Blackout

by Dani Matthews

  His hands pause, and his eyes lock on mine in the mirror. “I don’t want to imagine a life without you in it.”

  We stare at each other for a long moment until I ask, “Any news on Mason?”

  He shakes his head and continues drying my hair. “Not yet.”

  I frown. “He couldn’t have gone far, Gabe. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt, so I think he was thrown from the car. There’s no way he escaped without some sort of injury.”

  “They’re going to find him, and then we’re going to work on putting this behind us,” he says confidently.

  I nod in agreement.

  Gabe sets the towel down and studies my hair. “Do you want me to try combing your hair?”

  I grimace over the thought of a comb yanking on the strands. “Can you try using your fingers?”

  “Let me know if it’s too much,” he warns.

  He spends about five minutes trying to tame the tangles until I’m satisfied it’ll dry somewhat decently. “I need to go get some fresh clothes. Why don’t you check the coffee, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” he suggests.

  I nod as he opens the door, and when we step into the hall, we find Quinn standing there, looking uncertain.

  “Something happen?” Gabe asks immediately.

  She looks uneasy as her eyes slide to me. “Someone’s here to see you.”

  “Bryce?” I ask.

  Quinn shakes her head. “Emma.”

  “Mason’s girlfriend?” Gabe asks sharply.

  She nods. “She wants to talk to Harper.”

  “This is the last thing Harper needs,” he says immediately.

  “Guys, I’m right here,” I say, interrupting them.

  Quinn’s eyes focus on me. “He’s right, but she’s also desperate for answers. She doesn’t really know what’s going on…”

  If I were in Emma’s shoes, I too would want answers. It’s one thing to hear the news from someone else, but I think Emma needs to hear it more from me in order to believe it. I can’t fault her for coming to the one person that can fill in all the blanks.

  “I need to put on a sweatshirt and grab some coffee, and then I’ll join Emma in the living room. Without anyone else around,” I add in a firm tone.

  Neither Quinn nor Gabe look thrilled with my decision. “Harper, you just got out of the hospital today. You don’t owe her anything,” Gabe reminds me.

  “If I need closure, she needs closure.” I move aside and head for his room. “I’m stealing one of your shirts,” I call over my shoulder. He typically stores all his casual clothing in his dresser, and I use my right hand to open a drawer. A sweatshirt is folded on top, and I pick it up.

  Gabe had followed right on my heels, and he plucks the sweatshirt from my hand and helps me slip it on. He sighs with resignation. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

  I give him a grateful smile. “After she leaves, I just want to curl up in bed with you.”

  “Done.”

  While Gabe changes into clothes, I leave his room and enter the kitchen. Quinn’s already there, and she holds out a cup of coffee to me. “Emma’s waiting.” Her eyes search mine. “Are you sure you’re feeling up to this? She can come back, Harper. It doesn’t have to be today.”

  I accept the coffee. “Yeah, I think it does. If our roles were reversed, I’d be sitting in the living room hoping for answers, too. She isn’t doing anything that I wouldn’t do myself.”

  Quinn nods before her expression shifts into a stern one. “I’m checking on you after twenty minutes, and if you look like you’re going to wilt into the sofa, I’m kicking her out so you can rest.”

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  “Clock’s ticking.”

  I shoot her a look and then leave the kitchen. I find Emma sitting on the sofa looking small and lost. She has a cup of coffee in her hands, but it looks untouched. When I’d entered the living room, she’d looked up, and I note how terrible she looks. Her usual sleek bob is slightly messy, and her eyes are swollen and red-rimmed. Sleep had probably been elusive last night, and it shows.

  Her eyes widen as I move to the opposite end of the sofa and carefully sit down. Her gaze lingers on the side of my face before shifting to my cast. She visibly swallows, and I watch as she blinks a few times, fighting back tears. “I’m sorry,” she says thickly. “I probably shouldn’t be here, but I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

  I manage to pull together a kind smile. “It’s okay, I’m not upset that you’re here, Emma.”

  She licks her lips almost nervously and sets her coffee on the table. “The police, they asked me so many questions but didn’t answer any of my own. All I know is they believe Mason killed Carrie and that he tried to kill you, too. None of this makes sense!” she says with frustration. “Mason would never hurt anyone. He’s not like that.”

  I’m quiet as I let her talk. She needs to work this out for herself, and right now, she’s getting things off her chest. When she wants my answers, I’ll give them to her.

  “Mason had no reason to go after Carrie. They barely knew each other. It just doesn’t make sense. The only thing I can think of is someone’s setting him up to take the fall.” Her eyes latch onto mine anxiously. “It wasn’t him, Harper. It wasn’t.” She hesitates and whispers, “Right?”

  I draw in a deep breath, and then wince from the pain the movement brings me. My hand is tired of holding the coffee, and I set the cup down on the table across from Emma’s. I look at her with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Emma. It was Mason,” I say gently.

  Her face begins to crumple, and her hands cover her face as her shoulders tremble. “No,” she says, her voice muffled. “No, not Mason.”

  “I wish it were different too, but it’s not. Mason had another side to him that you hadn’t seen. You’re lucky for that, Emma.”

  Her hands drop, and she looks at me incredulously. “I’m lucky?” she asks with dismay.

  I hold her gaze. “Yes. Carrie wasn’t that lucky. He was angry with her, and he resorted to violence without regret. That could have been you.”

  “He didn’t have a reason to hurt Carrie!” she argues in a sharp tone, and I can see that she’s losing the composure she’d been so desperately trying to cling to.

  Gabe strides into the living room, concern etched across his handsome features. “I think this was a bad idea.”

  “Gabe, I’m fine,” I tell him.

  His gaze shifts between Emma’s angry face and my calm one. “Harper, you’re exhausted.”

  “I know, but this conversation isn’t over yet. Go wait for me in the kitchen. Please,” I add, softening the command.

  His jaw visibly clenches, and his eyes swing back to Emma. “I understand you want answers, but keep in mind that Harper went through hell yesterday, and your confronting her like this isn’t helping her in any way.” With that said, he turns and walks out of the room.

  Emma looks at me guiltily. “I’m not trying to be difficult, I just…”

  “I know,” I say kindly. “Emma, what you don’t know is that Mason and Carrie hooked up at a party while you were in Maine. He was drunk at the time,” I reveal as tactfully as I can.

  She begins to shake her head. “Mason would never cheat on me,” she insists.

  “But he did,” I tell her gently. “Carrie agreed to keep it a secret, but then she started to change her mind. She wanted to come clean to you, but Mason was worried he’d lose you. The night she died, he approached her when she was leaving the party. I was drunk and happened upon them before he took her up to Box Springs. He told me he just wanted to threaten her into keeping her silence, but the threats just angered her. He had jumper cables in the back seat of his car, and he used those to strangle her,” I say softly.

  The color drains from Emma’s face. “Cables… My car battery needs to be replaced…”

  I can see that she’s beginning to believe the truth. “He truly loves you, Emma, but there’s something not right when he gets
mad and loses his temper. There was no remorse when he killed Carrie, and he would have killed me too and walked away without a second thought.”

  She swallows and uses the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe a tear. “I know he has issues with his temper, but he’s never hurt me.”

  “Maybe not now, but what about if you’d broken up with him?”

  She falls silent.

  “He confessed it all to me, Emma. There is no mistake or setup.”

  “I just can’t believe this…” she says in a hollow voice.

  “Do you have someone you can be with right now? I don’t think you should be alone.”

  She nods, looking numb. “Sarah stayed over last night.”

  “Has he tried to contact you?” I ask tentatively.

  Emma hesitates.

  My eyes widen, and I don’t know why. I shouldn’t be surprised that he’d tried reaching out to her. “Emma, you have to tell the police.”

  “It was after they questioned me yesterday, and I didn’t answer the calls. They’re from an unknown number. I was scared…” She looks at me with anguish. “I didn’t want to hear the truth.”

  “It’s okay,” I soothe, but I also need her to cooperate with the police. I’m desperate for Mason to be put behind bars. “Listen to me, Emma,” I say as carefully as I can, knowing she’s already on edge. “I know you love him, but he’s dangerous. Very dangerous. You need to contact the police and give them the number he called you from.”

  Emma shakes her head. “Harper…”

  “You have to, Emma,” I insist, unable to stay composed any longer. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. You also need to think about yourself. He’ll come for you someday when he thinks he won’t be caught. What if you’ve moved on by that time, and he goes after the guy you’ve moved on with? Think about your future—my future.”

  “I can’t do this,” she whispers. She rises to her feet, tugging her sweatshirt closer to her body. “I…” She swallows. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  I watch as she quickly crosses the living room and exits the house. For a minute, I sit there and absorb everything.

  “Harper?”

  My head lifts, and I look up to see Gabe and Quinn standing in the living room doorway. I pick up my mug and carefully rise to my feet, walking over to them. “I can’t blame her for feeling the way that she does,” I tell them.

  “That number can be traced. She needs to go to the police,” Gabe says.

  Quinn looks at him and adds, “I don’t think she’s going to. We need to call Bryce.”

  “Just wait,” I quietly cut in, feeling tired. My patience is thinning. “I just destroyed everything she’d ever thought or felt for Mason. I don’t feel right taking that decision from her,” I tell them.

  Gabe stares at me. “That number could lead to Mason’s location. How can you be okay with sitting on that information?”

  “I’m not asking to sit on it. I want him caught way too much to wait for her to do it. I just feel bad for her.”

  “Bad or not, Mason needs to be caught, Harper,” Quinn says to me.

  “I’m the last one that’s going to deny that.”

  Gabe holds my gaze. “So, we’re in agreement? We call Bryce and tell him Mason’s contacted Emma?”

  No matter how terrible I feel, I know it needs to be done. “Will you tell him to be gentle with her?”

  “I will.” His eyes drop to the coffee. “Take that and go to my room. I’ll be there in a few.”

  I smile and watch him walk away.

  Quinn stares after him too before she turns back to me with a scowl. “He’s keeping you to himself.”

  “Not really. These meds are making me tired. I just want to lie down and enjoy our cuddle date,” I say with a hint of longing.

  She blinks. “Cuddle date?” she echoes.

  “Don’t knock it until you have one of your own someday.” With that said, I turn and head for Gabe’s bedroom.

  Epilogue

  Harper

  It’s been a week since I was released from the hospital, and I’m returning to work today. I’m still sore, but I should be able to manage some of my duties, and Lynn’s been absolutely wonderful about the entire situation.

  It feels good to be doing something normal, and I run my hand over my hip, glancing down at my scrubs. Today’s the first step to taking back my life and putting Mason behind me.

  I still can’t believe he’s dead.

  Bryce had gone to Emma with the information Gabe had given him, and she’d willingly handed over her phone. The number had been traced to a cheap motel on the outskirts of the city, and they’d found Mason holed up in one of the rooms—dead. He’d sustained internal injuries from the accident, and he’d chosen to die alone rather than turn himself in at the hospital. Emma’s taking his death quite hard, and last Quinn had heard, Emma had flown back home to Maine. No one’s certain whether she’ll return or not.

  Mason’s death has given me the closure that I needed. No more looking over my shoulder and fearing for my life. It’s over, and now I can concentrate on moving on…with Gabe.

  My thoughts shift to the present, and I give up on trying to put my hair in a ponytail. Instead, I drop the hairband in my purse. Brandie can help me with it later.

  When I enter the kitchen, Gabe’s waiting for me. He motions to the island. “Sit.”

  “You have to stop babying me,” I protest, though I do take a seat anyway.

  He sets a plate of waffles in front of me with my morning coffee. “You should always start the day with a full stomach,” he insists.

  “You’re making me fat.”

  He leans over and kisses my forehead. “Never,” he murmurs.

  A smile tilts the corners of my lips. Okay, so I can’t deny that I enjoy how Gabe showers me with attention and affection. There is no doubt in my mind that I’m his world. He also genuinely loves my curves, and if I gain a few extra pounds, he’s vowed to love every inch of me. It’s kind of nice not watching every little thing I eat and trying to follow a diet.

  Gabe settles onto a stool, his own plate piled high with waffles. He works today too, but first, he’s going to drive me into work since I don’t have a car yet. I’m still dealing with insurance.

  He picks up his fork, digging into one of the waffles. “Did you hear Quinn last night?”

  I finish chewing and shake my head. “No, why?”

  “She came home around three AM,” he says around a mouthful of waffle.

  “Three?” I ask with astonishment. That’s not like Quinn at all.

  He nods and looks at me questioningly. “Do you know anything about this guy she’s seeing?”

  “Not really. She says it’s nothing serious.”

  “If it’s not serious, why is she seeing so much of him?”

  “I don’t know,” I say honestly. Quinn won’t share much of anything about him, and I can’t understand why. It’s like she’s hiding something, but what could it be?

  “Why do I get the feeling that she’s headed for another disaster?” Gabe asks dryly.

  “Because she likely is.”

  Look for Quinn and Colt’s story No Going Back to be available soon! Please take a moment and consider leaving a review. It’s very much appreciated!! For further updates on the series, you can visit www.facebook.com/DaniMatthews,author.