He nodded. “We had a tragedy occur in my family, and we broke up.”
He nodded again.
Krisney made a weird noise in her throat, making me wince.
“Anyway, that property was by the apartment complex where I used to live during the time we were together. It meant a lot to us, and I wanted to make sure that it was there if she ever moved back home.”
Detective Cree blinked.
“How did you know that Caria wanted the property?”
“The owner told me. He explained that he was struggling financially and that he was going to have to sell. I paid him ten grand not to, and he was happy to do that, because again, like I said, he disliked that entire side of his family for putting him into a bad position during such a hard time in his life.”
Cree watched me, and then sighed.
“Did you know that Caria was in the same school as you, Reed?”
“High school or college?” I asked in confusion.
“Required classes in college…” he pulled up the paper. “Both of you were in the same biology, microbiology, statistics, calculus…”
I held up my hand. “Okay.”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that she’s likely had you on her radar for a very long time,” he paused and looked at Kris. “From what I’ve been able to gather from looking into her background, she’s always been mentally unstable.”
“Great,” Krisney mumbled under her breath.
Cree’s mouth kicked up at the corner. “She spent two years in a self-imposed psychiatric ward because she said she heard voices telling her to harm other people. Since the institution was privately funded and staffed to maintain the highest levels of patient confidentiality, her nursing background check didn’t pick up that she was institutionalized.”
I growled under my breath.
“I’m not sure when she started to become obsessed with you, but either of those two times would be my guess.” He paused. “Had y’all been together,” he looked between the two of us, “when she first caught sight of Reed, my guess would be that she would’ve done this a whole hell of a lot sooner than she did.”
“Where is she?”
Cree didn’t say anything for a very long moment, and I knew without him saying that he didn’t know.
“We haven’t been able to locate her,” he admitted. I also didn’t admit that my family hadn’t, either. “We’ve gone through her apartment, got the super to let us into her place. Found her clothes gone, and that’s it. She’s hiding.”
Rafe had said much the same. Him, Travis, and Baylor, as well as Baylor’s friend Parker who was recently hired, had done a lot of investigating on their own. Caria was nowhere to be found.
“She knows that I’ll fuck her up if I ever see her again,” I mumbled under my breath.
Krisney punched me gently on the arm. “Now that’s not any way for a doctor to talk.”
I chuckled, the hard rasp of it tickling the back of my throat.
I honestly didn’t give one flying fuck how a doctor was supposed to ‘talk.’ What I gave a fuck about was the fact that she’d tried to take everything away from me just because I wasn’t paying her any attention.
“What now?” I asked.
Detective Cree replaced his notebook before saying, “We wait for her to come out of hiding. There’s nothing we can do until she makes another appearance.”
I saw red.
“You want to give her another chance to do what she couldn’t last time?”
Detective Cree looked me dead in the eye and said, “She can try...”
He didn’t have to finish that sentence.
He wouldn’t let her get that far.
“You’re watching us?”
He nodded. “As is half the town, to be honest.” He looked between the two of us. “And don’t think I don’t notice those repo-boys of yours. Two of them aren’t as obvious as the other two, but I know they’re doing it. Not to mention y’all are the town’s ‘golden’ couple.” He tilted his head slightly. “I’ve heard from quite a few people that y’all were the couple that everyone was rooting for. Once y’all finally got back together, they were none too happy to find out that the relationship had been threatened.” He stood up to leave. “Plus, your brothers have been working with me, as well as Raphael, after a little persuasion.”
“Who’s Raphael?” Krisney asked.
“Rafe,” I said at the same time that Detective Cree said, “Raphael Luis, he works with Dante.”
My eyebrows rose at the way he said ‘works.’
He didn’t sound like he believed that Rafe was actually working.
“You know Rafe?” I questioned him.
Detective Cree nodded once. “Yep. He and I used to be in the military together.”
The way he said it, though, made it sound like he was unwilling to say anything more than what he’d said. Which meant I shut the hell up about it, because although Cree had been helpful and somewhat careful with Krisney today, being mindful of her delicate nature, I didn’t for one second forget that the man wasn’t anybody that I knew.
I didn’t know him from a random Joe I met at the grocery store.
But if he knew Rafe, then that meant that he had to be vouched for, at least partially.
If Rafe didn’t like him, I would’ve already heard.
Rafe was weird like that, though.
A couple of months ago, I’d found out that although he was working for Travis, he was also down here on his own agenda, helping set up safe houses for a corporation out of Kilgore that helped rescue abused women.
Rafe also knew shit that nobody else knew.
However, I never knew when he was going to pop up.
I trusted him with my life, though.
And now, those of my children.
I offered Cree my hand, and he took it.
“Congratulations on the children.”
I shook it and let it go before answering. “Thank you.”
With that parting comment, he left, leaving Krisney and I staring at each other.
“I won’t let her hurt you or the children again,” I promised.
She smiled sadly. “I never said you would.”
Chapter 20
Not only did I fall off the diet wagon, it rolled over on top of me and forced me to eat its contents.
-Krisney’s secret thoughts
Krisney
After leaving the hospital, we headed to eat at my favorite place in the world—Roadhouse.
I had an irrational love for it.
It was always there when I needed it, and when I was away on deployment, or during those god-awful years where I lived with my parents in Alabama, I’d missed the place.
Now, every time I was near it—which admittedly wasn’t often since it was thirty minutes away from Hostel where I lived—I ate there.
“I called your boss,” Reed said out of the blue as we pulled into the parking spot right in front of the door.
My brows rose. “Why?”
“I wanted him to know what was going on.” He bit his lip. “I also should’ve mentioned it before, but he’d technically already fired you when you hadn’t shown up for two weeks of work. He never put two and two together since he’s the new dentist in town. He didn’t realize that you were the one who had to have emergency surgery, until I’d called him. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner, but it slipped my mind.”
I started to laugh, which I immediately regretted.
Everything hurt.
The pain medication they’d given me earlier in the day before I’d been discharged from the hospital had worn off, and now I was feeling every single bit of the pain that was radiating through my body.
I definitely needed some of my pain medication.
“Let’s go inside so I have something to wash a pain pill down,” I replied quietly.
Reed frowned. “You’re hurting?”
I pushed open the door and steeled myself for the pain I knew was going to roll over me after I stood up, and nearly moaned when it did.
Though it’d been two weeks since my surgery, everything still hurt. Which, apparently, was normal.
My also new normal: pills. Lots of them. Anti-rejection pills at the top of that list.
I, on the other hand, thought that ‘normal’ sucked.
That, and I didn’t want to go home.
I didn’t want to be alone.
I didn’t want to be in a house without my children. Without Reed.
So, I was stalling by telling him I was starving and wanted to go to a restaurant that I knew I wasn’t quite ready for this soon after getting out of the hospital.
I shuffled inside, though, pain pill bottle clutched tightly in my hand as I did.
He arrived at my side, seeming much more at ease than I was, despite having his freakin’ kidney and half a liver removed. One would think that getting a kidney and a half of a liver would be easier.
Let me tell you something: it isn’t.
Though mine had been ‘more in depth’ he’d said, I still didn’t think that they were all that much different. Though, I wouldn’t let him go into detail. There was only so much I could take, and hearing him get all medical on me wasn’t one of those things.
However, I had had a C-section on top of the rest of my surgeries—IE my liver and kidney transplant.
My liver and kidney that used to be in Reed’s body.
I did a full body shiver, and he looked at me worriedly.
“You think they’ll give us a booth?” I asked, trying to distract him.
They did.
And two baskets of rolls—rolls that I asked for when she tried to skimp on us by only giving us three of them.
“Oh, and extra butter!”
The hostess who routed us to our table and gave us our first basket of rolls looked at me oddly.
“I just had two babies. I haven’t had this much room inside of me for a long time,” I told her defensively.
She grinned.
“How long ago?” she idly chit-chatted.
My belly clenched. “Two weeks.”
“First time out on a date with baby daddy without them?” She smiled. “I remember that time. I was so scared to leave my little girl at home with my mom, but my ex-boyfriend practically begged me to go eat with him. So, I did. It was the most miserable two hours of my life.”
I looked away.
I didn’t have a choice on whether to be away from them.
I didn’t reply to her, and when I felt Reed’s squeeze on my lower hip, I knew he felt much the same way.
Neither one of us wanted to be away, and we both knew it.
We put on a brave face, though.
Talked about what we needed to buy at the store for our children, and overall, had an excellent time sitting in a restaurant with each other.
It was like old times again. Such a surreal feeling that I wasn’t sure if I could trust the feeling inside of me—semi-contentment.
And I say semi because what would’ve made it perfect would have been to have our children at home with us. Safe, sound and within arm’s reach.
But we didn’t have that and wouldn’t for a while.
“How long do you think they’ll be in the NICU for?”
His eyes took me in.
“If we’re lucky? Two months. They’ll want the babies to get to five pounds. That’s hospital protocol. Some hospitals do four, but I agree with five. Five means that they’re more fully able to regulate their body heat, and that they have a better chance of survival outside of a hospital setting.”
My stomach clenched.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?”
His eyes searched mine, and I knew right then and there that he was trying to decide how much to tell me of what he wanted to say.
“Just be honest,” I ordered.
His smile was small.
“Okay.” He paused. “What I think is that they started off on the wrong foot with what Caria did to you. They’re monitoring their liver and kidney functions twenty-four seven. They’re trying to make sure that nothing happened to affect them with the oil that she gave you. Since we don’t know much about the plant, we don’t have much more than a basic understanding of the effects it will have on unborn children—and children who are now out of the womb.”
I looked down at my hands as a wave of sickness washed over me.
I’d done this to them.
“But, overall, their tests are looking good. They’re two weeks old, and both are doing well considering their age.” He cleared his throat, causing me to look up at him. “Will this be an easy road for them? No. It’ll probably be one of the hardest things they’ll ever have to do, and they won’t even know it.”
I blinked back a tear.
“But they’re our babies. They’re fighters. There’s not one second that I think they’ll forget to fight. And in the end, I think we’ll be taking home two healthy babies.”
I breathed out shakily.
“I’m so scared.”
“What can I get y’all to drink?” the waitress, who magically appeared at the side of the table, asked.
“Couple sweet teas, please,” I murmured, smiling.
“Any appetizers?”
I looked down at the rolls that didn’t seem the least bit appetizing any longer and shook my head. “No.”
She left without another word, and I looked back at my soon-to-be husband.
“You know that you don’t have anything to be scared about.”
I grinned. “Not yet.”
He was right.
I didn’t have any reason to be scared.
After hearing the conversation with the detective earlier, knowing that everyone was keeping an eye on us, I knew that Caria wouldn’t be able to get to us. She’d be left with no other choice but to either confront us physically despite the presence of people looking out for us, or leave us alone.
Since I knew she wouldn’t be leaving us alone, I just had to wait for her to make her appearance.
And when she did, I’d slam her head into the floor for what she did to me so carelessly.
“That face you just made is hot,” Reed said, making me grin.
“Yeah,” I murmured, reaching for a roll just as our teas were placed in front of us.
After ordering, I went back to staring at Reed.
“What did you just ask her?” I questioned.
“I was asking where the bathroom was.”
I nodded. “Behind me, remember?”
He looked up, then started to laugh. “Guess I didn’t see that flashing neon ‘restroom’ sign.”
I snorted.
“Speaking of,” I said. “I gotta go.”
“Call out if you fall in.”
I flipped him the bird and went to stand, only to come to a halt when waiters of every shape and size started to crowd around me.
“Attention, Texas Roadhouse!”
He pretended it was my birthday.
That had been the whispered conversation.
Why? Because he thought it was funny.
It wasn't. But he laughed, so I didn't throw a fit because I liked seeing him smile.
"Happy birthday dear Krisney. Happy birthday to you."
It took them three embarrassing minutes to leave, and thankfully, since I was still moving slow, they didn’t make me straddle the booth like I’d seen them do the last time I’d dined there.
“Why?" I asked furiously, staring at the free cake that was now sitting in my spot.
He smiled.
"Because instead of being an ass every single time I saw you, I should've told you I loved you. Instead of going out of my way to ignore your presence, I should have kissed you. Instead of missing your birthday dinner for the last decade, I should have celebrated with you."
; Chapter 21
No thanks, mall. I shop at home without pants like a normal person.
-Text from Krisney to Reed
Reed
“Do you want to go home and get a change of clothes?”
She looked at me like I’d grown a second head.
“What?”
“Do you want to…”
She stopped me with a lifted hand. “I know what you said. Why would I need a change of clothes?”
“Because you’re staying at my place.” I blinked. “I mean, you can wear my clothes all you want, I just figured we’d go straight to the hospital from my place once we woke up, and visiting hours opened up.”
She blinked.
“You want me to stay with you?”
I tilted my head. “You don’t want to stay with me?”
The sheer panic I felt at her staying somewhere without me was wholly terrifying.
She tilted her head in confusion. “Reed, you didn’t ask me, and I didn’t want to assume.”
I closed the door to her side of the truck and rounded the vehicle, the pain and tiredness I was feeling getting the upper hand.
I most certainly didn’t think I could make it through the rest of the days without her in the bed lying right beside me like the night before.
“You’re staying,” I said. “I don’t want to hear any lip.”
She just shook her head, unable to form words.
“What time do you want to head out in the morning?” I asked as I got into my seat, closed the door, buckled myself in, and started the truck.
She grinned. “I want to get there the moment they open the doors, of course.”
I snorted. “I’m glad you feel the same way I do.”
What I thought was going to be an awkward drive turned out to be quite entertaining as we tried to decide who they looked like more.
Mostly we decided that my genes were dominant seeing as they both had my facial structure, dimpled chin and blue eyes.
The only features that seemed to be Krisney’s on both children were their heart-shaped mouths.
By the time we arrived at the house, we’d spoken non-stop for a whole five minutes, and there hadn’t been a single awkward pause.
The Hail You Say (Hail Raisers Book 5) Page 17
