Red Red Rose (30 page)

He
noticed my discomfort and his brow pinched with concern. “Hey, take it easy.
You shouldn’t be moving around.” He came to sit on the edge of my bed and took
my good hand into his, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the back of it. I
wasn’t worried about the pain, having him here made everything hurt less.

“Do
you want me to go get a nurse? They should probably know you’re awake so they
can check you over.”

“Not
yet.” I rested my head back against the pillow and let my eyes fall shut, only
to bolt upright a moment later. “Emily. Where is she?”

“It’s
okay, relax. She’s alright. She’s just in another room recovering.”

“Recovering?
Was she hurt?”

“Just
a little dehydrated and malnourished, but she should be out of here by
tomorrow. Her parents have been with her all day, and James is flying in.”

“Good,”
I relaxed again. “How long was I out?”

“Just
over twenty-four hours. You knocked your head pretty good on those stairs. You
had a bad concussion, but thankfully no brain swelling. Doc said you’ll
probably have a nasty headache for a while and maybe feel a little nauseous.”

I
nodded. I was definitely feeling both, and my throat was dry. I looked at the
cup and bottle of water on the stand beside my bed. “Can you, uh,” I felt
pretty useless, but Spencer was quick to pick up on what I needed and fill the
glass for me.

“Sip
slowly,” he cautioned as he handed it to me and I tried to sit up more. It was
a struggle without the use of one hand. After a few slow sips, I handed it back
to him. He set it aside and resumed his position, holding my hand. I shifted
over on the bed as much as I could and then indicated I wanted him on the bed
next to me.

“I
should probably go get the nurse now, and I want you to be comfortable.”

“And
I just want you to hold me for a few minutes.” I tugged on his hand and he
didn’t resist. He climbed up next to me and I rested my head against his
shoulder. We lay there quietly for a few minutes. He continued to play with my
hand in his and I just let myself enjoy the feeling of being safe in his arms
again.

He
found me.

I
knew he would.

“Are
my parents here?” I asked after a while.

“They
are. They’ve been by your side all day, but I sent them home with the Raynes to
get some sleep and promised them I would stay with you.”

I
nudged him with my good elbow. “You do know that they will consider you
officially part of the family now for saving my life.”

He
sighed, “I didn’t save your life Nora. I got you pushed down a flight of
stairs. You could have broken your neck.”

I
grabbed his face, forcing him to look me in the eye. “You did save my life.
What he would have done if you hadn’t gotten there when you did would have been
so much worse than a fall down the stairs.”

He
closed his eyes briefly and let out a deep breath. “I know and I keep telling
myself that, but I still feel like it’s my fault you’re all broken right now.”

“No,
you’re the reason I’m not still trapped back there.” I stroked my thumb over
the stubble on his jaw. “How did you find us?”

“Did
you think I wouldn’t come?”

“I
knew you would. I was just starting to fear it wouldn’t be in time,” I admitted
quietly.

“You
and me both.” He very gently tugged me into his chest and wrapped both arms
around me. “I was so terrified of what he might be doing to you, but the
doctors, they said,” he pulled back slightly so he could look in my eyes. “They
said he didn’t hurt you like that.”

“He
didn’t,” I reassured him. “I held him off, and you got there in time.” I tipped
my head forward and placed a kiss at the hollow of his throat and he squeezed
me a little tighter.

“I
wish I could take all the credit for your rescue, but there wouldn’t have even
been one that night if it wasn’t for Danny.”

I
pulled back and looked up at him. “Danny?”

“He
was the one who figured out it was Will. That’s what he wanted to talk to you
about when he came to see you that night. He didn’t know Will was the killer,
but I guess he tapped into the wifi at your shop one day last week when his
personal hotspot was down, and he noticed someone else was tapped in and spying
on the network. He shut them out, thinking it was just someone trying to find
credit card numbers or get people to download spyware. Later he tracked it to
Will. He thought he was just trying to rip off your customers. That’s why he
was going to tell you and not the cops, so you could decide what to do. He knew
Will was a friend. We were so busy looking at Danny that we didn’t see Will.
That fucking asshole had the nerve to accuse me of being responsible for you
getting taken. Said if I had been with you it wouldn’t have happened.”

“What?”

“Yeah,
Will was back here every single day, pretending to be distraught that you were
missing, pretending to feel guilty about leaving you in the parking lot. He
said that night he made sure you were in your car and had the door locked
before he left. Even stopped by Cassie’s with you in the trunk to take any
suspicion off him because he was the last one to see you. I don’t know how long
it would have taken us to put it together if Danny hadn’t pointed us in his
direction. It still took us too fucking long. I wanted to bring Danny in right
away when you didn’t turn up at home, but the officer said he’d gone to his
house and didn’t leave all night. The next morning he headed for Seattle and we
confirmed he had work conference. He didn’t realize you’d been taken until he
came back and that’s when he came in and told us about Will spying on computers
at the shop. After that, we found spyware on your computer. He went through all
of your emails, your social media accounts. He’d even been remotely hacking
into your computer’s webcam.”

I
shuddered, thinking about everything he might have seen while I had no idea he
was watching.

“We
had to wait for him to pop back up in town. No one had realized he wasn’t
spending nights at his apartment. I spotted his car outside Cassie’s and got a
tracker on him before he left. I followed him to you, up near Maple Falls, but
I had to stay back a ways so he wouldn’t know he was being followed. Monroe and
his team were ten minutes behind me by the time they got mobilized. Once I came
to the dirt road turn off, I hiked the rest of the way in, I was sitting
outside the cabin waiting for backup when I heard you screaming. I went in and
you know the rest. After you fell I subdued Aaron and then backup arrived and
the ambulances weren’t far behind.”

“Is
he in jail?”

“Yeah.
They’ve got him locked up tight, and Will, or Andrew or whatever his name is,
will be lucky if he doesn’t get the death penalty.”

“It’s
Aaron. He’s Aaron,” I told him.

He
frowned. “That’s not possible.”

I
relayed him the same story Aaron had told me, about how he faked his death and
assumed Andrew’s identity.

“I
suppose if the fire was ruled an accident, there would have been no
investigation, no reason to examine the bodies or run dental records.”

“What
I want to know, is why didn’t the police figure out who he was sooner? They
questioned him along with everyone else weeks ago.”

“I
know, but Will Edwards, the name he was using, wasn’t a fake identity, I mean
it was, but he’s a real person. Or at least was. The owner of the cabin he had
you guys in is a Thomas Edwards in Boise. Andrew, or I guess, Aaron was renting
the house behind Mr. Edward’s from him. Seems he also helped the old man out
around his house. He must have come across the cabin and records of Mr.
Edward’s late son who died in infancy. He used the birth certificate and social
security number to assume William Edward’s identity before he left Boise. It
looks like he may have also killed a Gem County clerk to get his hands on your
sealed file.”

“He
killed so many people,” I whispered sadly.

“I
know, but he won’t hurt anyone else. I should probably call Monroe and let him
know what you told me. He’ll be interested to hear that he’s got Aaron Lee in
custody, not Andrew Reardon, and I really should go get the nurse now.”

I
reluctantly let him go to make his phone call and send the nurse in. After she
checked me over, he came back and climbed into the bed with me. I didn’t plan
on letting him leave again. I didn’t plan on ever letting go of him.

Once
I was tucked into his side as comfortably as I could be, I craned my sore neck
to look up at him. He’d closed his eyes, but feeling me move he opened them and
tilted his chin down.

“You
should go back to sleep and rest.”

“First,
ask me what my decision is?”

“Your
decision about what?”

“Us.”

He
brushed his hand gently over my cheek. “It’s been a rough, emotional couple of
days. I promised you I’d give you a month, and I will.”

“Just
ask me.”

“Nora,
you’ve been through a lot,” he said softly. “You should take the month to be
certain of what you want.”

“Ask
me,” I said more forcefully this time.

“Fine,”
he sighed. “What’s your decision?”

“Yes.
A million times over.” I smiled.

I
could see him holding back his own smile. “Are you sure? I promise I don’t mind
spending the month trying to woo you.”

“Oh,
you can still woo away, but I promise I’m sure. I’m sure of you and that you
are worth every risk, and whatever time I get with you will be enough.”

“Good,”
he kissed my forehead and then met my eyes. “Because I wasn’t leaving even if
you said no. I thought I would be able to if it was what you wanted, but after
almost losing you, there’s no way I could ever give you up or walk away. You’re
the one thing I’ll fight the hardest for and never stop fighting for.”

He
slowly brought his lips down to mine and rolled me to my back. He leaned over
me, never breaking the kiss, and cupped his hand around the back of my neck.
His lips moved slow and languidly over mine. He took his time claiming me in
the gentlest way, but his kiss burned its way through me down to the very
deepest parts.

And
when he was done, his lips stilled for just a moment before he lifted them. I
opened my eyes and could see every fleck of brown and gold in his as he stared
into mine. His chest heaved and his breath fluttered across my lips. The tips
of our noses touched and we lay there breathing each other in.

“I
don’t know when it happened, but I knew the moment I found you alive inside
that cabin that somewhere along the way I fell in love with you. I love you so much;
it hurt to breathe in the seconds after I saw you go down those stairs until I
could get to you. I pretty much thought I’d beaten fear with everything I’ve
had to face in my life, but losing you terrifies the shit out of me.”

I
raised my good hand to the side of his face. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t
plan on leaving you. You’re not the only one who fell, and I don’t just mean
down the stairs.” I leaned up and touched my lips to his and then collapsed
back on my pillow with a cheesy grin. “In case you hadn’t noticed I’m pretty in
love with you too.”  

I
couldn’t say exactly when it happened either, only that it had and I don’t
think there could have been any stopping it. Love is crazy like that. Sometimes
it’s a slow build-up, two hearts finding each other and becoming so entwined
over time it would be impossible to separate them, and sometimes it takes no
time at all. Sometimes two hearts come together and they just recognize
something in the other that calls to them. You can fight it all you want, but
by the time you realize what’s happened, you’re smack-dab in the middle of love
with no way out. Most of the time you don’t even see the warning signs until
it’s too late to turn around. It’s exhilarating and overwhelming all at once,
leaving you breathless. But with those feelings also comes a heart-stopping
fear. Fear of what will happen if you ever lose that love. Fear of the unknown.
And even though it was scary as hell, I was ready to embrace the unknown with
him.

Spencer

I
felt like some kind of stalker, standing outside her room, listening to their
conversation. I couldn’t help it. After everything that had happened over the
past week, I was having a hard time letting her out of my sight. I hadn’t
expected to come back from making phone calls and find him in there. Bastard
probably planned it that way, waited for me to leave her alone so he could have
his chance. Not that I blamed him. He’d had five years of chances and let them
slip through his fingers.

I
wasn’t worried that anything he might say to her would change her mind. He
wasn’t a threat to me, but I knew she cared for him and he did have the power
to make this harder on her. That, I would not allow.

“It
may take some time, but I know she’ll get past it.” They were talking about
Emily. “I’m just worried it will be a while before she’s back to herself. She’s
not talking much about it. She’s not talking much at all.”

“Just
give her time, James. She’s a fighter. What she went through . . .” Nora’s
voice faded and I knew she was going back there in her head. I expected it
would be a while before she stopped seeing that cabin, stopped reliving those
days and nights. Hell, it was going to be a while before I stopped reliving
them. I woke so many times during the night, afraid I was going look beside me
and find her missing from the bed.

“Do
you know? What she went through, what he did to her? The doctors won’t say
much. They’re leaving it up to her. She spoke to Parker earlier, but she asked
that we not be in there for it.”

“I
know it was bad. I can only imagine, based off what I saw, but I don’t think he
touched her, at least not– not in that way.”

I
knew what the guy must be feeling. I’d felt it every single moment that Nora
was missing and I didn’t know what was happening to her.

They
were both quiet a minute before James spoke again.

“Thank
you. Thank you for bringing my sister home.”

“It
wasn’t me, James. I didn’t do anything.”

“My
sister might not be saying much right now, but she did say that you protected
her, that you kept him from hurting her, that you let him–”

Nora
stopped him. “I didn’t let him do anything to me if that’s what you’re thinking.
I tried to keep him happy to keep him away from her, that’s all. He didn’t
touch me like that either. Spencer stopped him. He’s the one who saved both of
us. It’s him you should be thanking.”

I
wasn’t going to hold my breath.

“I
know. I know what he did, but I also know that when you had a chance to run,
you ran for my sister and tried to get her out before worrying about yourself.”

“I
couldn’t leave her.”

“I
know. I’m glad she has you, and I think she’s going to need you now more than
she ever has.”

“You
know I’ll be here for her.”

“I
know. And I guess Shaw will be here for you?”

“Yeah.
He will,” she answered him.

He
was quiet a moment. “So I guess I better make other plans for December
thirteenth?”

I
didn’t know what the significance was, but I could guess.

“I
think so,” came her soft reply.

“Can’t
say it doesn’t suck, because it does, but I guess I can’t hate the guy since he
did save your life, and my sister’s.”

“He’s
a good guy.”

“I
know. That’s what’s making this so hard. At least if he was a tool like that
last one, I could hate him or try to steal you from him, but he’s not. Shit,
I’d probably actually like the guy if I wasn’t so jealous.”

“I’m
sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t
be sorry,” he sighed. “Just be happy, Nora. That’s all I want.”

That’s
all I wanted as well, and I was going to do my best to see to it that she was.

I
was still leaning against the wall outside her room when he walked out. He
stopped when he saw me. He glanced back over his shoulder and then stepped out
of the doorway.

“I’m
guessing you heard all that.”

“I
did.” I wasn’t going to pretend I hadn’t listened.

He
nodded. “Then you know if you don’t take care of her, come December thirteenth,
you’re going to have me in your face. I blew it once. You mess up and you can
be sure I won’t blow it again.”

I
nodded, but that wasn’t going to happen. “I know what I’ve got in there.”

“Good,
be sure that you don’t forget it, because trust me, you fuck that up, you’ll
probably regret it the rest of your life.”

Which
is why I didn’t intend to fuck it up.

He
started to walk away, back toward his sister’s room, but I called after him,
“Hey.”

He
turned.

“Come
December, you need a job, I might know of a team that could use a guy like you.
Give me a call.”

He
nodded once and then I walked into Nora’s room, loving the soft smile that lit
up her face when she saw me. Yeah, there was no way I was fucking this up.

I
leaned down and kissed her cheek. “You two have a nice chat?”

She
let out a heavy breath. “Yeah.”

“He
try to steal you away?” I teased.

“He
tried, but there was nothing for him to steal. Someone else already has my
heart.”

I
smiled. “I hope you let him down easy.”

“I
did.”

“Good.”
This time I kissed her on the lips.

I
was still kissing her on the lips when her parents walked in. Jim cleared his
throat and we broke apart. Nora’s cheeks turned a cute shade of pink when she
met her mother’s grin.

I
was forced to share her with them for the next several hours. They were as
reluctant as I was to be away from her. I think it would be a while before any
of us breathed easy and stopped smothering her, but Nora didn’t seem to mind
all the extra doting.

I
just couldn’t wait until the doctor signed her release papers and I was allowed
to take her home. I needed to hurry up and find a place of my own. I wasn’t
sure that Emily would appreciate having me at their place now that she was
going to be back home too. I knew Nora was anxious for them both to be
together. Emily came down from her room, and the girls didn’t even exchange
words. Nora just scooted over on the bed and Emily climbed up with her. They
entwined their arms and rested their heads together and that’s how they stayed
until Emily went back to her room. They both had one more night in the
hospital.

I
didn’t even want to imagine what it would have done to Nora if this had ended
differently. Will, or Aaron, was damn lucky there were about a hundred prison
guards and steel bars separating us.

At
least he’d never get near her again. Never be able to hurt her. Pretty soon he’d
be nothing but a bad memory. His days of darkening her thoughts were over. I
was going to see to it. And then, when she was ready, I was going to see to it
that she was mine permanently.

I
cringed; I probably needed to call my mother. She was going to lose her shit.
Between me and Camden, she’d been dropping not so subtle hints that she was
ready to be a grandma. She and Nora’s mother were going to get along just fine,
and she was going to love Nora. It was impossible not to.

I’d
give it a week before I called her. This week would be just ours, because once
I called and told my mother there was someone in my life, she’d be in her car
and on her way over the mountains.

“What
are you thinking about?” Nora’s soft voice pulled me from my musings. Her
parents had gone and it was just the two of us.

“My
mother,” I answered.

“Your
mom?” Her brow pulled into a puzzled frown.

“Yeah,
I was just thinking you should probably meet her. You think you can handle my
family?”

A
beautiful grin stole her features. “I think I can. I think I can handle
anything as long as you’re with me.”

“Where
else would I be?” With her is where I belonged, and where I intended to stay.