Malice

by Jennifer Jaynes

  Bad things, Daniel. I’ve warned you so many damn times. This wouldn’t have happened had you listened—

  Shut the hell up!

  He blinked himself back to the present. Mia was talking about doing time in an Arizona prison now. Ten years. He’d missed what she’d done to get there. In fact, he’d missed a lot of the conversation. But he couldn’t think about that now. His brain wasn’t capable of comprehending anything else.

  He looked down at his steak. It was medium rare, the way he usually liked it. But the bloody juice that was pooled beneath the meat made his stomach turn inside out. He pushed the plate away.

  “Daniel?”

  Raking his hand over his mouth, he looked up at Mia. “What?”

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  Mascara was running down her cheeks now. At some point, she’d started crying, but he hadn’t even noticed. The tip of her nose was bright pink. She wiped at it with her napkin.

  He nodded, still not completely sure what she was saying. He just remembered the name Monte. That they were together. That he used to beat her. Something about drugs. Prison. She started talking again, and he tried to focus on what she was saying this time. He knew it was important. But there was no way it was as important as what Billy had just told him.

  “When we got back from our honeymoon, Daniel. That first day that you went to work. It was a Monday. That’s when I got the first call.” Fresh tears sprang into her eyes. She wiped at them with her napkin and sniffed. “I was skeptical at first. I didn’t want to say anything to you until I knew. But the test results came back.” Her chin was trembling. “Monte and I had a son, Daniel. I gave him up for adoption, but he contacted me the day we got back from our honeymoon.”

  She took a deep breath. Exhaled.

  “I have a son, Daniel. He’s twenty-one. His name is Christian.”

  CHAPTER 46

  DANIEL

  DANIEL’S TEETH CHATTERED as he sped down the Pacific Coast Highway, but it wasn’t due to the cold weather.

  I have a son, Daniel. He’s twenty-one. His name is Christian.

  He could barely breathe as he tried to grasp the horror of it all. “Oh, my God! What have I done?” he muttered aloud, sweat trickling down his temples.

  Calm down!

  Focus on the road.

  You keep veering out of your lane.

  Daniel nodded and swiped at his nose with the back of his hand.

  He thought about Mia lying about being at Jiminy’s. She said it had been because she’d been meeting Christian. Trying to get to know him. That she’d given him up for adoption, but a private investigator whom he’d hired had found her right before they’d returned from their honeymoon. She said she wasn’t sure at first that he was who he said he was . . . She’d had suspicions that Monte had found her, and that this was one of his sick pranks. But they’d gotten their DNA tested, and the results had come back. She knew 100 percent that he was hers.

  The texts she’d deleted, the photos Billy had taken of Mia at Christian’s house. The hugs. It all made sense now. Mia hadn’t been cheating on him at all. Christian wasn’t her lover. He was her son.

  I told you something like this was bound to happen.

  The drinking, Daniel . . .

  Nothing but bad things . . .

  “Shut up!” he shrieked.

  He clutched his throat and stared at the highway in front of him. How could he have possibly done something so horrible? But he’d never wanted Christian killed. Just roughed up. It had been an accident. That’s what Billy had said.

  He tried Billy’s cell again. His fingers were trembling so badly, it took him three tries to get him on speed dial . . . and Billy didn’t answer.

  Oh, my God! He was her son. Her son! A chill crept up Daniel’s spine and skittered across the tops of his arms.

  Daniel swerved back into his lane, replaying Billy’s call in his mind. Bruce whined loudly in the passenger seat.

  Mia’s words had hit him like a bullet to the chest. He remembered getting up from the table and leaving. Mia had called out to him, saying she was sorry, begging for him to come back. To forgive her.

  This . . . can’t . . . be happening.

  God, please. Please. No. Please, please no.

  His phone dinged.

  It was Mia.

  No, he couldn’t talk to her now.

  He had no idea where he was going. He just knew he had to get away. As he rounded the next corner, panic ripped through him.

  Speeding away from Malibu, he began to scream.

  CHAPTER 47

  MIA

  MIA KNEW DANIEL would take the news badly. She’d been prepared for that. But she hadn’t expected him to just leave without saying a word. Now she wasn’t sure what to do.

  Should she pack?

  Yes, she probably should . . . but she didn’t have the energy.

  She could still see Daniel’s face. How it had twisted in disbelief, how his skin had gone white. The fork that he’d been using to move his food around hit his plate with a loud clink. Then he’d stood and, stumbling a little, made his way to the foyer and staggered out of the house, as though he were drunk.

  She went up to the bedroom and grabbed two sleeping pills, washed them down, then slid beneath the covers. She reached for her phone and texted him.

  I’m so sorry I lied. I love you. I understand if you don’t want me anymore, but I do love you. I always have. That wasn’t a lie.

  And she did love him. More than she’d ever loved anyone else.

  She’d told Daniel everything tonight. Left nothing out. She wondered what part bothered him the most. That she’d killed a man? That she was a convicted felon? That she’d been involved with a drug dealer? Had an adult son he hadn’t known about? Or the fact that she’d lied to him all along? That she’d never really been the person she’d portrayed herself—but very much wanted—to be?

  She could tell he’d been distracted during the conversation. Distant. He’d had such a weird look on his face the entire time. There were many times during the conversation he seemed as though he wasn’t even listening to her. But once she’d started talking, she hadn’t been able to stop. In a way, she was relieved to just get it all out there. For once in her life, she wasn’t hiding anything. Not one thing. It made her feel different, lighter.

  She’d told him that there’d been the possibility that Monte had tracked her down and was playing head games with her, but the first time she’d met Christian, something inside of her knew. Maybe a mother’s intuition? The DNA results that had come back yesterday had only confirmed it.

  Now she was frightened and had no clue where Daniel had gone. The loneliness was closing in again, and she desperately needed comfort.

  She texted Christian: I love you, Christian.

  It was the first time for her to ever say she loved him—and it was about time.

  She waited for him to reply.

  But for the first time since they’d reconnected, there wasn’t an immediate response.

  Fifteen minutes later, with no response from either Daniel or Christian, and feeling lonelier than ever, she clicked the light off, and the room went black.

  Later that night, Mia was roused from a deep sleep. Her eyes shot open, her mind fuzzy from sleep and the pills.

  Her eyes were raw from crying, and she felt hollow inside. Remembering that something had woken her, she strained her ears, listening for any strange sounds in the house. But all she heard were the gentle sounds of waves hitting the shore outside.

  Normally, the sounds of the ocean soothed her.

  But not tonight.

  She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but the memory of her conversation with Daniel kept churning around and around in her head. Feeling the darkness in the room pressing down on her, she pulled the cotton sheets tightly around her body and watched the shadows crawl across the ceiling. She lay in silence until her mind finally began to drift inward, more deeply inside
itself. Until the sleeping pills took over again, and her muscles began to relax. Until sleep began to beckon her back into its dark sticky web.

  There was a thud downstairs.

  Her heart jackknifed in her chest, and she shot up, knowing for certain she hadn’t been dreaming this time.

  Someone was inside the house.

  Was it Daniel?

  Had he already come home?

  Her eyes darted to the bedroom door. If it was Daniel, he would have turned on at least a lamp by now—and light would be drifting up from the stairwell. But there was no light. The house was pitch-black.

  A stair creaked.

  Her scalp prickling, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and fell to her knees. She felt for the bottom of the bed’s frame, but it was closer to the floor than she’d expected.

  Find somewhere else!

  Whoever had broken in was probably halfway up the stairs by now.

  The panic room!

  Move! Hurry!

  She darted to the bedroom’s spacious walk-in closet, stepped in, and carefully closed the door. Then she felt her way through the darkness to the back, feeling for the full-length mirror at the far end that concealed the entrance to the panic room. She found it and pulled the door open, then she slipped into the dark space and carefully pulled it closed until she heard the soft click. She quietly engaged the deadbolt, then, with the cement floor chilly beneath her bare feet, backed her way deeper into the 5x4-foot space, until her backside hit the far wall. She crouched down. The room was empty except for her and the shoebox she’d been storing her waitressing tips in for the last several months.

  Her heart was pounding so hard, she could barely breathe. Who was in the house? Was it a robbery? Or, she wondered, cold dread curling in her belly, something more sinister? An image of Monte flashed inside her head. His mean eyes and twisted mouth. Had he found her? Could he be making good on his promise?

  Then the Hemsworth family flickered into her brain, the death of Daniel’s friend Andy.

  Teddy’s warning to Daniel to stop talking about Respira.

  A thousand needles pricked her skin.

  She heard heavy footsteps moving around the bedroom, then the bathroom. A moment later, she heard the closet door open and the light flip on.

  The air squeezed from her lungs when the person stepped into the closet, and her heart hammered in her chest so loudly, she was afraid the intruder would hear it.

  Please, no. She prayed silently that whoever it was wouldn’t think to look behind the mirror. But as she prayed, she heard the sound of a gun cock and the footsteps draw closer.

  CHAPTER 48

  DANIEL

  DANIEL PARKED IN the driveway and sat in his SUV. He’d driven around for three hours, hoping that it had all been just a bad dream and that eventually he would wake from it. He’d pinched his arms, slapped himself across the face. But it hadn’t been a dream. It was real.

  All of it.

  How could he have let any of this happen? All his life, all he’d wanted were two things: to help people and to not end up anything like his father. But not only had he turned out like his father, he was worse than his father had ever been. His father had killed only himself, whereas Daniel was responsible for the death of a little girl and Mia’s son . . . his own stepson. Maybe he hadn’t asked Billy to kill Christian, but he was the impetus to him doing so. It had been the result of a very bad decision . . . the result of drinking too much.

  He sat slumped in the driver’s seat, fear coming off him in hot waves, his soul black and dying. When had he veered so off course? He had no idea what he was going to tell Mia. He had no idea what he was going to do—period . . . about anything. Between the lingering hangover and the terrible things that were happening all around him, his mind still wasn’t working well. All he knew was that he was remorseful and wanted more than anything to rewind everything. Take everything back.

  I had such high hopes for you.

  Just think . . . you were just beginning to actually become someone.

  “Shut the hell up!” he screamed, his voice so loud and shrill, he was certain all of Malibu had heard it.

  One more chance, he pleaded. To whom, he wasn’t sure. He hadn’t prayed for years, since his brother had died.

  I’ll never drink a drop of alcohol again.

  Please.

  Just one more chance.

  Losing his career and house certainly paled in comparison with the loss of a life. He also now had no reason to think Mia had been unfaithful to him.

  He opened his text app and deleted the incriminating texts from Billy, then climbed slowly out of the SUV, still unsure of what he would say to Mia. Maybe he wouldn’t say anything. Maybe he’d just hold her tonight. Lay with her head on his chest. Connect with her for what could be the last time.

  Then tomorrow . . . tomorrow . . . maybe he’d tell her the truth of what he’d done. He’d beg forgiveness, then figure things out from there. If he could just have one more chance, he’d clean up his life. Do better. Hell, he would do whatever it took.

  There were so many opportunities he hadn’t seen before. He’d do something outside of the medical field. Or maybe go to work with Gail. Help children by outing Respira. Maybe by helping more kids, he could right some of the things he’d done wrong.

  He dragged himself out of his vehicle, to the front porch. When he went to unlock the front door, he discovered it wasn’t locked. Panic clawed at his throat.

  He threw the door open, and Bruce bounded ahead of him into the house. An unfamiliar odor lingered in the foyer, and the hair stood up on the back of his neck. Something was wrong.

  Get out of the house, Daniel, the voice said. Now. Get out!

  Daniel ignored it and walked deeper, past the foyer and into the living room. The first floor was dark and smelled like grilled meat. He felt for a light switch, and, finding one, the living room lit up. He watched Bruce in the distance hobbling up the staircase, looking for Mia.

  Daniel flipped on another light and scanned the dining room. Their dinner plates were still on the table. Both still full of food. The big bowl of potato salad sat untouched in the middle of the table. Mia never went to bed without clearing their dishes, cleaning the kitchen. But tonight hadn’t been an ordinary night.

  Upstairs, Bruce started barking. Then he heard a door slam.

  What the—?

  If Bruce was barking, it meant something was wrong.

  Mia! Adrenaline roaring through his body, he ran to the staircase and took the stairs up two at a time.

  No! Get out of the house! the voice screamed as he reached the upstairs landing.

  At the bedroom door, he saw movement in the hallway. He whirled around, and it took him a moment to register the man standing outside his office. He was holding a gun and it was pointed at him. Daniel’s blood ran cold.

  What the hell?

  The hallway was dimly lit, and he couldn’t make out the man’s features.

  “Billy?” He could only hope.

  The man didn’t answer.

  Fear inched from his stomach into his throat. He could hear Bruce behind him, whining and sniffing at the bedroom door.

  His mind went into overdrive. Images flashed into his mind. Dr. Hemsworth. Andy. Gail. The articles in the brown envelope. Chet’s threat at brunch. Teddy’s words: If you insist on making more noise . . . unemployment will be the least of your worries.

  Mia. Where was Mia? Her car was parked in the driveway. Was she safe?

  He threw his hands up in the air, his throat so dry he could barely swallow. “You can have whatever you want.”

  “I’m not here for your money,” the man said.

  The skin on Daniel’s scalp pulled tight. “Then what are you here for?”

  The man nodded to Daniel’s office door. “Is this your office?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go inside.”

  Daniel stared at him.

  Run, Daniel!

>   “Move it!” the man snapped.

  Daniel did as the man instructed and walked into his home office, a ball of terror forming in his middle.

  “My wife,” Daniel said, panic zigzagging in his stomach.

  Something passed behind the man’s eyes: a question mark. Then he pointed to Daniel’s office chair. “Sit down!” he commanded.

  Daniel did what the man instructed.

  “Now. Where’s your wife?” he asked, staring at Daniel.

  Daniel tried to think. Was Mia not home? But her car was outside in the driveway, so she had to be. But then again, someone—not Christian, obviously—could have picked her up. Then it hit him that she could be hiding. He remembered her mentioning the panic room. Oh, God. Please let her be okay, he pleaded silently, his second prayer tonight.

  “Where is your wife?” the man asked, more loudly this time.

  “I think she’s out with friends,” Daniel said.

  The man stared at him as though trying to get a read on him, but he looked confused. Unsure whether to believe him.

  “What are you here for?” Daniel asked, wanting to change the subject. “You said you’re not here for money. So, what do you want?”

  The guy pointed the muzzle at Daniel’s head. “To do my job.”

  Daniel’s heart thundered in his chest. A million memories floated to the surface of his mind, then scattered like leaves. He thought of his childhood, his sister, his nephews, his first day working as a doctor, meeting Mia, the Caymans, Respira, Dr. Hemsworth, Andy, Suzie. He held his breath, praying for Mia to be protected. For her to somehow get out of this okay.

  When the gun went off, he felt his head snap back. Then he realized he was looking down at his lap. He watched blood drip off his nose onto his tan pants. Then he felt his shoulders sag; his world gradually darkened until it went black.

  CHAPTER 49

  MIA

  A FEW SECONDS after hearing the sound of a gun being cocked, Mia heard a vehicle pulling into the driveway. The intruder’s footsteps retreated away from the closet and toward the bedroom.