TO DIE FOR (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 8) Page 4

  Why is he just standing there?

  Lily’s stomach turned to knots, and it felt like an eternity went by before the officer’s radio scratched, and he grabbed it, then spoke into it, running out the door, forgetting all about the guy in the corner.

  Lily breathed. Maybe he wasn’t some wanted criminal after all. Perhaps he was just actually reading that magazine. The guy didn’t look up until the police cruiser drove past the window of the coffee shop. Lily stared at him while he breathed heavily, then finally was able to calm himself down just enough to finish his coffee.

  Something is seriously off with this guy.

  It was the end of Lily’s shift, so she took off her apron, then walked into the back and came out with her purse in hand. She walked toward her car when she spotted the guy from the coffee house walking out as well, his eyes still lingering on her. She paused for a second and looked at him, then felt a chill run down her spine. She turned around and rushed toward her car. She started the engine, then drove onto A1A, looking anxiously in the mirror to see if his car followed her.

  Chapter 13

  THEN:

  “What’s up with you today? You’ve barely said a word since you got here.”

  Lynn corrected her shirt. She had worn one that showed a little cleavage today, but now, she regretted it. She didn’t usually wear shirts like this. She knew why she had done it, and it made her feel silly. She should know better than to dress up for a patient. She even wore make-up. She never usually wore more than just a little mascara.

  Jeffrey rubbed his hands together. He didn’t look at her, but she could tell something was tormenting him.

  “It’s just…well…”

  “Take your time,” she said, “to find the words.”

  He sighed, then finally lifted his eyes to meet hers. “It’s just that…well, I can’t stop thinking about you. I know I’m not supposed to, but I can’t help myself. I look forward to our sessions so much.”

  She felt a deep warmth rush through her body as the words fell. Her heart started to beat faster, and she felt such deep love for him in that instant.

  “That’s okay,” she said, looking down briefly at her notepad. “It’s normal to get attached to your therapist. It’s actually what’s supposed to happen. It shows the therapy is working.”

  His eyes grew wider, and his face lit up. “So, you’re not mad at me?”

  That made her smile softly. “Of course not. Therapy is an intimate setting, and the relationship is quite special. But it must remain in this room, and there can be no physical contact.”

  Lynn exhaled deeply. She was doing the right thing; setting the boundaries was so crucial at this stage.

  “I just…I have this deep fear that I will lose you,” he said. “It’s driving me crazy.”

  She smiled again and tilted her head. “That’s perfectly normal too. You have some serious abandonment issues that you’re trying to work your way through. Your girlfriend left you, and now you’re transferring those emotions and fears onto me. But rest assured, I am not going anywhere.”

  Lynn tried hard to suppress her blushing, but with no luck. She felt her cheeks grow warm. It was such a sweet moment for them both. Jeffrey was getting attached to her. It was only natural, but a part of her couldn’t help enjoying it. It was sweet and made him so vulnerable.

  “It just…it hurts,” he said and put a hand on his chest. “I don’t like depending on anyone. It makes me feel needy—like I was with her.”

  “We’re talking about Joanna now, right? Do you still see her?

  He blushed.

  “Jeffrey, we talked about this. Stalking her isn’t doing either of you any good. You need to let her go.”

  He nodded. “I know. I know. It’s just…I’m so angry at her for leaving me. I can’t stand it. No one leaves me. It hurt so much, and it makes me obsessed with getting her back, and…”

  “Controlling her?” Lynn asked. “Do you think that’s why you’re following her?”

  He looked up and nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably it. You’re good, Doc; do you know that? You’re really good.”

  She blushed again, cursing herself for not being able to hide her own emotions better.

  “I do my best.”

  “I mean, that is totally what I have been thinking, that I want to control her. I mean, I even fantasized about locking her up in my basement, heh.”

  Lynn looked up from her notepad. “Excuse me?”

  He shook his head. “No, no, don’t take it the wrong way. I just fantasized about it; that’s all. Like people have fantasies, you know, but now that you’ve explained it to me, it makes complete sense. I just want to control her, and I need to stop that. It’s not so much her I want as it is the fact that I can’t stand that she is the one who left me. I have never been left before, Doc. It’s not easy for me.”

  Lynn swallowed hard. She looked into Jeffrey’s eyes to be sure he was telling her the truth. He smiled softly, and that melted her heart. Then she nodded.

  “I think you’re reaching new levels of understanding here, Jeffrey. Good work today.”

  Chapter 14

  “Scott, when you hear this, please call me back. I need to talk to you.”

  I left the second message while Alex pulled my arm.

  “Mom, Mom, listen to me!”

  I hung up, then glared down at him. In the distance, I could hear a baby crying, but it wasn’t Angel. It was Owen.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The baby has been crying all afternoon, Mom,” Alex said and held his hands to his ears. “It’s driving me nuts.”

  I exhaled. Owen had been crying incessantly almost since we took him and Amy in. I feared he would wake up Angel, who was taking another nap. I wondered if she was getting ready to stay up all night with all the sleeping she did during the day.

  “Mo-o-om, make it stop, please.”

  I looked down at my son, then kissed the top of his head. “Babies cry, Alex. Sometimes, there isn’t much we can do about it. Amy is doing her best.”

  “I can’t stand it, Mom. It never stops.”

  “Let me go check on them,” I said and let go of my son. I walked up the stairs and peeked inside Christine’s old room. I found Amy in there, standing by the window, looking out, while Owen was still in his crib, crying.

  I walked to him and picked him up, then approached her by the window.

  “Amy?”

  She was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks while she stared at the trees outside.

  “Amy? Are you okay?”

  She sniffled, then shook her head. “I’m...I’m not sure.”

  Owen quieted down for a few seconds but was still crying.

  “I think he might be hungry,” I said. I felt his diaper. It needed changing too.

  She slumped her shoulders and looked at her feet. “I…I can’t…it doesn’t really work. I’m not good enough.”

  I sighed. “It’s not easy; believe me, I know. But he needs you.”

  She shook her head. “He won’t eat. When I try, he just keeps on crying and crying.”

  “It takes time, sweetie, for you two to get to know one another. How about you give it another go, huh?”

  She looked at Owen in my arms, her eyes despairing.

  “Come on. Sit in the chair, and I’ll try and help. I know you can do this, Amy. I’m here for you.”

  Her eyes teared up again, but she sat down in the armchair I had put in the room for her. I handed her Owen, and she opened her bra. Owen cried a little more but then latched on and started to eat.

  “There you go,” I said. “He’s eating.”

  Amy moaned. She was obviously uncomfortable. “I think I’m doing it wrong.”

  “No, you’re fine. Just relax, sweetie.”

  Amy groaned, and Owen let go of the breast again, then cried even louder than before.

  “See? It happens every time.” She got up and put Owen back in his crib. “I’m not doing it right. I
’m not good enough.”

  Being put back made Owen scream even louder, and Amy held her hands to her ears. “I can’t stand it. I can’t stand this anymore!”

  She screamed, then stormed out of the room. I yelled her name when my phone rang. It was Scott. I had tried to get ahold of him all afternoon, so I had to pick it up. But I couldn’t just leave the baby like this.

  I grabbed the crying Owen in my arms, then rocked him back and forth while walking out of the room, phone clutched between my shoulder and my ear.

  “Scott?”

  Chapter 15

  Owen was crying helplessly, but I managed to get him to take the pacifier, and soon he calmed down slightly while remaining in my arms. I just prayed that Angel wouldn’t wake up as well.

  “You called?” Scott asked. He sounded slightly out of breath, and I wondered if he had been running.

  “Yes, we need to talk,” I said.

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “I spoke with the detective on Sarah’s case today, and they let me take a look at the case file.”

  Scott went quiet for a second. Owen closed his eyes, and I kept rocking him until he dozed off.

  “But that’s a good thing, right?” he asked.

  “Depends on how you look at it,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe you tell me, Scott,” I said while looking down at the small creature sleeping in my arms. How something so cute and little could cause so much havoc was a mystery to me. “Maybe you should come over so that we can talk properly.”

  Ten minutes later, he was in my living room. His cheeks were blushing.

  “I don’t understand,” he said, sounding defensive. “You’re suddenly looking at me like I’m the criminal here.”

  “The police seem to think you are. Why do they assume you hurt Sarah?” I asked. “They looked at you immediately, as soon as she went missing, and haven’t had their eyes on anyone else. Why is that?”

  He went quiet. “I…I…”

  “You haven’t been completely honest with me, Scott, and you have to if you want my help.”

  A pause followed before he said: “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Okay, good. Tell me what happened. And don’t leave anything out this time, please. You were arrested four months ago?”

  Scott scoffed. “It was a misunderstanding.”

  “Even if that’s true, it doesn’t look good for you.”

  “It is true. You have to believe me,” he said, sounding agitated now. “I didn’t hurt her. I would never…”

  “Yet Sarah ended up in the hospital with a broken ankle and several bruises on her back. And she told the EMTs that you pushed her down the stairs, Scott.”

  I could feel the anger rising in me, yet I tried to keep it down.

  “It was an accident. She even admitted it later on.”

  “Yes, the report said she pulled back her testimony the next day while still in the hospital. Then she suddenly said that she had slipped and fallen. But it’s a little hard to believe, Scott. Can you see that?”

  He groaned. “Of course, I can see that. But it’s the truth. We were in a fight, yes. And she did say that she would leave me, and it made me very angry. I did grab her arm, but not hard. She pulled away, and that’s when she slipped and fell down the stairs. She was mad at me, and she told the first responders when they arrived that we had been in a fight and that I had grabbed her arm and that she fell down the stairs. She never said I pushed her. They just assumed that’s what happened. That’s how she explained it to me. Then, once the police came to take her statement after she had been through surgery on her broken ankle, she was able to tell them the truth—that the EMTs had misunderstood her. I am telling you, Eva Rae. I never meant to hurt her. I beat myself up every day over this.”

  I sighed and rubbed my face. Owen was sound asleep on my arm, and I didn’t want to put him back in his crib since I felt he needed closeness, which was why he was so upset all the time. He needed his mother, and right now, I was the closest thing to that. But my arm was getting tired from carrying him, and I would soon have to attend to my own baby’s needs. I wished Amy would come back and take him, but I had no idea where she had gone. Hopefully, she had just taken a long walk and would be back later.

  “Scott, I have a lot to deal with these days. I’m not sure I can…”

  “You don’t believe me,” Scott sighed resignedly, throwing out his arms. “You’re just like everyone else.”

  “You gotta admit, it sounds odd,” I said.

  “I wouldn’t do something like that. You know me, Eva Rae.”

  I looked up at him, and our eyes locked. I felt a pinch in my stomach and was overwhelmed with emotions I thought I had forgotten. There was something intense in the way he stared at me that went straight to my heart, and I felt myself ease down. A memory of us kissing flushed my mind and filled me with warmth. I shook it. I couldn’t think about those things again. Now was not the time to revisits those old emotions. It was all in the past, and it was best if it stayed there. I couldn’t afford to open up the old wounds. I simply had to suppress it.

  “Do I?” I asked. “Do I really?”

  “I thought so. I mean, we were, after all….”

  “I’m gonna stop you right there, Scott. We weren’t anything. You made that painfully clear, remember?”

  He sighed. “It was a long time ago.”

  “That we can agree on,” I said, fighting to breathe properly—those eyes. I never could resist them or the way he looked at me.

  Like he could love me.

  A silence followed, and his eyes avoided mine. I placed a hand on his arm.

  “Scott? Are you okay?”

  “I…I don’t know what else to do, where to turn, Eva Rae. I thought you would be different. I thought I could trust you. I guess not.”

  Now, it was my turn to go quiet. There was something in his voice, a sincerity I couldn’t escape. What if he was telling the truth? It would only be a matter of time before the police found him, and then he was toast. No one would believe him.

  Did I think he was telling the truth?

  I rubbed my tired eyes again, then exhaled deeply. It all seemed so blurry and so confusing. I needed more coffee.

  “All right, Scott. I am all for second chances. But no more secrets, okay? You have to disclose everything, or I can’t help you. No more surprises.”

  His face lit up, and he nodded eagerly.

  “Of course. Of course.”

  “Good. Now there was something else in the report that had me thinking—an angle we might be able to use.”

  Part II

  TWO WEEKS LATER

  Chapter 16

  The heavy door squeaked, and a ray of light hit Sarah Abbey’s face. She groaned and squinted, blinded by the sudden brightness. Shuddering, she covered her head and turned her face away, her chains rattling against the pipes while she pushed herself up against the wall behind her.

  “Please,” she said as the figure moved closer. “Please.”

  The figure kneeled in front of her. She felt a hand reach for hers. It caressed the top, letting the fingers run over each of her fingers like the person was studying the shape of each and every one of them. The figure then kissed her hand gently while mumbling, “Your skin is so soft.”

  Sarah shivered and tried to pull it away, but the grip was too tight.

  “Please, just let me go.”

  The other hand reached for her face and caressed her cheek. “You are home, my love. You are finally back home.”

  The remark made Sarah burst into tears. She was so tired, so hungry, and her entire body felt like it was aching in pain. She had been sleeping on the cold floor for days and had lost count of how many had passed. Was it several weeks? It had to be, right?

  She had cried, she had screamed, she had slept and hoped she’d wake up, and this nightmare would be over. But as she opened her eyes, again and again, it was all still there. She
was still in that awful small room with no windows and no lights: nothing but time to wait for someone to come.

  “Why are you keeping me here?” she asked.

  The figure tilted its head. “Because I love you. You know that.”

  It had been the same answer she had received every time she asked, and it made no sense to her. Why, if this person said they loved her, would they treat her like this?

  Please, someone must miss me; someone must be looking for me. Please, help me, someone? Anyone?

  She had waited and hoped that people would come looking for her, but now she was beginning to lose confidence that they would. She had cut all ties to her family and her past, all her friends when she left her hometown. No one would miss her.

  “Don’t you love me anymore?” the figure asked, voice cracking.

  It was the same every time. She had been asked this very question so many times, and every time, she said she didn’t. The figure had slapped her until she finally caved and said that she did. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

  “Of course, I do,” she said, sobbing heavily. “I love you so much. You know that. But you can’t keep me locked up like this.”

  The eyes grew weary, and the figure ran a hand through Sarah’s hair, holding it, letting it slip slowly through their fingers like every strand had to be admired.

  “Do you think I like it? Do you think I want to keep you down here?”

  The figure caressed her hair gently while giving her a loving look. Yes, she believed the figure enjoyed keeping her like this, holding her prisoner. She thought they enjoyed that very much. But she wasn’t going to say that. She had to keep playing this little game if she wanted to survive. She knew that much.

  “It’s for your own sake,” the figure added. “You know it is. It’s what’s best for you. You just can’t see it. That’s why you’re lucky to have me.”

  She nodded, biting back tears and the devastating fear. “Yes, I am very lucky.”