Chasing Bristol (The Finding Trilogy Book 2)

by Morgan, Shane

  “That…” Vincent sighed. “She said Bristol would never love me. She kept talking about the pictures she’d seen in my room and told me that I was sick again. She said I needed to go back to the hospital. What kind of a mother would say such horrible things to her son?”

  Mr. Farris clamped his mouth shut. Tears glossed his eyes. He looked at me and then back at Vincent, who was still holding the gun firmly at my head. I wondered what his plan was.

  “What did you do to your mother?” Mr. Farris asked after a moment. His voice shook with each word. It was obvious what his psycho son had done.

  He’d killed her.

  I was next.

  “What do you think?” Vincent chuckled. “I brought her to our special place and sent her somewhere she can walk again.”

  Mr. Farris burst out crying. “No…” I felt his pain. His love for his wife was beyond evident.

  “Oh, don’t be like that,” Vincent mocked him. “She’s in a better place now. You won’t have to take care of her anymore.”

  After wiping his face with the palm of his hand, Mr. Farris tried talking to his son again. “Please, Vincent. Let me help you.”

  “This again,” he whined. “I don’t need help.” He gripped me tighter in his arms. “What I need is for Bristol to love me. Why is it so hard for someone to love me?”

  “I love you, son.” Mr. Farris rose from the couch with his hands up. “Your mother loved you. Please put the gun away. I can get you help.”

  “No. Sit,” he demanded. “And stop talking to me like I’m a child. I’m sick of it.”

  “Vincent, please…put the gun down,” Mr. Farris implored. He slowly approached.

  Vincent grew agitated. He moved the gun from my head and pointed it at his father. I took a risk and elbowed him in the stomach, knocking the gun out of his hand. I leapt for it. Vincent managed to recover quickly and shoved me away before I could reach the gun.

  “Uh!” I fell to the floor hard. Mr. Farris dashed for the gun. Vincent grabbed it before his father could and he fired it once without hesitating.

  “No!” I cried out. The earsplitting sound shook my whole body. I glanced at Mr. Farris. Blood soaked through his shirt. He gripped his chest where he’d been shot and staggered backward, knocking over a plant as he collapsed to the floor.

  “Oh my god!”

  Pushing off the ground, I tried to run across to the front door but Vincent called out, “Hold it right there, Bristol. Turn around!”

  I spun with my hands up.

  “Look what you made me do.” Vincent straightened on his feet. “I guess I have to finish it now.” He readied the gun to fire it again. “Go over there.”

  I moved to where his father was lying. “It doesn’t have to end like this,” I said, sobbing. “If we call for help maybe we can save your father’s life.”

  “I don’t want to save him.” He huffed. “I could have given you the world, Bristol. I loved you more than life. More than I ever loved Savannah.” He narrowed his eyes. “If I can’t be with you…then I won’t let anyone else have the chance.”

  Mason’s voice hollered from outside the door, “Police!” My pulse gave a leap.

  The door kicked in. A shot fired, followed by another. Pain soared through me. I dropped down onto the floor, my shoulder burning.

  Mason’s voice came in and out. He pulled me into his arms. More pain.

  “Oh, no. Hold on, Bristol!” He sounded so afraid.

  I drifted across to Vincent. Blood saturated his chest. There was a cop at his side talking to another. “He won’t make it,” I heard one say.

  Vincent took labored breaths while steadying his gaze on me. “I’ll love you forever,” he mouthed. Then his body stilled, and he wasn’t breathing anymore.

  Eyes wide open, frozen on me.

  I looked at Mason. My heart smiled. I touched his cheek and whispered, “You found me.”

  Mason stroked my head. “Don’t worry, the ambulance is on its way. You’ll be okay.”

  “Amber…” I whispered. “Did you find Amber?”

  He shook his head, regretful. I glanced at Vincent again, wondering where he’d kept her. Aside from the room downstairs, where else would be a safe place for him?

  It hit me. “She’s…” I gasped for air. “She’s in my apartment.”

  Mason yelled out at the other officers, “Check upstairs in Bristol’s apartment for her friend.”

  He looked back at me, brows knitting together in worry. I pressed my eyes shut and tears streamed down my face. What if Amber wasn’t found alive?

  The paramedics came in and kneeled beside me. They moved Mason away so they could look at my shoulder. “A clean shot,” one of the guys said. After putting pressure on my wound, they lifted me up and placed me on the gurney.

  Mason stayed by my side as they rolled me out of the building and into the parking lot. Residents crowded around, alarmed and wanting to know what had happened.

  “Amber?” I asked Mason again before they put me in the back of the ambulance.

  He glanced over at the entrance of the apartment building. A smile appeared when he looked back at me.

  “What is it?” I asked, trying to ease up to see what was going on. The paramedic set me back down.

  “She’s okay,” Mason said, squeezing my hand.

  My anxiety vanished when a frightened Amber appeared beside him, choked up with tears of relief. “Bristol! You’re alive.”

  “Amber…” I smiled and reached for her hand. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  She leaned over and pecked me on the forehead, then looked up at the impatient medic waiting to take me to the hospital. “Is she going to be all right?”

  He nodded. “As soon as we can get her out of here.”

  “I’m going with her,” Amber said adamantly.

  They started to pull my gurney into the ambulance. I grasped for Mason’s hand. “Don’t leave my side.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He climbed into the ambulance with Amber.

  On the drive to the hospital, I asked Mason, “How did you know where to find me? About Vincent’s connection to Mr. Farris?”

  He grazed my cheek as he answered, “I couldn’t find anything on Roman Orsini and nothing worked when I switched the names up. Then I started thinking about your landlord again. I remembered you said he’d recommended the security company, so I ran a background search on him and discovered that he has a son: Roman Farris. Turns out Roman caused trouble with a college professor a few years ago.”

  “What did he do?” Amber urged him on.

  “He was stalking her. Roman’s mother told a judge that he’d suffered from depression among other psychological issues. She asked that he be committed to a mental institution instead of thrown in jail. Roman got out three years ago.”

  Amber scoffed, “I guess they thought he was better.”

  “He was,” I muttered. “Until he saw me.”

  Amber shook her head. “No, he was just a lunatic that couldn’t be cured.”

  “I think it has something to do with his college professor,” Mason went on. “I found her picture and some info on her. Her name’s Savannah Matthews.” He slid the photo out of his pocket and showed it to Amber first. Her brows shot up.

  “Oh, my gosh,” she muttered and looked at me.

  When Mason showed me the image, it all made sense. We looked alike. Same auburn hair too.

  Mason slipped the picture back inside his pocket and rubbed my forehead with the back of his hand. “Don’t worry. It’s over now.”

  Amber smiled at me.

  My lids started to feel heavy and I closed them.

  “Is she okay?” I heard Mason ask.

  “It’s the IV,” the paramedic replied. “She can’t fight it anymore.”

  Soon, I couldn’t hear a thing, but I could feel Mason’s warm, safe hand still holding mine as I drifted off into a peaceful sleep. It was more than welcomed.

  My parents brou
ght me home from the hospital a few days later. I had to keep my left arm in a sling until my shoulder was better, but thankfully, the bullet hadn’t done any major damage.

  Mom and Dad seemed nicer when they spoke to each other. When we arrived at my old home, they walked me to the living room and Mom moseyed off to the kitchen to start dinner. I noticed she smiled at Dad when he wasn’t looking.

  She returned shortly, bringing the stack of mail she’d collected from my apartment. When Mom told Dad what she was making for dinner—pasta—he left us in the living room and went into the kitchen. I wasn’t sure if he was excited since it was his favorite meal, or upset because she hadn’t asked him to make it.

  “What the hell is this?” Dad fumed from the kitchen. I heard a pot lid close.

  Mom left me and hurried to him. “It’s the pasta sauce,” I heard her say.

  “It smells funny,” Dad retorted. “You should have let me do it. Are you trying to send our daughter back to the hospital?”

  They began to bicker. I turned my head slowly in wonder. What was I thinking? They’d never change.

  The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” I yelled, getting up from the couch.

  I ambled over to answer the door. I was safe now. I didn’t have to fear finding burnt flowers, dead rats, or blue notes anymore.

  When I opened the door, two beaming faces stared back at me. “You look great,” Julian said, reaching in for a hug.

  “As always,” Amber added, hugging me once Julian moved away. They were both mindful of my shoulder.

  “Oh.” Amber looked over her shoulder for a second. “Mason just pulled up.”

  Smiling cheekily, they motioned for me to go meet him. “I think he’s on duty too so that’s even better.” Amber giggled.

  Julian piped in, “Yeah, you get to lust over that sexy uniform.”

  “Okay. Okay.” I parted them and stepped outside. They entered the house and closed the door to give us privacy, but my instincts told me they were watching us through the window.

  Mason smiled as I strolled up to him. He looked at me for a while with delight masking his face before he finally spoke. “I was on my way to the station but I wanted to stop by and say hi.”

  “Oh,” I smiled shyly. “Hi.”

  He laughed.

  Getting serious again, I muttered, “Thank you for everything.”

  Mason wrinkled his brows. “There’s no need to thank me, Bristol. I did it because I care about you. A lot.”

  “Even after everything I put you through?” I asked, shaking my head at him in amazement.

  Filling the distance between us, he lifted his hand and traced his thumb across my lips. “I would face a thousand more psychos for you. So, can we go on a real date now?” He chuckled.

  The closeness between us was so intense I had to fight to speak again. “Right. We haven’t been on one yet, huh?”

  “Yeah. What do you say?” he asked, resting his hands on my hips.

  Mason ushered me closer to him. I parted my lips, overwhelmed by desire. Heat rushed through my body. My knees felt frail. I wondered if he could hear the loud beating of my heart, how much it yearned for him.

  “You’re not answering,” he whispered, eyes falling to my lips.

  I couldn’t take it anymore. “Oh Mason, just shut up and kiss me.”

  And he did. Slow and sweet, then fast and with hunger. When we separated, I was breathless, and so was he, it seemed. A satisfied grin curved his lips. I rested my head at his chest, listening to the melodic sound of his heart.

  “I like you too,” I said. “A lot.”

  Tearing myself away, I looked into his gorgeous eyes. They held so much passion.

  Mason rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb and then moistened his lips. He released a groan, as if he could still taste my mouth on his. “I’m glad you do,” he said.

  Backing away, he motioned to his car. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow around noon then?”

  I nodded while smiling. “Sure. I’ll be here.”

  He turned and headed to his newly repaired Corolla, opening the door. Before getting in the car, Mason peered over his shoulder at me. He didn’t have to say a word; his eyes told me everything.

  “See you,” I waved.

  Mason flashed his sexy lopsided grin, then slid inside and started the car.

  Damn. I couldn’t wait to get back on board with wherever I was heading with him. He was truly a great guy, and I was happy that we would finally have a chance at…something.

  He drove off with a smile. I stood and watched as his car disappeared from sight. Julian and Amber came up beside me.

  “Close your mouth,” Julian teased. Mason’s kiss had me frozen in place.

  I laughed and bumped her in the side. “Shut up.”

  We turned around and headed back into the house with slow and relaxed steps.

  “You know, us girls should take a trip together, get away for a while,” Amber suggested.

  Julian and I stopped and stared at her. I was surprised she’d said that.

  “No way. No more trips for you,” I told her.

  Amber laughed and held her hands up, stepping in front of us. “Just kidding.”

  I blew out a breath of relief. She nudged us to the front door and we all continued inside.

  “Actually,” Julian started as we entered the foyer. “It wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Considering what we’ve been through, maybe it is time to get away for a while.”

  “Then it’s settled.” Amber perked up. “I’ll make the plans.”

  “Hey, I thought you were kidding?” I cocked my head to one side and glared playfully at them. “Are you two serious?”

  Julian shrugged. “Why not?”

  “Everything’s fine now,” Amber chimed in. “You can if you want to.”

  I dipped my head in thought. “Let’s talk it about some more.”

  When we walked into the kitchen, my parents had stopped bickering and were now flipping through a family album while laughing with each other. Julian and Amber stepped past me and went over to them, wanting to see my pictures.

  I stayed in the doorway, looking at their happy faces and enjoying how relaxed they seemed. It warmed my heart, seeing them genuinely smile again.

  No more troubles. Life was good, and indeed going to be better.

  Following the terrifying events and trying to put my stalker problem to rest, I’d returned to work at Vanderson Publishing two weeks later. As the summer came to an end, George Wilcox decided to give his son complete control of Wilcox & Co. He retired and moved to Florida with his wife, while Greg transferred to Los Angeles to oversee the office in that location. I turned down his offer, deciding there was too much to leave behind. I was still working as assistant to the event coordinator, but Beverly Vanderson said she’d have a better position for me once I’d finished school.

  It was a relief either way.

  I loved Newport, and I had too much there that I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to; I doubted I ever would. My relationship with Mason was progressing smoothly too. He’d even asked me to move in with him.

  There was no way I could live at my apartment again, no matter how much I loved the place. With Mr. Farris’ murder and all that Vincent had put me through, the apartment felt tainted. So, after spending a few more weeks at my mother’s and working on our relationship, I moved in with Mason in the fall, especially after Mom decided to put the house on the market.

  It seemed like the right thing to do. She wanted to downsize and let go of the memories. It wasn’t like she and Dad were still together, anyway.

  At least they were now maintaining a healthy friendship. She was more supportive of him and even took him to dinner when he found a new construction gig.

  We were all moving on. At least, that’s what it felt like.

  After feeding Bailey—our new husky puppy—I sauntered into the living room and rifled through one of the boxes still unpacked. It was difficult getting by with my
left shoulder still in a sling, but I’d managed so far.

  There was a stack of mail from my apartment that I hadn’t opened yet inside the box. I sat in the cozy armchair by the balcony in Mason’s condo and skimmed through the envelopes, gasping when I found a blue one with my name and no return address.

  My hands trembled as I opened it and slid out the blue card. It was Vincent’s handwriting. He had to have mailed it before he died, but the words… It was as if he knew how it would end. Steadying my racing heart, I began to read his final words to me.

  Bristol, I will love you forever, even in death.

  Not even that can end this feeling I have for you.

  This love, our love, is eternal.

  X

  I knew Vincent was gone. I mean, I’d been there when he’d drawn his last breath. Even so, his final words were so chilling that for a moment I gazed around and considered searching the condo.

  It was absurd, and I needed to relax. Only, when someone had been through what I’d experienced, could they truly find peace of mind again? Ever?

  Bailey ran over and hopped up on my lap as if he knew I was upset. I rubbed his head and held him close. Perhaps not now, but soon I’d be able to forget Vincent. With all the love and support I had around me, I knew for sure that I would put it all behind me.

  Someday.

  Thank you for reading Bristol’s story. If you enjoyed it please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon. I’d really appreciate it. Thank you.

  I can’t believe I’m releasing my seventh book. That’s crazy. I’m very thankful to have come so far and even though seven might not be a lot to some, it’s quite an accomplishment to me.

  Thank you to my family for all the love and support. To my awesome husband who keeps me happy and always laughing, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thanks for telling me to relax when I start to doubt myself.

  Laurie Treacy, thanks so much for taking the time yet again to offer your great critique. I’m so appreciative and forever grateful.

  Caitlin Marie, you are super cool. Thanks for your help. Thank you Kirsty, Stephenee, Angie, Jenia, Melvina, Natasha, and all the beta readers for your honest feedback and for always being so supportive. I’m honored.