“I’ll leave here soon as Lisa wakes up and I get to say ‘Hey’ to her. I’ll bring you some lunch and we can eat it in bed and then sleep the rest of the day. Sound good?”
It did. Too good.
“Listen, take your time there. Family comes first. Don’t worry about me.”
“Okay. I miss you, though. The guys aren’t bothering you, are they? I called Theo to tell him to make sure they keep it down in the shop.”
“They’re fine.” Guilt, guilt, and more guilt. She shouldn’t let him believe she was at his house, but she didn’t want him trying to stop her from putting some distance between them. She needed time and space.
She got off the phone with a minimum of deception and climbed in her car. She was still ravenously hungry, so on the way out of town, she stopped at Dunkin Donuts for an egg sandwich and an enormous coffee. Once she hit the freeway, she rolled down her windows and let the wind whip her hair.
Maybe she was running like a coward, but she felt free. It sure beat feeling trapped in a house that may or may not be haunted and a marriage that may or may not be real.
Chapter Thirty One
Steaming coffee hissed from one of those push-button machines into the Styrofoam cup in Emmett’s hand. He’d selected the strongest setting, hoping it would keep him awake another few hours. He’d been sitting with Rob in Lisa’s hospital room when he found himself conking out in the visitor’s chair. Rob had tactfully suggested he go to the cafeteria for coffee, but Emmett doubted there was enough coffee in the state to keep him awake much longer.
He’d been up since five the morning before, when he’d gotten up for his sweeping shift. It was now creeping up on ten o’clock the next day. That was…twenty-four plus five…twenty-nine hours awake. At least his brain was still functioning, albeit a little slower than usual.
He filled a second cup for his brother-in-law and headed back to the room, praying as he navigated the halls of Brattleboro Memorial that Jade was resting well and healing up from whatever damage she’d sustained during her ordeal. His skin still crawled whenever he thought about how skeletal she’d been just a few hours ago. And when he remembered how close he’d been to having sex with the abomination that had mind-raped his girl-damn it. He’d crushed the flimsy cups and spilled hot coffee all over himself. Whispering a curse, he tossed the crushed cups into a trash bin and returned to the cafeteria.
Ten minutes later, he pushed into Lisa’s room to find her awake and sitting up in bed.
“Did I miss a food fight in the caf?” she asked with a smirk at the coffee stains on his jeans. She looked tired and a little pale, but otherwise good.
“Hey, sis.” He handed a coffee to Rob, set his down, and pulled Lisa into a hug, being careful of her IV and the bandages on her arms. There were bandages under her hospital gown, too, Rob had told him. She’d been stabbed three times by a biker chick, according to the police report. Emmett could only imagine the biker chick thought Lisa was someone else. His sister could be a tough cop but she was a great person. No one could possibly get mad enough at her to want to hurt her.
Lisa cleared her throat. “Rob, hon, would you mind giving me and Emmett a few minutes alone? Maybe you could pick me up a sandwich or something?”
Rob left, and Emmett parked his hip on the edge of her bed. “What’s up?” Her expression fell and she teared up. “Hey, hey,” he said and tried to put his arms around her.
She waved a hand. “I’m okay, I’m okay. I need to talk to someone about what happened, though, and I can’t talk to Rob. Not about this.”
She looked so miserable it broke his heart. “You can tell me anything. You know that.”
“I…I went to that bar last night-” She sniffed, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Oh, Emmett, I was going to try and cheat on Rob.” She buried her face in her hands and sobbed while the weight of those words hung like a bowling ball between them.
“Are you guys having problems?” It sounded weird just saying it. Lisa and Rob seemed ridiculously happy. They were both cops, both athletic and fun loving. They were perfect together. But then, that’s what people had said about his parents too, and that hadn’t turned out so well. “Shit, are you thinking about leaving him? Because-”
“No!” she wailed, dropping her hands. “I don’t know what came over me. After I left your house, I just got this urge to-” She swallowed and closed her eyes. “It was like all I could think about was having sex. I couldn’t resist the temptation. It was like all my problems would be solved if I just met a stranger and had sex with him. God, this is so embarrassing.” She hid her face in her hands again.
His brain lurched with a sickening thought. What if the demon had followed Lisa from his house? What if her getting hurt was his fault? Oh, God, did she actually manage to cheat on Rob? Please, no. “Did you…you know, do it?” He winced. Could there be anything more uncomfortable than talking with his little sister about sex?
“No, thank God. I sidled up to this one guy and got him to buy me a drink. We were talking and I was flirting like a shameless ‘ho, and then this biker chick stormed in and yanked me off the barstool by my hair and tried to gut me.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m so sorry you went through that, Lisa.”
“It’s not like it was your fault or anything,” she said.
He didn’t know what to say to that. He remembered how cold it had been when he’d arrived in her hospital room and wondered if the demon was trying to do to Lisa what it had done to Jade. He prayed every day that his sister would accept the Lord, but so far, she’d rejected Him at every turn. That would make her as vulnerable to demonic attack as Jade. He studied her carefully, looking for signs of supernatural intruders. His fingers itched to call Nick.
“And it’s over now,” she said, cutting into his concentration. “I woke up a little while ago and felt a million times better.” Her eyebrows drew together. “Em, this is going to sound really crazy, but I think…I think something was trying to use me. I didn’t realize it when it was happening, but while I was sleeping I dreamt this beautiful winged creature drew something evil out of me and cut it in half with a sword of fire. Then, when I woke up, I felt like myself and I could see how strange I was acting before. Does that sound crazy to you? Am I crazy?”
He blinked a few times, processing everything she said. “You’re not crazy,” he assured her. “I’m no expert on this, but it sounds like you might have been influenced by a demon.” He paused to gauge her reaction.
She furrowed her brow, curious, so he went on.
“I think there’s good and evil all around us. I also think there’s good and evil in us. We’re all capable of doing really kind things and being total selfish assholes. I think the technical term for it is ‘human nature.’”
She snorted. “You’re preaching to the choir on that one. I see the worst of human nature every day. And sometimes, I’m lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the best.”
“You know where I stand with the Lord,” he said, not wanting to push her. They’d been down that road, and it had been nothing but a dead end in the past. He wanted to reach out to her and love her today, not preach at her. “I don’t expect you to believe what I believe, but if you’re asking what might have happened to you, I’ll tell you. I think something wicked decided to prey on you and, like you said, use you. There’s a story in the Bible about a man who was possessed by demons. He hung out in a cemetery and no one could bind him, not even with chains. Everyone thought he was crazy. Then Jesus cast the demons out of the man and into a herd of pigs. The pigs all ran over the edge of a cliff and into the sea. The man was fine after that. Maybe what happened to you was like that man. He wasn’t himself for a while, because something evil was influencing him, but then Jesus made him okay again.”
Lisa took a breath while he held his. God, let her believe. Let her see how powerful You are. Use this disaster to bring her to You.
“Does this kind of thing happen a lot?” she
asked in a small voice. “‘Cause it would explain a lot of the crap that goes on in this world.”
“I don’t know,” he said, taking her hand. Love and hope for her filled him up. “I think people are plenty capable of being evil all by themselves, but maybe some of the worst violence you have to deal with as a cop is because of demons. And maybe some of the most beautiful things you see from time to time are because of angels.”
Her eyebrows pulled together. “Do you think the glowing guy with the sword of fire was an angel?”
“Yeah.” Probably one named Joshua. “And I think you’re going to be just fine.”
“Well, if an angel saved my behind, I might just have to show up in church this Sunday to say thanks.”
“That would be nice, Lis, but you don’t have to go to church to talk to God. You could talk to him right here if you wanted.”
“How ‘bout you do it for me.”
“Gladly.” Holding his sister’s hands, he prayed for her. He thanked God for protecting her and praised Him for what he had the faith to believe had been the demise of the thing that had attacked Jade and started all this.
After Rob got back to the room, Emmett excused himself. Lisa was on the mend physically, she was at least curious spiritually, and he was dog-tired and wanted nothing more than to curl up beside Jade and sleep for a week. The promise of his wife lying beside him had him racing home so fast he almost forgot to stop for some drive-through food to share with her.
Finally, a little before noon, he trotted up the stairs to his room, chicken bucket in hand. “Hope you’re hungry,” he called out. “‘Cause daddy’s got some grub.” When he came up into his room, he stopped short.
His bed was made. Jade’s stuff was gone. His stomach did a roll.
“Babe?” He put down the food and ran back downstairs to look for her. “Jade?” He looked in every room, even the man-cave, but there was no sign of her.
He went out to the shop and found the garage door open to the sunshine. Theo was in the driveway guzzling a sports drink with his shirt draped over his neck. The X2 riding mower was up on a forklift with parts scattered around the asphalt.
“You seen Jade?” he asked.
Theo shook his head no.
He searched his house one more time, phone in hand. He kept getting sent to her voicemail. He texted her. She didn’t text back.
Panic pushed back his tiredness. He grabbed the bucket of chicken and forced himself to eat some while he drove to her house. If she wasn’t there, he didn’t know what he was going to do.
When he pulled up to the curb in front of the two-story brick house, he noticed her car was gone. All the lights in the house were off. He left his truck to go knock. No answer. He tried the door, but it was locked up tight. His heart sank. She’d run from him.
Worry almost brought him to his knees there on her sun porch. She was safe from the demon, but she was weak. She should be resting, not driving who knows where. What must she be going through? Was she scared? Did she remember what had happened? Was she upset about being married? That last thought sent a pang through his gut.
This was his fault.
She hadn’t run from him. He’d run from her. Practically the second she came to this morning, he hightailed it out of there, dumping a load of crazy information on her and then leaving her on her own to deal with it. Shit. What an ass. He should have stayed with her. But he couldn’t regret seeing Lisa this morning. She’d needed him too.
Damn it. There wasn’t enough of him to go around.
He had to find her. Had to make this up to her.
He tried calling again. Straight to voicemail. He sent another text. No response.
“Think, Herald,” he said, thunking his head on her front door. “If you were Jade, where would you go?”
She was new to Dover and didn’t know anyone here…except him. If he were her, he would have gone back to Boston. But Boston was a big town. And she probably knew a lot of people there.
She’d worked in a strip club, he remembered. Maybe she had friends there. Maybe one of them had heard from her. What he wouldn’t give to get his hands on her phone right now so he could get a look at her contacts. Or…cupping his hands to look through the glass doorframe, he saw her rolling bag leaning against the railing of the stairs, like she’d dumped it there in a hurry. Unless she’d taken the time to remove it, her laptop ought to be inside.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. Figuring there was no help for it, he slinked around the back of her house to check the sliding glass door in the kitchen. Bingo. Unlocked. He’d have to talk to her about that. No wife of his was going to take risks with her safety. Then again, she’d be living with him, so he’d be able to keep her safe. He would do a better job of it than he had so far.
But first, he had to find her and bring her home.
Chapter Thirty Two
“How did you talk me into this, again?” Jade asked Maxi.
The cracked clock on the wall said it was eight thirty-seven. She was standing in platform heels that made her legs look miles long and a rip-away flight-attendant outfit, applying stage makeup in front of a mirror in the Palace’s chaotic dressing room. The beat of the music out in the club pounded in her ears and vibrated under her soles.
“Oh come on,” Maxi said, with an elbow to her arm that made her slip and stick her false lashes to her eyebrow. “You know you miss dancing. This way you get to work out all that frustration from dating a virgin, and earn some great Thursday night tips. Besides, if Jocelyn misses one more shift without getting someone to cover, her ass will be grass. Think of it as your good deed for the week.”
“She’s going to owe me big,” Jade said, fixing the lashes and grabbing her favorite tube of True-Red lipstick.
Besides Jilly, who was still in Peru until September 1st, Maxi was her best friend. They’d been dancing the same shifts for three years and hanging out in their off-time whenever Jade’s school schedule had allowed. They’d even considered rooming together, but had never gotten around to hammering out the details.
Maxi had welcomed her into her studio apartment with a big hug, a sympathetic ear, and an extra-salty margarita. Jade had given her a rundown on her week and a half in Vermont, leaving out the demon possession and the wedding she couldn’t remember. Then they’d lounged around and watched Reese Witherspoon movies all afternoon. After the chick-flick marathon, they’d gotten Chinese takeout and eaten picnic style on the bank of the Charles. Somewhere along the way, she’d turned off her phone to avoid the guilt plowing over her every time she hit “ignore” on a call from Emmett.
“So you going back tonight?” Maxi asked, smacking her lips in front of the mirror and grabbing a glitter stick from the makeup case.
A three-hour drive after a shift didn’t sound like much fun. Nor did facing an angry or hurt Emmett. She didn’t kid herself. He would be waiting for her when she got back. He was probably worried sick about her.
Ugh, enough with the guilt, already. The whole point of coming down to Boston was to get away from Emmett. Thinking about him every second kind of ruined that plan.
“You need a place to stay tonight, hon?” Maxi’s voice was soft.
She met her friend’s eyes in the mirror and felt a rush of gratitude. “Yeah, maybe that would be good.” And maybe she should at least give Emmett a call and let him know she was okay.
Suddenly, the door from the bar area crashed open. Emmett charged in, locked gazes with her, and came at her like a pissed-off freight train. Maxi yelped while he crowded Jade against the costume rack. His shoulders made a wall, blocking her view of the dressing room. All she could see were his stormy blue eyes snapping with rage.
Fear zinged through her, but it fizzled out before it could settle in her chest. Emmett was pissed, but he would never hurt her. She knew it instinctively. She knew him instinctively, like she’d never known anyone else. Plus, she’d kind of earned his anger by avoiding him all day when she knew his siste
r was hurt and he was hurting for sleep.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growled.
She didn’t think it was possible for him to look any more exhausted than he had that morning, but he managed with a full-on beard of stubble and hair standing on end, like he’d been dragging his hands through it all day. The circles under his eyes tugged at her heart.
She was tempted to feel sorry for him, but then his words registered. He was judging her. He thought he cared about her, but he couldn’t stand being confronted with the real her, the girl who knew she was sexy and capitalized on it and had fun while doing it.
“It’s none of your goddamned business what I’m doing,” she told him.
His nostrils flared.
“Sorry. None of your-” She rolled her eyes. “Gosh-darned business.”
Somewhere behind Emmett, Maxi said, “This must be your virgin.”
“What are you doing here?” Jade asked. “How did you get back stage?”
The pinched skin around his eyes crinkled as he smiled that charming smile of his. It had a feral edge to it, no doubt brought on by a day of having his calls ignored. Her tummy fluttered at the thought of an enraged Emmett tracking her down, especially since she never told him what club she used to work at. He must have spent the afternoon calling every titty bar in the Boston area looking for her.
“You left your laptop in your grandma’s house and the back door unlocked. I found this address in your contacts.”
Oh, crap. She felt like an idiot for leaving her grandmother’s house unlocked. She puffed out her chest, about to tell him off for going inside uninvited, but he cut her off.
“Drove down and had a nice talk with Emilio out front,” he said, referring to the bouncer who worked the door when Trey wasn’t on the schedule. “Told him you and I got married this morning. He let me back and told me to tell my wife he said ‘hi.’ Nice guy, that Emilio. I think we should invite him up for a barbeque.”
Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom Page 168
