Her chest was tight. Why was her chest so tight? She drew a deep breath, unable to get air all the way into her lungs. Confused, she glanced around the kitchen, then spotted Kenny’s lifeless body lying on the floor.
Oh God. Her stomach pitched. And in a rush, everything came back to her.
The room dipped and swayed. From far away, she heard Will swear. But blackness descended before she could do anything to stop it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ethan’s high-tops squeaked as he shifted left, pushed off the floor, and lifted his arm. The basketball tipped off his fingers and ricocheted off the backboard. A grunt sounded close by as his brother Alec leapt into the air. Ethan knocked the ball out of Alec’s hand. It bounced out of bounds.
Panting, Alec jogged across the floor, picked up the ball, and shot Ethan a look. “Take it easy. We playin’ rat ball now?”
Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his forearm, Ethan scowled and turned toward the top of the key. “Just check the damn ball.”
Alec tossed it at him. “You’re in a mood.”
He was. He knew it. He thrust the ball back toward Alec. A game of one-on-one was supposed to take his mind off Samantha and what was happening to her in that town, but so far it wasn’t working.
He wanted her out of there. Wanted to warn her to stay away from Branson and Kellogg, but he knew if he did she’d just ask why. She was friendly with both, and it was a small town, but she didn’t know the real them. Not the ones he’d seen. Could he tell her the truth? Could he tell her about the months he’d lived in Hidden Falls and what he’d done there? He wanted to, but he was afraid if he did now she’d bolt before he could explain. And after the other night, after she’d finally opened up to him, he didn’t want to risk doing anything to make her pull back.
“You know,” Alec said, eyeing him over the ball. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you need to get laid.”
Getting laid wasn’t the problem. Sex with Samantha was off-the-charts incredible. It was everything else in that town that was the problem. Ethan pointed toward the net. “Play.”
One corner of Alec’s mouth curled in a knowing smile. “See. Told ya. Smart chicks are more trouble than they’re worth.”
Ethan rested his hands on his hips. “Just dribble the damn ball, asshole.”
Alec chuckled, but his features sobered when he dribbled, faked left, turned right, and charged. Ethan jerked forward, lifted his forearms, then planted his feet. Alec hit the solid wall of his body, bounced off, and landed on his back with a grunt. The ball slipped from his fingers and bounded across the floor.
“I’m done,” Alec croaked. “Enough, already.”
Breathless, Ethan stepped up and held out his hand. “Sorry.”
“Shit, man.” Alec let Ethan pull him to his feet, then leaned forward on his knees to suck back air. “That teacher’s got you tied in knots.”
Ethan grimaced. Alec didn’t know the half of it. All he’d told his brother was that he was sort of seeing a teacher linked to one of his kids. He hadn’t mentioned where she lived or how he felt about her. He’d learned long ago that with Alec, less was more. But his brother had a sixth sense and seemed to figure things out without words. And now, obviously, he’d figured out just what was eating at Ethan.
Ethan moved for the bench against the wall and reached for the water bottle from his duffel. Other one-on-one games continued around them, the scents of sweat and rubber thick in the air. Shoes squeaked on the polished floor. Shouts resounded through the tall double gymnasium. Lifting the collar of his T-shirt, he swiped the sweat from his brow, wishing it would wipe away his foul mood, and let the cotton fall against his chest.
Alec dropped onto the bench at his side and took a deep drink from his own bottle. “Feel better?”
“No.” Ethan watched a game on the other side of the court. If anything, he felt worse. And basketball hadn’t killed his craving for a nicotine hit either.
“Sucks when you can’t just fix it, huh?”
Ethan glanced toward his brother as Alec stood, pulled off his damp T-shirt, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The four small letters tattooed into Alec’s skin, just over his heart, caught the light.
Shit. Ethan looked away, feeling even worse. What the hell was he sulking for? His life could be so much worse.
“Sorry, man.” Ethan said. “I didn’t mean to—”
“Forget it.” Alec took another long drink and dropped back onto the bench.
Forget it. That was Alec’s answer for everything. He never talked about her. Refused to let anyone around him talk about her. Aside from that tattoo he’d gotten during one of his drinking binges, it was if she’d never existed.
Compared to that, Ethan’s life looked pretty damn good. Leaning forward, he braced his forearms on his knees and raked his fingers through his damp hair. No, he couldn’t just fix it. Couldn’t fix anything. All he could do was wait and hope that when he did eventually confide in her, she’d be so head over heels in love with him by that point that she’d listen. And believe him.
“The way I figure it,” Alec said, “you’ll do one of two things.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“You’ll either talk her to death until she runs off, or—”
Ethan frowned at his brother. “Or what, smart-ass?”
Alec grinned. “Or talk her to death until she agrees, just to get you to shut the hell up.”
Ethan huffed and lifted his water bottle again. A lot Alec knew. Samantha liked talking to him. He was the one who was having trouble opening up.
“Aw shit, Ethan. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.”
“Like what?”
“Whipped.”
Ethan stiffened. “Say that again. Just once.”
Alec laughed and pushed off the bench. “No way. The last time I took you on in a mood like this I got my ass kicked. Senior year. Julie Sparrows. Remember her?”
“I remember.” Jet-black hair, short skirts, the sweetest ass at Columbia High. “Great legs.” And nowhere near as nice as Samantha’s.
“Ooooh yeah.”
Ethan braced one hand on his thigh and glared up at his brother. “And you deserved to get your ass kicked for moving in on her when she was already going out with me.”
“Minor technicality. She had the hots for the blond surfer god, not the moody, dark thinker.”
“She had the hots for you and half the varsity football team,” Ethan corrected. He hadn’t cared about losing that girl. She hadn’t meant that much to him. But losing her to one of his brothers had stung.
Only it was nothing compared to the sting he felt now at the thought of losing Samantha.
Ethan’s cell phone buzzed. Wiping the depressing thought from his mind, he reached into his bag and pulled it out. Samantha’s number registered on the screen, and relief trickled through him, easing a hint of his stress.
“Hey,” he said, lifting the phone to his ear. “I was just thinking about you.”
“Um, hi. Am I interrupting your work?”
“No, I’m between sessions.”
Alec chuckled and muttered, “Between sessions, my ass. Told ya. Seriously whipped.”
Ethan shoved a fist into Alec’s side. Alec grunted and moved back but continued to laugh. Pushing to his feet, Ethan stepped away. “What’s up?” A quick glance at his watch told him it was only 11:00 a.m. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”
“I’m taking the day off.”
Something in her voice sent a tingle along his spine. “Everything okay?”
“Not really—” Samantha sucked in a sharp breath, then muttered, “That burns. Warn me next time.”
“Sorry,” a second voice echoed over the line.
“Samantha? What’s going on? Who is that?”
“That is the reason I’m calling. I was hoping maybe you could pick me up.”
The tingle intensified. “Where are you?”
/> “The emergency room.”
“What? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I promise. I just . . . ” She swallowed audibly over the line. “Remember how you told me to call if I found another dead body in my house? Well, I’m calling.”
Brisk air wrapped around Ethan as he slid from his BMW. He hadn’t taken the time to shower, hadn’t even grabbed a sweatshirt, and the cool breeze now tickling the dried sweat on his back chilled his skin, but he barely cared.
He jogged across the hospital parking lot, heading for the ER. The automatic doors opened with a swish. Scanning the waiting room, he searched for Samantha. She’d been interrupted by a doctor during their conversation and had to turn her phone off. All he knew was that something had happened at her house, she’d ditched school, and she was now in the ER.
The waiting room was nearly empty, only a handful of people sitting in chairs. A kid coughed. The woman along the wall to his left lifted her dark head. Ethan kept scanning only to jerk back when he realized the woman was Samantha.
She stood, grabbed the bag at her feet, and headed toward him. One whole side of her forehead was bruised, her left eye swollen and black. A thin bandage stretched across the upper part of her cheek.
“Holy mother of God,” he muttered.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said, stopping in front of him.
His heart pounded hard as he carefully cupped her chin and turned her face toward the light so he could get a better look. “What happened?”
“I . . . ” Samantha looked over the waiting room and the curious eyes angled their way. Grasping his hand, she pulled him toward the door. “I’ll tell you outside.”
His chest squeezed tight. As soon as they were on the sidewalk, he tugged her to a stop and gently turned her to face him. “Samantha—”
“I’m okay,” she said quickly, reading the panic in his eyes. “I just got knocked around a little. The doctor said it’s just bruises. They’ll be gone in a couple of days.”
“How . . . Did this happen at school?”
“No. Before. Kenny showed up at my house just as I was getting ready to leave for work.”
“Saunders?”
She nodded and pulled him out of the way so a woman could pass through the doors. “He was acting crazy, ranting about Margaret, about me remembering something. I locked him out and called nine-one-one, but before I could get out of the house, he broke through the sidelight. I tried to run, but he grabbed me and threw me across the kitchen.” She brushed a finger over the bruises near her eye. “That’s how I got this.”
Ethan’s vision turned red. He was gonna kill the son of a bitch. “What happened then?”
“Will showed up. He was on my side of town when he heard the nine-one-one call. I don’t remember a lot. Just that Kenny had a hold of me by the neck, and then Will shot him.”
Ethan’s gaze shot to Samantha’s neck. Fingerprint bruises marred her soft skin, and the sight stretched his chest tight as a drum. He ran a hand over his face, tried to settle his roaring pulse, tried to stay calm for her sake. But the images branded his brain. Branson with a gun in her house. Saunders attacking her.
She was okay, though. She was alive. She could have been killed, but she wasn’t.
“Once for sure,” Samantha went on. “I think I sort of passed out after that.”
A new sense of fear rushed through him. “What do you mean you passed out? With both of them there?”
“It’s okay, Ethan.” Her hand closed over his, hot against his suddenly frigid skin, and squeezed. “I passed out from seeing the blood, that’s all.” She swallowed hard. “Kenny’s dead. And Will called the paramedics and got me right over here. I’m fine.”
She might be fine, but he wasn’t. Adrenaline pumped hard and fast through his body as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight. Just thinking about what she’d been through when he’d been playing basketball made his chest cinch down so hard it hurt to draw air.
“You’re coming home with me tonight,” he said into her hair.
“Okay.”
No argument? She was more shaken than she was letting on.
“And you’re not working this weekend.” He drew back and looked down at her.
She nodded. “No work.”
He hadn’t been there. He hadn’t been the one to save her. Branson had saved her. And as much as Ethan hated the son of a bitch, all he could think about was how grateful he was that Branson had gotten to her in time. “Do you need anything from your house?”
“Just Grimly. He’s a little banged up too.”
“Okay.” His gaze darted over her features and settled on the bruises around her eye.
He could have lost her, just like that. Before he’d figured out what she meant to him. Before he’d told her. Before he had a chance to find out how she felt. In a matter of minutes, he could have lost everything he’d never known he wanted.
That ache pushed its way back up into his chest. Losing her now, when he’d finally found her, wasn’t a thought he was willing to entertain.
He brushed his thumb across the edge of her bandaged cheek instead of grabbing on and holding tight again like he wanted to do. That would only scare her away, and right now he needed her close. Always needed her close. “Let’s go get him.”
She nodded, and, together, they headed for his car. Glancing sideways at him as they walked, she said, “Did you forget to get dressed for work today?”
“I was at the gym with Alec when you called.”
“Oh, really? I can’t wait to meet him.”
He pulled the car door open for her, helped her in, and walked around to the driver’s side. She was talking about the future, about meeting his family, and he should be happy about that, but all he could think about was Saunders in her house attacking her.
Ethan didn’t want her to see how freaked out he was by it all, though, so he fought back the rush of fear and anger and climbed in beside her. He reached for his phone on the console.
She snapped her seat belt. “What are you doing?”
“Calling my dad.” He hit “Dial” and pressed the phone to his ear. “Telling him not to come over tonight.”
“What? No.” She plucked the phone from his hand and clicked “End.” “Don’t do that.”
“We don’t need to do this tonight, Samantha.”
“Ethan, I’m fine. Your father already made plans.”
“He’s not going to care.” And the last thing she needed after everything she’d been through was a trip through her own living nightmare.
“No.” She slipped the phone under her far leg so he couldn’t reach it. “You talked me into this. We’re doing it tonight.”
“Samantha, listen—”
“No. You listen.” She turned toward him, but this time her eyes weren’t soft and weary. They were insistent and a little bit wild. And for the first time since he’d seen her bruised and battered face, he knew she wasn’t nearly as fine as she’d tried to make him believe. “I don’t want to wait. I want to get it over with. I think Kenny may have killed Margaret. And I think it has something to do with me. He said I knew too much, that I saw something. I don’t have a clue what he was talking about, and I can’t ask him now because he’s dead, but I have a feeling it has something to do with my nightmare and that cabin. And I’m not going to let it go on any longer because I just want it to be over. If you don’t want to help me, I’ll call your father and—”
“Okay.” He gently placed a hand on her arm and rubbed. “We’ll do whatever you want.”
“Don’t placate me.”
“I’m not. Trust me, I’m not. But I don’t want to fight with you either. You scared the crap out of me earlier, Samantha. I’d give you just about anything you asked for right now.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t be nice to me when I’m irrational and inflexible.”
&n
bsp; His heart pinched. He couldn’t help it. He loved her. He’d realized it as soon as he’d heard she was hurt. He loved her, and he couldn’t fathom the thought of anything happening to her.
But he knew she wasn’t ready to hear that yet. Didn’t want to do anything to spook her into running. Carefully, so he didn’t hurt her, he slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. And told himself . . . soon. Soon he’d tell her. He just hoped by then she felt the same way. “Come here.”
He held her close, drawing in the sweet scent of her skin and savoring the way her silky hair tickled his face. But mostly he focused on the strong, steady beat of her heart mingling with his, the two thumping together in a way that chased away the chill and warmed him all the way down to his toes. “I happen to like irrational and inflexible.”
She huffed out a sound that was half laugh, half groan. “Then I guess you got lucky. Because I am the queen of irrational inflexibility.”
“I did get lucky. The day I met you. When I was completely spellbound and you looked down your nose at me because of my profession.”
She drew back and looked up. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. You’re not like any other shrink I’ve ever met.”
“I’m not?”
She shook her head, and her gaze dropped to his lips. “You’re so much more. And I was spellbound too. I was just too afraid to let you see. But I’m not afraid now.”
Heat brewed in the depths of her dark eyes. Heat and the same need he always felt around her. And when she pressed her lips against his, every nerve ending in his body tingled with awareness and hope.
Whatever was happening in this town, whatever its link to her, they could get through it. As long as they were together, they could get through anything. He just hoped she still believed that after he told her the truth.
Sam tossed the magazine onto the coffee table, unable to concentrate on the words or pictures she’d been staring at for the last twenty minutes. Clenching her toes around the soft threads of the carpet, she leaned forward and brushed the loose hairs back from her face, then blew out a slow breath.