“What? Who?” Distracted, he edged toward a window, squinting outside.
“Mac. The guy who’s working on the house.”
Suspicion filled his eyes. “Thought Damian was working here.”
“Well, they both are, but…”
Her phone stopped ringing.
“So where is he?” T.J. demanded.
His expression grew wild, and Summer realized the madman had come to the house looking for Damian. Oh, God. Did he really mean to use the gun? How crazy was he? How drunk? How completely off the deep end?
She swallowed. “I don’t think Damian’s working today.”
T.J.’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
He’s home protecting his mother from you, she wanted to say. Or downtown at the police station, ready to lead a posse and find his sister, then capture your head on a stake.
“He took the day off,” she hedged. “I haven’t seen him.”
“Bullshit!” The gun wavered in his hand, and Summer jumped. T.J. strode to the bed stand and picked up her phone. One dirty thumb poised above the buttons. A grin peeled back his lips, and he shoved it into her hand.
“Call him. Tell him you need him to come over here and fix something. And do exactly what I say.”
* * * * *
Damian took a long shower and let the hot water ease away some of his tension. Though it was barely six, he couldn’t pretend to sleep anymore. He was exhausted, and not just because he’d lain awake on the couch waiting to hear news of Dinah. Whenever he closed his eyes, he thought of Summer. Of her house, of a sunset, of a guitar playing notes and starlight blinding him. She’d been barefoot in the dream, wearing that damn sundress cut clear down to forever, and she’d chased him through the house, up to the roof, where she’d stopped and held out one hand to him. He’d taken it, wrapped his fingers around hers, and they’d started to float.
He lathered and rinsed until the water turned cool. Maybe his mother was right. Maybe he could find the words to tell Summer about the way she twisted him up inside. But she was leaving, he reminded himself. What good would it do to spill his guts and then watch her get on a plane bound for the opposite coast? Forget it.
Downstairs, he gulped black coffee and called the precinct.
“Heard anything?”
“Nothing yet. Sorry. We’re starting up a search again in another half hour or so.”
“I’ll be there.”
He peeked in on his mother, who was sleeping. Thank God.
He turned over his cell phone in his palm. He itched to call someone—anyone—just to get rid of the thoughts inside his head. He’d decided on Cat and was about to punch in the numbers when the phone rang. One look at the Caller ID and his throat closed up.
“Hello?”
For a moment, there was only static and the faint sound of breathing.
“Summer?”
“Damian.” Her voice sounded strange and he could barely hear her. She drew in a sharp breath, and he thought he heard strange noises in the background. “Can you come over here? There’s a problem with the plumbing in my bathroom and…”
“What?” Damian glanced at his watch. She’d called him for a plumbing problem? At dawn? “Um, I was gonna head down to the station in a few minutes. Isn’t Mac gonna be there soon?”
Her voice lowered to a whisper. “He has a meeting over in Silver Valley first thing this morning.” A knocking sound echoed in the background, and after a few seconds, Summer spoke again. Her voice was stronger this time. More detached. “Anyway, if you can just stop by for a few minutes and check it out, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Um, I don’t…maybe I could come by later on, before lunch.” He frowned. No mention of the other night. No affection in her voice at all. Just a plumbing problem and a strange current of fear running across the telephone lines.
“Just for a few minutes?” she pleaded. “If you could—”
The line went dead.
* * * * *
“Where the hell is he?” T.J. growled. He paced from one end of the bedroom to the other but kept the gun pointed at Summer. Every few minutes, he pulled back the curtains and peered through them.
“Maybe he isn’t coming. He didn’t say he would.”
A sneer curled back the man’s lips. “Oh, he’s coming. For someone who looks as pretty as you, he’ll show up. Always did like to play the big hero.”
“But—” He’s angry with me. No, furious. Plus Dinah’s still missing. That’s more important than a broken toilet. She didn’t need to remind him about the little girl who’d gotten away. If T.J. was here with her, that meant he couldn’t get to Dinah. Summer pressed her lips together and fought for strength.
The sun continued to rise, and the temperature in the room climbed. Perspiration slipped between her breasts and she wiped a hand across her forehead. A couple of cars drove by but none stopped. Her hopes dropped. What if Damian really didn’t come? What if he decided that she could take care of her own problems? His little sister was missing, after all. Why on earth would a leak make him drop everything and rush to Summer’s side?
Tears filled her eyes. It had been almost twenty minutes.
“He’s not coming,” she whispered. Of course he’s not. He blames you for letting T.J. get to Dinah. You announced to the world yesterday that you’re leaving town. And if all that isn’t enough, he spent last night with Joyce Hadley. He’s not going to run over here and be your knight in shining armor.
“Then you’re gonna have to call him again.” T.J. circled the room.
Summer wondered if he’d lost his mind. Her fear ratcheted up a couple of notches. A lonely father seeking revenge was one thing. A crazed man with a loaded weapon was something else altogether.
They both heard the noise at the same time, a sharp crack somewhere nearby. Summer jumped to her feet.
“Sit down!” T.J. hissed, waving the gun in her direction. “Stay right there and don’t say a damn thing unless I tell you to.” He crept to the bedroom door, brushing her bare knee. She cringed at the feel of his soiled jeans and sat back down.
“C’mon,” he muttered. “I know you’re out there.” He stepped into the foyer and looked around.
Suddenly the front door flew open and Damian strode across the threshold. One fist shot out and punched T.J. in the mouth before the man had a chance to cock the gun. He stumbled against the wall. Blood poured from his split bottom lip.
Damian grabbed him by his shirtfront. Another punch. This time, though, T.J. ducked, and Damian’s fist glanced off the wall. The skin on his knuckles split open, and Summer stifled a scream.
He came. Summer ran to the doorway and stopped. Damian’s eyes flickered toward her, his gaze dark and pointed. She couldn’t read it. Want? Blame? Uncertainty?
“You sonofabitch,” T.J. slurred. He managed to push himself against the wall and straighten the gun. Squeezing the trigger, he fired.
Summer screamed.
Plaster erupted from a hole ten feet above Damian’s head.
“Damn.” T.J.’s grin slipped a little. He rearranged the gun in his hand as Damian lunged across the foyer. The hammer cocked.
Summer covered her eyes. She couldn’t bear to look. The gun fired again, and then a third time. Grunts of pain filled the air. Something—or someone—thudded to the ground. Glass shattered. She kept her fingers over her face. “No,” she whispered. Her legs trembled. “Please—”
A strong hand grabbed her wrist, and she cringed. Then the hand loosened a little and pulled her to her feet. She opened one eye. Then the other.
Damian Knight, whole and alive, smiled down at her.
* * * * *
“It’s okay,” Rachael was saying, but Summer couldn’t hear her friend over her own sobs.
Rachael shoved another tissue into Summer’s hand and slung an arm arou
nd her shoulder. She couldn’t stop crying. Her chest heaved, and she leaned her head against her friend’s. “I thought—”
“I know.” For once, Rachael didn’t say much.
Summer opened her swollen eyes and saw a collection of men in her front yard. T.J., who’d managed to shoot himself in the foot, lay strapped to a stretcher. Two cops and a medical technician hovered over him. Damian stood a few feet away under the oak tree, talking to a state trooper. Summer watched him with a heart so full it ached.
“How did you know?” she asked Rachael.
“Damian called us after he talked to you. Thought we should probably have the police come over here, just in case.”
“And you came too?” She looked at Cat, who stood near the hedges with his hands in his back pockets. His blond hair shone in the sunlight. God, T.J. might have tried to shoot them both. The thought sent her head spinning all over again.
“Well, of course we came,” Rachael said. “You think we’d miss all the drama? Please.”
Summer’s breath hitched in her chest. Across the yard, the officer flipped his notepad closed and shook Damian’s hand.
“Told you he was a keeper.”
But Damian didn’t look up at them as he stood in the lawn talking to his mother. “I don’t know…I mean, I’m still leaving. I told everyone that. I don’t have a reason to stay, really.” Summer stopped and remembered something else. “Besides, I saw him with Joyce Hadley last night. Outside Zeb’s.”
“So?”
“So they were together, Rach. I think the other night with us was—I don’t know—just something that happened.” Something he probably regrets. “Yeah, he came over here. But I asked him to look at my toilet. That doesn’t mean he wants happily ever after with me.” She looked down at her T-shirt and boxer shorts, torn from struggling with T.J. “I’m a mess.”
Rachael leaned back. “How long are you gonna do this?”
“Do what?”
“You already stood up for a public stoning last night. You gonna turn into the martyr of Pine Point? You think you don’t deserve any happiness because you made a mistake or two?”
Summer looked up, stunned. Rachael had never spoken to her like that. Never.
“Stop blaming yourself for everything that’s ever gone wrong around here. You’re not the reason T.J. took Dinah. You’re not the reason Gabe spent time in jail.”
“Maybe, but I—”
“You always said people had to come to terms with the past in order to understand the present,” Rachael went on. “You’ve spent the last decade telling me that. But studying the past doesn’t mean it defines the person you are forever, does it? It’s just who you were. Not who you are.”
Summer stared at her feet. All this time, Rachael had been listening.
The crowd in her yard thinned a little. For the first time, Damian glanced up at Summer, but she couldn’t read his face.
“They’re putting together search parties to look for Dinah. Want to help?”
Summer nodded. “Just let me shower first.” She turned to head back inside and froze. Rachael’s midnight message played inside her head. Was it possible? She stared at the house and then grabbed her friend’s arm. “Wait.”
“What?”
“I can’t believe—I know where she is.” Summer dashed inside. “I know where Dinah went.”
“Wait a minute—what?”
“Get the police before they leave.” Summer couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it earlier, right away. There was only one place in this town a scared little girl would go if her home had been violated and she didn’t know where else to hide. Only one place safe enough to keep the bogeyman away.
And Summer knew exactly where it was.
* * * * *
“Up on the third floor.”
The policeman stood at her elbow and huffed onto the back of her neck as they climbed the stairs. He stopped Summer on the landing of the second floor. “Don’t want you going any farther. Tell me where it is.” His hand encircled her wrist and pulled her to the side.
But she stood her ground. “I have to go up. She’ll be scared. She might not…” Her voice trailed off as the front door opened. Damian, Hannah and a second policeman stepped inside. Damian rushed to the staircase, but the policeman put a hand on his arm and said something she couldn’t make out. She looked at Hannah and then was sorry. The woman was barely holding herself together. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. In one hand she held a wad of tissues.
Summer turned. She hoped she was right. She had to be right. “It’s on the next floor up. Back bedroom.” She was here the whole time…
One more flight and they reached the closed door. The cop put a heavy hand on Summer’s shoulder. “I want you to stay back.”
She chewed her bottom lip but stayed where she was. Damian and Hannah hurried up the stairs. The policeman stepped inside the bedroom. Summer held her breath and counted to ten. Twenty. When she reached twenty-two, the man stuck his head back out into the hall and said in a low voice, “Come on.”
Morning light shot the room with gold, and despite the dust everywhere, the walls glowed. She pointed, but she didn’t need to. A black seam ran along the back of the far wall. The hidden door remained open a little more than an inch. Summer’s heart nearly broke. Poor thing. Dinah had gotten it open but then hadn’t managed to close it again. In the quiet, they could hear soft sobs.
“Dinah Knight?” The cop spoke first. His voice was kind. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m a policeman. I’m here to make sure you’re safe.” He took a few steps toward the door, but no one answered.
“Ladybug?” Damian’s voice broke on the word. “Are you in there?”
For another second they heard nothing but silence.
“Dame?” Dinah slid open the door and came running across the uneven floor at full tilt. Her arms reached out for her brother. Tears wet her cheeks, and both braids had come undone from their ribbons. Her eyes, pale moon saucers, darted from side to side, and she stumbled in her bare feet and called his name again.
In an instant he swept his sister into his arms. “It’s okay, ladybug. I’ve got you. It’s okay.” Clutching her to his chest, he rocked back and forth, murmuring the words into the top of her head. “It’s okay. It’s all over.”
Summer pressed trembling fingers to her mouth. Tears dampened her cheeks, but she didn’t bother to wipe them away. For a moment she felt dizzy, and she wondered if another memory of the accident would knock her off her feet. It didn’t. Strangely enough, she hadn’t had a single flashback in over a day. Of course, they weren’t hidden pieces of a whole any longer.
“Son of a bitch,” the cop said as he stepped inside the hidden room. “Always heard about these things but never saw one before.” He pushed his hat back on his head and kneeled. “Must-a been pretty small slaves to hide in a space like that.” He looked over his shoulder. “That’s what it was for, right?”
“Yes.” Summer thought about telling him that slaves hadn’t been that small, just desperate. And the ones traveling on the Underground Railroad had suffered far worse conditions than a warm, dry, ten-by-ten space in an isolated house this close to the Canadian border.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He creaked up again and both knees popped. “Wait ’til the guys at the station hear about this.” He radioed an all-clear down to his partner. “She okay?” he asked Damian. “Gotta get a statement from her if she’s able.”
Damian didn’t speak. He just cleared his throat and moved into the hallway. Summer reached out to pat Dinah on the back, but she only brushed the wrinkled cotton shirt before Damian negotiated the two flights of stairs with his sister in his arms. Once they were back on the ground floor, Hannah swept her daughter into her arms with sobs and hysterical laughter.
“Oh, God. My baby…my baby…thank you…”
Summer wondered if it were possible to live an entire lifetime in a single day and night.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Damian sat on the bottom porch step with Dinah beside him.
“I was only a little scared when Dad took me away from the house,” she was saying. “I didn’t know where we were going and why you couldn’t come too. He said if I was good and didn’t cry, we could be a family again.” She sat up and her eyes welled. “But he lied.”
“I know, ladybug.” Damian stroked the back of her hair and tried to contain his anger. “I know. The important thing is that you’re back here with us now.” Even as he comforted her with one hand, he squeezed the other into a fist. What kind of father steals his child away? Then loses her in the middle of the night? The only thing keeping Damian sane was knowing that T.J. was on his way to a long prison sentence.
“Summer told me about that secret room,” Dinah whispered. “She said it was a place where people used to hide.” She smiled.
Damian hugged her. “Then it was very smart of you to go there.” His voice broke. Summer told me about that secret room…
There’s a whole life out there, starting with someone on the other side of those trees who’s waiting for you to come to your senses…
He squeezed his sister’s thin frame. “Ladybug, run over to Mom, okay? I’ll meet you in just a minute. But there’s something I have to do first.”
* * * * *
Rachael yawned and leaned against the banister next to Summer. “I need a nap. What time is it?”
Summer's Song: Pine Point, Book 1 Page 20