook her head, not wanting to think about the fall-out just then. “I just want to go to my aunt’s house.”
With Barnes following, she drove toward Ellen’s house, and thought about Kyle. He would be there when she arrived. What would she say to him? Would he forgive her for lying about him to the police and making him look like a criminal?
When she pulled up to the house, she saw the marked police car parked out front, and as she climbed out of her car, she heard Barnes call out to her.
“I’ll come in with you and make sure everything’s okay.”
She nodded, then walked to the front door with him by her side. When they entered the house, she saw Ellen, Kyle, and a uniformed officer sitting in the living room. All eyes shifted to them as Barnes shut the front door.
Kyle stood first, and walked toward Jessica, stopping in front of her as his eyes scanned her body. “Are you okay? Officer Parks just told us that some guy tried to kill you?”
The fact that the first words out of his mouth showed his concern, rather than his anger, gave Jessica hope that he would be able to forgive her for what she’d done. “Yes, but I’m fine.”
He reached out and rubbed her arm. “What happened?” His gaze shifted to Barnes. “What’s going on?”
Barnes smiled. “It looks like everything’s under control here, so I’ll let Jessica explain. I need to get back to the station.” He looked at Jessica. “I’ll let you know as soon as we find him.”
“Thank you.”
After Barnes left, Kyle took Jessica’s hand and led her to the couch to sit between him and Ellen. Optimism bloomed in her heart as she felt the warmth from his body radiating toward her. He doesn’t hate me.
Her aunt put her arms around Jessica. “I’ve been so worried about you,” Ellen said.
“I’m sorry. Things have just been a mess these last two days.”
Officer Parks stood up. “I’m going to check the perimeter, but I’ll be outside if you need anything.”
“Thank you,” Ellen said to him.
Kyle shook his hand. “Yes, thank you.”
Parks nodded, then walked out the front door.
After he left, Jessica told them about Gary Fuller coming into her apartment and threatening her, as well as them, if she didn’t change her statement.
“I knew something happened, Jess,” Kyle said. He looked at her with a hurtful expression. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What would you have done? The man said he’d kill me and the person I told. I couldn’t take a
chance on that.”
“So instead you told Barnes that I attacked Harrington?” He shook his head, still obviously upset.
“I’ll let you two talk,” Ellen said as she stood, then she turned to Jessica. “I’m just so relieved that you’re okay.” The women hugged tightly, then Ellen left the room.
Jessica turned so that she was facing Kyle. “I feel terrible for what I told Barnes about you. You must know that.” She gazed at him with intensity. “But you have to understand, I’d had a knife held to my throat hours before, and I didn’t know what else to do.”
He took her hands. “I just can’t believe that you didn’t trust me enough to level with me.”
Feeling upset that he didn’t seem to get it, she frowned. “Let’s pretend like I had. What would you have told me to do?”
He looked beyond her shoulder, then met her gaze. “I don’t know. I guess to tell Barnes the truth.”
Tears of frustration filled her eyes and she pulled her hands out of his. “You don’t know what it was like. How I felt.” Holding back a sob, she breathed deeply, then whispered, “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I did it for you.”
He shook his head. “You’re right. It doesn’t make sense at all.” His jaw clenched. “Do you realize that if you’d changed your testimony, that not only would Harrington go free, but I could have gone to jail?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Yet you were still willing to do it.” His words came out as a statement.
She jumped to her feet. “I’d rather you were in jail then in a coffin. Is that so terrible?”
He stood and faced her. “Yes. It is. Because you didn’t give me a chance to tell you how I felt about it. How I would have handled it.” He shook his head, clearly fuming. “You can’t make decisions for other people like that.”
The conversation wasn’t going anywhere, so she decided to shift the topic. “I saw you talking to Trey Harrington today.”
He gaped at her. “What? How?”
“I was parked across the street from the dealership when you showed up. Why’d you go there?”
“I was so angry about everything, so I confronted Trey. Of course he denied any knowledge.” He gazed at her. “Why were you parked across the street?”
“I was watching Gary Fuller.”
“Why?”
She explained how she’d sent him a text, and how that had led to him confronting her.
Kyle’s jaw clenched. “You are something else, Jess. Why do you think it’s up to you to save everyone?” His lips compressed as he nodded. “This is what got you into trouble in the first place.”
His obvious fury with her made her feel small and stupid. “What do you mean?”
“The letters, Jess. The letters.” He shook his head. “You had to be the girl detective and it almost got us both killed. And now . . .” His jaw clenched again. “Now you’ve put us all in danger again. That psycho is out there somewhere.” He pointed toward the front yard. “For all we know, he’s going to sneak in here while we’re sleeping and slit all of our throats.”
His words brought back the memory of the razor-sharp steel pressed to the tender flesh of her neck, and she couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. “Stop, Kyle. Please don’t say that.”
He didn’t seem to have any patience with her tears. “Why not? It’s true. You know it’s true.” He folded his arms across his chest. “How are you going to save us now, Jess? Huh?” He stared at her a moment, then shook his head before turning and walking away.
Jessica watched his retreating back, but it was hard to see through the curtain of tears that refused to stop flowing.
Chapter Thirty Two
Jessica gazed out the living room window at the darkening sky, and felt a shiver of fear. Night was falling, and her sense of security right along with it. She rubbed her hands on her arms, trying to warm herself as she thought about the fight she’d had with Kyle.
She could hear him working in the kitchen, and she frowned as she remembered the harsh words he’d had for her, scolding her for thinking she could make decisions for everyone else. That’s not what she’d been doing at all. At least that’s not how she looked at it. She’d only followed Gary’s instructions for fear that he would hurt Ellen and Kyle. If there had been any other choice, she would have taken it, but there wasn’t.
The more she thought about it, the more upset she became with Kyle for what he’d said to her. He wasn’t there. He hadn’t had a knife held to his throat in the dead of night. How could he possibly understand what she had gone through? Standing abruptly, she strode into the kitchen.
Stopping at the place where the sunroom met the kitchen, she watched him as he drilled a hole into a cabinet door, then attached a handle.
“Why are you still here?” she asked.
He looked over at her. “Why? Do you want me to leave?”
Did she? “No, it’s just that you don’t usually work this late.”
He set his drill down, then walked over to her. Smiling softly, he gazed at her. “I’m not about to leave you and your aunt on your own tonight.”
“Oh.”
“Did you really think I would?”
Shrugging, she said, “I guess I hadn’t thought about it.” A half-smile lifted her lips. “I’ve been kind of focused on our fight.”
He sighed and looked away, then looked back at her. “I’m sorry about what I said. You’ve been through a terrible experience, and it was insensitive of me to lash out at you like that.” He put his hands on the sides of her face. “I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you, Jess.” His voice dropped to a near whisper. “I love you.”
Jessica’s heart brimmed with love, and all the anger she’d had toward him evaporated. “I love you too. And I’m so, so sorry that I lied to Barnes about you.”
“It’s okay. I understand and I know you didn’t want to.”
“Really?” Tears of relief filled her eyes. “You forgive me?”
He pulled her against him. “Of course,” he murmured into her hair. “Of course.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his chest, her heart overflowing with love. He forgave me. He loves me. Everything will be okay.
The sound of gunshots filled the air, but they were coming from outside.
Kyle’s grip around Jessica tightened. “Go find Ellen and hide in the attic.”
Jessica’s heart hammered in her chest. “Why? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to make sure no one gets inside.”
“You should let the police handle it.”
He shook his head. “He’s by himself. He can’t cover the entire house.”
Terror coursed through her, and she grabbed his arm. “Come with me. Please.”
“Go,” he said.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
He looked at her with intensity. “Just do it, Jess.”
Tremors of fear rattled through her as she nodded. “Okay.” She raced up the stairs to her aunt’s room, and found Ellen standing near the window.
Ellen turned at Jessica’s arrival. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes. Kyle said we should hide in the attic.”
“Oh my.”
Taking her aunt by the hand, Jessica began to pull her away from the window, but when another burst of gunfire rang out, she carefully peered down into the front yard. There was still enough daylight to make out Officer Parks crouching behind the open door of his police car, his gun pointed to an area beyond Jessica’s line of sight. She saw him speak into the mic on his shoulder, and hoped more police would arrive soon.
“Come on, Ellen. It will be safer somewhere else.”
“What’s Kyle doing?” she asked as she followed Jessica out of the bedroom and toward the attic stairs.
“He said he’s going to make sure no one gets inside.”
Hudson raced past her and into her room, and she knew he would most likely h
ide under her bed. Jessica helped her aunt up the stairs to the attic, then pulled the string to turn on the light so that they didn’t trip over anything.
She helped her aunt sit on a sturdy box, then her gaze traveled around the room. “This is where all the trouble started,” she said.
Ellen stared at her a moment, then smiled wryly. “Yes, you’re right.”
“I wish I’d never found those stupid letters.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Jessica. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She dragged a box next to her aunt and sat beside her. “Still . . .”
Ellen patted Jessica’s knee.
The sound of a gunshot, then shattering glass, reached them, and Jessica turned to her aunt with panic in her eyes. “Gary must have shot out the back door.”
The look in Ellen’s eyes matched Jessica’s. “What should we do?”
As she pictured Kyle being shot, she jumped to her feet. “I have to help Kyle.”
Ellen’s hand shot out and grabbed Jessica’s arm. “No you don’t. You need to stay here where you’re safe.”
Turning to face her aunt, Jessica shook her head. “If he gets past Kyle, he’ll find us, Ellen. He’ll kill us. Both of us.”
Ellen’s eyes were wide. “You’re young. I’m old. If he comes up here, I’ll draw him away from you.”
The image of her aunt being killed on her behalf horrified her, and she dropped to her knees in front of her. “No, no, no. I won’t let that happen.”
Ellen gently touched Jessica’s face. “If something were to happen, Jessica, I’d be with Patrick again.”
Jessica thought about her uncle, but wasn’t ready to let her aunt go yet. She leaned forward and kissed her aunt on her wrinkled cheek. “I’m going down there.” She stood. “I’ll be very careful. I promise.”
A look of resignation filled Ellen’s eyes. “I love you, Jessica.”
“I love you too.”
Then Ellen’s gaze swept across the attic, and she pointed to an area filled with objects. “Take one of Patrick’s golf clubs.”
Smiling at her aunt’s practical suggestion, Jessica hurried over to the bag of clubs and chose one that felt heavy, yet one she could wield easily. Holding it up for her aunt’s approval, she smiled. “I’ll be back to get you as soon as I can.” Then she quietly walked down the attic steps.
Second Chances (sequel to Over You) Page 22