by Devney Perry
“Jess will find me. He’s out there looking now. I know it. You won’t get away with this.”
“Now, Gigi. I’ve told you that I don’t respond well to threats. The sheriff is nowhere near here. He has been so focused on Wes that I’ve gone completely unnoticed. And I’ve made sure to act like a timid and shy mouse whenever he’s around,” he said arrogantly.
“He knows there is someone in town selling pills,” I snapped.
“Yes. He does. But he’s so far away from my trail it will take him years to put it all together.”
Months ago, that day with Gus Johnson, I’d made the wrong assumption. He’d known it because he was the dealer. And damn it, I hadn’t told Jess about that either. He might have seen it from a different angle.
A heavy weight settled in my heart. If I didn’t escape, I was dead. Everett was a psychopath intent on killing me. I would never again feel my daughter’s arms wrapped around my neck or hear her tell me she loved me. I would never again feel Jess’s kiss on my head as I slept tucked into his side.
I closed my eyes and tried to calm my racing heart.
Think. Think. Think.
You can do this.
Find a way out.
I could do it. I just needed to keep it together and wait for my opening. Everett was so arrogant, surely he would make a mistake. Right?
Please let him make a mistake. Please. Please. Please.
From my position against the far back wall, I could see through the storage room’s door and into the hallway. If I could just make it out and up the stairs, I’d be free. There were people working upstairs. I just had to get to them.
If it was the evening shift, someone would be in the ER. If it was the night shift, the nurses would be on the second floor. But even if I didn’t see any of the staff, if I could just make it upstairs to a phone, I’d be safe.
I focused on finding my opening, desperately trying to block out the fear in my mind. I was going to make a run for it. He hadn’t tied my legs, so even if I couldn’t get my arms free, I could still run. I might have to come back for Maisy.
The sound of the stair door opening again snapped my eyes to the doorway. I was expecting Alex Benson to stroll through with another life on his hands. But it wasn’t Benson. It was Ida.
“Ida!” I screamed. “Help us! Run, please get help!” Hopefully, my warning would give her a few extra seconds and she’d have a head start on Everett.
My shouting stopped when she grinned at me. She wasn’t running. She was down here on purpose.
“Scottie’s done,” she told Everett. “Benson left to prep the site for these two. Here’s another dozen pills.” She handed him a little baggie full of oxycodone.
“Good,” Everett said. “Stash them over in the corner with the others and then go back upstairs. Wait for me to call. I need to do a few things here before we’ll be ready to leave.”
My heart plummeted into my stomach with crushing disappointment. All hope was lost.
Not Ida. Please not her too. I had respected her. I had liked her. I had trusted her. Now that was dead. She was an evil stranger who’d betrayed me and betrayed Maisy.
This nightmare just kept getting worse.
With her task complete, she looked at me and snarled, “Bye, Gigi.”
Her whisper sent chills through my spine. The weight in my chest was getting heavier and heavier. Every passing minute things were getting worse and the fear just kept building.
How long had she had been helping Everett steal pills from patients? She’d been smuggling them right out from under all of us. No wonder Mr. Johnson hadn’t responded to the oxy. He hadn’t gotten any.
To think of all the patients these two had seen over the last year, all of the pain that they’d endured because they’d been given fake pills. It was sick and cruel.
My head whirled to Maisy as she stirred on the bed, the plastic crumpling and squeaking as she shifted around.
“Oh, good. Now that she’s awake, we can move this along,” Everett announced.
Maisy looked to Everett and then over to me on the floor. Her eyes filled with panic when she saw the plastic ties around my wrists.
“Maisy, love,” Everett said, walking to the bed. “I want you to understand that your actions have brought this upon you. You should have terminated this pregnancy. I told you I had no interest in fathering a child. But no matter. The fetus will not be alive much longer.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a prescription bottle.
“You’re going to take these,” he said. The pills rattling as he shook the bottle. “You might survive them. That fetus won’t.”
“No!” she screamed but stopped when he whipped out a hand and slapped her.
“You will. Or I’ll slit Gigi’s throat right in front of you.”
She shook her head frantically and pushed herself as far away as she could.
This wasn’t a nightmare. This was hell. Maisy and I had been kidnapped and taken straight into hell.
He leaned his body over hers, pinning her to the bed, and started prying open her mouth.
“Stop!” he bellowed.
She was kicking and clawing at his hands, twisting her head out of his grip.
The sound of her screams filled my ears. I had to get us out of here. I had to stop this madness. I wouldn’t let him force those pills into her mouth and take us to the “site” that Benson was preparing.
With Maisy fighting, Everett wasn’t paying attention to me.
Maybe together we could stop Everett long enough to make a run for it. We just had to get to a phone. That’s all we needed. One phone call, and Jess would save us.
Silently, I leaned against the wall and used it to stand myself up. My plan was crazy but it was all I could think of. I backed up a few steps and squared my shoulders. Then, bending my knees, I prepared for my attack. All I had was my body. It wasn’t much but with enough force, maybe I could ram into Everett and throw him off Maisy.
Jess had spent months teaching me about football, the strategy, the rules . . . and how the players landed those body-slamming tackles. How a smaller player could take out a larger opponent.
So, I took a deep breath and then I went for it.
I sprinted the short distance between me and Everett. Ducking my head into one shoulder, I slammed into his waist with the other.
The impact sent us both spiraling to the floor. I landed with a hard thud, Everett just inches away. It took him a second to realize what had happened but by then I was frantically scrambling to get back onto my feet.
“Gigi!” Maisy screamed.
“Run, Maisy! Run!” I yelled.
She jumped off the table as Everett regained his balance. He turned to me, now on my feet, and raised his fist. A split second later, my face erupted, his fist moving too fast to see.
Blinding pain radiated through my cheek and eye. My knees collapsed and cracked against the cement floor.
Everett was seething, his body looming over me while I stayed on my knees, trying to clear the white spots from my vision. “You stupid bitch. I’ll fucking rip your heart out for that.”
From the corner of my good eye, I saw Maisy frantically searching the shelves by the bed. Everett’s back was to her as he shouted in my face. Something in a box must have caught her attention because she immediately went for it.
“Fuck you! Fuck you, Everett! You’ll pay for this,” I shouted to give Maisy a few more seconds for whatever she was doing.
Everett’s lip curled. He raised his fist again and my eyes darted to Maisy behind him. In her hand was a scalpel still in its sterile wrapping. She was clutching it in her fist so hard her knuckles were white.
Everett noticed my eyes wander and he started to turn. But just as he did, Maisy jammed the scalpel into Everett’s throat.
Blood sprayed from his neck as he screamed, frantically clutching the scalpel that was choking him. I didn’t know where she had hit him but if it wasn’t deep enough or
if he managed to pull out the scalpel, he could come after us.
Maisy was standing frozen behind Everett, her eyes wide. Her face and hand were splattered with his blood.
“Maisy!” I yelled, standing. “Maisy, let’s go!”
She took a big step back, still watching Everett, but then her wide eyes found mine.
“Run!” I shouted again.
She shook off the shock and we both took off through the storage room, running as fast as we could. My arms tied behind my back were slowing me down but I just kept moving. Maisy tried her best to keep me from falling to the floor as we ran. Down the long hallway. Up the stairs. Through the door.
With every step, I prayed Everett Carlson wasn’t just a step behind.
Jess
I met Silas and Sam at the ER entrance and marched right past them, straight through the glass doors to the stairs to find Scottie Pierce. I rounded the railing but before my foot could hit the first step, a door by the staircase burst open.
Georgia came flying out, Maisy hot on her heels.
“Georgia!” I lunged forward to catch her as she tripped.
She collapsed into my arms, her hands tied behind her back. One side of her face was fucked up. A puffy red welt covered her cheek and her eye was nearly swollen shut.
Maisy hit me next. She clung to my shirt, trying not to fall to her knees. Her face was covered in blood.
Fuck.
I lifted Georgia with one arm while bracing Maisy with the other. I almost dropped them both until Silas grabbed Maisy, picking her up and pulling her tight to his chest.
I hoisted Georgia to her feet, then reached for my pocketknife.
“Everett!” Georgia yelled. “Jess, he’s downstairs. He was going to kill us but Maisy stabbed him so we could get away and he’s been selling the pills in town and Alex Benson killed Wes and he left us to drug Scottie too and Ida’s in on it—”
She was talking so fast I could barely understand her.
“Breathe, baby,” I said, trying to calm her down. The veins in her neck were visibly throbbing from her racing pulse.
She sucked in a breath and started shaking. While she pulled it together, I prioritized, quickly processing all of the shit she’d just told me.
“Where’s Carlson?” I asked her calmly.
“Downstairs in the storage room.”
“Sam, head upstairs. Find a nurse, anyone other than Ida. Help Scottie. Get Peterson or Seavers here, now.”
“On it,” Sam said.
“Silas, you stay here with Maisy. Call Bryant. Get him down here to lock down Ida. Then have him put an APB out for Benson,” I ordered.
Silas didn’t answer, he just pulled out his phone and started dialing.
“Georgia, you stay here with Silas. If Peterson or Seavers gets here before I’m back, get them upstairs,” I said.
“Okay,” she nodded.
I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and finished cutting her loose.
“Is Rowen okay?” she asked.
“She will be now,” I said. Her eyes closed in relief.
One last hug and I left her. Slowly, with my gun in hand, I crept through the basement, being cautious in case Carlson had any surprises waiting.
But there were none.
Everett was lying in a pool of his own blood. Dead.
I knelt down next to Everett to get a closer look at the stab wound in his throat. It was deep. Maisy had shoved that fucking scalpel in far, and it had must have hit a major artery. He’d choked on his own blood.
Good riddance.
Gigi
Prescott buzzed for weeks following the events at the hospital.
Everyone in town was talking about Everett Carlson and Alex Benson. Since they were outsiders, their actions hadn’t been nearly as upsetting as Ida’s, a lifelong Prescott resident. The good citizens of Prescott were outraged that one of their own had been involved in such a betrayal.
Bryant had arrived at the hospital shortly after Jess had gone into the basement. He’d arrested Ida and she’d immediately confessed to assisting Everett in smuggling drugs from the hospital. She’d also spilled that Everett’s operation had gone beyond Jamison Valley into neighboring counties with small hospitals. Four other nurses were currently under arrest for their involvement.
As part of her confession, Ida had given up Alex Benson’s whereabouts. Bryant had found him at a remote spot in the mountains where Benson had been digging two shallow graves.
Ida was currently awaiting sentencing but Benson had been immediately transferred to the state penitentiary where he was serving the first of two life sentences for the murder of Wes Drummond and the attempted murder of Scottie Pierce.
Sam had gotten to Dr. Peterson in time to save Scottie’s life. They’d pumped his stomach and administered an antidote for the narcotics that Benson had forced down his throat. Not long after his release, Scottie and his parents had left Prescott. Their mansion in the foothills was listed for sale the day after they left.
Dr. Seavers had also come in that night and checked on Maisy. An ultrasound showed that no harm had come to Maisy’s baby from Everett’s kidnapping, but Maisy was an emotional wreck. Her ex-boyfriend and the father of her unborn child had intended to murder her baby and likely her.
It hurt my heart to think of what she was going through. I’d tried calling her every day, but her mother, who had moved in with her until she was feeling better, would always answer and tell me that Maisy didn’t want to talk yet. I didn’t press too hard. I knew she’d come around in time, and right now she just needed some space. I could give her that.
For a little while.
Jess had done his best to spend as much time with me after the incident as possible. But it was a busy time for the sheriff. Not only had he closed Wes’s murder but the arson case as well.
During Benson’s confession, he’d spilled that Wes had been the one to start the fire at the janitor’s house. Wes had intended to go after Everett but had been given the wrong address. He’d needlessly destroyed a man’s possessions because he hadn’t bothered to confirm the house number.
While Jess worked, I stayed close to the farmhouse.
For the first week after that horrible Friday night, I didn’t leave the house. My face needed time to heal, and I wanted to keep Rowen close to my side. She didn’t feel the need to stray far away from her mother either, so we had spent a lot of time cuddling together on the couch, having a Disney princess movie marathon.
But after a week, I knew I couldn’t hide out any longer. I had to get back into town and out of the house. Eventually, I would need to go back to the hospital and face my fears.
But not just yet.
My first trip into town was going to be for dinner at the café.
“Hi, Daddy!” Rowen yelled through Jess’s office door.
“Hey, little bit,” he said, standing from his chair and picking her up.
For the last week, Rowen had only called Jess “Daddy.” I wasn’t sure if they had talked about it or what, but I didn’t care. I was effing loving it. Every time she said it, I smiled and looked to Jess, who was always smiling back.
“We were thinking of eating at the café tonight. Is that okay with you, Sheriff?” I asked.
“Anything for my girls,” he said, shifting Rowen to one side and leaning in to give me a light kiss.
“Can you get away now or should we go kill some time?”
“Let’s go,” he said and grabbed my hand, pulling me behind him and out the station’s front door.
He put Rowen in her seat and then opened my door for me. But before I could step in, he put a hand at my belly and pushed me back, sliding in front of me.
And then he kissed me.
A kiss so long and deep, I forgot all about the bad stuff in life and just remembered the good. Because we had a lot. And we were going to live it good together.
“Stop kissing! You’re always kissing. I’m sick of it. Let’s go! I’m hungry f
or french fries!” Rowen shouted.
Jess pulled his lips away but didn’t make another move. He just stood there, holding my eyes with his, ice blue shining down at me with more love than I had ever expected to find in my life.
“You okay, baby?”
“I am now,” I said. Because I absolutely was. As long as he was with me, I would always be okay.
“Love you, Georgia.”
“Love you, Jess.”
One year and eight months later . . .
“Gigi?” Maisy called.
“Dining room!”
I was sitting at the table, filling little jack-o-lantern baggies full of homemade Chex mix for Rowen’s first-grade Halloween party tomorrow.
“Hey!” she said.
“Hi!” Standing from the table, I reached out for Coby. She handed him over and I proceeded to tickle and kiss him until he squirmed and protested so much I had to set him down. Maisy and I followed him into the living room as he waddled his way over to the stack of toddler toys in the corner, plopping down on his bum to play.
“Where’s Benny?” Maisy asked me as she sagged into the couch.
“He’s out with Jess and Roe in the garage. He was making a huge Chex mix mess so I took him out there and told Jess he had to watch him for at least an hour. But I’ll run out and grab him so he can play with Coby,” I said, darting outside to get my son.
Benjamin Coppersmith Cleary had been born exactly nine months after Jess and I had gotten married.
I’d stopped my birth control a week before our wedding since Jess and I had decided we didn’t want to wait too long to have a baby. Neither of us wanted Rowen to be too much older than her future siblings. When I quit taking my pills, I figured we had at least six months until it worked its way out of my system. But by my calculation, it had only taken six days.
“Jess?” I called into the garage.
“Up here!” he yelled.
Jess had gotten antsy this summer without any sort of construction project. Our addition had been finished right before Ben was born, and after six months of nothing for him to work on, he’d declared he was building himself an office space above the garage. The staircase against the back wall was done and now he was finishing the room that extended off the end of the building so that the garage was still pretty, per my only design request.
