Chapter 9 #2
“Seriously, how long can one woman hold a grudge?” Olivia’s hand slid over the top of the dresser.
Diamonds glittered from several fingers.
“God, you hated this room. Can’t believe you’re willingly staying in here.
I mean, when your parents were getting divorced, this is where your mother slept.
She used to call it her prison cell. Or at least, that’s what you told me.
” She shot a sympathetic look at Melody.
“So tragic the way she died. Skiing accident. All that blunt force trauma when she collided with the tree.” A shudder slid over her body.
“The closed casket at the funeral was terrible. I remember shaking with fear because she’d been so incredibly beautiful, but in death, we couldn’t even see her to say goodbye. ”
Melody just stared at her.
“I’m not being tactful, am I? Bringing up your dead mother. You probably don’t want to talk about her now. But, then again, you never talk about her.”
She didn’t think that Olivia wanted to be tactful. In fact, Melody wasn’t sure what game the other woman was playing. But it definitely felt like a game. Like Olivia was saying things to deliberately provoke a reaction from Melody. Except Melody didn’t have a reaction to give her.
I knew that my mother was dead. I read the newspaper reports. Dead in a skiing accident. Her lover—the skiing instructor—was the one who found her body.
“Anyway…” A long exhale from Olivia. “I did get a bit nervous when you first vanished. What with that stalker situation you had going on…” Another shudder eased down her body.
Now Melody snapped to attention. “Stalker?”
“Yes, you know.” Olivia rolled one hand in a vague wave. “You told me that he was following you on your runs.”
No, she did not know.
“You said that you’d turn around, and you’d swear some guy in a hoodie was tailing you on the jogging trail.
I mean, come on. A hoodie? How stereotypical is that?
I told you it was probably just another jogger but you—you swore you felt eyes on you.
” Olivia bit her lower lip. Her head dipped down.
“I laughed it off. Told you it was your imagination. Then you vanished for a whole year. Some nights, I worried that maybe—maybe he really had been there. And thought I shouldn’t have laughed.
” Her hands twisted in front of her before she slowly lifted her head. “I’m not laughing now.”
No. She wasn’t. “You’re my best friend.”
Olivia nodded. “I hope so. I didn’t realize quite how boring life was…” She walked toward Melody. Extended her hands.
Melody lifted her own hands. Olivia immediately clasped them in a tight grip.
“I didn’t realize how boring life was, until you weren’t there.” Olivia blinked away tears. “I had no one to hit the bars with. I had to dance on tables by myself.” A wan grin. “And that is just sad.”
Melody searched Olivia’s eyes. Then she decided to play a game of her own. “I’m engaged to Victor.”
Olivia exploded into a fit of laughter. “The hell you are.” More laughter. “You can’t stand him.” She didn’t just grasp Melody’s hands. She drew her in for another crushing hug. “See, this is why I missed you. You are hilarious.”
No, she wasn’t.
Her best friend had just told her that she wasn’t engaged to Victor.
The door opened. A hard squeak. No knock from the visitor. Just the door instantly swinging open as if the visitor owned the place.
Surprise, surprise, Victor was the one standing there. He frowned at them.
Olivia stepped back but didn’t completely let Melody go. “Melody just told me the most hilarious story,” she began.
Oh, uh, Victor was not going to find this funny.
“She said you two were engaged.” More laughter pealed from Olivia. “Can you imagine? The two of you would kill each other if you were married.”
Victor’s jaw hardened. “Melody, your father is asking to see you.” A brief pause. “It’s one of his good times.”
She wasn’t exactly sure what a “good time” meant, but she nodded anyway. “Olivia, if you’ll excuse me?”
Olivia squeezed her hand. “I’m glad you’re back. Things weren’t the same without you.” Her gaze searched Melody’s. “You get the urge to vanish again, how about you come and talk to me first? It wasn’t cool to make me worry and wonder about you for a year. Friends don’t ditch friends.”
They did if they had no choice. If they were running through the snow, leaving blood in their wake, and a car slammed into them. But Melody didn’t say any of that. She just forced herself to smile. “Absolutely. I’ll come to you first.” Did the words sound as hollow as they felt?
But Olivia seemed satisfied. She nodded. Let Melody go. Ambled for the door. Her gaze raked over Victor. “Try to be nice to her, would you? We both know she probably went running before because of you. You take away everything a woman wants, and what else is she supposed to do?”
With that parting shot, she left the room.
Melody could hear Olivia’s steps padding softly away.
She squared her shoulders and hurried for the door. “I’ve been wanting to talk with Sebastian—”
He didn’t move out of her way. If anything, Victor blocked the doorway more. “We had just become engaged before you vanished. As in, moments before.”
She raised her brows. She also bit back the response of…That seems convenient.
“We had told no one. After you left…” A slow shake of his head. “I didn’t tell your friends or your family. Didn’t tell the cops.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was already a suspect. And part of me wondered—hell.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I wondered if you’d changed your mind. Fled to get away from me.”
She wished she could remember him. “Did I love you?”
The hand he’d raised fell back to his side. “Your dad’s good bouts don’t last long. Especially in the middle of the day. He always seems to get weakest then. Probably because he tires out. A nap usually helps.”
What exactly was wrong with her father? A form of dementia? “Victor…”
“We should hurry downstairs. And we’re getting out of here today.
I called the local sheriff. Let Jamal Wroth know about the shooting.
He’s coming to investigate as soon as he can, but the guy was spouting off about hunters.
” Disgust and disbelief tightened his hard features.
“Hunters, my ass. That was someone deliberately stalking close to the house. Someone taking a shot into the house. Multiple shots. It was deliberate, and I want you out of here. I want you safe.”
She wet her lips. “And I’ll be safe with you?”
He didn’t blink. “Yes.”
She wanted to believe that. And he had been with her when the shots were fired. That meant Victor wasn’t the bad guy, right? But…as for the others in the house…
One of them could have fired the gun. Then circled back inside.
Isn’t that possible? Couldn’t the shooter be right here with me?
Or maybe not…maybe it would have taken too much time to circle back inside.
She didn’t know. She had no idea what the layout of the property and all of the rooms were really like.
Victor turned away. “Your father is waiting.”
Her stomach clenched.
Melody opened the door to the den. She eased inside, and surprise, surprise, Victor followed right on her heels. But he didn’t speak. Just took up a position near the wall on the left. Crossed his arms over his chest. Waited.
Her breath rustled out as she closed in on her father. What was she supposed to call him? Dad? Sebastian? Father? Or—
Sebastian’s head turned toward her. A warm smile curled his lips. His eyes—dark, not green like hers—seemed to shine. He remained in the tall, leather chair, but he reached out for her with his right hand. “I’m so glad you’re home, Melody.”
Her lower lip trembled. Her steps were suddenly hurrying toward him. She caught his hand and gripped it tightly. Desperately.
“I missed you,” he told her.
The hand she held only trembled a little bit. “I missed you, too.” The words poured from her, and they felt true. As she stood staring down at him, sadness pulled at her. My father. He’s my father, and I want to remember him. I lost a year. An entire year without him.
“You look so much like your mother,” he told her. His face softened.
Melody had seen pictures of her mother throughout the house. And before she’d come here, she’d looked up her mother online. Her mother had been a failed Hollywood actress who’d married business mogul, Sebastian Mage. She’d supposedly charmed everyone that she’d met.
But she’d been unhappy, always looking for excitement.
“Your mother.” He sighed. “I—”
“Sebastian.” Victor’s sharp voice. “Melody is home. Focus on Melody.”
Sebastian nodded. He swallowed. “I missed you,” he said again as he stared up at her. Tears glinted in his eyes.
Melody found herself dropping to her knees in front of him so they could be on eye level. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” Absolute truth. Her father was sick, she could see it. They’d lost so much time.
He leaned toward her. “It’s my fault,” he said.
Chill bumps rose on her arms.
“I was supposed to get you back.” A tear slid down his cheek.
Those chill bumps got worse.
“I was supposed to pay,” he added, voice roughening.
Her heart beat faster. So much faster.
“Sebastian.” Victor surged toward them.
“But I didn’t.” Another teardrop. Sebastian’s hand had turned so that he held Melody in a hard grip. A grip that nearly crushed her fingers. “Forgive me?”
Her mouth hung open. She didn’t know what to say or do, and what did he mean, he was “supposed to get her back”—back from where? And what hadn’t he paid? Like…a ransom? Was he talking about a ransom for her?
Victor touched her shoulder. “Melody.”
She ignored him. “Who were you supposed to pay?”
A furrow appeared between Sebastian’s eyes.
“Who were you supposed to pay?” Melody repeated. “Who took me?”
Sebastian shook his head. The lines on his face appeared deeper. Harsher.
“Please.” Melody was begging and didn’t care that she sounded so desperate. She was desperate. “Please, who took me? Who were you going to pay? How much were you supposed to pay?” And… “Why didn’t you pay?”
Sebastian blinked. Several times. His head tilted to the side as he studied her. Then a slow smile curved his lips. “Melody.”
A shiver slid over her.
“You look so much like your mother,” he told her. Then nodded. “I’m so sorry I killed her.”
She jerked her hand from his grip. Wrenched back. She would have fallen, but Victor caught her and steadied her.
Her father smiled at her. “And I’m sorry, but I think I killed you, too.”
She had to get the hell out of that place.
Her father hummed. Turned his head. Stared into the flickering flames that twisted inside of the fireplace. She could not speak. Terror had stolen her voice. Every part of her wanted to run out of that room.
But she wanted answers. Deserved them. Melody cleared her throat. “Father.”
His head swiveled back to her. “Melody!” A delighted smile. His hand extended toward her. “I’ve missed you.”