by Marie Harte
“That would make sense.”
He chuckled as he kissed her. His lips were warm and tender and very loving. Oh how she loved him.
“Where did you leave Jillian?”
“She’s in the tunnel. I sent her up the hill like you told me to.”
“Good. I’ll stay here and you go…” He turned into her without warning, wrapping himself protectively around her, just before she heard a harsh whisper of air followed by a crack. Alex’s body jerked forward and a hot pressure exploded in her upper chest by her shoulder.
Alex fixed his beautiful eyes on her and whispered, “I’m sorry Eve.” He leaned into her, suddenly grabbing and holding onto her tightly. She tried, but she just couldn’t hold his weight and fell to the ground, his weight knocking the wind from her.
Cade’s larger body covered hers. “Close your eyes honey, don’t move,” Alex breathed lightly.
Eve heard huffing and scraping. She closed her eyes, knowing Miles was standing above them.
“Two for the price of one,” she heard him spit. “I should have just done this from the beginning. Would have saved me a lot of time.”
Eve could hear Miles move towards the shed. He was going after Jillian. Oh God! Were they all going to die, was this all for nothing? When she didn’t hear any movement she slowly opened her eyes and searched what areas she could from under Alex. When she didn’t see anything she tried to wake him.
“Alex,” She breathed out. Air was caught in her lungs, the pain in her chest and shoulder were incredible but Alex’s weight made it worse.
“Alex get off me.” She struggled beneath him, but nothing. She froze. “Alex.” Fear was building. “Alex,” she whimpered his name. “Please wake up.”
Chapter Thirty
Knowing the tunnel would be black, Miles grabbed a glow stick out of a small camouflaged rucksack stowed in the back of the BMW and took the steps leading down to the tunnel, two at a time. He didn't know how long the tunnel was so he had no idea how far ahead Jillian had got. Moving swiftly, he gripped his gun in one hand and held the white glow stick out in front of him.
He looked back over his shoulder, expecting to see the cop behind him. Christ, he was jumpy. He wiped sweat mixed with blood from his face with the back of his hand.
He was still having a hard time trying to figure out what he had just seen. He could have sworn he just got his ass handed to him by Ace. But it wasn't Ace, it was the cop—but he’d definitely seen Ace- his face appeared on the cop - it was Ace, the dark hair, the colouring of his skin, right down to the scar that ran through his left eyebrow.
Ace. Fuck. He really wished it hadn’t come down to this. Once he killed Jillian and buried the bodies, he would have to go back to Memorial and kill Ace. He had hoped things wouldn’t turn out this way, Ace had been his partner, his best friend he never wanted any of this. He shook his head and looked behind him again. He didn’t actually believe what the cop had said, that bleeding heart crap about them being brothers? Taylor didn't know Ace, who was that guy trying to fool? Eve? Was he trying to impress her?
He snorted. It wouldn’t make a difference now, he thought, focusing on the darkness in front of him. They were both… He stopped when he saw the cop standing no more than five feet in front of him.
Detective Cade Taylor stood in the middle of the tunnel, blocking his path. His hands rested on his hips, legs braced apart.
“What the hell?” Miles quickly raised the gun and fired one shot. Heart. There was no way he’d get back up after that.
The cop looked down at his chest then back to Miles and laughed out loud. Then, Taylor charged him out of nowhere. Miles fixed his stance and tightened his body ready to take the blow but nothing came. Just a cold gush of air. He swung the glow stick back and forth lighting the area in front and behind— nothing. “Where the fuck did you go?”
A deep laugh echoed through the tunnel.
* * * *
Eve jumped when she heard the muffled gunshot. With fear taking over, she finally managed to get out from under Alex. His head was turned to the side and there was blood everywhere. Pooling under him, soaking into his shirt. She moved to lift up his shirt but stopped short when pain torn at her shoulder.
There was a hole in the fleshy part of her shoulder. It throbbed when she moved it but it would heal. Of course it would heal, she was a Sinclair. She thought dully as she looked at Alex. Her hand shook as she raised his shirt. There was a hole in the lower part of his back. She put pressure on it and tried to roll him over to look at his front. She knew the bullet went through she just didn’t know where.
She pulled off her sweater, crying out as she slipped her sore arm free. She jammed it against the hole in his back and after gripping his shirt and giving him a good tug she was able to roll him over, his weight providing the pressure needed to help slow the bleeding. It wasn’t hard to find the exit hole in the upper part of his chest, a thick steady flow of blood was pouring from it. She clamped both hands over it and pressed hard.
* * * *
Miles stopped and held his breath, listening. There was a soft whimpering up ahead. He had heard that muted cry before…Jillian. He charged forward holding the light in front of him. He stumbled on a slick rock but caught himself and carried on until he saw a small form curled up against the side of the tunnel.
He inhaled the damp air. Finally. His life could get back to normal and Nicole and the girls would never find out about this.
“Stand up, Jillian,” he ordered raising his gun. He wouldn’t shoot her in the back. She deserved more than that cop did. She was carrying his baby, after all. When she didn’t comply he ordered her again. She finally struggled to her feet and cried louder. He was beginning to lose what patience he had left. “Shut up. Jesus, you brought this on yourself. I told you to put it up for adoption and you wouldn’t. I can’t risk you coming by the house. My family means too much to me to let you ruin it.”
Her crying became louder and almost piercing, as it echoed in the tunnel. Miles yelled over top of her, “Shut the fuck up and turn around.”
She suddenly became quiet and slowly faced him.
Blood—everywhere—coming from her one remaining eye and mouth. There was a long gash running though the centre of her face, so deep he could see the bone. Another gash ran parallel to the first extending up into her blonde hair—blood and bits of grey matter clumped the once satiny strands together. Miles reeled back and exhaled. The area around him suddenly grew cold, very cold.
“This is what you did to me.” Her jaw moved. Miles stared at her in horror as it swung almost completely detached from her face. Bubbles of blood escaped from the holes in her chest where her ribs had broken through the skin.
Her hands, held over her belly were also covered in blood and two fingers were bent grotesquely back and he followed her gaze as she looked down. Her hands pulled away and he saw nothing. He looked back up to her face and it was…beautiful. Like the first time he’d seen her. No missing eye, no deep cuts, no blood, nothing but perfection. She stepped towards him, an evil grin on her face. Another step and her face darkened. Another step and her eyes were black. One more step and she lunged at him, an inhuman scream coming from her smiling mouth.
* * * *
Eve whirled to look over at the shed when she heard more gun shots. She couldn’t worry about that right now. The blood coming from the hole in Alex’s chest wouldn’t stop. It seeped through her fingers and over the backs of her hands. “No!” she whispered.
She glanced at Alex’s face and was startled to see him staring back. The blue was flickering in Cade’s brown eyes when normally it was strong and bright. Her stomach clenched, the reality hitting her. She was going to lose him.
“You have to leave, Eve.” He spoke so low she could barely hear him.
Bending closer to his head, she brushed her hand through his short hair. “Shhh. I can help you.”
“You have to leave here Eve. Before Miles comes back.”
<
br /> “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you.” Her face cracked and the tears fell.
But he kept talking as though he hadn’t heard her. “Swim across the lake to the opening on the other side. Go into town and call the police. Don’t go looking for Jillian.” The blue was almost completely gone from Cade’s eyes.
What would happen when it was all gone? For the first time since he’d begun haunting her Eve demanded the opposite of Alex. “I don’t want you to go away.” She brushed her hand through his hair again, watching the last of the blue flicker away. “Please don’t go away.”
* * * *
Miles’ heart pounded in his chest. This couldn’t be happening. What had he just seen? Jillian’s twin? But she was dead. Killed by the truck he had rigged. And the cop, who should have been killed at the same time, but had survived. And Ace. He had seen Alex’s face replace the cop’s face. He stopped and looked around, leaning against the side of the tunnel. He needed to catch his breath. What the hell was the matter with him? He was never this jumpy and he had seen and done things in his life that would make most people cringe. But with what had just happened…he looked back down the tunnel, or maybe it hadn’t happened.
He rubbed a shaky hand over his face and forced himself to carry on. This had to get done, Jillian had to die. He wouldn’t take any chances.
He held the glow stick out in front of him and saw movement up ahead. His heart actually thumped against his chest. He thought it might be another…he scowled. What? Ghost? He didn’t believe in ghosts. When you’re dead, you’re dead. That was it. Sweat slid down the side of his face. Still. It could be one of them waiting for him.
He raised the gun, just in case, and squinted. The small figure moved against the tunnel, using the wall for support. She turned back when he kicked a stone and it bounced off the side of the tunnel.
The light from the glow stick lit up Jillian’s face. She gasped and moved as fast as her body would allow, tripping as she did.
Miles snarled and pressed forward, stumbling. He lowered the glow stick and lit up the ground. Mud, leaves, sticks and moss covered rocks stretched out before him. There was no safe path, so he shifted his weight carefully, stepping from stone to stone.
He was closing the distance until Jillian began to climb up. He saw her clawing at the dirt, pulling herself up. Shit. The opening to the tunnel. He moved quickly, dancing lightly over the slick stones until he reached the bottom of the incline. Jillian peered over her shoulder and sobbed when she saw how close he was.
Almost there.
Miles jumped, landing right behind her. He reached for her foot, but slid backwards, thanks to the mud and moss covering the entrance. He dug his hand into the dirt and pulled himself up, closing the gap. She cried out when she saw him lunge and pulled her leg away at the last moment.
Watching her reach the crest, he swore and leapt up the embankment one last time. This time he locked onto her ankle. She struggled to keep her balance as he pushed up onto his knees. He raised his gun and took aim. He had had enough fucking around and only wanted to do this once.
As he lined her up in his sight she was suddenly plucked from his grasp and pulled behind a man pointing a gun at him.
Miles cried out enraged.
“You have the right to remain silent,” the man began.
“Christ, not another cop.” He shifted his aim to the cop with the goatee.
The man nodded as he forced Jillian’s small frame behind his back.
Miles curled his lips up into a smirk and huffed, “That won’t save her.” He couldn’t believe this man had it in his head that he was going to arrest him. He really had no idea who he was dealing with.
The cop studied him for a second. “You’re not coming quietly are you?”
Miles chuckled, tightening his finger on the trigger.
Miles blinked once before the bullet tore through the centre of his forehead.
Chapter Thirty-One
Eve straightened when she heard Jillian cry out, followed by a shot. Oh God! She had to go. Miles might come back. She stared down at Cade’s body. Alex was no longer here. Her heart ached at the thought. Alex wasn’t here. She inhaled the cold night air.
She hated the feeling that was surrounding her—it was so strong, so painful it crushed her from the inside. She sniffed. But it had happened. She had been touching Cade’s body when she felt Alex go. One second Cade’s body was giving off Alex’s heat and the next second, nothing. She sucked in a choppy breath and felt the tears continue to fall. He wasn't here anymore. Her lips twitched as she tried not to cry, but she couldn’t help it, her heart was just ripped in half. She covered her face and cried, heartbroken, into her hands.
After a few minutes, she finally pushed to her feet. She had to think about Noelle. She had to get home and get Noelle and Gran away in case Miles came looking for them.
Turning towards the lake, she did what Alex told her to do. She walked into the water. The tears sliding down her face as the cold water surrounded her. Her shoulder throbbed but the cold water helped numb the pain. Why couldn't it do that with her heart? She made it over to the opposite side of the lake and crept by a dark four door sedan which, she assumed belonged to Miles and out onto the main road.
Numb and cold, she started towards town. She hadn’t walked very far when a car came down the road from the direction of the lake. It was travelling at such a high rate of speed she only just moved out of the way before it reached her. She jumped into the trees on the side of the road when it came to a stop. She hid behind a large evergreen and held her breath.
Was it Miles? Did he see her?
She heard voices and a man ask, “Are you sure that was her?”
“Yes that was Eve.”
Jillian? Was that Jillian? No her mind was playing tricks on her.
“Eve Sinclair,” the man called out. “I’m Detective Trevor Daniels. I have Jillian Reid with me.”
Eve had almost fallen to her knees when he’d called out to her. She vaguely remembered Alex saying something about Trevor wanting to arrest Miles. Chilled, she moved out from behind the tree and stumbled to the road where a bald man with a red goatee stood next to Jillian.
He helped her up the small gulley next to the road, where Jillian rushed to her side. “Eve. Are you okay? How did you get here?”
She suddenly felt very cold and shivered. “I swam across the lake like Al…Cade told me too.” She lowered her head, feeling her heart break into tiny pieces.
“Where is Cade? I heard so many shots I…” Trevor frowned at Eve. She couldn’t hide the fact that she had been crying, she didn’t want to. The man she loved had just been killed, her heart was in two pieces and she didn’t know if it would ever heal.
She shook her head and whispered, “Miles shot him.”
Trevor handed her the blanket he pulled from the car. “That doesn’t mean he’s dead. Maybe just passed out.”
Eve shook her head again and explained, “The bullet entered in his lower back and came out his upper chest and then hit me here.” She pointed to the hole in her shirt. She then drew the line the bullet had followed across her own chest. “I can’t even begin to imagine how much damage it did.” If she thought about it logically, Alex shouldn’t have been able to speak to her at all. That’d proved how strong Alex had really been, telling her what to do while suffering a great deal of pain. She exhaled a choppy breath as new tears gathered. Pain. She closed her eyes and prayed. Please God don’t let him be in anymore pain. Let him have peace.
She swayed and let Trevor lead her to his car. She leaned against the side as he checked her shoulder and commented that it didn’t look too bad.
“What about Miles?” she asked quietly. “I heard you scream. I thought you were…” She didn’t want to say the word, there had been too much death tonight, and she was afraid that if she uttered the word it might trigger another disastrous event.
Jillian shook her head, her lips suddenly tremblin
g. “It’s okay.” Trevor moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her. Eve’s smile at the tender show of affection didn’t last long.
Jillian leaned into Trevor as he spoke over top of her head. “Miles was trying to kill her. I did what I had to do.”
Eve nodded, understanding perfectly. Miles was dead. Jillian and her baby were safe, she was safe, and Noelle and Gran were safe. Looked like everyone was safe.
She stared off into the trees on the side of the road. Did Alex even know? She shifted her eyes around the area. Could he be here watching? She would never know she couldn't see the dead. She chuckled to herself. How crazy was this? For years she had been terrified at the thought of seeing the dead and now, with the idea that Alex might be close, she wanted more than anything to have that ability. Just so she could see him, even if it was only for a minute.
“I have to call this in,” Trevor interrupted her wishful thinking. “Will you be okay here with Jillian?”
Eve struggled, opening the blanket hanging around her shoulders for Jillian. Trevor helped her rest against the car and pulled the blanket around both women. “Call out if you need me.” He didn’t leave until Jillian promised.
Standing next to her, Jillian hugged her close.
She smiled, but doubted it looked genuine. “I’m so sorry, Eve.” Jillian gave her a knowing look, and lowered her voice, “About Alex.”
Eve nodded. What else could she do?
* * * *
When Alex opened his eyes he could hear whispering in his head, telling him what he needed to do. But it was hard to understand, the deep voice wasn’t clear. He rubbed his face and looked around. He was standing at the end of his bed in Memorial. His body was still in the same room, with the same blanket covering him. His beard and hair had grown longer, but the holes in his chest were healed. He looked around again and swore.
He was back. He was a median again and Eve was stuck out there, hurt with Miles hunting her. Or worse, she was dead.