His arms wound instinctively around her, holding her while she started crying into his chest. “What happened?” he asked, his voice gentle. He pushed her back enough to look at her under the streetlight and finally saw the shape she was in. With the torn and bloody clothes, the tangled, messy hair and the tear-streaked face, she looked like she’d just walked out of a horror movie. His voice was low and full of carefully concealed anger as he asked, “What the hell happened to you?”
“It was Allen,” she explained, while his hands moved over her body to check for injuries. “He was waiting for me in my car. He had a knife…and…”
His hands hesitated with her shirt lifted up as he saw a shallow slice on her abdomen. “You’re bleeding.”
“No, I’m fine,” she said, shoving her shirt down. “Julian, you don’t understand. I think…I think I might’ve killed him.”
He froze, staring at her with cautious eyes, as if waiting for a punch line but already knowing there wasn’t one. “Are you sure?”
“I think he was going to kill me,” she said frantically, her voice full of desperation and guilt. “I don’t know—he said after tonight I wouldn’t be a problem for anybody anymore.”
“Jesus,” he muttered. “Where is he?”
Cameron pointed toward the woods, looking fearful. Julian went to his trunk and got out a flashlight. “You wait here,” he said, handing her his keys. “I’ll take care of it.”
It seemed like torture, waiting for Julian to come back. With every second he was gone, she began to convince herself that Allen was still alive, and that he would hurt Julian and come after her again.
But after thirty long minutes, Julian finally came out of the woods. She got out of the car and hurried up to him again. Seeing he was covered in dirt and sweat, she felt her heart skip a beat.
“What…what happened?” she asked. “Is he alive? Did he hurt you?”
He shook his head, wiping his face with his shirtsleeve. “You were right. He’s dead.”
Cameron stared at him a moment before she fully understood what had happened, and why Julian was such a mess. She took a step back, fear setting in once again. “What did you do?”
“I took care of it,” he replied. “Like I said I would.”
“We should’ve called the police,” she whispered, her breath quickening as panic filled her body. “We should’ve just called them, and explained that it was self-defense.”
“If you thought you could do that, you wouldn’t have called me in the first place,” he said. “Come on. We have to get out of here. Follow me back to my place.”
Still stunned, she made no effort to move, so he took her by the shoulders and ushered her over to her car. “Follow me back to my house, okay? I’d drive you but we gotta get your car out of here. Just stay right behind me. We’ll sort this all out home.”
It took a full hour of hot, steaming water to rinse all the blood out of her hair and off her skin. Once she was out and dressed, Julian poured her a stiff drink and handed it over.
Tilting her head back, she gulped it down and handed the glass back to him before she asked the question that hadn’t left her mind since this nightmare began. “What are we going to do?”
“I think we just have to keep our cool,” he said. “I dropped his body in the lake. Even if anyone finds it, they won’t be able to trace it back to you.”
But she didn’t care about any of that. “I killed him, Julian,” she whispered, tears burning her eyes. “I’m a killer.”
“No,” he said, grabbing her shoulders. His grey eyes looked soft and sincere as they peered into hers to drive his point home. “You’re a survivor.”
Julian’s words were the only thing that kept her from drowning in guilt.
She hid out at Julian’s house for the next two days. When Allen was reported missing and detectives came to question neighbors, Julian was there to make sure she played it cool. And no one suspected a thing.
On the third day, Julian rushed into den where Cameron was getting wasted and announced that a hiker had found the body. And just like that, they packed their bags and left town.
***
Cameron woke with a jump, and then sighed in relief because the dreams were over and the ghosts went back to her past, where they were supposed to stay. Looking around the room, she didn’t recognize her surroundings at first. Then she realized she was still at Shane’s house.
The first thing she did was make sure she was still dressed, and she was. She was also alone, on top of the quilt and covered with an afghan. That’s twice, she thought, feeling a sense of awe and wonder. Two times, he could’ve easily taken advantage of her and didn’t. Instead, he’d just given her a safe place to hang out, to hide. Remembering the kindness he’d shown her last night drew a small smile.
Sitting up, she saw her clothes were now clean and neatly folded at the foot of the bed. After getting dressed, she headed out of the bedroom, feeling self-conscious and a little nervous. She really hoped she hadn’t embarrassed herself last night. Her mind was foggy and she couldn’t remember for sure. Wincing at the light and suffering from a bad hangover, Cameron found Shane in the small kitchenette.
He greeted her with a smile and a cup of coffee. “Morning. How’d you sleep?”
“Good,” she said, although she could’ve done without the memory rehashing her brain liked to do every time she closed her eyes. “Good.” He smiled and they sat down at the small kitchen table.“Listen, there’s something you should know…” he began, but before he could finish, the door opened and someone came in.
Startled, she jumped from her seat and turned toward the door. Chad’s eyes locked on hers, but she couldn’t read his expression so she just watched him with a feeling of dread, waiting for a lecture or an argument to break out.
Instead, he walked over and set the paper bag on the table, then tossed the plastic one to Cameron. She jumped again, but caught it. Inside she founda bottle of Tylenol. Surprised, she glanced up at him and saw he’d placed a biscuit and a carton of hash rounds by her cup of coffee.
When she raised an eyebrow in question, he simply said, “Thought you might be hungry.”
As if still waiting for the other shoe to drop, she looked over at Shane, asking the silent question ‘why isn’t he yelling at me?’ He gave her a subtle—and she had to admit, rather sexy—wink.
She moved forward and returned to her chair. As the three of them began to eat breakfast, Cameron awkwardly nibbled on the hash rounds. But soon, the awkwardness faded and they enjoyed small talk as they ate together.
Chapter Eight
Holding a carry-out bag and a tray with two cups of coffee from the diner, Chad used one finger to ring the doorbell to Sadie’s apartment. In the past few days, she hadn’t talked to him much; she hardly ever called and send few texts, and she hadn’t come to visit him like she usually did, either. He wondered what was up with her lately. Like clockwork, he’d waited at their usual table for her for almost an hour this morning. When she never showed, he decided to get their usual orders to-go. He liked their routine, preferred to start his mornings off with her chipper and friendly face, so he brought the breakfast to her.
When she pulled open the door, her expression looked surprised. Her eyes travelled from the take-out bag to the coffee and back to his face. “Chad,” she said with an overly wide smile, the kind that said when she was nervous. “Good morning.”
He noticed she was still wearing the same outfit she’d worn yesterday, and he found himself wondering if she was just now getting home. Pushing the curious thoughts aside, he raised the carry-out bag in the air. “Morning. You never showed for breakfast, so I brought the goods to you.”
“That’s sweet, Chad, but—”
He stepped past her, walking into the small apartment. The front door opened into the dining room, and the table was placed just inside the door. He set the food and coffee down on the table and then turned to her.“I hope you’re hungry.”
> “I am,” she said, then she bit her bottom lip like she wanted to say something else.
He opened the bag and started taking out containers of food and setting them out on the table. Once it was empty, he frowned as he looked inside the bag. “The waitress forgot ketchup,” he said, heading over to the refrigerator. “I know you can’t eat your eggs without it.”
“That’s true.”
Finally noticing that Sadie was still lingering by the front door, Chad gave her a curious glance as he brought a bottle of ketchup back to the table. “Sit down,” he said, nudging a chair out for her. “Have a bite.”
“I will,” she said, slowly taking a step toward him. She had her hands out in front of her, her fingertips playing with each other in a fidgety habit. “But first there’s something you should know.”
Why was she being so weird? he wondered, but shrugged it off.
Just as she opened her mouth, he heard a door open behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see one of Sadie’s girl friends, but instead he saw another guy coming out of the bathroom. It surprised him to see the dark-haired stranger in Sadie’s apartment, and he looked back at her, taking in the outfit from the night before and the flushed color of her cheeks.
“Chad, this is Julian,” she said with a hoarse sounding chuckle. “Julian, this is my friend Chad.”
He couldn’t have felt more awkward or out of place as the guy crossed the room and extended his hand. Strange and possessive feelings started to stir inside him, awaking his alpha-male instincts. He gave Julian’s hand one firm squeeze and a polite nod, then stepped back as the guy turned his attention to Sadie.
Giving her one of those overly-charming, borderline-gooey smiles. “I should go, but do you want to grab dinner tonight?”
“Sounds great.” She nodded, grinning at him. In her eyes, Chad noticed the dreamy signs of infatuation and started to get worried. There was something about this guy that was off, in his gut he could feel it, but he knew he couldn’t say anything to her about it. She’d just go off on a rant about how he never gave anybody a chance. So he was quiet, trying not to watch but secretly unable to look away as Julian gave Sadie a kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he said.
“See you then.” As Sadie opened the door for Julian to leave, he stopped at the table long enough to take one of the Styrofoam coffee cups from the carry-out tray. Lifting it in Chad’s direction, he said, “Thanks, man, I was exhausted.”
Chad felt his jaw tighten in annoyance, but remained steely silent as Julian turned and left the apartment. Once Sadie shut the door, she turned and leaned against it, letting out a swoony sigh.
He watched her, taking in the dreamy smile and the lovey-dovey look in her eyes. He knew that look well; it meant Sadie was crushing, bad. And it usually resulted in her getting her heart broken.
As she looked at him, though, the lovestruck expression faded into a knowing one. “I know what you’re going to say…”
“Nothing,” he said, clearing his throat. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
She raised an eyebrow as if to say, ‘oh, really?’
Even though he tried to keep his opinions to himself, he just couldn’t help it. “It’s just…don’t you think it’s a little soon? Ethan only dumped you a few days ago.”
“And I’m supposed to what?” she asked, her eyes sparking with a hint of impatience. “Sit around eating ice-cream?”
“No,”he said. “That’s not what I meant,”
“Besides,” she said, finally taking a seat in the chair he’d pulled out for her. “Do you know when the last time I spent all night just talking to a guy? It doesn’t happen every day.”
Well, that answered one burning question. But still, he felt a little weird about the whole thing. Now he was getting insecure about the weird feelings, wondering what they meant. “That’s good,” he said, but it sounded forced and insincere. “I want you to be happy, I mean.”
“I am.” She smiled after she said it, in that half-dazed way of hers.
He cleared his throat, looking at the door. The air in the room felt thick and hot, like he was being suffocated by all of the things he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him, how he wouldn’t have been able to survive the last five years without her support. He wanted to tell her that even though he couldn’t say the words aloud, he loved her every bit as much as he’d loved Amy, just in a different way. And what that way was, and how to handle it, was something he was still struggling to figure out. He wanted to tell her that—even though he had no right—seeing her with another guy made him feel insanely jealous. But saying any of those things would only confuse her and string her along more, which was especially unfair since he couldn’t get up the guts to act on any of these urges. Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get work and lose himself in the mindless motions of repairing something. “I’m running late,” he announced, even though he wasn’t. “I better get to work.”
She checked the clock. “You’ve got some time.”
“No, I should go.” Heading over to the door, he gave her a forced smile. “I’ll see you later.”
He shut the door behind him, silencing any protests she might’ve made. After leaving Sadie’s, he drove straight to work. Over the course of the day, he thought about Sadie and the new guy more than he’d like to admit, but eventually he came to the conclusion that it would blow over soon. He gave it two weeks—tops—before Sadie found some flaw in him she couldn’t live with or until the guy bombed it. Sadie’s boyfriends came and went all the time, but Chad remained the constant in her life. This time would be no different, he was sure of it.
***
For once, traffic at the store was so busy that the day flew by and hours passed quickly. By watching Shane a few times, Cameron had learned how to do the chatter that kept the customers happy, and talking made the work quicker. Before long, it was almost time for her to leave but she found herself dreading it. She’d come to understand what Shane had meant by ‘idle hands’. It was easier not to focus on the stress of her past or the cravings of her addiction if she kept her mind busy.
At four, Chad came out of the garage. His hands were clean but his coveralls were drenched in oil. Shane followed behind him, just as dirty, except he wore a pair of jeans and a once white t-shirt. She’d noticed that he never bothered with the uniform the store provided, and he didn’t seem to care if he ruined his clothes. He should have looked gross—the black smears marking his hands and arms, with a smudge across his jawbone—but she found it sexy.
The phone rang and Cameron picked it up. She recognized the voice as Jake’s, her replacement, when he asked for Shane. She handed him the phone. “It’s for you, boss.”
He looked down at his grease-covered hands, shrugged and took the phone. “Yellow.” He paused, sighed and tapped his foot. “You’ve been sick all day, right? You should have called sooner.” Another pause. More foot tapping. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hope you feel better.” Once he hung up, he grumbled, “He’s not sick, just lazy.”
“You want me to stay?” Chad offered.
“I could do it.” Cameron took a rag to the black-smudged telephone. “I need to pay my car insurance soon.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.” Chad looked to Shane for approval.
“Alright, sure,” he said to Cameron. “Thanks.”
She nodded and waved at Chad as he left.
Shane looked out to the parking lot, where a cherry-red Mustang had just parked. He went pale, grabbed her hand, and then tugged her back into the office area.
Her body went stiff, every sense on alert from the way he’d grabbed her. “What are you doing?”
He yanked open a cabinet and tossed her a vest, then pulled out a pair of coveralls. Moving quickly, he shoved his legs through without taking off his shoes. “Put that on, and then get back out there. My dad’s here.”
She didn’t understand his panic, but she did what he told
her to and took her place behind the counter. She was grateful she had a customer when Mr. Harper lumbered in.
He was a big man, tall and muscular with a protruding beer belly and thinning salt-and-pepper hair. Just looking at him scared her. Thankfully, he didn’t give her a second glance as he went back to the office.
She kept herself busy by wiping down the counters, sweeping the floor, washing the windows. When she saw the Mustang squeal out of the parking lot, she went to the garage to find Shane.
She entered just as he slammed his fist into the cemented wall. Her steps halted on reflex, and falling back, she wondered if she should leave him alone.
He raised his head to look at her. “Sorry.” He gave the zipper one wrench and tore off the coverall suit, then hurled it at the wall.
“Everything okay?”
“He wants me to go back to working the register.” Rolling his eyes, he leaned under the hood of a car and started working. “He’s crazy. We lost half our customers those two months I wasn’t in here. People come here because they know I’ll do the job right. He doesn’t know what it takes to run this place anymore. He’s been gone too long.”
“Why doesn’t he want you working as a mechanic?”
“Because it makes me happy and he can’t stand that.” Using a wrench to work an engine bolt free, he started venting his frustration with sharp angry twists. “Or maybe it’s because he’s been drinking so long his hands are too shaky to work anymore and he can’t stand that I can still do it.”
She was silent for a minute, feeling sorry for him. “Is there anything I can do?”
He shook his head. “Did he say anything to you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He seemed to calm down a little as he worked. She watched him release his anger in the vigorous movements underneath the hood. “That chills you out, doesn’t it? Working on cars.”
Another Life: Another Life Series #1 Page 12