“He’s not home.”
“Oh.” Her brows knit together. “Do you know when he’ll be back?” Hopefully soon, I think but don’t say as I shake my head in a negative motion, and she looks at me like I might be crazy. “Just let him know that he needs to reschedule with the office.”
“I’ll let him know.”
“Thanks.” She turns to walk away, and I wait until she’s far enough away that she should be safe before I shove all my weight into the door behind me. Sandy grunts as it rams into her. Knowing this is my only chance to get away, I take off on a run across the porch and down the steps, then scream as the sound of a gun firing goes off, and pain radiates up my side.
My legs give out from under me, and I hit the ground, seeing Amanda’s wide fear-filled eyes as she turns around to look at me. “Run!” I scream, and her eyes widen more; then she takes off. I fight through the pain and force myself to get up, then hear another shot and another, not registering the pain. Instead, I’m focused on the sound of the sirens that seem to be getting closer before everything goes dark.
I wake to the sound of beeping. My tired eyes open slowly and see nothing familiar as I look around the sparsely decorated room. I attempt to sit up, but the pain in my side and back makes it almost impossible to move; then the weight of a heavy hand presses against my shoulder, and I meet Calvin’s worry-filled gaze.
“Don’t move, baby,” he says gruffly, pressing his lips to my forehead as he reaches over me. “Are you in pain?” I nod, and his expression softens. “I’m sorry,” he whispers; then, before I can tell him that it’s not his fault, darkness creeps over me, and I fall asleep once more.
“She’s our daughter; you can’t keep us from her!” I hear my father shout, and I blink my eyes open at a low rumbled response I can’t make out and the sound of shuffling. I start to sit up to see what’s going on, then stop when a hand takes hold of mine. I turn my head to the side. I see Edie and watch her eyes fill with relief as they lock on mine.
“Welcome back, honey.”
Welcome back? I close my eyes, and everything that happened flashes through my mind like a bolt of lightning. Tears clog my throat, and I breathe through my nose, trying to get my emotions under control. “Calvin.” I whimper his name, needing him more than I need my next breath.
A hand smooths the hair back from my face, lips touch my forehead, and warmth fills my senses as Calvin whispers, “I’m right here, baby.”
He’s here, right here, with me, where he’s supposed to be. I lift my hands, lock my arms around his strong shoulders, and hold on to him, vowing to never let him go. “Sandy.”
“She’s gone; she can’t hurt you.”
“Gone?”
“Dead,” Calvin whispers, and the tears I’ve been trying to hold back slip from between my lashes while pain radiates through my chest. I know she wasn’t a good person, but she was unwell, and the human part of me hates that she died before she could get help.
“Shhhh.” He pulls back, and I blink my eyes open as he swipes the tears from my cheeks. “I love you.” He rests his forehead to mine.
“I love you too,” I say as my eyelids start to grow heavy.
“Sleep, baby. When you wake back up, we’ll start our forever.”
Before I can tell him I’m looking forward to that, darkness takes me, but I fall back to sleep with a smile.
Suggestion 15
FOREVER ISN’T LONG ENOUGH
CALVIN
I stare at the ceiling and focus on Anna: the weight of her against my side, the warmth of her naked body curled into mine, and the sound of her breathing. Even with her centering me, bringing me back to reality, my mind keeps replaying what happened, what could have happened. It’s been over two months since the worst day of my life, and in that time, Anna has healed almost completely, but that doesn’t mean my mind has. When I read Sandy’s note, I knew immediately that she was going to go after Anna, but I wasn’t able to protect the woman I love. The doctors who performed emergency surgery on Anna said it was a miracle that no major arteries or organs were hit, considering Sandy shot her three times, twice at close range, before the officer who arrived on the scene took Sandy’s life on my front lawn.
As a detective, I failed. I didn’t notice Sandy’s obsession with me. Something I should have recognized if I had been paying attention. Looking back, I remember all the times she happened to show up at different locations where I’d be; seeing her drive by my house, even though she didn’t live in my neighborhood; as well as a hundred other little signs. I shouldn’t have brushed her off as another dead end just because I thought I knew her. If I had done more, if I had dug deeper, I might have been able to prevent her from hurting anyone else, and almost taking away the most important thing in my life.