Until I Found You: A Second Chance Standalone Romance (Heart's Compass Book 3)

by Brooke O'Brien

  It’s all piecing together now. It’s starting to make sense why Marc has been warning Graham and his guys to stay away from him. They are looking for something on him.

  “Graham, don’t you think if he’s willing to risk hurting Gage that he’s willing to do more to get you to leave him be? You should leave it alone. Let the cops handle this.”

  I can hear the panic in my voice just thinking about Graham being on the receiving end of the same fate. I won’t lose him, not again.

  “Hey,” Graham says, sitting up pulling me by my arm.

  Pushing the blanket aside, I climb over his legs and into his lap. Tears well up in my eyes as thoughts come flying through my mind. Thinking back to last night, what if something had happened to us when we were driving too? What if he ran us off the road and Graham got hurt, or worse?

  What if he did something that took him away from me?

  “It’s okay, please don’t cry.”

  “No, it’s not okay. It’s not. You have to stop, don’t you understand? He’s already said once if you don’t back off, he’s going to put you six feet under next to Gage. Don’t you get it? He has already told you he will do the same. He’s practically admitting it.”

  “Him threatening it doesn’t mean he’s guilty, Halle. I need to do right by him. It’s my fault he was there that night. It’s my responsibility to see that Gage gets justice.”

  Holding Graham’s face between my hands, I force him to look at me.

  “You may be the reason he was on the road that night, but what happened to Gage is not your fault.”

  Graham jerks his head away, turning away from me. I sense he doesn’t believe me, and it pisses me off he’s putting this on himself.

  “Damn it, Graham. Look at me.”

  He pushes me off his lap and moves to stand. I’m taken aback this is how he’s reacting, hating he’s once again pushing me away.

  “You know what, never mind. I’m going to get dressed, you can take me home.”

  Graham charges toward me, pulling me back to him, and forcing me to turn to look at him.

  “Halle, don’t.”

  “You don’t want to talk about it, then fine. I don’t want to be here. Just take me home so I can get ready for work.”

  “Fuck,” he responds, frustrated, running his hand through his hair. His arms are broad, the move making his muscles flex. My mind quickly moves in a different direction, thinking about all the ways his strong arms will have their way with me if I don’t listen. He looks so damn sexy.

  That knowledge only makes me more frustrated. Arguing with him is infuriating because even when I’m mad, I still want to climb up his body and have my way with him.

  “Halle,” he warns, seeing the way I’m eyeing him.

  Staring up at him, I force myself not to think about my attraction to him. Sex isn’t going to cover up or solve the problems we have like they did the night of the wedding. We need to talk about this if we have any hope of moving forward.

  Closing the distance between us, I wrap my arms around his middle. With my face pressed against his chest, I hear the steady beat of his heart and I focus on that sound.

  It’s a reminder he’s still here with me, he’s still alive.

  “It’s not your fault,” I mumble.

  He brings his arms up, wrapping them around my shoulder. He drops his face down next to mine, pressing a kiss against my collarbone.

  “I know,” he says, and my body deflates hearing the words as he steps away. “It doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty still. Maybe if he hadn’t been on the road, it would’ve happened eventually. Maybe the outcome would’ve been different.”

  “Or maybe it wouldn’t have been. Graham, you can sit here all day and speculate over the could’ve beens, but it isn’t going to change what happened. I wish it were different, but Gage wouldn’t want you to do this to yourself.”

  “Maybe not, but he would want answers. He would want justice.”

  I nod in agreement. He’s right.

  “You’re right, he would. Gage was smart, strong, and honorable. He fought for what was right, and he would be proud of the man you’ve become.”

  My heart hammers in my chest, heaving with every word. I’m so frustrated and confused. My head is all over the place right now.

  “Halle,” Graham says, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I love you.”

  Just like that, nothing else matters.

  “I love you too.”

  He reaches out, grabbing my hand and pulls me closer. This time I come to him easily, without a fight or arguing. There is nowhere else in this world I’d rather be.

  He runs his hand over my cheek, rubbing his thumb along my lower lip. The intensity in his eyes staring back at me, I know he can feel this too.

  “Promise me you won’t turn your back on me when I’m being stupid, and I’ll promise you I’ll never leave you again.”

  “I never turned my…” he stops me, pressing a kiss against my lips.

  “Don’t argue with me, Halle. Not about this.”

  “Okay,” I say, sliding my hand up into his hair. I pull on the strands, because despite the fact I am not arguing with him, I’m still frustrated.

  He moans in response, his hands pressing into me holding me tighter to him. Running my hand down over his jaw, I grab hold of his chin.

  Leaning back, I look into his eyes. “I love you, Graham. More than you can possibly imagine. I’ve never turned my back on you, even when I’ve been mad or angry. I’ve been here all along. I was just waiting for the day you would come home to me.”

  Twenty-Four

  Graham

  I ended up driving Halle to work this morning. Dropping her off wasn’t easy to do. All morning I was dreading the thought of being away from her, but I knew she would hate it if I asked her not to go. On top of it, there were some things I needed to get done at the office.

  After the run-in with Krate on our way home from the races, something told me I needed to drive by and check things out. It’s one thing to come after me, to provoke me, but it’s another thing completely when you come after the people I love. I wasn’t going to sit by idly anymore and let him scare Halle.

  He was hiding something. That much is certain. Whatever it is, he doesn’t want us to catch onto him. If there’s any chance for me to get justice for Gage, I need to figure out what it is.

  Checking the rearview mirror, I look to see if anyone is behind me as I glance around the desolate fields surrounding the Krate property. Up until now, no one has been able to prove it, but when Isaac Krate was arrested, Gage had to have known this wasn’t going to make people happy. He played a key role in the drugs that passed through Iowa. Stopping him was going to have serious ramifications to their operation.

  It’s no surprise that with Isaac behind bars it left a spot open for someone to fill his shoes. It wouldn’t be long before Marc would be involved in the same bullshit that got them arrested before. Isaac was likely running low on funds and with four children, he needed a way to provide for his family when he was locked up.

  Pulling onto the dirt road that leads to the back of the property, I hit the button on the radio as I drive slowly toward the large warehouse that doubles as their residence. Word around town is they use it to hide a lot of their business dealings.

  Parking my pickup off behind an old rundown barn, I reach into my pocket and turn my phone on silent. The last thing I need while I’m out here poking around is my cover blown.

  I leave the key in the ignition and climb out of the truck, careful not to make any noise as I close the door. When I laid in bed last night, I thought an awful lot about Krate and what would possess him to run us down like he did. His encounters with Halle, along with the fire at my mom’s just seem too coincidental to me.

  He’s up to something and it’s time I do something about it, before someone seriously gets hurt. I’d rather it be me than either of them. I grab my pistol from my glove box and check the barrel, bef
ore slipping it into the waistband of my pants.

  I’d hate to have to use it, but I’ve learned all too well that these fuckers don’t play nicely. If I have to protect myself, I can, and I will.

  Jogging across the dirt road, I keep my body pressed up against the side of the warehouse, as I walk along the side of the large building. Leaning my back up against the wall, I listen quietly for any sounds on the other side, before I peek into the window of the door.

  It’s dark inside and difficult to make out anything. The window almost appears to be tinted, like they don’t want anyone to be able to look through. The door is locked, but by the looks of the door frame, it’s evident I’m not the first to try and break in. Checking around me again, I use every ounce of force in me to shove the door open.

  Grabbing the gun from my waistband, I release the safety and prepare to shoot in the event someone heard me as I quietly close the door behind me. I don’t trust any of these fuckers as far as I can throw them. Looking around the room, it’s piled high from floor to ceiling with boxes upon boxes.

  I don’t know what I thought I’d find in here, but unless I plan on going through these, I’m afraid I’m shit out of luck. I open the top of one of the boxes and shuffle through them. It turns up a dead end, only a few kids’ clothes. There’s another next to it containing some toys and books.

  Not wasting my time, I close them as I pull out my flashlight and hold it up looking around the back wall. There’s an old rustic workbench that looks like it hasn’t been used in years by the layers of saw dust left piled on it.

  Stepping over more boxes, I continue to walk toward the other side of the building, noticing several boxes stacked high. Despite that, I spot the metal shining back at me reflecting off the flashlight. I recognize those wheels, they look awfully like the ones Krate has on his old GTO he’s driving now.

  “What the hell?” I mutter to myself, as I push the boxes to the side and slip between them. The boxes seem to be stacked strategically around the car, so if you were standing at the front of the building you would never see it parked back here.

  Sliding the gun back into the waistband of my pants, I hold the flashlight in my mouth as I work to slide the cloth cover off the top of the car.

  How the hell would he get the car in and out of here in such a short amount of time? It doesn’t make sense.

  Dropping the cloth on the dirty cement floor, I hold the flashlight up again as I walk around the back of the black GTO. I flash it into the window, as I round the side toward the front. As the light flashes against the hood of the car, images flash in front of my eyes again.

  This time I’m not sitting in the car with Halle, reassuring her and urging her to drive faster. I’m in the moment with Gage, with my phone pressed against my cheek as he yells at me about someone riding his ass.

  He looks frantically in his rearview mirror, watching the lights swerve behind him as someone drives erratically. I can feel his heart pumping as the car swerves in the lane next to him, the realization of who it is when he sees the dark GTO keeping the pace just before crashing into him, sending him fishtailing into the ditch.

  Shuffling along the side of the car, something tells me to look at the front of the car. Flashing a light over the front fender, my throat goes dry at what I find.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket. Maverick’s name flashes across the screen. I want to let it go to voice mail, but after what I found I decide against it.

  “Mav,” I answer.

  “Man, where are you at?”

  His voice on the other end sounds panicked, setting off alarm bells in my head.

  “I’m over at the Krate compound.”

  “Graham, you need to get out of there. Right now.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Krate found the GPS. The last ping was over an hour ago before it went dark. It took me a minute to figure out where he was at. Graham, did you take Halle home last night after the races?”

  “No, she came home with me.”

  “Well, the last ping came from her apartment. I drove by her place; both her and Kinsley’s cars are gone. I believe Kinsley stayed with Wes after the races last night.”

  “I dropped Halle off at work this morning, her car is still at my place but he’s nowhere to be found. I’m leaving here now. I’ll call Halle. Do me a favor and get a hold of Kinsley. Tell her to stay with Wes. Do whatever you gotta do to get her to stay away from the salon. After that, I need you to go by my mom’s and check on her. This isn’t sitting well with me right now.”

  “On it. What’d you find over at Krate’s?” he asks, referring to my comment earlier.

  “It’s him, man. He was the one that caused Gage’s accident. We have him. Motherfucker, we have him. Now we just need to make sure they’re safe.”

  We disconnect the call and my body is shaking with adrenaline. Snapping pictures of the front fender of the wrecked GTO along with a video, showing around the front along with the license plate. I want an insurance policy in case anything were to happen before making a mad dash out of the warehouse toward my pickup.

  Once the file saves, I fumble with my phone trying to call Halle. The call repeatedly rings and goes to voice mail, leaving a ball of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. Trying for a fifth time, the phone immediately goes to voice mail and I know something isn’t right.

  Turning the key in the ignition, I flip a U-turn and speed off down the dirt road back toward the highway. I’m still about five to seven minutes away, which feels like an eternity.

  My phone vibrates again in my hand. My eyes dart to the screen, hoping on a prayer that it’s Halle calling me back. I see a text message flash on my screen from Maverick that Kinsley is already off work today, followed by another saying he’s headed over to my mom’s to check on her and he’ll meet me at the salon.

  I thank God we live in a small town, where on any day it takes no time to get to where you need to be.

  Flying down main street near the salon, I pull into the alley and park in the back. I breathe a sigh of relief for a moment, until I see the black GTO parked alongside the building, and my blood turns to ice in my veins.

  I tell myself repeatedly everything’s okay. My mind races through a series of thoughts, wondering if maybe Halle forgot to charge her phone last night and that’s why she didn’t answer, to what I will do if he is here.

  For a moment, I consider how I’d handle it if something were to happen to Halle before I quickly push that thought out of my mind. I won’t let myself go there, not with her, because if something were to happen to Halle, I don’t think I’d live through it.

  Reaching the back door of the building, I opt to enter through the employee entrance. It goes into the side door leading into the supply room the girls use.

  Slipping inside, I see Halle’s purse and apron hanging on the hook near the doorway. Seeing her purse is here, I know she hasn’t left, and I breathe a small sigh of relief knowing she’s here.

  The silence rings loud in my head, until I hear Halle’s scared voice say something I never would want to hear.

  “You’re not going to kill me, are you?”

  I listen for any sign of where they might be. Slowly, I turn the knob on the door, I push it shut quietly. Reaching for the gun, I press my back against the wall.

  “I haven’t decided just yet.”

  His sinister voice causes the knot in the pit of my stomach to tighten.

  I want so badly to wrap my hands around his throat, cutting off his airway as I watch the life drain out of him. The pain I want to inflict on him after what he’s done to my family has me thinking the most sinister thoughts.

  “Why are you doing this? Why do you keep trying to come after me? Whatever this is between you and Graham, I don’t have anything to do with it.”

  “Stop asking questions!” he shouts at her, followed by a loud smack.

  I hear Halle cry out, as she whimpers in pain. Motherfucker.

  The demon
s living inside me welcome the chance to dance with the devil. I’ll look him in the eye, forcing him to pay for the pain he’s inflicted on the people I love.

  Twenty-Five

  Halle

  He rears back, smacking me across my cheek with the side of his gun. The pain is so severe it radiates up my jaw causing my ears to ring.

  My eyes squeeze shut, wincing and whimpering from the pain. Tears fill my eyes, threatening to fall. Remembering what Graham shared with me, I let the realization sink in that it may have been the last time I will ever see him.

  The thought of never touching him or holding him again washes over me like a cold shower. My heart aches, more painful than any pain he could inflict on me.

  I don’t want to live in a world without Graham Shaw.

  Adjusting my position in the chair, the ties around my wrist cut into my skin. It’s a welcome distraction away from the reality around me.

  I replay the look on Graham’s face this morning when he told me he loved me, over and over. Graham deserves justice for Gage. He deserves to move on with his life knowing what happened to him, to put the past to rest once and for all.

  My eye starts to swell as the taste of blood seeps into my mouth where my lip split. The coppery taste gives me a renewed sense of anger over everything he’s put me and the people I care about through. Not only has Graham suffered, but Sandy and her sister, Gage’s mom, Samantha.

  They deserve justice too.

  “Why did you do it?”

  Glancing up under the puffiness of my eye, I see him stop from where he paces the floor and turns to me, sneering.

  “What’s that?”

  “Gage. We know it’s you who ran him off the road that night. Why’d you do it?”

  The sinister smile returns to his face. Holding the gun against his side, he walks over toward me, skidding his heels along the tile floor as he does. There’s a cocky arrogance in his strut and it only infuriates me more as he bends closer to me.

  “I thought I told you to stop asking fucking questions!” he shouts, spit shooting from his mouth as each word is punctuated with a stomp of his leather boot.