Staying For You

by Van Wyk, Jennifer

  “When we were digging around, we found that he’s a planner. Been putting money in a bank account that my guess is your girl doesn’t know about. It was little bits here and there. Nothing major at once that would be realized. This, of course, is on top of what he was earning as a fucking male escort, which is still a mind blowing part to this whole story I never saw coming. Anyway, he and Cami, they had wills drawn up, which didn’t make a ton of sense because they don’t have kids and typically people worry more about it then but your girl’s found some good success and she was a planner, too. So it does make sense, too. She took care of shit and loved her mom, her siblings, her nieces and nephews. Wanted them to have something if she wasn’t here. He got in there, somehow switched shit around so her family got nothing if something happened to her. Worst thing, though. It’s like a fucking movie, man, because this asshole took out a life insurance policy on her. Left him with a good bank of change if she died.”

  “What the fuck?” I ask, exploding out of the bed as best I can with one leg still in a stupid fucking cast. He stands, too, lets me pace around the hospital room with my crutches while keeping a close eye on me. I fist my hands then lean over, feeling close to vomiting. Was this assfuck planning to kill her?

  He guides me back to the edge of the bed, makes me sit down. “You need to know the rest.”

  I’m looking down at the floor and at his words, my head jerks up. “How can there be more?”

  “There’s more. The bank account Scott was putting money away into… been going on for four years now. Second name on the account. A guy well known for his work in a field I thankfully rarely touch because I live in the community where we live and bad shit like this doesn’t come at us. That doesn’t mean I don’t know about it, though.”

  “What kind of field is that?”

  “He’s known for his assassination skills. Dude’s a contract killer.”

  “What. The. Fuck.”

  Sawyer nods, sits down in the chair across from me again and leans in close. “This dude, he’s bad news. He makes killing someone look like it was an accident in a way that he’s not caught because he stays clean enough. But as with most criminals, they tend to slip up enough here and there that they get watched. This guy’s been watched for a while, just haven’t had a chance to pin anything on him.”

  “I think I’m going to throw up.”

  “That sounds about right.”

  “Holy shit. I’m going to throw up.”

  He springs from his chair and rushes around me to grab the plastic pan off the counter and hands it over. And I throw up everything I ate for breakfast.

  Once I’m done, I stand up on one wobbly leg and use my crutches to go to the restroom, cleaning up and brushing my teeth. I lean over the counter in the bathroom and try to get myself under control.

  This feels extreme. Like some sort of movie set I just walked onto. Where the woman I love, and I do love her, has a psychopath ex-husband who was plotting to have her killed.

  I come back to the room and he’s sitting back down.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “No worries, man. I would have done the same if I’da just found out my girl was living with a guy like that.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “Let me take care of it and I’ll keep you in the loop. Get your girl safe. We’ll be watching. Trust us to handle it and do it well to the point where she and you both can rest easy.”

  “You think I’ll rest easy?”

  “If your girl’s beside you, yeah.”

  I hope she is my girl. And that she is beside me. Because right now, I can’t think of an alternative that I’ll be able to accept.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Owen

  “You have a couple visitors,” Autumn says, knocking lightly.

  A couple? I thought Ethan and Olivia were at The Escape?

  But then I see her and whoever she brought with her, who I assume is probably Gretchen, isn’t even a thought because Cami’s here and I can breathe easy for the first time in eleven days. Especially after the news that Sawyer just laid on me.

  “Cami,” I breathe out her name and she rushes to my side, working hard to be as gentle as possible when she sits next to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders, burying her face into my neck as she starts crying.

  “Owen,” she cries. Shoulders shaking and body quaking, she clings to me and holds on tight. Man, it feels good to hold her. I needed to feel her body against mine, see her face, know she’s safe. She touches my shoulder gently, looks at the sling that’s aiding in the healing process then down to my leg that’s in a cast from below the knee down. I’m lucky the break in my leg happened there and not higher so at least my cast isn’t a full leg cast. She then gingerly runs a hand over my head, as if she’s going to be able to feel for a lump that caused the concussion.

  “It’s on the back,” I tell her and her eyes widen when she feels it.

  A throat clears next to me and I know Sawyer’s grinning widely without even looking at him.

  “I take it this is your girl,” he rumbles.

  Cami startles, and looks around. Obviously, she was focused as well because she didn’t even see the enormous African-American cop sitting next to my bed as she ran to me.

  She turns slightly, sitting next to me on the bed while keeping her arms around my shoulders and looks at Sawyer then startles again. I get it. He’s not small and he’s a little shocking. Reminds me of that dude on The Green Mile who made everyone around him look tiny.

  She whispers, “holy shit,” and I chuckle in her ear, not able to stop myself from kissing her cheek. I might not have the right to kiss her anywhere else, or even on her cheek right now, but I need to feel her skin against my lips, even just briefly.

  “Cami, this is Sawyer. He’s been looking into the case for me.”

  “The case,” she repeats. “Against Scott, you mean?”

  I look hard into her bright blue eyes, hoping I don’t see irritation or anger on his behalf. I nod and lift a hand to place on the back of her head. “Yeah, sweetheart. Against Scott.”

  “Good. That fucker,” she growls.

  Sawyer chuckles and I raise my eyebrows. She’s not a big cusser so hearing her say that is honestly quite hilarious. Cami stands up from the bed to shake Sawyer’s hand and tells her it’s nice to finally meet her and then she turns to the person she brought with her. Not Gretchen. No way is that Gretchen. She’s too young and well, pregnant. Is this… holy shit.

  “This is Helen. She was plagued by Scott’s shittyness as well.”

  Helen offers up a tiny wave at me before looking over at Sawyer. Where her eyes stay for the next several moments.

  “Hi.”

  “See we have a lot to catch up on,” I tell Cami and she grins, shrugs a shoulder and nods. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know the half of it.

  “You two need a bit. Helen, care to join me in the cafeteria for something to eat?”

  Helen looks to Cami who looks to me. “It’s okay,” I assure her and she looks back to Helen and nods.

  “Go. I’ll be here and then when we get him checked out we’ll head out together.”

  “Okay,” Helen says, a little nervous, obviously, but goes with Sawyer anyway.

  Sawyer lets Helen walk in front of him and looks back at me, winks, and then Cami and I are alone.

  I expected it to be weird. For her to still be upset with me. But that isn’t the case. She leans over, kisses me on the lips and whispers, “I missed you.”

  I was wrong earlier.

  Now I can breathe again.

  Her in my arms. Admitting she missed me and smiling and kissing me. It’s everything I need. That’s all. Forever. Her.

  “I missed you.”

  “I’m sorry.” I lean back and look at her, eyebrows scrunched together.

  “What? Why are you sorry?”

  She looks around and gives me a duh look then stands up from the bed, which I don’t li
ke one bit because that means she’s not next to me anymore. “You’re here because of me!”

  “Stop it.”

  “I hate this. Are you okay? Your leg? Your shoulder? Your concussion? Are you in pain or need anything?”

  I tug her back so she’s sitting next to me on the bed. “Stop it. I’m fine. You’re here and that helps. They re-set my shoulder. My leg will heal and my head is already doing better than before.”

  Her eyes soften and she leans her forehead against mine. She’s close and I had no idea how much I needed that until this exact moment.

  “It’s not your fault. I’m here because Scott is certifiable. But don’t repeat that because I don’t want him using an insanity plea to get out of the shit storm he caused.”

  She leans back. Looks down at our joined hands between us then up to me. “He’s been hurting Helen.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?” she asks and then I think better of the way we’re sitting and I shift, laying us both down so we’re stretched out next to each other. It takes some finagling with my cast, but we make it work. What I need to tell her, all that I just learned from Sawyer, isn’t going to be easy and she needs to be in my arms when she learns it. I wish I wasn’t in this damn hospital bed and rather at the cabin, but the doctor couldn’t do a final check on me until this afternoon to sign my release papers.

  “Sweetheart, you need to know the extent of how crazy Scott really is.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He… well, he’s not a good person. And he was planning some pretty serious shit.”

  She plays with the hair on the base of my neck and it almost makes me forget all the stuff I have to tell her. The extreme of his ugliness. “Like what?”

  “Did you know he was socking away money?”

  “What? Why? Like, he had a second account?”

  “He did.”

  “That asshole! Never worked a day — well, aside from being a damn hooker — in his life and he’s taking money from me?”

  So, clearly, she didn’t know about the second account, which is good.

  “He was. And someone else’s name was on it, too.”

  “Who?” she asks quietly. I wonder if she’s afraid that Helen’s name was on it. It’s clear that if she brought her along, she feels she can trust her.

  “Don’t know his name.”

  “His?”

  I brush my thumb across her cheek and kiss the tip of her nose then launch in with everything Sawyer told me. With each additional fact, she grows stiffer and stiffer, eyes bulging and breathing is heavy. Barely moving, I finally ask her how she is.

  “Scott was going to have me killed?”

  “Evidence is leading to that, yes.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “Need to throw up? That’s what I did when I heard.”

  The corner of her mouth ticks up but otherwise she doesn’t show any emotion.

  “I just… I can’t believe this.”

  “I guess we can say with authority that you were right when you said he’s a fucker earlier.”

  She nods but says nothing. I would guess she’s feeling a bit numb at the moment, which is understandable. To discover your husband had plans to kill you is an extreme shock, to say the least.

  “This is too much.”

  “Offer still stands for you to throw up.”

  A single laugh bubbles out of her chest and then she snorts. “Stop making me laugh. This is insane! It’s like a book or movie! When he called asking for money after I found out he was a male escort, we were joking around! It was the first time we’d been able to do that in years and I was actually happy, thinking that maybe he and I would be able to move on without fully hating each other. Man, was I ever wrong. Who has this life? For real?”

  I shake my head and help her sit up and follow her. When she gets out of the bed, I follow again, getting more and more frustrated by the cast on my lower leg by the minute. Instead of letting her go too far, though, I hold her tight and let her cry it out. Loud, angry sobs wrack her body, tears wetting my t-shirt. I don’t let her go. I made that mistake once and I won’t do it again.

  Once she’s calmed down, we sit on the bed again and I explain, “Once Sawyer and Helen get back, we’ll discuss what the next steps need to be.”

  “I’m not going back to Tennessee,” she announces and I know the look on my face is one of surprise and probably hope.

  “Oh, you’re not, huh?”

  “Nope.” She shakes her head, long hair swishing over her shoulders.

  I grin, not being able to stop it. “Hmm. Where do you plan to live?”

  “Up north a ways.”

  I chuckle and wish I could kiss her, continue our conversation, but because I’m in a hospital and the distractions are real, the doctor interrupts us with Autumn following closely behind. I don’t miss the way she smiles when looking at Cami sitting next to me on the bed.

  “How we feeling today, Owen?”

  “Good. Ready to be out of here.”

  Cami moves out of the way to stand against the wall by the window so the doctor can move in. I keep an eye on her, though. A lot of stuff was just dropped on her in a short amount of time and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a very physical reaction to it. Hard not to when you discover your ex-husband was plotting to have you killed. “I don’t doubt that. Everything looks good. Autumn said your head is feeling better?”

  “Little bit of a headache, not too much.”

  He looks into my eyes with the little light then feels the lump that’s diminished in size since I’ve been here. Checks out my shoulder and reminds me that I need to keep it in the sling for about six weeks, same as the cast on my leg.

  “It’ll be a pain in the ass, for me to do that,” I remind him and he chuckles.

  “It will. But the alternative is worse so make sure you’re giving yourself time to rest, heal, and don’t exert yourself too much with that head of yours. There will be days that your head hurts for no reason at all and other days that you don’t even feel it. It’s common. The headaches, especially. If you start getting double or tunnel vision back, you need to be seen. The cat scan they did late yesterday came back clear.”

  “That mean I’m free to leave?”

  “Anxious, are we?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “You have someone to take care of you just in case?”

  “My sister and brother-in-law are around, and,” I glance at Cami who’s been watching us closely the entire time, “Cami, too.” She smiles and nods at my assumption and I grin back.

  He glances behind him quickly, barely paying attention to Cami. “Alright then. I’ll sign the release forms and Autumn will help you get outta here. No driving for another week at least. What people forget most with concussions is how long it takes to heal. Very little screen time, which includes TV if you can.”

  “Got it.”

  “Good luck and don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions or concerns. I gave Sawyer my official statement of when you arrived so we’re good to go.”

  “Thank you, for everything.”

  “You got it.”

  He leaves and Autumn moves in, getting everything ready to go including telling me she’ll be back with the discharge papers and a wheel chair she insists I need use to leave, leaving Cami and me alone to pack up the room.

  After we get all my stuff into the duffel bag, I remember something I meant to ask when she first arrived. “Why is Helen with you?”

  “Remember when I said he’s hurting her, too?” I nod. “Well, she has nowhere to go. I mean, nowhere. Her family sucks and she can’t keep living that way. When I was talking to you on the phone, she was actually at the house.”

  “No kidding?”

  “I know. I was a little surprised at her appearance on my doorstep, too. After we got off the phone, she and I had a long talk. She’s only nineteen, Owen, and she has no one to help her. Plus, she had no idea he was a male esco
rt so she’s terrified for a lot of reasons. She’s pregnant and obviously Scott’s not going to be around, which is also obviously a good thing. I don’t know what she’ll do when she learns the extent of his narcissism but it’s possible she’ll lose it and if that happens, she needs someone in her corner.”

  “And that’s going to be you?” I ask. I know she’s a good person and caretaker but taking in your ex-husband’s pregnant ex-girlfriend (or I assume at this point they’re exes, or better be) is extreme even for Cami.

  She shrugs, looking a little nervous that I’m about to turn Helen away. I have no idea how this will all play out but if having Cami with me means that we get Helen as well, so be it. We have so much to talk over, including making sure she understands that I am truly sorry for everything I said, and that I didn’t mean a word of it.

  I pull her close and kiss her forehead. “We’ll talk. We have lots to discuss anyway. But for right now, if you trust her, and I mean truly trust her, I’ll support you and her however we can.”

  Her hands are pinned between us against my chest and her head is tipped back, looking up at me. I’m doing my best to keep my weight off the cast but still hold Cami in my arms. “Really?”

  I give her a light squeeze. “Really. You need to know, Cami, that whatever happened at the cabin… the before stuff, not the shit at the end where I fucked up, that was real for me. As real as it gets. I want you with me however that looks. I know I’m asking a lot, but I’m going to do it again. Do you forgive me?”

  “Of course I do. But you need to realize I had a hand in it, also. I mean, it’s mostly you,” she teases and I smirk. “But yeah, I was the one who said the things to Gretchen that made you react the way you did in the first place. I didn’t mean it, either. Just like you, I was scared.”

  “You were scared, sweetheart?”

  “I was. But I’m not anymore.”

  “No?”

  “Nope.”

  “Good. I’m not scared, either. So you’ll stay?”

  “For you? Yeah. I knew all along that one day, I’d be staying for you.”