Always My Hero

by Jennifer DeCuir

  • • •

  Ryan’s hands shook so badly, he dropped his cell phone. This wasn’t happening. His nightmare of a day had taken a horribly sick turn for the worst when the school called to inform him that Wesley was missing.

  “What do you mean, missing? Where would he go?”

  “That’s what we were hoping you could tell us. He did not return to his classroom with the rest of the students and a search of the building and the school grounds came up empty.”

  Wesley would never leave school on his own without telling anyone. He was a good kid. The only alternative that came to mind chilled his blood. What if Haley kidnapped Wesley to use as leverage so that he wouldn’t press charges? She’d give him his son back if he let her take the money and walk away?

  “My ex-wife. Maybe she … I don’t know … ” He couldn’t even voice his fears. Saying it out loud lent credence to the fact that it could actually be true.

  “Mr. Pettridge, I am sending a police officer to your house right now.”

  “The store. Please send him to the hardware store. That’s where I am,” Ryan corrected the school principal.

  Given everything Haley had put him through, he knew she was capable of this and more. She was probably realizing just now that she hadn’t thought through her escape. If he had his way, Haley would be on the run for the rest of her life. If he couldn’t see her behind bars, then he would make damned certain her life was a living hell.

  Swiping all the phone parts off the floor and snapping them back into place, Ryan let out a sigh of relief when he found it still worked. Now he just had to sit around and wait for Haley to call him. She’d want to hand him off and be done with this sooner rather than later, right?

  Choking back a sob, Ryan clenched his fists and wore a trail from the front of the store to the office and back. Taking shallow breaths to keep from losing it altogether, he whispered prayers to a God he hadn’t ever taken the time to acknowledge before.

  He ought to call someone. His parents—no. They had just left the store not too long ago and he knew his father would be resting. The man had been under far too much stress for his overtaxed body. Bree. Yanking his phone from his pocket, Ryan dialed Bree’s number and cursed a blue streak when she didn’t answer. And why should she? He’d given her the bum’s rush earlier. She probably thought he hated her. Truth was, he needed her now more than ever.

  The front door rattled and the telltale bell overhead rang out as someone entered. Hopefully Chief Hanson had sent Chase back. If he had to deal with the police twice in one day, he wanted it to be someone he could count on. Ryan spun on his heel and hurried back to the front of the store. But instead of Scallop Shores’ finest, Wesley stood just inside the door, looking tiny, wet, and thoroughly bedraggled.

  “Oh, thank God! You’re okay!” Ryan ran forward, dropped to his knees and pulled his son into his arms. He let the tears course, unchecked, down his cheeks.

  “Did she hurt you? Did she threaten you in any way?” He studied the boy’s face for cuts and bruising, checking his clothing for rips and tears.

  “Nobody hurt me, Dad. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Your mom. How did you get away?”

  Wesley’s answer was muffled against the fabric of his shirt as Ryan had already wrapped him in another Papa Bear hug. It didn’t matter anyway. He was home. He was safe.

  Chase chose that moment to walk in. He stood quietly to the side while he waited for Ryan to pull himself together. The relief on his friend’s face was an expression only another dad would have. Chase got it. He’d be bawling like a baby too if his kid had been taken.

  “Does this mean she’s still in town? We can still catch her.” Clearly, the officer had come to the same conclusion as Ryan.

  “Dad, I wasn’t kidnapped.” Wesley pushed himself out of Ryan’s arms, refusing to look at either man as he studied the toes of his soggy sneakers.

  “But the school called. They reported you missing.”

  “Am I going to be arrested?” Wesley looked up at him with huge eyes. His whole body was shaking.

  “Of course not! Kiddo, we’re just so happy that you’re safe.” Ryan was starting to realize what his son was trying to explain to him. “Wait, Wes, did you leave school on your own?”

  His answer was a slow, guilty nod.

  “Oh my God, you scared the hell out of me! Why would you do that?” Backing up to give the kid some space, Ryan raked his hands through his hair.

  “The older kids at recess were picking on me, saying Mom stole from the hardware store and making fun of you for letting her do it.” Wesley’s small voice was filled with righteous indignation.

  “Hey, I’m gonna get out of here, let you two have some privacy.” Chase ruffled the boy’s wet hair, nodded at Ryan and left the store.

  Ryan scooped Wesley up and set him on the counter by the cash register. He ought to be mad as hell that his kid had scared twenty years off him. But he was just so relieved Wesley had made it to him in one piece.

  “Why did it take you so long to get here? The school called ages ago.”

  Again with the guilty look. “I was here ... earlier. I slipped in while you were talking to Grandma. I heard you saying we were moving back to California. I got mad at you. I don’t wanna go!” He let out a wail, the likes of which Ryan hadn’t heard out of him since his terrible twos.

  And he deserved it. He’d pushed Bree away and then he’d sent his kid running off, God knew where. Ryan braced his hands on either side of Wesley and leaned forward until they were touching foreheads.

  “If you’d stayed a bit longer, you would have heard your grandmother chew me out for that decision.”

  “Yeah? You got in trouble?” Wesley sniffled, scooching forward to wrap his arms around Ryan’s waist and rest his cheek against his father’s chest.

  “Kinda. It’s been a long day, kiddo. What do you say we go home and I run you a hot bath?”

  “Big boys don’t take baths.”

  “Big boys that don’t want to catch pneumonia take baths.”

  “Fine. You win.” Wesley hung on tight as Ryan hooked his hands under the boy’s arms and swung him off the countertop.

  They shut down the store and got settled in the car. Ryan drove through town, wipers slapping at the rain that seemed determined to stick out the day. There was a reason why New Englanders called spring “mud season.” It was going to coat everything.

  “Dad, why were you so worried that Mom had taken me? She’s my mother. She would never hurt me, right?”

  Ryan always prided himself on being honest with Wesley. Well, with a little leeway when it came to Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and all his imaginary friends. He hated to badmouth the kid’s own mother, but it was high time he tell him the straight-up truth.

  “Your mom made some bad choices, bud. You know how you felt when Officer Eaton came in? Probably kinda scared and like you wanted to run and keep running until you knew you were safe?”

  Ryan kept one eye on the road but watched for his son’s reaction in the rearview mirror. He looked thoughtful, a little worried. His nod was quick, jerky.

  “Well, you didn’t do anything wrong. Now imagine your mom, who knows she has done something that can put her in jail. She must be feeling incredibly desperate. And desperate people do dangerous things. They can’t help it, bud. They’re scared out of their wits and they just lash out.”

  “So, she could hurt someone that might be trying to help her?”

  The tone of Wesley’s voice, more so than the actual question, had Ryan yanking the truck to the side of the road. He turned in his seat to find that Wesley had gone ghost-white. His eyes were wide and he trembled, shaking his head from side to side.

  “Wes, what’s going on? You need to tell me so I can help. Please.” He tried to keep from shouting but his nerves were about to snap. His whole body told him this was bad. This was worse than Haley stealing the money from the sale of the store bad.r />
  “We were trying to help you. Bree said if she could talk to Mom, she could convince her to give the money back. You could buy back the store and we could stay in Scallop Shores.

  “I didn’t know she could get hurt. Dad, we have to save her!”

  Sweet Jesus, Wesley had gone to Bree! Ryan closed his eyes, feeling as though a thousand shards of ice stabbed through his skin. Heart pounding viciously in his ears, he gave Wesley what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

  “You know where your mom is, then?”

  A small nod.

  “And Bree is already on her way there?”

  “I was supposed to give her a head start,” he muttered shamefully.

  Pulling into the nearest driveway he came to, Ryan turned the truck around and headed for his parents’ house to drop off Wesley. If Haley touched a hair on Bree’s head he was going to strangle her with his bare hands.

  Chapter 19

  Bree remained in her car, eyes fixed on the one-story brownstone for a full fifteen minutes after she’d arrived at the address Wesley had committed to memory. Her GPS got her there roughly ten minutes later than predicted, but at least the rain had stopped about halfway through New Hampshire. She blew on her icy fingers. She’d turned off the engine as soon as she’d pulled up to the curb, afraid that the exhaust plumes would draw unwanted attention.

  The fact that she had rushed off to confront Haley without any kind of solid plan was now starting to filter in. Bree couldn’t be sure Ryan’s ex was even alone in the house. Willow might be there. Or worse yet, Willow could have a husband, a big brute of a man. With the lies that Haley was sure to have told them, he would be more than happy to rush to the defense of one of his wife’s oldest and dearest friends.

  But it was too late. She was here now and she had to do something. It was barely two in the afternoon, so chances were pretty good that Willow and her imaginary, muscle-bound husband would be at work. Haley could be hanging out on their living room sofa, counting her ill-gotten cash and watching daytime television.

  Bree peered through the windshield. She could detect no movement at the windows. A light was on at the back of the house, in deference to the lack of sunlight that day. Someone was home. With any luck, just the one particular someone she sought.

  Now or never. She tapped nervously on the steering wheel and dug down deep for the courage to face this cornered lion. Seriously, it wasn’t like Haley would be packing a weapon. If she could just stay clear of the woman’s meticulously lacquered talons, she ought to be safe. Right?

  Just talk sense into her. Bree opened her car door and stepped out, shutting it as silently as she could. Convince her that prison orange would not be a good look on her. Heart beating so hard she worried she might pass out, Bree ducked down when she passed the front windows and slipped stealthily up onto the porch. Appeal to her sense of right and wrong and the kind of legacy she wanted to leave her child.

  There, that ought to do it. She had a plan. Sort of. Bree blew out a breath and knocked on the door, stepping to the side so there was no way Haley could peer out and see who was there.

  When the door opened a crack and Bree saw that it was Haley, she bravely stuck her foot inside and prayed that she could push her way in before Haley removed her foot from her body with a body slam to the door.

  “You!” Haley snarled but made no attempt to push her bodily out the door. She leaned out to see if Bree was alone. When she saw that the librarian hadn’t brought the cavalry with her she threw up her hands in disgust, turned and walked down a long hall that opened into a small kitchen.

  Accepting this as the only invitation she was likely to receive, Bree hurried through the door and down the hall. She worried that Haley might have an escape route in mind with an exit out the back of the house. Though once she reached the doorway to the kitchen, she paused, perplexed. Haley merely settled at a worn kitchen table, wrapping her hands around a mug of tea and stared into its brown depths.

  “How did you find me?” Haley didn’t sound angry or maniacal. She didn’t act desperate or cornered. She just looked exhausted.

  “Wes overheard you talking on the phone a few nights ago.”

  “So where’s Ryan then?” Haley kept her eyes focused on the teacup.

  For a moment, Bree worried that she had given up her element of surprise. Haley was acting calm now, but that was her shtick, wasn’t it? Acting. Bree couldn’t let herself fall for anything that might put her in danger.

  “He’s on his way. I thought maybe we could talk, just the two of us, first.”

  “Oh, and then we could do each other’s nails and braid each other’s hair! It will be so much fun!” Without warning, Haley shoved the tea off the table, where it sailed a good two feet before smashing against the tiled kitchen floor.

  Bree jumped but remained where she stood, not willing to let Haley know how badly she wished to run back to the safety of her car and hightail it back to Scallop Shores. She watched the other woman with mounting concern. Haley’s eyes darted back and forth, like she was looking for the next breakable item to destroy. Maybe this one would be aimed at Bree’s head.

  “It was always you. He always wanted you. Even my kid likes you better. What is it about you that makes everyone go out of their way to worship at your feet?” The chair legs scraped against the floor as Haley turned to fix Bree with a lethal glare.

  “You had no life in high school. You have no life now. And no one seems to mind. They love you anyway.

  “I was the best cheerleader in high school. The prettiest girl in our class. I was the one who got that role in the shampoo commercial when I was only six years old! I was born to be an actress. I have everything it takes. Yet no one wants me. Why is that?” Haley’s voice had risen to a shrill scream, spittle flying past her thinning lips.

  Bree knew she had to defuse the situation. Sidling into the room, she cautiously took a seat across from Haley at the table. Unless the woman chose to pick up her chair and throw it at her, she had no ready weapons with which to harm her.

  “You’re still the prettiest. I think you’re going to make an amazing actress. Those producers are fools for not giving you a chance.”

  “You think I don’t realize you’re just placating me? You don’t really believe that.”

  “Oh, yes I do! Haley, you fooled us all. You used your acting ability to con a wealthy businessman into handing you hundreds of thousands of dollars. No one saw it coming. It was flawless.”

  “Except that you found me.” Haley hung her head and Bree was reminded of Wesley in that exact moment.

  “The planning and the execution were flawless. The follow-through needed a little work.”

  “You’re going to ask me to return the money but I have to tell you not to bother. And before you go thinking that it’s from some selfish attempt to buy my way into Hollywood, it isn’t. I am not that shallow, despite what everyone thinks of me.”

  Bree leaned across the table even as Haley became more distraught. She watched the upset woman’s hands clench into fists, then curl into claws before her fingers stretched out rigidly and trembled. She was frightened.

  “Tell me the truth, Haley. For once in your life, tell me exactly why you stole the money.”

  “Ha! And then you’ll leave and just let me be?” Haley looked at her, wildly.

  A calculating gleam in her eyes had the little hairs on Bree’s arms sticking straight up.

  “Does Ryan really know you’re here?” She reached out and grabbed Bree’s fingers in an icy grip. “If I tell you the truth, you would see that I had no choice. You wouldn’t have to let him know you’d even seen me. Just go back home to your perfect life, with your perfect man and the perfect child that I was too self-absorbed to hang on to.” Her voice cracked.

  Heart breaking for the woman who had once had it all, Bree wasn’t sure what to say. If she lied and said Ryan didn’t know, she could talk a confession out of Haley. If she admitted that he really was on his way, s
he wouldn’t learn anything. But something told her that Haley not only wanted to talk to someone, she needed to. And despite all the hateful things Ryan’s ex-wife had done to her over the years, Bree wanted to help.

  “What is the money for, Haley?” She put as much empathy and compassion into the smile she slid across the table. Please let this work.

  “I made a mistake,” Haley began, letting go of Bree’s hands to stand and pace near the counter by the sink.

  Bree followed with her eyes, scanning the counter for knives or scissors, anything that a desperate fugitive might make a grab for if things turned ugly.

  “I needed money. God, I always needed money. Like I told Ryan, head shots are expensive. And I had to be seen at all the right restaurants and nightclubs, you know? You can’t valet park a Honda Civic, so I had to have the best wheels too. It was so expensive. And I just wasn’t making enough to cover it. My parents stopped bailing me out. I think they hate me now. I can’t say that I blame them.” Haley braced her hands on the counter, her attention focused on the backyard and the houses on the next street over.

  “You borrowed money from a loan shark? Someone who wouldn’t take no for an answer when you told them you couldn’t pay them back?”

  “See? You’ve always been so smart. If I’d been half as smart as you, I wouldn’t be in this nightmare right now.”

  “How much do you owe them, Haley?”

  “About fifty thousand, give or take.” She shrugged her shoulders, keeping her back to Bree.

  “Look, I tried not to do it this way. I really did. I couldn’t get a loan from anyone. I even spent my last twenty bucks on lottery tickets. Couldn’t even win a damned dollar back. I swear someone’s got it in for me or something.”

  “I’m not entirely aware of how much that gentleman was willing to pay for the hardware store, but I am guessing that whatever he paid you was significantly more than fifty thousand dollars.” Bree sighed, standing up from the table and crossing to the sink, where she propped a hip against the counter and forced Haley to meet her eyes.