Troubled Waters (The Lake Trilogy, Book 2) (23 page)

BOOK: Troubled Waters (The Lake Trilogy, Book 2)
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“Marcus. Layla isn’t in love with you. She told me so herself. You need to let her leave.” Holly’s tone is stronger now. I’m glad she’s using that tone and not me. As his sister she can get away with it in a way I’m afraid I couldn’t. This is the second time she’s told him to let me leave. Furtick, Taylor or Cline must be outside. They wouldn’t let her suggest I leave if someone weren’t there to protect me.

“That’s not true, Holly.” Marcus’ face is panged again and my anxiety level just increased. “Tell her it isn’t true, Layla,” he directs. He stares at me for a long moment before I can answer.

“Marcus…I don’t love you,” I say slowly as I reiterate what I’ve already told him more than once. As Marcus continues to fix his eyes on me he touches the screen of his phone and hangs up on Holly. I have no one to defend or support me and I’m standing here with a man whose next move I can in no way predict. “I’m so sorry, Marcus. I thought if I could spend some time with you, talk with you, you’d remember the friendship we had. And you wouldn’t want to be like
him
. That’s not who you are.”

Marcus walks to a bedside table and opens the drawer. At first I can’t see what he’s doing, but as he turns around I see him holding a gun.
So that’s what a .38 Special looks like.
As he steps back to his place a few paces from me he’s shaking his head.

“Why, Layla? This could have been so beautiful, you and me. I was prepared to do for you what Will never could. Look around you,” he says waving his hands, gun included, at the flowers surrounding us. “This is just one
small
gesture of my love. You have no idea what I had planned for you, for us. But now you’ve gone and dirtied it up with lies. I don’t know why you’re so afraid to be honest about how you feel about me.” He holds the gun casually at his side and takes three steps toward me. I instinctually take corresponding steps backward until I bump into the corner of the bed. I stumble, but just for a second before I regain my footing.

“I tried to tell you, Marcus. I told you when we were in Davidson, when you first came to see
here, and I’ve told you twice today. We are not going to be together. I don’t love you like that. You were always a great friend to me and I wanted us to be like that again. But now
you’ve
dirtied things up with this delusion that I’m in love with you.” I’m scared as hell right now but I can’t back down. “I know that the person I knew back home is in you, Marcus. Just stop and think about what you’re doing right now. Is this who you want to be? After everything he did to you and your mom…do you really want to be like
him
?” Marcus’ eyes begin to lose their fire and I feel a slight ease in the tension between us.

“Being that guy never got me anywhere. All I ever wanted was someone to share my life with. My real father didn’t want me. My stepfather couldn’t have cared less, and my mother’s life work was a vendetta against my real father. All I had was Holly…until I met you. We had something special, something you and Will didn’t have. But now you’re clinging to a lie, and you’ve turned my sister against me. So what does that leave me with?” As Marcus holds my eyes I examine his for some trace of the Marcus I’m searching for. Adrenaline has kicked into high gear and I’m breathing harder. We both are. I try to calm my heart rate but it’s difficult with Marcus now standing a nose-length away.

“Being that guy is what made you great,” I say softly. Marcus steps away giving me room to breathe a bit more freely. “Marcus, let’s just go sit down in the living room and talk, ok?” He doesn’t seem as agitated as before, so maybe I’m reaching him? He’s standing near the door and as I step toward him he looks up at me.

“No,” he says firmly. “I have waited for you. I waited for you to be done with Will, I waited for you to get over his death, and I have waited for you to stop lying to yourself about your feelings for me. I’m done waiting, Layla. I don’t care how long it takes you to get yourself on board, but you and I are together. For your sake I hope you catch up soon, because until then, this is going to be a very rough road for you.” Marcus takes me by the waist with his gun-free hand and pulls me to him. He forces another kiss on me and I struggle and move my face from his. This makes him angry and he pushes me toward the bed. I stumble backwards and land on the bed.

Marcus begins to move toward me but a loud bang and crash distract both of us. We both look to the door and hear a rush of commotion and men’s voices calling out both of our names. The voices get closer and I finally recognize one of them as Furtick. In seconds, my personal guardian angel is positioned in the bedroom door, gun drawn.

“Marcus Reynolds! Put your hands where I can see them!” Furtick instructs. His arms are extended in front of him pointing his gun at Marcus. “Put the gun down, Marcus. Put it down real slow.” My heart is racing as I huddle on the bed watching Furtick ride in on his white horse and save the day.

“Layla! Where is she?” I hear Luke call out. I see him come into view behind Furtick, but I don’t move. I don’t know what to do. I suppose I’m waiting for a directive from Furtick. “Oh, Layla! Thank God you’re ok!”

“Layla is going to get off the bed now, Marcus. And then she’s going to walk slowly over to me and then to her uncle,” Furtick says in a slow instruction.

“Layla is staying right here with me where she belongs,” Marcus counters. They’re not taking their eye off each other.

“Marcus, please,” I beg. I move slowly off the bed and am now standing a few feet behind Marcus in his periphery.

“I said NO!” Marcus yells and directs his attention to me, breaking his eye contact with Furtick. In a split second Furtick lunges for him, slamming him to the floor. I’m knocked down in the scuffle as I hear a gun fire. It’s loud and hurts my ears. I scream and scurry myself to the wall. When I open my eyes Furtick is sitting on top of Marcus’ chest. There’s blood on both of them but I can’t tell whose it is.

“Layla! Layla!” Furtick is shouting my name but it takes me a minute to regain my senses and really hear him. “Get out of here! NOW!” Furtick shouts at me. He’s full on Furtick – no Wes here at all, but this is the time when Furtick is needed most. I can’t help but hope as Luke takes me from the room that Furtick feels a sense of accomplishment in protecting me in a way that he couldn’t with his own daughter. I also hope that catching Marcus doesn’t mean Furtick will be going away. I don’t know what I’d do without him.

We exit the building with Luke holding me steady with every step. As we near the bottom of the stairs four Tallahassee police officers pass us on their way up to Marcus’ apartment. I never dreamed that it would get this far. I really thought I’d be able to reach inside this new, distorted version of Marcus and pull out my old, caring friend. But he’s not there. Years of rejection and cruelty at the hands of Gregory Meyer, along with the mind games his own mother played, have erased the guy I used to know and it breaks my heart to think of the man Marcus could have been. He and Will share a brilliance for all things mathematical. The sky was the limit on what Marcus could have accomplished. Now…now I don’t know what will happen to him.

The parking lot is scattered with onlookers pressing against the police tape barricading the area. There are two police cars and an ambulance stuffed into the small apartment complex lot. I’m taking in the chaos and realizing all eyes are on me, which makes me unbelievably uncomfortable.

I see Claire coming toward me in a fast-paced walk. I break free from Luke and rush to her, falling into her. Her arms wrap around me and she holds me so tight. “Oh, Layla! I was so worried! I was so scared we were going to lose you!” she says squeezing me tighter. She’s crying, which sparks the tears I’ve been holding back.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I thought I could…but he just…I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” I squeeze Claire back and nestle my face into her shoulder. I feel terrible that I made them worry and filled them with fear. They’ve already lost one daughter. It would have killed them to lose me, too. I know I would be devastated if anything ever happened to Luke and Claire.

“We’ll talk about all this later. Let’s just go home. We’re just so glad you’re safe. We love you so much!” Luke joins our embrace, hugging and squeezing Claire and me, his girls, and I know that I am an incredibly lucky girl.

Chapter 20

 

It turns out the blood on Furtick was Marcus’. The bullet hit something major and there was a lot of bleeding. They tried to get it under control, but it was just too much. He died on the way to the hospital. No charges are being placed against Furtick since he caught Marcus in the act and was therefore defending me. He’s being heralded as a hero. He’s definitely my hero. I don’t know what I would have done had he not come to my rescue.

The scene from the coffee shop to the gunfire replays in my mind on a loop. I think about the things I said, the things Marcus said, and I wonder what I could have done differently. What could I have said? What shouldn’t I have said? Marcus is dead and all I can do is assign blame to its rightful place: Gregory Meyer. Were he not the devious and malicious excuse for a human being that he is, none of this would have happened.

I shower and sanitize the filth of Marcus off of me. I hate that I feel that way about the person I once thought was my friend and ally, but that guy died long before today. I’m sad that he’s gone. The Marcus that died today was an artificial representation of someone who had incredible potential. I wish it had ended differently, but I’m glad it’s over.

“Where is she? Layla!” I hear Will’s frantic voice echo through the house.

“I’m here, Will!” I respond and I run down the stairs, skipping the last four and leaping into his arms. We hold each other tighter than ever before. Feeling each other breathe and listening to our heartbeats, we clutch each other in frenzied appreciation.

“Why would you do that? That was so stupid! I almost lost you. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you!” Will is kissing me and clutching me so tight. After a few moments he releases me only slightly and looks into my eyes. “Is this how it felt when you thought I was dead?”

“Does it feel like your heart is being squeezed in a clamp? Is your stomach cramping because it’s taking on the excruciating pain ravaging your body? Do you feel like you’re about to lose your mind? If so…then yes. That’s exactly how it felt.” I hold Will’s face and stare into his ocean eyes, making sure he knows that I understand his pain. “I’m so sorry I caused you that pain.”


I’m
sorry, Layla. I’m so sorry I made you feel this way.” Tears begin to stream down Will’s face as he buries his face into my neck. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” I say softly.

“We have to talk about this,” Luke says, breaking our intense moment. Will manages to release me after a few gentle pushes on my part. I have a feeling we would have stood like that all night if Will had his way. “What you did…”

“I’m sorry, Uncle Luke!”

“You brought a damn stick to a gun fight, Layla! You had no idea what he was capable of doing!” Luke raises his voice out of fear, not anger.

“I know. I’m sorry. I really thought I could reach him,” I explain. “We weren’t supposed to leave campus. I thought I would just talk with him like before. But then he insisted that we take a walk. With Furtick following me I didn’t think it could go wrong.”

“And you…” Luke directs his anger at Furtick. “What the hell happened? What were you thinking? You were supposed to protect her!”

“I did protect her. Layla was going out there with or without me. Had I not been on campus with her, we wouldn’t have gotten to his apartment in time.” Furtick’s response is calm, yet firm. He stands by his decision, and so do I.

“He’s right. I was going to go whether he was there or not.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Luke asks Furtick.

“Because I knew you would stop us. Layla was right to contact Marcus. If she hadn’t we’d still be walking blind on what he was really capable of, and who knows what he would have done. Today’s outcome is unfortunate, but it is what it is. It’s over, and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.” Furtick looks at me with eyes I haven’t seen in him. He’s happy, proud, relieved. He has redeemed himself and done for me what he has spent years wishing he could have done for his own daughter.  “I’ll get my bags.”

“You’re not leaving, are you?” I ask sadly.

“I did what I came to do, Layla.” Furtick looks at me for a long moment before he takes me by surprise and into his arms.

“Don’t go. Please,” I beg.

Furtick releases me and smiles, studying my face. “You’re really something, you know that? Thank you for letting me be part of your life.”

“Stay. Please, Wes. I need you to stay.” I don’t know what I’ll do if he leaves. “You’re family and I just can’t lose any more family.”

“Sir?” Furtick looks to Luke after a beat.

“What you did today…” Luke begins. He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Thank you. You saved her life.” Luke extends his hand to Furtick. “That’s what family is about.” Their handshake turns into a warm embrace as Luke thanks Furtick properly. They have more in common than they may know. Both could not protect their daughters as they hoped, and both have lived with that regret. But because Luke brought Furtick into our family, all that changed today.

“It’s settled then, Uncle Wes,” I say happily.

“Uncle Wes, huh? I like it,” Furtick smiles.

BOOK: Troubled Waters (The Lake Trilogy, Book 2)
11.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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