Unbreakable

by Amie Nichols

  “My bet is that they think we will pay just to avoid a legal hassle,” Andy adds.

  “Well they can think that all they want, because I’m not paying her anything,” I declare to Andy just to make sure we are on the same page.

  “Yes, Lilly, I know, and I have no intentions on asking you to settle,” he says calmly. “But I do think we should strike her with a counter suit of our own,” he says and I’m instantly intrigued.

  “The newspaper article, I say we sue her for defamation of character.” He explains to us that her saying I threatened to kill her makes me look bad in the community.

  “I did threaten to shoot her though, even though I don’t own a gun,” I say to him and he gives me a shocked look.

  “But can she prove that you really did?” He asks grasping for straws, still astonished by my confession and looks to Emma.

  “I didn’t hear a thing,” Emma says of that day, even though she was standing right there with us.

  “No, it was just her, Emma, and I. But I refuse to stoop to her level and lie to get what I want.” I exclaim and I can see the look of disappointment on his face. “I don’t want to sue her and I don’t want to pay her.” I tell him letting him know where I stand. “So if we have to go to court then so be it, I’m sure we’ll win. I also want you to start digging into anything you can find about the Jane Sumnor Charitable organization,” I tell him. “I also want to know if I have any rights to their bank statements since my ‘mother’ is the name sake.” I choke down the word mother.

  “Okay, Lilly, I’ll see what I can find out,” he says. “I will contact her attorney and tell them we deny their offer and I guess we will see just how far she wants to take this,” he explains as he puts the file back in his briefcase. “I’m sure once Elliott gets back he will take over the case,” he tells us and I’m fine with him handling it.

  “Well you guys can work out the details. Just so you know, I am more than comfortable leaving it in your capable hands,” I say to him as I start to show him to the door.

  “Thank you, Lilly. That really means a lot to me,” he beams at the compliment.

  “I can’t believe you don’t want to sue the pants off of her,” Emma blurts out as soon as the door shuts. “If I were you, I would take her for everything she has!” She exclaims evilly.

  “What good would it do really?” I shrug and we make our way to the study.

  We had decided that Emma would stay at the house until her parents get back so she is not in an empty house. Jacob said he would drive her home to pick up some clothes. When we walk in the study Jacob is sitting in the office chair and Lucy is sitting on his lap, and we interrupt them kissing.

  “Oh, sorry guys,” I say as they both look up at the sound of us entering the room. Lucy quickly gets up and turns away from us embarrassed by getting caught.

  “I swear we’ve been working,” Lucy says her face red with blush. Jacob also seems embarrassed as he stands up to let Lucy sit in the office chair.

  “It’s okay. I know you’ve been working hard.” I assure them as their faces look like they are in trouble. “I don’t expect you to work 24 hours a day. It’s not like the hours here have been conventional,” I tell them and Lucy relaxes. Jacob beams at her and I can tell he is totally in love and I am so happy for him.

  “We were just seeing when you would be able to take me home to get some stuff.” Emma says grinning at them.

  “Couple hours, we are waiting for a scan to run on a hit we got. It’s kind of a waiting game, that’s why we, umm….took a break,” Jacob smiles.

  “I think we will let you get back to your break then.” I grin at them and grab Emma’s arm to leave the room.

  “I’ll come find you when the scan is done,” Jacob yells to us when we’re in the hall.

  “They are so cute together.” Emma smiles at me happy for them just as much as I am.

  Emma and I go over some of the decorating catalogs for the next few hours to keep us busy. Jimmy and Luke work in the master and I can tell by the very loud bangs that they are enjoying the destruction of Jane’s bathroom.

  “I really like this one, Bud knows his stuff.” Emma points out a pale yellow for the sitting room, now that we are on to paint colors.

  Bud is a very flamboyant gay man that I hired a few months ago to help with the decorating. He had left a bunch of paint samples and fabric swatches. With everything going on I have not had the time to go through it all. “Lilly, darling, I am going to make this place sing.” I remember him telling me the day he visited. He had scoffed at Jane’s taste and agreed with me that everything must go.

  He had picked out some sage colored furniture for the sitting room and I think that the pale yellow Emma chose will go perfectly. I add the color swatch to the sitting room file.

  For the next couple of hours we go from room to room picking out paint and fabric.

  Chapter 43

  “What are we going to make for supper?” My stomach growls and I realize it is almost 6:00. The day has flown by since Emma and I had made sandwiches for lunch.

  “Pizza,” Emma chirps, “ooey gooey pizza.”

  “I’m ready to go to the house,” Jacob says coming into the kitchen. “Jimmy wants to come too,” he tells us and Jimmy’s in the kitchen a few minutes later freshly showered from them working in the master.

  “Where’s Luke?” I ask them before they leave. “I’ll order pizza so can you pick it up on the way back.”

  “He went to shower, I’m sure he’ll be down soon,” Jimmy tells me. We decide on what kinds of pizza and the three of them leave. For the first time in days I’m in my kitchen alone. Lucy is still in the study finishing up a few things. I sit there in the silence and suddenly miss everyone. I really like having all these people in my house. It’s so big and empty otherwise, and it just makes it feel more like a home. I finish looking through my magazine and just put it aside when Luke walks in the kitchen hair still wet from his shower.

  “Hey baby,” he greets me coming up behind me kissing my neck. I can smell his clean fresh scent. I take a deep breath in as he wraps his arms around my belly hugging me tight.

  “Hey yourself,” I greet back enjoying the embrace. “We are having pizza and I need to get it ordered so it’s ready for them to pick up on their way back from Emma’s,” I say and turn to face him. He’s so gorgeous. I could stare at him for hours.

  I walk around the island to get a phone book out of the bottom drawer. Luke heads to the kitchen table and is standing in front of the French doors with his back to them. He is thumbing through the paint swatches. “Do you like the colors we picked out?” I say as I reach down to open the drawer and grab the phone book.

  When I straighten back up I see him, standing behind Luke stabbing him in the neck with a needle.

  Luke goes to turn around and before he can face his attacker he hits the floor like a ton of bricks.

  “No!” I scream running towards the man I love crumpled on the floor unconscious. My heart beating out of my chest, I see him take a gun out and point it at Luke’s head. He puts his index finger to his lips telling me to be quiet. I stop frozen and stare at him as tears start to roll down my face.

  This is him, my stalker. Everything we have been doing to keep him away didn’t work. He stands there, his gun still pointed at Luke’s head. His facial hair has grown out more and he’s wearing the same clothes he was wearing the other day in the woods. I stare at him and his eyes are dark with anger.

  “Please don’t hurt him,” I desperately plead to him.

  “That’s up to you,” he growls in a low gruff voice. “He’s not dead, yet, but he can be in a second.” He sneers shaking the gun that is still pointed at his head.

  “I’ll do whatever you say, if you promise not to hurt him.” My voice shaking as I respond to his statement. I start to remember Jacob’s story about how he thinks I like him too. That he turned aggressive because he thought I was denying him.

  “Good gi
rl,” he taunts and moves one step closer to me. My heart is pounding so hard I feel like he can hear it. It feels like I’m in a nightmare. I can see Luke’s chest moving up and down so I know he is alive and I will do whatever this man tells me to keep it that way.

  “Hey, Lil, I need some information from the……” Lucy enters the kitchen and stops dead in her tracks when she sees the man holding the gun. In an instant he has it pointed at her, and just like me her mouth opens but nothing comes out.

  “Join your friend,” he growls motioning Lucy to stand next to me.

  “Please. I’ll go with you, just don’t hurt anyone,” I beg now scared for Lucy’s life also. Lucy looks at me panicked as she moves to stand beside me. I don’t know what to do, I feel so helpless that if I fight with this lunatic he’ll kill Luke or Lucy.

  “Oh you will be coming with me, but I can’t have her calling anyone as soon as we step out the door,” he grunts and he reaches in his pocket and brings out another syringe. He walks toward us and we hear a loud bang outside. He’s distracted for a moment putting the gun back on Luke and walks to the window to see what the noise was.

  Within a second Lucy has her phone out of her pocket and has the back off of it. She pulls off a small square device and reaches around me lifting the back of my shirt I feel her stick the object on the small of my back. She replaces the cover and quickly puts her phone in my back pocket, but she’s too late. He turns around just as I feel the phone slide in my pocket.

  Lucy quickly puts her hands down and acts innocent, but I know he saw what just happened.

  “Bad girls,” he scolds and moves toward us. All I want to do is to start kicking and screaming and punching this man. He takes out the syringe and grabs Lucy by the back of the head. She fights him for a second trying to release from his grip when the syringe enters her neck. Just as fast as Luke, she crumples to the floor.

  I’m frozen. He’s so close I can smell him. His scent is musty and smells of the woods. He grabs my arm and turns me around. I whimper in fear as his hand cups my behind. He lingers for a minute caressing over the pocket and I hear him moan with pleasure. I’m shaking with fear and disgust as he touches me. He reaches into my back pocket and grabs the phone. His hand that is wrapped around my arm is so tight and fierce I think it’s going to break in two.

  He swings me back around and holds the cell phone up to my face. He throws it on Lucy with so much force that it bounces off of her and flies across the room shattering it to bits.

  “I should kill her for that,” he says in a low gruff whisper so close to me I can feel his breath on my face. I feel like I’m going to be sick and try my hardest to hold it together.

  “Please, I’ll go with you. Please don’t,” I beg him as he stares at my face, tears running down my cheeks. I can’t look at him. My whole body is trembling as he takes my face in his hands and forces me to look at him.

  “You made it this way. You made me do this,” his voice low and angry.

  “Just a little insurance,” he sneers and pulls a mechanical device from his inside pocket. He sets it on the island counter. “This is just in case you try to escape...BOOM!” He shouts laughingly and I see he has a tiny detonator around his neck. If I fight him he’s going to blow up Luke and Lucy.

  “Now, Lilly, this has been a long time coming.” He runs the tip of the gun down my cheek and I gasp. He takes out a zip tie from his pocket and grabs my wrists binding them together and pulls the tie tight. The hard plastic is cutting into my skin. Grabbing my arm again, he yanks me toward the door.

  He stops at Luke and points the gun down at his head again, “He doesn’t deserve to live,” he grates looking up at me.

  “Please I’ll do anything, just don’t hurt anyone,” I beg through my sobbing.

  “Yeah, well, we’ll see how you do,” he fumbles with the detonator around his neck before he jerks me out the doors.

  I don’t know where Sam and the dogs are. I hope and pray they are out there somewhere and are going to come to my rescue.

  I get my answer quickly when he drags me onto the patio. I see Sam crumpled in a heap like Luke and Lucy in front of the cottage. The dogs are in the cottage going crazy, barking and jumping at the door. I think that they might actually break it down.

  “They think I would only come at night, but I showed them who is boss,” he mocks and I can tell he is impressed with himself. He continues to drag me toward the woods and I struggle to keep up. He doesn’t say anything, his alert is up, and he constantly looks behind him.

  “Please, you’re hurting me,” I plead as he drags me towards the tree line. Blood has started to drip from my arm where his fingernails have buried into my skin. He doesn’t stop and keeps yanking me closer to the woods. I feel that once we’ve reached the cover of the trees, it’s over, that they aren’t going to find me. I try to drag my feet to slow him down, but this only angers him and he pulls harder.

  I scream in pain as I feel my shoulder pop out of its socket. He still doesn’t stop. He seems more determined than ever to get me to the tree line. Where’s he going to take me, what is he going to do to me? Pain and fear take over as we reach the timber. I feel like it’s all over. I see he has conduits set up rerouting the electrical current for the invisible fence.

  He pushes me through the opening, but he keeps a tight grip on me as I struggle to get through the tiny space. Once I’m through he lets go of my arm. A second later he’s through the opening and is grabbing my arm again.

  He finally slows down now, taking my other arm since the one is bleeding and throbbing in pain from being out of its socket. I feel like my whole body is numb. I can’t believe this is really happening. He continues to drag me through the timber. I trip on a log and land face first into a pile of leaves. The pain sears through me as my cheek gets cut from a sharp rock in the bottom of the pile of leaves. He hastily helps me up and continues to drag me.

  “You know, it didn’t have to be this way,” he tells me anger in his voice. “You were mine, and then he came along and poisoned you,” he shouts as he talks of Luke.

  He’s getting angrier as he talks about Luke and I pray he doesn’t trigger the bomb with the detonator still swinging around his neck.

  “He’s such a fool to think he could keep us apart,” his voice rising more in anger. “He doesn’t deserve to live,” I see him fumble with the device hanging from his neck.

  “Please, I’m with you now and it’s where I want to be,” I blurt out in desperation to save Luke’s life. “There’s no need to kill anyone now. We’re together at last,” I choke the words out feeling like I’m going to vomit, and swallow hard to keep from doing so.

  He stops and turns to me. I can see the anger dissipating from his face from my words. I force myself to smile at him as screams want to escape my lips. I compose myself, with all of my might, for my Luke.

  “You betrayed me with him,” he looks at me and I can tell he is confused by my words and not sure if he believes me or not. “You toyed with me and flaunted him around in front me.” He is so close to my face, his mouth goes to my ear and I feel his long facial hair brush my cheek. A shiver runs through me. “I don’t like being toyed with,” he breathes in my ear and I feel like I might faint. I want so bad to start swinging and to fight this monster, but I can’t take the chance that he would detonate the bomb.

  “This is where I belong, I can see that now,” I whimper desperate for him to believe me. He turns away from me and continues to drag me through the trees a little more carefully now, but I still get beat up with branches smacking me as we hurry through the woods.

  After about 30 minutes of walking we reach a dirt road and waiting there is a large blue van with all the back windows blacked out. He opens the back doors shoving me in, and he follows shutting the doors behind us. I try to sit up, but my arm sears with pain as I have landed on my dislocated shoulder. My shirt is torn from the trees and my skin stings everywhere from the cuts they delivered.

  �
��We’ll be home soon,” he whispers and pulls out an identical syringe to the ones he used on Luke and Lucy. I feel the sharp prick of the needle go in my neck. Darkness starts to close in and I see his face staring at me when he reaches for the detonator on his neck and he pushes the button.

  I want to scream no, but my world goes black.

  The End of Book One.

  Book 2, In the Cypress Grove Series, Unbreakable 2, The Mystery of Lilly coming May 2014

  A special thanks to my editor, Tara the Word Wench. For her awesome services she can be contacted @ colourful3wench@gmail.com. Also a big thank you to Donna Pemberton for all you do for me.

  Other books by this Author:

  Deep Blue Impact

  Deep Blue Hold

  © Copyright. Amie Nichols. 2013. All rights reserved