by Katie Reus
She slid into her SUV and ripped it open with cold fingers—and felt her entire world tilt on its axis.
Blinking, she slid the icy silver charm bracelet into her open palm. Fear crawled through her like thick, slow molasses as she stared at it. The angel wing charm was familiar; she’d worn one like it on her wrist from age fifteen to twenty.
Back before she and her twin sister had been kidnapped and tortured by infamous serial killer Michael Black.
He’d taken all their jewelry, and it had never been recovered by the FBI when they’d searched his residence and that horrible cabin. This wasn’t hers though. It was a replica of Savannah’s. It…couldn’t be the real thing. No way.
What kind of sick person would leave something like this for her? She closed her eyes and regretted it the instant she did. Blood trickled onto the rough wood flooring. Drip, drip, drip. Her sister’s lifeless eyes staring back at her.
Someone knocked on the window.
Serenity let out a short scream until she realized it was her friend and former elementary school teacher Maris Carson standing outside the driver’s side window. It took her fumbling hands two tries to get the door open. “Hey, what are you doing here?” She couldn’t keep her voice from trembling.
Maris watched her with sharp, brown eyes. The former teacher now ran a shelter for abused women. Today she wore what Serenity thought of as her standard “uniform”—dark jeans, a white T-shirt and a thick, button-down sweater with tap-dancing moose covering it. Normally the sight of the sweater would have made her smile, but Serenity couldn’t force one out. She could barely draw in a steady breath.
“Just making a report. Had a problem down at the shelter, but that’s not what’s worrying me now. What’s wrong?”
Wordlessly Serenity held out the bracelet. Maris frowned at it then raised her eyebrows as she took it. The angel charm flipped over and that was when Serenity saw the S-1 engraved on the back. Was this actually Savannah’s bracelet? No…it couldn’t be.
Bile rose in her throat. Shoving Maris out of the way she jumped from the SUV and retched onto the asphalt, losing what little contents her stomach had. All her muscles tightened as she continued to dry heave until it registered that Maris was rubbing her hand up and down Serenity’s spine.
God, she needed to get it together. It was just a physical object, she reminded herself. It couldn’t hurt her… Except it could. Someone had sent this to terrify her and it had worked.
Blinking away tears, she used her scarf to wipe her mouth before taking it off. She tossed it into her vehicle then leaned against the side of it. “It was Savannah’s. It was taken when we were… Someone left it on my windshield.” And she couldn’t even think of what that meant. Black had taken their jewelry when they’d been drugged and unconscious. Even though none of it had ever been recovered, there had been enough crime specials on Black years ago—and books written about him—that it wasn’t a secret that he’d taken all his victims’ jewelry.
Maris’s face went hard. “You just found this?”
“Yeah. In an envelope.” Her throat was dry and scratchy.
Maris looked inside and pulled the envelope out by the edges in case there were fingerprints on it. When she did, a small piece of paper fluttered out. Feeling about a thousand years old, Serenity bent to pick it up but Maris was faster.
“Tick-tock, tick-tock,” she read aloud. Her jaw tightened even more as she scanned the parking lot. “Grab your keys. We’re heading back inside.”
Fear punched through her at the note and the bracelet, but she shoved it back down. Someone wanted to scare her but she wasn’t going to lose control. She started to nod in agreement, but stopped. “Give me a sec. I need to make a call and make sure someone can pick up Harper.” Because she wasn’t sure how long this would take. And right about now, Serenity didn’t even trust herself to be behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Maris nodded, glancing around the lot. Keeping watch. “Take your time.”
With trembling fingers Serenity called Carol Rose, her next-door neighbor and friend. The woman had lost her own husband years ago, before Serenity had moved back to Verona Bay, and was one of the sweetest people Serenity knew. If she had grandparents still alive, she’d want a grandmother just like Carol. When her friend didn’t answer, she frowned. As anxious as she was feeling, there weren’t many people she trusted with Harper.
Thankfully, when she called Lucas he picked up on the second ring. Male voices murmured lightly in the background. “Hey, Serenity.”
“Hey, I have a huge favor to ask, and I know it’s an imposition, but can you pick Harper up from school?” She glanced at her watch. She’d never asked him for anything like this before, but right now she was feeling way too raw. She needed to know Harper was in safe hands after this little “gift” and Lucas was one of the most responsible people she knew. If he couldn’t do it she’d head to the school herself. Even though she didn’t want to drag her daughter to the sheriff’s department, she wasn’t letting Harper get sent to afterschool care.
“Ah, sure. Everything okay?”
No. “Yeah, just…” She cleared her throat, not wanting to get into the whole thing. “I need to talk to the sheriff about something. It’s no big deal,” she rushed on.
“Are you okay? What happened?” She could hear keys jingling, then the sound of a door opening and shutting.
“I’m fine, I promise. I just…have to deal with something and I’d rather not take Harper with me.” The last place her daughter needed to be was at a sheriff department. “I tried Carol, but—”
“It’s no problem. I’m on my way to the school. Will they let me pick her up?”
“I’ll call and let them know there’s a special circumstance. Harper has a key to the house and I’ll text you the code to disarm the alarm. She’ll be hungry when she gets in but she can tell you what kind of snacks she likes.” Her daughter was very vocal about what she wanted. Serenity had taught her to “use your words.” She never wanted Harper to think she couldn’t speak up for herself.
“I’ll call if there’s an issue. You sure everything’s okay? I can have Easton or my mom pick her up and I’ll meet you at the station.”
That little pitter-patter in her chest beat even faster at his offer. Lucas was making it really hard for her to remember that she didn’t want a relationship. It was especially hard when he was always so thoughtful. Though none of that mattered, because nothing was going to happen between them. They were just friends. If she reminded herself of that enough, maybe she’d start to believe it. She’d already had one man take over every aspect of her life because he’d wanted to take care of her—she couldn’t handle that again. She couldn’t handle a relationship, period. She was too broken inside and it wouldn’t be fair to someone like Lucas to saddle him with all that.
“I’d really prefer you to pick her up and stay with her. I need to know she’s with someone I trust.” And she knew Lucas was not only trustworthy, but capable of handling any potential threats. Her daughter would be safe with him.
A short pause. “I’ll text you once I’ve got her.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
He made a grunting sound, something he always did whenever she thanked him for anything. They spoke for a few more moments, and when they disconnected she allowed the smallest sliver of relief to slide through her. If Harper was in safe hands, she could deal with anything.
“Everything good?” Maris asked.
“Yeah.” Feeling as if she was on autopilot, she headed back into the station and tried not to look at what Maris held in her hand.
Maris had slid the bracelet back in the envelope, probably because she didn’t want to smudge any fingerprints, Serenity belatedly realized. She couldn’t know for sure if it was even her sister’s bracelet, but it looked the exact same, and it wasn’t polished, as if it had been tarnished with age.
How had someone even gotten this bracelet? Because the man who’d carved
up and killed her sister—and would have done the same to Serenity—was in prison, awaiting his death.
* * *
“It could be a prank.” A really sick one. But even as Serenity murmured the words, her instinct told her otherwise. She’d dealt with enough weirdos over the years sending her stupid messages to be able to sift out the garbage. And this felt menacing.
She held the cup of coffee the sheriff had given her but wasn’t drinking it. She soaked up the warmth, however, needing it to ground her right now.
“I’m running it for prints, and the prison has confirmed Black is still locked up and has had almost no contact with the outside world in years. He gets letters, but never writes anyone back.” Lincoln leaned back, his chair squeaking slightly under the pressure. “How similar does it look to Savannah’s?”
Hearing Savannah’s name made her wince, at least internally. Serenity had learned to put on a mask years ago, not wanting the outside world to see her pain and anger. She’d lost everything because of that bastard. First her sister, then her mom had died months later of heart failure.
Serenity knew better though. Savannah’s murder had broken her mother. Still, talking about this with Lincoln was easier than with some stranger. Lincoln was a year older, but he’d gone to college with her and Savannah. After everything that’d happened, he’d switched to a criminal justice major. She looked at the bracelet, now in a plastic evidence bag on his desk.
“It’s the same. The charms are the same at least, and the engraving on the back of the angel wing is as well.” S-1 was for Savannah, since she’d been born a few minutes before Serenity. Serenity’s had S-2 engraved on hers.
She resisted the urge to reach out and touch it through the plastic. When she and Savannah had turned fifteen their parents had given them charm bracelets. Savannah’s had ballet slippers, an owl, a surfboard, a graduation cap, and an angel wing on it. Serenity’s had also had the angel wing and graduation cap, but her other charms had been different.
“And they were taken when…”
She cleared her throat, forcing the words out. “When we were taken. All our jewelry. Our earrings, necklaces and bracelets. I don’t even remember the other jewelry I had on but these bracelets mattered to us.” When Black had been caught, the jewelry hadn’t been found. It was the same with his other victims. Something Lincoln would already know—everyone around Verona Bay and anyone who’d watched the primetime TV specials would know that fact.
She set the mug on his desk, feeling slightly more grounded as she talked. Still, she was worried about what that note meant. Tick-tock, tick-tock was a threat. A clock counting down. But to what? Obviously nothing good.
A shiver snaked down her spine with vicious, scraping talons. Some days she was terrified of her own mortality. If something happened to her, her daughter would have no one.
“You’re sure you haven’t had any strange calls lately? No one harassing you at work or at home?”
He’d already asked her these same questions twice. She understood he was just doing his job, but she didn’t want to go through all of them again. Maris had left half an hour ago and Serenity just wanted to get home to her daughter. It didn’t matter that she’d checked in with Lucas and that she knew Harper was in more than capable hands. She still needed to see and hold her little girl.
“No. And like I said, I’m very aware of my surroundings. I pay attention.” That had been burned into her psyche eight years ago. Everything in her life had changed in an instant and the effects had trickled down into every facet of her life. She took self-defense classes now and looked over her shoulder more than most people did when out in public.
Sighing, he scrubbed a hand over his face and stood. “I’m going to put in a call to the FBI tonight just to touch base about this, and we’ll be looking into it as much as we can. It could be a prank but I don’t like it.” His expression was as dark as her mood.
She stood as well, glad he’d be contacting the Feds. She knew she could too—the agent who’d been in charge of the Black case reached out to her at least once a year. But she’d let this go through official channels. It would mean more. “Thank you.”
“I’m going to follow you home just as a precaution.”
She wanted to tell him he didn’t have to bother, but she wasn’t too proud to admit that she was scared and wouldn’t mind an escort. “Thanks.”
Chapter 4
“It smells good,” Harper said, carefully watching as Lucas pulled the glass pan from the oven.
Serenity hadn’t asked him to do anything other than bring Harper home and keep an eye on her, but he’d wanted Serenity to have dinner when she got back. Especially after the call he’d received from the sheriff—who was also his younger brother. Lucas couldn’t believe Serenity hadn’t told him she’d gotten something that might have been her dead sister’s—something taken by that sick freak who’d killed so many women and damaged so many families.
He locked that thought down tight, not wanting Harper to suspect anything was wrong. “It’ll taste good too, trust me.”
The King Ranch casserole didn’t look like much and was basically layered cheese, chicken, tortillas and sour cream with a bunch of spices tossed in. Not healthy, but it was easy comfort food, something he figured Serenity would need. And it was one of the meals he could make without a recipe. His mom had made sure her boys could make five meals by the time they were eighteen. She’d told them that once they were grown, they needed to take care of themselves and not depend on a partner to cook for them.
“How’s your homework?”
“Good. I’m done.” Harper closed her yellow folder a little too quickly and slid it across the kitchen table.
Lucas grabbed three plates from one of the glass-front cabinets. He’d never been in Serenity’s house before, but it fit her. The kitchen was a mix of modern and traditional. It must have been recently updated with new white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and flooring that looked like wood but was the new tough vinyl that could withstand pets, kids and was basically waterproof.
The center light fixture doubled as a pot rack and the kitchen island had a prep sink, a nice addition. If he had to guess, it was probably one of the draws for why she’d bought the place. Whoever had done the work, the craftsmanship was solid. After he’d gotten out of the Marines, he’d started working for his family’s construction business so some things he couldn’t help but notice.
“You sure about that?” he asked, not looking over as he searched for napkins and silverware.
“Maybe I still need to finish a reading assignment.”
“Maybe?” Yeah, he knew what that meant. He had enough young cousins to read her tone.
“Yeah, okay, I need to. Maybe you could help me after dinner?” Her voice was hopeful.
Lucas looked up, grinned at Harper. “You got it.” The six-year-old was a miniature version of Serenity with jet-black hair and bright blue eyes. He had a soft spot for her, just like he did for Serenity. “What do you want to drink?”
“Milk.”
After getting a drink and small plate ready for Harper, he sat at the table with her while she ate. He wasn’t sure what time Serenity would get back but he wanted to eat with her. Not exactly the date he’d been envisioning, but any time he could spend with her, he’d take.
From practically the moment Lucas had met her, he’d been struck by that clichéd lightning bolt. It had taken him off guard too. After getting out of the Corps two years ago he’d moved back to Verona Bay and started to settle into civilian life, which was a feat in itself. Getting involved with a woman, much less a single mother, hadn’t been on his radar.
Then six months ago he’d met her at her shop when he’d brought Daisy in for a grooming appointment, and he hadn’t been able to get Serenity out of his mind since. But she was a widow, a single mom who’d gone through horrific trauma, and clearly wasn’t looking for anything more than friendship. At least not yet.
He coul
d be patient. He knew all about battle tactics. And as far as he was concerned, once a Marine, always one—and he was in this for the long haul. He knew she wanted him, could see flickers of interest every once in a while before she closed herself off. She was fighting the attraction for some reason.
But this, asking him to pick up Harper, was a big step. The circumstances might suck, but he was going to show her that they would be good together, that she could depend on him. He wanted to protect both her and Harper. Hell, he simply wanted to be in their lives.
“So, you like my mom?” Harper scooped up the chicken and cheese mixture on her fork and looked at him.
The question threw him, but he answered all the same. “Yeah, I do.” That was a generic enough answer—and this wasn’t exactly the conversation he wanted to have with a kid.
“Good. She likes you too. Hey, you want to hear me play the drums later?”
Smiling, he nodded. “That sounds like a plan. I hear it’s music week.”
“Yeah! I got to pick the drums for my instrument. My best friend Carson wants to start a band,” she said around a mouthful of food.
“Is that right?”
“Yep. He wants to rock and roll.”
Lucas stifled a laugh and just nodded. “What does your mom say about that?”
“She says as long as I do my homework first I can rock and roll all I want.”
Before he could say anything else, the front door opened, accompanied by the soft chime from the alarm system.
Harper was off her seat and racing out of the room before Lucas had stood.
“Mommy! Lucas made dinner and he’s going to listen to me play drums and help with my reading homework.”
“Yeah?” Serenity was holding Harper tight in her arms, her face unnaturally pale. Lincoln stood behind her, his expression grim.
Lucas’s combat instinct sharpened. He knew what his brother had told him, but a sheriff’s escort meant Lincoln was taking this seriously—and thought there might be merit to whatever had been left on Serenity’s vehicle.
