Can't Shake You (32 page)

“Don’t play games with me,” Alex hissed. “I just passed him on his way out of town. Had a smarmy grin on his face. Guess you’ve been screwing the whole lot of them, haven’t you?”

Now trembling, Carissa shook her head. “What do you want, Alex? Why are you here?”

“I want what should have been mine.” He reached out, grabbed her arm, and hauled her forward. He twisted his hand in her ponytail and pulled her face up close to his. “You should have left well enough alone, Carissa. There was no need to get your cocky fucking boyfriends involved.”

“I told you I didn’t! I had nothing to do with Reed coming here that day!” she cried, her voice cracking, her scalp screaming.

“You expect me to believe that, when you had Hudson already lined up to take my place?” He shoved her hard and she slammed back against the wall in the hallway.

“That's not true," she whispered, the wind knocked out of her.

“No?" He pulled something from his back pocket and she held what little breath she had, expecting the worse. A knife or a gun even. To her surprise, it was neither, but what she saw when his hand came into view again rocked her heart just the same. "You know what they say about pictures, right?” His bitter laughter as he glanced down at the glossy print made her cringe. Then he threw it at her and it floated to the floor at her feet.

She snatched it up, her fingers trembling so much she nearly dropped it. “Where did you get this?” she demanded, staring at the photo she'd recognized immediately. Her and Josh huddled together for Maddie's camera three years earlier at McCauley’s. They were both laughing, their heads close together, looking cozy. It wasn't an incriminating picture by any means. Just two friends having a good time. But what was discerning about it was the wear around the edges. The couple spots near the bottom where it looked like it had gotten wet. The holes in the top left corner that implied it had been pinned up somewhere.

“That's the golden question, isn't it?” Alex sneered.

She looked at the picture again, remembering that Maddie had taken tons of pictures that night to send to Josh.
God.
"You took this from Josh.”

“Ah, such a smart girl. I bet you know where I found it, too.”

She shook her head. "No.” Why had Josh held onto it? And why did it look so worn?

“In a shoebox in his closet with a couple letters from his mommy and—surprise—a card from you. Liked the little heart you dotted your 'i' with, by the way. I bet he really liked getting that in the mail while he was overseas. Not as much as he apparently liked that picture though, if you know what I mean." He winked and she gasped as the meaning of his words sank in.

Josh had taken her to the war with him. But then she'd known that all along, hadn't she?

“You look surprised." He cocked his head to the side. “Maybe even a little scared.” Then he moved so fast there was no time to react. He grabbed her by the hair and stuck his nose in the crook of her neck. “Mmm, I love the smell of fear," he rasped in her ear. “Are you scared of me, Carissa? Because you damn well should be.”

With that, he shoved her hard, sending her to the floor. He loomed over her, his fists balled, his teeth bared.

“Please don’t do this,” she whimpered, pulling her knees to her chest, shaking.

“That bastard has taken everything from me. He was gone for a goddamn year and a half and he comes home, the work piled higher than his fucking ego, because nobody can resist a hometown hero. Short of killing the arrogant prick, I haven’t been able to do a damn thing to chink his reputation and tumble his friggin’ empire.”

“He deserves all the success he’s had and your petty attempts to bring him down have been nothing but a joke.” Carissa couldn’t keep her mouth shut, though she knew speaking out only made matters worse.

Alex laughed, then swung suddenly, his fist going through the wall a few feet above her head. “A joke? We’ll see who’s laughing when I get done here, darlin’. Because after all this time, I finally know just how to bring that son of a bitch to his knees once and for all.”

Alex lifting his fist once more was the last thing Carissa saw before her world went black.

***

C
arissa didn’t want to talk to him.

Josh tried her cell all Monday afternoon, getting her voicemail over and over again. He’d left three messages, but she wasn’t calling him back and he couldn’t say he blamed her. He’d been a class A prick on Friday night.

But she could only avoid him for so long, because after the enlightening conversation with his father, he had to see her and he had to see her soon. They’d lost so much time already.

He didn’t mean to stalk her, but when she wasn’t at her apartment, he drove to the flip, hoping he’d catch her there. His heart jumped when he saw her car in the driveway.

Parking quickly behind her car, he hurried out of the truck, the hairs on the back of his neck instantly prickling with unease. The sun had just gone down and the house was completely dark. Unless she was on her way out the door, something wasn’t right.

He jogged up the porch steps, slowing when he saw the front door left open...and a blood smear on the stained glass inset.

“Carissa!” He stormed into the house, noting the demolished drywall and the broken glass before she saw her lying in a motionless pile on the hallway floor, a line of blood streaking down her cheek from a gash above her temple.

He had his phone out and dialed before he reached her, falling down onto his knees and wrapping his fingers around her slight wrist, endlessly thankful for the steady pulse that beat there. It was then that the dam in his chest broke and it was all he could do to speak to the emergency operator.

The next half hour went by in a blur. He vaguely registered talking to the police and paramedics and then following the ambulance to the hospital. Somehow, he’d also managed to call Maddie, and suddenly she and Dan were both there, beside him in the waiting room, what seemed like only moments later.

“What happened?” Maddie asked, panicked tears in her eyes, as she clung to his brother’s arm for support.

“I don’t know,” Josh said, his voice hoarse, as he dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I found her lying unconscious in the hall at the flip. The place was trashed.” The last words came out strangled as he fought back emotion.

“Son of a bitch.” Dan jerked away from Maddie, clearly realizing what Josh had been too ashamed to admit out loud—he didn’t protect her.

Maddie choked back a sob as she dropped to a nearby chair and dug into her purse. “I have to call Cade. And her dad. God, I don’t think I have his number.”

“His number’s in her phone. I almost called, but I wasn’t sure...” He tossed the phone to her, as he stood and began to pace. How to explain to her father, of all people, that he’d done this to her? That he’d brought this nightmare to her doorstep and he’d failed to do the one thing he swore he would, no matter what happened between them?

Maddie thumbed around on the device and dialed her own phone before stepping to the side of the waiting room to talk. Fletcher nearly trampled her when he flew into the room like a bat out of hell.

“I just saw Mark downtown. How is she?” he asked, his eyes wild with nervous energy.

Josh’s hackles went up immediately. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his friend’s “I care about her” bullshit. “They’re not saying anything yet,” he ground out.

Fletcher narrowed his eyes and marched over to the nurses’ window, as Dan stepped in front of Josh.

“This isn’t the time or the place for drama, and you won’t help Carissa by airing your dirty laundry right now. Keep it together,” his brother said, his hands on Josh’s shoulders for assurance.

“I don’t want him here,” Josh muttered, his jaw tight.

“What you want doesn’t matter right now. Get your head out of your ass.” Dan gave him a hard shake as Fletcher slumped into a nearby seat.

“She’s in and out of consciousness, but her vitals are good. Hopefully just a concussion and shock. They’re taking her for a CT scan shortly,” he said, blowing out a breath and hanging his head in his hands. Josh didn’t want to know how he’d managed to procure the information, but he was thankful for it. “So what happened?” Fletcher asked. “Did she fall?”

Josh swallowed hard. “No.”

The two men shared a silent stare.

“You lousy motherfucker.” His friend rose again, nostrils flaring. “Sure as hell doesn’t get any more personal than this, does it?”

Josh gripped the back of the chair he stood behind and used every bit of strength he had to contain himself. “Not now, Reed.”

“Why not? It’s as good a time as any, far as I can tell.” His hands drew into fists. “It’s the least you can do for her, don’t you think? Considering this is your goddamn fault.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Josh saw Maddie sidle up to Dan again, her expression furrowed.

“Who knew you were fucking her, huh? Seems like a good place to start,” Fletcher spat, craning his head from side to side like a fighter about the rumble.

Josh growled. “I’m
not
doing this right now.”

“Figures. You never had the balls to tell me, so I suppose it’s fitting you’d be selfish enough not to protect her either.”

Josh flung the chair in front of him out of the way, but Dan held him back with an arm around his waist. “Don’t you dare talk to me about selfish, Fletcher, or I swear to God, I’ll—”

“Don’t say it, Hudson, or I’ll have to cuff you.” Rage clouding his vision, Josh didn’t see Mark enter the room.

He moved to stand between the two men, his expression tight. “I’ve got bigger problems to deal with right now than the two of you beating the piss out of each other, so I’d really appreciate it if you two could keep it together enough to help me out.”

Josh wrenched himself away from Dan, his focus quickly prioritizing. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

Mark turned to Josh and, in a semi-discreet voice, said, “You might not want to do this right here.”

Josh frowned. “I’ve got nothing to hide.” Not anymore, anyhow.

Mark hesitated. “Reed’s right. Who besides myself and Alex Kelly knew you were seeing Carissa?”

“You knew, too?” Fletcher scoffed behind Mark. “Un-friggin’-believable.”

Mark held up a hand. “I suggest you shut up or I’ll cuff you for the hell of it, Fletcher.”

Josh shrugged. “Tony and Dan.” The shocked look on Maddie’s face ruled her out on Carissa’s end.

“I think we’re dealing with the vandal here, if the shape of the house is any indication.” He paused to clear his throat. “I happened to have a few words with Tony before I came over here and he said he saw Carissa hauling stuff into the house this afternoon. Talked to her a few minutes right around six o’clock.”

Josh pulsed the muscle at the juncture of his jaw. “So she didn’t walk in on anything.”

“Sounds like someone walked in on her and I think that someone is Kelly. Tony passed him on the road right after he left Carissa’s. I don’t know if there’s bad blood between you two, but it’s no secret that Kelly’s got one helluva got a temper,” Mark said. “I drove by his place, but he’s not there. I’ve put an APB out on his truck, because if it was him and Carissa saw him, he’d be smart to get the hell out of town.”

Aside from picking up his slack after Carissa had fired him and then the scuffle the other day, Josh couldn’t think of anything he’d done to piss Kelly off. They were competitors in the same field, but it had never been personal—

“The Henry mansion. The senator narrowed the bids down to mine and Kelly’s and obviously I ended up with the job.” If Kelly was still pissed about it, the ordeal with Carissa would have only compounded his anger. “But the first vandalism happened before Carissa even let him go.”

Mark nodded. “Right, but if the first incident was at Henry’s, maybe he decided to sabotage you before Carissa was even in the picture.”

And she was just fuel for his fury.

Feeling like a caged animal, Josh snarled, “I’ll kill him with my bare hands!”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Mark said as the door leading to the examination rooms in the emergency department slid open.

A nurse in blue scrubs came forward with a clipboard and a smile. “Ms. Brandt is awake, and she’s asking for Josh.”

Needing to hear no more, he darted across the room and followed after the older woman, ignoring Fletcher’s vocal uproar as the glass doors closed behind him. He and Fletcher would have it out yet. But right now the only thing he wanted to do was hold the woman he loved and hope she could forgive him for letting this happen to her.

S
o much for being out of her apartment early to avoid the wrath of the wrecking ball. Carissa’s head felt like it had been slammed between two gigantic balls of iron and then rolled beneath one for good measure.

She didn’t remember Alex hitting her, but from what the nurse told her, she had a bruise on the left side of her face and a gash requiring ten stitches on the right. Given the corner wall Alex pushed her into, it was easy to figure out what happened. She’d never been so thankful to be a light-weight in all her life. If she hadn’t passed out immediately, Lord knows what else he might have done.

“Can I get you anything while we wait for your room upstairs, honey?” the nurse, a round, grandma-like woman, asked, poking her head into the room.

“Water? And could I, uh, if there’s anyone...” She paused, biting at her lip. “Is Josh here?”

The nurse smiled. “I believe he’s the handsome young man who came in with you. I’ll show him back.”

Butterflies whirled in her stomach. Had he found her? Had he seen Alex?

Probably not, she realized, otherwise he would have been in jail and not the hospital waiting room.

She closed her eyes while she waited. What if Josh didn’t want to see her? What if he was only there because he felt obligated? What if her father had been wrong?

She swallowed hard. She just survived a gigantic clobber upside the head. She’d survive another rejection.

“Here you are, Mr. Hudson. Only a few minutes though—Sheriff Dunn needs to take a statement before we get Ms. Brandt settled in for the night.” The nurse held open the door and a second later Josh stepped in looking like absolute hell. His hair stood on end and there were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes.