Defending Hayden: A Second Chances Novel

by L. P. Dover

  “He tried to kill Hayden,” I growled through clenched teeth. I turned around and faced Jason. There was another officer with him; I recognized him but couldn’t remember his name.

  Jason motioned for me to move away while the other officer held a gun in Jeremiah’s direction. “An ambulance is on the way. Aylee is with Hayden right now. Go.” The handcuffing was probably going to come later. As I raced back through the woods, I saw the ambulance pull into the parking lot and the medics get out. I didn’t wait for them; I burst through the clinic door. Aylee was beside Hayden, applying pressure to her wounded arm. Aylee was Jason’s wife and a former FBI agent; she worked with him now.

  Hayden glanced up at me and frowned when she looked at my hands. “What happened?”

  I dropped down beside her, the weight of the situation finally hitting home. My eyes burned. If I hadn’t woken up when I did and come looking for her, I never would’ve gotten to her in time. “Unfortunately, the fucker’s still alive,” I grumbled. I grabbed her icy-cold hand and kissed it, tears falling down my cheeks. I couldn’t have held them back even if I’d wanted to. The paramedics hurried in, a young woman and a middle-aged man, and I watched them bandage Hayden up and put her on the gurney. I followed them into the ambulance, where the woman tended to the wound on my back while I kept my gaze on Hayden.

  She turned to me and smiled. “I love you.”

  I held her good hand to my face, breathing her in. “I love you, too. I can’t believe I almost lost you tonight.”

  Hayden shook her head. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

  Chapter 31

  Hayden

  I could hear voices all around me, but I couldn’t seem to wake up. My mom and dad were there, and so was Michael, but most important, Derek’s voice never seemed to leave me. Apparently, I spent two hours in the ER, where they put eighteen stitches in my arm. The sedative Jeremiah used on me—strong enough to put down a horse—had to work its way out of my system, and I had a throbbing headache, but luckily, there was no damage to my internal organs. What a sick bastard he turned out to be.

  Judging by the sun shining in my face, I knew it had to be daytime. “What the hell are you doing? Shut the fucking curtain,” Derek snapped. Groaning, I turned away from the bright light and opened my eyes, meeting Derek’s gaze. He jumped out of his seat and knelt down beside the hospital bed. “How do you feel?”

  I groaned again. “Like hammered dog shit. My arm and head hurt.”

  Michael rushed over and knelt down beside Derek. “I knew the sun would wake you up. You’ve been out for hours.”

  I snorted. “I wonder why.”

  Derek sighed and held my hand. “The cops want to talk to you. Jason wanted me to call when you woke up.”

  “Who’s Jason?”

  “A cop I’m friends with. He wants to get your statement on what happened. As of right now, no one knows but you.”

  Closing my eyes, I could see everything play out in my mind. “Believe me, it’s something I wish I could forget.”

  Michael’s phone buzzed and he stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Derek broke down, and my chest ached. “Don’t you ever leave in the middle of the night like that again, you hear me?” he warned.

  Wrapping his arms around my neck, he held me tight while I cried. “I’m sorry. I had to find out what happened, and I did. It was all Jeremiah.”

  He kissed me hard and wiped away my tears. “It’s all over now. However, the media is all over this story. Your phone will be blowing up as soon as you get out of here.”

  “I’ll give all the credit to my rescuer. You’re the one who saved me. If you hadn’t shown up, I’d be dead.”

  He flinched and sat back down. “I was going to wait on you to come back, but I was so pissed at you leaving. That’s why I went after you.”

  I glanced down at my arm, bandaged with a gazillion layers of gauze. “I’m glad you did.”

  “But on a brighter note, you’ve had a fuck ton of people come by, hoping to see you. Your parents went down to the cafeteria to get coffee. They came as soon as they found out. I think they like me.”

  The thought made me smile; I knew my parents would love him. Taking his hand, I squeezed it and brought it to my face. When I was with Jeremiah, I was afraid I’d never see him again. “How long was I out?”

  He swallowed hard. “Half a day. You lost a lot of blood.”

  “What about you? I saw Jeremiah cut you with the knife.”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “It’s just a scratch, babe. I can’t say the same for him, though.”

  “What did you do to him?”

  He cleared his throat. “You wouldn’t recognize him right now. I broke his wrist, left leg, nose, and several bones in his face.”

  “Good,” I said without remorse. “If he hadn’t drugged me, I would’ve done it myself. Wilford had hidden cameras set up throughout the office, and I watched the videos. That’s what I was doing there. Jeremiah had come in at night and infected my animals. He even killed Lady.”

  “What a fucking psychopath,” Derek spat. “I knew he was hard up for you, but I never thought he’d try to kill you. If Jason hadn’t stopped me from beating his head in, I don’t know if he’d still be alive. All I could think about was you. Did he say why he was doing it?”

  “He was upset with Wilford for offering me the practice. His first goal was for us to run the clinic together, but when he saw that wasn’t going to work, he wanted to get me out of the way. What’s crazy is that he had me completely fooled. I thought he was trying to help me get my job back. I didn’t know he was in the office when I showed up; when he found out what I was doing, he took his chance.”

  Derek tensed. “That son of a bitch. I should’ve killed him.”

  I shook my head. “But then you wouldn’t be with me right now. You’d be stuck in jail.”

  “What about you? Where do you think you’ll go from here?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Not sure.” I looked down at my bandaged arm, knowing I was going to have a scar there for the rest of my life. “It just sucks that I’ll have a constant reminder of what happened.”

  Derek brushed a hand down my cheek. “It’ll also show that you’re a survivor. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll have a scar across my back from where the fucker cut me.”

  I patted his hand and gave him a sad smile. “It doesn’t, but it was a nice try. Do you know when I can get out of here?”

  “Soon. And when you do, you’re moving in with me.”

  “I am?” I laughed.

  “Yep. That way I can make sure you don’t run off again. I’m tempted to tie you to the bed every night so you can’t.” He gave me a mischievous grin.

  “How can I say no to that? I’m kind of turned on right now. Not only are you protective, but you have a possessive streak, too. I think I’m going to like it.”

  He winked. “Don’t worry, you will.”

  Chapter 32

  Derek

  Over the next week, I needed to spend so much time at the police station that I had to skip out on practice. Now I was headed to the stadium for our game. Making sure Hayden was all right and Jeremiah was put away for good were my top priorities. Apparently, Jeremiah had been treated for severe bipolar disorder when he was a kid, but as he’d gotten older, he’d stopped taking his meds. He had a track record of violence, but no one knew because Wilford, a trusting man, hadn’t done a background check. Wilford had put his faith in the wrong person. From the moment I met that fucker, I knew something was wrong with him. You could see it in his eyes. I really should’ve killed him when I had the chance. Thankfully, he wouldn’t ever get out of prison.

  Word had spread fast of what happened, and my phone had rung nonstop. I had an exclusive interview in a few days with Helen Carpenter, the number one talk show host in the country. It would be a satellite interview with Hayden right beside me. The world wanted
to know what had happened.

  All we wanted was for things to go back to normal, but we knew it’d take a while for that. I could hear the guys in the locker room, and when I walked in, they all grew quiet and stared at me. I hadn’t planned to play in the New Orleans game—I wouldn’t have left Hayden—but she basically pushed me out the door. Her mother had driven down for the weekend to help her pack. Starting in a few days, her house would be up for sale, and she’d be living with me.

  The guys were still staring, so I dropped my bag and laughed. “It’s nice to see you, too.”

  Evan walked up and pulled me into a hug. “You all right, brother? The boys have been worried about you and your girl.”

  I clapped him on the back. “We’re fine. Although I think she’s sick of me hovering, because she sent me here.”

  “We’re not going to complain,” Chris exclaimed. “We need your help to kick some New Orleans ass.”

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  The guys were all dressed and ready to go, so I hurried to put on my gear. One by one, they walked by me to show their support. Jax held out his hand and I shook it. “Welcome back, D,” he said.

  “Thanks. It feels good to be back.” He nodded at Evan, who stood beside me, and then walked off.

  Evan bumped me in the shoulder. “I can’t believe you’re being nice to that fucker.”

  I shrugged. “He’s part of the team. You punished him enough when he fucked with you. I think he’s learned his lesson.”

  Evan glanced back at the door. “Don’t know about that, D. He’s been a douche for so long, it’ll take something drastic for him to change.”

  “What if he apologizes to you? Will you accept him then?”

  Evan burst out laughing. “I won’t hold my breath on that one. If he apologizes, then maybe, but I doubt he’d do it.” I didn’t know if Jax would, but I was going to make it a point to ask him.

  Once I was done getting dressed, Evan and I started toward the field. The crowd was so loud, their booming voices made the ground shake like an earthquake. We stopped at the exit and stared out at the crowd.

  “When we all heard what happened, we were afraid we’d lose you again,” Evan said somberly.

  Releasing a heavy sigh, I nodded. “And you probably would have if I hadn’t gotten to her in time. There’s no way I could’ve handled losing her.”

  “What made you wake up and go after her? We all know that when you’re asleep, a train could pass through your living room and you’d be out cold.”

  It was true, I could sleep through anything. That was what terrified me more than anything. If I hadn’t had that strange dream, I never would’ve woken up like I did. “I had a dream about the accident, only you and Brianna weren’t there,” I said, turning to Evan. He met my gaze and I continued. “I was standing in the road where it happened, and instead of Brianna’s car, it was Hayden’s. I hurried down the ravine, and that’s where I found Hayden, lying on the ground. When she opened her eyes, she said I was too late. After that, I was jerked out of the dream.”

  Evan placed a hand on my shoulder. “Sounds like it was a sign. You saved her, and that’s all that matters. Now, let’s go kick some ass.”

  I turned to the crowd and smiled. “Lead the way.”

  Chapter 33

  Hayden

  “They scored!” I shouted, scaring my mother half to death.

  She jumped in the air and grabbed her chest, almost spilling my water in the process. She handed me the glass. “You probably shouldn’t be jumping around like that,” she scolded, pointing down at my arm.

  I waved her off. “Mom, I’m fine. The wound is closing nicely.” Evan had just scored a touchdown and handed the ball to a kid wearing a Cougars T-shirt with his face painted. I still had the ball Derek gave me and even had him sign it for good measure. I told him that if we ever broke up, I’d sell it for thousands of dollars.

  The camera followed Evan to the sidelines, where he and Derek jumped in the air, slamming together in their signature congratulatory move. I wished I were there with him. When he said he was going to stay with me, I wasn’t having it. He’d missed practice all week, and I wasn’t going to let him miss the game. They needed him.

  My mother pointed at the TV and smiled. “You have a good one there. When you told me you were dating an NFL player, it scared me. The last thing I wanted was to see you get hurt again.”

  I laid my head on her shoulder. “Tell me about it. I miss Derek so much right now.”

  “He’s only been gone for a day.” She laughed. “Just wait until you’re older. He’ll get on your nerves.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe, but I know I’ll always love him no matter what.” The commentators were focusing on Derek now, saying how shocked they were that he was at the game after everything that had happened.

  “Is that going to bother you?” my mother asked.

  I looked into her sea-green eyes that were identical to mine. “What do you mean?”

  She nodded at the TV. “People talking about you and constantly bringing up what happened. The media is having a field day with it.”

  I watched Derek rush out onto the field. “It’ll die down eventually. I lived through it, and so did Derek. That’s all that matters.”

  “Have you thought about what you’re going to do now? Derek told me he’d be happy if you took some time off.” She nudged me in the side. “I think he liked you going with him to his practices.”

  “Don’t tell me he got to you, too!”

  “What?” she said, holding her hands up in defeat. “There’s nothing wrong with taking it easy for a few months or a year. He promised me he’d look after you.”

  I sighed. “I know he will, but I love what I do. I can’t imagine not taking care of animals.” Bear and Patch had come with us to my house so I could finish packing. Derek had done most of it during the week, but there were still a few small things I had to move out. The dogs were lying on the floor, cuddled together. “I wouldn’t have been able to save these two if I hadn’t been working, Mom. They’re a constant reminder of why I do what I do.”

  She tapped a finger underneath my chin, her eyes full of tears. “And that’s why I’m so proud of you. You do what you have to, sweetheart. Derek will support you no matter what. Just make sure you get healed up before you start looking for another job.”

  Getting to her feet, she looked around the house and stretched. “I think it’s time to get back to work. Looks like everything’s ready to go but your TV. Derek said he’ll get that when he comes back.” I started to get up, but she held up a hand. “Stay there, I’ll get everything loaded up. I know you want to watch the game.”

  I wasn’t about to let her do it all herself, so after a few minutes, I picked up a box and carried it outside. She was behind the car, loading my other stuff, but when she saw me, she rolled her eyes and shook her head. “How did I know you’d be a stubborn ass today?” She took my box and slid it into the car.

  “Because I’m just like you,” I told her.

  “Nope, you get that from your father. Now go inside and rest, young lady. You don’t want me to call that boyfriend of yours, do you?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m pretty sure you’d enjoy that too much. I can never get you to be quiet when you’re around him.”

  Her grin spread wider. “What can I say? He has that effect on me.” I knew how she felt. He had a quality that drew people to him. We started to go inside, but then a car pulled into my driveway and I froze.

  “Who is that?” my mother asked.

  Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly. “It’s Wilford, the doctor I used to work for.” I hadn’t spoken to him since the day he’d told me to leave the office. I’d been so busy with the police and with the move that I hadn’t returned any of his calls.

  My mother came up behind me and squeezed my shoulders. “I’ll go inside to give you two some privacy.”

  Wilford got out of th
e car, but he wasn’t alone: Mrs. Jenkins got out as well. She stood back. They each held a bouquet of flowers in vibrant colors. I walked up to Wilford and he held his out, his expression full of torment. “How are you, Hayden?”

  I took the flowers and gave him a smile. “I’m good. Just finishing up the last bit of packing.”

  “Where are you moving to?”

  “Down the street to Derek’s. We decided to take the next step.” I still felt resentful about what he’d said—that my involvement with Derek had taken me away from my work. If anything, Derek made me better.

  “That’s amazing news. I’m so happy to see everything working out for you. I tried calling you several times this past week, but you never answered. I didn’t know if you were still upset with me.”

  I shook my head. “I was angry with the accusations, but you did what you felt you had to do. Jeremiah did a good job at framing me.”

  He closed his eyes. “Yes, he did. I can’t believe he had us all fooled. When I told him I was giving you the practice, he genuinely seemed happy for you. I never once thought there was any animosity.”

  “Neither did I.” I glanced over Wilford’s shoulder at Mrs. Jenkins, but she had her head down. Surely she knew by now that I had nothing to do with Lady’s death. “Did the detective tell you what happened?”

  He nodded. “Kellie did, too. She told me you both had it planned to look at the videos. When you were able to tell the police what happened, they came in and watched the feed. I can’t begin to tell you how disturbing it was.”

  “Imagine living through it.”