Darkest Night--A Romantic Thriller

by Tara Thomas

  For the longest time, she’d felt lost. When her father had to leave Benedict Industries and they moved, she no longer went to the same school as Keaton and Elise. Ashamed about the stigma on her family and fearful they both believed Keaton’s dad, she hadn’t reached out to either of them.

  Though the fact that neither one of them ever tried to contact her hurt a bit as well. Keaton she understood, at least a little bit, especially if he believed her father had stolen from his family and he had been unaware she still lived in Charleston. Elise, though, had been her best girlfriend since kindergarten. Elise was the one she’d giggle over boys with, do makeovers with, and have sleepovers with. Boys came and went, but girlfriends were supposed to be forever.

  Eventually, she made new friends, but the pain of leaving behind those she knew so well and never got in contact with followed her. It had actually been a surprise when she realized Keaton had grown up. Of course, in her mind, she’d known they were the same age, but still. Seeing the man he’d grown into was beyond the beyond.

  Restless, she got up from the couch and paced to the window, surprised to see a few reporters lurking in the parking lot. With a sigh, she turned on her computer and opened the spreadsheet she kept her budget on. She did the math three times. It would be a stretch, but if she only ate beans and rice, she might be okay not working until graduation. She really didn’t want to go back to the club, but she doubted she could find another waitressing job. Unfortunately, with her name and picture all over the news, she didn’t think it was probable that anyone would hire her.

  The only thing to do was to focus on school so she could graduate. She tried for an hour to concentrate on the paper that was due in a few days, but her mind was spinning in too many circles to focus on anything. She tapped her fingers on her desk, wondering why Keaton hadn’t called.

  She reached for her phone and remembered she’d turned it off. Chuckling to herself for losing it, she turned it back on. Almost immediately, her screen was filled with missed calls. Two were from Keaton, one was from her friend Janie, and, as expected, numerous numbers she didn’t recognize and a few simply listed as unknown. Interestingly enough, there was only one voicemail.

  She hit Play, expecting to hear Keaton, but it wasn’t his voice that filled her ear. It was a robotic sounding, maniacal rough voice.

  “You got lucky this time, bitch. Your luck won’t last forever.”

  She deleted it with a shiver, telling herself it was to be expected. Damn media spreading her name all over the news. Field day for perverts and other creepers. The phone rang again and flashed UNKNOWN. Best to let it go to voice mail. If it was important enough, they’d leave a message. At the moment there was only one person she wanted to talk to.

  * * *

  Keaton tried calling Tilly for the second time after he got out of the shower, but it once again went to her voice mail. More than likely, she was being bombarded and had turned her phone off. He didn’t bother to leave a message, since it wouldn’t be too long before he took her to dinner.

  He stood in the hallway and looked at his watch, wondering how long was an acceptable period of time to wait before heading back to Tilly’s.

  Kipling walked by him and chuckled. “Come eat lunch with me. Then you can go see her.”

  “That transparent, am I?”

  “Slightly.”

  Keaton’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. Tilly. Finally. But when he pulled the phone out of his pocket, it was an unfamiliar number and his blood ran cold at what had been sent.

  Do you know where your girlfriend is?

  Twenty minutes later, Keaton stood at the doorway of Tilly’s apartment. There were a few reporters in the parking lot and they all said they hadn’t seen anyone leave or enter her place. But that didn’t erase the fact that Tilly still hadn’t answered her phone. Even if she’d turned it off to avoid reporters, surely she would have turned it back on to check for voice mails.

  A tiny trickle of fear twisted in his chest, even as he knocked on her door. He told himself he was being ridiculous, that she would open the door and he’d feel foolish. She’d welcome him inside and they’d share a laugh over his overreaction.

  Except she wasn’t opening the door.

  “Tilly!” He banged harder. “Tilly, it’s Keaton. Open up and let me know you’re okay.”

  Still nothing from within.

  He looked under the welcome mat, but of course, there was no key to be found. There were no potted plants and the mailboxes were located across the parking lot. Frustrated, he tried calling her again.

  Nothing.

  Damn it.

  He ran his fingers through his hair, telling himself to calm down and think about the situation rationally. No one had entered or exited the front door. His head shot up.

  The front door.

  Was there a back door?

  Seconds later, he made it to the backside of the apartments and his worst fear was confirmed. On the backside of Tilly’s second-story apartment, there was a deck and the back door was open.

  CHAPTER 6

  He stood, frozen in place for several seconds while fear held him tightly. He couldn’t lose her. Not after they’d finally found each other after so many years. He couldn’t begin to describe his terror, but he refused to give into it.

  He had to find her. She had to be okay. There was no other option.

  He took his phone and right as he hit the nine for 911, the back door on the apartment next to Tilly’s opened and Tilly herself stepped outside onto the deck and then, graceful as a cat, hopped over the divider and landed on her own deck.

  Keaton shoved the phone in his pocket. What the fuck? “Tilly?” he called out.

  She spun around and her face broke into a huge smile when she saw him, but quickly faded. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “I was scared out of my mind. I thought someone had broken in.” She was fine. He took a deep breath and went back up the front steps to Tilly’s apartment. She opened the door before he could knock and, without thinking, he took her in his arms, and crushed his lips to hers, while at the same time, shutting the door with his foot.

  It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was raw and rough and he didn’t care. All he cared about was that she was in his arms and she was safe and alive and for the moment, his. For her part, Tilly didn’t seem to mind his less-than-gentlemanly behavior. She wrapped her arms around him and gave back to him as much as he gave her.

  They were both breathing heavily when they pulled back.

  He ran his hands over her hair, looking deep into her eyes. “Oh my God, I thought I’d lost you. That you were gone.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Why would you think that?”

  “You aren’t answering your phone and I got a text asking if I knew where you were. I got scared and came over here. You don’t answer your door and when I go to the back, I see your door wide open. What else am I supposed to think?”

  He hadn’t planned to tell her about the text he received because he didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily. Though not worrying didn’t seem to be working at the moment, Tilly looked several shades paler.

  “What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “I got a threatening voice mail.”

  “Do you still have it?”

  “No, I deleted it. It said something like, ‘You won’t always be so lucky, bitch.’”

  Keaton was so stunned, he couldn’t say anything and Tilly paled even further.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. “They’re after me, aren’t they? The person who killed Raven and Mindy.”

  “I think we have to assume that’s the case.” It pained him to even think it, much less confirm out loud.

  “Oh my God,” she repeated.

  “Tilly,” he said, to get her attention. “Please think about staying at Benedict House so I can protect you better. Please. I’ve only just found you. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”

  “Okay, I’ll think about
it,” she said in a tight voice. She sniffled and added, “I didn’t know you called. I had no idea. I turned my phone off because of all of the media calling me. And I went to my neighbor’s because I stress bake and I didn’t want to go out the front because then I might run into the reporters.”

  He cocked an eyebrow a her. “Two people you work with are murdered. You get a threatening phone call. And you go next door to bake?”

  “I had to do something. The only other option was to sit here and drive myself crazy over every little sound I heard.” She led him into the kitchen. “I haven’t been to the store lately and I didn’t feel like going today. When that happens, Ms. O’Donald next door lets me use her kitchen and supplies. She’s seventy-eight and is good company. Plus, I like to keep an eye on her.”

  When that happens, she’d said. He had a feeling she couldn’t afford to buy groceries, especially based on what he remembered from her kitchen. Plus, from the sound of it, this wasn’t the first time she’d been in that position. Damn it, why wouldn’t she take the insurance money? She was seriously going to let pride keep her from eating?

  “What did you bake today?” he asked to change the subject.

  Even as she started rattling off the things she had baking in the oven next door, he couldn’t stop thinking about her not being able to afford groceries. It was grossly unfair—he had all the money he’d ever need and she had to scrimp pennies to buy food.

  “How about I take you to the store to buy groceries?” he asked.

  “No, that’s okay.” She glanced at the clock on her empty oven. “Besides, I need to check on the muffins in five minutes. Want to go with me?”

  After thinking he’d almost lost her, there wasn’t a force on earth strong enough to keep him away from her.

  “As long as we go out and come back in the front doors.”

  “Deal.”

  “And you promise me you have something to eat other than sweets.”

  “I promise.”

  * * *

  Thirty minutes later, Tilly and Keaton sat at her small kitchen table, eating muffins and drinking ice tea.

  “Forget teaching,” Keaton said, reaching for his third muffin. “You should open a bakery.”

  She laughed and refilled his tea. “I only stress bake, I don’t think I have it in me to do it as an occupation.”

  “Shame,” he said, mouth full of muffin.

  It was amazing how easy it was to be around him. She’d have thought it would be awkward, given not only their history, but that of their fathers as well. But it wasn’t. It was almost as if the years they were apart melted away, but then she’d catch a glimpse of him watching her and his eyes were so intense, she swore she felt it all the way to her toes.

  And the way he kissed her when she opened the door? Uh, yeah. That certainly hadn’t happened when they were kids.

  “What about you?” she asked. “Now that you’ve graduated, are you going to take your place at the helm of Benedict Industries?”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  “Really? Why? I thought it was like a Benedict rule or something.”

  “I’m going to talk to Kip or Knox about it soon. I don’t mind working for Benedict Industries, but not in the capacity they want me to.”

  She tilted her head. “What do you want to do?”

  He looked slightly uneasy, as if he didn’t want to answer the question. “My sophomore and junior summers during college I spent in India, working to bring water to remote villages.”

  There was little else he could have said that would have surprised her more. To hear that this wealthy man the world wrote off as a playboy spent summers in India helping the impoverished endeared him to her all the more. “Wow, had no idea.”

  “I don’t talk about it a lot.”

  She nodded. Not only did he spend his time doing that work, he didn’t go around boasting about it. Matter of fact, it sounded like he didn’t want anyone to know about it. “How does water in India fit in with Benedict Industries?”

  “I want to open up a division within the company, one that deals with giving back. First of all to Charleston, and then South Carolina, and to keep spreading outward like that. It just seems so wrong, you know, to have all that money and not to give back to the community. There are so many people in need … I can’t help them all, but hopefully I can make a small effort. Can you believe how much of the world doesn’t have safe water to drink?

  “You’re amazing,” she whispered, in awe at the man he’d become.

  “You flatter me. I’m sure all you have to do is pick up the society page and you’ll get an eyeful of how not amazing I am.”

  Yes. She’d read those. And he was right, there were plenty of them. He was one of the Benedict brothers, after all. All three of them were regarded as prime picking and the media loved them.

  “But those don’t represent the entirety of you,” she said gently.

  “They represent enough.”

  “You’ll never do great things until you believe you can do them.”

  His face broke into a calming smile. “You’re going to be such a great teacher. Any student would be lucky to have you.”

  Her face heated at his compliment. “Thank you.”

  “I made you blush,” he teased. “I don’t think I’ve made anyone blush in years.”

  “I’m pretty sure that means you’ve been hanging out with the wrong people.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re right. This one girl I know, she likes to hang off the side of buildings.”

  “Really?” Tilly laughed. “Now she sounds like a winner. You should definitely hang out with her more.”

  His eyes grew serious and his expression made her belly tighten with the awareness of just how close he was sitting to her. She’d never been more thankful for such a small table.

  “Oh, trust me. I plan to,” he said, and his voice was several octaves lower than it had been. It made shivers run down her back and her skin break out in goose bumps. “You see, I lost track of her several years ago and now that I have her back in my life, I plan to hold on tight.”

  “You better.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Hours later, he took her hand and they walked to his car. “Where are we going for dinner?” she asked.

  “There’s a new seafood place near the office. I can’t remember the name, but Kipling went on and on about how good it was and he’s a seafood snob.”

  She knew of the place. It was upscale, supposedly ridiculously delicious, and nothing she could normally afford.

  “What?” he asked, catching her side eye at him. He opened the car door for her. “I want to take you somewhere nice.”

  “You know you don’t have to.”

  “I’ve bought you cheeseburgers and takeout. Let me do this.”

  She knew he was wealthy, just as she knew he wasn’t trying to impress her with his wealth. In his mind, he was taking her to a nice seafood restaurant. It was her hang-up that it cost so much. If it didn’t bother him, it shouldn’t bother her.

  “Okay,” she said, as he pulled out of the parking lot. “But next date, I’m in charge.”

  “There’s going to be a next date? We haven’t even finished this one yet,” he teased. “Damn, I’m good.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” she said with a laugh.

  Instead of answering, he picked up her hand and kissed it.

  If it had been another man of Keaton’s means taking her out, she’d be worried that he was taking her to such an expensive place to try to get in her pants. But she trusted Keaton and knew he wasn’t like that. He simply wanted to do nice things for her. Like when he’d stayed with her and brought up taking her out for groceries. It was rather nice to be taken care of in such a way. She hadn’t experienced anything similar since her mom died.

  He didn’t let go of her hand until they had reached the restaurant and he turned the car over to the valet. And though he didn’t hold her hand on the way to check
in, he kept his hand on the small of her back. It felt oddly reassuring.

  The hostess led them to a relatively private table that had an oceanfront view. Keaton ordered them a bottle of wine and she tried not to be too obvious as she took in her surroundings. The restaurant was made from an old fish market, but had been redone with rich woods and new brick. She didn’t even want to look at the menu, afraid that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to keep the cost from bothering her.

  Keaton, however, had no such issues. He looked up at her over the top of his menu. “Know what you want already?”

  “No,” she said. “I’ll let you order for me.”

  “You sure you trust me that much?”

  She knew he asked it as a joke, but her reply was completely serious. “And more.”

  He held her gaze for a long minute. “I’m going to beat Kipling’s ass for not telling me he had been in contact with you. All that wasted time.”

  “We have a lot of making up to do.”

  Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the waitress coming to take their order. He ordered them both a cup of she-crab soup and the catch of the day.

  “I’m on a mission to find the best she-crab soup in the city,” he said. “I haven’t tried here yet.”

  “That makes sense. I was wondering why anyone would order soup when it’s so hot outside.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “It does sound a bit absurd, doesn’t it?”

  “Absurd is how unreal it is this is really real.” She laughed. “And how many reals were in that sentence.”

  When they were young, she’d been captivated by his good looks and kind personality. But as the date progressed, she saw that the older Keaton was so much more. He was easy to talk to, intelligent, and compassionate. Most guys she dated only wanted to talk about themselves, but Keaton always wanted to know how she felt and what she thought. It made her feel cherished and important. By the time they’d finished the delicious dinner, she feared her heart wasn’t at all safe around the youngest Benedict.

  * * *

  The ride back to her apartment was passed in a comfortable silence. She’d expected the date to go well, but Keaton was simply amazing. It didn’t even bother her too much that Elise was spending the summer in his house. It was obvious in the way he looked at her and how he talked about her that he was not interested in her at all. Tilly was willing to bet that would piss Elise off something horrible.