by Jane Blythe
Laura took a couple of deep, shuddering breaths, attempting to calm herself. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey.” Stephanie gently grasped Laura’s chin. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Do you hear me?”
“Okay,” Laura agreed in a small voice.
“Okay, then.” Stephanie nodded, she released Laura and handed her an evidence bag. “Pop your clothes in there.” She picked up a stack of neatly folded clothes. “And put these on.”
Laura took the clothing and bag from Stephanie’s hands, made it to the door and then froze in her tracks. “Can I change in here?” Her cheeks heated in embarrassment. “Can you two just close your eyes? I’m kind of scared to go to the bathroom on my own to change. I’m …” Sorry, she’d been about to say, but instead shot Stephanie a look.
Stephanie smiled. “You’re a fast learner. And of course, you can, honey.”
They both closed their eyes, and a minute later, Laura announced, “I’m done.”
Stephanie took the bag. “I’m going to get this back to the lab. Jack, I’ll call you if I get anything. Laura, try not to worry, I know these guys, they’ll keep you safe.”
“I really like your brother’s fiancée,” Laura announced once Stephanie had closed the door behind her.
“Sofia’s pretty great,” he agreed.
“And Ryan and Mark are as sweet as ever. I missed your family.” A wistful sigh escaped her lips.
When this was over, he intended to see if he could manage to help her mend fences with her own family. “I hope there’s someone else in my family you missed, too.” He tried to keep his voice light, but it came out heated and a little husky.
Her pulse pounded in the hollow of her neck. “There is.”
He wanted to take it further, but he knew Laura wasn’t ready yet. “You need to get some sleep,” he told her gently, leading her toward the bed.
“No.” Panic flared in her eyes. “I don’t want to sleep. I can't. Not right now.”
He understood her fear and almost held his breath as he asked, “Do you want me to stay with you?”
Uncertainty replaced the fear in her eyes. “On the bed with me?”
“We won't do anything, Laura. We’ll just sleep,” he assured her.
“Will you hold me?” her voice wobbled.
He nodded once. “If you want me to.”
She hesitated. “I want you to.” She shuddered. “In your arms, it’s the only place I feel safe.”
Hope flooded through him—maybe a relationship with Laura wasn’t such a lost cause after all. When she’d been scared, she’d asked for him to come. When he’d come, she’d allowed him to comfort her. When she needed to feel safe, it was his arms that she sought.
“Then that’s where you’ll be.” He drew her to him, holding her tight against his chest. Her arms came around him, clinging tightly. He picked her up and carried her to the bed, where he set her down and then stretched out beside her. He lay on his back and gently pushed her head to his shoulder, his arm around her brought her close.
Laura held herself perfectly still, and Jack was just about to tell her that it was okay if this was too much for her right now, when she let out a weary sigh and relaxed into him. Tentatively, she brought up a hand and placed it on his chest, then ever so slowly, melded her body closer against his.
She was almost asleep when she looked up at him. “Why do I feel safe in your arms?”
“Because you are.”
* * * * *
8:41 A.M.
He was so close now, he could almost taste it.
Axel had been waiting so long for this, it was hard to believe it was nearly time.
Revenge really was sweet.
That Laura was too pretty for her own good. The way she walked around flaunting her looks, practically inviting every man she saw to do it with her. And then when he’d taken up her invitation and asked her out, she had turned him down flat.
And not just once.
He’d asked her out several times and each time she told him no. Apparently, she was too good to do married men.
So, he’d been married; so what?
That didn’t mean he couldn’t get a little on the side.
His wife hadn’t touched him after she had gotten pregnant. In fact, in all their years of marriage, and they’d been married a good fifteen years or so by the time he’d met Laura, she was only ever interested in sex when she was ovulating. That woman was obsessed with having a kid.
So, he had started looking elsewhere for his sexual gratification.
Axel had never had a woman turn him down.
Until Laura.
And not only had Laura had the audacity to turn him down, but then she had gone to his wife and told her about his indiscretions.
What unmitigated gall!
Who did Laura think she was to go interfering in his personal business?
What went on between him and his wife was none of her concern.
Because of Laura’s meddling, his wife had left him. And taken his son with her. Then his witch of a wife had lied to a judge, convinced him that he had abused her and was a threat to their baby and gotten full custody.
Laura had started the game between them; he had simply taken it to the next level.
Surely, she couldn’t complain about that.
So, Axel had taken her on a little trip.
He hadn’t been prepared to kill the roommate. He hadn’t known anyone was going to be there. Not that he’d been all that upset about killing Matilda Warren, and really, it was all Laura’s fault, anyway.
She had put up a fight that first day, and he’d had to knock her out in order to take her. Having her unconscious and all to himself had been too great a temptation to resist, so he’d finally gotten to do her. That time in the van had been the only one, and only to satisfy himself that he got every woman he wanted. Then he had delivered her into the hands of his nephews, Frank and Francis Garrett.
The brothers were his older sister’s children. His sister had only been married to Humphrey Garrett for a few years before she had fled, unable to take any more of the abusive recluse who hated women. Humphrey had beaten his wife, regularly locking her in the cellar and leaving her there for days, until at last, she couldn’t take it anymore and she had simply left and disappeared.
Axel had still been a teenager back then, but as he got older, he had started going and checking on his nephews from time to time. From the first time he visited, it had been clear that Francis, in particular, was every bit as sadistic as his father was. Frank was just a follower.
Still, it had been a shock the time he’d gone out there and found his nephews ripping out the fingernails of a woman they had tied to a tree. Although he wanted no part of their torturous games, the thought of turning them in simply never occurred to him. Then when Laura had outed him to his wife and he had lost his son, it had seemed like the natural thing to do to take her to his nephews to receive her punishment.
Frank and Francis were supposed to call him when she was close to death so he could come and finish her off, but instead he had received a phone call from them saying that Laura had been rescued.
He’d been robbed.
Twice.
First, he’d lost his family and then he’d lost his chance for revenge.
It had taken him nearly ten long years to finally track her down since the tricky little thing had disappeared. He’d wanted to grab her immediately. But first she’d been in the hospital and then her family had hovered constantly around her, and then she was simply gone.
His patience had paid off and eventually he had managed to track her down. When the apartment next door to hers had come up for rent, it had seemed like the answer to his prayers. He’d conjured up ideas of breaking through the wall and grabbing her and being able to do to her whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Only, it hadn’t worked out that way. Still, being in her building had been a great way to learn about her, and thus to hatch his plan, which was now
in its final stage.
Inserting himself into the police’s investigation had been fun. Pretending to find the letter left by the killer had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, and he was glad he’d made it. Getting up close and personal to the people hunting him was exhilarating. They hadn’t had a clue that they were talking with the very man they were looking for.
The explosion diversion had nearly worked perfectly, and it probably would have if it hadn’t turned out that Laura was old friends with the cop. He wondered if the police had enjoyed the confetti. He’d thought it was an appropriate filler for his bomb since this was, after all, a celebration.
Then those cops had bested him a second time at that house. He had paid some kid to drop the parcel off and then while Laura’s cop friends were busy grilling the boy, he had snuck in through the back. He hadn’t had to wait long for Laura to isolate herself. But perhaps he had goaded her a little too far. The stupid girl had nearly passed out. It had caught him by surprise and he’d stumbled, then she’d screamed and he’d had to abandon things again.
Soon though, he’d get her soon.
And he had everything all set. He even had one final game all lined up for Laura. Once he’d introduced her to Audrey Nichols, he was going to let the woman go running off into the woods. Then it was a race for him and Laura. If she found Audrey first, he would kill her quickly; however, if he found Audrey first, then the woman would suffer a slow and painful death.
And then for all the trouble she had caused him, the final painful death would be Laura’s.
* * * * *
3:15 P.M.
Running his fingers through her hair, Jack looked down at Laura, who was still fast asleep in his arms. Her head laid against his shoulder, her breath whooshed across his neck, and her hand rested on his stomach. She was finally getting some good rest and he didn’t want to disturb her.
Jack was also a little concerned that when Laura awoke, she would begin to pull away emotionally from him again. The attack had shaken her, and once again, she’d been willing to allow him to offer comfort. Bit by bit, she was opening up to him, but she was still wary about getting too comfortable with having him around.
He, however, was feeling much better about things. Refreshed from some decent sleep, his mind was clear and sharp. If Laura needed time before she was ready for a relationship, then he would give it to her; they had all the time in the world to take things as slowly as she needed.
He had also been formulating a plan on how to catch the guy who was after Laura. Obviously, he’d been watching them, followed them here to Ryan’s house, so maybe they could get him to follow them someplace else.
Someplace that was important to him.
Someplace where he felt connected to Laura.
The place where he had taken Laura when he kidnapped her.
It might take some doing to convince Laura to go back out there, but she was desperate to bring an end to this, so he thought he should be able to …
All of a sudden Laura began to thrash wildly, caught in another nightmare. “Laura?” He eased her off his chest and back onto the mattress, then sat up and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. “Laura, wake up.”
She whimpered pitifully, and then screamed as she sprung awake. Still caught in her dream, she fought wildly against him; her gaze was wild and disoriented.
“It’s okay, Laura.” He was struggling to catch a hold of her arms, and narrowly avoiding being hit in the chin. “Laura, it was just a nightmare, you're safe now. You're safe.”
Panting hard, she stopped fighting him, her hands clutching at his shirt as she fought to regain control. “I'm sorry,” she murmured at last, “did I hit you?”
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “Are you?”
She jerked a nod. “Sometimes my dreams feel so real that it’s like I’m still in them when I wake up.”
“It must be so terrifying to wake up scared and alone.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and hoped he wasn’t being too obvious.
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m glad you were here,” she conceded. “How long was I asleep?”
He checked his watch. “Over twelve hours.”
“Wow, I must have been more tired than I thought.”
“You needed the rest.” He cupped her face in his hand and she immediately leaned into him, raising a hand to cover his, her violet eyes staring longingly into his blue ones. Before either of them could change their minds, he kissed her, soft and gentle, and she returned the kiss without hesitation. When he finally broke away, she studied him seriously. “What?” he asked.
“I don’t know what to do about you. About us.” She started to move her thumb toward her mouth, but stopped herself and clutched her hands tightly together in her lap.
“What do you want to do about us?” He brushed a finger back and forth across her lips.
Her pulse pounded in nervous anticipation in the hollow of her neck. “I want to find a way to get back what we had before.”
Before he could respond, she slipped out of the bed and headed for the door. Following her, he was almost giddy with relief and joy, and he had to remind himself not to get distracted. For the moment, he had to focus on her safety, on finding who was after her, then they could make a start at sorting out everything else.
“Hey, Laura, you’re looking better.” Sofia smiled at them as they entered the living room.
Laura smiled back. “I didn’t realize how tired I was.”
“I’m glad you were able to get some rest.” Ryan pulled out a chair for Laura and set a sandwich down in front of her.
“So am I,” Jack ventured carefully, aware that what he was planning may end up pushing Laura away. “Because I have an idea.”
Catching the change of tone in his voice, Laura shot him a wary glance. “What?”
“I was thinking, while you were sleeping, about how we can get ahead of this guy.”
“And …?” Ryan prompted when he didn’t continue.
“He tracked you down, he tried to get to you and when he couldn’t, he used us to bring you right to him. When that failed, he followed us here, tried again to get to you, only that didn’t work out either. So, I was thinking maybe we could get him to follow us someplace else …” He trailed off, aware of Laura’s increasingly horrified expression.
“To the place where Laura was taken when she was kidnapped,” Ryan finished for him.
“He went to a lot of effort on all of this. He knew where Laura was, he could have found a way to just kill her straight out, but instead, he went to such elaborate lengths to make this dramatic. If he wants a big explosive finale, what better place than where this all started?”
Laura was nearly hyperventilating. “You want me to go back outside? And not just outside, but to the place where I was raped and tortured?”
He knelt beside her. “Laura, honey,” he put his hands on her shoulders.
She shrugged off his touch. “Don’t touch me. How could you even suggest that to me? You know what they did to me out there, how could you even think about making me go back?”
His hands hovered uncertainly above her. “I just want to end this for you.”
Open betrayal was all over her face as she met his gaze directly. “I told you everything about what happened to me there. I opened up to you, you said you understood, but if you really did, you would never ask me to go there again.”
He took her hands, tightening his grip when she attempted to pull away. “I do understand, Laura. I do understand what I’m asking you to do, but I'm asking you to do it anyway so we can stop this guy before anyone else gets hurt, including you.”
“I can't do it.” Tears were spilling down her cheeks. “I think I'm going to pass out.”
“Head between your knees,” he murmured, pushing her head down. When her breathing had slowed a little, he gently sat her back up. “I don’t mean to hurt you, Laura, you know that.”
“But you are hurting me. Don’t make me go back there,�
� she pleaded.
“I don’t want to, angel.” She was breaking his heart and he had to remind himself that he was doing what was in her best interest. “But we have to end this, and this is the only way I can think of to do it, and do it quickly. Laura, he’s not going to stop until you’re dead, this way we can get ahead of him, this time we can be the ones in control. You won't be alone. I’ll be with you, and so will Rose and Ryan and Xavier and Paige. Please, Laura, please say you’ll do this, please trust me.” This was a crucial step toward a relationship. If Laura couldn’t learn to trust him again, then no matter how much they both wanted things to work out, it was highly unlikely that they would.
Slowly, she nodded her head a fraction of an inch, then she was throwing her arms around his neck, her tears flowing freely. “I do trust you, Jack, but I'm scared. I don’t know how I'm going to be able to make myself go there again.”
“We’re going to do it together,” he told her, holding her close. “You're going to do it by trusting me, by leaning on me and letting me help you.” He kissed the top of her head. “We’re going to do this together,” he repeated.
* * * * *
6:03 P.M.
Legs tucked up against her chest, arms wrapped around them, her long black hair falling in a protective shield around her face, Laura had her eyes clenched closed and was trying to focus all her energy on breathing.
A hand closed around her shoulder and Jack’s voice rumbled beside her, “You can do this, Laura.”
They were in the car on the way out to the place where her life had been ruined. Despite Jack’s insistences that she could do this and that they’d do it together, she wasn’t convinced she could. It had taken Jack almost an hour to coax her out of the house and to the car.
Unlike the last two times he’d taken her outdoors, this time he hadn't just picked her up and carried her out; this time he’d wanted her to trust him. He’d gone slowly, allowing her time to gather her reserves of courage. When her chest had felt like it was going to explode from her wildly beating heart, he’d talked with her, about anything and everything, until she was ready to move on.
