Hope (Things That Matter Book 2)

by Casey Diam

  Her weapon lowered, and she slowly turned to me as I started forward. She inhaled, her breath shaky. “I’m sorry.”

  “What?”

  The weapon fell from her hand.

  Is she...

  She was in all black, so I couldn’t tell if there was any blood on her. A hand went to her stomach the same time I heard a loud banging on the door.

  “FBI! Open up!”

  “You bitch!” Connor spit, backing into his office. “Brad, get in here.”

  Then I saw it—the blood trickling over the fingers pressed to her stomach. Her knees began to give out, but I caught her in time, and as I dipped, lowering her onto the floor, tears welled in my eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered once more.

  Setting the weapon down, I pulled the tight tank up over her stomach. She let out a whimper the same time I saw the pool of blood spilling out below her rib cage. Pressing my palm to the wound, I blinked back tears as a huge glob formed in my throat.

  “Paige.” I shook my head.

  “Caleb, I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry.” Her body trembled from her tears.

  “It’s okay.” I swallowed. “We’re going to get you to the hospital. You’ll be okay.”

  Her head jerked from side to side as her breaths shortened, face pinched in pain as nonstop tears leaked into her hairline.

  “No...” I used my other hand to tilt her body up from the floor and saw what I feared. The shot had gone straight through, and a huge pool of blood had already gathered beneath her body. “Shit. Fuck. No.” I pressed one hand up to stop the flow from coming out beneath her while pressing down with my other hand on top.

  My vision blurred as I looked at her face. “I’m sorry,” I told her. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

  Tears ran down my face as I tried to think, but all I could think about was how I couldn’t let go. If I let go, she would bleed. She couldn’t lose any more blood. I had to stop it.

  “Caleb, I love you.”

  My throat closed as I squeezed my eyes shut. Fuck, I couldn’t breathe. She was the one dying, but I couldn’t fucking breathe.

  “I love you,” she murmured again.

  I opened my mouth, but words evaded me.

  A yell came from somewhere behind me. “Sir, put your hands where I can see them. Put your hands above your head.”

  I shook my head.

  “Hands above your head and slowly move away from the body.”

  I shook my head as Paige nodded.

  “Do it. It’s okay.”

  “No,” I blubbered, lips trembling. “I can’t. I can’t.”

  “Hands above your head.”

  “I can’t!” I yelled. “She needs help.”

  A hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me backward, and I watched as my hands involuntarily fell away from her. A hard device pressed into my back and a crippling shock spiraled through my body. A second later, I was flat on the ground. A knee jammed into my back, and my hands were yanked behind me and cuffed.

  Fuck. No, no, no. I need to stop the bleeding. She can’t die. She can’t die.

  I tried to look at her and saw the blood flooding down her side. She wasn’t being helped...

  Why isn’t anyone helping her?

  “Please, she needs help. Someone! Paige...”

  “You’re under arrest for the murder and disappearance of Sophia Cruz. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do...”

  Chills broke out over my body.

  Brad killed Sophia Cruz. She’d been inside his suite that night. But I was sure that wouldn’t be what the evidence would say. Sophia Cruz had been wearing the same outfit the night she knocked on my door looking for Brad. I had a drug test done days later after being drugged. It had been a trap for me like I’d known, and I’d walked right into it. But that didn’t matter, because as I was dragged outside into the night where about five police cars and three SUVs surrounded the building, my head hung. I was an empty shell. I was walking, but I wasn’t here. I was still inside with Paige.

  A few radios squawked into the night. “We need an ambulance. Two dead. Three in critical condition...”

  The door to the backseat of the cop car opened, and I was shoved inside.

  She loves me?

  Before the door closed, I shivered as wind blew across the hairs on my nape, and her words passed over me.

  “Caleb, I love you.”

  “You love this. You love playing...It could heal wrong and bother you for the rest of your life.”

  “I love you.”

  “I can’t have a quickie. I’ve just witnessed how flexible you are.”

  “Don’t tell me that unless you’re ready to follow through.”

  “Caleb, I love you.”

  I felt her leaving me, and I wanted her to stay. She needed to stay.

  Please, don’t leave me. Please, I can’t...

  I tasted the tears streaming down my cheeks as I pulled my lips into my mouth.

  I’m sorry I got mad at you. I’m so sorry.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Paige

  I sat on the edge of the stone well, my legs swinging and the heels of my bare feet hitting the wall as they came back before I kicked them out again. I was in my quiet place. I came here when I was sad, but I couldn’t remember why I’d come.

  I stared at the gravel path before me that didn’t lead anywhere.

  Turning around, I looked at the bucket hanging from the gray-dusted wooden beams over the well swaying back and forth. Suddenly, I felt parched.

  Why am I here?

  The surrounding trees seemed older, and some of the branches were broken and hanging by a thread, ready to fall to the ground with the slightest breeze.

  “It’s time,” a voice said inside my head.

  “Time for what?” I asked without uttering a word.

  “You’re dreaming.”

  What? I’m not dreaming.

  I came here when I wanted to, didn’t I?

  I stood and watched the leaves swaying back and forth on the trees nearby. A branch snapped and fell to the ground from a breeze I couldn’t feel. I looked down at the white frock I was dressed in, soaking wet and sticking to my skin.

  What?

  I remember this.

  Why is this so familiar?

  “Hey,” a deep voice uttered.

  I ignored it, remembering the train wreck I’d felt like the last time I opened my eyes. My body had been heavy, and I couldn’t move, couldn’t think.

  Confused, I walked a few feet ahead before sitting in the middle of the gravel path. Resting my palms against the small stones behind me, I leaned back and tilted my head to the darkened sky.

  “Wakey, wakey. I can see your fingers moving.”

  Calvin.

  Calvin?

  Where are you?

  I stood and moved down the path, but the next step I took forward, I was free-falling.

  No, no, no. I inhaled. No. Not again.

  My eyes flew open as I inhaled. I glanced around the room I was in, and my eyes quickly found Calvin sitting in a chair next to the bed.

  “There she is.”

  My throat was excessively dry, and I felt sick to my stomach. The hospital. I was still here. The first time I’d opened my eyes, I had been alone. That was why I had gone to the well. But it had been a dream.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  I gave him a blank stare as my mind tried to piece together my reality.

  Caleb.

  I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry, and when I spoke, my voice came out hoarse. “Caleb. What happened?” I coughed and winced at the pain ripping into my gut. My hand immediately rose from my side to cover the tender area.

  Calvin stood and handed me a cup. “Here’s some water. Sip slowly and don’t move.”

  I removed my hand from beneath the blanket. With the back of the bed slightly raised, I could drink without moving, but I coughed again, a
lmost spilling the water over myself. I cringed, handing him the cup as my insides tore apart. “Ah.”

  He placed it on a white stand nearby and grabbed a pillow that had been resting at the foot of the bed. Placing it on my stomach, he explained, “The nurse said it would ease the pain when you needed to cough or move. Just hold it to your stomach when you need to do either.”

  I looked up at him, my eyes pleading.

  “He’s in jail...without bond.”

  My chest grew heavy, and my breath shortened. “He shot all those guys. It’s my fault.”

  “Hey. Don’t go there.”

  “But, Calvin, I shouldn’t have...if I hadn’t...I’m sorry.”

  “Shh. There are officers outside, waiting to get a statement from you. Two guards are standing by as well.” He took a seat again and leaned forward.

  “He shot them to protect me,” I said, closing my eyes. “He can’t go to jail for that. I’ll tell them it was me. I’ll tell them I’m the one who did it.”

  “You can’t do that.” Calvin pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead. “He already admitted to shooting them. Also, that isn’t even what he was charged with.” He sighed. “He’s being charged with the murder of some Sophia Cruz.”

  “What? Who is that?”

  Calvin shook his head. “Some girl who disappeared sometime ago. They have hard evidence that Caleb was responsible. Not only that, but”—his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed—“he also confessed to burying her.”

  “What?” My eyes widened, and my heart stopped. I had no words, but when I was finally able to speak, I said, “I don’t believe it.”

  Calvin nodded, but his expression remained neutral. I thought about the last few weeks and how hurt Caleb had been that the nurse had been caught by his father.

  “Connor probably forced him to. He wouldn’t have killed anyone,” I confirmed, frowning. Except Alex Connor’s men. “How about Alex Connor? Did they get him?”

  He shook his head.

  “What?” A cough sidled up my throat again, and I swallowed, trying to relax.

  “They raided the whole house, and they couldn’t find him or Brad.”

  “That’s impossible. They were there. How long has it been?”

  “You’ve been here for a day. And you’ve been out for a few hours. It’s eleven in the morning right now.”

  I shook my head and swallowed the nausea rising from my stomach to the base of my throat. “I can’t stay here. I need to go somewhere safe. After what I’ve done, Calvin, he’s coming for me. I can’t stay here.”

  “Okay, we’ll figure this out. Caleb mailed a package to us. It seems you won’t have to worry about your medical bills. He also signed over the condo to you and me.”

  I frowned as I continued to listen.

  “He called me yesterday. He didn’t even ask for a lawyer, but I’ve been trying to find one. I figure we can use the money he’s given us for that. He sounded lost. Like he’d given up. He asked about you, and I told him you were in the ICU. It was all I knew at the time. But he knows Brad and Connor are still out here, and...he said to tell you he’s sorry. He also said Alex Connor had told him his mom and sister were alive and locked away somewhere.”

  My mouth fell open. “His sister...his mom is alive? Oh my God...Leanne was pregnant.” I turned my head to him as my brain searched through the scraps I’d gotten out of Connor. “He said it was his baby. That was who they replaced me with, Calvin. Leanne was pregnant. Leanne was Olivia’s best friend. If Connor had raped Olivia. Olivia must have told Leanne, so he probably did the same to Leanne as a warning and kidnapped her baby when it was born. She’s still alive.” I shook my head. “When I was young...I remember my dad and mom having a small disagreement in the studio. I think he had hired a private investigator. That meant my mom must have told my dad what had happened to her. Maybe that was why there was a P.I. involved. My parents were trying to find their real daughter. I think that was why they were killed. It has to be. Shit. Caleb’s sister and mom are alive.” I sighed, bringing my hand to my head at the onset of a headache. “Shit, Calvin. I screwed everything up.”

  “It sounds like you’re solving it to me.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Alex Connor got away. He knows the cops are after him now. I don’t think he’s going to be showing his face anywhere anytime soon. And, if Caleb has reason to believe his sister and mom are hidden somewhere, how are we ever going to find them?” I took a few painful deep breaths as I got worked up.

  Lowering my voice, I admitted, “I almost killed Alex Connor. I was so close. I don’t know what stopped me.” I paused to think about it. “Caleb was watching me. That was why. That was the only reason I didn’t kill him. Is that horrible?”

  “No. He’s a criminal, and he ruined your life, Paige. You have every right to want that bastard dead.” His lips twitched. “And right now, Bailey told me that with all the shit you got Connor to confess to, you’re kind of heroic and crazy. You remember that copy of Caleb’s keys you had me make?”

  I nodded.

  “It’s what the FBI used to get inside the building. It’s probably what saved your life. Everything I know, I heard from Bailey, by the way. She was here all night, too. She left not too long ago.”

  I bit my lip and looked down. “You know, I barely felt when it happened. I mean...there was a burn or something. But I was just shocked, not wanting to believe it had happened. Then I looked at Caleb. His gun was pointed in my direction, and for a split second, I thought he was the one who had done it to stop me from killing his father. I thought Caleb had shot me when he was searching for the person who had.” I shook my head as tears filled my eyes. “It feels so shitty. Why would I have thought that? I love him, Calvin, but dammit, I don’t deserve him.” I swallowed before taking a deep breath. “He doesn’t deserve to be in jail either, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get him out. I owe him that.”

  “He’s never had that, you know,” Calvin said.

  “What?” I asked as my queasiness worsened.

  “What he has with you.”

  “Don’t say that.” I shook my head and closed my eyes for a second. “You’re not helping.” I inhaled slowly, trying not to aggravate the pain and nausea in my stomach. “Do you know how long my recovery will be?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll get the nurse.”

  “Thank you, and, Calvin, my grandparents. I know they’ll find us a good lawyer for Caleb.”

  His lips pursed. He nodded before turning and ambling out the door, the top of his head barely missing the top of the frame as he walked out.

  Stacy Lenard walked into the room a few seconds later, and the quick breath I sucked in tightened the muscles in my sore abs. I winced, holding the pillow firm against my stomach. Caleb had sworn they’d taken her, but I highly freaking doubted it, not after seeing her looking so at home in Alex Connor’s house. I needed to get out of here. As the last of the heavy breaths I’d inhaled aired from my lungs, I smiled.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

  “Good,” I said with a small shake of my head, the smile never leaving my face. “Better.”

  Calvin stood behind her, his forehead furrowing.

  I sent him a message with my eyes. Don’t ask.

  “Well, good. You’re one lucky girl. Since the bullet went straight through, there weren’t any significant damage. The surgeons took care of everything while you were under. But, now that you’re awake, I’ll let the doctor know as soon as he’s done with his current patient. For now, I can tell you that there is an estimated recovery time noted in your chart for two months if you heal well and no other problems arise, such as infections.”

  As she walked up to the IV stand to check the fluid, I peered up in caution, checking out her perfect manicure and relaxed expression.

  What the fuck is she doing here?

  “That’s good,” I said. It wasn’t good.

  That’s a really long time. Will I
be able to work out? How am I going to do anything? I can barely breathe without pain right now.

  “Are you sure you aren’t in any pain?” she asked.

  “Nope, I’m good.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll go find your doctor.”

  As she went through the doorway, I peered at the IV cords leading into my veins at the crook of my elbow, wanting to drag them out. I didn’t trust that woman. Drugs or anything could be seeping into my veins. “Calvin, I’m not spending another night in this place.”

  “I don’t think you have a choice in that, Miss Wells.”

  I looked up to see Superintendent Rodriguez, who I remembered all too well from the highway and the station.

  She stood in the doorway for a second longer before she moved forward. “I have a few questions for you.”

  “Funny, so do I. Did you help Alex Connor kill my parents? Did you watch him kill them, or did you show up after to help hide evidence, like a good little helper? How about when I was kidnapped?”

  She glanced over her shoulder at Calvin. “Sir, I need you to leave the room while I get a statement.”

  My unblinking eyes remained fixed on her screwed-up face. “He isn’t going anywhere. Ask me your damn questions.”

  I bet Stacy Lenard was also on Alex Connor’s payroll. It had to be why she’d taken a vacation—to make it seem like she was missing or being abused so they could fuck with Caleb’s head.

  “He can either walk out of here on his own, or I’ll have my officers escort him out.” Rodriguez rested one of her hands on the weapon at her hip.

  I didn’t know if she meant it as a threat, but she didn’t get to see my weakness. She deserved every bit of my crazy.

  So, I mumbled, “No, you won’t. You’re screwed. Just like Connor. You sit back and watch innocent people die. Help cover it up when it’s your job to unveil it. What are you going to do next? Try to make sure I go away?” I made a small chuckle in my throat without wincing at the pain it’d instigated. Then I looked her dead in the eyes. “I’m not going away, Rodriguez. I’m going to be your worst fucking nightmare.”

  Olivia Sawyer was out there somewhere.

  The real Paige Sawyer was out there somewhere. I’d involuntarily stolen her life, her identity, and I just hoped life hadn’t been too hard on her, but I would find her. I would help her.