Shielded in the Shadows

by Tara Taylor Quinn

  “Did he ever see Bill hurt you?”

  “No. Bill always made sure that was just between me and him.”

  “And what about the bruises? Did he ever ask about them?”

  Suzie shook her head. “Bill didn’t hit me in the face often. And the one time he did, I stayed inside until the bruise faded, and then covered it with a little bit of makeup, like when I went to work.”

  She remembered that. Bill hadn’t hit Suzie in the face until toward the end, when his abuse had escalated.

  As it had been doing for the past three months. Since Bill had been released from prison. She had enough evidence to know that Bill Heber was hurting his wife. But so much of it was circumstantial...she needed something solid to get the man back behind bars. For good.

  The one thing she wasn’t going to do was berate this poor woman. Scooting over, she took Suzie’s hand. Not a usual move for her—instigating any physical contact other than a handshake with any of her victims—but she did it. “I know you didn’t fall, Suzie.”

  “Yes, I did.” The woman didn’t pull her hand away.

  Emma found that significant. Wondered if Sara did, too.

  “Please, Ms. Martin, just leave it alone.”

  Leave it alone. The expression stunned her. Scared her, too. But words came to her.

  “I’ll leave you alone if you promise me one thing.”

  “What?”

  “Promise me that you’ll stay in touch with Sara. Whether group counseling, or just joining a craft group or something here at the Stand. You come here, at least twice a week, and you won’t hear from me again.”

  Suzie held her gaze for a long moment, her lashes still wet from her recently shed tears. “I come here and you won’t try to see me again? Or get someone else to ask me questions?”

  Suzie had told her everything she was going to. Or felt she could. Emma nodded.

  “Okay.” The other woman smiled. When her face relaxed, Emma could see a hint of the beauty she must have been before worry and fear, grief and abuse, had misshaped her nose, and driven so many lines around her mouth and eyes.

  “Okay.” With a quick goodbye to Sara, Emma left Suzie alone with the woman who could help her to heal.

  She’d leave Suzie alone. No way she was walking away from the rest of it. She had a job to do.

  Chapter 18

  Sorry, can’t make it. Something came up at work. Rain check?

  Jayden read the text for the fourth time since it had come in more than an hour before. He still hadn’t answered.

  Of course, if Emma wanted to come over, he’d welcome her. But what were they doing here? If it was just sex, as they’d agreed, he wouldn’t be feeling disappointed when she put work first, would he?

  And if he was starting to want more from her than just sex, he had to stop.

  So, was he pretending sex was all it was? And professional admiration and respect, of course.

  Or was he just let down because he’d been looking forward to another night of passion?

  For the brief time he’d been protecting her, after their first night of sex, he hadn’t had to ask himself any tough questions. He’d had a purpose for spending so much time with her. Now that she had the police watching her house, he didn’t have that out.

  There’d been no further threats. Luke was back in custody. Chances were she was out of danger anyway.

  The evening stretching before him shouldn’t present any kind of challenge. He dealt with them at the end of every single day.

  He typed out a response to her text: Sure. But didn’t hit Send. If he ignored her completely, it could look like he was upset that she’d canceled. Or seem rude, like she didn’t matter enough to deserve a response.

  Was he seriously sitting there spending time on such a ridiculous issue?

  Hitting Send, he clicked on his contacts, zipping through to find Harold Wallace’s number. If his client was free, maybe they could go together to see his son. The boy was waiting a court appearance and Jayden wanted him to know he had people pulling for him. He wanted the boy to know that while what he’d done was grotesquely wrong, Jayden would help him right that wrong as much as he could, as long as the boy knew that he still had to pay for what he did. And that his future actions would have to reflect that.

  They wouldn’t know, until they all appeared before the juvenile court judge, exactly what kind of future the boy could expect to have. Or how little or much effect Jayden could have on that.

  He was on his way to pick up Harold when his phone rang. Clicking the hands-free button on his steering wheel, he glanced at the dash display.

  Emma.

  “Hey, did you get it worked out?” he asked, referring to whatever business had come up that evening, preventing her from meeting his cat.

  He’d not only gone searching for the thing, he’d coaxed it out from under his bed with his last can of tuna.

  “I had a call from Sara at The Lemonade Stand. She said Suzie was there and willing to talk to me.”

  His gut sank. Could be Suzie was finally ready to admit that it wasn’t Bill who was hurting her. To admit who was. But he didn’t think so. Not by the tone in Emma’s voice.

  “I thought she’d skipped her last counseling session,” Jayden said. “That she was done going. Has she been abused again?”

  That question was most important. Above all, they wanted Suzie safe.

  “No. She’s fine. Physically. But she’s not okay, Jayden. The woman is so afraid of her ex-husband, she can hardly hold up her head.”

  Bill wasn’t going to catch his break. He could feel it coming.

  “Is she naming him as her abuser?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “But she told you who’s been hurting her?”

  “No. She’s sticking to her story that she fell.”

  “Maybe it’s time that I talk to Bill,” he said. “Tell him the truth about Suzie’s current situation.”

  “I don’t know...” Emma hesitated. “If he admits what he’s done, he can get help. The court will go easier on him... But he still continues to deny—”

  “If it’s not him, he might have some idea who’s doing it.” Jayden hadn’t wanted Bill to know about the abuse, believing it was in Bill’s best interests that he not know. “I just can’t guarantee that he won’t try to find the guy himself,” he said. “I’ll continue to keep a strong eye on him, of course, but once he knows she’s being abused, chances are—”

  “No.” Emma’s voice was strong, sure, as she interrupted him. Filling his car with such a presence of her, he could almost believe she was sitting there with him.

  Because she was getting that much inside his head?

  “If he knows Suzie talked to me...” She started and stopped. “Just no, Jayden, please. The more I think about it, I think talking to him would be the last thing you should do. If he thinks you’re still believing in him, he’s less likely to feel threatened. By me, or Suzie. I thought a truck was following me again this morning. It was only for a block or two, and I’m sure I’m overreacting, but, please...don’t escalate Bill’s tension. Not right now.”

  “Luke’s back in custody. That should have taken care of that threat,” he had to point out.

  “You still think Bill didn’t do it? Either make the threat at my house or hurt Suzie?”

  “I don’t believe he did, no. But I’m watching him as though he did, you have my word on that.”

  “That woman is petrified of him,” she stressed.

  “A fact for which he takes full accountability and is paying for every day, will pay for for the rest of his life. Bill knows his jealousy was out of hand, that he created an unhealthy amount of stress for her. He knows he lost the love his life, her, because of it. He’s not going to bother Suzie. To the contrary, he just wants her to be happy. You didn’t
put him in jail for the rest of his life, Emma, but he’s there anyway. In his own personal jail.”

  “I heard something tonight and I feel as though I need to tell you—” she wavered “—but I don’t know if I can trust you not to tell him.”

  Wow. That slammed him. Probably more than it should have done. “Bottom line, we’re on the same side,” he reminded her. “If you tell me not to tell him, I won’t. I’m his champion, his counselor, but I’m also, in a sense, his jailer. I do my job—both sides—with equal fervor.” It was the one given in his life. That work. It wouldn’t change.

  “In the transcript from four years ago, when I asked Suzie who Bill thought had fathered her child, she didn’t answer. Tonight she did.”

  He was curious, too. “And?”

  “It was a teenage neighbor kid. Bill came home and caught her talking to him a time or two. He’d just lost his mother and was having troubles with his stepfather. They never had sex. She paid him to cut their grass. It was sweet. She said it made her feel good about herself to be able to help him.”

  “Why didn’t she say all of this then?” he asked.

  “She didn’t want him to know that her husband was making sick accusations about him.”

  “It could have helped her case, could have showed Bill’s state of mind.” He knew the man had been in a bad way. He hadn’t known how bad.

  The whole thing was sad beyond belief, for everyone involved.

  “She was afraid even the accusations could ruin the kid’s life. Afraid that if it got out and Bill got defensive, he might convince someone the accusations were true. She said that even the accusations would probably have had his stepfather kicking him out. They were on really tenuous ground.”

  Jayden needed to talk to Bill. To know why Bill had left out this piece of information. But he’d given Emma his word. He wouldn’t do it.

  But that didn’t make him any less desirous of the answer to his question. Why had Bill left out such a vital piece of information?

  Could be, since the information hadn’t come out in court, since it had never come out of Suzie’s mouth until that night, that Bill had chosen not to dig his hole any deeper, by bringing it up.

  Kind of like Jayden not telling anyone about Emory. He would never forget. He paid every single day. Would always pay. Not talking didn’t mean he was trying to hide from his truth. It meant it went too deep, hit too hard, to expose it to anyone but himself.

  And maybe Bill had been trying to spare the kid, too. Most particularly after DNA came back showing the lie to his fears. And how deeply in trouble his paranoia had gotten him.

  “Suzie believes that Bill’s all-powerful,” Emma continued. “That he has the ability to make people believe, say and do what he wants.”

  “If that were true, she wouldn’t have testified against him.”

  “Suzie didn’t do that for herself. She did it for her baby. Just like she kept quiet about the kid for his sake.”

  Jayden got where she was going. He just had no idea how to turn her around on this one. He hoped to God some facts turned up soon. Or that counseling loosened Suzie’s tongue some more.

  This Heber case had to end. He turned a corner in the darkness, a block from Harold’s girlfriend’s house, and parked.

  “I’m telling you, Jayden, she’s scared to death of him. Sara saw it, too.”

  “Maybe that’s because she hasn’t seen him to know that he’s changed.” Or had she?

  “Is it too late for me to stop by?” Her question was hesitant. And he didn’t think because of the hour. It wasn’t that late.

  “I’m on my way to meet a client,” he told her, not adding who or why. He could have done. She knew the circumstances behind his being shot the previous week. Had been careful of his ribs every time they’d been together.

  “Okay, I still haven’t been home from work.” Did she sound relieved? He couldn’t be sure. Wasn’t particularly pleased if she had been.

  Things were getting awkward. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

  “Jayden?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I think we should put a time frame on our sexual responsibility. You know, getting it out of our systems and moving on.”

  Sexual responsibility. He liked how it sounded.

  “Agreed. You have one in mind?”

  “Yes. I’m thinking maybe another week.”

  His crotch gave a minor leap. It wasn’t ending. And yet, it would.

  He was good with that...right?

  * * *

  Emma stopped at Jayden’s on her way home from a late meeting on Tuesday night. She’d beat a motion to suppress in court that morning, pertaining to her upcoming trial, and was feeling great. They didn’t talk about work. They really spoke very little.

  And when she started to doze off, she got up and left. It was all very satisfying—beyond satisfying physically—and kind and decent. And, as she drove away, it all left her feeling a little flat, too.

  She hadn’t seen the cat. Had no idea what Jayden had had for dinner or how his day had gone. Hadn’t told him about the judge allowing her to use the evidence the defense had wanted thrown out.

  Maybe it was the beginning of the end...this sense of letdown. Setting the end date could have triggered a feeling of sadness.

  When he’d kissed her goodbye, it had taken all she’d had not to climb right back into bed with him. She was hot now, just thinking about it. Tingling with need.

  Unbelievable, considering he’d met that need three times in the past two hours. Three times.

  Turning out of his neighborhood and toward her own, she enjoyed the lack of traffic on the July weeknight. Most California towns would be thriving with tourists, filling the sidewalks, driving the streets, but Santa Raquel had mostly private beaches. And very little overnight lodging. They got a few day visitors during the summer and sometimes—

  A truck pulled up alongside her as she turned onto the two-lane coastal road that was the shortest route to her little gated section of town. Had she been so preoccupied in thought she’d turned in front of it? She hadn’t even seen his lights. Slowing immediately, Emma gave room for him to pull in front of her. Clearly he had the right of way. He hadn’t come from behind her, so he had to have already been on the road.

  Another reason they should put streetlights on the coastal road. At least the section that ran through town. It came up every couple of years at council meetings and residents, overall, wanted to preserve the quiet sanctity of the ocean. But up on the cliff like it was, also made it dangerous...

  The truck didn’t move from her side. Didn’t pull ahead.

  Or behind.

  What the...? Heart slamming in her chest, she realized what was happening. As if in slow motion. The truck wasn’t budging from beside her as she drove on the dark road. She slowed. The truck slowed. She sped up, the truck sped up. Inching closer and closer to her. The driver was going to send her over the cliff.

  Or try to.

  She pictured the road, the curves, the areas that weren’t as steep. Those with houses below.

  He wasn’t just going to ram her.

  She knew it was a he now, though she couldn’t make out anything other than a baseball cap. And broad shoulders.

  She knew who it was, too, without even seeing his face.

  Bill Heber must have found out she’d talked to Suzie the night before.

  Emma kept herself steady on the road. Putting herself in his mind. Thinking like him. It was the only way to beat him.

  And to keep her own panic from getting her killed.

  She was the one person he hadn’t been able to deceive or to threaten into submission. If he hadn’t pled to the breaking and entering, thinking his explanation that he’d only been retrieving his own things would have gotten him off with no jail time, he’d probably have w
on that one, too.

  He’d have to make her car going over the edge look like an accident. The best way to do that was to catch her on a curve. And she knew which one. About a quarter mile ahead. The thoughts came clearly...blocking everything else. She had only herself to rely on. Both hands on the wheel, she couldn’t pick up her phone, but pushed the button on her steering wheel and said, “Call 9-1-1.” The trembling in her voice shocked her, but she couldn’t dwell on it. Couldn’t allow the distraction.

  Heard the ringing. And slowed her car. She had to get a description of the truck. It was a two-door. She couldn’t tell what color. Not white or light. The truck slowed, too, clearly out to get her, though the driver never glanced her way. Didn’t give her a chance to ID him. And with him staying right beside her, she couldn’t get a make, model or license plate.

  “Hello, what’s your emergency?”

  Damn it! Find an identifying something!

  “I’m Prosecutor Emma Martin. I’m being run off—”

  The truck lurched toward her. Before the curve. She saw it coming. Knew—

  A flash of excruciating pain. And then...

  Nothing.

  Chapter 19

  Jayden got the call as soon the ambulance left the scene. Chantel was there and wanted his location app information on Bill Heber. Officers were already on their way to Bill’s house, to bring him in for questioning, but Chantel didn’t expect them to find him there. Jayden, having already stepped into his waiting jeans and thrown on his shirt while they spoke, slipped into shoes and was grabbing his keys. He had to get to the hospital. Had to get to Emma. He couldn’t lose her like this. Yeah, she was going to move on from his life, but she’d still be around. They’d run into each other now and then. He could always pick up a phone and call her. He couldn’t consider a world without her in it. No more loss.

  And not because of him.

  Pray, God, he wasn’t responsible for this. He was the one who should be fighting for his life or losing his life, not her.