The only sounds greeting me were the ragged panting of my breath and the muffled thuds of my sneakers against the snow. I felt more at peace out here than I had in a while.
A bird cawed loudly not far from me and I was startled, my breath tumbling out as a gasp. Then with a flap of its wings, the crow took to the sky.
A crisp snap of a branch echoed through the wooded area. I inhaled sharply the chilled air and surveyed my surroundings. I couldn’t see anything.
Another crack of a twig.
Again I scanned the area. I still couldn’t see anything, but unease spread through me. The kind of unease you get when someone you can’t see is watching you. But who’d be watching me?
I didn’t stick around to find out. I turned around and ran toward the snow-covered beach. But my energy stores started to drain from the near sprint. Even with the adrenaline rush, I couldn’t maintain the pace.
A heavy breath was the only warning I got before a large man hurled himself at me and shoved me to the ground. A scream escaped my lungs, but the impact of my body against the hardened snow cut it short.
Momentarily stunned, I fought to regain the breath knocked from me. But that couple of seconds was all he needed. He grabbed hold of my arm and yanked me to my feet.
“Where ya think you’re goin’, bitch?” a deep male voice said behind me.
I whipped around, but before I could fight back, I was slammed into the brick wall next to me. My head whacked against the hard surface, and the dark alley temporarily tilted in front of me. I closed my eyes.
Screaming, I kicked and squirmed and did everything I could to get away from the guy who had attacked me in Westgate. He was even wearing the same dark blue ski jacket he’d worn that night.
But he was too strong, and he half dragged, half pushed me to the steep ledge. With the rocks at the bottom, I’d never survive if I went over.
I dug my heels into the snow, resisting the forward movement, but he easily outweighed me. I continued struggling, twisting my body, trying to break free of his grip. He lost hold of my hand and I lunged at his face with my fingernails, clawing at his flesh. But I was wearing thin knit gloves. The attack on him was nothing more than a joke.
“Fucking bitch,” he growled, even though I’d done zero damage to his face. Far less than he planned to inflict on me.
He shoved me backward. By some small miracle, I stopped my momentum, barely, the ledge mere inches behind me.
Then without warning, the ground under my feet gave way and I screamed. All I had time to do was grab hold of a root sticking out from the cliff. Nothing else existed between me and the boulders below.
My gloves weren’t designed for this kind of abuse, and the knit fabric slipped against the root. I tightened my hold on it, praying it would be enough, knowing deep down it wasn’t.
My hands and shoulders ached at the desperate attempt to keep from falling. My feet searched for anything that could help me. I couldn’t even find the tiniest hint of a ledge to reduce the strain on my upper body.
Not deterred from his original goal, the attacker tried to pry my fingers from the root. I tightened my grip, but I couldn’t hold on much longer. My hands, arms, and shoulders were rapidly fatiguing.
Pain burned in my shoulder muscles, and I cried out. Like it or not, I was going to die.
And then the worst thing that could possibly happen did. He pried the fingers of one hand off the root, leaving me dangling precariously with the other hand. I screamed and frantically flailed my free hand around, trying to grasp hold of the root again. But it was now out of reach and there was nothing nearby to hold on to.
Grunts came from somewhere above, but I couldn’t see what was going on. I opened my mouth to call out for help, but was stunned into silence when the attacker stumbled to the edge. His momentum was too great, and before he could recover himself, he tumbled off the cliff a few feet from where I was dangling. Unlike where the ground had given way under my feet, there was nothing for him to grab hold of, even if he’d had the chance.
I didn’t dare look down to see what happened to him. I didn’t want to know. My fingers were sliding free of the root.
I screamed what would be my last scream.
A hand grabbed hold of my wrist, and Nolan’s concerned face looked down at me over the ledge, his body flat on the ground. “I’ve got you.” But he didn’t. My jacket slipped in his grip. I gasped. “Hailey, give me your other hand.”
I tried but couldn’t reach that far. “I can’t,” I sobbed.
“Yes, you can, Forget-Me-Not. You can do it.” He shifted his body further forward.
With what little strength I had left, I reached up. Nolan grasped my wrist and readjusted his hold on the other one. He pulled me up, inch by slow inch, until I was far enough that I could wriggle my body back onto the ledge.
Nolan pulled me back so I was solidly on the ground and threw his arms around me. He held me so tight I could barely get air into my lungs, but I didn’t care.
I was alive. Shaky. In pain. But alive. We were both alive and trembling.
“Is he…is he dead?” The hoarse words scraped against my raw throat and I winced.
“Yes,” Nolan said, his breath warm against the top of my head. He pulled away slightly, face pale. “Do you have any idea who that was?”
I nodded, the movement slow, my head heavy. “It was the guy from Westgate who put me in the coma.” I shuddered, the truth of what had just happened gripping me tighter than Nolan. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m ungrateful.”
“I heard you leave, and when I realized you’d gone for a run, I came looking for you.” He frowned. “Why the hell were you running on your own? You should’ve asked me to come with you.”
“I needed to be alone, and you were busy.” And while I’d known the paparazzi might have been an issue, I’d figured whoever had attacked me had long since moved on. That in the end, it had been nothing more than a random attack. Well, the joke was on me. Nolan had been right all along.
But I wasn’t about to admit that out loud.
Nolan didn’t look thrilled with my answer but let it go for now. He started pacing back and forth, shoving his hand through his disheveled hair. Cursing. Muttering something about being no better than his old man.
Panic gripped me at how close he was from the edge. It added another layer to the thickening lump in my throat. “Please, Nolan. Don’t go so close to the edge.” It could give way at any second.
He startled at my strangled voice, glanced at the ledge where only a few minutes ago I’d been clinging for dear life, and stepped toward me.
I opened my mouth to remind him that he was nothing like his old man, but a dog barked not far from us and the sound of footsteps approached. My body went on instant high alert and my mouth slammed shut.
A golden retriever burst through the undergrowth and bounded toward us, panting, happy to see us.
His owner wasn’t far behind.
Sorrow filled Nolan’s eyes at seeing the dog. If Lucky, Nolan’s old puppy, hadn’t died from an unexplained broken neck, he would have looked like this dog.
Nolan grabbed my hand and led me to the woman in her early twenties. She recognized him and her eyes widened.
“Do you have a cellphone?” he asked. She removed the earbuds from her ears. “I need to call 911.” I could see he didn’t want to tell her about the dead body. And he certainly didn’t want to let on that he was responsible for the man falling. That was the last thing Nolan needed leaked to the press.
Still starstruck, she handed him her phone. More than anything, she looked like she wanted to ask him to sign it…or her breasts. Oh, please, not the breasts again. I wasn’t in the mood to witness another fan flaunt her girls at him. One was more than enough, thank you very much.
Nolan walked off a few yards with the phone. Neither the woman nor I could hear what he was saying. I don’t even know if she noticed me. She was too busy staring at his backside. As long
as she wasn’t shrieking at me or throwing stones at me for stealing him from Alyssa, she could stare at it all she wanted.
Nolan returned a few minutes later and handed her back her phone. “Thanks.” To me he said, “They’re on their way.”
I expected now that she had her phone back, the fan would leave. She didn’t. She kept staring at Nolan.
Her dog, who’d been sniffing around the ground, wandered to the ledge, where the attacker had fallen, and barked. This broke his owner’s attention away from Nolan. Barely.
She turned and took a step toward her dog.
“Well, thanks for your help,” I said.
She didn’t get the hint. She walked toward the edge. I threw Nolan a nervous glance. He eyed her, body tense. Both of us knew this wouldn’t end well if she saw the body.
The dog barked again. Sirens wailed in the distance. The woman screamed.
“Is…is he okay?” she asked after the last echoes of her scream had faded.
I glanced at Nolan. I still hadn’t seen the guy. Maybe he wasn’t dead. Maybe he was unconscious.
The look Nolan gave her suggested otherwise.
She continued staring at the body, waiting for him to move, but didn’t say anything else. Nolan pulled my shaky body into his arms. The adrenaline overload had already faded away and I relaxed slightly, the feeling of being safe battling against my fears. I wouldn’t feel completely safe until we’d spoken to the cops, until this truly was over.
I ran my thumb across his cheek. “You saved my life, Nolan. That makes you nothing like your father. That makes you a hero.” The words were soft so the woman couldn’t hear them.
He gave me a small nod, but I wasn’t thoroughly convinced he believed me. I pulled a blank as to what else to say to change that.
It didn’t take long before deep male voices cut through the air, and two cops traipsed toward us through the wooded area. “Are you the one who reported the fall?” one of them asked Nolan.
“Yes. He’s over there.” Nolan pointed to where the woman and dog stood. She was still peeking over the ledge, as if she expected the man to get up and walk away.
The cop and his partner strode to the spot and peered down. One spoke into the mic on his shoulder and indicated where to find the body.
The younger cop asked the woman questions about what happened. The taller, bulkier cop, with an intimidation factor of one hundred, stalked over to us.
“We have some questions to ask you.” He jerked his chin toward his partner. He wouldn’t be interviewing us together. We’d be questioned separately.
My body trembled, again. Nolan kept his arms around me until the younger cop joined us, then the bulkier cop indicated for Nolan to follow him.
“You going to be okay?” Nolan asked.
I nodded, temporarily unable to speak.
He followed the officer until they were far enough away so I couldn’t overhear them.
“Can you tell me what happened?” the younger cop asked me. I told him about being chased through the woods, about how I’d remembered the man was the person who’d attacked me a few weeks ago. I explained how I’d lost my footing and how Nolan had saved me.
As Nolan and his cop returned to us, my body started shaking again, but this time for a different reason. I believed Nolan was a hero for saving me. He hadn’t meant for the guy to die. That was an accident. But would the cops see it that way? Would they detain him further because there was a death involved? Would tomorrow’s headlines declare Nolan a killer, just like his father?
“Are you staying in town?” the cop asked Nolan.
Nolan glanced at me for a brief second before looking back at him. He let out a heavy breath as if his world was about to crumble. “I have to return to L.A. tomorrow morning.”
My heart splintered in two. I pushed the pieces aside. I had known this was coming. Or at least my brain had accepted it. My heart wasn’t so quick on the uptake, it would seem.
Nolan returned his gaze to me. “The president of the record label called earlier….He demanded that I be on the next plane to L.A.” So the band could prepare for the upcoming recording session. So he and Alyssa could begin work on repairing his image.
So he and she could become lovers in everyone’s eyes—which could possibly develop into the real thing.
Ignoring our pain and Nolan’s comment to me, the cop asked, “We might need to be in touch with you. Is there a number you can be reached at?”
After Nolan gave him the information and the scary cop suggested I go to the hospital to be checked over—which I refused to do—we were allowed to leave. Still concerned about me, Nolan pulled me against him. I sank into his warm, strong body. All I wanted was for him to take me home, hold me, and never let me go. At least I’d get the first two. The last one would remain a dream.
The younger cop drove us back to my apartment. Once inside my room, I grabbed my yoga pants, favorite T-shirt, and underwear, and headed to the bathroom. Nolan came with me. The memory of what happened last time we were in the bathroom came back to me, and my body heated.
“I just want to hold you,” he said, reading my mind, his voice gentle. “I don’t think you should be alone.”
I nodded, removed my clothes, and turned on the water. Nolan stripped off his clothes too, and we entered the enclosed space.
I stepped under the water, closed my eyes, and let the heat soak into me. Nolan moved behind me and wrapped his arms around me. The water was hot, but that didn’t stop the trembling that upgraded to earthquake-sized shakes. I tried to stop, but the harder I tried, the harder my body shook.
And then I was sobbing.
Nolan turned me around in his arms. He didn’t tell me everything would be all right. He knew it wasn’t over yet. I didn’t have to fear that man again, just as Nolan didn’t have to fear his father anymore. Now I had to deal with the emotional trauma from everything that had happened. But unlike with Nolan, I wasn’t going to pretend it had never happened. I wouldn’t let it bury me alive.
I’d get help.
The tears eventually slowed to a hiccup, and I remained under the water while Nolan gently washed my body. The sensation was both sweet and erotic. If I’d had the strength after everything I’d just gone through, I would have made love to him in the shower. Again.
Instead, I kissed him. As far as I was concerned, that was okay. The world might believe he was involved with Alyssa, but they weren’t in the real sense of the word.
Even though our naked bodies were touching, the kisses remained sweet and unassuming, and they soothed my battered emotions. We gently swayed to the imagined music in our heads. The one I was hearing, of course, was the first song he’d written, the first of his songs I’d fallen in love with.
Eventually we turned off the water and dressed. The day’s events had drained me, but I didn’t want to go to bed yet. I just wanted to curl up with Nolan and watch a movie. To let it distract me.
“If you want,” he said as I combed my wet hair, “I can order pizza.”
“Mediterranean?”
He grinned. “Of course.”
While we waited for the pizza to be delivered, I phoned my parents and Kayla to tell them the guy who had put me in the coma had been found. I didn’t tell them about the attack or that he was dead. I didn’t feel like talking about that now. I simply told them the police had him. Close enough.
We found a movie to watch and cuddled together on the couch. Even though it wasn’t normally his top choice of genres, Nolan had suggested a romantic comedy. Okay, maybe not the best choice, since our romance wouldn’t have a happily-ever-after ending, but at least it made us laugh.
Well, made me laugh.
I shifted to face him. “What’s wrong?” There were so many possible answers, it was just easier asking than guessing.
He gave a bitter laugh. “What’s right? I killed a man today, accident or not. And now I have to fly back to L.A. and deal with the repercussions of the shit storm that�
�s hit since I got here.”
I threaded my fingers with his. I didn’t know what else to say when it came to what had happened today. I hoped that in time he would realize it wasn’t his fault. “You’ve got to do what you have to do. You’ve worked too hard for this not to.” I swallowed back the pain and tears. “When do you leave?”
“Early tomorrow morning.”
Tonight would be our last night together. “I know you don’t want to, but before you return to L.A., you should visit your parents’ house. It’ll give you the closure you need.”
He shook his head, eyes full of heartbreaking sorrow that made you want to hug him and never let go. “But I don’t want to remember,” he whispered.
I glanced back at the foosball table. “Tell you what—if I win, you visit your parents’ house.” I squeezed his hand. “I’ll be with you the entire time, like at the cemetery.”
“And if I win?”
“I’ll never bring it up again.”
Chapter 36
Hailey
I rubbed my hands together, preparing to win the game. Since he’d moved into the apartment, we had played the game almost nightly. While we might both have been rusty at first, we’d quickly regained our form. It was almost like we’d never stopped playing, except Nolan was better at the game than he used to be.
Which meant this game could go either way.
We got into position and I popped the ball through the hole. Desperation hovered in the air, both of us wanting to win more than we’d ever wanted it before. Never had the stakes been so high.
Nolan’s player kicked the ball down the field, but I blocked it in time. I attempted to shoot it toward his goal and almost succeeded, but his player regained ownership of it.
The game continued like this—just as one of us was about to score, the other one blocked the shot and stole the ball. We battled for what felt like half the night, but the score was tied at 2–2. The next goal would win the game. I’d never seen him look so determined and so intense as he did now.
I tossed the ball through the small hole in the side of the table and immediately moved my nearest player to kick it. Only I nicked it, and the ball careened toward Nolan’s line of players. I frantically tried to block it but I wasn’t fast enough.
This One Moment Page 17
