Chapter 29
Blue wasn’t sure what her next move should be. It was now four days since Jay had left, and she’d had no contact with him. She’d sent a text explaining what had happened and apologized for what he saw as her betrayal, but there was no response, only silence.
She was now lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark instead of sleeping, wondering again what Jay was doing. He was important to her, and he was hurting—she’d hurt him. But until he came home, she couldn’t make things right.
Blue told herself he was a rational person and would calm down enough that when he came back to Lyntacky, they could have a conversation—at least she hoped that was the case.
Living here had felt good and right, and if she was honest with herself, she wanted to stay. Stay with Jay and in Lyntacky. The town might just get its first boutique.
Tonight, after she’d made herself toast for dinner, Blue had pulled out her book and started sketching.
Not high-end fashion this time, but fashion for people like her and those who lived their lives doing everyday things, like working and raising kids.
She felt her creative juices flow again and spent two hours sitting at the kitchen island, drawing.
“And now you need sleep,” she said into the dark.
The sudden bang made her heart thud. It was loud in the night air. Loud enough to make her wonder if she’d left a window or door open before going to bed.
Throwing back the covers, she got out of bed and headed downstairs. It was when she reached the first step that she heard another noise and then a soft curse. Someone was in the house.
Blue had left her phone down there, so she couldn’t even make a call. That was a throwback from the school of Meadow McAllister. Never sleep with your phone close—it’s not healthy.
Damn it.
Was it Jay down there?
The text she’d received earlier today from Finch slid into her head suddenly.
Dad thinks someone has been in the house looking around. I couldn’t see any signs, but he wanted me to let you know anyway. Are you ok?
She had replied with yes, all good, which had been a big fat lie. But tomorrow she would talk to her siblings about things. Right now she needed to work out who was downstairs.
Another noise below had her looking for something, anything, to arm herself with. If it wasn’t Jay down there, she wanted to be ready to protect herself.
To her right, a long, narrow shelf held a trophy in the shape of a baseball bat. She picked it up and started creeping slowly down the stairs.
Blue had seen enough movies where it never worked out well for the person about to surprise whoever was downstairs, but she wasn’t the stand-and-wait type. Right now she was going with a surprise attack. She had a good arm, and this trophy had hard edges.
Heart thudding so hard, it hurt, Blue crept down in the dark and hoped she didn’t fall. There was more than herself to think about now. Two steps from the bottom, she found the light switch and flipped it.
A man wearing a ski mask was holding her sketch pad.
“Drop that!” Blue roared.
He didn’t and ran for the door. Blue followed, then threw the trophy hard at him. Her aim was good, and it hit him hard in the shoulder. He yelped and spun to look at her. Blue reached for her pad.
“That’s mine!”
“Back off!” he roared.
Blue gripped it with both hands and pulled, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he pushed her hard with one hand. She stumbled back and felt herself falling. Her head connected with something, and then everything went dark.
She woke feeling disoriented, and then the memory of what happened filtered into her foggy brain. Man, sketch pad, fall.
Blue rolled onto her side slowly and then climbed onto her hands and knees. So far, so good, except for the pain in her head, which had started throbbing. She pushed herself upright, gripping the back of the sofa as she wobbled.
“Asshole,” she whispered, thinking about the man who had stolen her sketch pad.
Breathing slowly to steady herself, Blue closed the front door and then made for the kitchen, where her phone was charging. Other than her head, she felt good. Surely falling like that hadn’t hurt the baby? Panic slithered into her body.
She found the Lyntacky Police Station number, then put through a call.
“Lyntacky Police—”
“Dan, it’s Blue.”
“What’s wrong?”
“A man broke into Jay’s place—”
“Is he still there, Blue?”
“No—I think…. No, he’s gone,” she said.
“Lock yourself in somewhere. I’m coming now.”
She didn’t have the strength to move, so, clutching her phone, she headed back to the sofa and sat down. The light was too bright, and she felt nauseous now. Closing her eyes, Blue rested her head and hoped she wasn’t going to throw up the contents of her stomach.
The thud on the door minutes later had her wincing.
“Blue!” It opened, and Dan appeared in uniform.
“Here, Dan.”
His eyes found her on the sofa, and in a few strides, he was there, crouched down before her.
“Are you hurt?”
“I was knocked out when he pushed me backward.”
“Fucker,” Dan snarled. “Okay, we need to get you checked out now, Blue.”
She didn’t nod. “Pants,” she whispered because anything louder wasn’t an option with the pain in her head.
“You want some pants on?” Dan said.
“I do.”
“Where?”
“Upstairs, in my room.”
“Okay, I’ll find it and your pants, but first I just need to do a quick sweep, okay?”
“’Kay.”
It didn’t take him long, and then he was back with some exercise pants, which he helped her pull on.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“Yes.”
He went to the kitchen and returned with a bowl, which he handed to her. Dan then pulled out his phone and made a call to Dr. Hannah, saying he was bringing Blue to the clinic.
“It’s the middle of the night. Shouldn’t we go to—”
“No. Now you want me to carry you, or can you walk?” He looked like the hard-ass cop he was in that moment.
“I can walk.”
It was slow, but soon they were in his cruiser after he’d locked up Jay’s house.
“I know you’re hurting, Blue, but can you tell me what happened?”
She did, slowly, trying to find the details in her foggy brain.
“Why would someone break in to steal your sketch pad?”
Blue knew then who had done it. “My old boss.”
He shot her a look as they parked outside Dr. Hannah’s place. Blue waited for him to come around and help her out, feeling too weak to do it herself.
Only when they were inside did she hand Dan her cell phone, open to the messages she’d received from Sebastian Cavanagh.
“Well now, you young ones sure keep me on my toes,” Dr. Hannah said. She was wearing her red dressing gown that had white square-dance tassels on it. On her feet were furry slippers.
“Nice outfit, Doc.”
“You’d be so lucky to have this much style, boy,” she said to Dan with a cheeky smile.
Blue was then examined thoroughly. Thankfully, Dr. Hannah nor Dan mentioned Jay. Like everyone in this town, they no doubt knew he was away working, but they didn’t know that he was angry with Blue.
“Well, you’re okay, and no harm done that I can see other than a nasty concussion. You need to rest up now, Blue. There will be fatigue and headaches. A dark room, rest, and no loud noises are the best things for you. You need to be under constant surveillance also for the next four hours.”
“Thanks, Dr. Hannah, I’ll do that,” Blue said, feeling like she was at least seventy years old.
Dan was where she’d left him, but talking on his phone. He smiled when she approached. After thanking the doctor, they left.
“Right, Birdie is on her way, and she’s going to look after you at Jay’s,” Dan said.
“Thanks.” She didn’t argue because right then, she wanted her sister.
“Jay will be back, Blue.”
“He thinks I betrayed him by telling you.”
Dan sighed. “That man is a closed book, but I angered him into opening up, and then I mentioned the half sister. Sorry that caused trouble for you two.”
“It’s not your fault. You were just worried about him like I am.”
Blue looked out the windshield at the sleeping street. Porch lights and curtains were drawn tight, blinds shut against the dark. Most would be slumbering, either tucked into warm beds in the arms of those they loved or alone.
She saw light filtering through the cracks in the curtains and imagined the others who would be awake like her. The insomniacs staring at the ceiling and parents rocking babies.
She saw the letterboxes slide past, the names familiar. Everything exactly where it should be.
And yet nothing felt the same.
“I need you to come down to the station when you can, Blue. We have to sort this out. For now, I’m going to look for this asshole who broke into Jay’s place, but I don’t hold out much hope he is still in Lyntacky if it is related to your employment in New York.”
Blue wasn’t sure she could speak anymore. Waves of fatigue were rolling over her, and suddenly all she wanted was sleep.
Birdie pulled up at the same time as Dan’s cruiser. Worry was marring her sister’s face as she got out of her car. “Blue, are you all right?”
She let her sister hold her, and then they went inside. Dan did another sweep of the place.
“Okay, it’s all clear, but you keep your phone with you, Birdie, and call if you have any concerns,” Dan said.
“I will, and thank you, Dan.”
“Everything will work out okay, Blue. We’ll beat some sense into him if he doesn’t listen to reason.”
She managed a tired smile at that.
He kissed them both on the cheek and then left.
“Come on, I can see how tired you are. Sleep now and talk tomorrow,” Birdie said.
Blue didn’t argue, and soon she was in her bed, covers pulled up to her chin.
“I’m going to be waking you, Blue Jay, so don’t think about throwing any pillows at me,” Birdie said.
Blue managed a weak smile, and then she closed her eyes. Her last thought was for Jay, wondering where he was and what he was doing, and then she was out.