Midnight Butterflies

Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

Reid

I stroke the outside of Dove’s arm as she nestles in closer to me. I’ve been waiting for her to tell me how she feels without knowing the full truth. If she could fall in love with me like this, then I know she’ll be mine for good.

I just had to wait, which isn’t really a talent I have. It paid off. Now I have her in my arms, and all of our truths have cumulated into this one—we love each other for better or worse, and it’s the only answer that either of us needs to know.

It’s time to tell her everything.

“Baby,” I whisper into her messy hair.

“Yes, honey?”

I grin at the nickname.

“It’s late.”

“Our favorite time of the day.”

I hum in agreement as Dove’s arm sprawls out across my chest.

“I have a sister. Her name is Margo.”

Dove stills, but I can feel her heartbeat pick up.

“She lived about two hours away from here earlier this year.”

It’s hard for me to say her story out loud.

“She met a man in California who she followed to Washington.”

Still silence. I know she’s giving me time.

“When she moved here, at first, everything was as expected, or so she said. I happened to be visiting an old colleague in Seattle and decided to surprise her for the first time. She kept telling me it wasn’t a good time every time I asked, but I was getting tired of the excuses. I missed my sister.”

“Reid…”

“That’s when I found her with bruises all over her body.”

“Fuck,” Dove whispers.

“Indeed.”

I squeeze her closer into my chest.

“I pulled her out of there immediately. Thankfully, he wasn’t home. Of course she lied through her teeth about what was happening. I demanded she leave.”

“She didn’t, did she?”

“She did.”

I swallow, and the bob of my Adam’s apple gives me a few seconds to compose myself.

“Margo was going to meet me later that night with some of her irreplaceable belongings. Then I was going to take her back to California.”

“What happened?”

“She called me screaming that night. He attacked her when he saw the bag ready to go. That’s when she found a knife and…”

“You don’t have to say it,” Dove chokes out.

“My baby sister killed him.”

I feel Dove wince into my side.

“I can stop,” I say.

“No, no, please keep going.”

“She did brutal things to him once he was dead. That’s what the police found—a body with dozens of stab wounds.”

“You helped her get away with it.”

“Of course I did. I got to the house right away and saw what happened. I called Jonas immediately. He took the next flight into town and managed to get the house cleaned up, the body ready to be buried, and all traces of my sister being there gone.”

“What about friends? Neighbors?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“He lured young women out to his secluded life and then usually did away with them.”

Dove gasps and covers her mouth with the palm that was on my chest.

“Yes, he would torture them slowly like this and then kill them. Jonas has been doing his research as I wait it out here.”

She sits upright and looks tortured by what I’m saying.

“Little bird, let me stop.”

I sit up against her headboard, and she takes my hands into hers.

“No. Please. Keep going.”

She squeezes my hands. I suspect it’s for her own comfort instead of mine, which I’ll eagerly give.

“Jonas had a plan. It’s his job to have these kinds of plans.”

“What did he do?”

“I can’t tell you this, but I’m sure you can guess.”

She eagerly bobs her head up and down.

“And it’s over soon?”

“That’s what the two weeks are for, really. Me to get you and for Jonas to clean up the loose ends. The police may think they’re onto something, but Jonas is a problem solver. He’ll take care of it once and for all.”

“He’s more than your best friend.”

I smirk at the idea. Jonas would love to hear Dove say this.

“I suppose he is, but don’t tell the bastard, okay?”

Dove smiles, and then it fades.

“I’m sorry Margo went through that.”

“Me too. But Margo? She’s strong as hell. I can’t wait for you to meet her soon.”

“Where is she now?”

“In California. That’s why I’m the one here full-time and not Jonas. He’s looking after her, and I’m out here in case I need to be the fall guy.”

“You aren’t worried you will be?” Dove asks with conflict in her eyes.

“No, I’m not.”

She lets go of my hands and leans back on them behind where she sits.

“How can you be so sure this won’t be tied back to you?”

“I can’t. That’s one of the reasons I am here, but frankly, Jonas has never let me down. I don’t think he’s going to start with the most important situation we’ve ever dealt with together.”

“And what now?”

“Now we wait. It’s worked out that I can hide away here with you, the scene of the crime,” I tease.

She lunges forward and playfully swats one of my shoulders. I catch her hand and pull her on top of me. The way her warmth makes me feel like I’m home is something I’ll never get used to.

“I love you, Dove.”

“And I love you.”

She places a chaste kiss to my lips.

“I don’t think so,” I say with a dark laugh.

I squeeze her ass, making her yelp.

“I want a longer one,” I whisper against her lips.

“I can do that.”

She presses her mouth to mine, and her tongue demands entrance that I grant eagerly.

I may never get used to this, but I’ll gladly try every goddamn day until forever, or I’m put away. I’ll never let Margo or Jonas go down for what happened that night.

It’s one secret I’ll keep from Dove for now. Maybe it can go unspoken, but I don’t want to have to tell her that I’ll pick saving them over a lifetime of us together. I owe them both too much to choose otherwise.

A loud banging awakens us. After another late night, I’m not surprised to look at Dove’s alarm clock and see it’s already eleven in the morning.

The banging continues.

“I think we both know who that’ll be,” I whisper.

Dove groans as she cuddles into my side.

“Come on, little bird. Let’s get this over with.”

She sits up and stretches.

“Fine, but after this, can we have one normal hour together?” she asks groggily.

“Sure, we’ll pretend like I’m not a fugitive for an hour.”

She looks up through her long eyelashes and flashes me a brilliant smile as she finishes putting on her sneakers.

“Sounds like a fantasy.”

“I’m a fantasy maker,” I tease.

She laughs as she ties her hair back into a ponytail.

“Alright, time for me to talk to the police.”

She steps out and closes her door as she leaves. I take this as my opportunity to get dressed and stay quiet.

It’s the police. We knew they would be back soon, and here they are.

I know Dove asked if I was worried, but truthfully, I’m not. I’m just waiting on an update from Jonas later today. I know he’ll have the news I’m looking for to keep things moving.

There is nothing to connect Margo to the man.

Fuck. I need to just say his name.

There is nothing to connect Margo with Simon and nothing to connect Simon back to me. It’s all going to be dead ends.

I step near the closed bedroom door and listen to Dove greeting the officers. Sounds like they are the same ones who came by the other day.

Dove is playing it calm on the other side.

There’s a pause, and the police officers are clearly searching for something. The muffled back and forth implies something is happening.

“Come back tomorrow then, but I told you I haven’t seen any masked murderer running around these parts,” she declares.

That’s my girl.

She shuts the door, and moments later, she’s coming back into the room.

“They didn’t have a search warrant to come inside. They wanted to see if any of my photographs have an image of a masked man running amuck through Lamb Creek Mountain.”

Dove remains flushed against her bedroom door as she waits for my reaction.

“Oh, that’s right. Tom and his mountain lurker,” I tease.

“I know what you’re going to say, but it has to be you who he thinks he saw. I don’t think there are many other lurkers out this way.”

I approach her and pull her into my chest.

“There should be a million lurkers around your home.”

She chuckles against me.

I feel a vibration in my pocket and break away to see who it is.

A missed text from Jonas telling me to meet him at my home tonight and a call from Jill.

“Who is it?” Dove asks.

“Jonas needs me to meet him today, and Jill tried calling.”

Dove bites her lower lip and furrows her eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“We never talked about when I went over there.”

“Did something bad happen?”

“Well, not to me…”

“What is it?”

She lets out a larger-than-life sigh.

“She’s leaving you for Montgomery Lake.”

A wide smile takes over my face.

“Wait, you knew?”

“All part of the plan, little bird. We had to get that loose end tied up.”

“What? How?” she asks, confused.

“They were all over each other the night of the engagement party. It was easy for Jonas to encourage Montgomery to keep going.”

“Usually, people in that circle don’t like her,” she says, still confused by all of this.

“Not someone like him—he’s been waiting for his Jill.”

I laugh as I turn around to grab my black hoodie.

“Think you could give me a ride out of here? I wouldn’t want Tom or the cops seeing the boogie man anywhere around the mountain,” I taunt.

“I can’t believe I’m in love with the boogie man,” she says as she heads out the bedroom door for her car keys.

Thank fuck she is.

Dove drops me off at my house in Dossberry, and I reassure her that I’ll be back tonight. She’s busy preparing her art pieces to be picked up for shipment to the gallery. It’s almost comical how, in the midst of this, Dove and I are trying to play like real life doesn’t involve all of my complications.

“Sorry to have to make you come up for air,” Jonas remarks as I come in. He’s pouring a scotch from my bar.

“Make yourself at home.”

I toss my wallet and keys onto a nearby side table. Jonas turns around and smirks before focusing back on his drink again.

“Want one?”

“Sure.”

He pours me a drink and brings them to the living room. We take seats across from one another.

“Thanks, man,” I say as I take the drink.

The way the liquor burns my throat is welcoming.

“Have some interesting developments for you,” he says.

“I take it Jill is one of them?”

I settle into the chair as Jonas leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“That’s right,” he says with a grin.

“She told Dove before me.”

I shake my head and take another sip of my drink.

“What a nice mother,” he says sarcastically.

“She called me, but I missed it.”

“Maybe she wants to break the news to you in person. How considerate.”

I laugh darkly.

“Right. That’s why we picked Jill—because of how considerate she is.”

“Well, she took the bait right away.”

“I really didn’t know if Montgomery was a sure thing.”

Jonas sits back in his chair and kicks a leg over his other knee.

“I told you. Making him understand the benefits of taking a wife was the only obstacle in my way. But thankfully, Jill was a tempting little thing, being engaged to you and all.”

He takes a sip of his drink as I set mine down on the coffee table.

“I thought it was going to come down to blackmail,” I admit.

“Men like him want what they can’t have. All I had to do was share how rich and powerful you were, and the town filled in the details.”

I hum thoughtfully.

“Jill is taken care of. What have you heard from the police about Simon’s body?”

Jonas’s expression becomes more serious.

“It’s a dead end. All of the precautions we took did it. Only issue is some firsthand account from someone saying they saw a man in the night and a loose description of an average Caucasian, in-shape male. Someone who has returned multiple times but they’re unsure of any real details.”

Jonas looks up at me with a bored expression.

“You know I couldn’t stay away from her; I won’t regret that I did what I had to do to make Dove mine.”

“I’m all too aware of that fact.”

I chuckle.

“I think I know who it was,” I share.

“The person who saw you?”

“One of Dove’s neighbors. He’s an older man named Tom.”

“Tom,” Jonas says.

“What are you thinking?”

Jonas finishes his drink.

“How close is Dove to Tom?”

“We can’t kill him.”

Jonas scoffs and stands to get a refill.

“And why is that? It would certainly solve our problems.”

“Or make new ones,” I counter.

Jonas pours himself another drink and returns.

“And this reaction has nothing to do with your little bird?”

My jaw twitches.

“Fine, I won’t call her that again. No need to get territorial with me.”

“We don’t need a pile of dead bodies; we just need to finish cleaning this up.”

“Talk to Dove. Then let’s go from there. I’m about ready to head back home.”

I reach for my drink and take a large gulp.

“A whole different life awaits us.”

“I hope it’ll all just go according to plan.”

In the car, I called Jill and asked to meet her at a restaurant near her house. I know that everything has to be in boxes at this rate, so there’s no need to see it for myself. She willingly took me up on the offer, most likely not wanting me to know she was already shacking up with the man taking my place.

The loud sound of heels approaching alerts me to Jill’s arrival. Moments later, she’s sliding into the red diner booth, looking disgusted at having to even be here.

“Reid,” she says with a smile.

“Jill, you’re looking lovelier than ever.”

“Thanks.”

She clacks her bright-red nails against the table.

“Interested in a drink or dinner?” I offer.

“No, thank you. I have plans.”

Jill awkwardly looks around the diner. It’s only us, an older man at the counter, and a couple on the opposite end of the restaurant.

“Oh? With who? I haven’t seen much of you since the engagement party.”

Jill’s eyes flash from the counter to mine. A hint of panic runs through them.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Reid…”

“It’s okay.”

“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to.”

“Go ahead.”

“This isn’t working. I’m sorry, but I can’t go through with this wedding.”

“Is there someone else?”

“I’m sorry, but there is. A dear… friend. Something has changed since we spend so much time apart.”

“I see.”

Jill’s mask disappears, and I see how her demeanor changes.

“Cut the shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know this was never real. I know you’ve been up to something. Frankly, I don’t care what.”

“But?”

There’s always a but with someone like Jill.

“I won’t bring this up ever again in any way. You have my word.”

If it wasn’t for Dove, I would have concerns with this word of hers, but because I’m in love with her daughter, I’ll have to take it.

“What do you want, Jill?”

“One hundred grand.”

I lean back and cross my arms over my chest. Little does she know that actually isn’t much, but I have to weigh my options here. Could she have told the police, and they’re listening in? Is this the confirmation she needs to put me away?

“I don’t know anything. Consider this my lump sum if we were married and getting divorced.”

“If we were getting divorced, I wouldn’t owe you anything since you’re already in bed with someone else.”

“It’s not like I’ve ever been in yours.”

I stand and fix my coat around me.

“It’ll be in your account tomorrow. Have a nice life.”

She looks up at me, stunned.

“You too.”

I start to head out to the car to get back to Dove.

“Hey, Reid?” she shouts.

I turn back around.

“Yeah?”

“Take care of our girl for me.”

We both give each other a nod, and I’m on my way.