by Owens, C. M.
“Please don’t ever leave me,” he murmurs so softly. “I wouldn’t make it without you.”
A smile spreads quickly over my lips, and I wrap my arms around his neck.
“I’ve never been engaged before, but not because no one asked. I just never wanted to promise someone I’d love them for the rest of my life. I love you, and I want to make that promise. I’m never going anywhere, Tag.”
He smiles his boyish grin, and then he pulls me to his body before kissing my forehead. “Let’s go see what the detective wants, and then get the hell back in here.”
I laugh lightly, and nod before pulling on a shirt, as he goes to find his own clothes.
***
Tag
If this son of a bitch is back to attack Ash some more, I might end up in jail for assaulting a cop. I’m sick of the drama. I’m just ready to start our lives together.
We walk out, hand-in-hand, and my eyes meet the detective’s. He stands from the chair, his eyes moving from mine as his lips tighten.
“Why are you here this time?” I almost growl.
“I’m sorry to return so late, especially after our last encounter, but I thought you should know, we found Rene Ballinger tonight.”
I exhale in relief, and Ash’s arms wrap around me as she trembles slightly. I pull her to me, feeling her anxiety, and my lips stroke the top of her head.
“Did she confess?” I ask.
“Not exactly. Rene is dead.”
A ghastly silence spreads over everyone in the room, and Ash looks over to see the tears spreading in Bity’s eyes. He’s loved her forever, and though he should hate her, I’m sure this is still hard for him.
“If you’re here to accuse us again, then you’d better get the hell out. We haven’t left since you were here earlier.”
He shakes his head while pulling out several evidence bags.
“I’m not here to accuse you of anything, but Rene didn’t die tonight. She’s been dead for a few days. It looks like she ran off the road while driving home. She crashed through the guardrail, and she ended up at the bottom of the cliffs. We had to use dental records to confirm her identity. I’m coming to tell you—I think you’re right about her being your stalker. We found these.”
He hands me the evidence bags, and I gasp when I see several pictures of Rene. Her hair has been dyed and cut to exactly match Ash’s. Then I get sick when I see pictures of Ash and me.
Ash’s face has been removed and replaced by Rene’s. It’s freaky and twisted, but it doesn’t make sense.
“It looks as though she was severely jealous of the relationship you had with Ms. Branderwood.”
“You think?” I growl as tears whelp up in Ash’s eyes.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Bity says while shaking his head. “The threats started before Ash and Tag even knew each other. If she was jealous of them being together, why start then?”
I was thinking the same thing, but I hadn’t wanted to voice it in front of Ash.
“I think she was just extremely obsessed with Ms. Branderwood due to the attention she receives from men. During my many interviews with several of the people in your lives, it’s rather obvious Ms. Branderwood has been very desired for many years by many men. Once she obtained your interest, it pushed her over the edge and she went from verbal threats to physical ones.”
That’s not something I care to hear. Any of it. Especially the part where Ash is so desired. As if I don’t have enough problems. I’m not even the jealous type, and now I’m incredibly jealous.
My arms wrap around her waist, and she nestles into me, not giving a damn about the apparently long line of men fantasizing about her.
“It makes sense why she went after Bity at the wedding now,” Wren adds. “He’s the only one who ever devoted her any real attention, and then he showed up with Ash on his arm. She was just trying to keep her one admirer.”
Bity shudders, and then he looks toward Wren.
“Please, don’t ever mention any feelings I had toward her ever again. I’m about to be sick as it is. I fucking chased a psychopath. I’m lucky she wasn’t interested.”
“Damn straight you're lucky,” Shannon shivers out. “She would have probably tried killing you, too.”
Ash whimpers lightly, but she clears her throat, trying her best to be strong.
“Is there anything else?” I ask, ready to dismiss the detective and hold my girl.
“Yes, actually. The lab confirmed that Dyllan Mathews was killed by the same gun that shot Ms. Branderwood.”
“Rene killed him?” Ash gasps. “Why?”
“I don’t know. From our observation, it seems he was desperate to get a hold of you in the weeks before his death. It’s possible he spotted her following you. We found pictures of you in his storage facility. For some reason, he had it under a false name. When we found his keys, we tracked down where each one belonged. He was following you, too, but we never found any pictures of Rene.”
“Can I see these pictures?” I ask.
“I’m sorry, I thought it would be too much for Ms. Branderwood so I didn’t bother to bring them. You’re welcome to come down to the station tomorrow, if you like.”
I nod, not certain if it’s worth my time now that this is over.
Russell walks in, ready to secure the perimeter as the detective starts walking toward the door.
“You should be able to relax for a while. We’re still comparing the DNA results, but I’m sure Rene is your girl. I’ll let you know when it’s confirmed.”
I nod, and then I scoop Ash’s trembling body into my arms.
“Tag, can you just hold me?” she whispers, her voice needy, making me feel like the most important man in the world.
“All night, baby,” I murmur. “As long as you want me to.”
We head into the room, and she curls against me the moment we’re in bed. Our celebration has ended, but so has our hell.
Chapter Seventeen
Misled
Ashiara
It feels like I’m moving, and I’m worried my abundant tears have forced me to feel seasick. I open my eyes and gasp loudly when I see and feel my hands bound.
“What the hell?” I screech as I jump up in the back seat of a car.
“Just sit still, Ms. Branderwood, or your son dies,” a familiar, deep voice releases.
“Russell?” I gasp. “What the fuck?”
Panic sets in. Why does he have me? My son? Where’s Trip?
“We’re going to meet someone, Ms. Branderwood. She has your child, and if you’re wise, you’ll let her do as she wants—if you want him to live.”
My heart races as a sick, sinking feeling attacks my stomach. I feel dizzy, nauseated, and so fucking terrified for my son.
We pull up to a stoplight, and a group of guys in a car look in at me. I want to scream, hold up my restrained hands, beg someone for help, but I know I can’t, not without risking the life of my son.
We drive off, leaving my one chance of rescue behind.
“Why are you doing this?” I whimper. “You’re supposed to be protecting me - protecting Trip. He’s just a baby.”
His cold stature doesn’t waver as he looks ahead.
“If you do as you’re told, your son will live.”
“But not me?” I ask, a knowing tone in my voice.
He doesn’t say anything, but he answers me with his silence. This will be the last night I live.
The car slows to a stop on the quiet, private beach, and he hops out to drag me from the car. I don’t fight him, scream, or make a move as we head down to the deserted section of the beach.
Only one house stands alone for several miles from what I can see. I’ve never even been here, and I have no idea where we are. I shouldn’t have drank so much, and then I wouldn’t have slept through my kidnapping.
“Is Tag alive?” I worry as the sudden realization he would have never let someone take me hits me.
“He’s still asleep,�
�� Russell’s gruffly answers. “I happen to be damn good with stealth.”
He sounds proud of himself—too proud. I regret telling Tag to let the security slack with Rene supposedly dead. It’s obvious now she’s not, and the fucking detective was in on it all along.
He grips me by the hair when his rushed pace forces me to stumble, and I let out a painful yelp when he jerks me too hard. He shows no mercy, no remorse, as he continues to painfully drag me down to the water.
The silhouette of a woman comes into view just as he throws me down, making my knees burn and grind against the harsh grit of the unforgiving sand.
I stare at her - her dress whipping in the wind as she carries a bundle in her arms.
Trip.
He’s too quiet, too wrapped. I get sick, worried, and dizzy as she nears. He doesn’t like strangers, but he’s not crying.
Then her face comes into view, and I turn pale as I stare up at her once she’s just a few feet away from me.
“It’s you,” I gasp in horror just before my breath intake grows panicked and shallow, forcing me to black out.
***
Tag
My arm stretches out to pull Ash to me, but her side of the bed is empty. I rise up, wiping my sleepy eyes, to see the pitch black night still in play.
“Ash?” I murmur a little loud, but she doesn’t answer.
I climb out of bed and check the bathroom to find it as dark and empty as her place on the bed.
She must not be able to sleep.
I head toward the kitchen, wondering if she got hungry, and I hear light chuckling coming from the closed doors of the den. I head in, expecting to find Ash, but run across Bity and Shannon instead.
“Hey. Couldn’t sleep?” Bity asks as Shannon slips out of his lap and onto the couch beside him.
“No, um, have you seen Ash?”
“Not since you guys went to bed. Why?”
“She’s not in our room. Why are you guys in here?”
“Trip woke up, very unhappy with a terrible diaper, and we couldn’t go back to sleep. We decided to come down here and talk instead of waking up everyone else.”
“Where’s Trip?” I ask, feeling a pang of worry.
Bity picks up the monitor and waves it lightly.
“He’s still in bed. We’ve been checking in on him, and we brought this down here.”
I sigh, feeling relief, and then I walk over to the window.
“I’m going to go find Ash. You don’t think she went outside, do you?”
“No. The alarm would have sounded, or at least beeped when she disarmed it,” Bity says with a shrug.
A car pulls in and shuts its lights off before the glow can hit the house. I realize it’s Russell when he gets out, and I tilt my head curiously. Where has he been? He’s not supposed to leave while on duty.
I’ll definitely talk to Troy about that. I start to walk out the door, then remember the alarm. When I reach the pad, however, I realize it’s not armed, and it hasn’t been… all night.
“Shit.”
“What?” Bity worries.
My eyes fall on Russell, ready to blast him as soon as he reaches the house. He left it unarmed so he could sneak back in and pretend like he was doing his job instead of running off in the night for whatever in the hell he’s up to.
I walk out, and my heart jumps in my throat when I see Troy’s body collapsed in the bushes beside me. He’s still, two bullets in his head, and I feel the chunks rising to my throat when I see two more men’s feet sticking out from under the bushes.
I rush back in and slam the door shut while pressing the arm button on the pad.
“Call the cops, now!” I demand while rushing around the house.
“What’s going on?” Bity panics.
“Call the fucking cops!”
I hear Shannon’s distant voice doing as I’ve commanded as I scream out, “Ash!”
No one answers me back, and I get sick when I reach Bity and Shannon’s room. My son. Oh please let him be here.
“The cops are on their way,” Shannon murmurs while my hand hesitates over the doorknob.
“What’s wrong?” Bity urges.
I finally burst through, and I rush over to the crib. Tingles of anxiety spread and attack me fully.
Quickly I rush out, and I grab up my phone to call the detective.
“What’s wrong?” he asks in a tired voice as I head back to the crib, my whole body shaking.
"That bitch isn't dead."
***
Ashiara
“I was wondering if you were ever going to wake back up,” she grumbles as she steps toward me, still holding my baby in her arms.
She’s holding him too tight. He should be crying right now from her grip. He hates to be held tight.
Oh, God, please let him be alive.
“You’re such a little bitch,” she snorts, brushing her pale blond hair from her brow.
“Why are you doing this?” I cry out.
“Really?” she scoffs. “You know the answer to that question. Dyllan was my life, you conniving little whore.”
I swallow hard as I stare at the pale woman who barely resembles the shattered woman I saw at the bar that night—the night I realized the man who took my virginity was married.
She stalks around, her eerie footsteps tracing the sands under her feet, and she laughs a little.
“It’s like you have some divine intervention everyday. Your life is so fucking perfect.”
Perfect? She’s fucking crazy. Well, duh. That’s pretty obvious.
“My life isn’t perfect.”
She laughs louder, but there’s no one to hear her maniacal cackles but me. Then they cease as she turns to me with pain and fury in her eyes.
“My life was perfect once. I was in love, pregnant, and happy.”
My breath catches in my throat.
“I never knew you existed until that night. I swear I didn’t. I left him the second I knew he was married.”
She snorts derisively, and then turns back away.
“Oh, believe me, I know you left him. For months he obsessed over getting you back. We went out for our anniversary that night. Five years we had been married. I’d loved him my whole life though. I was about to tell him I was pregnant when I ordered water instead of a drink. Then, my world fell apart—because of you.”
She turns back to me, all of her pain replaced by hatred.
“He told me I was pathetic when I begged him to stay. He said I was weak, oh, but he thought you were so much stronger. That’s why he loved you, he said. I had to hear about how fucking incredible you were. When I told him I was pregnant, he told me I’d be a terrible mother, and I needed to go to the doctor to take care of the child he didn’t want.”
I shiver, realizing I never knew Dyllan at all. He was an even worse monster than I thought.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur through a crackle, my eyes flashing toward the silent child in her arms.
“Not yet, but you will be. You see, I decided tonight to do things a little differently. Instead of simply killing you and the child you don’t deserve, I’m going to take your life the way you took mine. You’ll still die, of course, but Trip here will become mine.”
“No!” I squeal while leaping to my feet, but she pulls out a gun and holds it to his head that still shielded from my view under the night sky and blanket.
I stop my rushing assault, and she smirks.
“Don’t worry, his daddy will still be involved. Tag Masters is a very attractive man. He’ll need someone to help him raise his little boy when he’s devastated by his love’s untimely death. He’ll be searching for a nanny, and Russell will quickly offer my name as a great candidate. It’s amazing what someone will do when they have dark secrets in their closet. I couldn’t have done this without him.”
Russell—that son of a bitch. He’s probably back home with Tag now, plotting my replacement.
“Tag will never fall for you.”
“Oh really? Grief is a strong emotion that makes you feel a need for closeness. Trust me, I know. When Dyllan beat my child out of me, I grieved for over a year, wishing someone would care. When I tell your doting fiancé of my loss and who I am, we’ll bond. Like I said, grief is a very powerful emotion. It will drive him to fall for me when I show him how much I care for his son, the son you don’t deserve, the son you took the chance of having away from me.”
I hate her and pity her at the same time. She’s deranged, and that bitch is planning on raising my child. If I was her though, I’d be just as deranged and pissed. I can’t imagine losing my son, and if it costs me my life… so be it.
No matter what she says, Tag will never love her. Eventually, he’ll see right through her. I know he will.
“What are you going to do to me?” I ask, my body still trembling. “Kill me like you killed Dyllan?”
“Yes, and Rene,” she laughs.
“You killed Rene? Why?”
She laughs harder. “That girl was crazy. You should be thanking me.”
Did this lunatic really just call someone else crazy?
“She was the one you pointed the finger at when the police told you it was a woman. It worked out in my favor, and with her dead, security lightened up, making it easier for Russell to do my bidding.”
I shake my head, completely in shock. She’s definitely a coldhearted bitch.
“Why kill Dyllan if you loved him so much?”
“Because Dyllan was a son of a bitch who stole my child. Not to mention, after Billy Prize asked him if he was the one stalking and threatening you a while back, he came in search of me. When I killed him, it was in self defense.
“It was unbelievable. After he robbed me of my child and left me alone in the hospital to deal with my grief, he went off stalking you himself. He was trying to find a way back into your life. He didn’t give a damn about me or our dead baby.”
“I’m sorry you lost your child, but don’t do this. I never would have been with Dyllan if I had known he was married.”
She scowls, seeming angrier now.