Let Him In (Let Him Trilogy) (17 page)

The one question Lacey swore never again to ponder had become a broken record:
Why doesn’t he love me?

A part of her knew the reason had nothing to do with her, but another part refused to accept any other explanation.

Seated on the slanted roof of the porch, Lacey stared up at the night sky. She saw no stars or moon, just a black ocean she wished would seep into her brain and drown the parts responsible for emotions.

Had her father ever loved her? If so, how had he been able to shut it off? If she knew he’d answer honestly, she’d ask him so that she could do the same, because so far, trying to think herself out of feeling anything for him hadn’t worked.

And leaving wouldn’t help because the concept ‘out of sight, out of mind’ was total bullshit. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen him since they’d moved to Hermit two weeks ago and yet there she was, with the same old thoughts and feelings.

Maybe it was her fault that he didn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t love her. She was pretty damn stupid. Remaining loyal to him in spite of everything proved that.

With a deep sigh, Lacey pulled her flannel pajama top down over her bare legs and then wrapped her arms around them. The rustling leaves of the trees as they swayed in the strong breeze was a soothing lullaby that made her yawn again and again, but even though her body felt like lead and her brain mush, she knew that as soon as her head hit the pillow she’d be wide awake just like the last three times she’d tried to sleep.

After another long yawn that brought tears to her eyes, she closed them and then rested her chin on her knees.

Seconds or minutes or hours later, Lacey’s spine snapped straight and her head to the right in the direction of the sound that had roused her from her doze. It took a few rapid blinks before her eyes focused on what looked like a white, fluffy ball at the edge of the roof, and another few before her foggy brain registered what she was seeing.

“Casper, no!”

Lacey shot to her feet and instantly lost her balance. She cried out as she pitched forward. Again when her hands and knees slammed into the tin roof’s hard surface. Again when she started tumbling like an acrobat. And then she was dangling from the rusted gutter, which made a squeaking, creaking sound that assured her it wouldn’t support her weight for long.

“Shit!”

Lacey tried to pull herself up and managed only to loosen what may have been one or all of the rusted brackets—she didn’t know because she couldn’t see a damn thing it was so dark. Something small and hard struck the top of her head. A screw, she thought, and then yelled, “Shit, shit, shit!”

The kitten darted over. Meowed. Licked her fingers and then stepped into the gutter. “Casper, no, damn it!” She may survive the fall if the gutter gave away, but the kitten wouldn’t—especially if she landed on him. “Shoo! Shoo!”

Plopping his butt down, Casper started washing his face. With a frustrated grunt, Lacey glanced down again.
I’m gonna have to jump.
The thought made her already fast-beating heart feel like it was going to shoot out of her chest. She squinted, but still couldn’t see a fucking thing.

How many feet between hers and the ground? Was she dangling over the porch steps? What if she landed wrong and broke one or both of her ankles? Legs? Cracked the back of her head against the hard earth?

Just do it...you have no choice.

Lacey took a deep breath. Slowly released it. Tried to let go. Her hands refused to open.

Okay, one more time. Deep inhale. Good. Slow exhale. Good. Now let go.

Nope.

A car door slammed, turning Lacey’s whimper into a sharp gasp, the air of which she used to scream, “Daddy!”

Feet pounded against the solid earth.

“Daddy, help!”

Large, hot hands slid under her pajama top to grip her waist. “Let go.”

Lacey went rigid at the husky voice that most definitely was not her father’s. Her heart did a nauseating flip, flop, plop sort of thing before resuming its hard, fast pounding. Her mouth went dry and her throat closed up.

“I said, let go. Now.”

And just like that Lacey’s hands released their death grip on the gutter. In what felt like slow motion, she was lowered to the ground, her head feeling like one of those spinning toys. When her feet touched the cool earth she stumbled back and against a hard wall of heat.

I fell,
she thought as the warmth spread to her front.
I fell and hit my head and I’m unconscious.

When she heard a low, deep growl, the fog clouding Lacey’s brain vanished instantly. She filled her lungs to capacity and then screamed as loud as she could. A hot hand clamped over her mouth and pulled her head back.

“Stop.”

Lacey eyes widened even more as they latched on to an all-too-familiar pair. They do glow, she thought, a second before a rush of adrenaline shot through her body, propelling her arms and legs into action. She flailed and kicked. Kicked and flailed. Until she was breathless and her limbs felt like soggy noodles.

“Finished?” he said in a gruff tone when her body went limp.

Lacey used what little strength she had left to nod, but when he didn’t let her go or uncover her mouth she found a little more. Her hand flew up to clamp over the back of his, her fingers trying in vain to peel his off. She sensed The Man’s smile a moment before she heard a soft chuckle that turned her ice-cold fear into red-hot anger.

“Apparently not,” he murmured, and then expelled a heavy sigh, his heated breath against her cheek making it feel even hotter. “Calm down, baby.”

I am not your baby, you stupid jerk! And don’t tell me to calm down!

Lacey tried to sink her teeth into his hand, but it was clamped too tight over her mouth. The Man pressed his lips against her ear. “Are you trying to
bite
me?” he whispered, sounding both shocked and amused.

She nodded.

He chuckled.

She seethed.

He cleared his throat. “Listen carefully. I drove by. Saw you. Stopped to help. Nothing more. Do you understand?”

Adrenaline zinged through Lacey’s veins, preparing her for what she was about to do. She knew it was insane, but she didn’t care. Payback was a bitch...and he needed to know that so was she.

Lacey nodded. After a moment’s hesitation, The Man removed his arms from around her waist, but didn’t step back.
Good, very, very good.
Turning around, she placed her hands on his chest and then slid them up to his shoulders, which she squeezed tight.
Gotta align just right.
At her touch, The Man growled low in his throat. The sound, which would’ve been terrifying had she not been fueled by anger, echoed through the silent night.
Down boy.

Grinning devilishly at her inside joke, Lacey latched onto the only thing she could see in the blackness surrounding them—his eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you stopped to help me,” she said in the sweetest voice she could manage. “What I
don’t
appreciate is being manhandled.”

Clenching her teeth, Lacey brought her knee up hard and fast. The Man’s ice-blue eyes widened and his pupils constricted a moment before he released a sound of pain and rage that turned her heated blood into ice water.

Lacey’s heart shot into her throat as she whirled around and bolted toward the house. Her foot caught on the bottom step and she pitche
d
forward, elbows and knees slamming against the hard wood. A crawling-run propelled her across the porch, to the front door. She sprang up and  grabbed the doorknob, turning and pushing at the same time. “I’m calling the cops,” she screamed as she flung herself into the house.

Slam, lock, run.

And fall.

Various horror movie scenes flashed through her mind as Lacey scrambled up the stairs, her loud, short breaths the only sound in the deafening silence. She sprang up when she reached the second floor landing. Flew down the hallway and into her bedroom. Slammed the door and locked it. Darted for the window and collided with her bed, falling face-down on it. With a flip-roll her feet hit the floor. She ran to the open window and thrust her head outside.

Lacey searched the darkness. “Here, kitty, kit—there you are,” she breathed when she spotted the fluffy ball of white at the far end of the roof. “Please, Casper, come here!”

The kitten took a few steps toward her. Stopped. And then jumped up. And up and up and—

With a sharp gasp Lacey pushed off the windowsill so hard she flew backwards several feet before landing hard on her ass. She wanted to scream and run but her brain was preoccupied with the question repeating inside her mind: How?

Ghostly, ice blue orbs appeared at the open window. They hovered there for a moment and them slowly came forward.

He’s going to kill me.

When she heard a loud click, Lacey’s eyes slammed shut and her arms flew up to wrap around her head.

He’s got a gun!

Holding her breath, Lacey waited for a loud bang followed by an explosion of pain.

And waited.

Waited some more.

Lacey forced her eyelids apart just a little. Beyond the black blur of her lashes she saw light surrounding her forearms like a golden halo. Was she dead? And if so, was the glow from Heaven’s sunshine or Hell’s flames?

Forcing her eyes completely open, she looked down.

Hell...definitely Hell. Heaven wouldn’t have worn-out floors with scrapes and gouges.

“Look at me.”

“I don’t want to,” she whispered, closing her eyes once again.

“Do it anyway.”

“No.”

A loud stomp made the floor underneath her vibrate and something fall. “One last time: Look. At. Me.”

Lacey shook her head—whatever he planned to do to her, she didn’t want to see it coming.

“Goddamn it.”

More loud stomps mixed with heavy breaths. Pain and heat in her upper arms. And then she was airborne. Her eyes flew open and locked onto The Man’s, who she was now face-to-face with. She looked down at the floor she was suspended above and then back up, pausing briefly on his curled lips before returning to his narrowed gaze. “Who the fuck are you?” he snarled.  

Lacey’s mouth worked soundlessly for several moments before she managed to force out the word, “Nobody.”

“No,” he replied, his voice barely more than a whisper, “you are, without question,
somebody
.”

A car door slammed. Lacey’s inhaled long and deep, but before she could scream her father’s name The Man spun her around and clamped his hand over her mouth again. “Listen carefully,” he growled in her ear. “I am not going to hurt you.” He gave her a firm shake. “Do you understand?”

Lacey nodded, not because it was what he wanted her to do but because she actually believed him, further proof of just how damn stupid she truly was.

“Now, I am going to release you. I request that you remain silent so that I may leave without further incident. Do you understand?”

Lacey nodded again...believing him once again.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“I am trusting you,” he said, his ‘do not make me regret it’ tone rendering it unnecessary to verbalize the statement.

When Lacey nodded a third time, The Man’s hand dropped from her mouth. She inhaled and exhaled a few quick, shaky breaths, then forced herself to take deeper ones when her head started to feel light and fuzzy.

Only after she’d gotten her bearings did Lacey realize that the hot, steel band that was The Man’s arm was still around her waist. Turning her head, she tilted her face up. Her eyes found his void of the coldness and cruelty she’d expected, filled instead with what looked like a mixture of confusion and wonder…

Even so, she knew she would never be able to sleep again until she was convinced that he wasn’t a threat, and so she whispered, “I didn’t call the cops.”

“I know.”

Lacey was about to ask him
how
he knew that when she realized he was missing the point. “We don’t have a phone,” she continued. “I couldn’t call them even if I wanted to.”

The Man’s forehead creased ever so slightly as his head reared back. “Why are you telling me this?”

“My father is downstairs in his recliner, drinking whiskey and...” She stopped talking, listened intently for a moment. “I can’t hear it but I’m pretty sure he’s—”

“Listening to country music. George Straight’s
Baby Blue
to be precise.”

She blinked at that. “Are you part bat?” she blurted.

One corner of his mouth curled up, amusement lighting his already luminous eyes. “Popular misconception.”

“Huh?”

He shook his head, some unidentifiable but unnerving emotion transforming his gaze. “The answer to your question is no. I am not part...
bat
.”

No, that wasn’t just a tad bit creepy.

Lacey swallowed hard, silently cursing her body as it began to tremble. “What I’m saying is if you’re lying and plan to come back and kill me, you don’t have to wait until he’s gone.”