My eyes shot up to meet his gaze. “We need the blueprints,” I said, pulling out my phone. Luckily, I had a friend in the county clerk’s office, and if she was in, I knew she would help me.
“Jack, what’s going on?”
“Yes, I need to speak to Amanda please. It’s an emergency.”
“Jack, tell me what the fuck is going on,” Carter said urgently.
As I waited, I turned to Carter. “That basement is only half the size of the first floor.”
Understanding lit his face. We both headed inside again, careful not to contaminate the crime scene.
“This is Amanda.”
“Amanda, this is Jack Harding. I need blueprints for a house in town.” I rattled off the street address as I made my way to the basement.
“Let me look it up really quick. It’ll just take a minute for the system to load.”
“This is an emergency. Please hurry.”
“Of course, I’m just entering the address now.”
I flipped on the lights in the basement, looking around the walls for anything that seemed off. The walls were made up of reclaimed wood, and the way they were fit together, it was nearly impossible to see if there was a hidden door.
“Okay, what am I looking for, Jack?”
“The basement. I’m standing in it now, but it’s only half the size of the first floor. Is that what you’re showing on the plans?”
“No,” she said quickly. “There’s another room in the basement.”
“Where?” I practically shouted.
“On the wall farthest from the stairs. The door is in the corner. The plans show a box on the wall. It looks like a thermostat.”
I ran over to it and flipped it open. Inside was a button that I slammed my hand down on. In the center of the wall, a door swung open and lights flickered on. I rushed over to it, stopping just inside the room.
Fear twisted in my gut as I stared at Christy on the floor, her arms pulled behind her back and a piece of tape over her mouth. Blood caked her face, dried and crusty. I forced my feet to move, rushing over to her and bending at her side. I heard Carter calling it in, but all I could think about was the woman in front of me.
With shaky hands, I felt for a pulse, praying it was there. When I felt the sluggish pulse beneath my fingertips, my whole body seemed to give out. I grabbed my pocket knife and quickly cut through the binds at her back. Shifting her arms, I rolled her onto her back and brushed the hair out of her face. I gently peeled back the tape, whispering to her softly.
“Christy, can you hear me?”
She didn’t move or show any signs of hearing me. She just laid there, limp and lifeless. My eyes clouded with tears as I stared at the love of my life, laying on the ground. The pressure was too much, the memories swirled around me. Another woman lost to me because I didn’t protect her.
I sat back on my ass, resting my elbow on my knee as I covered my mouth with my hand. It started slowly, first a hitch in my breath. Then I was sobbing, squeezing my eyes shut so I didn’t have to watch her die. I couldn’t take it.
Carter’s hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing slightly. “She’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” I said, my voice broken with anguish.
The paramedics rushed through the door and Carter pulled me out of the way. They had her up on the gurney in no time and were rushing her out the door before I even knew what was happening. Everything happened on repeat. I ran out to the truck, praying all the way to the hospital. I sat in the waiting room with Carter, the Cortell brothers, Christy’s parents, and even Antonio as Christy was seen to.
Josh walked up to me, his eyes wary as he stared at me. “I can’t do this again,” I said quietly. “I can’t—” My voice broke and he gripped my shoulder tight.
“You got there in time. You have to have faith.”
“In what?” I asked, looking up at him sharply. “That God wouldn’t do this to me a second time? I have no faith left.”
“Then I’ll have faith for you,” he said fiercely.
The doors opened and out walked Charlie. Just like last time. My knees buckled and I fell to my knees. No, this couldn’t be happening.
40
Christy
My head was pounding. I couldn’t remember anything that happened over the past two days. When I woke up in the hospital, Jack was by my side, holding my hand in his strong ones. Deep down, I knew something bad had happened, but nothing came back to me.
“Are you ready to go home?”
I was still staring at my reflection in the mirror. My face was still pale and my head still pounded, but I was okay, aside from the gaping hole in my memory. Charlie came in after I woke up and told me they’d found drugs in my system, enough that I couldn’t remember anything from the past two days. They’d flushed the drugs from my body, but my hands still shook on occasion. In some ways I was lucky that my memory was wiped. On the other hand, there was this gaping hole where nothing existed. It made me feel empty inside, like someone had stolen something from me.
Turning around, I smiled at Jack. I didn’t want him to know how alone I felt. He already blamed himself for what happened to me. I knew that Mr. Woods had come after me, but Jack was reluctant to give me any details beyond that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know anyway. Maybe it was better this way.
“Yeah, let’s go home.”
“Brody’s waiting on you,” he smiled.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said you had a really bad cold and you had to stay away from him so he didn’t get sick. I didn’t want him to worry after the last time.”
I nodded. “That’s probably smart.”
I had bruises and cuts all over my body, evidence of an obvious attack with Woods. It hurt to move around too much, but I put in my best effort as I walked over to the wheelchair Jack insisted I use. When I sank down into it, my whole body seemed to rejoice at no longer having to stand.
Jack wheeled me out of the room and down the hall. To my surprise, it seemed like half the town was waiting on me. Balloons, flowers, and even a few stuffed animals filled the waiting room. I was so shocked that I almost started crying. I had no idea all these people were waiting on me.
“Did you do this?” I whispered to Jack.
He bent down and kissed my cheek. “They’re here for you, baby. When word spread about what happened, the whole town rallied together for you. We have so much food at the house, we’ll have to start a food pantry.”
I gripped his hand in mine, touched that so many people cared. Even Chili Man was here, which took me by surprise. My mom rushed over to me and wrapped her arms around me. I tried not to wince in pain, but the hiss I sucked in let her know I was not doing well.
“Sorry, honey. How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I smiled, though I was anything but. I needed a few days of relaxing to just get back to normal. I was still so tired, but Charlie said that was normal, and after a few days, the side effects of the drugs would wear off. The bruises would fade and soon my body wouldn’t hurt anymore. This would all be a distant memory.
“Now, I know you’re tired and want to go home and rest, but when you’re feeling up to it, you call me so we can come visit.”
“I will, Mom.”
I let her hug me one last time, and then received a hug from my father also. Everyone else nodded to me, smiled, or just waved. I felt overwhelmed and in need of peace. Luckily, Jack seemed well tuned into my emotions and rushed me out the door. After getting me in the truck, I finally leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I just wanted my bed.
Jack wrapped his hand around mine, squeezing it tight. “Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah, I just want to go home.”
“We’ll be there soon.”
I nodded, keeping my eyes shut as the truck rocking lulled me to sleep. When I woke up, we were outside a house, but it wasn’t mine. “Where are we?”
“Abby’s old house.”
/> “Why are we here?” I frowned.
“There was no way I was taking you back to your house. And my house is…well, it’s filled with Natalie. I thought maybe we could try starting over.”
“I thought they were putting this on the market?”
“They are. We’ll stay here for a few days. If you like it, we can look into selling our houses and buying this one.”
I blew out a long breath. This was a lot of change. “Jack, this is all a little much, don’t you think?”
He bent down beside me just outside my door. “Baby, I can’t go back to your house. It’s just a reminder of what happened. And I know you’re not comfortable at mine. This is a good solution. And I don’t want you to worry. I’ll take care of everything.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
I nodded and allowed him to help me inside. The house was fresh and clean. I could tell they were trying to get it ready for sale. There were two suitcases sitting in the entryway that we bypassed. Jack, our dog, came running around the corner. More like wobbling, but he was barking up a storm.
“Is he okay? He looks a little funny.”
“He’ll be alright,” Jack said without further explanation. He took me down the hall to a bedroom that had a circle bed.
I raised my eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged. “Don’t ask.”
“I don’t care. It’s a bed and that’s all that matters to me.”
“Good, because all I want right now is to hold you in my arms.”
Stripping out of my clothes was harder than I imagined, but with Jack’s help, it wasn’t so bad. When both of us were in bed, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight, like he was scared I would disappear. We hadn’t really talked about what happened. I didn’t know what he’d gone through, but I could tell his emotions were all over the place, though he was trying to remain stoic for me.
His hand slowly drifted up and down my arm in a gentle caress. “I love you,” he whispered.
Turning in his arms to face him, I pressed my hand to his cheek. “I love you too.”
“I should have said it sooner. I should have told you the moment—”
“Stop,” I said firmly. “We’re not going to live our lives thinking about what we should have done or how things might have turned out differently. What’s done is done. But now we can move on with our lives, just you, me, and Brody.”
“And don’t forget Jack,” I grinned.
His hand spread wide over my stomach. “And maybe another one or two?”
“Maybe,” I smiled, “but not until I get some sleep.”
He kissed the tip of my nose, then my lips. “Do you want to talk about anything?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t remember, and I don’t want to. It’s in the past. If I happen to remember, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” I smiled up at him.
I knew I wasn’t whole yet. I knew it would take time to get back to who I was, but I also knew that as long as I had him by my side, I would be fine.
“You know,” he whispered, nipping at my ear. “We can’t give Brody any brothers or sisters unless we’re married.”
I moved back slightly, staring at him. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“No,” he murmured. “I’m telling you we’re getting married. I’ve spent too many years without you by my side, and then I almost lost you. I need you in my life, so I’m telling you we’re getting married.”
“And I have no say in this?”
“Only the when and where. So, the question is, how long are you going to make me wait before you put me out of my misery?”
I pretended to think about it. “Well, you made me wait seven years,” I said, my voice teasing.
“If you make me wait seven years, I think I’ll die.”
“How about seven days?”
A smile lit his face and then he was kissing me. “I think I can handle that.”
41
Jack
I slipped out of the house as Christy was sleeping. Her mom was at the house with her in case she woke up. I didn’t want to leave her, but I had some unfinished business to take care of. Driving out to Antonio’s house, I wasn’t at all surprised that he was waiting on the porch for me.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.”
He tossed the ball to his dog, waiting as the dog fetched it and brought it back.
“What happened with Woods?”
“You don’t want to know.”
I swallowed hard, looking at the ground for a moment. “I need to know…is he gone?”
Antonio stared hard at me. “You shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”
“I need the answer to this. I need to know that he’s no longer a threat to her, to my family. I can’t—” I choked on my words, still feeling like my emotions were teetering on the edge. I clenched my jaw and swallowed down everything bubbling up inside.
Antonio stood and walked over to me. “I won’t give you details, because you don’t need them. But he’s gone. Josh and I made sure he won’t be a problem any longer. There’s no trail of him ever being here or associated with you in any way.”
Something about the way he said that made me pause. “What do you mean?”
He jerked his head for me to follow him inside. “You need to see something.”
I walked into his house, feeling more at ease than the last time I was here. Ciara smiled at me, which was a complete one-eighty from the last time I’d seen her. I nodded back to her and continued to follow Antonio into his study. He picked up a folder and tossed it at me.
Taking off my hat, I tossed it on the desk and opened the folder. Flipping through it, I slumped into a chair. There were pictures that looked like a serial killer wall. “What is this?” I asked, horrified even more as I saw the up-close pictures of Christy hanging on a wall.
“I made a little trip out to this guy’s house after you found Christy.” He nodded at the folder. “That’s what I found inside.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, lifting one image that was zoomed in on her as she walked out of the daycare with Brody.
“He’s been watching her for a while.” He pulled out a bag, setting it on the desk. “This is everything I found. I didn’t want to leave anything behind in case the cops got suspicious.”
I opened it up and pulled out a card—the same card that was sent on Christy’s birthday. It wasn’t her ex. It was this fucking psychopath. “This is the card she received on her birthday.”
He pulled out a whole stack of them. “It seems he was trying to get the inscription just right.” He tossed them on the table, each one with something different inside.
I’m watching you.
That dress matches the color of my wife’s blood.
How does it feel to reach another birthday when my family is dead?
“It looks like he went with the stealthy route.”
I nodded, unable to believe this was happening.
“He also had piggybacked off your security cameras. I erased the hard drive and got rid of the computer.”
“He was watching her the whole time,” I said quietly.
“This guy was obsessed with her. You’re damn lucky something didn’t happen sooner.”
I dropped my head in my hands, feeling like a band was about to snap inside me. “How did I miss this?”
“You didn’t miss anything. This guy didn’t want her to know he was watching. He was biding his time until the right moment. You never would have seen this coming.”
I finally looked up at him. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. I know I owe you my life.” I stood, holding out my hand to him. “If you ever need anything, just call.”
He stared at my hand for a moment. “You don’t owe me anything. I was glad to take this fucker out.”
Still, after a moment, he clasped his hand in mine, and for the first
time, I shook hands with the mafia boss. Whatever this new truce was, I didn’t feel guilty about it. My conscience was clear. Maybe he wasn’t the most respectable man, but he put himself on the line for me when he didn’t have to. And then he made sure to clean up any evidence that may have been left behind. He covered my ass, and that was something I would never forget.
Clearing my throat, I turned and headed for the door. “I’ll see you at poker night.”
He smirked slightly. “I’m not coming if Chili Man is there.”
“Really? I thought you enjoyed making him squirm.”
“That was a one time thing. I don’t make a habit out of anything.”
I nodded. “I’d rethink that. It seems you’re making a lot of habits in this town.”
I put my hat on and walked out the door grinning to myself. It was an unlikely alliance, but one that I no longer minded having.
I gripped Brody’s shoulder, not wanting to let him go. After everything that happened, I wanted him by my side. But I knew that Christy needed to get out of the house. She was going stir crazy, and I might have been driving her insane with my hovering.
“Jack,” Carly glared at me. “Release him,” she said slowly. “He’ll be fine.”
“It’s just—”
“I know, but remember, I’m more than capable of taking care of him.”
Brody frowned up at me, so I released him. I didn’t need to worry him. Bending down, I grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a hug. “We won’t be late tonight. I promise.”
“Daddy, you’re squishing me,” he said, pushing at my shoulders. “I want to go play now.”
Huffing out a laugh, I let him go. The kid didn’t even realize what we both almost lost, and I thanked God for that. Maybe my faith had been restored slightly after finding out that Christy would be okay.
Standing, I shrugged to Carly. “You’ll understand one day.”
She smirked at me. “Please, my kids are going to beat up all the other kids.”
“Of course they will be.”
“Goodnight, Jack.”
Four Horsemen: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck Book 5) Page 32