Kissing Trouble (43 page)

Julie blanched at the image. “Do you know if he’ll be okay?”

Reynolds shrugged. “They think so. It’s all up to him now to wake up when he’s ready.”

Relieved, Julie fixed her attention on the man in front of her. “What are you doing here?”

He hesitated, keeping his gaze trained on Mason. But when he finally spoke, he looked Julie straight in the face.

“I let you kids down,” he said solemnly. “I let my arrogance keep me from doing my job and I would never have forgiven myself if I wasn’t at least here.”

Julie frowned at him. “I told you it wasn’t Mason or Shaun.”

Reynolds nodded. “You did. I should have listened.”

It was hard to stay upset when he already looked so beaten down. Adding to that would have just been mean.

Julie let it drop.

“Shaun ... where...”

“He’s in the room down the hall,” Reynolds said. “He lost a lot more blood than Brody, but he’s awake.”

It irritated her that the news irked her. Why was Shaun awake and not Mason? But as soon as she thought it, she flinched with shame.

“I was actually going to drive up and see you,” Reynolds went on. “I wanted to ask you some questions, seeing as how you’re the only one well enough to talk about it.”

Julie nodded. “Okay.” She wet her lips. “Do you want to do it here?”

He drew out his notepad and pen. “Maybe in the hall?”

With a nod of agreement, Julie motioned for him to go ahead. She waited until he was gone before turning to Mason.

“I’ll be right back,” she told him, brushing a kiss to his mouth.

Reynolds was waiting just outside the door for her. He looked up when she approached.

“I just need you to tell me what happened that night,” he said.

She did, recounting the whole thing from the time she woke up to find Mason gone, to the ambush of lights before she fainted and everything in between.

When she got to the part where Luis had her cornered, he made her repeat it several times.

“Dr. Nixon ID’d the body,” he told her finally. “He didn’t seem all too happy that Luis, or whatever his name was, was dead.”

“How did he die?” Julie asked.

Reynolds looked at her. “It doesn’t matter—”

“Please,” she prompted.

He sighed, folded up his notepad, and stuffed it into his pocket. “Severe contusion to the head,” he said. “Doc says he died on impact.”

Julie’s insides gave a tremor. “I killed him?” Her hands were ice cold when she covered her mouth. “I killed him...” Wide, fear-filled eyes lifted to the man watching her. “Am I going to jail?”

Reynolds dropped his gaze. He heaved his large frame off the wall he’d been leaning against and folded his arms.

“You said it was in self-defense, right?”

Julie nodded.

“There you go,” he said evenly. “It’s all in my report and it collaborates with your story about what happened. He attacked you, you defended yourself. What happened next was unavoidable.”

“What about Luis?” she asked. “The real Luis.”

“We’re looking,” he assured her. “Along with all the others he came in contact with. Dr. Nixon is helping us go through other similar cases. Hopefully we can give some families a little peace of mind. We were able to locate the place Bethany Row was killed. It looks like he bled her out on the deck then dragged her body inside through the storm hatch.”

“The basement,” Julie whispered.

Reynolds nodded. “He moved her from there to the basketball court when, we think, she started to smell.”

“But why? Why not bury her?”

Reynolds seemed to hesitate a moment as he examined the floor at their feet. “There’s something textbooks don’t tell you, Ms. Brewer.” He fixed her with his gaze once more. “We will never know what really goes on in a twisted mind. I personally think he wanted his work showcased, to get recognition. He had gone so long without getting caught that he had gotten cocky. We’ll never know.”

“I can’t believe he had her in the house,” she mumbled. “Right under our noses. How did we not hear ... that poor girl, down there, alone and us just upstairs?” She pressed a shaky hand to her mouth and shook her head. “We let her die.”

“There was nothing you could have done,” he told her gently. “Oh!” he said, remembering something. “I had your cars towed to the town mechanic. Sam’s the best out there, but he’s not sure he can do much to—”

Julie shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ll contact the insurance company.”

He nodded. “Let me know if they need a police report.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

Again, he inclined his head. “I should head back. This whole thing has been such a mess.”

“Sheriff?” she called before he could walk away. “How did you know something was wrong that night?”

“I didn’t.” He scratched the back of his head. “Nixon gave Luis’s description to a sketch artist and I recognized the face. We hit the road the second I saw it, but we were still too late.”

Julie shook her head. “You saved our lives.”

His eyes were sad, but determined. “You saved their lives. I just arrived to make sure they stayed saved.”

With a bow of his head, he left.

Julie watched him until he disappeared around the corner. Then she returned to Mason’s side. She pulled up a chair and sat.

J
ulie stayed in Salmon Cove. She rented a room at the motel down the block. She phoned her dad to let him know where she was and got an earful from her mother about dying on the road. But she promised them she’d be home as soon as there was some news about Mason’s condition.

It wasn’t until the next day that she summed up the courage to visit Shaun. She wasn’t really sure what her hesitation was, but it clamped down on her like a metal fist.

Nevertheless, she straightened her spine and stalked to his room as though she were marching to battle.

He was sitting up in bed, idly flipping through the channels. It was such a normal thing to see that some of the tension left her gut as she raised a hand and knocked gently.

Shaun’s brown eyes snapped away from the TV and fixed on her. Surprise flickered in their depths.

“Hi,” she said, offering him a tentative smile. “How are you feeling?”

He shrugged. “I got drugged and then stabbed by a guy I considered a friend.”

Julie lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry.”

There was silence. Then he said, “How are you?”

It was her turn to be taken aback.

“Oh, I’m okay. Thank you,” she added quickly. “Just a few bruises, a fractured arm. Nothing serious like you and ... Mason.”

“Have you gone to see him?”

Biting her lips, Julie nodded. “He’s still sleeping.”

Shaun frowned. “Yeah, that’s what they keep telling me. What kind of fucked up place is this anyway? Shouldn’t they be doing something?”

“I think they are,” she whispered. “It’s up to Mason to wake up.”

Shaun snorted. “Lazy fuck.”

He shut the TV off, which she wished he hadn’t, because it had been a good distraction to keep from having to face him. But now with it gone, she had no choice.

“Shaun?” She stalled by easing a couple steps closer to the bed. “I want to say I’m sorry. You wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for me and what I did.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Julie looked down, waiting for his well-deserved wrath to rain down on her.

“I’m told you saved my life.”

Julie blinked. Her head came up. “What?”

He was watching her, his expression unreadable. “Did you, or didn’t you?”

“I didn’t,” she said honestly. “I mean, maybe a little, but I’m the reason you got stabbed. I pulled you away from killing Luis and then I just let him...” Tears welled in her eyes. She tried to keep them in check, but they slipped down her cheeks. “I am so sorry.”

“Yeah, that was a really stupid thing you did,” he agreed. “Should have let me kill that little fucker, but...” He bit the inside of his lip. “I guess we’re cool.”

It was in his eyes, in his voice, and in the ghost of a smirk he offered her that was as close to a hug as she would ever get from him. He was offering her an olive branch. A truce.

Julie smiled.

He looked away. “So, uh, it gets really boring in this place and I’m told I’ll be here a while.” He cleared his throat and glared down at the remote in his hand. “And the fucking place has like three channels. So if you’re, I dunno, bored...”

Her grin broadened. “Are you asking me to keep you company?”

“No!” He shot her a furious sneer. “I don’t need anyone buzzing around my head. I’m just saying...”

“Gotcha,” she said, biting back her twitching lips. “I was going to grab some chocolate pie from the cafeteria later. I wouldn’t mind some company.”

Shaun shifted, looking at anything but her. “Yeah, whatever. Like I said, I’m going to be here awhile so ... whatever. It’s not like I can stop you.”

Still grinning, Julie turned and left him without a goodbye. She wandered her way back to Mason’s room, feeling lighter. Like some invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was practically skipping by the time she reached his door and pushed inside.

Mason wasn’t alone. In the few minutes she had left his side to visit Shaun, two people had made themselves at home on either side of Mason’s bed. They both glanced up when Julie barged in.

For a moment, no one spoke. Mason’s heart machine filled the silence with its constant beeps. Julie felt her cheeks warm the longer she stood there under the curious scrutiny of Mason’s parents.

“Julie?”  Heather Brody straightened, removing her hand off her son’s brow to turn her lithe body fully in Julie’s direction.

“Hello Mrs. Brody,” Julie murmured. She turned to the tall, handsome man that was an older version of his son and inclined her head slightly. “Mr. Brody.”

There was never any reason for Julie to spend time with the older Brody’s. Aside from the occasional greeting in passing, she was fairly certain they never shared two words to each other. The fact that they knew her name at all was a shock in itself.

Heather was a beautiful woman with a sleek mane of auburn hair that set off her fair complexion and dazzling green eyes. She had elegant features, a thin, upturned nose, full, red lips and a figure that was all willowy. She wore a scarlet dress with a thick, gold belt and red pumps. She looked like someone off to a board meeting, not sitting in a hospital.

Her husband, David was her matching set. Handsome with a kind face and dark hair. His blue eyes reminded Julie so much of Mason’s that she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I was just...”

“Sitting with Mason?” Heather inquired with a little smile. “We know. The nurse told us.”

“Oh...” Embarrassment seeped up her neck in a hot wave and flooded her face.

“How are you, Julie?” David asked.

She absently touched her arm with the cast. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

David nodded grimly. “We are simply in shock about the whole ordeal. Luis always seemed like such a great kid.”

But he wasn’t a kid, Julie thought, remembering Nixon’s comment about Luis being in his thirties, but appearing much younger. He had certainly fooled a lot of people.

“Yeah he did,” she whispered.

“The sheriff said you saved Mason’s life,” Heather said.

“And Shaun,” David added.

“Yes, of course, and Shaun’s,” Heather corrected quickly. “We may never be able to repay you for that.”

Fidgeting restlessly, Julie shook her head. “Really, I didn’t. Truthfully...” She touched the thin scar across her throat where Luis had let the knife bite into her skin. “Mason saved mine.”

S
he left the Brodys to sit with their son while she made a run down to the cafeteria for chocolate pie. Shaun was still flipping through the channels when she stepped into his room, two pie slabs in hand. Neither spoke as she handed him his, along with a fork, and took a seat in a hard, plastic chair next to his bed to watch
Downton Abbey.

I
n the week that followed, Julie met a whole lot of Mason’s family. Heather and David, or maybe Maureen and Dean, must have told them about her, because no one was surprised or confused at the sight of her next to Mason’s bed. They walked in almost expecting to see her. Some, even those she didn’t know, greeted her by name. In the case of Great Aunt Lucy, Julie got a crushing hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a comforting pep talk.