Swept Away (17 page)

“That still leaves us with a problem,” Murray said with a shake of his head. “People may be a bit too curious, and that could spell danger for Josie. Five years ago, someone tried to kill her, or well, Ariel Stone. That’s why she’s using the name Josie. I don’t know that you can stay here. At least not until we know what’s going on.”

“But I’m supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow. And…and…I don’t…I have nowhere else to go.”

Tucker patted her leg. “We’ll see the doctor, and then we’ll go stay with my friend. At least until we know what’s going on. He’s a cop. We should be safe.”

“That’s a good idea,” Hetty said.

Josie looked pale. Murray squatted in front of her and took her by the hand. “Don’t look so scared. It’s going to be all right.”

“I don’t want to leave. I’m happy here.”

“It’s just for a while, and Tucker will be with you. Think of what they did to Maddy.” Murray’s tone was gentle. Josie nodded, but she didn’t look convinced.

“What happened to Maddy, Josie?” Tucker asked, taking her hand and holding it.

“I saw Jeb strangle her. Then he gave her body to a guy who put her in the trunk of his car, and he drove away.”

“He did what? How the hell did he get away with that? I read all the police reports—“

“I didn’t actually
see
it. I saw it, in a vision.”

Hetty and Murray squirmed in their seats. Tucker nodded slowly.

“I took a bottle of pills the night it happened.”

Tucker nodded. He didn’t know if he should tell Josie that he knew Ariel Stone’s story. How she had swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills the night Maddy disappeared. How she was hospitalized for the suicide attempt and later murdered the night she was released from the hospital. Or so the story went.

“The night I took the pills, Maddy and I were going to run away. I was sneaking out of the house when my mother caught me. She grabbed me by my hair and yanked me into the garage. As she dragged me away, I spotted Maddy and Toby in the bushes. I shook my head at her. I didn’t want my mother to know she was there.

The commotion brought Jeb to the garage and he yelled at my mother for hurting me. He slapped her, and I could tell she was furious. The look she gave me. When she let go of me, I lost my footing and fell. Jeb came toward me to help me up and Toby came into the garage, barking like a maniac. I thought for sure he’d wage war on Jeb and lose, so I tried to stop him…tried to grab his collar, but before I could…” Josie covered her mouth with her hand and choked back a sob. “Jeb kicked him. One kick to the head and poor Toby went limp. He was just a little dog.”

Josie took a breath. “I was afraid Maddy would come charging out of hiding, so I ran into the house knowing Jeb would follow. He kept apologizing for Toby, promising me a new dog. I hated him. And I hated my mother who was screaming from the bottom of the steps that she was sending me to jail for trying to run away. She kept screaming, ‘I’m calling the police now, you little bitch. And your ass is going to jail too, Jeb Stone. You won’t hit me and get away with it.’ I knew I’d never get away from them. Not in this life.”

“So, you took the bottle of pills?”

Tears shined in her eyes. Her voice quivered as she answered, “Yeah. But as soon as I did, I knew it was a mistake. I could hear Maddy yelling at them, threatening them with the police. Maddy was such a fighter.” Josie closed her eyes, and her body swayed.

Tucker held her close, whispering in her ear, “It’s all right.”

Gripping the arms that held her, she shook her head. “No, I want you to know. Maddy wasn’t just anyone. She was the best of us. She had the fire and spirit. She would have been anything she wanted to be. And he killed her. He wrapped his hands around her neck so tight, she couldn’t even scream. Her feet kicked at the floor…and…”

As much as he hated hearing the details of his sister’s last minutes, he hated even more the impact the memory had on Josie. Her breath was shallow and rapid, her skin pale and clammy. “Stop, Josie. It’s over.”

“He strangled her. I watched—out of my body…like I was hovering on the ceiling. I know it sounds crazy. I wish I could say I was crazy, that it didn’t happen. For a time, I had myself convinced I dreamed it.  But where is Maddy? No one has seen her since that night.”

A tear rolled down Josie’s cheek. Wrapping his hand in her hair, he pressed her cheek to his chest. She offered no resistance, relaxing against him.

“Did the police check out Stone at all?” Tucker asked, looking at Murray and Hetty.

“A little,” Murray said. “But they didn’t find anything, and Josie’s story sounded too crazy, and there was no body, and she’d told the boyfriend she was running away. And the dog was gone, and they assumed she took him with her.”

“Shit. Poor Maddy. You’re sure she’s dead?” Tucker asked.

Josie sat up straight and brushed away the tears.  “It’s been years and there has been no sign of her. And she wouldn’t—couldn’t—have stayed in hiding. She wouldn’t have accepted it. She’d have surfaced by now, told someone to kiss her ass. She was a fighter. Hiding? That’s Ariel Stone’s style.”

“And you’ll keep hiding too. At least until your memory comes back and we know who tried to kill you,” Hetty said, her fat waddle shaking with her head.

“It was Stone, wasn’t it? He went to prison for it,” Tucker said.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that. Josie,” Murray said, “you should tell Tucker what you remember.”

Josie nodded slowly and took a deep breath. “I remember leaving the hospital. My mom picked me up…”

Five Years Earlier

“Sign here. And here.”

Amanda Stone signed all the spots she needed to sign to get her daughter out of the hospital. Jeb was in the car, probably getting pissier with every minute he was left waiting.

Amanda sighed. He’d be a prick to deal with tonight. Once again, Ariel had turned their lives upside down. She’d brought humiliation to them all by telling the police, yet again, that Jeb touched her. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, she had to add the icing to the crazy cake with her
visions
of Jeb murdering her trailer-trash friend. Jeb was embarrassed and hurt by his precious little Ariel, but would he ever punish her for her deceit and disloyalty?
No, he’d take it out on me
.

“Here’s the number for Dr. Andre. Her first appointment will be at 1:00 tomorrow. If you have any issues tonight, call the number at the bottom.”

“I’m sure everything will be fine. She was just distraught, right Ariel?”

Ariel nodded, chewing on her thumbnail. Her mother slapped her hand. “Stop that. Stop being such a weak-willed little baby. My God. How are you my daughter?”

Ariel stuffed her hands in her pockets and blinked back tears. The nurse cleared her throat and looked at the young girl. The nurse looked like she was about to speak, but Amanda wrapped an arm around her daughter and said, “Let’s go sweetie. You’ve really put my nerves on edge. But we’ll get through this.”

Ariel nodded and followed her mother through the long white hallway. The only sound was the click of Amanda’s heels on the tiled floor. Amanda Stone was a gorgeous woman. Tall, blonde, thin—she worked hard at perfection. She started from nothing, but she made excellent use of her wits and good looks and see where she was today? She had a bank account that registered in the millions. She wanted to reproduce that flawlessness in her daughter. Teach her to survive, no matter what. But it seemed the harder she tried to help, the wider the distance between them grew.

When Ariel was a little girl, she was Mommy’s girl. It was just the two of them. They had no other family, no father for Ariel. Well, Amanda had a few suspects, but none she wanted to be saddled with for life. Ariel seemed to enjoy dressing like mommy and coloring her hair like mommy. It wasn’t until nature began turning her into a young lady that Ariel’s personality pulled her away. Her mother resented Ariel for preferring books to shopping or old movies to parties, and never, ever, could Ariel learn the subtle art of flirting. As a young woman, Ariel had every asset she needed to make men give her anything she wanted, but she was stubborn and refused to listen, much less follow through. “Try anything this dumb again, and I swear I will kill you myself. Taking a bottle of pills—what the hell were you thinking? Use a freaking gun. Show some gumption at least.”

“Yes, Mother,” Ariel said.

Amanda turned on her, grabbing her cheeks, her long nails digging into the soft flesh. “
Yes, mother
,” she mocked. “If you’d listened to me, you’d have kept your mouth shut about angels and all that bullshit, and Jeb would be in jail right now. But no, you had to sound like a crazy little bitch; now we’re stuck with him.”

“You could leave him,” Ariel whispered.

Her mother let go with so much force, Ariel almost fell backward. “I’m not living in poverty again. Ever. You remember what it was like without money? You remember whose fault it was that we were poor?”

“Mine?”

“Yes, yours. You had to be broken. I had to quit my job, spend all of our savings on doctors.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop being sorry!” she yelled. “Jesus, I am so tired of hearing you say that. God, I need a drink.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and called a friend. “Jaynie? I need a girl’s night…Yes, this week has been a nightmare…I’m holding up, barely…great, see you at 7:00…”

“You’re leaving me?” Ariel clutched her mother’s arm, which she jerked away. “How can you leave me? You know…you know.” Tears started falling, her body shaking.

“He’s not dumb enough to touch you again. You’ll be fine.”

Ariel stopped. “I’ll run away. I’ll go to Maddy’s. Her mom and dad will help me.”

Her mother latched onto her wrist and twisted. “The hell you will. You will get your ass in the car, and you will smile and play nice until I figure something out. Do you hear me? Go home. Lock your damn door if it makes you feel better, but you’re going home. Embarrass me here, and I will have your ass locked back up in a place that isn’t half as nice. You understand me?”

Ariel nodded. Tears rolled from her eyes, down her cheeks. Her mother frowned, shook her head, and gave Ariel’s arm a tug that made her trip over her feet.

Jeb Stone was waiting, leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette. He was a handsome man. Dark wavy hair. Trim, athletic build. Women threw themselves at the wealthy businessman, so no one truly believed he’d need to rape his teenage stepdaughter. The poor girl was just crazy—talked to angels and tried to kill herself. Poor Jeb. And to think he met her mom when he donated thousands of dollars to Ariel’s get-well fund. She’d almost died as a young girl when she walked out in front of a car. Girl probably had a death wish, even then.

Jeb tossed the cigarette on the ground and stood as he saw her coming. “Ariel,” he said.

Ariel climbed into the car. She hugged herself and leaned against the door. The drive was filled with her mother’s chatter about local gossip. When they got home, Ariel said she was tired and went to her room, locking the door.

A storm brewed outside. She hoped the storm would keep her mother at home, but it didn’t. She watched her leave from her window. Within seconds, Jeb was at her door, knocking. “You hungry, Ariel? I made dinner.”

“No. I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

He turned the knob, but the door was locked. She sighed gratefully as she heard him walk away.

Ariel called Maddy’s house. “Gloria?”

“Arie, honey. I’m so happy to hear your voice. How you doing?”

“All right.” Ariel looked at her door. “Sort of. Hey, have you heard from Maddy?”

“No,” Gloria said, her voice cracking. “Rob thinks you saw something. Then repressed it or some such thing. He tried to get the police to investigate, but ended up getting arrested.”

“I hope I’m wrong. At the hospital, they said I was hallucinating.”

“I hope you were hallucinating.” Gloria’s laugh was nervous. “Can you come over sometime? It’d be nice to spend some time with you.”

Ariel burst into tears. “I’d…I would like that.”

“Oh, sweetheart. Is your mom home? Can I talk to her?”

“She left.”

“You’re home alone?” Gloria sounded shocked.

“No. He’s here.”

“You all right?”

Jeb knocked on her door. “Who are you talking to Ariel?” He jiggled the door handle again.

“I’ve got to go,” Ariel whispered into the phone. As she hung up, she scrambled off her bed and ran toward her bathroom. She’d lock herself in there. Her door swung open and banged against her wall.

“What’s wrong with you, Ariel? You know you’re my special girl.”

Tucker closed his eyes. His fingers dug into Josie’s leg.

“He grabbed me…and that’s all I remember. Until I woke up in Rob’s car. He told me he was taking me somewhere safe. That I was to pick a new name and not contact anyone until he told me it was safe. He said they’d kill me. That they’d tried to kill me.”

“And someone had,” Murray said. “I was a medic in the Air Force. When they got here, Josie had a wound where a bullet grazed her shoulder and a gash in the back of her head. Bruises on her arms and wrists.  Someone had tied her up. I stitched up her head, and we watched her for internal bleeding. Her body healed, but she never remembered anything past Jeb coming in the room.”

“Did Rob ever say who he suspected?” Tucker asked.

“Nope. I told him to call the police. He said someone promised to tell him where he could find Maddy. That she was alive, but wouldn’t be if he talked to the police,” Murray said.

“Do you think the police were covering for Stone?”

“That’s entirely possible. Stone is loaded. I assume he could buy anyone he wanted. And Rob kept saying they…
they
wanted Josie, er Ariel dead. Not
he
.”

“And you’ve never been able to get anything out of my dad?”

“No. I might have been able to, but Gloria has me banned from seeing him. I tried to reason with her without telling her about Ariel. But all she knew was Rob was gone three days then turned up naked and half-dead with Amanda Stone in a hotel. Amanda said they were comforting each other, because they were both sad about losing their daughters, and both blamed Jeb Stone,” Murray said.

“I don’t trust her,” Hetty said with a frown. “I watched Jeb’s trial on the net, before I got to worrying Josie would see what was going on and shut it off. Amanda Stone didn’t give a damn her daughter was dead.
Comforting each other
. Bull. I know Rob liked the ladies, but she did something to trick him.”

“She probably played on his sympathies. Rob would’ve felt sorry for a woman who just lost her kid,” Murray said. “And I saw the testimony too. She seemed stunned by all of it. You have to give the woman a break, Hetty. Amanda Stone was obviously not a perfect mom, but she did catch Stone with her daughter. She tried to stop him by jumping him from behind and beating on him.”

“Yeah, yeah. And when she woke, Ariel was gone. I heard it all too, Murray Banks. You men just can’t see past that perfect face and huge rack to see the woman is a liar. No offense, Josie.”

“None taken,” Josie said with a small smile and a sniff.

“How does a mom accept her child is dead without a body?” Hetty asked.

“Jeb Stone was covered in blood. Ariel’s blood. His DNA was found in her bed, and more of her blood was found in his car. Two girls gone and Jeb at the center of it all,” Murray told his wife.

“Jeb Stone swears Amanda killed Ariel and set him up,” Hetty countered.

“He also says he and Ariel were in love,” Murray said.

Josie took a sharp breath.

“I’m sorry, Josie. That was a stupid thing for me to say. I swear, I think my mind sees Josie as a whole different gal than Ariel.” Murray turned red and looked physically pained.

“It’s all right. I know what he says. Look, I know you guys are worried, but I know it was Jeb. I know he killed Maddy, and I think he snapped that night and tried to kill me. And he’s in jail, so I’m safe here. Tucker is getting me an ID, and I’ll be able to openly live as Josie McCoy.”

Hetty shook her head. “My gut is saying it ain’t going to be that easy. What if Stone is telling the truth—“

“That I was in love with him?”

‘No, no, of course not. That your mother tried to kill you to set him up. Rob said
they
, not
he
. And now, your mom knows you’re alive. She’s seen your picture,” Hetty’s voice rose as she explained.

“She said it was Maddy,” Tucker said.

“What if she’s lying?” Hetty countered.

“It can’t have been my mom. It had to be Jeb, and Mom hates him. Even if she saw that picture and knew it was me, she wouldn’t say anything. She won’t want Jeb out of prison. She won’t tell anyone I’m alive. Everything is fine. Jeb’s in prison. I’ll marry Tucker, have our baby, and we’ll live happily ever after,” Josie said. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked at Tucker. “That’s just how it has to be. It’s what’s right, and damn it, I’m owed some things going right for me.”