Emily's Choice

by Heather McCoubrey

  They chose a table in the back corner, away from the TVs and pool table. Even the restrooms were at the front of the bar, so they were well and truly isolated. Phoebe went up and bought the first round, leaving Gina and Emily at the table.

  “Looks like we got here at the right time, this table is usually the first to go,” Gina said.

  “I’m glad. I plan to keep my back to the crowd tonight and get my drink on.”

  “This is Jason’s table. Anytime I’m in here, he’s at this one.”

  “Hm,” she replied.

  “Someone will recognize you at some point tonight.”

  “I know, but I’m going to try my best to stay hidden for as long as possible.”

  “No one has seen you in years, you can’t expect them not to greet you home.”

  Emily nodded. “I know. But tonight I just want to disappear.”

  Phoebe returned with their drinks. They touched glasses before taking their first sips.

  “Oh my!” Emily gushed. “This goes down extremely easy, Phoebs.”

  “Told ya!”

  “This will be a good night!” Emily said with a broad grin. She upended her glass and swiftly drank the entire glass down. She set the glass on the table with a firm clunk and wiped the back of her hand across her lips. “It’s on, girls. Keep up!”

  Gina and Phoebe followed suit, and Gina took herself off to the bar for the second round.

  “Ben wants you to come up and say hi to him before it gets too busy in here,” Gina said on her return.

  “I can do that,” Emily agreed. “I’ll buy the next round and say hi to him while I’m up there.”

  The next two hours followed the same routine with Gina and Phoebe running to the bar for rounds and talking above the music as best they could. They had years to catch up on and nothing loosened the tongue like drinks and absence.

  “I have to use the restroom,” Emily announced. “I’m going to brave the crowds.”

  “Better put on your hat and sunglasses,” Gina giggled.

  “Good call!” She dug her sunglasses out of her purse, putting them on her face before stepping away from the table. She wound her way through the crowd and was quite pleased with herself when she made it to the restroom without being accosted by a well-meaning neighbor. Finished emptying her bladder and washing her hands, she snuck out the front door to get some fresh air. She breathed deeply, again realizing how much she missed the clean, fresh air of the desert. If only she could bottle it and bring it with her back to Boston.

  When she got to the end of the building, she paused, staring out at the last rays of the setting sun. The sky was mostly black, a faint glow of red and gold tinged the horizon.

  “Excuse me?” a man asked close to her ear.

  She barely suppressed a shriek, turning her head to find the voice in the dark. The big city had changed her. She knew everyone in this town, and her moment of fear was a casualty of her time in Boston. “Hello,” she said with a smile.

  “Are you Emily Camacho?”

  Emily nodded, the smile dimming slightly. There was something familiar and faintly menacing about that voice.

  “I thought so,” he said, wrapping his arms around her torso and putting a hand against her mouth. He dragged her, kicking and squirming, around the building and threw her into the trunk of his waiting car.

  Emily kicked and screamed against the trunk and frantically searched for the handle to pop the trunk. She felt her pockets for her phone and cursed when she realized it was sitting on the table with her purse. She briefly wondered how long it would take Gina and Phoebe to notice she was missing and then pushed the thought right out. She had to find a way out of this trunk. Where was the handle? Or was that a TV myth? Wasn’t there an episode of CSI where they talked about cars manufactured after a certain date had to have the handles for situations such as this?

  Why was she even wasting her time thinking about that? She needed to find a tool or something . . . some way out of this trunk. Where were they going? Why had he taken her?

  Her thoughts swirled in her mind and she felt herself losing control. Panic was starting to take over and she knew she had to get herself under control if she was to find a way out of this. Breathing deeply, she relaxed and focused on making a plan.

  After what felt like hours, the car came to a stop. Emily situated herself so she was ready when he opened the truck.

  As soon as he had the trunk open, he reached down and Emily kicked him in the face. He fell out of sight, and she wasted no time in scrambling out of the trunk. She didn’t check to see if he was knocked out; tunnel-vision had her running for her life. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and this man as possible.

  She only made it about ten steps before he body-slammed her to the ground. She fell hard, the air forced from her lungs. He rolled her over and punched her in the face. The last thing she saw before her world went black was his rage-filled eyes and the cold smile on his lips.

  *****

  She’d been gone too long. Jason saw her use the restroom and had resisted the urge to follow her outside. He kicked himself now. He checked his watch. Ten minutes. Too long. He got up from his table and slipped outside. He walked the length of the building and turned the corner that led to the parking lot. He recognized Gina’s SUV right away and walked over.

  As he got closer, he knew she wasn’t in there. His gut told him something was wrong. Emily wasn’t overly fond of the dark, and he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t just wander off without a good reason.

  He checked the vehicle to make sure, even though he knew she wasn’t in there. He called out her name, hoping she was just in a shadow and he’d missed her. She didn’t respond so he hurried back inside, praying he’d somehow passed her and she was safe inside with her friends.

  No such luck. He bumped into Gina as he entered the bar.

  “Is Emily in here with you?”

  “No,” Gina replied, shaking her head. “I was just on my way outside to find her.”

  “She’s not out there.”

  “Well, where is she?”

  “Don’t know, but I have a bad feeling.” He went on to tell her about the mystery man from earlier in the day.

  “She left her phone and purse on the table. She was just going to the restroom.”

  “I think she went outside for some air and I think that creep took her.”

  “I’ll call Fred. He’ll know what to do,” she said and ran back to the table. She snatched up her phone and speed-dialed her husband.

  “What’s going on?” Phoebe asked, slow on the uptake thanks to two and a half pitchers of Love Potion. “Where’s Emily? Oh, hi, Jason,” she purred.

  “Fred? Emily’s missing. She went outside for some air and now she’s gone. Jason thinks some creep stole her!” She went on with the details Jason had given her, turning her back when Phoebe’s concern rose to epic levels.

  Jason put his arm around her shoulders and shushed her. “We’ll find her, Phoebs. Did she say anything to you about leaving?”

  “No,” she replied, scrunching up her face. “All she said was she had to pee. I guess it has been a while since she left. Wow, time sure does fly when you’re drinking.”

  He rolled his eyes. He loved the girl dearly, but she was a ditz of the highest order when she’d been drinking. He checked his watch. Another fifteen minutes had passed and he was itching to be gone. He needed to be out looking, searching for Emily.

  “Who else saw this Edward at the house today?” Gina asked Jason, holding the cell phone away from her face.

  “I don’t know,” he replied.

  “No, she wouldn’t just disappear. That’s not her style,” Gina said angrily into the phone. “She didn’t disappear, she left with her sister. She left a note for her parents. She sent me and Phoebe a text. And anyway, that was a totally different situation.”

  Jason snatched the phone out of Gina’s grasp. “We don’t have time for this,”
he barked into the phone. “I’ve been watching her at the bar, keeping an eye on her because the guy was a creep. I was worried for her. He now has a good half-hour lead and who knows where he’s taking her.”

  “I understand what you’re saying, Jason. But we’re talking about a situation you want me to use manpower on. We’re not sure she’s actually missing. No one knows who this mystery man is. She’s disappeared in the past . . .”

  “She didn’t disappear,” he said slowly. “Gina just told you that.”

  “Fine, she has a history of running. Perhaps her stepmother’s death was more than she could handle right now and she needed to get away.”

  “She wouldn’t leave Sadie behind. And she wouldn’t leave without telling someone.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Jason, be reasonable. None of you have seen her in two years. She lives in the big city now. She’s changed.”

  “Not that much. Are you going to do something or not?”

  “I can send someone over to take statements and see if anyone saw anything. Other than that, my hands are tied until she’s been missing for twenty-four hours.”

  “Are you serious? She could be dead by then!”

  “It’s policy . . .”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your policy,” he interrupted. He tossed the phone in Gina’s direction. “Way to marry a cop. What the hell good is he if he won’t help his wife find her best friend?”

  Jason stormed out of the bar and jumped into his truck. He needed to calm down and think. Who was this guy, where could he have taken Emily, and why had he taken her? Who had a grudge against Emily? The only person he could think of was Lila. But would she do something this crazy? What would she hope to gain by doing it?

  So lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize Gina was outside his window until she tapped on it. Rolling the window down, he raised his eyebrows in question.

  “He’s going to help us.”

  “How did you manage that?”

  “I told him if he didn’t get his head out of his ass, he’d be sleeping on the couch for a very long time.” Gina grinned.

  Jason let out a bark of laughter. “So, what’s he gonna do?”

  “He’s sending someone down here to question people at the bar. Not that I think he’ll get very far with that, everyone in there is drunk, except Ben.”

  “The guy never came in. I sat by the door the whole night. Only locals came in. It’s a waste of time.”

  “I think Tyler may have seen this man. He mentioned some guy showing up to talk to Emily today during the reception.”

  “Good. I’ll head out to the ranch right now to talk to him.”

  “Okay. I’m going to run Phoebe home. She’s beyond drunk and won’t be any good to us anyway. I’ll meet you out there.”

  Jason nodded and rolled up his window. He started out of the parking lot, glad to have something to do.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  She couldn’t move her arms.

  It was the first thought that came to mind when she woke up. A second later, memories flooded her mind and she realized she wasn’t passed out from a night of overindulgence. No, she was in trouble. Big trouble.

  She struggled against her restraints, hoping the man hadn’t tied them tightly, but no such luck. Did she dare scream on the off chance someone might hear her and come to the rescue? The last thing she wanted to do was to anger him any further. But she didn’t want to hang out and wait for whatever cruel intentions he had for her, either.

  He seemed familiar to her, like she’d seen him somewhere before. She wracked her brain, trying to remember. It was floating on the outer reaches of her mind and she couldn’t quite get a good grip on it.

  She was gathering her courage to scream for help when the door opened and a beam of light shone in the room. Outlined in the doorway was the last person she expected to see.

  “Lila?” she croaked out.

  “Hello, hello, Emily. So glad you were finally able to join me.”

  “What are you doing? Why am I here?”

  “We’ll get to all that shortly. I just had to see for myself that you were here and restrained.” She laughed. “Oh, it’s so good to be the one in charge now.”

  Lila turned and walked away, closing the door behind her.

  Emily’s mind raced. Thoughts, feelings, impressions rushed back and forth, but nothing would stick. Nothing popped to the surface and said “This is what’s going on.” All she had were questions. Why was Lila doing this? What could she possibly want with her?

  It’s not like Emily had any money. Neither Clint nor Grace had money. And even if Grace had money, she wouldn’t have left it to Emily—it would go to Hope. Besides the fact, Grace had just been buried today. The reading of the will, if there was one, wouldn’t be for at least another week.

  Her heart was racing and her hands were clammy. Sweat beaded on her lip and forehead. She continued pulling on the ropes and twisting her wrists, hoping against hope that they would loosen enough for her to slip her hands free.

  The last thing she wanted was to be at Lila’s mercy. She had to be up and able to face her—eye to eye—by the time Lila came back. Her wrists were screaming in pain, but she continued to pull at the ropes.

  The door opened again. This time, Lila and the man entered the room. And she finally remembered where she knew him from. He was the same man from earlier this afternoon, who’d threatened Sadie. Edward.

  “Where’s your phone?” Lila demanded.

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure I brought it with me,” Emily replied.

  Lila cursed under her breath and turned to Edward. “He won’t know it’s her. And if I give her my phone, he won’t answer.”

  “She could text him, announcing herself and asking him to call.”

  “But it’s still my number. He might not even check the message. And if he does, then he’ll know where she is and send the cops.” She kicked the floor. “Damn!”

  “What about my phone? No one knows the number. It would be unrecognizable.”

  Lila smiled. “Yes, that would work.”

  Edward handed her the phone and moved over to the door, standing guard.

  Lila sauntered over to the bed and sat down next to Emily’s hip. “I bet you’re wondering why you’re here,” she began.

  “Hm. The thought has crossed my mind.”

  Lila’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “I wouldn’t be smart, if I were you. You aren’t exactly in the best position right now.” She played with the phone in her hands, rolling it over and over. She took a deep breath and set the phone on the bed then reached behind her back. She pulled out a gun and pointed it at Emily’s face. She smiled at Emily’s sharp inhalation. “Now you see I’m serious.”

  “About what?” she whispered.

  “About getting what I want. About finally being the one who wins.”

  “Wins what?” she croaked. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want?” Lila laughed. “I want to win. I want your life. I want you and Hope to have nothing. To be the dirt beneath my feet as I’ve been yours since I moved here. I want Jason. I want your life.”

  “Take it!” Emily said. “Take it all. I don’t want it. I don’t want him.”

  “I’ve tried,” Lila screamed, spittle flying from her mouth. “I’ve tried since the day I moved here to have Jason. But he doesn’t want me. All he wants is you—all he’s ever wanted is YOU!” She stood and paced in front of the bed. Heavy steps. Hard steps.

  “I can’t do anything about that, Lila. I’ve tried. For two years, I’ve tried to give him the hint. I’ve been subtle. I’ve been obvious. He doesn’t get it. I don’t want him. Why would I? I walked in on the two of you the morning of our wedding. Why would I tie myself to a man like that?”

  “Because he’s the father of your child. She’s the reason he won’t give up on you. Don’t you see that? She’s the one thing that keeps
him tethered to you, always willing to keep trying to win you back.”

  “But I don’t want him back, Lila. Can’t you see that? I’m here, in town, for one reason only. To bury Grace. Sadie and I are returning to Boston next week. I’m not staying.”

  “That’s not good enough,” Lila said. “He’ll just follow you. He’ll keep trying. You need to make it plain and clear to him that you’re done. That you want him to move on and be happy with me.”

  The crazy was taking hold and Emily could see it enter Lila’s eyes. She was waving the gun wildly in her hands, and Emily feared for her life. If she wasn’t careful, she wouldn’t make it out of here at all.

  She had to think. Think! What could she say to Lila to end this? The words she’d been saying weren’t doing anything to calm the situation or ease Lila’s mind.

  “What can I do?” Emily finally asked.

  “You need to convince him,” Lila said. “You aren’t leaving here until you do.” Lila walked over and came to within inches of Emily. Leaning down, her face a breath away, she grabbed Emily’s chin. “I want him. I’ve always wanted him. And I will have him, if it’s the last thing I do.” She pushed Emily’s face away. “Are we clear?”

  Emily nodded.

  Lila picked up the phone and held it tightly in her hand. “You will make him believe. You won’t tell him where you are. You won’t tell him who you’re with. You will be plain and clear and convince him that you don’t want to have anything else to do with him.” She began to dial Jason’s number. “If you don’t, I will shoot you and then I will hunt down your brat and shoot her, too.” Lila held the phone to Emily’s ear and stood sentry over the conversation.

  As the phone rang, Emily wracked her brain for a solution, but her mind went blank.

  “Hello?” he barked into the phone.

  “Jason, it’s Emily.”

  “Emily? Where the hell are you?”

  “It doesn’t matter. What matters is what I have to tell you.”

  “Tell me what? Everyone is worried about you.”

  “Jason, I’m safe and I’m fine. Tell everyone I just needed some air.”

  “Was it the guy from earlier? Did he take you?”