Chapter 27
27
PAIGE
I’ll do whatever it takes to help you feel strong again. Those words had echoed through my mind all day.
Sitting on the couch, I waited for Cole to finish in the shower. It was a little after six, but I didn’t care. I was just impressed that he made time to take me. I’d felt bad asking, but I didn’t have my car, and honestly, I hadn’t wanted to go alone. I could’ve asked Jake or Lanie, but I felt safe with Cole and hated the idea of going with anyone else.
I heard the shower turn off, and within a few minutes, he walked out, tugging the bottom hem of his shirt the rest of the way down. For a moment, I saw a strip of tanned skin, and arousal flared low in my belly. I’d been feeling that way a lot more lately, but I was hiding it, and I hoped like hell that I was hiding it well because that wasn’t who we were to each other. We were trying to find our footing as friends, which was going well, and I wouldn’t screw that up because I couldn’t control myself.
He grabbed his keys from the end table. “You ready?”
“Yep.” I jumped up and followed him out the door and down the stairs but laughed when I heard his stomach growl.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Guess I’m hungrier than I thought I’d be.”
“Let’s eat first,” I suggested.
He yanked open the door to the parking lot and held it so I could go first. “You sure?”
I waited outside the door while he locked it, and then we walked to his truck. Once again, he opened the passenger door and waited for me to climb in before he closed it and jogged around to the other side.
He was in and settled when he looked at me. “What are you hungry for?”
I’d been living on sandwiches and soup since I got to Cole’s Saturday night, and I was hungry for anything else at this point. “Hmm…what about pizza?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Pizza? Are you sure?”
“You don’t like pizza?”
“I love pizza,” he admitted. “I think I could eat it every day, but we can get whatever you want.”
“I love pizza too.”
“Really?”
“Why does that surprise you?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged and started the truck. “I guess I never took you for a pizza girl.”
“Maybe you don’t really know me,” I suggested, but I couldn’t meet his stare.
He pulled from the parking lot and turned onto the main street. “Good.”
That comment made me turn my head to stare at the side of his face. “Why good?”
He glanced at me with a boyish grin on his face. “I love surprises.”
I returned his grin and agreed to go to the pizza shop not far from my townhouse called Marco’s. We pulled in, and Cole ordered a large pizza, which came out almost immediately.
“That’s why I love this place.” He lifted a piece from the round pan on the table and put it on the plate in front of me. “Careful, it’s really hot.”
I watched him, a grin playing around my lips when he took charge. He didn’t do it often, but when he did, I liked it. I was always in charge, it seemed, especially with Lanie. Everyone in my family and Lanie looked at me to make decisions and take control of a situation when I was around. It felt odd not having that same relationship with Cole, but not in a bad way.
“Thanks.” He took a bite of pizza, but I still had a question. “Why do you love this place?”
“Whhad?” he said around a mouthful of food, causing me to laugh. He wiped his mouth and swallowed before trying again, but he was also grinning. “What?”
“You said that’s what you love about this place when the pizza came out.”
“They always have pizza ready. Unless you get something weird like Hawaiian.”
I made a face, and at the same time, Cole and I both said, “Pineapple should never be on pizza.”
His eyebrows rose, and I laughed again. “Glad we can agree on that.”
I finished off a second piece of pizza while Cole ate his fourth. Shaking my head, I watched in wonder. “How can you eat that much and stay in shape?”
“I don’t know. High metabolism, I guess. I’ve just always been like this.”
“That’s annoying to the rest of us, you know.”
He snorted out a laugh and pointed at my plate. “You should eat more.”
“I don’t have a high metabolism, so I’ll pass.”
He shrugged. “Who cares? Life’s too damn short to get hung up on shit like that. You should enjoy it while you can. And if you like pizza, eat pizza.”
I studied him and saw that the serious expression on his face didn’t waver. “You mean that, don’t you?”
“I do.” He laughed. “I love going out to eat with Bailey. She can put me to shame sometimes.”
“Yeah, well, she works in construction so she can burn it off. I sit all day at my job.”
His eyes flashed. “Lot of ways to burn off calories, sweetheart.”
I wasn’t sure if he meant to say that or it just slipped out because immediately after, he signaled the server and asked for a box. Either way, my face flushed, and I forced myself to look away. How the hell does he always do that to me?
He paid, and we stood, both making our way to the truck. He laid the extra box of pizza on the back seat, then we headed to my townhouse. Pulling in, I felt a familiar tug, but it wasn’t because I missed my own place. I felt that same fear that I felt since I left the hospital, which made no sense. I wasn’t attacked in my home. I never even told him where I lived, but I had a very irrational fear that he was in my home.
“You good?”
I nodded and pushed open my door. “Yeah, let’s go.”
I dug my keys from my purse and unlocked my door before pushing it open and stepping inside.
Then I froze.
It was destroyed .
A chill ran over my entire body, and I began to shake as I took in the overturned furniture and broken television.
I didn’t get to look any further before I was turned, and my face was plastered against Cole’s chest. “Come on.”
My legs felt like concrete when I tried to lift them, but I moved immediately when Cole spoke again with urgency in his tone. “Paige. Now.”
We ran quickly to the truck and got in before he locked the doors. Then I listened as he called Luke. I could only stare at my townhouse. All the fear I’d been overcoming was back, and it felt bigger than before.
“Fucker broke into her house.” There was a pause before he spoke again, but my eyes were locked on the townhouse. “I have no idea if it was him. I’m only assuming, and we didn’t stay to look around. I wanted to get her back into my truck as fast as I could.” Another pause. “Thanks, brother.”
“Is Luke coming?” I asked quietly after he ended the call.
“Yeah.” He reached out, grabbed my hand, and wrapped his around it. “He’s on his way.”
“Do you think it was him?”
“I don’t know.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m just glad you weren’t here when it happened.”
“Me too,” I answered, but my eyes were still locked on the townhouse. It was as if I was waiting for Paul Lewis to walk out, but nothing happened, and within what felt like only a minute, three police cars pulled alongside the street.
With another squeeze of my hand, he dropped it. “Wait here.”
I didn’t answer, and he jumped out of the truck to talk to a police officer. I could hear them, considering Cole left his door open, but I wasn’t really processing what anyone was saying. I watched a few armed police officers go inside and heard someone yell clear, so I could only assume if he had been there, he was gone.
It wasn’t very long before the officers made their way back out, and Cole leaned into the truck. “They’re waiting for Luke, but then they’ll need to talk to you.” I glanced at him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I answered, trying to dredge up as much confidence as I could, but I didn’t feel confident. I felt violated. Someone had been through my house and touched my things without my permission. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn’t seem to feel anything except fear.
When Luke pulled in, I knew my time to hide was over. Cole would let me. In my heart, I knew he didn’t want me to feel any of this, but that wasn’t Luke’s job; his job was to find out who did this and punish them.
Shoving open my door, I stepped out and walked to the front, where Luke was talking to the other officers. He stopped when he saw me and pulled me in for a hug. “How are you?”
“I’m okay.” I pulled back. “Do you think it was him?”
Cole came to stand on the other side of me just as Luke started talking. “They’re pulling prints right now. We have his DNA from the skin we got from underneath your fingernails the night you were attacked. If it was him and he left any prints, we can easily link him to this.” He glanced at Cole, and I saw concern in his expression before he continued. “Can you walk the house with me? I want to see if anything was stolen.”
“Do you think he took my stuff?”
“It’s standard to see if anything was taken in order to rule out burglary or to prove that’s all it was.” He gestured around. “This neighborhood has its fair share of those, and anyone watching would know your house has been empty since Saturday night.”
“So maybe it wasn’t him at all?”
Luke could tell by my tone that I was hopeful. His eyes narrowed slightly. “What’s going on? Are you starting to remember more about the night of your attack?”
I sighed and instinctively leaned my shoulder against Cole’s arm. “A little, but it’s still fuzzy.”
I paused, and Luke gestured for me to continue. “Anything’s helpful. We can try to piece it together as you remember it, but you have to give me all the pieces when you have them.”
I glanced at Cole before facing Luke again. “I feel like he wanted to kill me, not just hurt me.”
Concern filled his eyes. “Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I have.”
“In the hospital, you said he had his hands wrapped around your throat like he was trying to choke you. Do you remember why he stopped and left you there?”
I ran my hand over my forehead. “I remember lights and that stands out because it had been really dark until then.”
Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that when he left?”
“I think so. I have this memory of him standing over me and saying something, but I don’t know if that was before or after.”
“What did he say?”
“It’s not very clear, but I swear it was something like it’s never as good as the first time.”
Luke’s eyebrows rose. “He actually said it’s never as good as the first time?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “At least I think so. Unless I dreamed that.”
“When did you remember this?”
“Just recently,” I explained. “My mind is fuzzy, and everything blurs together when I concentrate too hard. But that one sentence has been in my mind, so that has to mean something, right?”
“That definitely means something.”
“What are you thinking?” Cole asked.
“I'm not sure.” He glanced at me before meeting Cole’s eyes again. “If he's been watching the news, he knows she’s identified him and that we’re looking for him.” He shifted his attention back to me. “How did you get to your car that night?”
“I remember crawling. And then I remember being in front of the hospital doors.” I frowned. “I’m sorry. That part isn’t very clear.”
“Don’t apologize.” He reached out and wrapped his hand around my shoulder. “You’re starting to remember more, and that’s good. Just let it come back naturally. Forcing it won’t work, and then you’ll question if your memories are accurate.”
“If this was him, do you think he’s trying to scare me so I won’t testify against him if you find him?”
“Maybe, but we’re not going to let that happen. That means he wins, and I refuse to let him win,” Luke promised.
“What do I do now?”
“Stay put. You’re safe at Cole’s, and I’ll talk to the chief of police at the Cranberry department. We’ll send out officers to constantly patrol the area until he’s found.”
Cole gestured toward the house. “And if this wasn’t him?”
“Nothing changes,” Luke answered, his jaw tight. “We need to stay vigilant. Even if this was just a burglary, Paul Lewis is still out there, and he’s dangerous.”
I ran my hand over my forehead, my thoughts racing about what that could mean.
And none of it was good.
“Do you feel up to walking the house with us?” Luke asked.
“Yeah.” I nodded but immediately looked at Cole. “You’re coming, right?”
“I’m coming.” He wrapped his hand around mine, and I ignored the slight grin on Luke’s face.
We started walking when Luke spoke again. “Why were you here tonight?”
“We came to get some clothes,” I explained. “But never got past the front door.”
I followed Luke through the house, but nothing seemed to be missing. He’d just gone through my house and destroyed things, and I could tell by Luke’s expression that the farther we walked, the idea of this being only a burglary was becoming less likely.
This meant that Paul Lewis was likely looking for me, and if the way he left my house was any indication, he was angry.
We got to my bedroom, and it seemed it was spared. As I looked around, everything seemed intact. “Nothing looks out of place in here.”
Luke nodded. “He never made it upstairs.”
“What do you mean?” Cole asked.
“I think he was interrupted and probably fled out the back door.”
My eyes widened, the chill of fear surrounding me. “You think he was doing this when we came?”
“Maybe,” Luke answered honestly. “Or maybe a neighbor came home, and he didn’t want to be seen or heard. We have no way of knowing when he actually did this.”
Cole dropped my hand and put his on my back. “Let’s get your shit and get out of here.”
“Right.” I nodded but was immediately overwhelmed.
Cole moved toward the closet and grabbed a few tote bags I had hanging on the hook inside the door. He handed them to me. “Get the things from your dresser and the bathroom. I’ll get everything on hangers.”
Nodding, I swallowed hard and followed his instructions. Luke left the room when his phone rang, but he sent in an officer to help us carry everything to Cole’s truck. After we finished, Luke had two officers escort us back to Cole’s and help us carry my things into his apartment.
Luke told me he sent them to help us, but I knew the truth.
Paul Lewis wasn’t done with me yet.
And no one had any idea where to find him.