Keep Me Safe: A Small Town Suspenseful Love Story (Port James Book 1)

by Alyssa Coolen

  Fight or flight instincts took over. But Logan said it himself, I was going to get through it because I was an Ashford.

  “Why’d you do it, huh?” I asked and stepped to the side, behind the couch. “Why did you do that in New York and then take your time here?”

  He smiled and I saw sweat trickle down his temple. “Because we’re supposed to be together. I had to wait for you. I had to hope that you’d come to your senses that it was me all along.”

  I shook my head, not caring that I was crying in front of him. I wasn’t the same weak woman that he hurt before. I was different now, stronger. “We’re supposed to be together? I will never be with you.”

  Henry roared and I jumped back, gripping my phone tightly. I was behind the couch now and I knew that he couldn’t see below my elbow. I eyed him as he began to pace, frantically running his hands through his hair as he tried to figure out his next move. Casting my eyes down, I unlocked my phone with shaking fingers and dialed 911, watching and waiting for the call to go through.

  “Hey! What the fuck are you doing?”

  I looked up, startled, and all at once Henry was moving toward me. With my heart pounding painfully against my ribs, I dropped my phone, kicked it under the couch, and ran into the kitchen with him hot on my heels. Dodging a dining room chair, I threw it to the floor and tripped him up a bit, giving me just enough time to reach the butcher block and grab a steak knife.

  My hand shook as I pointed it at him, watching as Henry grabbed the edge of the counter and pulled himself to his feet.

  “What are you gonna do?” he laughed. “Kill me?”

  I couldn’t find words, so I simply nodded. Could I, though? Could I kill a man? I never thought so. I never thought I had it in me to commit murder. But now that my life was on the line and I was standing in front of a mad man, I didn’t have time to question my own morality. It was either me or him and I knew that I wasn’t going to sacrifice myself so that he could live.

  It was me or Henry.

  I was choosing myself.

  “I will kill you,” I said firmly with a white knuckled grip on the knife. “I won’t lose an ounce of sleep over it.”

  Henry laughed and the sound made me grit my teeth. He stood tall, broad, and intimidating in front of me. But I wasn’t backing down. It pissed me off that he didn’t look scared, added fuel to the already ignited fire within me.

  “Why are you ruining this?” he asked, his deep voice sending chills down my spine.

  “Because I’m done with your games. I’m done being a fucking toy. I mean, really, what did you think was going to happen? You thought we’d ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after? Read my fucking lips, Van Sant. I. Am. Not. Yours.”

  He smacked his hand against the counter as he advanced towards me. “Abby, Abby, Abby,” he admonished with a shake of his head. He watched me warily and took a slow step forward. “I wanted to make this work. I was patient. I was kind. I sat by and watched you give someone else the attention I deserved. You ruined it.”

  I swallowed hard. This was it. There was nowhere else for me to go. “Yeah, you watched me. You watched me touch him and kiss him. You watched him fuck me.”

  “Shut your fucking mouth!” Henry screamed and lurched forward, knocking the knife out of my hand.

  I threw myself backwards and slammed into the kitchen counter as his hands wrapped around my throat. I grabbed his meaty wrists as he squeezed, cutting off my oxygen. His face was beet red as he looked down at me, his hands squeezing so tight I thought my head was going to explode. It was like that scene in those old cartoons when the person’s eyes pop out of their skull, that’s what I felt like. Henry was strangling me, suffocating me. He was killing me. I was going to die in my brother’s kitchen because I was too brave to run like I should have.

  “You made me do this! You made me do this!” Henry shouted in my face.

  The edges of my vision blurred, darkening as I fought less and less. My muscles ached and I was tired. So tired. I couldn’t fight anymore. It was over.

  Do it.

  Come on, beautiful.

  Knox’s voice rang in my foggy brain like the light at the end of a dark tunnel. The words he’d said to me the first time I stepped into the ring with him. He taught me how to fight back.

  He taught me how to survive.

  With a choked gasp and my last ounce of energy, I brought my knee up and connected with Henry’s balls. Hard. His hands instantly loosened around my neck as we both fell to the floor, him groaning and cupping himself while I coughed and sputtered. My windpipe felt crushed and the skin around my neck was tender. I could already feel it bruising as I crawled across the kitchen floor.

  “Abbigail!” Henry groaned, his anger evident. “You fucking bitch. Wait until I get my hands on you.”

  I narrowed my eyes and barely managed to whisper, “You’ll have to catch me first, asshole.”

  I managed to stand up, shaking as adrenaline ran rampant through my veins. “This isn’t the same as last time!” I yelled and backed up a few steps. “I’ve seen your face, Van Sant. All those times you watched me, left me your little gifts… all those times you left me exposed and vulnerable. Well, how’s it feel? How does it feel to finally be exposed for the fucking freak that you are. It’s over, you hear me? It’s fucking done.”

  Henry’s empty eyes looked up at me and I backed up, knowing that I needed to run. It didn’t make me a coward nor did it make me weak. It made me smart.

  I was heading towards the front door when it opened and a face I never thought I’d see again appeared.

  “Abby, I’m so-”

  “Knox!” I screamed and lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and sobbing. It wasn’t the time for an emotional reunion, but I couldn’t help it.

  “What the fuck is going-”

  A loud, thunderous shout from behind me cut him off and I turned, seeing Henry with the knife I’d been holding in the kitchen in his hands.

  Knox’s eyes told me that he was quickly putting the pieces together and he shoved me to the side like I was a rag doll, putting himself between me and Henry.

  “You,” Henry seethed and slashed the knife through the air. “You ruined it. You fucking stole what’s mine.”

  Sirens blared in the distance. Relief danced through me and I shook my head, forcing myself to try and stay focused. “I wish it wasn’t you,” I said honestly, my voice shaking.

  Henry moved forward quickly, making a beeline for me. But Knox was quicker and stepped in the way, making a swift move and turning so Henry was facing the opposite direction. In a move so quick I didn’t even have time to blink, Knox had an arm wrapped around Henry’s throat, yanking him backwards with a grunt. Henry looked shocked as he toppled backwards, losing his balance as he swung his arms out. The knife arced through the air and Knox ducked, both of them toppling to the ground. They struggled, Knox on top first and landing a hard blow to my stalker’s nose. Blood flowed shortly after and Henry, who had height and weight on my boyfriend, ripped him to the side and punched him square in the jaw, sending blood across the hardwood floor as it flew from Knox’s mouth.

  I was frozen for what felt like forever. Watching them both struggle and land hard punches to the other. I watched in terror as Henry grabbed Knox’s face between his hands and, in one swift move, bounced the back of his head against the floor with a sickening thud. Knox lay there, unmoving.

  I don’t remember moving forward.

  I don’t remember picking up the knife.

  I don’t remember a thing, but one minute I was standing still and the next I was next to Henry, gripping the knife in my hand and holding it poised centimeters away from his Adam’s apple. Adrenaline ran through my veins and I was shaking like a fiend. He froze, his cold, dead eyes looking up at me.

  “It’s over,” I said with conviction, leaving no room for argument. Red and blue lights flooded the house as the police pulled up, the front door swinging open. Voi
ces yelled and flashlights shine, finally landing on the war that occurred in the living room. “You lost at your own sick game.”

  Officers yelled and moved forward and I saw Detective Kendrick push past all of them, his gun raised. When his eyes spotted me he nodded towards the knife that was still poised in my hand. Everything felt like slow motion as I slowly backed up, dropped the knife and collapsed to the ground as officers rushed in and quickly cuffed him.

  Henry Van Sant was no longer a threat to me. Just like that, it was over.

  As soon as they pulled him off Knox I was there, gripping his face in my hands and crying, begging every higher power to let him be okay.

  “Please,” I begged, crying. “Please wake up. Knox!” I shouted as Kendrick pulled me away. My heart was breaking into a million pieces and I fought Kendrick every step of the way, thrashing against him as he gripped me by my shirt collar and dragged me across the floor.. “Knox, wake up! Please, please I need you. I need you to wake up for me.”

  The EMTs started in on him, feeling for a pulse and finding one. He was unconscious, unmoving as I sat there, praying and hoping that he would wake up. “Don’t leave me,” I sobbed. “Baby, please wake up.”

  I didn’t see his eyelids flutter and he didn’t gasp and wake up like in the movies. Instead, his fingers curled into his palm. If his arm hadn’t been outstretched I wouldn’t have seen it. But I did. I watched his fingers curl and then flex a few times before stopping again. Then his arm twitched and his nostrils flared and he groaned, trying to move.

  “Stay still, buddy,” one of the EMTs said and put a hand on his chest. “Just take a deep breath. Can you tell me your name?”

  His lips moved but it didn’t sound like any noise came out. The man repeated his question and Knox’s mouth opened. “Where’s Abby?”

  “I’m here,” I cried, relief flooding me. That voice, his voice had me crying nearly uncontrollably. “I’m right here. I’m okay. We did it.”

  Knox’s lips curved into a smile and his eyes opened slowly. He was unfocused and disoriented but he was awake. “I love you,” he said quietly.

  “I love you so much,” I said just as softly, finally feeling that things were going to get better. No more fear and no more looking over my shoulder.

  It was finally over.

  Chapter 21

  One week later…

  “This whole concussion thing blows,” Knox said into the phone.

  I laughed from the kitchen before grabbing the box of pizza and paper towels and walking into his room. He sat with his his back resting against the black headboard, his phone pressed to his ear and a scowl on his face before his eyes landed on me. His features softened and he smiled.

  It had been a week since the big showdown at Robbie’s and Knox’s fourth day home from the hospital. He had a pretty severe concussion that kept him at Mass General for three nights where all he did was raise hell and demand to be discharged. Now he was home with strict instructions not to do anything strenuous, which meant he couldn’t work or work out until he got the okay from his doctor. We also couldn’t have sex for the time being because that fell under the “strenuous” category. To say he was moody was an understatement.

  It was scary, so scary watching the EMTs transfer Knox to a stretcher and then into the ambulance. He was barely moving and his head was pounding. I could see the excruciating pain written all over his face and ached to take it away.

  But it was over this time. For good. Henry Van Sant was shipped off to Plymouth County until they could send him up to Framingham. I hadn’t seen him or heard from him and it was both peaceful and not. Knox hadn’t been right when he said I didn’t want to get over it, but now that it was actually over, it all felt strange. Like there’d been a pause button on my life and suddenly I hit play and everything picked back up. But I slept better at night knowing that I was finally safe.

  I crawled into bed next to him and placed the pizza box between us. “If you don’t get off the phone I’m going to eat this whole thing by myself.”

  He reached over and pulled my hair lightly before finishing up his conversation. “Yeah, just make sure you lock up before you leave. And turn the light off! I don’t need my electric bill to skyrocket because I was dumb enough to leave you in charge for two weeks.”

  “Could be longer,” I sang.

  Knox shot me a glare. “Yeah, I gotta go kill my girlfriend. I’ll talk to you later.”

  I laughed and opened the box as he hung up and moved in closer, groaning. “I’m getting a headache.”

  I arched a brow at him and responded, “Maybe because you should be resting and not calling Alex every five minutes asking how the gym’s going.”

  He made a face and bit into a slice of what was possibly the yummiest, cheesiest pizza I’d ever eaten. “Maybe. Maybe it’s because I’m not getting laid.”

  I laughed and shook my head. There’d been a contentedness between us since last week. I sat in the hospital with him and held his hand, I cried with Amy as we eagerly awaited the results from all the tests they’d done and I spent so much time wrapped up in the warm embraces of my family. Love surrounded me and I felt protected. Safe.

  After dinner we lay down in the dark with Knox on his back and me on my side with my head on his chest. I felt bad knowing his head was killing him and there was nothing we could do but lay in the dark and wait for the ibuprofen to take effect. He smoothed a hand up my back and I trailed my fingers over his chest completely blissed out at where we were.

  “What if we moved in together?” he asked softly. “Would you want to like… stay here permanently? You know, your clothes would be in the closet and all your makeup shit would be all over the bathroom. But it would be ours.”

  I didn’t respond and found myself smiling at the way he was rambling, clearly nervous about my answer. “Um, honestly? That might be a little fast,” I said and tried my best to sound hesitant.

  “Oh. Well… yeah… no big deal, Abbs. I just figured I’d ask in case you were wanting to because I-”

  I laughed into his chest and shook my head before looking up at him. “Of course I want to move in. Take a deep breath.”

  Knox’s eyes narrowed. “Were you playing a joke on me?”

  “Did that concussion kill your sense of humor?”

  He dug his fingers into my ribs and I arched against him, laughing and smacking his chest. “Stop,” I gasped and then shrieked as he made a grab for my breast, catching my nipple between his fingers. “Knox!”

  He pulled me against him and then rolled us so that I was underneath him. He stared down at me and I wrapped my legs around his waist. “This is going to be your bed now, too.”

  “Our bed,” I said with a smile. “I like that.”

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” Knox asked and ducked his head down to kiss the spot under my jaw. “Because once you move in you’re not moving out.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  He regarded me seriously. “I almost lost you. Twice. I’m not letting that happen again, you’ll be lucky if I let you out of my sight.”

  I kissed him and playfully tugged at his lip with my teeth. “You aren’t losing me. I promise. I’m here for the long haul, baby. Me and you against the world.”

  I prided myself on being honest about things. Honest about my actions as well as my thoughts and opinions. I hated liars and I hated lying. But…

  I lied.

  I lied to Knox when I told him the only reason I was going to Plymouth was for a job interview. I was going to the job interview, which I was going to nail because it was for a position at an up and coming party planning company that was picking up steam fast. But the interview wasn’t my only reason for going.

  The truth was that I’d been in touch with Detective Kendrick all week and he knew a guy who worked at Plymouth County jail. I decided, for my own piece of mind, that I needed to see Van Sant one last time. I had questions that I needed answers to. I needed that closure.


  But I couldn’t tell Knox, at least not right away. He was still grumpy about being so restricted that if I dropped the “I’m going to visit my stalker in jail” bomb he’d surely explode. I wanted him to focus on getting better and we were in such a good place. I couldn’t risk ruining our peace with a fight.

  “Okay,” Kendrick said as I met him at the front doors. He wore his signature suit and frown as I approached him, clearing my throat. “Your name is on the list, but I want to make this very clear, Abbigail. This is a one time thing. You will be doing this visit once and that’s it, so say whatever you need to say to him and move on with your life. Please.”

  I nodded my head, my heart beating faster. I was about to come face to face with Henry for the first time since the attack and, even though there would be a thick sheet of glass between us, I was still on edge. He spent months hurting me and torturing me.

  But not anymore, I told myself and walked through the front doors with my head held high, going through the process of getting checked in and signing a few papers and going through a metal detector. I kept my head down and only spoke when spoken to. I may have been on edge about being there, but it seemed that my anxiety was nowhere to be found. He couldn’t hurt me anymore and I knew that, held that thought close as I made my way down the room, passing by chair after chair until I stopped at one, turning and meeting the eyes of Henry Van Sant.

  He looked something awful with dark circles under his eyes and his black hair wild and falling over his forehead. His facial hair was dark and he looked almost completely different. But it was his eyes that looked the same. Cold, dead eyes that looked back at me. Empty. There was nothing there as I picked up the phone and held it to my ear.

  “I knew you’d come see me,” he said and smiled. It looked feral. “I knew you would miss me too much.”

  I gripped the phone a little tighter. “No, I’m here because I have questions and I want you to answer them.”

  “Why would I do that?”