by Jen Talty
Reese.
“I’ll shoot him,” Alice said. “I’ve killed once. I’ll do it again.”
“I’m going to put my weapon down,” Stacey said. “Why don’t you put yours down? Or leave. We don’t even have to tell anyone you were here.”
Alice laughed again. “I’m sure this place is already surrounded. If not, it will be soon. First place I’d come looking for me. So, I doubt I’m getting out of here alive. Which means, none of us are getting out of here alive.”
Stacey breathed in through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. Alice wasn’t afraid to die. Which meant she wasn’t afraid to kill. Stacey set her gun on the floor, moving her body about three inches to her right.
“Kick it over here.”
Stacey did as instructed, keeping her hands in the air as she saw Reece dart around the side of the house. “Tell me something,” Stacey said, stalling for time, wondering how long it would take Reese to find a way in. “Why’d you kill Mary and Bill?”
“Really? You’re that stupid.”
“It couldn’t have been just to set Doug and myself up for murder.”
“That was the icing on the cake,” Alice said. She relaxed a bit now that Stacey had given up her weapon. “Mary didn’t know about me and Bill. She got her hooks into him and then fired me, for no reason.”
Stacey was sure there was a valid reason, but she wasn’t going to get into that discussion. She had other questions. Mostly, she wanted to put Alice’s back to the stairs. “So, you wanted revenge on Mary?”
“I wanted her out of the picture. Well, that was until I met Gregory. Talk about a good man. We had a plan. A good one at that, but you went and fucked that up, too.”
“Didn’t mean to,” Stacey said, inching more to her right. “Mind telling me what was in the safety deposit box and how you knew about it?”
When Alice looked to ceiling, as if the answer she needed would fall from the sky, Stacey inched a few baby steps to her right. Doug took her hand and squeezed it hard.
“See,” Alice started, “Bill had given me a key to his summer place.”
“You were that close?”
“We were lovers. I’d meet him there sometimes.”
Stacey figured this was one of the stalker women Bill’s family had described to Luke. “But then he hooked up with Mary.”
“More like Mary stole him from me.”
Stacey knew Alice would soon tire of the Q&A. “How did you know about the box?”
“I snuck in the cottage to mess with them some more. Show them we meant business. Maybe rip up one of Mary’s slutty outfits. Or leave an ominous note. Move things around. But they showed up while I was still there. I hid in the other room and listened to Mary tell Bill what she’d done at the bank, and about the note to her sister, and that’s when I knew exactly what I had to do, but I had to be patient.”
“But why kill them?”
“We were just roughing her up. But she was stronger than she looked, so I had to use more force. She landed funny on the boat and was knocked out. Bill flipped. Came after me, so I shot him. Then I finished off Mary.”
“Why not dump them both at the bottom of the lake?”
“Bill wasn’t dead yet, and I wanted the money. But the bastard died, so…”
“Was it always your plan to frame Doug?”
“No,” Alice said. “That came after we killed them. And it was a good plan.”
The more Alice talked, the more she didn’t pay attention to where her gun was pointed.
Stacey heard the floorboards at the top of the stairs squeak. Reese must have climbed a tree and gone in though her father’s bedroom. Smart man.
“What was in the box?” Stacey asked.
“Information about who Mary thought was blackmailing them, and how if anything happened to her or Bill, they should come knocking at my door.”
“They knew you were the blackmailer.” Stacey stated the obvious as she shifted to her right and a tad forward, forcing her to pry her hand from Doug’s. More importantly, forcing Alice to put her back to the stairs. “What were you blacking mailing Bill with?” She saw Reese as he lowered himself to the floor, staying low, inching behind Alice, but Alice’s gun was still a little too close to her father’s head for comfort, so Stacey shifted once more the center of the room.
“Stop moving,” Alice yelled.
Stacey held her hands out to the side, staying still. “What did you have on Bill?”
“I had proof he took a large sum of money to let a client take the fall for someone else. Told him he had to pay me, or I’d kill Mary. That was the money Gregory and I were going to use to get out of this god-forsaken town—”
As soon as Alice waved the gun in the air again, Reese stood tall, then pounced, landing directly on Alice. They tumbled forward, the gun flying out of Alice’s hand as she landed on her face with a thud at Stacey’s feet.
Stacey snatched up both weapons.
“Dad, untie Jillian.” she said, but her father was already scooping the woman into his arms.
Reese sat up, holding Alice’s arms behind her back, his knee pressed between her shoulder blades. “Last time it was you saving my sorry ass from getting shot. I guess we’re even.”
“I’d say so.” Stacey took her cuffs out and secured Alice’s wrists. “You messed with the wrong family.”
“Fucking crazy bitch,” her father said.
“Nice mouth, Dad,” Stacey said.
“Felt really good to say that out loud,” her father said. “Please get that woman out of my house.”
Stacey heard sirens in the background. Reese had hoisted Alice to her feet then led her outside.
It was finally over.
She looked at her father, holding Jillian. He glanced her way. “I did not like you putting your weapon down.”
“Can’t say it was my first choice, but I had to let her think she had the upper hand, keep her talking while Reese found a way in.”
“You’re one damn good cop,” her father said.
The adrenaline coursing through her body threatened to dissipate. All she wanted to do was fall into Doug’s arms and him hold her trembling body. “Thanks.” She gave Doug a quick hug and kiss. “Stay in here with Dad and Jillian. I’ve got to get out there and see this through.”
For the next hour, she and her family, which now included Jillian, gave statements. Dalton did his best to wrap things up quickly. When all was said and done, it was well into the dinner hour. Her father ordered Chinese, but before she could eat, she had to shower off the day’s events.
And cry.
She stood under that shower, letting the tears flow freely until the water ran cold. Seeing her father in such a vulnerable position. Knowing if she made one wrong move, he could have died, and it would have been her fault. Or Doug could have died. Any one of them could have been killed. She wiped the tears away as got dressed. Alice and Gregory would go away for a very long time.
She took the steps to the family room slowly, looking down at her father, Jillian, and Doug. She smiled, noticing her father had completely rearranged the family room. Doug must have heard her, because seconds later, he was at her side, at the base of the stairs, holding her in his strong, protective arms. She might be a Trooper, but nothing felt safer than being in the arms of the man she loved.
She closed her eyes, leaning against Doug’s strong frame. Her body shuddered.
He tugged at the back of her ponytail, tilting her head up. “You okay?”
Her breath hitched when she looked into his deep eyes. He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek. “I am now.”
“I love you,” he whispered before he licked his full lips then pressed them gently against hers.
“I love you back.”
“Jim,” Doug said, holding her gaze. “I’m going to take a couple of days off and take the love of my life to some big, fancy hotel where there is lots of room service. A big Jacuzzi. A nice king-sized bed.”
> “With no footboard,” she said, which won her a big smile.
“Maybe a balcony with a great view,” he added.
“Sounds wonderful,” Jim said. “Perhaps Jillian and I should join you.”
“Absolutely not,” Doug said before his lips came crashing down on Stacey’s.
Epilogue
The following spring…
“WE’LL FIND THE RIGHT HOUSE.” Doug dropped his car keys into the dish on the counter by the back door of his soon-to-be father-in-law’s house. It had taken a while, but things were finally back to normal.
“The wedding is in two months. I want to be in our own place by then,” Stacey said.
“We’ll figure it out.” Last summer, he wouldn’t have believed that statement, but now, that he had the most perfect woman, he believed. “We don’t want to buy just anything. We’re looking at living there for the rest of our lives. Raising a family there.”
“I know,” Stacey said, smiling up at him. Even now, after she’d said yes to being his wife, that smile and those milk-chocolate eyes still had the ability to cut his breath short. “But aren’t you getting tired of living with my father? I know I am.”
“Hey,” Jim barked. “What’s wrong with living here?” He sat at the table, reading the paper.
“Do you really want me to list all the reasons? Because the biggest reason would make you turn three shades of red,” Stacey said. “Not to mention, it’s getting a little crowded now that Jillian is moving in. Where is she?”
“Upstairs, FaceTiming with her daughter.” Jim folded the paper. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Why?” Doug asked. The last time they went for a walk had been… He had no idea.
“I want to show you something.”
It had been nearly a year since Alice Rictor had held them at gunpoint, but only six months since Alice and Detective Gregory had been sentenced to prison. Alice was given life without parole, and Gregory, twenty-five years. According to Stacey, an ex-cop probably wouldn’t make it very long in a prison full of men he helped put away.
It had taken a few months for all of them to recover. Stacey had spent about a month with a new, reoccurring nightmare. Doug had worried she’d never get past it, but she had. It had taken Doug two to three months before he could sleep through the night again. But for Jim, it took much longer. Being held at gunpoint tends to change a person. Seeing his daughter in action, in a dangerous profession, had changed him as well. He was proud of her, but he worried about her even more. He never mentioned it to her, though he did ask Doug a few times, if he thought this was what Stacey would be doing for the rest of her life.
Doug couldn’t lie to Jim. Stacey did not intend to change careers. Not anytime soon. Being a Trooper was as much a part of her make-up as him being an architect and a builder. He couldn’t ever ask her to give up something that close to her heart.
Eventually, in a few years, they did want to have children, after they’d had a chance to just be a couple. He had worried they rushed things a bit with getting married only a year after it began. Then again, she was his soulmate. They were meant to be together.
He held her hand as they followed Jim down the road to the driveway of the house where they had first met. Doug paused at the walkwway, but Jim continued toward the door. “Come on,” Jim said.
“I don’t think the owners would appreciate us—”
Jim interrupted him. “It’s fine.”
Doug glanced at Stacey, who shrugged. He wasn’t sure he was ready for a trip down memory lane; something Jim had been doing a lot of over the course of the last year. Doug understood it was therapeutic, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to set foot on this property or inside the house. It represented the end of one chapter, and the beginning of his life. A real life.
“What is he doing?” Doug whispered in Stacey’s ear. “Has he lost his mind?”
Jim was fiddling with the door. “I heard that,” he barked.
“Seriously, what are you doing?” Stacey asked.
“Breaking in,” he said, holding up a key. “Relax. I’ve sort of got permission to be here.”
“It’s the ‘sort of’ part that concerns me,” Stacey said.
“Inside, the both of you.” Jim waved them through the door. “Straight back to the kitchen.”
The last time Doug had been inside this house was the day the owners came to approve the work. He ran his fingers along the granite countertop. The majority of the work in this house, he, Jim, and a crew of five other guys had done. Those five guys were still full-time employees of Sutten & Tanner Construction.
Doug had watched the transformation from a run-down shack to a glorious home. Back then, he felt he only deserved the run-down shack. When the owners came and took the keys, Doug left that part of his life in dust. He never wanted to go back. He couldn’t go back.
Doug stepped around the counter; the view of the lake astounded him. The sun beat through the sliding glass doors. His chested tightened as he remembered being alone in this house, pretending it was his mansion with expensive furniture and all the food he could eat.
The house was three stories on the lakeside, so they were currently on the second floor. To his left were an office and a laundry room. To his right, a family room. He traced his finger across the bookshelf in the kitchen as he turned to look beyond the family room toward the master bedroom and the closet he had called home for a few months. “Why are we here?” He faced Jim, who stood next to Stacey, his arm draped across her shoulder. He pushed an envelope across the counter. “Open it.”
“What is it?” Stacey asked.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Jim said.
Doug studied the envelope. It wasn’t special. Just your everyday white, letter-size envelope. It was thin and didn’t feel like much was inside. Written on the outside was Doug.
“You’re killing me here,” Stacey said. “I’m dying to know what it is.”
Doug lifted the back flap carefully then pulled out a piece of paper. He read the words silently to himself.
Doug,
My mother always said that everything happens for a reason. With everything we’ve been through, I now believe that. When we first met, I thought it just chance. I know better now. You were brought to us for a reason. I didn’t know why back then, but I know now. I couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law, a better business partner, or a better friend. This house brought us together, but the heart of it belongs to you. Take care of my baby girl in your new home.
Jim
Doug shook his head. “No,” he said. “You didn’t. I can’t accept this. We can’t accept this.” His hands trembled, much like they had the first day they’d met. Jim had taught Doug about honor. Pride. Dignity. Responsibility. He’d taught him to be a self-reliant man.
“What did he do?” Stacey asked.
Doug ignored her, staring at Jim. “This is too much.” He continued to shake his head. “Seriously, I can’t accept this.”
Jim laughed. “Well, before you really insult me, the down payment is a wedding present. Mortgage payments are all yours.”
“This house?” Stacey questioned softly. “This can be our house?”
“You didn’t think I was going to let Doug sweep you off your feet, marry you, and then move you miles and miles away, did you?”
Doug felt his knees go weak as he managed to sit on the barstool, feeling somewhat better. This house had more than the history of a homeless boy, and he wasn’t sure where to file all those feelings. “I didn’t even know this house went on the market.”
“It didn’t. Not officially, anyway,” Jim said. “I called them and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“You’ve been letting us look for houses while you’ve been sitting on this?” Stacey asked.
Jim smiled. “I wouldn’t say sitting on it, but I wanted to make sure the deal would go through. Oh, and I negotiated for the furniture.”
“All of it?” Doug asked, looking aro
und, paying more attention to his surroundings. He remembered, as they put the final touches on the house, the owners coming in with decorators and discussing furniture. He’d learned a lot by listening to the decorator talk. A couple of times he’d wanted to chime in but didn’t. Back then, he could barely speak to Jim and Stacey, but the lessons were still etched in his brain and as he grew closer to Jim, and he’d often tell Jim what he saw in any given space.
“Well, I want my bed,” Stacey said.
“Told you.” Doug got his legs back and stood. “That bed is not coming with us, no matter where we move.” He handed her the note her father had written. He knew she’d appreciate the words as much as he did.
“I don’t know what to say.” Doug stared at the man who had given him everything, quite literally. “You’ve done too much already and I’ve… I’ve…”
Jim rested his hand on Doug’s shoulder then squeezed. “This.” Jim waved his hand around the kitchen. “Us,” he said. “We’re family. We stick together. Welcome home.”
Doug stretched out his hand, but Jim pushed it aside and gave him a hug. “Make this house a real home.”
Jim put the set of keys on the counter. “I’ll be at my place,” he said, emphasizing the word my.
“Come with me.” Doug took Stacey by the hand then led her to the master bedroom. His gut twisted with the anxious nerves of a teenager. “When I was living here, I spent almost all of my time in that closet.”
“My dad told me that.”
A lump developed in his throat. He stood at the doorway to the closet, unable to open it. He’d been a scared, socially awkward little boy. He would never have survived the streets, but he could never make it work with people, until Jim. He’d changed everything.
Jim and Stacey gave Doug a reason to exist. They gave him a future.
She tugged his arm as she pushed back the door.
The closet was bigger than he remembered, which he thought odd because usually it was the other way around. It was filled with built-in dressers and drawers that he’d helped design and construct. The window was still there, letting the sun trickle through the glass, hitting Stacey’s engagement ring, which then fired off bright, flickering lights, reminding him he never had to be alone again. “I saw my first shooting star through that window.”