“That’s where you’re wrong. If they had a case against me, they’d have arrested me already. Which means I still have time to convince Willow that coming up against me is the worst thing she could do.” Brad paced in a small area around the porch as he whispered angrily to himself.
“And how’s that?” Jedda asked, moving toward the porch and stopping only at the soft touch of Crystal’s hand on his back. “She’s not afraid of you. None of us are.”
“You don’t understand what I can do to you. To all of you. With one phone call, I can have this house burned to the ground, and then mysteriously, you’d find out the insurance policy for it was canceled last week. And that’s just the start of it. Crystal can attest to the fact that I can get people fired pretty damn quickly. I most certainly can get your ass thrown back in prison for the rest of your life, considering you shouldn’t have been let out in the first place. You don’t know what my father is capable of.”
“Actually,” Crystal said through gritted teeth, “I grew up in New York and spent years working in the legal system, so I know exactly what your father and his firm do on a regular basis. I know exactly how they bend the law to suit themselves and destroy anyone in their way. But this isn’t New York. And you don’t know who you’re messing with here.”
“No,” Brad said, pulling his sunglasses off and wiping them clean on his designer T-shirt. “This is the middle of fucking-nowhere and that means I can bury all of you and no one would give a shit. Now, I’m significantly closer to the shotgun that old crackpot keeps on the fridge than either of you. I’m sure she doesn’t lock the door, probably keeps the thing loaded. It wouldn’t take much for me to go in there and grab it, shoot you, sweetheart, and then wait until those other two bitches get home and shoot them, too. Who do you think they’d blame for it? The likely suspect would have to be the guy who already killed a couple people. They’d clearly blame the murderer.”
“That’s enough,” Crystal said, pushing Jedda back as he made a move for the porch. “If you’re going for that gun, then go for it. Enough of the psychobabble bullshit. We’re not afraid of you and neither is Willow. Whatever she has on you, it must be pretty bad, enough to take you down, because you’re the only one who looks scared at the moment.”
“If she’d really turned that evidence over I’d be in jail already, which means she’s smart enough to know what I can do, and scared enough to know I’ll do it. She also knows what will happen to her if she does bust me. Even if I’m locked up, my father and his contacts will never leave her alone. She’s seen it first hand. My father is invested in this now, and he’s putting his full weight behind getting this buried. No small town bullshit is going to protect her from that.”
“Even if she gives you the laptop,” Crystal began, shrugging her shoulders up at him, “how will she know you’ll leave her alone?”
Brad slapped his hand hard to his head as though he were trying to quiet the voices screaming at him. “I just want it back. My father will make the deal, he’ll be sure this is dead. That’s what he does. He’ll be able to look in her eyes and see that she’s completely broken. That she understands we can crush her and anyone she loves, and then he’ll know she won’t try that shit ever again. He has a gift. He can always tell when a beaten-down dog won’t bite again. You can tell when you’re the master and she’s given in to that. Right now, I can tell she has some fight left in her. But that won’t last long. If she doesn’t give me that laptop, I’ll make sure she spends the rest of her life regretting it.”
“You’ll never touch her again,” Jedda growled, the veins in his neck throbbing under his clenched tight skin.
“That’s where you’re wrong, killer. I can get to her anywhere, anytime. I’m going to ruin her life one person at a time. One catastrophe at a time. I can get closer to her than you can imagine.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he ripped from her neck earlier that morning. He tossed it down into Jedda’s hands and laughed crazily. “She left the house in that this morning didn’t she?”
Jedda inspected it and then clasped his hand tightly around it, completely ready to choke Brad to death with it. The idea of this monster being within arms reach of Willow made his blood surge through his body at a speed that made him fear he’d implode. His ears were ringing and his skin tingled; he was teetering between the wave of anxiety that had washed over him yesterday and the undertow of rage that had landed him in jail all those years ago. He wasn’t sure which force would be stronger, which would drive his next move.
Brad ran his hands arrogantly through his hair as he spoke. “Anything your folks did to her when she was little is going to feel like a tropical vacation compared to what I’m going to do if she screws with me.”
That was it, the tipping point that sent Jedda plunging with a headlong dive off the edge of fury. Any indecision about how he felt, what he should do was gone. Jedda charged up the stairs, shaking Crystal off his arm with such force he nearly knocked her over.
“Jedda don’t,” she screamed in a shrill and desperate tone. She raced up behind him, clawing and pulling on his shirt. “It’s what he wants. He wants you to hurt him so he can send you back to prison. He’s sick.”
As Jedda’s large fists clamped into rock hard weapons, a car horn blew loudly behind him. Sirens started to blare as Bobby’s car pulled into the long dirt driveway. It was enough to distract Jedda from the blinding rage flowing through him and give Crystal time to wedge her body between Jedda and Brad.
Bobby’s car came skidding to a halt just in front of the steps. He bolted, leaving the door swinging open. He flew up behind Jedda in a flash. “Don’t touch him, Jedda,” he shouted, putting his body between the two men, sending Crystal falling clumsily to the side then steadying herself on the porch railing. Jedda’s mind instantly went to her. Had he hurt her? Did his blind rage cause her pain? He was already letting the guilt bite at his heart. Bobby’s voice pulled him back to the moment.
“He’s trying to get you to hit him. He’s likely got someone here, out in the woods ready to snap some pictures or a video. He planned this.”
Bobby slowly backed Jedda up, down the stairs, and to his car. “Stay,” he demanded, pointing authoritatively at him.
Bobby turned his attention back to Brad, while Jedda tried to steady himself against the hood of his cruiser. “You’ve been warned to stay off this property, Brad. If you come out here again you will be arrested, or maybe if we’re lucky you’ll be shot for trespassing. I already heard about your run-in with Betty and Willow this morning. I know the game you’re playing, trying to get everyone down here to act out against you and undermine the credibility of the people who plan to take you down. Making threats to try to scare them out of coming after you. You look like a cornered animal, Brad, and people down south know how to deal with rodents. If you keep this shit up, you’re going to get your ass handed to you, and it will be a whole lot sooner than you think. Now go,” Bobby said, twisting Brad’s arms behind him and leading him down the stairs.
“You’ve got it wrong, officer. I’m not going down, but if she doesn’t back off this shit you are all going to pray for death, because my father will destroy your lives so badly that you’ll wish you were never born. Speaking of born, is that lawyer’s baby here yet? That’ll be an easy target.”
Jedda watched as Bobby’s face changed suddenly from firm to furious. He swept a foot in front of Brad on the way down the stairs, but held his arms in place so that when he hit the ground it was all face into dirt, with a hard thud.
Bobby leaned down as though he intended to help Brad up off the ground, presumably putting on a good show in case there really were any cameras. He was actually holding him down into the dirt for a long moment while he hissed a threat, “This will end badly for you, Brad. If you ever threaten my godchild or anyone I care about again, I will kill you. Unless your daddy has a time machine or a witch doctor, he can’t save you from that.” Bobby lifted Brad to his feet and
dusted the dirt off the front of his shirt for him, extending the show for anyone watching. “And I’ll dump your body down the deepest abandoned mine shaft on the highest mountain in this state. No one would ever find you.”
Brad groaned as he yanked open his car door and fell heavily into the front seat. He sped out of the driveway, cutting the wheels so sharp they made grooves in the dirt as rocks flew up behind him.
When the car was out of sight, Bobby spun and charged Jedda. “You can’t touch him. No matter what, you can’t lay your hands on him. Don’t you get that?”
“He’s a monster. He’s going to kill Willow. I’m just supposed to let that happen? Because he’s rich? Because his dad is somebody?”
“No, you idiot,” Bobby shouted, shoving Jedda backward. “You’re supposed to trust the people who care about both you and Willow and are here to protect you. You’re supposed to realize that you going back to prison doesn’t help anyone, especially Willow. Michael is looking at the evidence Willow has on her computer. He’s trying to determine if it’s enough to build a solid case and then who he can safely take that case to. This kid is acting like this because he’s terrified, and he should be. His days are numbered.”
“He’s right, Jedda,” Crystal said, clearly trying to sound soft and supportive as she stepped down from the porch and joined the two men. “You were seconds away from doing something you couldn’t take back. And if he did have cameras out here somewhere, that would have been it for you.”
“Great, how many days before he’s just snatching Willow and disappearing with her? How many days until he gets someone else fired, or hurts Jules or Piper? We can’t just sit here and wait.”
“I know how much is on the line here. You’re not shedding light on anything I don’t already see. But punching him and getting yourself tossed in prison is exactly what he wants. It’s an angle to punishing and scaring Willow. All I’m saying is how about we don’t make things any worse than they are. I need to know, when push comes to shove, can you control yourself? Are you in control here, Jedda?”
Jedda once again balled his hands into fists and let a primal growl escape his lips and then grow into a full-on yell. “No. I don’t think I can. I never claimed to be healed, I never said I could come out here and just be a normal goddamn person. No matter how much you want me to be good enough for you,” he said angrily, gesturing at Crystal. “You all want me to be different from the person who pulled that trigger, but maybe I’m not. Maybe I don’t feel any different. I see my sister being stalked and beaten up, and I’m just supposed to keep my cool? I can’t. If I could do that then maybe I wouldn’t have killed my parents. You’re asking me if I’m in control, and I’m saying no. No! If I see him again, if he touches her again, I will end him. I will pull every limb from his body and I will parade him down Main Street. Because I haven’t changed. Is that what you need to hear?”
“Jedda,” Crystal said quietly as she reached a hand out to touch his arm. He forcibly pulled away from her and stepped onto the porch. He knew it was happening again, he could feel it taking him under. The anxiety, or whatever the hell they’d called it, was taking hold of him. He couldn’t breathe and lightning bolts were shooting across his head. His palms were sweating, his mouth dry, and his world was spinning around him. He leaned backward and sank into the porch swing.
“Call Josh,” he mouthed to Bobby as he put his head back and gasped for air. Crystal ran up beside him and laced her fingers with his.
“Who’s Josh?” she asked Bobby, looking confused.
Bobby put his phone to his ear and held it there with his shoulder as he sat down beside Jedda and checked his pulse on his wrist.
“Who is Josh?” Crystal asked again, now more demanding.
Bobby glanced up and said flatly, “The town gynecologist.”
Chapter Eleven
“I really appreciate your coming out here tonight, Josh,” Willow said as she walked him out the screen door and down to his car. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?”
“No, I need to get going before my ethical judgment kicks in and I take those ten pills back from Jedda. Those won’t last him very long at this rate. He’s had two serious attacks in a week. They’re not curative, Willow, they may not even help him if he has another panic attack. But they’re the best I could do.”
“I know,” she said, staring down at her shoes. “You heard everything being said in there tonight, can you blame him for being afraid to see a doctor about it? You wanted to know more about what was going on, and now you do.”
“I can understand his point about not wanting to see a doctor, but it doesn’t make it any less necessary. He’s in a tailspin right now and I can tell it’s a very fine line for him between anxiety and violence.”
Willow shrugged her shoulder helplessly. “I am really sorry for the way I spoke to you earlier today, Josh.”
“Which time?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her as though he wanted her to know how much of a jerk she’d been.
“Pretty much everything I’ve said to you before this conversation. I’m sorry. You seem like a great guy and I didn’t treat you very nicely. I have a lot going on. It’s what makes this request so hard for me.” Willow tucked her hair behind her ears and bit at her lip. “I don’t like asking people for help, but I know I have to. If I don’t, Jedda won’t get any better. I’m just not sure I should,” Willow said, looking torn.
“It’s now or never because I’m heading out,” Josh said, pulling his keys from his pocket.
“I need a ride,” Willow said in a hushed voice. “I’ve made the decision that the best thing for everyone is for me to go. But I need you to take me to the bus station or train station or something. And I don’t mean the closest one. I want to go a few towns over, at least.”
“Are you afraid Brad will find you at the closest one?”
“Yes, but I’m also afraid they will find me,” Willow continued with a glance back at the house.
“That should tell you something,” Josh said, looking earnestly into her eyes.
“It does. It tells me that they are really good people who would do anything, and I mean anything, for me, and they deserve better than what they are about to get. The best thing I can do is go.”
“You’re just going to walk right by them with your things and think they won’t stop you? If that’s the case you’re underestimating them greatly. All together like that, they’ll find a way to convince you.”
“My bag’s already in your car,” Willow said, handing him the one key missing from the set he was holding.
“That’s impressive,” Josh said, looking down at the set and then back at Willow. “These were in my pants pocket.”
“Don’t ask me to show you how I got them. I won’t do it twice,” Willow grinned, hoping that a flash of her smile would persuade him. She needed to run, she needed to give these people back their safety and give Jedda a real chance at freedom.
“I care about everyone in there. I don’t intend to get between you and them. And, frankly, they scare me,” Josh said.
“If you really do care about them, then save their lives and give me a ride. Please, Josh.” Willow swallowed back her emotions, batting her wet lashes at him.
“Get in the car,” Josh whispered as he clearly fought his better judgment for the second time today.
The ride was mostly silent as they weaved away from Edenville. Willow’s one-word answers to general questions set the tone for the awkwardness. She knew Josh was dying to talk, maybe talk her out of leaving, but he was too nice to put her through that, and she was grateful.
“Thanks for this,” Willow said again as she read the highway sign for the train station a couple miles away. She could chat for the last couple minutes of the drive, no harm in that really. The end was in sight.
“I’m not sure what it is about you that makes me act against all the sense God gave me. I’m normally the voice of reason for everyone. I don’t treat peo
ple who aren’t my patients. I don’t nearly get in fistfights in front of my office. And I don’t aid and abet a runaway. You’re bringing out the worst in me,” Josh said, turning the radio off as he spoke.
“That might be my superpower,” Willow said, biting nervously at her nails. “I have the ability to take perfectly good people and turn their lives upside down. I’m like an emotional plague.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true. You’re too hard on yourself.”
“Let’s see, Jedda was adopted by an incredible family. He had a new brother. He had a real shot at having a good life. Then he came back for me and we know how that worked out. My adoptive parents were wealthy, successful people with a great circle of friends. Now my name is flashing all over the news up there and I’m sure they’re getting the same reaction I got from everyone who claimed to be my friend. I’m sure, even if they’d managed to stave off the regret of adopting me while I put them through hell growing up, it’s officially sunk in for them now. And that just leaves all of you. You’re an idyllic little town with picket fences where everyone knows their neighbor. I go and bring a snake down here who’s hell-bent on destroying anything he thinks I’m associated with. You really want to make an argument against all that?” Willow asked, a part of her hoping maybe he would have something to say. Maybe he’d hold an answer she’d been desperate to hear for years.
“You’re right,” Josh said, nodding his head. “They should start working on a vaccine to protect people from you. I’m going to call the CDC after I drop you off.”
“Nice.” Willow rolled her eyes and went back to nervously biting her nails.
“You aren’t an emotional plague,” he said, patting her leg gently. “You’ve had some tough times and those don’t just evaporate overnight. You’ve got to fight your way out of them. And it seems like you’re trying.”
“Collateral damage isn’t something I can live with. Not more of it anyway. Leaving is my best option. Or it’s at least best for everyone else. They might not know it right now, but deep down inside I’m sure they want me to go.”
Finding Freedom (Book 4) (Piper Anderson Series) Page 11