Breaking Skin (33 page)

“H
er name is Jessie Crowe,” Cole says. “I’m trying to track down an address for her now.”

I grip the phone and walk out of the kitchen, where Langley is drying the dishes from dinner.

“How did you find that out?”

“A friend of your father’s at the post office told me. I said I was from the lottery looking to deliver a check to him.”

“And he believed you?”

Cole chuckles. “Actually, no. He recognized me, which ended up working in my favor. It’s not every day a former pro hockey player offers to buy you a drink.”

“You had to buy him a drink?”

“Several, actually, until he felt like telling me some stories about his old pal Ron.” Cole is oddly silent after that.

“What stories?”

He sighs heavily over the phone, and anxiety frays my nerves.

“I’m heading back now,” he says. “I’d rather tell you in person after Langley goes to sleep. I think I know who left the pictures and who Renee and Langley saw in the woods.”

My pulse speeds up. “Who?”

“Later. When I get back.”

If he doesn’t want to tell me over the phone, that means he’s afraid of how I’ll react. Doesn’t he realize not telling me isn’t exactly keeping calm?

After we hang up, I turn to find Langley standing there, looking at me. “Who was it?”

I take in her expectant expression. “Mr. Dempsey.”

“Oh.” Her face falls the way it does every time the phone rings and it’s not Renee on the other end.

I walk over and pull her into a hug. “Be patient. She’ll come home. You’ll see.”

Langley is subdued after that as we go through her bedtime routine. By the time Cole knocks softly on the back door later, I’m emotionally drained from the day.

When he comes inside, I can see how tired he looks. The circles beneath his eyes are more pronounced, and the light in the room seems to bother him so I turn it off.

“You look exhausted.”

“Let’s sit down.” He takes my hand and brings me over to sit with him at the kitchen table.

“The woman your father was living with had a son. It’s possible he ended up with some of your father’s things. Sounds like he would be around your age now, maybe a little older. I think he’s who Langley and Renee saw in the woods.”

I blink at Cole in the shadowy kitchen. “Why him?”

He squeezes my hand. “Apparently your father used to talk about you and your sister. He was angry about what he said were false accusations. He had some choice words for your mother too because she wouldn’t give him a divorce so he could marry the woman he was living with. If her son absorbed all that, it’s possible he decided to make some trouble.”

“He made more than some trouble. My father’s friend told you all this?”

“A lot of it, and the detective Howard hired filled in the rest. I think you should call the police. Fill out a report, tell them our suspicions, and if he comes back, maybe they can arrest him.”

“Why would he come here now after all this time?”

“I don’t know. I was wondering the same thing.”

“Do you think he could have hurt Renee?”

“Not if he’s still out there doing this. I would bet he doesn’t know Renee isn’t here.”

I look at Cole as I attempt to absorb it all. It’s dark in the kitchen, but I don’t miss the way he squints his eyes and how stiffly he holds his neck and shoulders. He’s in pain, and concern for him pushes everything else aside for now.

“Thank you,” I say and take his hand in both of mine. “Thank you for everything you’ve done today, but your day is over.”

I stand and urge him up with me. When he turns for the back door, I don’t release him. “Let me do something for you now. Have you eaten dinner?”

He smiles gratefully. “I’m not hungry. I just need to go home and lie down.”

“You can rest here. I don’t want you to be alone when you’re feeling like this.”

“I’ll be fine,” he says, but he doesn’t move to leave again. Instead, he eyes me with uncertainty.

I tug lightly on his arm, and that’s all the coaxing he needs to follow me through the kitchen and down the hall. Quietly, we climb the stairs together, and when we reach Renee’s bedroom, he sits down on the bed and looks up at me with eyes that shine in the darkness.

As I caress the side of his face, his eyes close, and I’m overcome by a wave of tenderness for Cole. There’s nothing I want more than to take away his pain and never see him hurt like this again.

When I reach for the hem of his shirt, he raises his arms so I can lift it over his head. Then I press on his shoulder, urging him to lie down. Next, I unbutton his jeans and look up at his face to find his eyes still closed. Rather than disturb him by trying to take the jeans off, I leave them and grab a blanket from the closet to spread over him.

Soon his chest rises and falls steadily. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep. Even though Cole wasn’t feeling well today, he pushed himself to do these things for me. From the looks of it, he pushed himself to the point of exhaustion.

Moving quietly, I get undressed, pull on a T-shirt, and slip into bed beside him, making sure to set the alarm on my phone so I’ll wake up before Langley in the morning. I don’t want her walking in here to find us this way.

This is the first time I’ve been in Renee’s bed, although it may not be the first time for Cole. But that doesn’t matter to me tonight. He needs to rest, and I need to be near him.

As I lie in the darkness and gaze at Cole’s profile, sleep feels far away. Everything Cole learned today twists around in my head. It doesn’t surprise me that my father took no responsibility for what he’d done or that he lied to his new family and his friends. But what could he have said to cause the son of his girlfriend to want to scare Renee so badly? And why now? My father has been gone for years.

Cole turns onto his side and reaches out for me, pulling me against him. I burrow into him and some of my tension eases. I could get used to this, sleeping in his arms at night.

I
wake up in the morning before my alarm goes off and slip out of bed without waking Cole. He looks peaceful and so sexy with the blanket pushed down to his waist and his bent arm slung over his head. The last thing I want to do is leave that bed, but he’s still sound asleep, and after the way he looked last night, I figure he needs the rest. I hope it’s enough to cure his headache.

Watching him suffer that way was difficult. Feeling my own pain is easier than witnessing his. I’m glad he stayed last night and that he wanted to be with me when he was hurting. I wish I could have done more to help him, but he made me feel as if I was helping just by being with him. That still astounds me, probably because of the way people in the past have accused me of hurting them.

After I get dressed, I go downstairs with the idea of making pancakes for everyone. I’m pulling open cabinets, looking for the pancake mix I bought, when Langley walks in.

“Good morning,” I say.

She yawns and grunts back something that sounds like
morning
, then says, “Can you drive me to Violet’s house later?”

I turn to face her. “Who’s Violet?”

“A girl from school. She invited me over. I forgot to tell you.”

“Sure.”

The fact that someone invited Langley over makes me unreasonably happy. Since I’ve been here, she hasn’t had any plans with friends.

When a creaking sound comes from the ceiling above us, she freezes, her gaze moving from the ceiling to me. Cole must be up, but Langley’s hope that it’s her mother is written all over her face.

“That’s Mr. Dempsey. He stayed here last night.”

Her face falls but she tries to hide it. “Why?”

“He wasn’t feeling well, and I didn’t want him to be alone so I had him stay here.”

“Derek’s back with his mom then?”

I nod, glad Langley seems more interested in Derek’s whereabouts than Cole’s. Since she’s only eight years old, I don’t know what her knowledge of the birds and bees is, but her lack of curiosity would seem to indicate it’s limited.

“Did you sleep on the couch like always?”

I pause. Maybe it’s not so limited.

“Yes.” The lie is easier than the truth, and I’d already planned on lying about it to Langley when I asked Cole to stay here, despite how I hate lying. But this one time I give myself a pass.

“What are you looking for?” she asks.

“Pancake mix.”

“I’d rather have Fruit Loops.”

Langley pulls a cereal box out of the cabinet and takes it with her into the other room. With a sigh, put everything away. Not a minute later, Langley runs back into the kitchen.

“He’s out there again. I just saw him.”

I don’t have to ask who she means. I follow her back into the living room as she darts over to the window and points.

“See? Right there.”

I squint in the direction of the woods and see a tall figure dressed in an army jacket and dark jeans standing in the small clearing. He’s looking toward the house and my stomach lurches. From this distances, he looks exactly like my father
.

“Stay here.” I run for the front door. I’m in jeans and a T-shirt, but I only have socks on my feet and no time to put on shoes. If he walks back into the woods, I’ll lose him.

I yank open the door and dash outside. At first, he doesn’t move as I sprint in his direction. It takes him a moment to realize I’m heading straight for him. Once he does, he spins around and runs back through the trees.

Behind me, I hear Siegfried barking, followed by Cole’s voice calling my name.

Siegfried passes me first, sprinting into the trees. I’ve never seen him move so fast. Then Cole comes up beside me.

“It’s him. He just ran in there,” I say breathlessly, pointing.

“Go back to the house,” Cole orders as he easily gains on me.

I don’t even consider going back. My knee aches but I don’t stop pumping my legs.

Cole breaks through the trees, parting the brush, and I follow his path. A thick layer of leaves crunches beneath my feet, and when I lose sight of Cole, I let Siegfried’s barks lead me to them.

My breathing is harsh in my ears, and I slow down once I hear a grunt come from somewhere ahead. When I finally reach them, the man is on the ground, kicking out at Siegfried, who is poised in front of him, growling.

“Call him off!” the man yells.

I’m stunned by Siegfried’s aggressive stance and the vicious sounds coming from him.

“Call off your fucking dog.” He inches backward, away from Siegfried, until a tree trunk stops him.

Cole looks to me, but I’m not sure how to call the dog off.

“Siegfried!”

I stand behind him, not knowing if I should touch him or not, but he doesn’t back down. I move closer and call his name again. This time I clap loudly at the same time, and Siegfried turns to face me.

“It’s okay,” I coo in what I hope is a soothing tone. “It’s okay, boy.”

He barks once at me and turns to look at the man again. Then he lets out a high-pitched whine and comes to stand by my side.

“Good boy.” I smooth a hand over his head and he pushes his body into my leg, securing himself by my side.

I turn my attention back to the man as he stands and brushes himself off. Up close, I realize he doesn’t resemble my father all that much. There’s a gray wig lying in the dirt by his feet and he has a similar build to my father’s, tall and lanky, but that’s all. From a distance, the wig and jacket were enough to create the illusion he obviously wanted.

“Would you like to tell us who the hell you are?” Cole asks.

The man fixes his gaze on me. “You must be Nikki. You look just like your sister.”

Cole takes a step forward. “Never mind her. Who the fuck are you?”

He frowns at Cole. “Ben.”

“Ben what?”

His eyes shift back to me. “Ben Crowe.”

Cole and I exchange a look. The woman my father lived with was named Jessie Crowe. Looks like Cole’s suspicion was right.

“You know who I am?” Ben asks, noticing our silent exchange.

I nod. “My father had a relationship with your mother. What I don’t know is what you’re doing here.”

Ben’s mouth forms a tight line. “Then you don’t know the whole story. I’m here because I want to see my daughter.”

What?
I squint at him.

“Who also happens to be your niece.”

I make a noise of disbelief, wondering if he’s crazy or just delusional. “This is your explanation for why you’re dressing up like my father and leaving his picture on Renee’s doorstep?”

“I asked Renee nicely if I could see her, but she flat-out refused.” Ben looks at Cole. “How would you feel if someone kept you from seeing your kid?”

Cole doesn’t bother answering. He turns to me instead. “Let’s go back to the house and call the police.”

Ben’s eyes harden and he moves toward me. I suck in a breath as Cole intercepts him, pushing him back against the tree trunk.

“Go ahead and call them. I didn’t do anything illegal,” Ben says angrily, uselessly pushing at Cole, who doesn’t budge an inch.

I move closer to get a better look at Ben, and that’s when I notice his eye color for the first time. Dark green, the same shade as Langley’s.