by Karr, Kim
Pain shrieked through my body as I pushed myself up to a sitting position. Nothing was broken. I was going to be fine. “I made that call to save those people.”
Another step forward. “Always the good one.”
Fear caused my pulse to accelerate. “I had to stop him.”
Simon laughed. “From what? Himself?”
I hesitated, my breath blowing through my lips. “From flying drunk.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “He’d been doing that for years, Sadie, you were just too blind to see it. My dad and Harvey always had his back, and I never knew why, but I do now.”
“I saved those people,” I said, barely above a whisper.
“No, Sadie, you were the one who harmed them. They would have been fine on that plane. Your old man would have been fine, too. My father was flying the fucking thing, but after your little alert, he had to hand control back to your old man. So yeah, as you can see, you caused the crash. You’re the reason everything changed. You ruined my life.”
“I didn’t make that call to hurt you, Simon.”
“Maybe not, but you did. My father lost his job, and no one would give him another with the chaos you ousted. Because of that, we lost our house and had to live out of our shitty car. Did you know that?”
I shook my head. I’d lived on the street at times, but I didn’t tell him that. He wouldn’t care.
“We had nothing, and I had to steal, just so we could eat.”
Tears gathered in my eyes and slid silently down my cheeks. “Your getting caught doing something you’d been doing for years wasn’t my fault,” I tried to rationalize.
He was now standing over me. “Sadie, my dear, it was your fault. You and your old man’s. Linc was too weak to do what had to be done. To make you both pay. Luckily, I’m not.”
Suspicion lurked up my throat. “What are you talking about?”
His smile was sinister. “I got the truth out of Harvey and old Teddy. An admission of what I suspected but my father would never talk about to me. Their secret.”
Fear coated my skin. “What did you do to them?”
His brow rose, and he pointed to himself. “Me, I didn’t touch them. They shouldn’t have taken the boat out in their condition.”
My heart was in my throat. “And what condition was that?”
“They’d had too much to drink.”
“It was freaking storming out! Harvey wouldn’t have been drinking!”
He shrugged. “Sure they would have, with a little help.”
He’d done something to them. My father hadn’t been drinking after all. He’d stayed sober like he promised. “Why would you want to harm them? They were two old men!”
“And I needed that diary my father talked about in his sleep. The one your father threatened to reveal whenever my father got out of hand. How was I supposed to know your old man had stuffed it in the trunk of the Caddy? And probably so he could burn it before Harvey went and told you everything. He always did have a big mouth.”
I couldn’t even process what he was saying.
He laughed to himself. “I had no idea finding it would be that easy. I kind of felt bad about what I’d done when I finally figured out where it was, but I needed them gone so I could search.”
Bile rose up my throat. He had killed them both, and he was going to kill me when he was finished with this game of his. I knew it.
The palms of my hands were damp with cold sweat and I couldn’t breathe properly. In all the years I’d known Simon, he’d never been a violent person. Was his vicious mind worse than any physical harm?
He picked up his phone and tapped his screen before handing it to me. I didn’t want to watch what he had videoed, and yet I didn’t look away. It was dark but I could see my hands on the wheel, hear the slamming of the brakes, and then the heart-stopping thud, followed by my piercing screeches.
I couldn’t take it. I closed my eyes. I knew what I had done. The sin I had committed by leaving him without going into the hospital with him. By running him over. I would atone for them both very soon.
Simon lifted my chin. “Open your eyes, Sadie. We’re not done here, yet.”
His skin prickled against mine and I felt repulsed. I wanted his hand gone, so I opened my eyes, wide.
“Now,” he leaned closer. “In the morning you’re going to sign this shithole over to me, along with the Caddy. Then we’re going to do a little shopping and max out all your credit cards. We’ll also drain your accounts of any funds you might have left. And then, and only then, when I’m sure you’ll be living on the street, am I going to leave you to face what you’ve done to that little boy. Alone.”
I stared at him with hatred and vehemence. I don’t think I’d ever hated anyone before, but I hated him.
He ran his finger up to my lips. “Come on, cheer up. Things could be worse.”
I jerked away from him. “Don’t touch me!”
He stepped back, raising his hands.
I took a breath.
Peering at me, he picked up the bottle of Jack that had tipped over. Examined it. Poured out what was left of it. “I wouldn’t think about it. Now, sit down and go to sleep, my sweet Sadie.”
Just as he said it, my eyelids felt heavy, and they fluttered closed. I forced them open. “What did you put in the Jack?”
“Nothing to worry your pretty little head over. How about you sit back against the wall like the good girl you are and close your eyes?”
I was going to die like my father and Harvey. He’d poisoned me. “Screw you, Simon,” I spat.
He laughed a deep laugh that made me shiver. “No, Sadie, that’s screw you. And I don’t mean literally, of course.”
I tried to train my eyes on him, but everything was out of focus.
Headlights beamed through the picture window in the living room. Was someone here? Who? One of Simon’s friends? I had to take a chance it wasn’t. I had to find the strength to run for the door or I was going to die.
Somehow, I summoned everything I had within me to rise to my feet, and then I started to run.
Simon was fast though, or maybe I was slow, and he put himself in my path, grabbing me and slapping his hand over my mouth.
Hatred fizzed up my throat. I tried to scream, and when I couldn’t, I bit him.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered and slapped both of his hands over my mouth. “You were supposed to drink more or I would have dosed the liquor more potently.”
He gave me the same thing he’d put in the mints.
I wasn’t going to die, but I was going to pass out.
How had I not thought of that?
Still, he hadn’t given me enough, and I knew I could stay awake if I fought the haze that was falling over me.
Terror and adrenaline shot through me. Simon didn’t work out. He liked to stay thin. I knew this. However, he did have both pounds and inches on me. Still, I considered my options.
The lights were no longer shining in the window, and I had to hurry before whoever was at the door was long gone.
I heaved back with all my strength, slamming my Converse-clad sneaker down on his foot. Simon grunted in pain and his grip loosened enough for me to break free.
I screamed as loud as I could. “Help!”
My feet slipped on the Jack, but I managed to keep my balance and reach the door. Before I could unlock it though, Simon was smashing his body weight into me, tackling me to the ground.
Pain brought tears to my eyes as he grabbed my hair and pulled, hauling me away from the door.
Every ounce of fear I’d ever felt when I was a kid locked away in the darkness was nothing compared to what I felt now. I was going to die in this empty room, tonight. I knew I had to fight until my last breath to get free or I was never going to.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Simon hissed. “But if you don’t shut up, I’m going to have to.”
The sound of glass shattering drew our attention. It was a blur. But the old green post that u
sed to hold the hammock up in the yard was now being used to push the glass from its frame.
What the hell?
And then like Superman himself, someone came flying through the window. The familiar dark hair. That body. It was him. Superman was Jaxson Cassidy.
What was he doing here?
I gasped and screamed in horror when he landed in the pile of glass before hauling himself to his feet. Blood covered his arms, but he didn’t seem to care.
Our eyes met for one brief second and I saw fear in them. I felt it. “Run to the car!” he ordered me.
Simon had eased back, as if he was going to run out the back door. Jaxson wasn’t having that. He lunged for him, taking him to the ground in one fell swoop. Simon didn’t stand a chance as Jaxson gripped him by the throat and smashed his head against the hardwood floor.
“You motherfucker!” Jaxson shouted.
The struggle wasn’t much of a struggle. Jaxson punched him once, twice, three times, and I swore Simon was begging him to stop.
I swung my gaze from them to the door and took a step in that direction. It felt like I was moving in slow motion, everything spinning as I passed by, but somehow I managed to reach the door. Unlocking it wasn’t so easy.
Just as I attempted to twist the lock, I heard another clash. More glass shattering. This time it came from the kitchen.
A man in jeans with chocolate-brown hair stood in the kitchen entry.
The room was darker now, spinning more, and then my legs gave out and I found myself sliding to the ground.
I heard Jaxson shout, “Sadie!”
There was a thud, and it was me. I was lying in a heap on the floor. I couldn’t feel my legs. I started to whimper.
“Sadie? Sweetheart?”
There was shouting. Yelling. In the haze, I saw the man I didn’t know kick a leg in the air and then pin Simon to the ground. The door flew open, and I saw flashes of letters, “F. B. I.” So many men stormed through the front door, my head started to spin even more.
I didn’t know how, but I was in Jaxson’s lap and he was cradling me. “Sadie, talk to me.”
“Jax—” His name came out barely a whisper and I could feel my eyes rolling back in my head. The roaring in my ears wasn’t making my comprehension any easier, either.
“Call an ambulance! There’s something wrong with her.”
“I love you,” I told him. “I’m sorry I left.”
“I love you, Sadie, more than you’ll ever know,” he said back.
I could barely hold on to consciousness but those words made me feel like I was floating high up in the clouds. I hated that I’d found him and now I was going to lose him.
There was a lot of commotion, a sea of black and yellow, and then sirens. They were coming for me. I looked at the tattoo on the inside of my wrist. The brighter side. I’d found it. Experienced it. Tasted it. I would keep it with me always.
I fought to keep my eyes open to catch a few last glimpses of my pot of gold, but they were fluttering closed.
“What did you do to her, you son of a bitch?” Jaxson shouted.
“Come a little closer.”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
I pulled Jaxson’s head down to my lips. “You have to let me go, Jaxson. I have to pay for my sins.”
He shook his head, almost violently. “You didn’t do anything, sweetheart. The whole thing was part of Simon’s scam.”
“But Riley?”
“He wasn’t real.”
I looked at him, lost, my head spinning and my mind a jumbled mess.
“The boy named Riley Houston in the hospital wasn’t the same child you hit. In fact I’m not sure you ever hit anything flesh and bones.”
All I could do was stare in shock. “I don’t understand.”
“Sadie, baby, you didn’t injure him or anyone else. Whatever happened that night, I don’t have a fucking clue, but I do know it was all part of a plan Simon must have concocted from the start.”
My head became a jumbled mess. I didn’t understand. I concentrated hard on what he was saying, watching his mouth move as he spoke, and then I said, “You mean I’m not going to jail?”
His full, beautiful lips curved upward. “No, you’re not going to jail.”
The darkness was pulling me under. “I’m not bad?”
He pressed his lips to mine in the softest of kisses. “You were never bad, Sadie Banks.”
That was a lie.
But it was a lie I could live with.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
JAXSON
JAKE WASN’T EXACTLY HAPPY, AND Jules, well, she looked like she was going to vomit all over the floor of her new SUV.
“Shit, Sundance, you should be letting the nurses in the ER do this,” Jake hissed as he pierced my skin under the dome light of the interior back seat.
Determined, I shook my head no. “And go through the hoops of getting admitted? No fucking way. I need to be with Sadie. Not sitting in a room waiting for some tech to cleanse my skin and administer a local just so I don’t feel the pain.”
Jake shook his own head. “You’re one stubborn bastard.”
Just then he drew the needle through my skin, and I winced. I had to admit it stung like a motherfucker and shut me right up.
“You need to get some antibiotics,” he told me.
“Yeah, no problem,” I replied. “And Jake,” I said.
He glanced up from what he was doing.
“I’ll never be able to repay you enough for what you did for me today.”
He knotted the last stitch. Ten in one arm. Five in the other. Not that bad for landing in a pile of glass. “You don’t have to. I did what any decent human being would have done to help a friend.”
Friend, yeah, I guess that’s what we were. Still, I had to laugh. “Sure, like any normal citizen could reroute the FBI with a single phone call.”
Jules laughed.
I slapped him on the shoulder and then opened the door. “I owe you.”
He shook his head at me.
“I do,” I said. And then I looked at Jules, who had tears in her eyes. “I’m fine,” I reassured her.
She sniffled. “I know you are. It’s just, I’ve never seen you like this.”
I dropped my gaze. “Like what?”
“So determined to get the girl.”
I guess I finally knew what true love was. I shook my head at her. “I’ll call you about tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “And meeting her, too.”
I gave Jules a nod and mouthed, thank you, and then slammed the door, so I could hustle toward the hospital entrance.
Everything was going to be right in our universe. I just had to convince Sadie that staying with my ex-fiancée and her new husband was the right choice. Something told me it wasn’t going to be easy. Especially since, even to me, the idea sounded insane.
And I was the one who thought of it.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
SADIE
SLEEPING PILLS AND ALCOHOL DIDN’T mix well.
Nothing was more evident as I came to consciousness. Drowsiness, confusion, and alarm ticked in my mind.
I knew Simon had drugged me with some kind of sedative, I just wasn’t certain what it was or how much he had given me.
Had I been out for a couple of hours or a couple of days?
Feeling like I had a hangover from hell, I figured it had to be more than a short one hundred and twenty minutes.
I couldn’t manage to lift my eye lids. It was like they were glued shut. And my head was pounding in a way that felt like there was a nail being tapped against it. No, like someone was actually using a hammer and pounding on it.
My mouth was dry, and I licked my lips. When I did, a slight groan escaped my throat from just that small movement.
I wanted to fall back asleep, but then a warm hand wrapped around mine, and I instantly felt better.
Jaxson Cassidy.
I knew his t
ouch. Warm and inviting, and full of promise. I knew his scent. Like the ocean on a beautiful day. I knew him, and I should have known he wouldn’t back down or stay away.
Drawing in a breath, I forced myself from my groggy state. I wanted to see him. I needed to see him.
His soft lips kissed my forehead. “Hey.” His voice sounded like warm caramel.
“Jaxson,” I whispered, trying to blink away the haze I was bathed in.
“Yes, my little thief, it’s me.”
Forcing my eyes open, I laughed at his nickname for me, even though it really wasn’t funny, and then cursed when the vibration split my skull in two. “Stop calling me that.”
He pressed his lips deeper against my forehead. “Never.”
“Please,” I croaked, managing to keep the small smile as I breathed in his scent.
He squeezed my hand. “I’ll think about it.”
The light was bright and I blinked a few times. “How long have I been out?”
“Eight hours, twenty-three minutes, and fifteen seconds, to be exact.”
“Too long,” I groaned, as everything that happened flashed before my eyes. The diary. The secrets. Jaxson. Riley. Someone else. The FBI. Simon being escorted out in handcuffs.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like death,” I said. “Simon put a sleeping pill in the bottle I drank from.”
Jaxson nodded. “We know. The hospital did a toxin screen. Thank fuck the dosage was mild.”
That information felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest and I could breathe so much better.
“Can I get you anything?” Jaxson asked, concern clear in his voice.
I touched my lips. They were swollen and tingled slightly. And my nose ached a little from where I’d face-planted on the floor. But other than the groggy headache, I was fine. I shook my head and then opened my eyes wider to catch his gaze. “No, not right now.”
Jaxson ran the fingertips of his free hand tenderly over the bruised flesh above my mouth. “You shouldn’t have left.”
A tear trickled down my cheek and I hastily tried to wipe it away. “I had to.”
He shook his head, hurt in his eyes.
