Maid by Mistake

by Miley Maine

  She nodded.

  “Get inside.” I shoved her into the house, and I looked outside. I didn’t see any cars. I activated the security system and went for one of the guns I kept in the downstairs safe.

  “Start talking,” I said, not caring if my tone was harsh.

  “I’m sorry,” she cried.

  “Stop apologizing. Give me the facts.”

  “They found her because of me,” she wailed.

  “Who is ‘they?’” I demanded, not caring about how she was involved -- not yet. I could blame her later. And besides, it was obvious this girl would be easy to bribe or blackmail.

  “Her dad’s partners. They said they'd kill me. They made me call Ava.”

  Fuck. “You have her cell phone number?”

  She nodded.

  I was completely sober. Not an ounce of my pain medicine remained in my system and that was a good thing. I would not be taking anything stronger than Tylenol until I had Ava back home again.

  “They had a way to find her location, using the cell phone I had.”

  Of course they did. Of course, I knew nothing of this person who was sitting in front of me crying.

  “Do you know where she is now?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Come on. Get in my truck. We’re leaving.” I had the sheriff’s car, but I didn’t want to advertise that we were coming. Once we were on the road, I glanced at her again.

  “What’s your name? And how do you know Ava?” I wracked my brain. Ava had never mentioned a young woman from Chicago.

  The girl fidgeted, twisting her hands together. She rocked back and forth, and I noticed she hadn’t bothered to buckle up. “My name’s Jenny.”

  Ava definitely hadn’t mentioned her. “Put your seatbelt on.”

  She blinked at me with wide eyes, then did as I said.

  “Are you high?” I asked.

  She shifted again, crossing and uncrossing her legs. “Are you going to arrest me?”

  “No. I need your help to find Ava. If you need addiction help, I’ll find you a rehab.”

  She hung her head. “Yeah, I’m high.”

  “On what?”

  “Heroin.”

  “Did Carl give it to you?”

  “Yeah.”

  Fuck. “Now tell me how you know Ava.”

  “She was on the street with me.”

  Ah. So she was part of Ava’s deception to break into the gambling ring. Now it made sense. I assumed I’d have figured all this out sooner if it wasn’t for the throbbing pain in my side. “Tell me where you were last. If you can’t remember, I have someone who can use a satellite to trace where your phone’s been.”

  “No. I think I know. I tried to pay attention.”

  She kept pointing, and she led me to Magnolia street. “I got out of the car here and ran.”

  “How did you get to my house?”

  “A taxi.”

  Good Lord. We didn’t even have regular taxi service here. I doubted that had even happened. She’d probably paid someone for a ride. I couldn’t imagine any of the residents would let her hitchhike, or that they’d bring her to my house.

  But none of that mattered. Finding Ava was what mattered, and if this poor girl helped with that, then she’d have my appreciation for the rest of her life.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Ava

  The screech of metal rang in my ears for several long seconds.

  I dared to open my eyes. I’d rammed my BMW into Carl’s sedan, and I was still alive. I took a second to touch my stomach as I unbuckled my seatbelt. By some miracle, the seatbelt had tightened right where I’d positioned it -- over my hip bones, and so it hadn’t put any pressure on my stomach.

  I’d also managed to avoid detonating the airbag, which was another huge bonus.

  Where the hell was Carl? Had he managed to drive away?

  No. Oh shit. I had knocked him into the ditch. His black sedan lay on its side. From inside my car, I couldn't see him. With any luck, he’d been knocked out, and I could get away. I wasn’t exactly comfortable with killing him, but I would do whatever was necessary to protect my baby.

  I shoved my way out of the car. I’d hit him with the left side of my car, trying to knock him off the road, so the driver’s side door was undamaged.

  With one hand holding onto the hood of the car, I stumbled my way toward the ditch. I could see movement inside his car. So he was alive.

  A muffled shout came from the car. Dammit. He was awake. He pounded on the glass, trying to get out, but he hadn’t gotten the door open yet.

  I couldn’t shake the feeling of being disoriented. My stomach rolled. I needed to vomit, but there was no time. I took off running. Thankfully, down here in the south, there was no snow on the ground yet, and it was about forty-five degrees. I could easily survive outside if I could keep moving.

  I was not exactly able to sprint, but Carl seemed to be in worse shape than I was.

  Assuming he made it out of the car, I wasn’t going to lead him into town. I jumped over the muddy part of the ditch, and made it into the woods.

  This was a real wilderness compared to the city streets. I’d been on the occasional hiking trip as a child, especially on field trips, but they were on sanction paths that had been cleaned of debris and clearly marked.

  This was just woods, a collection of unmanaged trees, with roots and sticks and puddles that all slowed me down.

  In the distance, a car door slammed.

  Fuck. he must have gotten out of the car. I did my best to pick up speed. “I’m sorry baby. thank you for not making me throw up.”

  The nausea had passed, but now my lungs were burning, and I was panting hard, taking big gulps of air with my mouth open. My throat was on fire. I had never been a good runner. So I didn't have much stamina on a good day, much less now that I was exhausted all the time. Yoga was my preferred form of exercise.

  Finally my burning lungs gave out. I couldn't take another step. I crawled behind a tree. The ground here was rocky and I gathered several large stones and put them in front of me.

  I could hear Carl getting closer. I probably wasn't hard to track. The ground was soft and wet and my shoes left the prints everywhere I stepped.

  Carl got closer. One of his eyes looked swollen shut and he was cradling one of his arms against his chest. Good. So he wasn't a hundred percent either. That would make my life easier. Before he could get to close, I picked up one of the rocks and chucked it as hard as I could at him. It hit him in the shoulder. He stopped wincing and grabbed his shoulder. That seemed to make his bad arm even worse. He let out a low growl.

  “You fucking bitch. I'm going to kill you when I find you.”

  “Tyler, wherever you are, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I loved you when I had the chance. You said it to me, and I discounted it because you were on pain medicine. But maybe you really meant it.”

  I wished I could call him and leave him a voicemail, or even send him a text message but I didn't want to take my focus off of Carl in case there was any chance that I could survive. I just hoped that somewhere Tyler would know that I was thinking of him.

  “I found you, you little piece of shit. I should have killed you back in Chicago when I had the chance.”

  Carl had spotted me. He pulled the small handgun from his waistband and pointed it at me. “I've been waiting on this day,” he said.

  But I wasn't going to give up so easily. I jumped to my feet. I started backing away but Carl charged at me screaming, “You ruined my life. You won't get away from me.”

  I managed not to scream. I grabbed onto a tree and held on, trying to decide if I should turn my back on him. I took one hesitant step backward when a crashing sound came from my left. I whipped my head around only to see Tyler bursting through the trees.

  He was here.

  He had found me.

  Once again, he had saved me.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Tyler

 
Absolute panic. That's all I could feel when I saw Carl with a gun trained on Ava. I lifted my gun and aimed it. I pulled the trigger. I used every bit of my training, intending to shoot to kill. I was ready to defend Ava, the woman I was in love with.

  Carl pulled the trigger on his own gun but it was too late. My bullet hit him right in the center of his chest, right in the heart. And I ducked easily dodging his bullet.

  With my gun still aimed at him I checked his pulse. He was gone. Still keeping my eyes on him I stepped toward Ava. I pulled her into my arms. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

  “I'm fine. What about you? We were just in the hospital a few hours ago because you were stabbed?” She ran her hands up and down my arms.

  “I'm fine too.” I looked down at my ribs where blood was seeping through my shirt.

  “No, you are not fine! You're bleeding,” she cried out.

  “Ah. I probably popped a few stitches, but it's nothing that can't be easily fixed.” I pulled her closer and she laid her head on my shoulder. I inhaled the scent of her hair. “Are you sure you're okay? I saw your car on the side of the road next to Carl's.”

  “Yes he was chasing me, so I decided to wreck his car. I knocked him off the road and he landed sideways in the ditch.”

  God. How many times would she tempt fate. I ran my hands through her hair. It was still silky smooth, even after all of that. “Am I ever going to get used to the reckless risks you take?”

  Unexpectedly, Ava began to sob. She cried so hard she couldn't get any words out. I had never seen her like this. Even when she had been upset in the past, she was always articulate, and she was always able to express herself. “Ava, you have to tell me what's wrong.”

  Finally she dried her eyes. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I'm usually not like this.”

  I wiped under her eyes with my thumbs. “I realize that. And you need to realize there are extenuating circumstances.”

  “There are, but they're a lot more than you know. There are so many things I haven't told you. Important things, and when you said the words, ‘reckless risks’ it really hit home for me.”

  I led her over to a log that had fallen on its side and helped her sit down. Jenny was still waiting in my car, but she was going to have to keep waiting. I was worried that Ava might have hit her head in the car wreck and not realized it. “Okay, now tell me what you're talking about, because I have no clue.”

  “I'm pregnant.”

  Of all the things I had expected her to say that was not one of them. It took me about thirty seconds for the words to even sink in. “You're pregnant? And I'm the father?”

  She nodded. “It's definitely your baby.”

  Wow. I was going to be a father. It wasn’t something I’d seriously considered. I’d thought I was too damaged to ever plan to be someone’s father. But now it was happening, whether I was ready for it or not.

  “Say something, please,” she said.

  I hadn’t meant to leave her hanging. “When did you find out? How far along are you?”

  “I've known for about two weeks. I should be due in June. I know I should have told you. I know it was wrong for me to hide it from you when you're the baby's father. I also shouldn't have gone off on my own to take your sister home, that was stupid.” She wiped her eyes. “I actually have my first doctor’s appointment on Monday, so I was going to tell you.”

  I’d have to process all that. But first things first. “Why did you do that? I don't understand why you deliberately ignored my wishes to take Abigail home.”

  She took my hand in hers. “That's another part of the reckless risks that I was talking about. Full confession, I'm going to tell you everything, but I understand if it's too much for you to forgive.”

  I seriously doubted that was possible. I was in love with her, and now she was going to make me a father. We’d just have to figure out how to get past our hiccups.

  “A few weeks ago we were in the grocery store together shopping for the practice Thanksgiving meals that I made,” she said. “I thought I saw a woman out of the corner of my eye in the grocery store. I convinced myself that I was wrong later, but the truth was that it was really her. Carl brought her down here, and they were scoping us out. They went back to Chicago, and they were waiting to make a move. She’s been texting me nonstop and calling. Her name is Jenny and I met her on the streets in Chicago. She was one of my main contacts about the gambling ring.”

  I held up my hand. “This wouldn't happen to be the same Jenny that I have in my car down the street right now, right?”

  “Oh God. She found you?”

  “Yes, believe it or not, she was worried about you. She felt horrible that she led your dad's partners here to Pine Hills.”

  Ava leaned her head over to rest on my shoulder. “I don't blame her. I know what kind of power and sway they have over people, especially when you are powerless. They used her just like I did.”

  “Well she's fine, more or less. Although she probably needs a good rehab.”

  “I'd like to find her one,” Ava said.

  “We can make that happen.”

  “I'll tell you the rest of it now. That day I thought I saw her in the grocery store but I didn't tell you -- that was the same day that I suspected I was pregnant, so I had you stop at the pharmacy and I bought a pregnancy test and some prenatal vitamins. I lied to you instead of being honest.”

  I wanted to wrap my arm around her and pull her into my lap, but the ripped up stitches in my side were throbbing along with every breath I took. I had to settle for the feel of her lean body leaning into mine. “You have the right to some privacy about something that monumental.”

  “Tyler, you are always a gentleman, but sometimes you shouldn't be,” she said.

  I laughed. “Alright, keep going with the story.”

  “That was the day I thought I saw Christopher in the parking lot. Soon after, Jenny called me on my burner phone. But I didn't tell you all that. I kept it to myself even though I knew it was the wrong decision. Then after you were stabbed, I realized that it was likely she was in town with them. She was texting me and calling me and I wanted to find her.”

  “So you have an excuse about taking my sister home.”

  “Yes I'm so sorry. I know you probably won't believe me, but I'll never do it again.”

  “Why did you do it?”

  “I've been thinking about that, and my best guess is that I spent my whole life making decisions on my own, with no one who cared about what happened to me. My parents said they cared, but I didn't ever feel like I mattered to them one way or the other. To them I was an ornament.”

  I stood up. “Alright, that's enough beating yourself up. I can't say that I'm happy that you misled me. And we can talk about the rest of it later. I want to get you out of these damp clothes and let you rest. You've had an eventful day.”

  I held my hands out to her and when she stood up she swayed. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I'm dizzy,” she said.

  “Okay, enough chat. We're going to get you to the ER right now.” I’d already come close to losing her. I wasn’t going to take any more chances.

  I left Carl’s body on the ground. I’d usually have wanted to take care of it right away. No matter the crime, it wasn’t right to leave a man’s body lying on the ground. But he’d tried to take my Ava from me, as well as my baby. So I didn’t really give a fuck about him right then. I was going to be a father, and that was my priority right now.

  I kept one arm tight around her waist as we walked. I called Barrett and updated him, and he promised to come, along with the backup police officer, to take care of the body and the two cars on the side of the road.

  I did not want them to cause an accident for someone else.

  “I owe you so many favors,” I said to Barrett as he met us at the edge of the woods.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be ready to cash in soon enough,” he said.

  I wanted to tell my best friend about A
va’s pregnancy, but I figured I needed to wait until she was ready. She obviously hadn’t told me for a reason, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

  After a painstakingly slow hike back, we finally reached my truck.

  Jenny had hopped out and was running toward us. She tried to fling herself at Ava, but I held her off. “Hey, be gentle,” I said. “Ava was in a wreck,” I said, not wanting to share the baby news.

  “Oh God, Ava I'm so sorry. I was so worried about you. I hate what he did to you through me.”

  Ava wrapped one arm around her. “Hey Jenny, it's fine. I've made plenty of mistakes this week, okay?”

  “Yeah but you didn't put anybody's life in danger.”

  Ava gave her a wry smile, and then looked at me. “You'd be surprised,”

  I helped Ava into the front seat. Jenny was just going to have to sit her ass in the back. She crawled in the back of the truck cab without complaining. “We're going to visit the ER and get Ava checked out.”

  “I think you might need some help too,” Jenny said pointing at the blood on my shirt.

  “Yeah, I'll get my stitches redone.”

  As soon as I got to the ER, I pointed at one of the chairs. “You sit there and wait on us, don't move a muscle.” I pulled several one dollar bills out of my wallet and handed them to her. “You're welcome to use the vending machines.”

  The triage nurse met us in the waiting area. “Sheriff. Weren't you already here once today?”

  “I seem to have popped some stitches in an unfortunate situation with a suspect.” I stepped closer to the nurse and lowered my voice. “I think you met Ava earlier too. She just found out she's pregnant not too long ago, she had a minor car accident about an hour ago.”

  That got the triage nurse moving, and she took us both back into a room with an ultrasound machine. After a long series of questions, she smiled. “All right Miss Ackland. You get priority. We'll get the doctor in here and he'll do an ultrasound, then we’ll do a blood test and we'll get that baby checked out. Sheriff, once the doctor’s done with her, he’s going to fix your stitches.”