by Abbie Roads
She met Mrs. Ellis’s eyes as best she could around the barrel. “Haven’t you ever considered that Robert Malone might’ve been lying? How about now when he’s on the run for covering up a murder, child abuse, and corruption? After all that, you’ve never stopped to consider that I might be innocent?”
“No. Because I know it was you.” Mrs. Ellis’s face twisted up in a snarl of aggression.
“Why? What had I ever done that would make you think that about me?” Stupid tears pricked in Helena’s eyes.
“Because you were always odd. Everyone knew it. You were too polite. Too quiet. You walked through the world differently than other girls your age. You never cared about makeup and hair and clothes.”
“And that makes me a murderer?” Helena felt a sob rise in her throat but caught it before it came out. All those feelings of being condemned unfairly came back to her. As an adult, she realized how petty and cruel all the judgment had been. As an eighteen-year-old girl, every bit of it had hurt.
A bit of doubt crept into Mrs. Ellis’s eyes, but that’s as far as it went. The foundation of her hatred was built on grief and anger. Take away the anger, and her hatred would crumble. But she wouldn’t let go easily.
“I’ll take you to Malone. He knows the truth.” Slowly, Helena reached up and wrapped her hand around the barrel of the gun and pushed it away from her forehead. “Point this gun at him and ask him about Rory.”
Chapter 20
Worry swallowed hope, hours swallowed minutes, and night swallowed day. Helena stared out the car window at the isolated countryside. Inside the SUV, the heat blew a constant stream of warmth, but she couldn’t get warm. Not that Holbrook or Mrs. Ellis cared. No one spoke. No one needed to. The tension between them wrote an encyclopedia on contempt.
Holbrook caught her eye in the rearview mirror. “You lying about knowing where Malone is?” He pinned her with a look that was the equivalent of truth serum.
With no hesitation, she shook her head. Her entire plan hinged on convincing them that they were taking her to Malone when they were really taking her to Thomas.
Inside her chest, that strange sensation started again. Her heart shifted on its axis, leaning in the direction it wanted her to travel. “There.” She pointed at a narrow lane almost hidden by a thick screen of barren trees.
Holbrook slammed the brakes, the SUV fishtailing on the pavement. “You could’ve told me sooner.” He sounded like the asshole she knew and hated. But one thing she’d discovered over the course of their road trip—the man inexplicably loved Mrs. Ellis. Loved her enough to try to arrange Helena’s murder to give Mrs. Ellis peace and closure. The woman had suffered so much and somehow gained a man who cared for her beyond sense and sanity. In a weird way, it kinda endeared him to Helena. Anyone who could love that hard couldn’t be all bad.
“Turn off the headlights. You don’t want him escaping out the back while we pull in the front.” Her tone left him no room for argument. Holbrook complied and slowed to inch up the narrow drive. She sounded so sure of herself, sure that Malone was going to be in there. The only thing she knew for certain was that Thomas was in there. She could feel the strength of his presence pulling her to him like a tractor beam into his force field.
An anonymous silver sedan came into view. Before Holbrook parked the car, Helena cranked at her door handle. Locked. Irrational panic tickled the back of her mind, wanting her to freak out that she was confined in another sort of prison. But now was not the time to let fear take hold. Now was the time to be strong.
“You’re sure Malone’s in there?” Holbrook didn’t hide his skepticism.
“Yes.” She made sure to pack her tone with absolute certainty. “He’s in there.” A necessary lie. A lie to save Thomas’s life. Because the only thing that mattered was Thomas. Once she found him, everything else would work itself out. “Please, let me out.” She pulled on the door handle again.
Holbrook turned in his seat to look at Mrs. Ellis, waiting for her command. The woman dipped her chin. Holbrook turned off the SUV, got out, and opened Helena’s door.
She rocketed out of the car like a runner hearing the starter’s pistol, her footsteps gobbling the ground between her and Thomas.
From inside the house, a savage yell of anger and anguish reverberated into the dark. She didn’t want to believe that terrible sound came from Thomas, but it did. Relief that he was alive warred with rage over whatever had caused him pain.
Ppgglll.
The crack of gunfire from Mrs. Ellis or Holbrook startled her into a hitched step but did nothing to slow her speed. Only a kill shot would prevent her from getting to Thomas.
Helena rammed full body into the door at the same time as she turned the knob and ran inside. In a flash, she recognized the place from her dream of Evan. But instead of another guy lying strapped to the table, Thomas lay there.
She locked eyes with Thomas, and everything around them ceased, as if God had hit the world’s pause button. They stared at each other for an endless moment out of time, communicating in their special way.
I’m here now.
I love you.
Everything will be all right.
I love you.
She cataloged the scene before her. The most unexpected thing, the thing that shocked her beyond his bruised and battered face, was his hair. It had been colored a bizarre shade of blond. Why would Malone color his hair and call him Evan?
And then the reality crashed over her. Malone stood near Thomas’s feet, holding—her stomach did a backflip off the high dive of revulsion—a saw. Malone’s face was grim and pale, as if disgusted by his own actions. But a miracle had occurred. Whatever terrible price Malone intended to require of Thomas’s flesh hadn’t happened yet. She’d arrived in time.
“Nobody move.” Holbrook’s voice broke the bubble of shock she’d locked herself inside.
Helena ignored Holbrook and rushed to Thomas. He tracked her every movement, unblinking as if afraid she’d disappear.
“I’m here. You’re going to be okay.” She stroked his damaged cheek, a jolt of lightning passing between them. He gasped, tensed, then relaxed into her touch, his gaze going soft and languid but never leaving hers.
In the periphery of her attention, she heard Mrs. Ellis, Holbrook, and Malone, but nothing they had to say carried any importance.
Her hands shook as she worked on the restraints around Thomas’s wrists, releasing one and then the other, then began loosening the one around his chest.
“Are you real?” he asked, his hands skimming over her face, her hair, her body as if he couldn’t take all of her in at once.
“I’m real.” She half sobbed, half laughed and bent to kiss his mouth. His lips were too cool. Was he going into shock?
“Don’t kiss my Evan.”
“He’s not your Evan. He’s my Thomas.” The words flew from her mouth, the weight of them slapping Malone’s face. He bellowed and rushed at her, bashing into her like a bull bursting through a gate. She went weightless, then impacted with the wall. Breath whooshed out of her, her limbs jangled. But she was ready. A decade of fighting for her life had trained her for this.
She became a wild thing. Her body twisting and writhing, punching and pulling. Soft tissue—she aimed at his throat, his gut, his balls. If he got in any blows, she didn’t feel them, her rage a shield against all pain.
Shouts and crashing noises sounded in the room. Thomas. Was Holbrook or Mrs. Ellis hurting him?
“Stop.” Thomas’s voice bellowed through the room, freezing Malone midaction. “Let her go. Come to me.”
Suddenly, she became aware of Malone’s grip around her neck loosening, then leaving her altogether. Everything went silent. Too silent. It was silly, but she realized her eyes were closed. She opened them to see Thomas standing over them, his hand on Malone’s shoulder, guiding him away from her like
a pied piper. When Malone was out of range, Thomas let go of him, then came back to her.
Mrs. Ellis and Holbrook rushed in between them and Malone.
Thomas fell to his knees in front of her. She crawled to him. And then they were inside each other’s arms, clinging to each other. Both of them were breathing heavily, chests rising and falling in perfect cadence. The strength of him around her soothed all the worry. Something warm and sweet flowed from her into him—he absorbed a part of her. He buried his face in her neck and clung to her. They didn’t need words. All they needed was each other.
“Did you kill Rory?” Mrs. Ellis screamed, pulling Helena out of the dazed wonder of being in Thomas’s presence. The woman shook her gun at Malone as if that would encourage him to answer.
Malone’s face had gone ashen. His lips moved as if trying to answer, but he had eyes only for Thomas. “Evan…” He raised a hand toward Thomas, imploring him, but ignoring Mrs. Ellis.
“Rory. Rory Ellis. Did you kill him?” Mrs. Ellis yelled at Malone.
Thomas lifted his head, stared straight at Malone. “You want me?” A dead quality entered Thomas’s tone. “Then tell the truth.”
“I thought he might be my Evan.” Malone spoke to Thomas in a small voice. “But he wasn’t. He wouldn’t stop yelling. He threatened to report me. I couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything I’d gone through. I killed him.”
Helena gasped. Mrs. Ellis gasped. And just like that, the truth was out there. Floating around in reality for all five of them to hear.
Holbrook’s face drained of color, and he couldn’t stop looking back and forth between Helena and Mrs. Ellis—the realization of all the pain he’d orchestrated written on his features. Helena didn’t have time for his guilt or self-condemnation. She needed to save Malone’s life.
“Mrs. Ellis.” She spoke slow and firm.
The woman didn’t look away from Malone.
“Mrs. Ellis, you need to listen to me.” She raised her volume a bit. “You didn’t believe me when I told you the truth. You tried to have me killed in prison. You made me suffer. None of that took away the pain of Rory’s loss. Killing Robert Malone won’t take it away either.” She looked at Holbrook, who still stared at her and nodded with her head toward Mrs. Ellis in a get-the-gun-from-her gesture. “But you can make amends. You can let him live so he can exonerate me. So that he can spend the rest of his life in prison for what he did to Rory and to me.” She took a deep breath. “I want my life back. I want my innocence back. And you’re going to do this one thing for me.”
* * *
Golden rays of hopeful sunshine lit Thomas’s hospital room, but all the light in the world couldn’t vanquish the shadow on Helena’s soul.
Thomas lay in the bed, head turned away as though he couldn’t bear to look at her. Yet she couldn’t look away from him.
She was worried about him. Not about his health. Despite the terrible bruising, no bones were broken in his face. They were waiting for the doctor to give him one more exam, and then he would be discharged.
No, what she worried about was him. The man inside the body. There was a reluctance, a resistance, a rejection from him that she’d never experienced before. And it scared her more than all the Sisters in the world.
She sat in a chair pulled as close to the bed as it could get. For the hundredth time, she reached out to him, settling her hand atop his. An instant jolt of warmth and comfort arced between them.
“Don’t,” Thomas whispered. His tone wasn’t angry or outraged, but resigned and sad. So sad, her heart wept giant, bloody tears for the private pain he endured. He shoved his hand under the covers so she couldn’t touch him anymore.
She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward on her neck. There was a storm raging inside him, and she didn’t know what to do other than simply stay by his side. It was selfish of her to let his rejection hurt her. He was holding himself together in the only way he knew how. She recognized that much. She’d lived a decade in that space.
A knock sounded on the door. She turned in her seat to see a dark-haired beauty and a big, scary dude with his arm possessively wrapped around her. The woman had the same black hair that Thomas had before Malone had colored it, and those same midnight-blue eyes. This had to be his sister. Evanee.
Helena got to her feet. How would they react to her? Thomas said his sister was excited to meet her, but that might’ve been just words. She braced for the couple’s fear and suspicion.
Evanee rushed out of her husband’s arms. “What the hell did that asshole do to your hair?” she gasped as she bent down and embraced her brother. Thomas didn’t react, just lay there, enduring the contact.
Helena glanced at Evanee’s husband. The man nodded to her with what she thought was meant to be a friendly gesture, but it kinda missed the mark because of his intimidating appearance. He was tall and broad, and that tattoo on his cheek made him downright frightening. He moved in next to his wife, wrapping his arm around her waist and tucking her in to his side. She snuggled against him.
This was Thomas’s family. She was the intruder in this reunion. Leaving him alone went against the grain, but Helena didn’t want to force herself on these people who might want a private word. “I…I’ll…I’ll step out for a while so you all can talk.” She backed toward the doorway.
“No,” Evanee’s husband said, his voice a bit louder than it should have been, freezing Helena in place.
“No, you won’t.” Evanee motioned to the chair Helena had been sitting in next to Thomas’s bed. “You’ll stay right here with him where you belong.” Her words might’ve been bossy, but her tone was friendly. “You’re family now.”
A pleasant warmth stole over Helena’s face. Family. She hadn’t had a family since she’d gone to prison.
Helena looked at Thomas to see if he felt the same as his sister, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. He was avoiding eye contact with all of them.
The wild smile on Evanee’s face faded, her brow wrinkled, and her mouth turned down on one side. She could see there was something wrong with her brother too. She placed her hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the touch. “I know. I…know…” Savage understanding dominated her tone. “It will get better, I promise.”
Evanee aimed an uninterpretable look at Helena. It wasn’t quite blame but was riding close to that ridge. She reached up and touched the tattoo on her husband’s face. “I’m going to take Helena out in the hallway for a chat. I’ll stay where you can see me.”
Her husband’s eyes absorbed every word, as though he saw them rather than heard them. “Okay.” There was hesitation in his voice. Not the kind that came from an abusive, controlling asshole, but the kind that came from anxiety and fear. What had these two been through that they were afraid to be apart?
Evanee headed for the doorway and grabbed Helena’s hand and tugged her out into the hallway but was careful to look in and see her husband standing, arms crossed, watching them. Helena stood where she could see Thomas lying in bed.
She fortified herself for the onslaught of anger Evanee was going to fire at her. “I’ll stay out here until you leave if you want, but I’m not leaving him. And just so you know the truth, I’m innocent. I never killed Rory Ellis. Malone confessed…sort of. I would never hurt Thomas. I only want to be near him and help him.” She ran out of words and steam at the same time.
Evanee threw herself at Helena. Suddenly, she was locked in a bear hug. What? Why? She stood there, not sure how to react. Maybe she should embrace the woman back.
Evanee pulled away and stared into Helena’s eyes. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For finding him. We didn’t know any of this was going on, or we would’ve been there to help you.”
Of all the things Helena thought might’ve been said, this hadn’t even been on the radar. How was she supposed to respond? You’re welcome sounded stupid.
Evanee placed her hand on Helena’s arm. “How much do you know about how this thing between us works?”
“I… Um… Us? I just met you. I’m not sure what you mean.”
“By us, I meant Xander and Isleen, me and Lathan, and you and him.” She must’ve seen a total blankness on Helena’s face. “The connection.” Her tone almost carried a duh quality. “Dr. Stone was supposed to tell you about it.” Before Helena could find a response, Evanee was talking again. “You know you can heal him, right? Body and mind.” Urgency born of concern dominated her tone.
Helena’s head bobbled sideways. “What…” She couldn’t figure out what to say beyond that one word.
“You have bad dreams, right?” Evanee spoke so fast, Helena had a hard time interpreting the words.
“How do you know about that?”
The corner of Evanee’s mouth lifted. “Isleen and I have terrible dreams. Your nightmares started the night you met him, right?”
Helena nodded slowly. How did Evanee know all these things?
Evanee stared into the hospital room at her husband, naked love shining on her face, making her radiant. “The moment you met him, you knew something was different, right?”
Helena’s mind flashed to the cemetery, to the instantaneous connection she’d felt. “Yeah. How—”
“And you found him at that cabin. Like needle-in-the-haystack found him.” The weight of Evanee’s implication landed on her.
What she had done was impossible. There was no rational explanation for how she’d known Thomas’s exact location. “Yeah.”
“I could spend hours telling you how all this stuff between the couples works, but I found it easier to understand when Dr. Stone told me the story of Fearless and Bear—”
“The old totem alongside the road? I know the story. My grandpa used to tell it to me. What does the story of Fearless and Bear have to do with anything?”
