Cypress Lake

by Graysen Morgen

  Dani checked her watch, her half of the shift had ended a few minutes ago. "Can we at least go to your house and talk? I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

  "Fine," Kristen said, rolling up her window.

  Dani ran back to her SUV and pulled out onto the road behind Kristen. She grabbed the radio on the side of the computer and radioed dispatch to make sure her replacement had signed on, and then she signed off for the night. Dani hated seeing the sadness on Kristen's face and the fear in her eyes. Knowing she was the one who had put it there tore her up. Hurting Kristen was the last thing she'd ever wanted to do. She followed the small blue car silently through the dark streets and turned into the driveway behind it.

  Kristen left her suitcase in the car as she moved to unlock the front door of the house. The left bag didn't go unnoticed as Dani walked inside behind her. Kristen turned on the living room lights and sat down on the chair adjacent to the sofa where Dani sat.

  Dani's green eyes swirled wildly when Kristen looked at her and spoke. "Tell me the truth, Dani. How did you find out about what happened to me?"

  "Roger, Paul and Larry came to school joking about what they'd done the following week. I overheard them talking about how you screamed and begged them to stop while you cried for me over and over."

  "Oh my God," Kristen put her hand over her heart as the memories flooded back to her. She wiped a tear from her face that had fallen from her moist eyes.

  Dani sighed. "I never got over what they did to you. They needed to be punished."

  Kristen sat back in the chair. "What do you mean? Dani, did you do something to them?" she asked nervously.

  "Are you glad they're dead?" Dani asked.

  "It was twelve years ago. This isn't the closure that I came back for. I've moved on with my life."

  "How could you move on away from me? You never even said goodbye."

  "It wasn't easy, but I was forced to live a different life when I moved away. I figured you got on with your life too."

  "I kept tabs on them over years after I joined the sheriff's office. I swore I'd never let them hurt anyone else."

  "Is this why you became a deputy?" Kristen asked.

  "Yes," Dani replied, looking her in the eyes. "It's also why I had to find you and make sure you were okay."

  "Oh, Dani," she sighed, reaching out and squeezing Dani's hand. "Why didn't you say anything when you saw me?"

  "You looked happy…without me." Dani shrugged. "I came home and went back to my life."

  "Every time I thought of you, I thought of this place and that night always came back to me. I had to let go of you, of everything, so that I could move on."

  "I know. I hated them too, probably as much as you did, but I vowed to keep the town safe, so I watched Roger, Paul, and Larry live their lives, dabbling in and out drugs over years, praying that they overdosed or pissed off the wrong dealer. They finally parted ways and barely spent any time together in the past four years, but right before Paul's body was found the three of them started getting together again. I assumed they'd found out you were back in town. I never knew there were four of them involved in your attack though. Steve Olsen wasn't around those three much during the last few months of school and I never saw him with them after graduation. Then, he moved away."

  "Did you know I was back?"

  "No, not at first. I noticed them meet up twice in one week and the timeframe coincided with the prowler call at your house. I pulled the record from the call and saw your name. That's when I knew you'd returned."

  "Were they coming after me?" she whispered.

  "I have no idea," Dani said.

  "Did you have anything to do with what happened to them?"

  "No, but they're gone and they can't hurt you ever again. Isn't that all that matters?"

  "I don't know. This is a lot to take in." Kristen shivered with fear. She wasn't sure she believed her. It scared her to think Dani may have been the one who brutally murdered the three guys. She was certainly capable of doing it.

  "I love you, Kristen. I'd never do anything to hurt you. I should've told you everything when I found out you were in town. I didn't know what to do. I thought I'd never see you again."

  "I never expected to see you when I came back. I planned to be here for a few weeks to tie up some loose ends with the auction for the house and pack up the stuff my family had left behind. Then, you came back into my life. I've always loved you, Dani, and seeing you again resurrected all of the old feelings I thought I'd buried away forever, but this mess, whatever it is that's going on here—" she spread her arms around. "It scares the hell out of me. I can't help feeling like someone is out there trying to hurt me and you're right in the middle of it all."

  Dani lowered her head. "I'd take it all away if I could."

  "I know," Kristen said, moving to the couch next to her. As scared as Kristen was of her at the moment, the love she felt deep inside for Dani prevailed.

  Dani wrapped her arms around Kristen and held her tightly.

  Chapter 21

  Dani spent every waking minute of the next two days combing the town for any trace of Steve Olsen. She checked with the bank to see if his account had any recent activity, but the last transaction on record was three years ago. She didn't know much about Steve since she hadn't known he was involved with Kristen's attack, so she spent countless hours visiting old classmates and other acquaintances that also knew Steve. She even rode past the mayor's house every couple of hours, hoping to see Steve's car in the driveway. She also talked to Larry's roommate and Roger's ex-wife to see if either of them had ever seen him around. No one in Cypress Lake had seen Steve Olsen in three years.

  *

  Kristen was starting to wonder if Steve really was back and trying to hurt her or if Dani was more involved than she was letting on. The only thing that gave Kristen hope that Dani hadn't actually murdered the three guys was the gray car that had followed her on multiple occasions. Dani and another deputy had chased the car out of town after it had evaded a routine stop. Her mind kept coming to Steve. He'd been the leader of the group when they'd attacked her. Dani said he'd strayed away from the other guys. He could've easily snuck back into town, killing each guy and making it look like she did it, but how did he know she was back? Maybe he'd followed her.

  It was possible he knew everything about her life, where she lived, where she worked, and who she hung around. Kristen shivered with fear at the thought of Steve Olsen following her around. She decided to drive over to Dani's parents' store and hang out until Dani got off her shift. She barely knew anyone in town anymore and wasn't sure who she could trust, but she didn't want to be alone. The thought of Dani and her family made Kristen feel safe.

  She backed out of her driveway and drove down Lake Drive, turning onto the main road leading away from the lake. She was only a few blocks from her house when she noticed the car in her rearview mirror, riding very close to her.

  "Oh God," she said, terrified, as she shakily tried to scroll through her phone.

  *

  Dani was an hour from the end of her day. The twelve hour shifts were starting to take a toll on her and she'd barely slept in the last three days. She yawned, rummaging through the junk food everyone kept in the break room.

  "Don't throw anything out," Sheriff Fisher called from behind her.

  "Who said I was throwing anything away?" she asked, spinning around to face him with the last package of cookies in her hand.

  He raised an eyebrow. "I seriously doubt you're going to eat those. Give them here."

  She yawned again. "I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm eating these whether you like it or not." She grinned, opening the package.

  "I knew you'd give up that health crap and come over to the dark side," he said, snapping a picture of her with his phone. "Evidence," he added.

  "Oh for crying out loud." She shook her head at him. Her phone rang in her pocket before she could eat the cookie she was holding. She noticed Kristen's name on
the caller ID.

  "Hey," Dani answered. "I was just thinking about you. Do you want to get dinner—"

  "Where are you?" Kristen shrieked.

  "The sheriff's office. Why? What's wrong?"

  Kristen didn’t say anything.

  "Kristen? Are you there?" Dani's chest tightened. Sheriff Fisher raised an eyebrow.

  "Dani! Help!"

  "Kristen! Where are you? What's wrong?"

  "The car…following me…Ced—"

  Dani heard tires squealing as the line went dead. "That car's chasing Kristen. I think she's on Cedar!" she yelled to him as she ran out of the building, trying to call Kristen again as she reached her SUV.

  Sheriff Fisher radioed dispatch to send all units to Cedar Street along with EMTs as he jumped into his cruiser and raced out of the parking lot with his siren wailing and lights flashing behind Dani.

  "Fuck!" Dani yelled, trying over and over, but Kristen's phone kept going directly to voicemail.

  "Sheriff, her phone's dead," she radioed.

  "Copy. All available units have been dispatched to respond to a possible car chase or accident on Cedar."

  "Roger."

  "Dispatch, this is Deputy Nyman. Be advised, I'm on scene of an MVA with injuries at the fourteen hundred block of Cedar Street. Copy?"

  "Copy, EMTs are two minutes out."

  Dani keyed her microphone. "Nyman, is it a blue sedan?"

  "Yes, ma'am. It's upside down in the ditch. The driver is unconscious and there are no passengers. Copy?"

  "Roger." Dani fought back the tears, silently praying to God Kristen was okay. "Do you see any other vehicles?"

  "Negative."

  "Dispatch, Chief Ricketts. Put out an emergency BOLO for a gray two-door Nissan with a white male driver. It may appear to have been in an accident and is more than likely headed out of town. Copy?'

  "Roger, Chief."

  Dani saw the flashing red and white lights of the ambulance and blue lights of the sheriff's office cruiser as she turned the corner. She floored the gas and skidded to a stop on the side of the road and threw the SUV into park. She'd barely got the engine cut off when she jumped out and ran around the ambulance. Kristen's car was sitting on its roof down in the ditch, off the side of the road near the woods. All of the glass was busted out and the sides were smashed in, indicating that the car had rolled a few times before coming to a stop. She ran up to the passenger side window where the EMTs and firefighters were pulling Kristen out of the mangled car.

  "Is she—"

  "She's breathing, but she's unconscious," one of the men said as they rushed the stretcher towards the ambulance.

  "Ricketts," Sheriff Fisher yelled.

  Dani looked up to see him waving his hand for her to come over to him. Dani grabbed Kristen's hand. "I'm here, Kristen. It's Dani. You're going to be okay…I love you," she whispered to her as they put her in the back of the waiting vehicle. She watched them close the doors and drive away with the only person she'd ever loved.

  "There are aggressive tire tracks over here and I have a good feeling we're going to see gray paint on the other side of her car. It looks like she was run off the road."

  "Whoever did this was trying to kill her. I knew it!"

  "What? What do you know?" he asked.

  "Whoever is driving that car is not only our killer, he's been after her for weeks. I think she's supposed to be next," Dani said. She wanted to tell him everything, but she didn't trust Mayor Olsen. She wasn't sure what he'd do if he knew it was his son doing all of this.

  "We have to find that fucking car!" he shouted to the other deputies that had arrived at the scene.

  "From the looks of her car, I'd say his is probably damaged too. He could be broken down nearby or on the outskirts of town," Dani added. She wanted to search the city for his last address, but without a warrant or probable cause there wasn't much she could do. "I'm heading over to the hospital. Call me if you get anything."

  *

  Dani skidded to a stop outside the emergency entrance to the local hospital. Henry was walking down the hall when she walked through the double doors.

  "What brings you in here?" he asked.

  "MVA," she replied, hurrying down the hall.

  The small hospital was only three stories high with a small emergency department, maternity ward and regular doctor's offices on the first floor, along with the morgue. The second floor was used for intensive care and surgeries and the top floor was all regular inpatient care rooms.

  "May I help you, Chief?" The woman at the desk asked.

  "A woman was brought in from an MVA about twenty minutes ago."

  "Yes, I'll show you to her," she said, walking around the desk and leading Dani behind one of the curtains separating the emergency room beds.

  Kristen was lying on a gurney with a cervical collar around her neck, an IV line in her arm, and a blood pressure cuff on her upper arm. One of the doctors was standing next to her, writing on a clipboard.

  "Has she woken up?"

  "Yes. She woke up on arrival," he replied. "Nothing's broken and all of her scans look good. She has a concussion and mild bruising from the seatbelt. She'll be sore for the next few days. I just gave her some pain medication, so she's sleeping at the moment."

  "Thank God," Dani whispered, grabbing her pale hand as she sat down in the chair next to the gurney. When he left the room, she bowed her head, kissing the back of Kristen's warm hand before pressing her forehead against it. "I love you so much. I don't think I could bear losing you again," she murmured.

  Kristen's vision was slightly blurry as she opened her eyes. The throbbing pain in her head felt like a bass drum. The fuzziness in the room finally cleared enough for her to see Dani slumped over near her side. She moved the hand Dani was holding, encouraging her to lift her head so she could see the eyes that melted her heart.

  Dani turned her head up to see watery chocolate brown eyes looking back at her. She quickly moved up to Kristen's head, kissing her cheek softly and brushing the bangs off her forehead.

  "You scared the hell out of me," she said whispered.

  "All I remember is seeing that gray car."

  "I was at the station talking to Sheriff Fisher when you called to tell me he was following you. That's when he ran you off the road. You went for a pretty wild ride, but the doctor said nothing's broken. You have a lot of bruising and a concussion, so you're going to be in a lot of pain tomorrow."

  "I feel like someone slapped me across the face with a bag of bricks."

  Dani grinned. "You don't look like it though."

  "Ever the flirt," Kristen chided softly.

  "How is your head feeling?" the doctor asked, walking back into the room.

  "It's throbbing."

  "That's to be expected." He flashed a penlight into her eyes. "How's your vision."

  "It's not fuzzy anymore."

  "Good. I just took another look at your CT scan. I'd like to keep you overnight for evaluation."

  Kristen nodded and watched him walk out of the room.

  "I'm going to go call the sheriff. I'll be back in a few minutes," Dani said as she leaned over, kissing Kristen's cheek.

  Dani walked out into the hall with mixed emotion. She was glad Kristen was going to be okay, but she was seething with anger deep inside for the bastard that had tried to take her life.

  Chapter 22

  The next morning, Kristen was sitting on the edge of the bed. The cervical collar was gone, as well as the IV line and other attachments. She was slightly lost in thought when she heard footsteps coming down the hall, bringing her attention back to the room. She smiled casually when Dani appeared in the doorway. Despite all of the confusion and lies that had come between them recently, Kristen still felt the familiar tightening in her chest and tug of arousal low in her belly when she saw Dani. If there ever was such a thing as soul mates, she knew without a doubt that Dani Ricketts was hers.

  "You look better." Dani grinned, noticin
g the color had returned to her face.

  "I still feel like I was hit by a truck, but I'm ready to get the hell out of here," she said, hopping down off the bed and crossing the room.

  "Did you talk to your parents?" Dani asked, wrapping her arms around her.

  "Yeah. They insisted on coming to get me, but I assured them that I'm okay. I didn't tell them anything, except that I was in a small car accident." Kristen returned the hug and pulled away.

  Dani nodded, pursing her lips in thought as they walked down the hallway. "Do you want to go to your house or would you be more comfortable at my place?"

  "My house is fine."

  *

  "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Dani asked, threading her arms around Kristen's waist. They were standing in the kitchen of her house.

  "No. Go back to work and stop worrying about me." Kristen put her hand on Dani's cheek and smiled. "I'll be fine. I have calls to make to the insurance company and the salvage yard that has my car. Plus, I need to call my parents again."

  "You need to rest and probably eat something. It's almost lunchtime."

  Kristen laughed softly and kissed her lips. "I'm not going to want to sleep if you hang around and you know it," she said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

  Dani grinned. "Okay, I'll be back when my shift ends. Call me if you need anything," she said, unable to argue with the beautiful woman in her arms. She wasn't sure she'd be able to let her sleep anyway.

  Kristen walked her to the door. Dani kissed her gently, lingering for a slightly deeper kiss before Kristen pushed her out the door with a smile on her face.

  *

  Dani walked into Sheriff Fisher's office, peeling the banana in her hand.

  "How's she doing?" he asked when she sat down.

  "She has a pretty bad headache, but other than that just has sore muscles from the accident."

  "She's lucky to be alive," he muttered, shaking his head.

  "I take it no one's seen the car," Dani said, taking a generous bite of the fruit.