Buried Lies

by Kaylea Cross

  He was insane. “You know that’s not true.” Shit, her voice was wobbling. Her knees were rubbery too. “Baby, please stop this,” she pleaded.

  “Don’t fucking call me that,” he snapped, his expression becoming enraged. “I’m not your baby.” There was so much hurt mixed with anger in his voice.

  Christ, she didn’t know what to do, what to say that might defuse this. “Please stop—”

  The blow came out of nowhere.

  She didn’t see his arm move, caught only the blur of his hand at the last second as it came at her. The back of it cracked against the side of her face, snapping her head around.

  Molly cried out and covered her face as she fell sideways. Her knees hit the floor and she bit her lip to stay quiet.

  Shock bombarded her, turning her numb, making her muscles rigid. God, her face hurt. Her eye was watering, already swelling. She cowered there on the floor, not knowing what to do. If she screamed for help, no one would hear her. She had to find a way to get out.

  Above her, Carter seemed frozen. “Jesus Christ,” he roared, stepping back to rake his hands through his too-long hair. He shook his head, as though trying to wake from a bad dream. But what he’d done was all too real and there was no taking it back. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Moll. Are you okay? Here, let me help you—”

  “Don’t touch me,” she spat, forcing herself to her feet. She took one tiny step down the hallway, never taking her eyes off him. It wasn’t just her life she had to defend now. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

  The rage in his face shifted to pain and back again in the space of two seconds. “I said I’m sorry. Please, just… Can we just talk?”

  Molly was beyond done. She didn’t answer, took another step down the hall, her body shaking with a toxic mix of adrenaline and shock.

  “Moll, don’t—”

  She turned and bolted down the hallway, running as fast as her legs would carry her.

  “Molly!” Carter was only a few steps behind her, closing fast.

  A sob caught in her throat as she jumped off the front porch and ran for the woods. Fir needles pricked the soles of her bare feet. She reached down to grab a sturdy fallen branch and whirled back around, wielding it like a club. Barely able to make out Carter’s silhouette, she swung it at his head with all her might.

  He lurched, his boots slipping on the wet carpet of needles. The branch slammed into his back and shattered. He grunted and went down on one knee.

  Run!

  Molly spun around and tore for the woods, fear rocketing through her veins. She raced through the brush, stumbling in the darkness, sticks and needles stabbing her bare feet, but she didn’t dare stop.

  She veered left then right as she ran, trying to confuse Carter and gain some distance. He crashed through the brush behind her, shouting her name, not even trying to conceal his location.

  She didn’t dare stop, not even when her lungs burned and her feet hurt so bad she was choking back tears. Carter’s shouts gradually grew more distant.

  Finally she slowed, picking her way toward a trail that led to the road. Rain pelted down on her as she emerged from the trees. She wrapped her arms around herself and glanced around, squinting through the rain and darkness.

  The sound of a vehicle engine came from somewhere nearby.

  Molly ran up the road, desperately searching for a place to hide. Through the gloom she spotted a deep ditch and a culvert.

  She rushed for it, slid over the damp grass at the side of the ditch. Her feet plunged into the cold water, already halfway up her calves. She waded toward the culvert, ducked inside it and pressed her body to the cold concrete wall, making herself as small as possible.

  The engine grew louder. The beam of headlights swung across the ditch. “Molly! Molly, where are you?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, praying he wouldn’t see her. His truck appeared. Came toward her.

  It was like some terrible nightmare.

  Go away. Go away and leave me alone.

  He drove up the street, then back, shouting her name, sounding desperate and angry. She shivered, waited. He drove away.

  The side of her face throbbed and the soles of her feet burned. Battling tears, terrified that Carter might come back, she eased away from the cold concrete and reached back to pull her phone from her rear jeans pocket. Her fingers shook so badly she almost dropped it, but she managed to hold on and dial the first number that came to mind.

  Jase.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Where is she? What the hell had happened to make her take off and hide from Carter in this storm?

  Jase kept thinking it over and over as he drove up and down the back lanes around Molly’s place, anxiety riding him hard. She’d barely been able to talk when she’d called him ten minutes ago, her teeth had been chattering so hard. All he’d gotten from her was that Carter was trying to find her and she was hiding along one of the streets.

  It made him crazy with worry. He’d jumped in his truck and headed out to look for her, calling Beckett on the way, who was searching on the other side of Molly’s place.

  His windshield wipers beat a fast rhythm against the torrential downpour beating at his truck. He turned left on another street, frustration eating at him. He’d tried calling Molly back twice but she hadn’t answered and he was growing more worried by the minute.

  The glare of the headlights shone against the wet pavement, illuminating the empty road ahead. “Come on, Moll, where are you?” he said under his breath, scanning the edge of the forest he passed.

  He turned right at the next corner, heading up a winding lane. Deep ditches lined either side. The houses here were spaced far apart, and it was so out of the way that only local traffic would ever be on the road.

  He slowed, about to turn the truck around, and his gaze caught on something up ahead. Turning the truck toward the right side of the road, the headlights swung across a human silhouette hidden in the culvert.

  The bottom of his stomach dropped out. “Jesus Christ,” he breathed, and pulled up beside it. He hopped out, the rain pelting him as he hurried to the edge of the ditch. “Moll?”

  She didn’t answer, but it had to be her. He couldn’t fucking believe she was hiding out here like this.

  He slid down the side of the ditch, landing in water halfway up his calves. The headlights allowed him to see her silhouette. She was huddled there in the cold, arms wrapped around herself.

  “Moll,” he said again. “It’s Jase.”

  She turned her head toward him and when their eyes met he felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. The air rushed out of his lungs, his heart twisting. She was soaked through and shivering, her knees drawn up to her chin. Her left eye was swollen shut, dried blood on her lower lip.

  He knelt down beside her, gently grasped her chin. “Did he do this? Did he hit you?” he forced out, outrage roaring through him.

  Her face crumpled, her heartbreak written there so clearly he could feel it.

  Jase bit back all the expletives and questions crowding his mind and reached for her, wrapping his arms around her back while she leaned into him. God, she was drenched, her skin cold. He rubbed her back gently, battling to shove his anger aside. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  She shook her head, her entire body trembling.

  “All right, let’s get you out of here.” Bending more, he slid one arm down to hook behind her knees and lifted her, holding her close to him as he exited the culvert. The side of the ditch was too steep for him to carry her up. “I’m gonna boost you up, then come up right behind you.” He lifted her, helping her scramble over the edge of the ditch, then hustled up the side. He scooped her up again, ignoring her mumbled protest, and strode for his truck.

  I’ll break his face for this. I swear to God…

  No. Now wasn’t the time for fantasizing about what he would do to Carter for this. Now Jase had to be here for Molly, take care of her and make sure she was oka
y.

  He opened the front passenger door and settled her on the leather seat. “Hang tight,” he said, and opened the rear door to grab his jacket. He tucked it around her, buckled her in and shut the door, then hurried around to the driver’s side to crank the heat and aim the vents at her.

  She looked bad. He reached over to stroke her soaked curls away from her face. “Moll, do you need to go to the hospital?”

  “N-no,” she said. “I’m okay.”

  No she wasn’t. Not by a long shot. But he wouldn’t make things worse for her by hauling her into her place of work where everyone would find out what had happened, embarrassing her. He would take her someplace safe, assess her himself, and if she needed emergency treatment, she was going to the hospital. Period. “You need to make a report about this.”

  She didn’t answer. So he pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Noah, telling the sheriff that he had found Molly and was taking her to his place.

  “What happened?” he asked as he drove away. Not knowing was making him crazy.

  She told him, her breath hitching in little gasps as she got the words out in bits. He wanted to pull over and hold her so fucking bad, but made himself keep driving.

  Jase clenched his jaw and shook his head, a deep, seething rage boiling inside him. What Carter had done was unforgiveable. There was no way Jase would let this go.

  “And it gets worse,” she finished.

  He looked at her sharply. Worse?

  Molly was silent for a long moment, staring out the windshield. “I’m pregnant,” she said, her voice breaking.

  Jase’s whole body snapped taut. The only thing that kept him from blurting out a shocked What?! was the devastation on her face and the way her shoulders jerked as she fought back tears.

  “I know.” She let out a watery, bitter laugh. “Unreal, isn’t it?”

  “I thought you said you guys…” He left the sentence dangling, unable to say it aloud. This was private shit, and as much as it bothered Jase to think of her sleeping with Carter, that was obviously her choice and no one else’s. Unless…

  A pit opened up in the bottom of his stomach. “Did he force you?” He could barely get the words out, the thought so hideous it turned his stomach.

  “No,” she answered, her voice emphatic. “No.” She sighed. “It was a stupid, one-time nothing. We hadn’t slept together in months. But he was so damn sad and vulnerable this one night and I didn’t know how to help him. I’ve been on the pill, but for whatever reason it failed.”

  Just imagining her with Carter that way had him damn near choking on jealousy. He’d avoided the thought for her and Carter’s entire relationship because it made him so damn green-eyed.

  “What am I going to do?” she whispered, sounding lost.

  Forget taking her home to his place. She needed a female friend right now. More than anything Jase wanted to take her back to his place, but he just knew that Molly would be more comfortable with Sierra, and more likely to open up to her than him right now.

  At the next intersection he turned right instead of going straight, heading toward the ocean. “I’m taking you to Beckett and Sierra’s.”

  She whipped her head around to stare at him. “No, don’t.”

  “Yes, Moll. You need to be somewhere safe while Beckett and I deal with Noah.” And Carter, if Jase could find him. “Sierra will take care of you.”

  “Okay,” she said, not sounding happy about it, but at least she wasn’t crying now and her teeth were no longer chattering.

  The lights in the lower floor of the grand Victorian glowed warm against the gloom as Jase drove up Salt Spray Lane. Beckett and Sierra met them at the door.

  Sierra immediately engulfed Molly in a big hug and ushered her inside. “Let’s get you out of those wet clothes.” She reached for Molly’s hand and led her upstairs. “Noah’s on his way, should be here within the next few minutes,” she said to Jase over her shoulder.

  He stood off to the side of the room while Beckett faced him, arms crossed over his chest, a dark scowl on his friend’s face. “Is she hurt anywhere else?”

  “No.” But she’s pregnant.

  He wanted to tell Beckett, but it wasn’t his place. Even Carter didn’t know, although that’s how it should stay. If Molly decided to tell him or anyone else eventually, that was her call. Jase hadn’t even asked her if she planned to keep the baby. But for her and the baby’s safety, she had to make sure Carter never got near her again.

  Molly and Sierra came back down a few minutes later. Molly was drier, her hair tied up, and she wore a sweater and jeans that were too big for her. She glanced at Jase, pain and regret all over her battered face. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

  God, he didn’t want her thanks. “I’d do anything for you. You know that.”

  She lowered her gaze, then glanced up at Beckett. “So, I’m pregnant.” Sierra sat beside her and looped an arm across her shoulders in silent support.

  Shock flared in Beckett’s eyes, then he masked it. “You gonna be okay?”

  Molly shrugged. “Not really sure, to be honest.”

  Noah arrived and took over. He spoke to Molly for a while, got quiet when she told him about the baby, but didn’t otherwise comment.

  Afterward, he talked to Jase. “I’ve got a deputy coming over to take more notes and some pictures for our records. But I’ve gotta bring Carter in this time.”

  “Good.” It had hurt so damn much to hear Molly pleading with Noah earlier, begging him not to arrest Carter. That he be taken to a psych hospital and admitted there instead.

  “I had someone stop by his apartment but he’s not there. Any idea where I might find him?”

  Oh, Jase had an idea, all right, and he couldn’t fucking wait to get there. “I’ll look around. If I find him, I’ll call you.”

  Noah sighed. “I’ll start in town, find out if anyone has seen him.”

  Carter wouldn’t be in town. Well, he might, he was so fucked in the head now, but Jase doubted it. He looked at Beckett. “You coming?”

  The rain was coming down in a torrent as they drove north up the darkened coastal highway to the neighboring town. He headed straight for the bar. Carter’s truck wasn’t in the parking lot. “I’m going in to check anyway,” he said to Beckett.

  His hair was plastered to his skull by the time he made it to the front door. The sweet smell of beer hit him the moment he walked in and scanned the room. A few people sat around the polished, square-shaped bar. Others sat at tables grouped around the building.

  A lone figure sat hunched over a table in the far corner. If his size hadn’t given him away, the bottle of Jack on the table would have.

  Jase swiveled toward Carter, adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream.

  A hard hand clamped around his forearm. “No. Don’t.”

  Jase jerked his arm out of Beckett’s grasp and stalked straight toward Carter. Oh yeah. This was happening.

  Carter lifted his head to stare at Jase, then slowly got to his feet, his expression wary.

  Jase moved faster, like a freight train gathering momentum. His entire body was begging for a fight, his muscles rigid.

  Two steps from Carter he balled his hand into a fist and drew his arm back. Planting his feet, he drove his fist straight into the bastard’s face. Pain radiated through his hand and wrist as Carter grunted, his head snapping back. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

  “Motherfucker,” Jase shouted, pulling his fist back for another shot. He hit Carter again, savoring the impact, the pain in his hand.

  Carter didn’t even try to defend himself. Bastard.

  “Hey. That’s enough.” Beckett locked his arms around Jase from behind, squeezing until it was hard to breathe.

  The owner was shouting at them, rushing over to try and break it up. Jase stared at Carter, still livid. He could have made things uglier by going at Beckett, force Beckett to let him go. Only the thought of what Molly’s reaction would be stopped him.
She would be mortified, and angry that Jase had put himself at risk.

  He forced himself to relax, took a deep breath, ignoring everyone else but Carter. “You cowardly sonofabitch,” he said softly.

  Carter lifted a hand to wipe the blood away from his mouth. “Is she okay?” he slurred.

  “What the fuck do you think?” Jase shot back.

  Carter lowered his gaze, his shoulders slumping, shame pulsing off him in palpable waves. Defeated. Broken.

  Jase didn’t give a shit. He didn’t have even a single ounce of pity left in him for this asshole. “Noah’s coming to take your ass to jail. And I hope you rot there. If I have anything to do with it, you’ll never be let out.” With that, he turned and strode for the door.

  The owner stepped in front of him, barring his path. A man in his sixties, a solid six inches shorter than Jase and wiry, and also a former Marine. “You need to stay here until the sheriff arrives, son.”

  Jase bit back an angry retort and reined in his temper. He’d gotten his shots in, and felt marginally better for it. “Fine.” But not near Carter. Jase didn’t trust himself not to go after him again.

  The owner motioned him to follow and Jase trailed after the man toward the back. Once he was seated, he stayed put and texted Noah the location while the owner went to talk to Beckett.

  He looked up when a scuffle broke out near the door.

  “Get the fuck outta my way,” Carter yelled, his bloody face livid as he shoved some poor bystander aside and bolted out the door.

  “Shit,” Jase muttered and jumped up to race after him. Beckett beat him out the door by a few seconds. By the time Jase got outside, Beckett was stopped at the end of the sidewalk, his back rigid as he stared at something out of Jase’s line of sight. “Where did he—”

  Tires screeched as Carter’s truck peeled around the far side of the building and veered onto the street.

  “God dammit,” Jase snarled, and turned to run for his pickup. They had to stop him.

  Beckett caught up to him. “No,” he said, snatching the keys from Jase’s hand. “I’m driving.”