by Mandie Tepe
What he didn’t expect was that she’d bring someone home with her. It was another female voice, both of them giggling over something. His biggest fear was that the boyfriend would show up. He never even considered this. He tried to think fast. What should he do? He just had to carry it through. He’d deal with the other girl somehow.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Gracie was walking toward her bedroom nook, laughing back over her shoulder to Kelli. She heard the beaded curtain clack, but before she could turn to look, ran right into someone. She jerked her head up to look, heart pounding, and all the blood rushed to her head. She thought she heard Kelli shriek behind her, but the shock of seeing Rob standing in her apartment . . . her safe haven . . . numbed her. She started back-peddling away from him and bumped up against Kelli, who was frozen in fear.
I have to get hold of myself, she thought, reaching behind her to grab Kelli and drag her back with her. We can get to the door, she thought. But then she saw the gun. It was small, but it was a gun. She stopped and pushed Kelli back behind her.
“R-r-rob . . . Wh-what are you doing?” she stuttered.
“Gracie. You look so beautiful,” he breathed, as if he were totally unaware of the terror charging the air.
Kelli had stopped shrieking as she realized the gunman was Gracie’s ex. Gracie had told her all about her past and how her marriage had ended.
Gracie took a deep breath, trying to calm her fears. She had to stay calm. “Rob . . . what’s the gun for?”
He glanced down at it as if surprised to see it in his hand. “Oh. I just want to talk to you. I was afraid you wouldn’t talk to me.”
Okay, she thought, he’s not all here. And that scared her even more. “I’ll talk to you.” Sure she would, she thought. “Just put the gun down and let my friend leave, and we can talk as long as you want.”
“No, I don’t think so.” He pointed the gun toward the sofa. “Both of you can sit down over there.”
Have to keep him calm and get Kelli out of this in one piece, she thought. “Come on, hon.” They sidled over and dropped down on the couch, their hands gripped together.
Rob walked over to the dining table, keeping the gun on them. He dumped Gracie’s purse, found her cell phone and put it in his pocket. He dumped Kelli’s purse next, but didn’t find her phone. “Where is it?” he asked harshly.
Kelli jumped. “I-I must have left it in my car.”
That seemed to satisfy him, and he didn’t question it further. What he didn’t know, was that Kelli was discreetly pulling her phone out of her back pocket and stuffing it between the seat cushions. She thought the ringer was silenced. She prayed the ringer was silenced.
Rob moved over to stand in front of them and stared down into Gracie’s face.
“Rob, how did you get here? You should be in prison. Right? Did you escape just to talk to me?” she asked.
“Of course not. I would never escape,” he scoffed. “They let me out.”
“They let you out? I thought you got seven years.” How could this happen, she wondered.
“I got early parole. I was a model prisoner. See, Gracie? I am a good person. You just need to understand that I made a couple of mistakes. But, we can rebuild what we had.”
Gracie looked at him in disbelief. She studied him for a moment. He was flabbier than she’d ever seen him, his complexion pasty. Prison obviously hadn’t treated him well. He’d always been so proud of his blonde, all-American boy good looks. His hair had been buzzed to about a quarter of an inch long, and she could see his hairline was beginning to recede.
She tried to think of what to say. “Listen, Rob . . . I’ve moved on with my life. You can rebuild a new life for yourself too. It can be a really positive—“
“Shut up!” He broke in. “I know what this is about. This is about that new boyfriend. Now that I’m back, you don’t need him anymore.”
Gracie—and from the sound of Kelli’s gasp, Kelli—was shocked. How would he know about Sonny? “How do you know about Luca?” Gracie asked, her blood running cold.
He looked confused. “Who’s Luca? I’m talking about that Sonny guy.”
“Okay . . . Sonny then. Sonny is Luca’s nickname.”
Rob smiled a humorless smile. “I’ve been around for awhile, Gracie. I’ve seen you making a fool of yourself over that guy. He doesn’t deserve you. I do. We’ve been together since we were kids, and there’s a reason for that—“
Suddenly Gracie’s phone’s ring-tone sounded from Rob’s pocket, startling him. He pulled it out and looked at the display screen. “It says it’s Luca,” he bit out.
“You have to let me answer it,” she pleaded.
“No way. You’ll tell him I’m here.”
“That’s just it, Rob. If I don’t answer it, he’ll just show up here. I can give him an excuse not to.” Her head was spinning as she tried to come up with some kind of plan.
He looked uncertain for a moment and the phone stopped ringing. He tossed it to her and demanded she play Sonny’s message back over the speaker.
“Hey, angel . . . guess you’re still in the throes of wedding planning and haven’t turned your phone back on,” he chuckled. “We got back to the marina awhile ago, and now we’re at Maxie’s playing pool. Call me. I’ll come by for awhile later.” They could hear a deep voice in the background and then the sound of Sonny laughing. “McKenna says I should pick up that honey-do list as soon as possible.” More deep voices in the background. “Okay, angel . . . gotta go . . . Love you . . . Bye.”
There was silence in the room for several moments—everyone in it feeling a different emotion. Gracie’s heart ached, as she heard the pure joy in his voice. He had no idea what was happening. Kelli felt fear and frustration. She knew all of those guys would be over here tearing the door down if they only knew. But that might only get them hurt—or killed. And rage came off Rob in waves. Who did this guy think he was, talking to Rob’s wife in such a familiar manner?
Gracie stared up at Rob. “You have to let me call him back. I can put him off.”
Rob smiled wickedly. “Maybe he should come over. I’m ready for him now.”
That made Kelli’s blood run cold. “Look . . . Rob, is it? You don’t know him. He’s a Navy SEAL and he has lots of scary friends. You don’t want to do something stupid.”
“Shut up!” He swung the gun up to Kelli’s face. “I’m sick to death of hearing about these SEALs.” He muttered, “It’s like they’re gods or something.”
Gracie squeezed Kelli’s hand, hoping to keep her quiet, but Kelli spoke anyway. “That’s not what I mean. You can do this peacefully without hurting anyone. You just want to talk to Gracie, right? You two can’t start over if you hurt someone.”
That seemed to make sense to him. He bit his lip and rubbed his hand over his buzzed hair. Lowering the gun, he looked back at Gracie. “Okay. Call him. But if you say something stupid, I’ll hurt her.” He jerked his head toward Kelli.
Gracie dialed quickly, afraid he might change his mind. When Sonny answered she prayed a little prayer and went for it. “Hey, Luca . . .” She gave a strained laugh. “Oh, yes! We had a great time . . . No, babe, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m not feeling too well. Meg served blackberries and—I have a weakness for them and ate way too many . . . no I don’t need anything from the drugstore. My friend, Amber, came by and brought something for me to take.” Gracie looked at Kelli, willing her to play along. Kelli raised her eyebrow the slightest little bit, but didn’t react other than that. “Okay, babe. Glad you had a good day. Talk to you tomorrow,” she said with a hitch in her voice.
She disconnected and looked up at Rob in trepidation. His expression didn’t change. He didn’t look suspicious at all. Did he really not remember about the blackberries? Or Amber?
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Sonny disconnected from talking to Gracie. He w
ished she’d let him come over to check on her, but it sounded like her friend was doing just that. Amber? He didn’t remember her ever talking about anyone named Amber. Maybe she was a co-worker from the daycare center. Or one of the waitresses at Savannah’s. Weird.
Mathias missed his shot and stepped back from the pool table. “Is she requesting the honor of your presence?” His eyes glinted with amusement.
“No. She said she’s not feeling too well, so I shouldn’t come by. I guess she ate too many blackberries at Meg’s,” Sonny laughed.
Mathias looked confused. “That can’t be right. Gracie’s allergic to blackberries. They make her swell up like a balloon. She’d never eat them.”
“What?” Sonny asked, surprised. “I’m sure she said blackberries.”
Trace stood up from his seat. “I took Meg to the grocery store yesterday . . . watched her cook all afternoon. No blackberries.”
“What else did she say?” Mathias asked Sonny.
“Something about her friend, Amber, coming by to take care of her.” Worry lines were beginning to appear between Sonny’s brows. “Funny thing is, I’ve never heard her talk about anyone named Amber.”
Now Charley piped in, “She couldn’t be cheating on you, could she? All these lame excuses to keep you away?”
Mathias and Sonny both had the same reaction. “No way!” they chorused.
Trace looked from one to the other. “Something’s not right.” He dialed Meg’s phone. “Hi, baby. Yeah, I know I just called. I was just wondering . . .” he began, trying to sound matter of fact, “how the wedding plans went . . . Oh, Kelli was there too?” He raised his eyebrow at Sonny, then chuckled—for her benefit. “A sleep over? Weren’t you invited? Yeah baby, I’d rather you have a sleep over with me too. Okay . . . Bye.”
All three of the other men were staring at him. “Meg says Gracie took Kelli home with her to have a sleep over or something.”
Charley’s mouth dropped open. “You think Gracie is having an affair with Kelli?!”
“Jeez, Charley!” Trace exploded. “What is wrong with you?” He stared Charley down until he looked down—shamefaced.
“Sorry.”
Mathias started pacing. “Amber. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Gracie talk about an Amber, either. Except . . .” He shook his head. “Nah . . .”
“What?” Sonny demanded.
“Well . . . Amber was the name of the slut Gracie caught in bed with Rob. But it’s not that uncommon a name, is it? There are lots of Ambers.”
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Kelli ducked into Gracie’s bathroom after convincing Rob she was going to be sick. Which wasn’t too much off the mark. She just might get sick. She’d stealthily pulled her phone from between the cushions and slid it inside the cuff of her sweatshirt. He’d demanded she leave the door cracked open, so she did, praying he wouldn’t peek in on her. He’d turned a little green when she’d mentioned the word “vomit.” She was hoping he was one of those squeamish types.
After she pushed the door mostly closed, she knelt behind it, near enough to the toilet so she could thrust her head inside if she heard him coming. She fished out her cell and typed out the text as fast as possible. She probably set a record—which was saying something. She was a world-class speed texter. She prayed Sonny hadn’t turned off his phone . . . or that the music wasn’t too loud at Maxie’s to hear it chime. She hit send, stashed her cell in her sleeve, flushed the toilet, and went back out to the living room. No it wasn’t a bad dream. He was still there with the gun.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Sonny jumped when the cell phone in his hand chimed. He glanced down. Message from Kelli, flashed on the display. He hit the buttons to retrieve the message and the other three men watched all the color drain from his face. He turned and ran for the exit, the other three tossing pool cues down and dashing out behind him.
“What?” Mathias demanded, the bottom dropping out of his stomach.
Sonny flung the phone over to him and Mathias cursed a blue steak as he read the message. He grabbed Sonny and pulled him to a stop. “Stop! We have to think. We have to handle this the right way! We could get them killed.”
Trace skidded to a stop next to them in the parking lot, Charley right behind. “What is it? What’s going on?”
Mathias handed him Sonny’s phone and Trace read the message aloud. “rob here gun call cops help dont reply” Trace looked up. “Oh, my God.”
Charley’s red hair got the better of him as his anger built. “Let’s go. We’ll get ‘em out. We’ve done it before.”
“What are you talking about?” Mathias asked.
Trace tried to smooth the waters. “Those missions were in third world countries with Uncle Sam’s blessing. We can’t do that here.” He handed Sonny’s phone back to him and pulled his own out, dialing. “Yeah . . . 911? We have a situation . . .”
CHAPTER 19
Rob jumped when banging sounded at the door. “Police! Open up!”
What? How would the police know to come here? “Mr. Chilton? Rob Chilton? Open up! Now!”
Rob aimed his gun at the ceiling and fired. The shot sounded like an explosion in the small apartment. Gracie and Kelli huddled even closer together on the sofa and Gracie prayed her upstairs neighbors weren’t home. They heard scurrying out in the hallway as the police retreated and Rob peeked out the peephole to see the hallway had emptied.
He turned to the women, outraged. “What did you do? How did the police know I was here?”
They both flinched, and Gracie said, “How would we know, Rob? We’ve been here with you the entire time.” She winced inwardly as she realized that, in fact, they both hadn’t been there with him the entire time. She hurriedly went on—hoping he would ignore Kelli, “Maybe one of the neighbors saw—“
It was too late. He’d stalked over and grabbed Kelli by the arm, pulling her off the couch.
Gracie cried, “Rob, please! She has nothing to do with this. Let her go!”
Rob shook Kelli, then looked over to where she’d been sitting. The barest corner of her phone was poking out from the seat cushions. He grabbed it and looked from it to her, then flung it against the wall where it broke into two pieces. Both women cowered, but he jerked Kelli back to her feet and backhanded her across the face, knocking her face first into the edge of the heavy coffee table. She slumped to the floor and the daisy bouquet hit the floor, water spewing everywhere and the vase shattering.
Gracie jumped across the coffee table to throw herself over Kelli, trying to protect her from his fists. She glared up at him. “Rob! Do you want to talk to me or not?”
He was breathing hard, but that question caught his attention. He bit out. “That’s why I’m here you, stupid b—“
“If you want to talk to me, you have to let her leave. I mean it!” She got to her feet and forced herself to stand up to him. She looked down at Kelli, who was trying to get her attention. She was shaking her head at Gracie, as if to say she wasn’t leaving her there alone. But her eye was already swelling shut and she was bleeding from her lip and a cut on her temple. Gracie’s eyes filled with tears.
Rob bent down and grabbed Kelli by the arm again, dragging her across the floor. He looked through the peephole and saw that the hallway was clear. He threw open the locks and shoved Kelli out into the hallway, slamming the door and locking it behind her.
She lay there sobbing and jumped when a man in SWAT gear gathered her up and hustled her out of the building. He had been stationed on the stairs, where he couldn’t be seen through the hole on Gracie’s door.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Kelli refused to go to the hospital, so the EMTs waiting down the block patched her up with butterfly bandages after she promised to go in on her own later. All she wanted to do was talk to the police and give them all the information she could
. They needed to get Gracie out of there as soon as possible. That Rob guy was completely unhinged.
She realized that Sonny had indeed gotten her message as soon as she’d sent it. The cops got organized really quickly and already had evacuated the building quietly. The whole neighborhood seemed like a ghost town, except for the huge police presence. Rob hadn’t noticed the block being cleared, because Gracie’s apartment was in the back of the building and not even on the street corner side, but next to another house, with a privacy fence at the back of her building’s courtyard. The secluded position of her side door had helped Rob get into her place undetected, but that same secluded position of her apartment had helped the police take care of business in an efficient and stealthy manner.
After she spoke with the officers in charge at their command post two buildings down from Gracie’s place, they offered to get her to the hospital. She refused again and asked if they knew where Gracie’s fiancé was. She’d expected him to be at the command center, but the officers had banished the “civilians.” Apparently they didn’t take kindly to a group of Navy SEALs telling them how they should be doing their jobs. The man in charge had one of his officers give her a ride over to Savannah’s, where Gracie’s friends were gathered. It was only a five minute drive, but it seemed much longer to Kelli.
She noticed the open sign was switched off, but the parking lot was all but full of cars. She tried the door, and sure enough it was unlocked. Pushing it open, the hushed voices in the room stopped. She saw Sonny surge to his feet and his chair fell with a crash to the wooden floor. His eyes filled with tears as he looked at her. Everyone there had heard that Kelli had been thrown out of the apartment, but that Gracie was still with that monster. Sonny stumbled toward her and some of the others stood and stared at her in shock.
“Kelli . . .” Sonny choked out as he gently wrapped his arms around her.
She lost it, bursting into tears. She’d been proud of the fact that she’d held it together while the police interviewed her, but she couldn’t bear the look on Sonny’s face. She felt she’d failed Gracie. “I’m so sorry, Sonny!” she sobbed.