by Paris Morgan
***
Anxiously awaiting Adam’s arrival, I went for a run that would take me near the front so I could keep an eye out for his car.
I’d barely made it around the trail toward the front when a white paneled van pulled up. Someone shoved a disheveled Kara out of the side door as they slowed down, but didn’t stop.
Racing to her side, I helped pick her up off the ground.
“Are you okay?”
She sniffled and tried to stand, but the heel of her flower shoes had been broken. “I’ll make it.”
With my arm for help, she limped inside and collapsed as we got into her room.
“I don’t understand why these things keep happening to me.” She rubbed her wrists where a rope had broken the skin.
“It’s because someone is trying to prove something to me.” I walked into the bathroom and started the shower for her. “The important thing is that you’re back. They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
“No.” She shook her head, blushing. “Not in that way. Although, those guys were more than willing to do it from what they said.”
With a sigh of relief, I helped her pull her dress over her head and led her to the shower. “I’ll be out here when you’re done.”
While I wasn’t thrilled that they’d held her hostage because Adam had gone off the grid, I was thankful that they hadn’t done any physical damage.
An hour later, I had tucked her into bed with the promise to check on her later.
The fact that she was back meant that Adam was here. I closed the door softly to the sound of her snores, happy that she could get some sleep.
Adam was sitting there eating the breakfast I’d picked up for Ryan.
“Glad to see you escaped the terrifying closet,” he teased. “Kara back?”
“Yeah. I just tucked her in. And the closet was terrifying, thank you very much. I had a mind visit from the Zodiac Master, or a projection from him, whatever.” I gave him a thumbs up.
“Want to go for a walk?” He threw the container in the trash before laying his cell phone, keys, and watch on the counter.
“Sounds good.” We headed toward the woods and away from the road.
When we were out of hearing range, I turned to him. “Is Mac okay?”
“Yes. I can’t tell you anything more than that, but he’s been taken care of, and shouldn’t be a concern for the foreseeable future.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.” I paused, not having realized how worried I’d been about him.
“There’s more to this than even you know. I can’t tell you everything, but we’re about to put the screws to this man. When it’s over, there’ll be a spot for you in our special division, unless you’re just dying to go back to the Dallas police force.”
“Thanks for the offer. I’m not sure how I’m going to feel when this is over, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
“The offers always there, anytime. Do you think Kara had something to do with her ‘disappearance?’”
“No. Unless she’s a world class actress, I think she’s a completely innocent woman, but I’ve been fooled before. For some reason, the Zodiac Master flipped out that you’d gone somewhere he couldn’t find you.”
“Which means that we need to go off the grid completely and make him wonder what’s going on.” Adam nodded thoughtfully.
“Can we possibly do that and keep everyone safe? He could decide that our parents or friends of friends are up to take the fall instead of us.”
“It’s going to take some careful planning, but I think we can manage pretty easily. We’ll need to keep Flora and Shea on the Demeter ranch because he’s not going to go there, but I think it’s possible.”
I shook my head at his optimism. “You’re the boss.”
“For right now. Keep doing what you have been doing, because obviously, we’ve started to irritate our target, and he’s starting to act more irrational.”
“So you bought it?” I grinned, suddenly happy.
“Totally. Like the hair, by the way.” Adam’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Gotta up my game. Can do.” I gave him a jaunty salute as we started back to the cottage.
Chapter 10
Leslie
I’d been living in the moment for almost two weeks, and it was so nice to ignore all of my training and just do whatever I wanted.
Kara had texted that they were waiting for me in the lobby. We were going to try our hand at golfing since there was a course nearby, where guests of the Happy Hills Facility had privileges.
I wasn’t really a person that golfed, ever, but I was hurrying to reach the elevator when someone put a hand on the door to keep it open.
Instinct had me looking up to see Jerome standing there in the doorway.
“What are you doing here?” The question slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. I wasn’t supposed to care what he did anymore, but what the hell was he doing here?
“Uh…I was recommended to come here and take some time to recover from my last relationship after my date slapped me last week. I realized that it might not have been your job, but my issues that caused us to break up.” He pushed the button for the lobby.
“Okay,” I replied carefully. “Why were you on the floor with the bedrooms?”
“Oh, one of the ladies twisted her ankle in yoga, and I volunteered to help her to her room,” he explained, leaning against the wall as far away from me as possible.
“Right. You’ll have to excuse me, as I find your presence here bordering on stalkerish, and quite the coincidence.”
“I can see how you might think that. Honestly, when I saw my therapist and told him about the last horrible date, he recommended this facility as a good place to get away and destress.”
The elevator dinged and the doors opened, but neither one of us moved.
“Why are you here, Leslie?” he questioned as I stood there rooted to the spot.
“Someone died, and they thought I needed a chance to work through it.” I pasted on a smile. “I’m doing great, and not even thinking about work much these days. I may have to go into a new profession because I’m not sure that being a detective is going to work for me.”
“No, that’s horrible. You love being a cop. I hope I didn’t have anything to do with that decision. I’ve learned that just because my expectations were set on something, doesn’t mean I should have acted like that. You were completely in the right to break it off. I should have trusted you and listened when you said that there wasn’t anyone else.”
“That’s nice of you to say now, but it really hurt me. If the person I’m dating can’t trust me, then who am I to say that I’m trustworthy? It makes you doubt your own levels of self-worth. It’s a slippery slope for someone’s confidence to deal with. Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment to get to with my friends.” I held my head high and pushed the button for the door to open again.
He touched my arm gently. “I’m really sorry that I made you doubt yourself. I…well, there’s not anything I can do about it now. You’re an amazing person, and I wish you all the best.”
“It really had very little to do with you and more with jerks in general. Have a great day.” I flounced away repeating to myself, Don’t look back at him and give him the satisfaction.
I texted the girls that I was going to have to cancel and made my way straight to Lu’s office.
Knocking loudly with an urgent tone, I was about to knock again when he opened the door.
“Are you available? I need to talk.” No one else was in the room, so I pushed past him when he nodded in surprise.
“Uh, yeah, come on in.” He hung the sign saying ‘in session’ and closed the door.
“I’m guessing from your agitated state that something’s happened. Is everything going okay with the case?”
“Ha! If you mean acting like I don’t care about my friends getting hurt and people dying? Then yeah, it’s going splendidly. I should have been an actress in
stead of a detective.” I ran a hand through my hair. “My ex-boyfriend just showed up here, of all places.”
“Really? You don’t think that’s a little strange?”
“Of course I do. That’s why I’m sitting in your office freaking out. He said that he’s here to get better. He hasn’t had any more success with dating than I have, and he’s been going to therapy.” My foot kept twitching, but I didn’t bother stopping it. “Could he have changed? Why is he really here?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer. “He might have learned something helpful for a relationship, but that would mean I’m giving him control again, and I’m not sure that would be wise considering the fact that people are dying because of me. On the other hand,” I rambled on, “he might be able to stay alive because the Zodiac Master left him alone the first time. Or maybe he just wasn’t as much of a threat as an Assistant D.A. What do you think?”
“First, are you finished?” Lu let out a chuckle. “I’m not sure I’ve heard anyone speak that fast in quite a while. Second, if he has changed, would you go back to him?”
My cuticles suddenly seemed more interesting than answering his question.
“Yes,” I whispered, ashamed.
“Why are you whispering? It’s your choice. Either own it or don’t do it. Is there a reason you would feel guilty for getting involved with him again?”
“Aw, screw it. You’re right. It’s my choice no matter what others think. I mean, it’s been several weeks and I’ve mourned for Chris. That’s why I’m here on your couch every day, isn’t it? Jerome just makes my heart beat faster, and I need the distraction.”
“So you’re just going to use him for sex?” He raised an eyebrow, expressing his dislike of the idea.
“No, not just for sex. Although, that would be wonderful to work off some steam, but he listened. It’s just…I feel like one of those women we tell not to go back when he shows up with flowers after beating the snot out of her, you know?” I re-crossed my legs and tried not to fidget as much.
“How about if you work on a compromise? If you see him, smile, and have a polite conversation. Watch how he acts for a few days, and then make a rational decision. Not one based out of fear or desire, but an honest assessment of your emotions. You might not even feel the same way, but the surprise of seeing him brought up all those feelings.”
“He’s smart,” Mary Ann announced. “You should listen to him.”
“Okay, I’m sorry for the surprise visit. All this acting is making me doubt my actions, and that’s not like me at all.”
“Don’t worry about it. You were right to come and discuss it with me. That’s what I’m here for, and you’re going through a lot of changes. It’s going to be hard for a while, but I think it might work.”
“I hope so.” I stood and made my way to the door. “If any die this month, I’m going to be really pissed off.”
“Duh. I’m pretty sure that’s a healthy response.”
“I’ll leave that up to you since you’re the expert.” A smile crept across my lips, and I didn’t feel as crazy as I had only moments before. “Thanks.”
***
While his presence at the facility was disturbing to me, I managed to ignore him until the day of my birthday. I was going to ignore the fact that it was my birthday, because while there hadn’t been any deaths related to birthdays yet, that didn’t mean I wanted to tempt fate.
When I came down to breakfast, sitting at my table were Kara and Shelly, as well as Adam and Ryan.
“Okay, what’s with the grins everyone?”
“Nothing. The girls invited us to breakfast, and I’m so tired of cooking for myself that I thought this would be a wonderful idea.” Adam sipped his coffee.
“Uh-huh. I don’t buy it, but whatever.” I kept my carefree persona in place as I settled in at the table.
Kara’s smile just beamed at me, and I knew I was doomed. Ever since her brush with death, and then kidnapping a few days before, she’d been almost inseparable from me. I’d picked up a stray, and it was going to be hard to make her go away.
“Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you…” they sang loudly, attracting the attention of all the other people who were up and awake. “And many more.” The waiter placed a large stack of pancakes in front of me with a single candle for me to blow out.
“Make a wish.” Kara bounced up and down in her seat with excitement.
I closed my eyes, thinking the one thing that would make a difference. Please let this be over. With one breath, I blew out the single candle.
“Pancakes work much better with breakfast than cake. Not that I’d have turned down cake if you’d gotten me one.” I smiled at all the friends of mine gathered around. “I hadn’t planned to celebrate, but this is perfect.”
Kara and Shelly drug me around to different things at the facility all morning, but it was the perfect birthday gift when I found out that they had set up a special event for us to go horseback riding.
It had been years since I’d been on horse, and I was afraid I wouldn’t remember how to do it, but it all came rushing back.
We went over to the stables they had on the edge of property. A feeling of excitement ran through me as I spotted the sleek black horse with white feet that I wanted to ride.
Unlike what we had to do growing up, they already had three horses saddled and waiting for us.
“Thank you, girls. This is amazing.” I patted the nose of my horse so we could get to know each other before we went out. I glanced at both of them. “Have either of you ever ridden a horse before?”
“No, and that’s what makes this is so exciting,” Shelly giggled.
“You’re going out with us, aren’t you?” I asked the handler, uneasy with the idea of both of them going out with no prior training.
“Yes, I’ll be with you, and these horses are all very gentle for new riders.” He smiled as I untied the reins, patting my horse as I ducked under her neck. “What’s her name?”
“Bella.”
“Bella. Hey, girl, we’re going to have a good ride today, okay? Are you ready to get started?”
I laughed when she neighed. “All right then.” I held the reins as I put my right foot into the stirrup and swung my body into the saddle.
“You’ve done this before.” The handler smiled.
“Yes, sir. I wish I’d have brought my cowboy boots instead of sneakers because they’re safer, but I’ll make do.”
Kara and Shelly both had to have help getting onto their saddles as Bella and I walked around getting a feel for each other.
“Eek. It’s so high up. She won’t start running unless I tell her, right?” Shelly was holding onto the pommel for dear life.
This was going to be interesting to say the least.
Kara’s smile had faded, and for the first time, she was speechless.
“Don’t worry. We’re just going to walk to the corral and let you get the feel of it,” the handler encouraged them, taking each horse by the halter.
He let me handle Bella on my own, but kept an eye out for any problems.
Bella and I started trotting around the ring while the girls were holding onto their mounts for dear life, even though they were barely moving.
After about ten minutes, I was certain that we were warmed up and ready to do some light running.
“Hey, can I take her out into the pasture?”
“Sure.” The handler focused on Shelly, who was about to fall off, and her horse wasn’t even moving. In fact, it was standing completely still.
That was all I needed as I maneuvered around the gate and headed for the open pasture.
“Okay, Bella, let’s see what you can do.” I gave her the lead and let her know it was okay with a slight pressure of my heels.
She must have understood what I wanted because she took off. I leaned over her neck as the wind whipped through my hair. She slowed as we got closer to the pond and a tree that provided a little shade for both of us to rest in.
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“Good girl.” I dismounted, keeping her reins in my hand. Some horses were taught not to wander off, but I had no clue if that was the case with her.
My legs shook a little as I walked around, getting some of the aches out. It had been so long since I’d ridden a horse. My butt was going to be so sore tomorrow.
When we returned, both Kara and Shelly were watching me approach.
“That was so amazing,” Kara breathed. “Did you grow up around horses?”
“Eh. I mean, we had some and rode occasionally, but they were mostly for working with the cows on the ranch.”
“We’ve always lived in the city, and I just thought you could get on a horse without any training. It’s a lot of work. Poor Shelly was even more terrified than I was.” Kara patted her shoulder in sympathy.
“You looked like you’d been doing it your whole life,” Shelly added, awe coloring her voice.
“It’s like riding a bike. Once you know how to do it, it’s not something you forget.” I started to take the saddle off to help out.
“What on earth are you doing?” Shelly crinkled her nose in disgust.
“When you ride a horse, you need to always wash them down, and then groom them. It’s a way of saying thank you for carrying me. A little bit of a pampering session.”
“But that’s what the hired help is for.” She looked at me like I’d grown a third head.
“Well, us southern girls have been the hired help before, and I wouldn’t feel right if I left Bella standing out here in the heat and didn’t help with her grooming. You two go ahead without me.” I waved them away as I took the reins to lead Bella outside for her rubdown.
“Sure, if you say so.” Shelly walked away, shaking her head. “She’s crazy.”
“It’s her birthday, and if she wants to groom her horse, I say we let her.” Kara gave me a wink over her shoulder.
I had just finished with the water and had started to brush out Bella’s hair when someone cleared their throat.
