The Shadows Trilogy (Box Set: Edge of Shadows, Shadows Deep, Veiled Shadows) (23 page)

“Now that sounds like an invitation that would be difficult to resist,” he said. “If you’re sure that your news can wait until then.”

“Yeah, it can wait,” she said. She hadn’t figured out the best way yet to tell him that she had still technically been married until just a few days ago.

“I can probably scoot out of here around seven,” David replied. “Will that work?”

“Perfect,” Ellie said. “I’m starting to get the hang of Linda’s kitchen, so I’ll have everything ready.”

“See you then,” he said.

Ellie glanced around the shop and felt better about things than she had since that morning before Mr. Thomassen’s call. Everything would be okay; she just had to take it all one day at a time. She quickly gathered her things and locked the door. She had errands to run before David’s arrival.

By six-thirty p.m., Ellie officially knew the secret to making everything in life seem brighter: two glasses of wine. She was giggling to herself, and Skipper pranced around her feet as she danced to music that was playing softly from a radio in the corner of the kitchen. Every once in a while she would even try to sing along, even though she knew that her voice was horrible. Skipper retreated to another room when it became evident that she wasn’t going to stop.

She could hear his toenails clacking all along the front hallway and occasionally a soft “woof” would reach her ears. She giggled again, wondering who he was “talking” to. She hoped he wasn’t getting tracks all over the floor.

The doorbell rang, and Ellie looked up at the clock in surprise. David was early. She felt a moment of panic. She had gotten behind because Kevin had called while she was at the grocery store, and explaining everything to him had taken forever.

He had insisted that he and Eric return home, but she assured him that there was nothing that they could do. She could survive over the weekend on her own, and in the meantime she would figure out the best approach for dealing with Jake’s estate. She was feeling much better; now she just had to figure out the best way to explain everything to David.

She checked the stew that was brewing on the stovetop once more and then pulled the apron over her head, setting it on the kitchen counter. Skipper followed at her heels as she followed the hallway to the front foyer. The doorbell sounded again.

“Patience is a vir…” Ellie’s words were cut short as she opened the door. Standing before her was Jenny Marks.

“We need to talk,” Jenny said, the tinge of hatred present in her voice. She was oozing red and black and Ellie was alarmed.

She pushed past Ellie into the foyer. It had been snowing outside, and Ellie could only surmise that Jenny had stood outside for a time, as she was dripping wet.

“Jenny, how did you find me here?” Ellie asked, trying to keep hold of the feeling of peace and calm that she had been feeling just moments before.

“I’m not going to wait around until you figure out how to elbow me out of everything that belongs to me and my baby.” Jenny stuck out her finger and wagged it in Ellie’s face. “Jake was going to marry me. He wanted to give me and the baby a good life, and I’m not going to let you ruin what’s left of that.”

“Please take your finger out of my face.” Ellie was furious over the obvious assumptions that Jenny was making. “You are jumping to conclusions without knowing anything about what you are talking about.”

“Oh, I know how you feel. You’ve been trying to figure out a way to worm yourself back into Jake’s life ever since he dumped you,” Jenny spat.

“I left Jake,” Ellie corrected, “and it was quite possibly the smartest thing I ever did.” She saw Jenny’s eyes narrow in disbelief. “I didn’t want him back, Jenny. I wanted him to leave me alone.”

“Liar,” Jenny hissed.

“You can believe what you want to believe. But I can see that this isn’t going to get us anywhere if you are going to act like this, I think you’d better leave,” Ellie said as she opened the door and pointed out into the night. “Maybe once you’ve calmed down we can have a rational conversation.”

“You were trying to convince Jake not to file those papers. That’s what had him so upset and that’s why he got into the accident,” Jenny accused in an anguished voice.

“I’m done talking, Jenny. Get out,” Ellie said flatly.

Jenny made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, and Ellie thought for a moment that the woman was going to square off against her. But Ellie stood her ground, refusing to let Jenny see how unsettled she was.

Jenny finally decided that leaving was the better option, and she shoved past Ellie. Ellie slammed the door behind her. She looked down at Skipper, who had been sitting next to the staircase the whole time.

“Good riddance,” she said, and walked back to the kitchen to check on her stew.

She didn’t look up to see the black shadows swirling above her head around the chandelier.

David had flowers and a bottle of wine in hand, and was humming as he approached the house. Despite all of the craziness, he felt like things were starting to get back to normal and things with Ellie were going great. During their phone conversations over the last three days she had sounded positive and upbeat. He thought she was starting to put her past behind her. He wanted nothing more than to tell her how he felt about her, but he was afraid that would scare her away. He just had to play it cool and enjoy being around her.

The snow was starting to come down harder than it had earlier, and he was looking forward to being snowed in with Ellie for the evening. He had a feeling they’d be settled next to the fireplace for the majority of the night.

He was on the steps headed up to the patio when he heard a groan. He paused and looked behind him. He thought he saw something disappear around the corner of the patio, away from the side facing the driveway. David slowly made his way back down the stairs, and as he got closer he started to run. He saw a small pool of blood marring the crisp white snow.

He rounded the corner and stopped as he gaped at the scene in front of him. In the dim light, he could just make out a body in the snow being dragged alongside the house. It was Jenny Marks. He could tell she was bleeding by the red drag marks in the snow. But he didn’t have time to focus on her. As his eyes met Joe Klein’s, he saw madness dancing there.

“Let her go,” David growled.

Joe regarded him carefully, but didn’t seem afraid. “Mine. She was promised to me,” he said as he licked his lips and glanced furtively down at Jenny.

Joe Klein looked…hungry. His physical condition had deteriorated even further from the last time David had seen him. Joe was little more than a walking skeleton. An insane one.

David advanced slowly toward Joe. “I don’t know what the hell you are doing, Joe, but you are going to be in some big trouble. I’m going to take Jenny into the house now and I’m calling the cops.”

Joe’s laughter raised the hair on the back of David’s neck. “Police have no power here,” he scoffed. Suddenly he cocked his head into the air as if he heard something that David couldn’t hear.

“NO! MINE!” he yelled at the air.

David didn’t give him another opportunity to say anything else. He rushed at the man and plowed into him, slamming them both into the brick wall behind Joe. David threw two punches that immediately bloodied the older man’s nose. Joe started to whimper, and David stepped away in disgust when he realized that the man wasn’t fighting back.

Joe slouched to the ground. “Mine,” he whimpered plaintively, but he didn’t move toward Jenny.

As David crouched by Jenny’s head, Joe suddenly was on his feet and running toward the small tree line that masked the property line from the street. David was going to chase after him, but then Jenny groaned again.

He knelt down next to her and felt for a pulse. It was thready but there, and he sighed in relief. He felt her hands and cheeks. She was cold. He needed to get her inside.

He had no idea what had brought Jenny Marks to Ellie’s doorstep, but he suspected it wasn’t good. He remembered that Ellie told him earlier that whatever she had to tell him was too lengthy for a phone conversation. He pushed those thoughts aside. He needed to focus on helping Jenny. Abandoning the flowers and wine in the snow, he pulled the unconscious woman into his arms.

Ellie was setting the table in the dining room when she heard pounding on the front door. She ran into the foyer.

“Ellie!” she heard David yell through the heavy door.

She yanked the door open and saw that David was carrying a woman. Not just any woman either. He was carrying Jenny Marks. He pushed past her into the house.

“Help me get her someplace warm,” he said.

“The library. I’ve got the fire going,” Ellie said.

She followed David down the hallway and into the library. She felt only the slightest pang of jealousy as she saw him gently place Jenny’s limp form down on the sofa.

“Blankets? Do you have something warm that we can bundle her in? I’ve got to get her out of these wet clothes,” David said as he took charge immediately.

Ellie rushed to fulfill David’s orders, bringing him blankets from the hallway closet. Then she hurried upstairs to get a pair of her flannel pajamas, although she didn’t believe that the bottoms would fit Jenny in her swollen state.

She watched David deftly remove Jenny’s clothes, and looked away in modesty as he redressed her. Of course as a doctor, he had seen a woman naked millions of times. Then he bundled her in blankets and checked her forehead. Jenny had only mumbled a few times as David had moved her about, and her breathing appeared shallow, but steady.

“What happened?” she asked.

“It appears she had a run-in with Linda’s crazy real estate agent,” David said.

“Joe Klein? Why? What happened?” Ellie asked.

“I have no idea, but this is the third time that guy has been skulking around, and now I’m convinced he’s dangerous. We need to call the police,” David said. Then he nodded toward Jenny. “What was she doing here? I know the two of you aren’t friends.”

“I hope you are not implying that I had anything to do with this,” Ellie said defensively. “Look, she came over here, how she got this address I have no idea, and she obviously wanted to start something with me. I told her that until she could hold a rational conversation, I had no desire to get into anything.”

“What was she so upset about?” David asked.

“That’s what I was going to tell you tonight.” Ellie sighed and shifted uncomfortably. “Turns out that Jake and I weren’t divorced yet.”

“What?” David stopped working on Jenny and gaped at Ellie.

“I told you I had a lot to talk about tonight,” Ellie admitted.

“Okay,” David said, shaking his head, “One thing at a time. So she came over here and confronted you. You asked her to leave. Then what happened?”

“She left,” Ellie said simply.

“When was this?” David continued his questions.

“She left probably about twenty minutes ago or so,” Ellie said.

“You didn’t hear anything after she left that would have indicated to you that she was in any kind of trouble?” David said. “You didn’t hear that guy yelling at me when I found him dragging her through the snow?”

“No, but then again I was back in the kitchen,” Ellie said. “How dangerous is he, David?”

David shook his head. “I just thought the guy had a thing going on with Linda. But attacking a pregnant woman is sick, and he said some pretty disturbing things. You can’t stay here by yourself.”

He turned back to Jenny and started exploring her head carefully. He winced as he found what he had been looking for. There was a gash just above Jenny’s ear that had been hidden by her long hair.

“It looks like he clobbered her in the head, probably took her completely by surprise when she was leaving. Bastard.”

As David continued to tend to Jenny, Ellie immediately felt bad for every awful thought that she had had about Jenny since the woman had left the house. “What can I do?” she asked. “Should we call an ambulance? Do you think the baby is okay?”

“Why don’t you go see if you can find some gauze and something that we can use to clean this. Then we’re going to call an ambulance and the police.”

“I’m glad you’re here, David,” she said to him. “Doubly glad that you’re a doctor too.”

“We do come in handy sometimes,” he said dryly. “Now go see what you can find.”

Ellie returned a few minutes later with a first-aid kit that she had found in the pantry. “Hope this helps,” she said as she handed it to David.

“Thanks,” he said.

He opened the box and pulled out some antiseptic. With a piece of gauze, he started cleaning the wound on Jenny’s head. Jenny, still unconscious, started thrashing. Ellie was alarmed.

“I’m calling the ambulance now,” she said. She opened her cell phone and looked at it in surprise. “Damn, I think I let the battery die.”

David pulled his out of his pocket and frowned. “Mine’s dead too.”

Jenny’s groan drew their attention. David placed his hands on her stomach and gently prodded. He smiled suddenly.

“That was a strong kick. I think the baby is fine,” he said to Ellie.

She closed her eyes with relief. “Thank God. Let me go look for Linda’s phone.”

Ellie did a quick scan of the three floors and returned to the library with a frown on her face as well. “This whole thing is getting stranger by the minute. Linda doesn’t appear to have a phone in the house.”

David stood up and started pacing. Ellie could tell he was frustrated.

“Ellie, this evening is turning into a nightmare. Look, I think Jenny’s okay for now but it’s hard to say if she’s out of the woods yet. I don’t want to move her. As soon as she wakes up, I’m taking the both of you out of here. I don’t want any argument.”

Ellie sat down on the opposite couch. She couldn’t believe the crazy things happening in her life, and she said so to David.

“A week ago my life was so normal that it was infinitely dull and boring. Now it seems like everywhere I turn I’m confronted with some new drama. I think I’m bad luck to be around,” she said with a twisted smile on her face. She was trying not to cry.

“None of this is your fault, Ellie. Although I will admit that there are a lot of bad things that have happened to you recently,” David said, sitting down beside her. They both studied Jenny, who appeared to be peacefully sleeping now.

“How much longer should we wait?” Ellie asked. “It seems like she’s been out for a long time.”

“She’s just asleep now. Try not to worry. I’m here and I’m not going to let anything happen to either one of you,” David said, trying to assure her. Ellie laid her head on his shoulder, and then he reached out behind her so that his arm was around her.

“You look like you’ve been through the wringer, Ellie,” he said.

“I feel like I’ve been through the wringer,” she replied. The wine was starting to have a now familiar effect on her senses, and Ellie felt the lids of her eyes growing heavy and her jaws cracked in a wide yawn. "I don't know why I'm so tired all of the sudden. I had a couple of glasses of wine; that must be it."

“It’s okay. You can close your eyes for a few minutes,” David said, reading her mind.

The long day and the emotional drama had finally caught up with Ellie, and within moments, she was asleep.