“Where did this person go?” Cassidy asked, her gaze fixated outside.
He reached for the doorknob, everything inside him screaming that something was wrong. “I’m going to go check.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Cassidy asked.
“I don’t think Jennifer will hurt me,” Wes said. “Especially not if she thinks I’m still in love with her.”
Cassidy shifted, as if uncomfortable, but she didn’t try to stop him. “If you’re not back in five minutes, I’m going to come looking for you.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” Wes stepped outside onto his deck and glanced around. His skin crawled at the feeling of unseen eyes on him.
Someone was out there.
Probably Jennifer. What he didn’t know was what she was planning. But he wanted this over with.
He rushed down his steps and onto the grass below. As he did, he continually surveyed everything around him. He had to be careful. He’d meant it when he said he didn’t think Jennifer would hurt him.
But Jennifer had crashed into his catamaran yesterday. Things could have turned out a lot differently. His ex was unpredictable, so Wes had to keep his eyes open and his guard up.
He turned from his drive and paused on the lane, near the woods surrounding the road.
His eyes widened. Someone lay on the ground, a bike sprawled beside her body.
Wes’s heart thumped in his chest. Was that . . . Paige?
He rushed toward her, quickly noting the blood running down her forehead. Something bad had happened to her.
“Paige . . . ” He grasped her shoulders, desperate to see with his own eyes that she was okay.
Her eyes looked glazed as she pushed herself up and rubbed her head. “Wes?”
He glanced around again, another surge of intuition telling him it wasn’t safe out here. He needed to get Paige off this road.
“Come on, let’s get you back to my place.” Without asking permission, he reached down and scooped Paige up into his arms. Her head flopped against his shoulder, and she didn’t argue.
That was the first sign she wasn’t okay.
Moving quickly, Wes carried her back to his house.
Cassidy opened the door, her eyes widening when she spotted Paige. “What . . . ?”
He rushed past and laid Paige on the couch. “I found her like this on the lane, a bike beside her.”
“You’ve got her for a minute?” Cassidy asked, reaching for the gun at her waist and stepping toward the door.
“Yeah, I’ve got Paige. You go after Jennifer.”
Cassidy rushed out the door.
Neither of them thought this was an accident. No, Jennifer had been out there. She must have seen Paige coming and . . .
Anger snaked through his veins.
She was even more twisted than he thought, and she would stop at nothing . . . wouldn’t she?
Paige blinked as everything came into focus around her. The familiar house with its wood paneling. That smell of cedarwood. Then . . . Wes.
She closed her eyes as her head began to pound furiously.
Everything that happened flooded into her mind. She’d been on her bike, less than a block away from Wes’s when something had rammed into the side of her head.
“Paige, are you okay?” Wes squinted at her, worry capturing his features as he stared down at her.
She let out a soft moan, her head still pounding. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Here, drink some water.” He handed her a bottle.
Paige took a sip, wishing the cool liquid could wash away the pulsating pain she felt in her skull.
“I thought you were leaving,” Wes said, his eyes still narrow with concern.
Paige shrugged, waiting for her mind to clear. “I was, but . . . I couldn’t.”
The door opened, and Cassidy stepped inside, a scowl on her face.
“She’s gone,” she announced.
Paige’s stomach sank, though she wasn’t really surprised.
“I found the stick she hit you with. We’ll take that in for evidence. I can also see where she was hiding out in the woods. The underbrush was trampled. But she must have had a car somewhere because she’s clearly not here any longer.”
“That’s . . . disappointing,” Wes muttered.
“Yes, it is.” Cassidy let out a long breath before turning toward Paige. “You’re here still. I thought you were on the ferry. Did something happen?”
“No.” Paige rubbed her head. “It’s just . . .”
“On second thought, I can tell you need to recover before I pepper you with questions,” Cassidy said. “Do you need to go to the clinic?”
Paige raised her hands. “No, I’ll be fine.”
Cassidy’s phone rang. She excused herself, muttered a few things into the device, and then returned with a new light in her eyes. “It definitely looks like Jennifer was staying at that Airbnb in town.”
Paige perked at the news, her head suddenly not hurting as much. “Really? You found where she’s staying?”
“I’m going to go there now and check it out myself,” Cassidy said. “I want to see the place—her things—with my own eyes, see if I can figure out exactly what Jennifer has been up to.”
Wes raised his hand, as if to answer a question that hadn’t yet been asked. “We’ll be fine here. We’ll keep the doors locked, and I’ll remain vigilant until I hear back from you.”
With a hesitant nod, Cassidy stepped toward the door. “Call us if you need us, okay?”
“Will do,” Wes said.
But Paige wasn’t sure anyone would be able to help in this situation.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wes didn’t press Paige for answers. He didn’t disturb her as she lay back on the couch with her eyes squeezed closed and in obvious discomfort. She needed to focus on her recovery right now.
But they both knew the truth. Jennifer had done this to her.
Had Jennifer been on her way to his place when it happened? Disappointment bit hard. If that was the case, then they’d been close to ending all of this. Paige was supposed to be on that ferry headed back home.
What had changed her mind?
As she moaned again, Wes moved to sit beside her. She pulled herself up, and he slipped an arm around her back to offer support.
“Are you sure I can’t take you to the clinic?” Wes desperately didn’t want anything to happen to her.
She nodded, still flinching with every movement. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s not even my head. It’s my whole body from where I hit the ground.”
“I’m sure that didn’t feel good.”
“How did she even know I was coming? It was almost like she was waiting for me.”
Wes frowned. Paige hadn’t been briefed on their plan.
Paige studied his face. “What?”
He shrugged, not wanting to put any additional stress on her. “Nothing.”
“No, there is something. Tell me what.”
“It’s not important . . .”
She touched his arm. “I feel like you’re trying to protect me. Just say it.”
He swallowed hard, knowing Paige wouldn’t give up until he told her what was on his mind. “We set up a sting, hoping to lure Jennifer out here so Cassidy could arrest her.”
Paige’s head dropped forward as guilt washed over her features. “But I ruined it.”
Wes squeezed her arm, wanting more than anything to ease her anguished thoughts. “You didn’t know.”
“But I was supposed to be on that boat.”
“Like I said, you didn’t know.”
She raised her head, but her eyes were still closed. “So, I left Florida and that resulted in my dad having a heart attack. I was determined not to make the same mistake, so I decided not to run this time. However, that also proved to be a big mistake.”
“Paige . . .” Wes wanted to say the right thing, to make her feel better . . . but he wasn’t sure how to do that. He left h
is hand on her arm, desperate to get through to her.
She stood, wobbling as she did. She grabbed the wall to steady herself and shook her head. “You know what? I need to start making some calls about tomorrow.”
“What’s happening tomorrow?” He had no idea where she was going with this.
“The Lantern Beach Scrub a Dub Dub. I’ve got to make sure everything is lined up. If you’ll excuse me . . . I could just use some time to myself.”
Wes frowned. He understood. He really did.
He only wished he hadn’t brought all of this anguish upon her.
Paige straightened when she heard the door opening an hour later.
Was it Cassidy? Had she discovered something?
Paige put her pen and paper down on the kitchen table, where she’d been working in an effort to distract herself. She wanted to talk to Wes about things, but not like this. Not with her thoughts so muddled.
Not only was her head pounding from the attack, but it also pounded because she’d been staring at her notes for the past hour. She knew everything was lined up, but that didn’t stop her from reviewing each detail for tomorrow’s event over and over again.
It was better than facing Wes. Better than owning up to the fact that she’d ruined their plan. If she hadn’t come down the road when she did . . . Jennifer might be in custody right now. How did she come to terms with that realization?
Cassidy stepped inside and remained near the door, almost like a messenger might. Paige held her breath as she waited to hear what Cassidy had discovered. She prayed it wasn’t another dead end.
“Good news,” Cassidy said. “Jennifer was staying at that Airbnb.”
Wes stood from the couch and stepped closer to Cassidy. “Was she there?”
Cassidy frowned. “No, we weren’t that lucky. The owner of the house hasn’t seen her since early this morning. Said she was very quiet, minded her own business, and seemed friendly.”
“Was she staying by herself?” Paige asked.
“Yes, she was. Why?”
“When Jennifer talked to me at Lisa’s place, she said she was here with her husband on a vacation.” She’d even had a ring. She’d been convincing.
“She probably used that as part of her story to make herself sound more believable,” Cassidy said. “Nothing we’ve discovered has led us to believe she’s married.”
“Good to know,” Paige muttered.
“But this is what we did find.” Cassidy held her phone up.
Paige stood from the kitchen table and stepped closer for a better look. Cassidy had taken photos of the inside of the place. Pictures had been spread across one of the dressers there.
Pictures of Paige and Wes—except in each photo Paige’s face had been crossed out with a fat black marker. There was a snapshot of them at the beach playing in the water. Another of them on the deck outside of Paige’s RV. Another of them watching the sunset at a nearby waterside park.
She sucked in a breath as she realized just how serious this was—as if she didn’t already know. But this woman was messed up. Full of lies. Desperate enough to hurt others. Unbalanced.
Wes touched her elbow, as if trying to make her feel better.
But there would be no cheering her up after seeing these. That woman had lost her mind. She must have been here at least a week, based on some of the pictures.
And Paige hadn’t had a clue.
“This is disturbing.” Wes’s voice sounded flat, almost defeated—which was entirely unlike him.
“It is,” Cassidy agreed. “But we know she’s here. She can’t hide but for so long. We’re going to catch her.”
“And in the meantime?” Paige sat back on the couch and pulled a pillow onto her lap.
Cassidy offered a sympathetic smile. “Then we wait.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Wes and Paige went back to Cassidy and Ty’s that evening. It seemed safer than spending the night in their respective homes.
Jennifer hadn’t been sighted, but Wes felt sure she was still here on Lantern Beach. Still watching. Still waiting for just the right opportunity. They’d learned through other cases that there were a lot of places to hide on this island.
He was really hoping for just a moment alone to talk to Paige. To figure out what she’d been thinking when she came back. To try to set her mind at ease.
Instead, the four of them had eaten together. Ty, who loved to cook, had fixed some chicken on the grill along with roasted potatoes and a salad. As they’d eaten dinner, things had almost felt normal—eerily normal. They all knew things were anything but normal.
Clearly some tension still stretched between Wes and Paige. Would she forgive him for calling her parents?
He wasn’t sure.
They finally had a moment alone after Cassidy and Ty went to bed.
Paige glanced up at him. They’d been at the table, playing cards. Now that it was just the two of them, she looked uncertain, like she should flee for bed before they got wrapped up in a conversation she didn’t want to have.
He reached his hand across the table, almost as if offering an olive branch. “Paige, can we talk?”
She stared at him a moment, the cut near her temple a stark reminder of how dire this situation was. Finally, she shrugged. “I suppose.”
He nodded toward the couch. Wordlessly, they both stood, walked across the room, and sat. The tension in the air was nearly physical.
He cleared his throat and tried to find the right words. “Why did you come back, Paige?”
Wes stared at her, watching her response carefully. If Jennifer hadn’t knocked her off her bike, what would have happened today? Had she come back to give Wes a piece of her mind? Or to say something else?
She licked her lips. “I came back because I didn’t want to run away from my problems.”
“But your safety is on the line.”
“You and I both know that if I left, there was a good chance I wouldn’t be coming back. There was a chance that Jennifer would leave you alone. That things would feel fine. But they won’t be fine unless she’s locked up.”
“I don’t want to put you at risk.”
“I don’t want to be at risk either.” She shivered and grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch. She pulled it over her legs and leaned back, the dim room masking some of her features. “But I’m tired of running, Wes.”
Wes reached for her, desperate to comfort her, but Paige pulled away. He dropped his hand.
“Just because I came back doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.” Her words were quiet and her gaze nearly hollow.
“Paige, I—”
“Don’t.” She shook her head, her anger mellowing. “I know what you’re going to say. That you were trying to look out for me. It wasn’t your decision, though.”
“It wasn’t your choice to have a stalker after you either.” How could he get through to her?
“But I’m a big girl. I can make my own choices, even if they’re choices you don’t like.”
Wes opened his mouth and then shut it again.
“I’ve made mistakes in my past, Wes,” she continued. “I guess we both have. But my goal isn’t to look at the past and revel in my wrongdoings. I want to look forward. I want to figure out the rest of my life. Maybe not all of it. But at least the near future.”
“I understand that.”
She crossed her arms, needing to speak her mind. Keeping her emotions inside would do neither of them any good. “And, furthermore, you shouldn’t have called my parents.”
“You’re right. I should have let you decide. I’m sorry, Paige.” Wes thought he’d made the right choice. But listening to her now . . . he could have handled it better.
She nodded and stood. She had her apology, and now she appeared to be done. “Thank you. Now, I need to go to bed. Maybe we can talk more tomorrow, after I’ve had some time to let my thoughts settle.”
“Of course.”
Wes wondered if he’d made the
biggest mistake of his life . . . and, if he had, he had no idea if this mistake was even fixable.
Paige pressed her face into her pillow and swallowed back her tears. Why did everything have to be so complicated? How had things gone from great to so awful in just a matter of days?
She sniffled and let out a deep breath. She was going to have to deal with it. She was a grown woman, and she needed to figure out the rest of her life.
Would it be here in Lantern Beach? Should she go back to Florida?
What did she want to do with her life? There was a part of her that loved working for the Lantern Beach PD. Cassidy was a great boss. The community was a mix of peaceful and easygoing at times, and at other times crime-riddled. It made it just interesting enough to not be boring, but not so interesting that she didn’t feel safe.
She blew out another breath. She should know better than to try to map out her future. It never worked that way.
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. ~Proverbs 16:9
That verse had been on a painting hanging on the wall in her parents’ house.
It was true. She could make all the plans she wanted, but that didn’t mean things would happen the way she desired. Part of life and being an adult was learning to roll with the punches.
Which brought her back to Wes.
His image flashed in her mind. His glimmering eyes, rakish grin, sturdy build.
How had he gained a place so quickly in her heart? And what about the overbearing decision he’d made for her, calling her parents and ultimately trying to get her off the island?
Still, she’d seen honest concern in his eyes. He said he did it because he cared about her.
But it had been intrusive. It had crossed a line.
Paige squeezed her eyes shut.
She would get some sleep. She would oversee the Lantern Beach Scrub a Dub Dub tomorrow. Then she’d figure out the rest of her life.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Wes somehow needed to convince Paige to stay out of the line of fire today. However, last time he’d tried to convince her to do something, it hadn’t gone over well.
Winds of Danger Page 11
