Dark Hearts

by Sharon Sala

Lainey smiled.

  “We won’t be long,” Sam said. “I just wanted to see her before I ended the day.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mike said, eyeing Lainey again, and then sat down as they walked into Trina’s room.

  Lainey froze. “Oh, sweet Lord,” she whispered, then dropped her coat on a chair and walked straight to the bed. She leaned over the bed rail, laid a hand on Trina’s forehead and gently smoothed down her hair. “Hey, Tink. Hey, darling, it’s me, Lainey.”

  Sam was startled. He hadn’t expected this immediate tenderness, and had forgotten how close Lainey and Trina had once been. Trina was just a kid when he and Lainey were a couple, and he had completely forgotten Lainey used to call her Tinker Bell.

  Just thinking of Trina as a young girl, remembering her and their mother head-to-head, laughing and planning what they were going to do next, was a painful reminder of what they’d lost. Trina had been his mother’s surprise baby and, after being the only female in a house full of men, a delight for Betsy Jakes.

  He took a deep breath, and then walked up behind Lainey and put his hands on her shoulders.

  “So many machines,” Lainey said as she looked up.

  There were tears on her face.

  Sam hugged her. “She’s getting better, remember?”

  Lainey nodded. “I know. I was just thinking of everything she saw,” she whispered.

  Sam shuddered. That was part of his nightmare, too. “I want a name. That’s all. I just want a name.”

  It was the soft, almost calm manner in which he spoke that gave Lainey a start. Of all the times Sam feared he was going to frighten her, this was when she saw the soldier—the warrior—that he’d been, the one who wanted justice for his family.

  Then he took a deep breath, and when he reached for his sister, the look had disappeared and he was her Sam again.

  He leaned over the bed rail and ran a finger along the side of Trina’s cheek. “It’s me, Trina. It’s Sam. We’re just waiting for you to wake up.”

  They heard footsteps at the door and turned around to see Lee walking in.

  “Lee, how goes it, buddy?” Sam asked.

  Lee’s expression was solemn, his eyes hollow from worry and lack of sleep.

  “Just waiting for my girl,” he said, and gave Lainey a curious look.

  Sam put an arm across Lainey’s shoulders.

  “Lee, this is Lainey Pickett. Lainey, this is Trina’s boyfriend, Lee Daniels.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Lee said.

  Lainey went one better. She walked over and hugged him.

  “Lee, I’m so sorry. When Sam and I were together before, Trina was always special to me. I’ll be glad when she wakes up to say hello.”

  Lee liked the sweetness of Lainey’s manner. “This one’s a keeper, Sam Jakes.”

  Sam shrugged. “Yeah, I know. I just didn’t think she would still want me.”

  “Which was stupid,” Lainey added.

  “And that’s true, too,” Sam said.

  Lee glanced at Trina. “I guess you heard the good news?”

  “About Trina being weaned off the drugs? Yes.”

  “Trey said we shouldn’t talk about it,” Lee said.

  “I just told the head nurse the same thing,” Sam said.

  “I want her to wake up with that son of a bitch’s name on her lips,” Lee said. “I want his name to be the first words she utters.”

  Lee’s voice was shaking, and Lainey could tell by the way he kept touching Trina’s face that he wanted to be alone with her.

  “Sam, I’m ready to leave whenever you are,” she said.

  Sam nodded, told Trina goodbye and then gave Lee a quick hug.

  “Hang in there, Lee. She’s closer to coming back to us than she was before, right?”

  “Right,” Lee said. He was already pulling a chair up to Trina’s bedside as they left the room.

  “Bless his heart,” Lainey said as they walked back toward the elevator.

  “Yeah. They’d been fighting and were on the verge of making up when this happened. It’s tearing Lee apart that he hurt her feelings.”

  “As long as we live, we have a chance to make things right,” Lainey said as she punched the button at the elevator, and then turned around and kissed him.

  It was brief but heartfelt, and Sam knew it. Instead of letting her go, he pulled her close and held her.

  When the door opened, Will Porter stepped out.

  “Good evening,” Will said. “I trust you’ve been visiting your sister.”

  “Yes,” Sam said. “You’re here pretty late, aren’t you?”

  “My wife is here.”

  “I’m sorry. I hadn’t heard,” Sam said. “I hope she’s healing.”

  Will shook his head. “Unfortunately, her prognosis is poor. They moved her into ICU this afternoon. I expect they’ll move her to hospice soon.”

  Sam’s heart skipped a beat. One of his mother’s classmates was now moving in and out of ICU with a perfect excuse. It didn’t give him a good feeling.

  “What room is she in?” he asked.

  “10B, but she isn’t able to communicate. She had a stroke.”

  “Oh, no, I’m so sorry,” Lainey said.

  The elevator doors had already gone shut, so they had to hit the button and wait for them to open again as Will Porter walked away.

  “I feel bad for him,” Lainey said.

  Sam had a different feeling about him. He had both guards’ phone numbers on his contact list, and without explaining himself, he sent Mike Cantrell a quick text.

  One of the 1980 graduates has a wife in 10B. Watch him. Don’t let him anywhere close to Trina.

  He got a brief text back.

  Noted. Eyes on him.

  The elevator car returned.

  Sam slid a hand on Lainey’s back as they got on, and then punched the button for the lobby.

  “It’s been a long day, baby. I think it’s time to get you home.”

  She turned into his arms.

  “You are my home, Sam, and it’s been the best day. Good news about Trina. A wonderful evening with you. The only downside of any of it was that explosion. I sure hope no one was hurt, whatever it was.”

  * * *

  Trey drove up to an inferno at the far end of Main Street. Someone had driven into the gas pumps in front of the minimart, and the explosion that ensued had nearly flattened the building.

  The clerk and two customers had seen the car careening out of control and, fearing it would either hit the station or the pumps, they had all run out the back door.

  They were still running when the pumps exploded, knocking them off their feet and sending burning debris showering down around them.

  The driver was a lost cause. Trey hoped he’d died on impact, because burning to death was a hell of a way to die. It made him think of Sam, and he hoped they had gone back to Lainey’s from the hospital instead of to his motel, because they would have had to drive right past this.

  The officer on duty tonight was Earl Redd, but Trey had their night dispatcher call his extra men in to help control traffic, and he also had the streets blocked off to keep the curious away.

  His fears that the night clerk and any customers were inside the burning building were soon eased when they came walking up behind him.

  “Hey, Chief, we need some first aid here.”

  Trey turned just as the clerk, Carl Morris, bent over and clasped his knees, as if trying to catch his breath.

  Trey ran to his aid. “Carl! I am so glad to see you. We thought you were inside.”

  “We would have been if it hadn’t been for Johnny Pryor here. He was on his way out of the store when he saw the car and yelled at us to run. It was a t
oss-up as to whether it would hit the pumps or the building. Either way, we didn’t want to be inside. We ran out the back and were in the alley and still running when the pumps exploded.”

  Trey eyed the other three people with Carl.

  “Is anyone hurt?” he asked.

  Johnny was shaking. His face was streaked with dirt, and Trey could tell he was in shock. The other two, an older couple, were shaken and clinging to each other. All of them had burned spots on their clothing and hair.

  “Let’s get all of you checked out,” Trey said. He took Johnny and the woman by the arm and walked them over to the ambulance that had just arrived.

  While the EMT was checking Johnny’s vital signs, Trey took the moment to question him.

  “Johnny, I understand you’re the one who initially saw the car. What made you think it was going to hit the station?”

  “The driver was going really fast, and when I saw the car suddenly veer toward the gas pumps, I didn’t think he’d be able to pull up in time.”

  “Did you recognize the car or the driver?” Trey asked.

  Johnny wiped a hand across his face as if trying to wipe away the memory of what he’d seen. “Yeah, I saw the driver clear enough.”

  “Who was it?”

  “A teenage boy. Don’t know his name, but he sacks groceries at the supermarket. I think they call him Speedy.”

  Trey’s heart sank. He turned around and stared at the car engulfed in flames and the firemen still trying to put it out. He knew who Speedy was. Speedy’s dad, Randy Powell, grew tobacco and raised hogs. His mother, Clarice Powell, worked in ICU at the hospital—the same nurse who signed them in and out when they went to visit Trina. He was sick to his stomach. This was going to be a really bad night for their family.

  * * *

  Lainey fell asleep on the way home, wrapped up in her long gray coat with her head against the window. Sam drove slowly so as not to wake her. He still felt like he was living a dream.

  The night was dark, but the sky was clear. The security lights in the yards of farmhouses along the way lit their own little portions of the world. Lights burned brightly inside the houses, and he began counting off their names as he drove past, remembering who used to live where and wondering how many were still left.

  He thought of Lainey’s parents with sadness. They’d both passed, and he hadn’t known. It hurt even more to think of her going through all of that on her own. But if he’d been here, he would have made everything worse. He’d done what he’d done for a reason. His gift was that she’d waited.

  As Sam came around a curve in the road, the headlights flashed on a panther just coming out of the trees along the roadside. He tapped the brakes, and as he did the big cat hunkered down, opened its mouth in a snarl and slunk back into the trees.

  Sam’s eyes widened as the cat disappeared. The sight of the magnificent animal was stirring. This was part of what he missed about his home. There was wildlife in Atlanta, but there it walked on two legs.

  Lainey shifted in her sleep.

  He glanced down to make sure she was okay and accelerated out of the curve. Only a couple more miles to the house.

  He caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye and watched as a falling star burned out above them. How long, he wondered, had that star been falling? Since before he was born? Was it a message for him that the past was gone? Or was it a warning?

  He drove over the hill and looked down at the security light in the yard of the house below. He’d done this so many times in the past. Back then this house had been his second home, and the people in it part of his family, and Lainey the soul mate he’d been given to love.

  Thank You, God, for keeping us alive. I won’t let her down again.

  He took the turnoff into the drive and slowed down as he headed toward the house.

  It was the familiar crunch of gravel that woke Lainey. She sat up to see where they were. “We’re already home?”

  “You missed seeing a panther,” Sam said.

  She shuddered. “Really? I thought I heard one a couple of days ago. That shriek they make sounds like a woman screaming. Really eerie.”

  “Got your key?” he asked.

  She dug it out of her purse and handed it to him. When they reached the house, Sam unlocked the door, then walked in ahead of her, turning on lights as he went.

  Lainey paused to lock the door. “Can you stay?” she asked.

  “Long enough to love you to sleep,” he said.

  Lainey hung up her coat, and then held out her hand. “‘Come into my parlor,’ said the spider to the fly.”

  Sam’s eyes darkened. “You had me at ‘come,’” he drawled, and picked her up in his arms and carried her to her room, raining kisses on her face, on the back of her neck, behind her ear. By the time they reached their destination, she was shaking.

  “Put me down, Sam. I need to get naked.”

  Twelve

  “Last time we did this, we did it in the dark,” Sam said. “But I want to see your face. Can you handle that, baby? Can you handle me? I’m not so pretty, but I’m damn good.”

  Lainey’s hands were shaking as she continued to undress.

  “Do I look like I’m all of a sudden shy? I waited a long time for you to come home, and I don’t intend to waste a single moment now that you’re here,” she said in a soft, shaky voice. “Get your clothes off before I die where I’m standing.”

  Sam had never stripped so fast in his life. He was hard and aching, and as he was pulling a condom up over his erection, all he could think about was being inside her.

  When Lainey turned her back to pull down the bedcovers, Sam grabbed her from behind and slid a hand between her legs. Her clit was hard and throbbing, her breathing deep and ragged, like she’d been running for miles. He splayed one hand across her rib cage to steady her and made her scream with only two fingers.

  Lainey was riding the high with no thought of anything but the blood rush in her body. She couldn’t think, couldn’t talk and had no notion of wanting anything but that climax she was chasing. It hit her so fast she jerked. When her legs went out from under her, Sam kept her from falling.

  She was still shaking when Sam laid her down. He parted her legs and slid deep into the wet heat between them, then grunted from the pleasure. As he began to rock against her, one deep thrust after another, over and over, he could feel her hands stroking his back, tracing the scars, cupping his backside, holding him tight, keeping him deep.

  Time rolled on.

  Lainey’s head was pressed against the headboard, and he could feel the muscles coiling within her, pushing her toward a second climax. Her lips were slack, but her gaze was fixed on his face.

  “See me, Sam,” she whispered. “I see you.” And then she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  He pushed harder, faster.

  “You feel so good,” he whispered.

  He laid his face against the curve of her neck, trying with everything he had in him not to come without her, but he couldn’t hold on. It rolled over him and pulled him under. He didn’t know until it was over that she’d gone with him. She was lying beneath him, her arms around his neck, and both crying and laughing.

  “Oh, my God, oh, my God. You should be declared a lethal weapon. You rocked my world, melted my bones and you make love like a stud. You followed me home. Can I keep you?”

  Sam grinned, then began kissing her, leaving the imprint of his lips all over her body, from right beneath her chin, down her chest, across the scars, to the middle of her belly, until he heard her sigh.

  “Are we good here?” he asked.

  “We are so good,” Lainey said.

  “Can I take a rain check on round three? I have to be up early to meet Trey. We’re going to check out a mine.” />
  “I couldn’t manage a round three right now if you begged,” she said. “Just don’t make me get up to see you out.”

  He kissed her one more time, and then reluctantly got up and went across the hall to the bathroom. When he came out, she was curled up on her side with the covers pulled up around her neck, sound asleep beneath the lights.

  He dressed slowly, taking his time just so he could watch her sleep, and then turned on a night-light before he turned off the ones overhead. Just before he left, he tucked the covers up behind her neck so she wouldn’t be cold, then leaned down and whispered in her ear.

  “I know you can’t hear me, but getting you back is worth all the pain I suffered when I gave you up.”

  He turned off lights as he went through the house, and then turned the lock before he let himself out. He didn’t know if she usually left the porch light on at night, but he did it anyway, just in case.

  * * *

  It was after 3:00 a.m. before Trey verified that the vehicle that had hit the gas pumps was registered to Randy Powell, and by then Randy Powell had already come to town looking for his teenage son, who’d missed his curfew.

  Randy had come to Mystic ready to be furious with his kid, but instead, when he heard what had happened, he headed for the station. When they wouldn’t let him drive any closer, he got out and headed there on foot. The closer he got, the faster he went, until he was running. And when he reached the scene and recognized his old car, he screamed.

  Trey caught the man in his arms and had to walk him away. His heart was breaking for the family, especially the mother who had yet to know what had happened to their child.

  The father’s appearance hastened his need to notify Clarice before someone else broke the news, and he took Randy with him to do it. The couple was going to need each other even more before this night was over. The boy had been their only child.

  Trey watched Randy trying to hold it together, but by the time they got to the third floor of the hospital, where the ICU was located, he knew the grieving man wasn’t going to make it any farther.

  “Randy, take a chair here in the waiting room. I’ll bring Clarice out to you, and we’ll do this together, okay?”