by Lucy Score
It was still dim, too dim to see far enough ahead of me.
A fallen tree caught me mid-shin, and I went down hard.
All I wanted to do today was eat a bunch of dino nuggets and lay around watching horror movies. Was that asking too much? Instead I was hurling myself through the woods in a ruined dress and hoping to God someone would find me before Christian did.
I dragged myself up and limped over the log.
Something snapped behind me, and I could hear his ragged breathing. He was too close.
I started to run again. Something big and black moved in my peripheral vision.
On instinct, I glanced as I flew past. I caught a glimpse of fur and teeth, the glimmer of eyes.
“Holy fucking shit!” I screamed as the bear lazily turned its head in my direction.
The last of my adrenaline dumped into my system, and I turned into a sprinter. I hurdled another fallen tree, turning my ankle hard on the landing. But there was no way I was going to be a bear snack.
I ran on, the trees parting to reveal what looked like trail or driveway. I heard Christian behind me and poured on the speed. There was a roar.
And at first I thought bear, but somewhere a rational part of my brain identified it as souped-up pickup truck.
I ran toward the sound.
Headlights cut through the gloom of the woods. I was looking over my shoulder and didn’t realize the trail turned.
I came to the turn nearly meeting the grill of the truck. It stopped so suddenly it stalled. I fell backward, and then Christian was on me. He hit me in the face again. Then his hands closed around my neck.
Things got blurry at that point. There were voices. Angry ones. I bit and clawed at my captor fighting for my life, and then suddenly he wasn’t there anymore. The weight was lifted from my chest.
“Shelby girl, open your eyes and look at me!” Someone snapped out the command.
“There’s a…” I coughed, trying to clear my throat.
“Are you okay? Open your eyes!”
I pried one eye open and realized the other one was glued shut with blood or sap or a combination of the two.
Gibson was looking down at me. GT pushed in on my range of vision.
“There was a bear,” I murmured.
“Did she say there was a fucking bear?” GT demanded.
“Henrietta,” I rasped.
“She called me,” Gibson said. “That’s how we found you.”
“She okay? The bear didn’t get her, did it?”
“We’ll find her,” Gibson promised.
“Where’s Jonah?” I asked, trying to sit up.
“He’s taking care of some business,” Gibson said, looking beyond us.
“You stay right where you are,” GT insisted. “You almost ate grill.” He tapped the bumper of the truck.
“He’s sick,” I whispered. “Christian. He’s mentally ill.”
“Shelby, sweetheart? You okay?” Jameson came into my watery frame of vision.
“My head hurts real bad, and I’m so hungry. My feet hurt, too. I think I stepped on every burr in the woods. Where’s Jonah? Where’s the bear?”
“Jonah’s just fine,” Jameson promised.
“Where is she?” I heard Scarlett’s shriek and more car doors.
“Scarlett!” Devlin called.
I heard sirens then. A lot of them. Morning arrived with flashes of blue and red. And I realized the Bodines had raced law enforcement and won.
The faces above me jostled, and I was staring up into Jonah’s green eyes.
“Hi,” I said softly.
He cupped my face in his hands. His breathing was ragged. There was rage and panic and fear in those beautiful eyes of his.
“Why are your hands bleeding?” I asked.
“Why is your head bleeding?” he countered.
“Oh. I couldn’t tell if it was blood or sap. Do I still have both eyes?” I asked.
“Yeah. Two of the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.” Jonah dropped his forehead to mine.
“Ow.” I winced.
“Sorry, Shelby honey,” he said, gathering me into his arms.
“I head butted him,” I said, sighing into his chest. He was still wearing his groomsman shirt and suspenders. There was blood melting into the white. I wasn’t sure whose it was. “Then there was a bear.”
“Can we get some EMTs over here?” Gibson yelled over the ruckus of sirens and new voices. “Think our girl’s got a concussion.”
“Hey, Jonah,” I said.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Thanks for making me so fast.”
“You scared the hell out of me, Shelby Thompson,” he whispered in my ear, gently brushing my hair back from my face.
“Scared me a little bit, too. Henrietta saw me. She broke the window. Then you saved me.”
“Gibs almost ran you over.”
“Wouldn’t that have been ironic? Survive a kidnapping and murder attempt, a bear, and then get taken out by a pickup truck.” I gave a half-hearted snort-laugh.
“That’s not gonna be funny for the next thirty years or so. So don’t be trying to joke about it.”
“Excuse me, sir.” A burly woman in uniform came into my line of sight. She set an official-looking medical bag down next to me.
“I’m a ma’am,” I insisted.
Jonah gave a weak laugh. “She’s talking to me, Shelby. She wants me to give her a little room so she can get a look at you.”
“Don’t leave me,” I demanded, clinging to him.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Where is he?” Sheriff Tucker sounded weary beyond his years, and I realized there was a whole heck of a lot we had to tell him.
“He’s over there,” Jameson said. “He’s not goin’ anywhere.”
“Is he…” I didn’t want to finish the question. I didn’t really want the answer.
“Just let the nice lady look you over, Shelby. We’ll worry about everything else later,” Jonah advised.
I thought that sounded really smart.
57
Jonah
I rode with Shelby in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The EMTs assured me about fifty-six times that she was okay. That the blood was mostly from her head wound. That the cut on her throat was not life-threatening.
But my hands were still shaking.
They bandaged my raw knuckles, and Shelby and I sported matching ice packs over blooming black eyes.
I didn’t know if I’d ever stop seeing that moment when the man tore out of the woods and fell on her. Intent on removing the woman I loved from this world. That was going to take a long time to get past, to not see every time I closed my eyes.
But it helped to look at Shelby smiling up at me like I was her hero.
I’d pulled him off her, dragged him away, and unleashed the rage I was feeling on him.
He’d got in a few lucky shots, but it wasn’t an even match. Jameson dragged me off him, though I wasn’t happy about it at the time. But Christian was still alive and now in police custody.
He wasn’t answering questions like how he found Shelby, but I had a suspicion that I wanted to run by Sheriff Tucker.
They wheeled Shelby into a room in the emergency department, and I planted myself in a chair in the corner while the staff poked and prodded her and asked her a million questions. I held her hand between tests.
The verdict: A concussion, a ton of bruising, and residual soreness from her triathlon.
“Shelby!” James and Darlene paused in the doorway, looking at their daughter on a gurney.
“Hi, guys,” she said cheerfully.
While the Thompsons fussed over Shelby, I spotted Sheriff Tucker outside and excused myself.
“Had a long conversation with your mother about an hour ago,” Sheriff Tucker said mildly, handing me a cup of coffee. “She had some interesting theories regarding an ongoing investigation.”
“I’ve got a few theories of my own,” I said,
taking a sip. “It was a sealed record,” I told him. “How many people have access to sealed records?”
“Shelby got into a sealed record,” the sheriff reminded me. “Can’t be that hard.”
“But add it to the rest. Someone took out Abbie Gilbert. Someone scared Cece Benefiel enough to make her recant her statement and now leave her house. Those remains are not Callie Kendall, but someone changed the report. Harrell said a man sent him. I think that man was Judge Kendall. Maybe he didn’t do his own dirty work,” I said before the sheriff could argue. “Maybe he has people who don’t mind getting dirty.”
Sheriff Tucker peered into his coffee as if he were looking for the answers. “The kid was off his meds. Hallucinations and delusions are common for his diagnosis.”
Frustration brought my blood to a simmer. “Look, I know that we have a mountain of suspicion without a scrap of real evidence. But that’s your job. You connect these dots. He screwed up somewhere, and you need to catch him.”
“If any of this is true—” The sheriff leaned in and lowered his voice. “Any one piece of it, we’re dealing with a very dangerous individual. And I am counting on you and the rest of your family to stay real quiet while I look into this. If we’re going to get this bastard in a cage, it’s gonna be because we crossed every T and dotted every I. We’re not getting a confession out of him. We’re building a case piece by piece until that cell door slams shut, got it?”
Sheriff Tucker believed us. He believed my mom. And for the first time, I believed that everything was going to be okay.
Unbelievably grateful, I nodded. “I give you my word. My family won’t throw a wrench in this. We’ve got a lot riding on the truth.”
“Good. Now, a word of warning. Gibson and Scarlett aren’t gonna make it easy on you. They’re hot-headed like their daddy. You’re gonna have to impress upon them how important it is that this doesn’t leak. Because if there’s even a whisper of the truth, whoever sent Christian Harrell after Shelby will try again.”
I nodded. I would do whatever it took to keep Gibs and Scarlett in line if it meant Shelby would stay safe. “I won’t let anyone do anything to jeopardize her safety.”
“You’re a good man, Jonah. Just like your brothers,” he said.
“Sorry for ruining the wedding for you,” I said.
His mustache twitched. “My daughter married the love of her life last night. Far as I can see, nothing got ruined ’cept maybe Misty Lynn’s designs on your brother.”
I’d forgotten all about her hissy fit. “I have a feeling she’ll survive.”
“Appreciate your time, Jonah,” he said, all business again. “Now, why don’t you get your girl and take her home? Word on the street is she’s gonna be discharged within the hour.”
“Thank you, sir.”
* * *
True to the sheriff’s prediction, Shelby was discharged an hour later. She had a concussion, a lot of bruising, and a very empty stomach.
“All things considered, I feel pretty good,” she chirped as I buckled her into the car.
“All things considered, you look pretty good, too,” I said, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. She looked awful. Her eye was swollen and purple. Her throat was bandaged. There were bruises all over her arms, and she winced every time she moved.
Scarlett arrived with a change of clothes for Shelby, shorts and an Enjoy the Journey t-shirt. The rest of us were still in our wrinkled, bloodied wedding gear.
“My parents said that Gibson got a hold of Henrietta Van Sickle, and she’s okay,” Shelby said. “She saved my life. I’m so glad she wasn’t eaten by a bear.”
“About that bear—” I began.
“Jonah, I am starving,” she complained. “I barely had anything for dinner last night thanks to the sex in the shed—did I tell you I had to confess that part to Sheriff Tucker? Talk about embarrassing. And I know you just want to drag me home and tuck me in bed, but if I don’t eat something soon, my body will go into starvation mode and start hoarding fat, and it’ll probably trigger a flare.”
I sighed, dropping my head against the seat. I was so tired. But a sit-down with the family might be what we both needed.
I cracked open an eye and looked at the clock on the dashboard. “We’ve got enough time to make the wedding brunch.”
“Yay!” she said. “Ow.”
“We’ll stay long enough for you to eat, and then we’re going straight home, and I’m not leaving your side for at least the next six years.”
“That sounds fair,” she said, lacing her fingers through mine.
58
Jonah
T he Brunch Club restaurant put us in the back room tucked away from curious eyes. The whole town woke to the news that Shelby had been abducted from Bowie and Cassidy’s wedding and then escaped, heroically injured.
I imagined the rumors would reach their peak by evening.
I settled her in on the padded booth and took the chair across from her. Jameson and Leah Mae were on our left. Scarlett and Devlin on our right. Gibson strolled in with a frown on his face.
“What’s with the face?” Shelby asked.
“Someone broke into my truck last night. Wallet’s missing.”
“Brunch is on us,” Jameson promised.
“I think it was Misty Lynn,” Shelby announced. I nudged her water glass toward her. “My memory’s a little foggy since I was conked in the head. But I remember following Misty Lynn out to the street. She broke your truck window with a paver from the Tuckers’ flower bed and was rummaging around inside.”
My focus was on Shelby, but I noticed that Gibson’s expression went stony.
“I think we’re gonna need Jayme,” he said quietly.
“Already called her around six this morning,” Devlin said, glancing at his watch. “She should be here—”
“Now what disaster have you inserted yourselves into, Bodines?” Jayme, our family attorney, strutted into the room in city black. She tucked her designer sunglasses into her designer bag and made a beeline for the coffee carafe.
George and June entered behind her, my mom on their heels.
“You’re gonna need something stronger than that,” Mom announced, whirling in and wrapping Shelby in a gentle hug. “So glad you’re okay, sweetie.”
“Thanks, Jenny,” Shelby said, hugging my mom back. “Me, too. You should be pretty proud of your son.”
“I am every day,” she said, leaning in and hugging me hard.
“You two can’t scare me like that ever again,” she said, switching into mom mode.
I laughed.
“Jayme, I need to talk to you,” Gibson said, trying to drag our attorney’s attention away from the caffeine she was mainlining.
Reading his expression, my mom rose and went to him. “What is it?”
“My wallet was stolen last night,” he said. Something seemed to pass between the two of them.
“One crisis at a time,” Jayme insisted. “Let’s start at the top with the abduction and assault.”
“Actually there’s a bigger crisis,” Shelby said. “You’re definitely going to want liquor.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Bodine are here for breakfast,” Cassidy chirped from the doorway. She strolled in hand-in-hand with Bowie, both beaming in newlywed bliss.
“Well, what in the hell happened to all of you?” Bowie asked, gaping at us.
We were quite a sight to take in. Shelby looked exactly like an attempted murder victim. I was bruised and bloody. Jameson and Gibs were still in the rumpled pants and shirts from last night. The girls had last night’s makeup on and what was left of their hairdos.
“Y’all either had one hell of a fight or one hell of a party without us,” Cassidy pouted.
Shelby was the first one to start laughing, and the rest of us fell in behind her.
“Would someone please tell us what the hell happened?” Bowie said, drawing his wife into the room.
“Imma get us a round of Bloody Marys,”
Scarlett decided.
We waited until we had our drinks and our meals before dishing the dirt.
“I missed a Misty Lynn meltdown?” Cassidy complained.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure someone got video,” Scarlett promised.
“Okay, so, Misty Lynn throws herself at you, gets rejected for the millionth time, and flips out?” Bowie clarified.
Jayme rolled her eyes. “This is the weirdest fucking town.”
“So she storms out, and Shelby follows her,” Leah Mae said, picking up the thread. “This was after she and Jonah had sex in your parents’ shed, by the way.”
“Wedding reception sex, nice,” Cassidy said approvingly.
“Anyway, Shelby went after Misty Lynn and caught her breaking into Gibson’s truck,” Jameson continued.
“About that—” Gibson said. But nobody paid him any attention.
“The next thing we know, Misty Lynn is screaming her head off, sayin’ someone took Shelby,” Scarlett said.
The retelling, now that all the parties were safe, was mildly entertaining… to everyone except me.
“I remember trying to pull Misty Lynn out of your truck,” Shelby said to Gibson. “And she was crying and yelling about teaching you a lesson. Then it all just goes black.”
“According to Misty Lynn’s statement, a man appeared out of the shadows and pushed her down. She struck her forehead on Gibson’s truck. He grabbed you and knocked you unconscious,” Jayme said, reading off her phone.
“How did you get your hands on the report already?” Devlin asked.
Her painted lips curved. “I have my ways.”
They told Bowie and Cassidy the rest of the story in fits and starts.
“I can’t believe we were so busy having hot newlywed sex that we had no idea any of this was going on,” Cassidy said, pushing her plate away. “I need to get into the station and get the scoop.”
“Before you go,” I said, eyeing Shelby. “There’s something else you guys need to know.”
Mom straightened her shoulders and took a fortifying gulp of her Bloody Mary. Gibson’s foot was jiggling where it crossed his knee at the ankle.
“What the hell are you all up to?” Scarlett demanded. She wasn’t a fan of being left out.
