Deadly Mistake (Deadly Series Book 5)

by K. L. Humphreys

  Fuck, “So is why she went off the rails, she couldn’t come to terms with what she had done?” I ask, it all starting to make sense now. Maddie made a decision that she thought was best for her and her Hailey.

  “Yes son, she regretted it as soon as she gave the baby up. You know I never even knew if she had a boy or a girl, I couldn’t bring myself to find out.”

  I feel bad for my old man, he’s obviously feeling guilt and by the sounds of things has been for a very long time. “She had a girl,” I tell him, hoping that I’ve made the right decision in doing so.

  He nods but he’s distracted by something and I wait for him to say whatever is on his mind. It doesn’t take him long, “I’ve lived through a lot, your sister being kidnapped is the one thing that haunts me at night but Maddie,” he shakes his head, “I failed her, I promised Mikeal that if anything were to happen to him I would look after his girls. I failed them both.”

  “No, you didn’t Dad,”

  “I did son, look at those girls, they’ve been through enough and when they really needed someone where was I? Here, in my own world. Maddie’s dead and Hailey’s not the same fun loving woman. She’s broken and Maddie’s death is going to send her over the edge.” I watch as he stands and walks over to the cabinet in the corner of the room, he pours two glasses and downs one of them before refilling it. “What’s really on your mind son?” He hands me a glass, he stares at me for a beat before taking his seat.

  “She thinks she’s alone, she thinks because we all disliked Maddie we’re not hurting now that she’s gone.” Her telling us that we don’t care because we hated Maddie hurts like hell, yes, I thought she was selfish but that doesn't mean I’m happy she’s dead.

  “She’s hurting right now; she’s not thinking straight at the moment. You are just going to have to be there for her, she may try and push you away, don’t let her.” He gives me a warning look to go with that tone, he’s telling me I had better not fuck this up.

  “I’m not letting her, fuck that, I’ve just finally got her. She can push as hard as she likes, I’m not going anywhere. Did Maddie ever say who the father was?” I hate the fucking unknown and something about the way she changed doesn’t sit right with me, she changed not long before Winter was raped.

  “She never said, she wasn’t dating anyone at the time and Mikael told me that he tried to get it out of her but she wouldn’t say.” Even though he says that he doesn’t know, there’s something in his eyes that tells me that he may actually know.

  “Dad?”

  “No son, I don’t know it is only a guess and I hope to god it’s not true! Now what are we going to do about Eric? How that fucker managed to escape and not be seen by anyone is beyond me.” His tone is hard as he leaves that threat hanging in the air.

  “Dad, you’re a cop, there’s nothing you can do, as for what I’m going to do, I’m going to find him and when I do I’m going to enjoy killing the bastard.” The grip I have on the glass tightens and I have to ease the hell up before I break it. I bring it to my lips and down the amber liquid in one, letting the Bourbon burn my throat on the way down.

  “No son, Hailey is ours, I’ve sat back too many times and let you all sort everything out. This time though he’s killed one of mine and that is something that I can’t let go off.” His anger has come to the surface, his hand that holds his Bourbon is shaking as he tries to bring it to his mouth.

  “Fine, I’ve been summoned to work in the morning. We’re not the only one’s taking this personally. Nathan’s on the warpath, he loves Hailey like a sister not only that, but Ryder’s got Skye on his case telling him that he has to find Eric or she will.” I can just imagine a pregnant Skye telling the six-foot-three Ryder that she’ll be going after the murdering asshole.

  “Good, are you bringing Hailey with you?”

  “I’m not sure yet, I’m going to see how she is in the morning. Tomorrow afternoon, I’m bringing her with me as I have something to give her.” I tell him and his eyes twinkle, even though I haven’t told anyone what I’ve been up too, I should know that dad already knows what it is.

  “Right, it’s time for this old man to hit the hay and shouldn’t you be with that woman of yours?” He gives me a pointed look, “Night son.”

  He’s right, I should really be with Hailey, “Night dad.” I say as he reaches the doorway.

  I make my way up the stairs and into my bedroom. The moonlight shining into the room and highlighting a sleeping Hailey. Her face is streaked with dry tears, her hand reaching over to my side of the bed almost as if she reached out for me and I wasn’t here. I take my t-shirt off and gently lift her hand and move the sheets back and as quietly as I can climb into bed beside her. She doesn’t wake but she does move closer to me and I pull her close to me and kiss her head. “Nothing is ever going to happen to you again.” I promise her and it’s a promise I intend on keeping.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Hailey

  Two weeks, I’ve had to wait two weeks to be able to lay Maddie to rest. I’m numb, I don’t know what I should be feeling right now. I feel as though everyone is staring at me, waiting for me to break down again. I haven’t cried since that night, I can’t. I think I don’t have any more tears to cry. I feel as though I’m in a fog, like I’m at a standstill but everyone and everything around me is going full tilt.

  That night when I stayed at Steven’s house with Scott, I heard them talk about Maddie, they knew she had Nicole and not one of them said anything. I couldn’t believe that I was the last to know, I had to confront Scott, I had to know why he kept it a secret from me.

  I lie here awake, all that’s going through my mind is why was I the last to know about Nicole and why have they all kept it a secret from me. She is my niece after all, God, why is everything always shrouded in such lies and deceit? Scott moves and throws his arm over my stomach, I never realized how much that man moves in his sleep. “Why are you awake?” His voice thick with sleep.

  “Can’t sleep.”

  “Hailey, I’m here if you need to talk.” He pulls me closer to him and kisses the top of my head.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you know about Nicole?” I can’t keep the hurt out of my voice.

  He turns over so he’s facing me, “Nicole?” He questions, as though he doesn’t know who I’m talking about.

  “Maddie’s daughter.” I bite out, hate that he’s playing dumb.

  “I never knew her name, only that she had a girl. I found out after you did so I didn’t think I needed to tell you.” He reaches for my chin and turns my head to face him, sincerity in his eyes, “I won’t keep you in the dark Hailey, I won’t keep secrets from you.” It's a vow, one that I believe wholeheartedly.

  “Why did she have to do it Scott?” I ask, I still don’t know why she put her life on the line to save mine, she had done so much for me.

  “Because she loved you, she wanted you to be safe.” I swallow harshly at his words, “She wanted you to be happy.” He’s right, she did, but she deserved happiness too. “I know that you think I hated her, I didn’t. I hated what she did to those I love. She’s been a part of this family for a hell of a long time and no matter what she’s done she always will be,” his voice laced with hurt and tears.

  “She took a wrong path, she hurt so bad that she didn't know how to deal with it all.” I wish she had told me, if she had things could have been different.

  “She dealt the only way she could, it was the wrong thing to do but she felt alone.” tears slip from my eyes and I leave them to fall. “Hailey, no matter what, Maddie loved you.”

  I nod and turn over, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Scott turns with me and wraps his arm over me. “She's not the only one Hailey, you're not alone. I love you.”

  Fuzziness, that's all I can hear as the men move towards Maddie’s casket. As they begin to lower her, my breath leaves me in one giant whoosh. My legs feel as though they're about to give way at any moment, I lock my legs not wanti
ng everyone to see me fall. If I fall I'm going to break and I don't need everyone here judging, whispering, and gloating. All the hypocrites are out in force, everyone who hated Maddie stand behind me with crocodile tears in their eyes. They're here to watch me break, watch me fall apart.

  I gasp for breath as the casket is lowered into the ground, God, she's really gone. I hear movement behind me and I bow my head, not wanting anyone to speak to me, I don't have it in me right now. The priest walks over to me and I give him a sad smile, “Thank you for the lovely service Father.”

  He returns my sad smile, “I'm sorry for your loss.” We shake hands and he leaves me to stare at the hole that is my sister’s final resting place.

  How did this become real? Why did this have to happen? Those are the same questions that have been running through my mind for the past two weeks. I glance around and see there's still a few people milling around, I see Scott, Steven, Luke, Morgan, Nathan, and Sophia. No doubt the rest of Smithy International employees are waiting. I hear footsteps getting close to me and I know it's Scott, he comes to stand beside me, “Are you doing okay?”

  I shrug, what's okay? Right now, I feel like I'm looking down on myself, I feel as though I'm going through the motions but won't allow myself to feel them. I know once I finally do allow myself to feel the pain I've buried, it may end up burying me.

  “You want me to stay?” Scott asks quietly, his fingers reaching out to brush against mine.

  This right here, is why I love him, he knows that I'm not ready to leave her yet so he'll stay here with me until I'm finally ready to say goodbye. “Can you send everyone home?” My voice is tight, I'm on the verge of crying again.

  “Of course, and when we're finished here I have that thing I wanted to show you.” he walks over to where his family are standing, I can hear their hushed tones, they're probably not happy but I need to be alone, I need to come to terms with what's happened and finally mourn the loss of my beautiful big sister. Scott has told me a few times that he has something he wants to show me, a surprise of course, he's also told me I'm not allowed to argue with him.

  I glance at Scott and see that he's waiting at his car for me, everyone else is already in their cars and ready to leave. I watch a few of them drive by before I turn back to Maddie. “I'll never be able to repay you for what you have done. I still can't believe your gone, I keep expecting you to walk through the door. To turn my head and you'll be beside me. I'm sorry you never got to be a mom to Nicole but you were the best big sister. I'm going to get her, I made a promise, one that I intend to keep. I'll look after her and I'll tell her all about you and how big your heart truly was. I'm sorry Maddie and I love you so much. Give mom and dad a hug from me.” I blow a kiss into the sky, hoping that she could hear what I said.

  I don't look back as I walk toward Scott, not wanting to see them filling in the hole. As soon as I'm within touching distance of him, Scott reaches out and takes a hold of my hand and pulls me into him, hugging me tightly. “It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay.” he whispers into my hair. I don't have any other choice.

  We've been driving for a while and the further we get the more nervous I become. I have no idea where we’re going. I'm not even paying attention to my surroundings, I just want to get to Addison’s and lock myself in my room. I've been staying with Addison since Maddie died, Scott wanted me to stay with him but I couldn't go back to that apartment building.

  The car ride has been silent, Scott glances at me once in a while. I don't know if he's checking to see if I'm crying or not. He turns the radio on and ‘See you again by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa’ comes on causing a lump to form in my throat. Those lyrics, God, hearing them today hits me hard. Scott’s hand reaches out to try to switch channels but I grab his hand to stop him.

  I close my eyes as the tears begin to fall, I take deep breaths trying to keep them at bay. I'm so focused on trying to stop the tears I don't even notice the car stopping. “Hailey?” Scott calls, his hand coming to rest on my leg.

  Opening my eyes, I look and see where we're parked, confusion and sorrow engulf me. Why are we here today of all days? I don't even know what to say, right now.

  “Since I found out that you sold it, I knew I had to get it back. It was finalized the day Maddie died.” he says in way of explanation but it makes no sense at all. “It’s in your name,”

  “Scott…” I try and come up with something intelligible to say. “I can't afford it.” is all that comes out. Fuck, that sounds ungrateful and I'm not, I'm so grateful I just don't want to get my hopes up when I'll ever be able to repay it.

  “I don't want you to repay me. I bought it for you.” he looks at me, “You deserved this, you deserved to have the house you grew up in. That Maddie grew up in, the memories of your family.”

  “Scott…” I sob, I can't believe that he's done this.

  “You're welcome. Want to have a look?” His eyes are twinkling and I know there's more to it than what I see in front of me.

  I get out of the car and walk toward the front yard. I haven’t been here in months but it still feels like home. The smell of the Nasturtiums, makes me smile. Dad planted those the year he died, he told Maddie and I that they’ll bloom every year, he planted both orange and yellow ones; mine and Maddie’s favorite colors. He never did get to see them bloom and seeing them grow every year brings a smile to my face knowing that each year they bring a piece of dad with them. Maybe I’ll plant a tree at the bottom of the garden in remembrance of Maddie.

  Scott stands and takes my hand as we walk up to the front door, I don’t know why I feel so nervous. I feel as though this is some sick joke that he’s going to turn around and tell me that he’s joking with me. As soon as he opens the door, I know that it’s not, all of my stuff is here. Everything that I had in storage is here, the sofa that used to be here is back in the old position and pictures of my family are hung on the wall. I look around the house in amazement, so much work has been put in to make it the exact way it used to be.

  “How? When? Why?” I fire out, God, I should be thanking him not asking him twenty questions.

  He shrugs like giving someone a house is an everyday occurrence, “I couldn’t let you give up this house, so as soon as I found out, I found out who was buying it and thankfully they were stalling so I made sure they’d stall permanently.” He smiles at me and listening to him I fall in love with him harder, his kindness is so much like my father’s and I know that my mom and dad would approve.

  “I had help,” He rolls his eyes and that’s a dead giveaway that Sophia had something to do with this. “Soph found out what I was doing and demanded to help, which meant that everyone knew and everyone wanted to help.”

  “Thank you from the bottom of my heart thank you!” I cry and he holds his arms out and I don’t even hesitate to walk into them. “I love you Scott, you’re the most amazing man and I’m extremely lucky to have you in my life.”

  “I’m the lucky one, I fucked up with you and it was the biggest mistake of my life.” He leans down and gently kisses my lips, “Do you want me to stay here tonight?”

  Do I? I don’t know, a part of me does but I need to mourn and I know I won’t be able to do that around him or anyone. “Not tonight, tonight I need to be alone,” I see the disappointment flash through his eyes, “I’m sorry.” I feel bad, he’s bought this house and I’m not letting him stay here.

  “Don’t Hails, don’t apologize. This is your house and it’s why I asked you because even though my body is screaming for me to stay I know you need time. I’m only a phone call away.” He kisses my lips again, this time the kiss is more, it’s passionate and demanding but he pulls away quickly. “I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”

  “Tomorrow,” I whisper back and as he starts to walk towards the door, panic ensues, I’m scared and I don’t know why. I slowly follow behind him, when we get to the door I hold it open for him.

  “Bye…”

  I interrupt him, “No,
no goodbyes, I can’t say goodbye to anyone else.”

  “Okay, no more goodbyes. Smell you later?” He winks as I giggle, “No more goodbyes, only see you laters. So see you later beautiful.”

  “See you later, handsome.” I lean up and give him a quick peck on his lips. I close the door behind him and I’m encased in silence, God, the silence is deafening. This house used to be so full of life, whether it be love and laughter or me and Maddie going at each other for some reason or another. Now, it’s empty and I’m the only one left.

  I walk down the hall and past my parents’ bedroom, it used to hurt walking past but slowly that hurt faded until it was just an ache. I come to a stop at Maddie’s door and wonder if Scott and them put her stuff here too? Opening the door, I see that her stuff is indeed here and I crumble. I fall to the floor, my legs weak and not able to support me. The tears stream down my face, I curl up into a ball and sob, sob for my sister, that I miss so dearly, that I took for granted when she was here and who I love with all of my heart and soul.

  When I’m able to move, I crawl over to her bed and climb into it. I pull her teddy bear that she’s had for years into my arms and sniff, the smell of her Gucci Guilty perfume is still on it. Something catches my attention and I look on her dresser and see there’s a stack of books, but among those books, hidden between the pages is a piece of paper.

  I reach over and pull it out, it’s not a piece of paper but an envelope addressed to Nicole. I don’t know what comes over me but I turn it over and it’s not sealed so I open it and begin to read, it’s dated eight years ago. Maddie must have written this after she gave birth.

  My darling Nicole.

  I know that you may never get to read this but somehow, I hope you do. I want you to know that giving you up was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, knowing that my beautiful baby girl was with a loving family is what made it somewhat bearable.