Someone to Watch Over Me (10 page)
The car stopped and idled for a minute. Her heart raced, pounding painfully against her ribs. She struggled to catch a calming breath. Was he having second thoughts? He’d threatened to cut her. Was he pulling a knife from his scabbard? Was he going to kill her right away? Her mind silently screamed.
The engine died, and the car shook when the door slammed home. The trunk latch popped, and a bright light shined in her eyes.
“Why won’t you just stay dead? I won’t let you hurt Jonathan ever again,” the strange voice behind the light spoke. Her confusion worsened. This wasn’t Ray. In fact, it almost sounded as if her attacker was a woman.
The person dragged her face down from the trunk to the ground, ignoring her screams of pain. Suddenly, her hands and feet were freed. Laser hot pain flooded her limbs the second blood circulated through her deprived limbs. She worked her fingers under the tape on her mouth, pulling it loose and sucking in a deep breath.
“Get on your feet,” the woman commanded.
With very little feeling in her hands and arms, Stacey managed to push herself up on all fours. Her kidnapper planted a foot against Stacey’s butt and pushed, sending her sprawling, face first, across the dirt. An eerie giggle exploded from the stranger, filling the darkness with an insane echo.
“Why are you doing this?” Stacey brushed dirt from her mouth, rolling to face her attacker. “Where am I?
“Don’t play dumb with me. We’re home.”
The person moved forward, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her to her feet.
“Fun’s over. I only cut you lose so you could walk inside. Now, go.”
Her attacker was close enough for her to see. She blinked, refusing to believe her eyes. This wasn’t a woman. Not at all. “Jonathan?”
He shrieked. The sound of a wild animal came from him. “Don’t you dare say his name. Say it again, and I’ll kill you here in the yard.”
Even though the words had come from Jonathan, his voice had taken on a higher pitched, feminine sound. He wrapped a hunk of her hair around his hand, pressed the blade of a hunting knife to her throat, and pulled her toward a small house. Together they walked up the steps onto a rickety porch that squeaked from the pressure of each step. He shoved her inside.
Stumbling forward, she tried to reason with him. “Please, don’t do something you’ll regret.”
“Shut up and sit down.” He removed the bandana from his neck and tied her hands behind her back.
Lights flooded the room. Her friend Jonathan glared at her. But this wasn’t the sweet young man she knew. He circled her chair. Hate and contempt filled his blue eyes, turning his lips into a snarl.
He backed off and then approached a couple of times. He’d lean close to her face and then look away. He’d morphed into a total stranger. A madman.
“I should’ve known better than to try to scare you off. Someone as evil as you won’t go away. You have die.” His eyebrows pulled together. “But why do I have to kill you over and over?”
“I don’t understand. What do you think I did, Jona—” The blow knocked her out of the chair. She lay sprawled on the floor while the acrid taste of blood filled her mouth.
He grabbed her hair and dragged her back onto the chair. But not before she noticed the knot in the bandana had loosened. Her hands were still behind her back but not behind the chair. She fought to remain calm and work her hands free.
He smoothed his disheveled hair, straightened his shirt, and then slammed one hand on his hip. He glared at her with an indignant expression.
Bile flooded the back of Stacey’s throat. His mannerisms—his way of standing—his voice, Jonathan had taken on a feminine persona.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid,” he said in the high pitched voice, baring his teeth. Snarling, he looked like a wolf about to attack. “I know all the horrible things you did to him. I heard his screams. Don’t pretend you don’t deserve what’s coming.”
Tears stung Stacey’s eyes, but she battled them back. Jonathan’s personality had fractured. Split. Who had control of his mind? Maybe if she went along with him, stalled him, she’d buy enough time to free herself. She caught his gaze and held, fighting not to flinch.
“I don’t think you’re stupid,” she said, working hard to keep her voice calm.
“No, I’m not. Neither is he,” Jonathan said, advancing, waving the knife. “But he’s much easier to manipulate than me. You tried to convince him he was evil, but I saved him. Saved him from you.”
“He’s not evil. He’s my friend.” Her heart bled for the sweet young man she’d worked with because he’d gone completely mad. “Just like Lance was.”
Jonathan swung and the blade sliced through her blouse, grazing her arm. A burning sensation followed and blood seeped through the thin cotton material.
“Don’t you blame me for that. I didn’t kill him. Your stalker murdered your stalker.” He giggled. “Get it? Lance followed you around at work, and the other guy followed you home from the bar. Him, I killed.” Jonathan huffed out a sound of disgust. “You should thank me.”
“So Ray
was
here.” Stacey’s blood chilled. It hadn’t been her imagination, he had been following her.
“Yes.” His shrill voice rose another octave. “You’ll see him soon. In hell.”
He flicked the tip of the blade through the denim in her jeans. The surface cut stung, and she fought to keep from crying out. Staying under control got harder by the minute. She had to keep him talking. One more pull and her hands would be free.
“You’re bleeding. Are you hurt?”
“No. I hit Jonathan with a rock. Everybody believed your stalker knocked me out. So if you’re waiting to be rescued, don’t.”
He took a step closer. When he moved into range, Stacey drew back both feet and kicked. The blow caught him off guard and knocked him to the floor. The knife skittered across the carpet, with Stacey scrambling on her hands and knees to grab it.
The handle was less than an inch away. One last stretch and she’d have the knife.
Jonathan grabbed her hair, yanked her back, and slung her to the side.
Her head bounced off the hard floor. An array of stars detonated behind her eyes. He rolled her over, straddling her. Stacey caught his wrists in her hands to hold him off, but the blade descended and sunk deep into her chest, slicing through tendons and muscles.
“Die!” He pulled the knife out and raised it high over his head.
She lifted her hips, bucking hard and kicked her feet in an effort to unseat him.
The front door exploded. He whirled, relaxing his attention on her. That gave her the chance she needed to knock him off balance. Jonathan tumbled off her.
Rushing toward her, Cash’s eyes were stone cold.
Jonathan’s eyes flashed wild and wide. The burning pain in her chest didn’t keep Stacey from scooting backwards and out of the way. A burst of crimson covered her blouse. Damn, there was too much blood. Even the waistband of her jeans was wet. Had he hit an artery?
A sound shriek exploded from Jonathan. The sound was like something from a horror movie. With the knife held high in the air, he rushed Cash.
The fight was over before it started. Through the fog forming in front of her eyes, she watched Cash deftly block the oncoming blow and slam his fist into Jonathan’s face. The crack of the bone in Jonathan’s jaw breaking filled the room.
Cash rushed to her. He gathered her in his arms, rocking back and forth. From somewhere in the background, she heard Detective Kelly on his radio ordering additional backup, an ambulance, and the county coroner.
“Please don’t leave me,” Cash whispered.
She tried to smile, but what she really wanted was to sleep.
****
Stacey shifted and a stab of pain in her right shoulder snapped her from drowsy to wide awake. The stark white walls matched the color of the bandage peeking out from under her cotton hospital gown. She wiggled her fingers and then flexed her hand. Everything worked.
Next to her bed, slumped down in a chair with his long legs stretched out in front of him, Cash snored lightly. Dark lashes cast shadows over the circles under his sleeping eyes. Judging from the stubble, she hadn’t been out long.
She ached to reach out to him. To touch him. Hold him. To thank him. But she didn’t have the heart to wake him. Instead, she lay in silence until his eyelids fluttered and opened a small slit. Her body warmed when that lazy, sexy smile slid across his face.
“Hello, beautiful,” she said.
“Men aren’t beautiful,” he reminded her, pushing himself upright.
“Mine is.”
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“Scared me too. I won’t do it again.”
“See to it that you don’t.” He rose, leaned over and kissed her forehead.
“That the best you can do.”
“For now.”
“Jonathan?”
“In the county mental ward. He thought you were his grandmother. Kelly dug up some pretty scary shit. Apparently, she thought men were evil. When her unmarried daughter died giving birth, she blamed Jonathan. Tortured him for years before he ran away.”
“He came home when she died. Wonder if that’s when his personality split.”
“I’m not an expert on that stuff, but I’m guessing the alter ego took over a long time ago when it became too much for him to take. Maybe being back in her house was the catalyst for his break with reality. Unless he starts talking, no one may ever know what all happened in that house.”
“Somewhere he and Ray crossed paths.” She repeated Jonathan’s confessions. The two men had been on a collision course, and Ray lost the race. “So we don’t know who killed my landlady.”
Cash shifted his weight, there was more he hadn’t said. Funny how she was learning to read those stormy eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“A search of Jonathan’s place revealed three brushes. Kelly’s waiting on DNA results on the hair, but he believes one is yours and the others belonged to two murdered women he’s been investigating.”
“That’s why Jonathan said I wouldn’t stay dead. I should tell Kelly.”
“He’ll be along. No doubt, full of questions.” Cash walked to the doorway and looked down the hall.
“There’s more you’re not saying.”
He turned and took a deep breath.
“Your dad will be here soon.”
From across the room, Stacey saw the muscles in Cash’s neck and shoulders bunch.
“Who called him?”
“I did. Got his number off your throwaway. He’d have seen it on the news anyway. No need to scare the crap out of him.”
“I’m not sure I want to see him. He hurt both of us.” Her heart melted that Cash had taken what had to be a difficult step toward forgiving her dad. “He’s never going to change. Know this, if he forces me to choose, you will always win.”
“I have no doubts. Sometimes it’s best to leave the past in the past. The whole thing sounds foolish now. You and I will start fresh. Build a life and family with or without your daddy’s approval.”
“But I’ll never forgive his treatment of your mother.”
A wistful smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “She’d be the first to tell us to let it go. I almost lost you. Again. Life is too damn short for me to stay pissed.”
In a couple of long strides, Cash was next to her. He held out his hand. “As long as we love each other, we don’t need anyone else’s approval.”
“Do we have each other?” She twined her fingers through his, looked deep into his stormy eyes, and saw trust. The warm undercurrent in his gaze confirmed it.
“Damn right we do.” In a couple of long strides, he leaned over her. “Forever?”
“Forever.” She ignored the pain and pulled him down for a kiss.
Actions were much better than talk.
A word about the author...
Jerrie lives in Texas, loves sunshine, children’s laughter, and sugar (human and granulated).
Researching and creating conflict for her heroes and heroines to overcome on their way to a happy ending is her passion.
The author of three published romantic suspense novels, Jerrie loves hearing from fans at www.jerriealexander.com.
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