She saluted me, which made me think about things I had no right thinking about. Where was the fun girl I used to hang out with? This woman treated me like I was a nuisance rather than a friend that just wanted to keep her safe.
I slowly went through the downstairs, flicking on the lights and checking all the corners and the closets. Like she promised, she stayed behind me and kept mostly quiet, though I could hear her muttering about how ridiculous this whole thing was.
As we climbed the stairs, I watched for any potential threats over the railing of the upstairs. I took my time clearing each room. It wasn't until I walked into her master bedroom that I stopped and stared at the sight on her bed.
“What the hell is that?” she asked, trying to step around me.
I put my hand out, stopping her from approaching the white box on her bed. Holstering my weapon, I slowly approached the box, touching the lid only at the corners. Sitting inside was black lingerie. I pulled out a pen and lifted one slim piece of lace from inside. “A present for you? I'm guessing this guy still thinks that he has a chance with you.”
“It’s never gonna happen.”
“You keep saying that, but how the hell did he get in here?”
She frowned slightly, shaking her head. “I don’t know. Maybe I left a window open.”
“Or maybe he picked the lock on your fucking door.”
“Look, it’s just a box of lingerie. The guy is harmless.”
I gripped her by the arms, dropping the pen holding up the lace. “Christy, this is fucking serious. How can you not see this? He came right into your fucking house. And he was ballsy enough to show up at the community center tonight. He knows that we’ll suspect him, but he doesn’t give a shit. That’s not a man that’s going to give up easily. How do you not see how dangerous he is?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “He broke into my house to give me lingerie. I can see how you would think he’s dangerous.”
“Fuck,” I threw my hands up in the air. “If you’re not going to take this seriously, then I’m going to have to for you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I’m calling Carter to come pick this up and have it dusted for prints. Then I’ll have the whole house dusted so we can prove he broke in, and—”
“Jack!” she shouted, stopping my rant. “Do you hear yourself? This isn’t your decision to make.”
I was pissed as hell, but she was right. There was nothing I could do. I turned away, pacing around the room. Fuck, I was pissed right now. “At least file a restraining order.”
She played with something around her neck. I caught a slight glint of gold and instantly recognized the necklace I gave her for her twenty-first birthday. She still wore it after all these years. As if she just realized what she was doing, she dropped her hand.
“Is this really that important to you?”
I gave a stiff nod.
“Alright.”
“And you’ll let me stay the night,” I pushed.
I could tell she wanted to roll her eyes, but stopped herself. “What are you going to do about Brody?”
“I’ll talk to Josh and Carly, see if they can keep Brody for the night.”
She nodded.
“And I want to install a security system.”
“Isn’t that taking things too far?”
“I would say after tonight, that’s not taking things far enough. But it will make me feel better.”
With a heavy sigh, she shook her head. “You can’t just come back into my life and take over like this.”
In a flash, I was in front of her, grabbing her gently by the back of the neck. I pulled her in close, my nose practically rubbing against hers. “Christy, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but you and I used to be very good friends. Hell, you meant everything to me. And now you’re back in town, and for some reason, you don’t want me around you. I don’t know why, and frankly, right now I don’t care. But what I do know is that you’re not safe with that psycho out there. So, until I can make sure you have every safety measure in place, I’ll be right beside you.”
She took a stuttering breath and nodded slightly.
I closed my eyes as I pulled her against me. Holding her tight, relief rushed through me. I knew I didn’t have her back, but it was a start. Keeping her safe was the only thing on my mind right now. She was too important to me. Years separated us, but that didn’t matter. Until I knew this guy wasn’t a danger to her, I would protect her with everything in me. I knew that if I lost her the way I lost Natalie, I would never be the same again. It had taken me a long time to come back from the wreckage after Natalie died. I couldn’t go back to that existence. I would do whatever it took to protect my best friend.
14
Christy
I watched as Jack handed off the evidence to Carter and shut the door behind him, locking it tight. He was taking things way too far. I couldn't believe he was staying the night, and I almost turned him down, but he just seemed so worried about me. I couldn't figure out why he was so concerned for my well being.
Yeah, it was a little creepy that my ex-boyfriend broke into my house, but after what he did at my apartment, I wasn't all that surprised. Thomas was harmless, though. Yeah, he had an ego on him the size of Manhattan. But he wasn't actually out to hurt me. He just thought he could win me back with pretty things. That was the problem with guys like him. They just didn't realize that pretty things couldn't buy a woman's affections, not someone like me, anyway.
Jack turned around, running his hand over his face. “Well, we should know more soon.”
“I’m not worried about it, Jack.”
“You should be. Somebody broke into your house. You need to take that seriously.”
“I do, but I also know that Thomas doesn’t have it in him to actually hurt another person. Trust me. I’ve seen him punch.”
“What happens when it escalates? What happens when he realizes that he’s not getting you back?”
“The guy is deranged—”
“Exactly!”
“Let me finish. The guy thinks he can buy my affection and it's not gonna happen. I'm not that kind of girl.”
“I know you're not,” he said solemnly, “but you need to realize that these things get out of control all the time. It starts with flowers and pretty gifts, and then it escalates to violence when he can't get his way.”
I was tired of being preached to. I knew all too well what could happen. “I’ve seen it all, Jack. I’m well aware of what happens when someone gets out of control. But I’m really good at reading people. I had to be as a social worker.”
The evil look in Mr. Woods’ eyes the night I walked in on his dead wife and son was proof enough of that, at least for me. I could always tell which homes were abusive and which ones were falsely reported. Proving it was the hard part.
“Can we not argue about this?” he sighed. “We should both get some rest.”
“Well, if you want, you can take one of the guest rooms.”
He looked surprised for a moment. “I thought I would just sleep on the couch.”
“I have a bed in the guest room. There’s no point in you sleeping on the couch. Besides, I’m not sure that thing even has any support left in it. You’d wake up with a bad back, and then I’d have to take you to the chiropractor in the morning.”
“I just assumed…”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a bed, Jack. Not an invitation.”
“I wasn't suggesting it was.”
Leading him to the guest room, I opened the door that was just down the hall from my own. The guest room wasn’t completely set up, but there was a bed, which was all he needed for the night.
Grabbing linens from the closet, I got to work making the bed.
“I can make it. You should go to sleep.”
“It’s fine. You’re a guest in my house.”
“Yeah, because I forced myself in.”
“Hmm, ironic, isn’t it?”<
br />
“What do you mean?”
“That you forced yourself into my house to protect me from someone that forced their way into my house.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling lightly. “Yeah, I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t catch onto that.”
“Nice try,” I said, spreading out the quilt on top of the bed. “There are spare toothbrushes in the drawer in the bathroom. The towels are in the closet in the bathroom.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded, glancing at the bed and trying my best to ignore the fact that we were both in a bedroom with a bed. We were both adults. We were both single, yet nothing would happen. It didn’t matter what my head said, though. My libido didn’t listen. I took a deep breath and stepped back, trying to get myself under control so I didn’t accidentally throw myself at him and declare my undying love for him. Even seven years later, I was still infatuated with the man. But I knew well enough that infatuation was not the same thing as having a man show you love in return.
And that was probably what hurt the most.
He walked around the side of the bed and grabbed my hand. “Tell me what happened.”
Looking up at him, I shook my head. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Between us.”
My mouth opened, but the words didn’t come out. What good would it do to tell him he had crushed my heart all those years ago? He wasn’t even aware of my feelings for him.
“I don't know what…”
“We used to be so close, and now you don't even seem to want to be in the same room with me.”
“Jack, that was seven years ago. We're different people now.”
“I know,” he said, his brows furrowing. “I know we're different. Christ, I know I'm not the same man I was then, and you deserve better.”
I didn’t understand what he was saying. I deserved better from a friend or from a potential lover? Either way, it didn’t matter. Our issues stemmed from more than just who we used to be versus who we were now. “It's not about that.”
“Then what is it about?”
I glanced away from him, trying to hold back the thoughts swirling in my head.
“Jack, you were everything to me. You were my best friend. We spent all of our time together. And then suddenly there was this space between us. Don’t get me wrong. I'm not blaming you. You fell in love. But I didn't matter anymore.”
“Of course you mattered.”
“But it wasn't the same. And how could it be the same? You were about to get married. I just didn't see a place for me in your life anymore,” I lied.
“Is that why you took the job?”
“No,” I stuttered, feeling flustered. I wasn’t prepared to answer his questions. “It’s a small town, and I didn’t want to be…I just wanted to go somewhere I could make a difference.”
“So you left for Chicago, and I never heard from you again.”
“That’s not true, Jack. You heard from me, but you didn't return my phone calls.”
He nodded his head sheepishly. “I know. When Josh disappeared, I just…I got lost in everything that was going on.”
“I remember. I was there.”
Jack didn’t seem to remember that I was there for him through it all. I was always by his side, always a shoulder to lean on when he was trying to figure out what was going on with the case. But then he would turn to Natalie and I ceased to exist.
And the more he turned to her, the clearer it became that I couldn’t compete with her. I could never hope to regain what we used to have. He made his choice, and I wasn’t it.
“Why did you really come home?”
Sighing, I sat on the bed, brushing my hand over the quilt. “I was working a case, and it went really bad.” I stared at the quilt for a moment, trying to decide how much I wanted him to know. I still hated talking about it. “I decided that I couldn’t be part of a broken system anymore.”
“What was the case?”
My lips tilted up in a small smile. “It doesn’t matter. It’s done and over with. I left.”
“But your parents said you loved that job.”
“I did at one time, but when you see enough cases where there’s nothing you can do…there was just a breaking point. I couldn’t make enough of a difference, so I walked away before it broke me.”
I knew by the look on his face that my vague explanation wasn’t enough. It was all I could give him now.
“So, you came home.”
I nodded. It wasn’t the whole truth, but we didn’t know each other well enough anymore for me to divulge all my secrets.
Standing up, I headed for the door. “Well, I hope you sleep well tonight.”
“Yeah, well, anyone that wants to get in here is going to have to get through me first. I’ll leave my door open.”
Shaking my head, I grinned at him. “I’m not worried about it. But I appreciate you staying to make me feel better.”
I walked down the hall to my room and almost shut the door, but it somehow felt wrong. When Jack and I stayed over at each other’s places before, we stayed in the same room. Hell, sometimes even the same bed. If I closed my eyes, I could still feel his arms wrapped around me as we slept. Even seven years later, I still remembered what it was like to feel loved by him.
I quickly got ready for bed and glanced at the clock. It was so late already. I still had a lot to do for my first day of work, and if I didn’t get to bed soon, I would be groggy and cranky in the morning.
Slipping into bed, I quickly fell asleep. Knowing Jack was down the hall was more comforting than I wanted to admit.
I stumbled into the house, the smell so pungent that I almost threw up. In the darkness, I couldn’t see where I was going. I didn’t even know why I was here. Fear snaked through me, urging me to keep moving. If only I knew where I was supposed to be going.
My fingers grazed along the wall, aiding me along the way. Something sticky spread over my fingertips making me flinch away from the wall. I slipped in something wet on the ground, the front of my body falling into a wet pool. It wasn’t like water, though. It was thicker and sticky. Rubbing my fingers together, I squinted in the darkness, but I couldn’t make out what was covering me.
Pushing myself up, I pulled my shirt away from my body, panicking when I saw a dark substance covering me. My heart raced out of control as I scrambled to get out of the mess. Crawling backward, I almost screamed when I hit something solid. My head jerked up, looking behind me, only to see the whites of eyes staring down at me. I couldn’t see his face, but it was those eyes, the evil in them radiated through me, sending terror down my spine.
As he raised his hand, the glint of a knife shone in the darkness, reflecting off the moonlight filtering in. I didn’t waste a second flinging myself forward, but when I felt his hand wrap around my ankle and I was yanked backward, I knew I was about to die. He flipped me over, the knife raising up just before he plunged it down into my stomach. I stared at the hilt, the only piece of the knife still showing. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think as he slowly wrapped his hand around the knife and yanked it out of my body.
“You should have left it alone.”
Screaming, I sat up in bed, scrambling to get away from the hands reaching for me. I kicked out, desperate to escape this terror. The darkness made it impossible to get my bearings. After a lucky kick, I was finally free and rolled to the other side of the bed, falling to the floor and landing hard on my hip. Pushing up, I ran for the door, desperate to get away, only to be snatched around the waist.
“Hey, calm down,” a soothing voice said in my ear. I couldn’t make out who the voice belonged to over the pounding in my ears. I struggled, still needing to break free, but the voice continued to talk low and soothingly to me. Slowly, my heart started to return to its normal pace. I could see now that I was in my own home, not in the darkness of my dream. There was no blood covering me and no one chasing me.
Tears slipped down my cheeks as I
remembered those evil eyes. I would never get them out of my mind. Evil like that couldn’t be forgotten. A staggering sob tore through my chest, and before I knew it, I was being turned and wrapped up in Jack’s arms.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
His chest was bare under my cheek, the warmth of his body spreading through me in a soothing way. I gripped his biceps, scared that if I let go I would be back in the darkness. The longer I clung to him, the more I felt like I needed him to survive the night. I hadn’t slept well since the night of the murder, and I had a feeling that even with Jack down the hall, I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep.
“Are you okay?” Jack asked, rubbing his hand up and down my back.
I shook my head. I wasn’t okay, and I had a feeling it would be a long time before I felt normal. I felt him bend down, but I was too numb to move. Suddenly, I was scooped up in his arms and he was carrying me over to the bed, laying me down as he snuggled in beside me like he used to.
I couldn’t look at him, so I buried my face in his chest and just let the tears fall. His hand never left my back, just continually ran up and down in a soothing pattern. Before long, my breathing returned to normal and I was cocooned in his touch.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice cracking as he spoke.
“I can’t talk about it,” I whispered. “Not yet.”
I felt his warm breath huff out over my forehead, but he didn’t say anything else. He just laid there with me until I finally drifted off to sleep.
My eyes hurt, but the sunlight streaming in over me was a new thing. Over the past few weeks, I rarely slept more than a few hours a night. I rolled over, remembering Jack in my bed last night. I never should have let him lay beside me. It brought back too many memories, and made me wish for things that could never happen.
I pulled his pillow close to me and took a deep sniff. His scent was still strong. I probably wouldn’t wash the pillow case for the rest of my life. Flopping onto my back, I stared at the ceiling. I was so pathetic. Here I was, lying in bed pining over a man that would never feel the same way I felt about him.
Four Horsemen: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck Book 5) Page 11