Shattered Pearls

by Sidney Parker

  I heard a familiar voice screaming my name, the panic evident but the scream was only a whisper. I couldn’t track the whisper. Where was it coming from? Was I dreaming again? I wanted to wake up. I needed to hang onto that voice, a voice I needed more than anything, and the last voice I heard before my world just stopped.

  EMILY

  I hated hospitals and I hated being fussed over even more. The only good part was that Elliot seemed to have taken up residency.

  When I regained consciousness, I was in a sterile white room, one window with a curtain drawn closed, and a machine next to me, beeping every thirty seconds. Elliot was sound asleep in a chair next to me. His tall frame was not made for a small chair. Elliot looked exhausted and scared, his skin pale with dark circles surrounding his eyes. His hand still rested on the bed next to me, his fingers clasped with mine.

  My eyes roamed over every inch of him sleeping in the chair next to me. I wanted to reach out and touch him, to know for sure he was there and that I was still alive. But I couldn’t move my arm. Wrapped in gauze, it was in some kind of a sling held tightly to my side.

  Flashes of the recent events came in bursts as I tried to piece everything together.

  I remembered he was out on my patio, trying to get in. I didn’t know who he was, just that he looked kind of familiar. I remember a gun—he had a gun aimed at Lucky. My body jerked as I heard the gun firing … aimed at Lucky.

  Elliot, startled by my sudden movement, grabbed my hand and leaned over me, wide-awake.

  “Lucky,” I managed to gasp. “Where is Lucky?”

  I could feel the panic building and my eyes filled with tears as I remembered Lucky jumping toward the man.

  “Lucky’s fine.” Elliot tried to calm me down. “Lucky is with George, he’s fine. Do you remember what happened? Anything?”

  I nodded first then shook my head, my heart rate slowing down a little bit. I needed answers. Why was I in the hospital and why did I hurt so damn bad?

  “You were shot. You stepped in front of Lucky as he fired the gun. You took a bullet in your shoulder.”

  The pain medication was making me hazy. I just shook my head.

  “Why?” I managed to croak out. My mouth felt like sandpaper, dry and cracked in the corners of my lips. It hurt to talk, but I needed to know what happened.

  Elliot gave me a sip of water from a cup on the table next to me. He scooted his chair closer to the bed and to me.

  “Did you know the man that shot you?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “Why didn’t you tell me someone had been stalking you over the last year?”

  I closed my eyes, wanting to shut the nightmare off.

  “I kept hoping it would just go away,” I told him.

  “No one could figure out who it was. Plus, I was afraid it would make you walk away if you knew about it. Who needs that kind of baggage? It was bad enough for me.”

  “So you didn’t even know the guy? That he lived about eight houses up the street?”

  “No, I may have seen him walking around outside before but I honestly never noticed him. It’s crazy. The guy was a complete stranger to me. I wouldn’t have known him if I had run into him anywhere. I thought it usually was someone you know or at least met. I don’t understand any of it. Why me? Why would he want to kill me?”

  “From what I understand, he thought you were someone else, some woman who left him. The guy is crazy. There are warrants out for him back in Texas. The police know a lot more than I do. I haven’t had a chance to talk to them yet. I kind of showed up in the middle of everything last night, just as you were shot. Your neighbor heard screams coming from your house and called the police. It was chaotic, to say the least.”

  Elliot held my hand, playing with my fingers, tears forming and slowly creating a path down his face. He didn’t even attempt to hide them.

  “Emily … I have never been so scared in my life! I honestly thought I had lost you.”

  I squeezed his hand. I wanted to hold him, put my arms around him, and reassure him I was fine, but I couldn’t move yet, so I just keep squeezing his hand.

  “You promise me Lucky is fine? I thought he was the one shot at first, until I realized…”

  I needed the pictures in my mind to go away.

  “He is. Your cop buddies are bringing him by to see you in a little while.”

  I leaned back on the pillow, relieved again.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Elliot asked, smoothing back my hair gently.

  “I want to go home.”

  “We’ll see what the doctors says when he comes in.”

  “Do you have to leave soon?” I tried not to let the panic come through in my voice.

  “Nope. I told you before, I’m never leaving you again, Emily.” And he kissed each of my fingers, one at a time.

  EMILY

  It’d been six months now and Elliot was still here. Or I was there. Or we were together somewhere, along with Lucky.

  We went back and forth a lot. He offered to sell the beach house and move to Phoenix but I wouldn’t let him. I loved La Jolla. It was my safe place where I found peace in the middle of my storms. I’d lived surrounded by too much chaos over the years. I needed the ocean close to me.

  Most of the time, I would rather be here anyway. Once I could use my arm again, he set up another desk facing the ocean so I could work, with a space to call my own. It was inspiring to write with him next to me. I was finally doing it, finally writing. I finished up the first draft of my story.

  Elliot was my biggest fan. He read my work, encouraging me and pushing me through the rough spots. He believed in me and that’s what I’d needed the most.

  And he loved me unconditionally—moodiness, insecurities, craziness and all. And I believed him.

  I still looked over my shoulder constantly and I hated being alone, especially when I was at the house in Chandler. Lucky went with me almost everywhere, but it was getting better, slowly. Between working through it with the help of Andrea and the support of Elliot and my friends, I was getting there. I just had to give myself time. Though, to be honest, does one ever really feel safe after something like this? Do you ever really know about the people around you?

  Jack pleaded guilty on the stalking charges, attempted murder, and a host of other things, but not Steve’s murder. He still swore it wasn’t him but I had my doubts.

  Both he and his roommate were going to jail for a long time. Actually, Jack was in a psychiatric facility, the courts questioning his sanity. After he’s released from there, he will be in jail. I was relieved there wasn’t going to be a trial. I wasn’t sure I could sit in a courtroom and look at him while testifying.

  He was a total stranger to me. I still had a hard time wrapping my head around everything that happened … a complete stranger who thought I was someone else, someone he was ready to kill. It was crazy, all over a mistaken identity.

  I hoped they could prove he killed Steve or was a part of it. I didn’t want to think there was someone else like Jack out there. It was too much to deal with. The police felt he was behind the murder and hopefully they could find the evidence to back it up.

  I still had moments when I thought of everything that happened and I freaked out—crying spells, the shaking, and fear of leaving the house. Elliot had been on the roller coaster ride with me. He was so good, unfailingly kind and understanding when I started to get paranoid.

  He was great at giving me my time and space, allowing me to move slowly from me to us. He knew me and all my little quirks. He tried to tell me he worshiped me and had since the day he met me, but he also understood the word worship scared the hell out of me. It made me think of running. I didn’t want to be up on any man’s pedestal because I didn’t want to worry about falling off. I just wanted to be loved for me … quirks, fears, and all.

  I tried explaining it to him and I thought he got it. One thing I had learned about myself was that I could be my own worst enemy,
especially in a relationship. Elliot understood that.

  When I got too antsy, Lucky and I went back to Phoenix. Elliot gave me a day or two and then followed me. We spent time there and then headed back to La Jolla. When he traveled, I usually stayed at the beach house. I’d gotten to know some of his friends there and they watched over Lucky and me.

  I was even trying my hand at surfing again. I’d been getting pointers from Jake, one of Elliot’s surfing buddies. I wanted to surprise Elliot with it someday soon.

  Elliot was never gone for very long now, a few days here and there. I learned to appreciate the quiet here on the ocean when I was alone. I never promised it would be easy but it was working. We’d even talked about the future and maybe someday getting married. That was scary, but Elliot was a patient man and I was a very lucky woman. I got to wake up almost every day in the arms of the man I really do love. I reached out and touched him when the desire came to me, which was all the time. Even now, I couldn’t get enough of him.

  One day at a time … it would all work out. That was my mantra. I repeated it to myself every single day. Maybe someday I would really, truly believe it.

  I thought I was getting close.

  THE END

  EMILY

  BUT THEN AGAIN

  Lucky and I just came back from a run on the beach when my phone started blasting out a bit of funky music. Thinking it was Elliot letting me know what time his plane was getting in later, I answered it without checking the name.

  “Hey, Em?”

  Instantly I recognized Andrea’s voice and I could hear hysteria and fear in the two words she had spoken.

  “What’s going on? What happened?” I asked.

  “I just got a call from a hospital in Wisconsin. They have a woman who was admitted yesterday. She has been brutally beaten by her partner. They’re not sure if she’s going to make it.”

  I waited for her to continue, clutching the phone.

  “They think it was Ben.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath. “He disappeared again, but they think he may be heading back here to Arizona. The woman he hurt was conscious for a little while before she slipped into a coma. She was able to give them his first name. She kept rambling on about him having unfinished business in Phoenix.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First of all, I could have never done this without my beautiful friend and editor, Lori Sabin.

  You are amazing. Thank you for bringing me into this world of words and holding my hand throughout the journey.

  A special thank you to

  Hang Le—for the gorgeous cover design of Shattered Pearls.

  Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing—for making the inside perfect.

  Tammy, Cathy, and Sandy—my incredible and honest betas.

  Teresa, Lisa, Sue, and Julie—for believing I could do it.

  Peter—for telling me it’s wonderful every single day, even in the very beginning.

  And to Linda Moore—you asked me about my book every single week for almost two years. You made me laugh, you made me dream, but most of all, you believed in me.

  I miss you.

  RIP, beautiful lady.

  And most of all,

  to Jessica,

  The world’s greatest daughter…

  I am truly blessed.

  For information about Sidney Parker and her books visit

  http://www.sidney-parker.com

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