Chapter Forty-Three
C onner, Blane, and Daniel sat back in their chairs and groaned.
“Keira, that was the best lasagna I’ve ever had, and my mother makes a mean one,” Conner said, rubbing his stomach.
Keira smiled, stood, and started collecting the dishes.
Daniel took the dishes from her. “You did all the cooking. Let us guys clean up.” He nudged her in the direction of the doorway. “Why don’t you go into the living room and lie down until we’re done?”
Keira waited until she was in the living room to press on her temples, where a throbbing pain was gradually increasing. She sat back on the sofa and closed her eyes. She hated that the headaches weren’t lessening as the days passed. Her aspirin was upstairs, and at the moment, she didn’t have the energy to get the bottle.
“Keira. We’ll do this tomorrow night,” Daniel’s concerned voice woke her.
Keira’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up with help from Daniel. “No, I’m sorry.”
Conner scowled. “You don’t have to be sorry, Honey. You’re still recovering.”
“I’m fine. I promise.” Her gaze stayed on Blane and Conner as they pulled papers from their folders and placed them on the table in front of them.
Daniel placed his hand on her thigh. “They’re going to ask you questions about that night. Are you okay with that?”
Keira swallowed, wiped her sweaty hands on her legs, and nodded. “If it helps to catch the guy.”
“Can you tell us about that night?” Blane asked her hesitantly, concern in his tone.
“I think I remember most, if not all of it now.” Keira clutched her hands on her lap and took a shuddering breath. “I came home to get a few things and was planning on heading to a hotel. I couldn’t spend another night of being afraid.” She didn’t feel the substantial tension rise in the air when the men remembered her actually sleeping in the house the night before the attack. “I didn’t hear anything before I felt a hand wrap around my waist and another over my face to keep me quiet.” Anxiety stiffened her body, making her headache worse.
Keira looked at Daniel. His body was turned toward her, there was a throbbing tightness to his jaw, and immense concern darkened his eyes. Her heart softened. He would never know how much his support right then was helping her get through this. She turned back to Blane. “I remembered the pepper spray and knife I’d put in my purse. I dropped the spray, so I went for the knife. I started trying to stab any part of him I could. Sometimes I missed, or he jerked me, and I cut myself. I didn’t feel it at the time. I was so scared I never felt anything but the fear.”
“Adrenaline does that,” Conner answered, his voice gruff with angst.
Keira’s gaze jerked to Conner’s and then nodded. “He talked about wanting to hurt me, and when I started fighting him and cut him a few times, he got angry and started talking about killing me. I threw my hand with the knife back, and I could tell by the feeling and his scream, I got him in the neck, or shoulder, or face. He released me and I ran. I was almost to the door when it crashed in, and I barreled into Conner. He told me to go to the car. I started that way, but I just kept walking. When I heard all the men and sirens, I hid under the stairs. I knew I was losing a lot of blood, but I couldn’t get myself to walk toward people.”
Conner cleared the emotion from his throat. “That’s totally understandable, Keira. You were hurt and scared. I’m just glad I found you when I did.”
Keira reached over Daniel’s lap and squeezed Conner’s hand. “I’m glad, too, Conner.”
“Can you help determine how tall he was?” Blane asked.
Keira glanced down, and her eyes closed for a moment when she looked up to find three sets of eyes, assessing and concerned, fixed on her. “I think my head was even with his shoulder because when I got him that last time, it was like this.” She raised her hand over her shoulder and behind her head.
The men looked at each other. “That would make him around five nine or ten,” Conner said.
“Keira, was there anything about the guy you saw or recognized? Hair color, tattoos?” Blane asked.
She’d been asking herself the same question for days. “He had a mask and gloves on with a long-sleeved shirt, so I couldn’t see his body at all. At first, I thought I recognized his voice.”
Daniel’s arm slid behind her and roamed slowly up and down her back in a soothing manner. “Do you remember where you heard it?”
A cold knot formed in her stomach. “I don’t know. I’ve been wracking my brain, but I can’t remember.”
“Anything else?” Conner asked.
She shook her head, disappointed. “No.”
“Keira, has there been a man in town you’ve gotten a bad feeling about, or seen him do something not normal, or just act strange?” Blane asked.
Keira sat silently for a long moment. “No, I can’t think of anyone.”
“How about Scott Ridley?”
Keira stiffened as her eyes jerked toward Blane. “I had thought about him a time or two, but it definitely wasn’t his voice.”
“Vicki told us he’d been in the store a few times bothering you, asking if you still had a boyfriend?”
“Well, yes. But I really believed he was harmless.”
Daniel scowled. “People thought Ted Bundy was harmless, too, Keira.”
Keira gasped as a spear of terror raced through her. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m not usually so trusting of people, especially men. He just seemed like he had special needs, you know, a little slow, and he never showed any aggression. Although he scared me a time or two when he waited outside by my car to talk to me.”
Daniel’s nostrils flared. “I wish I had a chance to deal with him.”
A shiver ran up her spine at the dark menace in his voice. “I didn’t think about it at first. I’m used to taking care of myself. Then, we ... we had a misunderstanding. Besides, we had only started seeing each other.”
A harsh laugh burst from Daniel. “Misunderstanding? More like I was incredibly foolish. I should have been there to protect you, and I failed.”
Her feelings were too raw to talk about at that moment. “We need to try to move past this, Daniel. Let’s talk later, okay?”
Daniel nodded and squeezed her hands. “Is there anyone else? Anyone you would never consider violent? A man who tried to come on to you?”
Keira shrugged. “I had a few men ask me out, but I can’t remember who.”
“How many?” Blane looked up from the paper he was writing on.
Keira looked from Conner to Blane. “I don’t remember, maybe three or four.”
Daniel grimaced. “And you never said anything, why?” Daniel asked as he watched her closely.
Keira’s eyes widened, stunned. “Why would I, Daniel? We weren’t serious at all. Heck, we were barely in a relationship, although I told them I was dating you...”
Conner sat up and glanced at Blane. “Wait, you told all those guys you were dating Daniel?”
“I’m pretty sure. I thought it would deflect their interest and leave me alone. Why?”
Blane asked, “Do you remember when you started having your things moved? At the very beginning?”
Keira thought back. “I guess a week or so before my sister left on her honeymoon.”
“And how many men had you told you were dating Daniel at that time?”
Keira’s hand fisted in her lap as her eyes clashed with Blane’s. “I don’t remember.”
Daniel stood. “Let’s go to bed, Keira. You’re tired, and I can tell you have a headache.”
She looked around the room and couldn’t hide the fear that had crept up on her.
“Keira, Daniel, Blane, and I will be here all night. I’ll be up in the bedroom across the hall, and Blane down here on the sofa.” He pulled his eyes away from her and toward Daniel. “Go take care of her, and we’ll make sure we lock up.”
Daniel’s hand spanned her lower back. “Thanks, guys. Good night.”
“Night,” both men said.
Once upstairs, Daniel started a bath for her and made her swallow a few aspirin. As the tub filled, he undressed her, put her hair up, and then helped her into the tub. “I’ll be right back. I’m getting you a nightgown and my boxers.”
Keira leaned her head back against the tub and let the warmth of it seep into her bones. All she wanted right now was to relax in the tub and then go to bed with Daniel’s arms around her.
She was out the moment her head hit the pillow.
A few hours later, she felt like a blanket of despair tried to smother her, and she cried out.
“Keira, Baby. Wake up.” He shook her a few times, but when that didn’t work, he pulled her tightly against his chest and murmured soft words.
Within a few minutes, Keira relaxed against Daniel, clutching him to her as she slid into sleep again. “Just hold me,” she murmured brokenly.
Daniel swallowed back the tears that burned in his throat and kissed the top of her head. “Always.”