Chapter 105
***Ethan***
I pick up my cell phone without even looking at the name on
the screen.
“Hello.”
“Uncle Ethan, it’s Anna.”
“Anna. What—”
“You need to get home. Casey needs you.”
“What? What happened?” Silence. “Hello? Anna?”
She’s gone. What the hell is going on? I dial Casey’s
number and get no answer. Same thing when I try Clara. Even the house phone
goes unanswered. Fuck! What now? Charlie looks up as I pass him on the
way out.
“What’s up, boss?”
“Cryptic call from Anna about Casey. I’m going to check on
her.”
“You need me?”
“No. Stay here. I’ll call as soon as I know what’s going on.”
As I hop in the truck, my anxiety starts to get the better
of me. Anna. Why didn’t I think of her sooner? After all, she was one of the
last people to speak with Casey that night. She knows something. Now she says
Casey needs me. Holy Christ. I press down on the accelerator and pray I won’t
be too late. Why did I relieve Sam and Brad? I was foolish to think she’d be
safe at the house.
I notice Clara’s car is gone as I pull into the driveway. I
can’t believe she left Casey alone. She better have a damn good explanation.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I hurry to our room.
“Casey?”
I turn the handle but the door is locked, so I lean against
it, breaking the lock. Stepping inside the empty bedroom, I look around
cautiously.
“Casey?” I check the bathroom, but it, too, is locked. “Casey,
open the door.”
A tortured sob comes from inside, and I push against the
door. I die a million horrible deaths when I see her sitting in the tub, the
blade of a knife pressed to her wrist. My heart pounds in my ears and my mouth
goes dry.
“Please… Put the knife down.”
“No, stay back!”
“Casey, don’t do this.”
“Why? I have nothing to live for.”
“You have me. We have each other.”
“No….”
She closes her eyes, and I use the opportunity to move
forward and snatch the knife from her fingers.
“No!” she screams.
I toss the knife aside and lift her out of the tub, crushing
her against my chest. She was doing so well. What the hell caused this?
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
“No! Just let me die!”
She struggles against me, pummeling my chest with her fists
as I take her to the bedroom. I sit her down on the bed and grab her upper arms,
holding her in place.
“You listen to me and listen good, Casey Bryan. I am not
letting you go. If you’re going to take your life, you might as well take mine,
too, because I cannot and will not live without you.”
“You’ll get over me.”
I release her arms, sit back on my heels, and remove my gun
from its holster.
“What are you doing?” she exclaims.
“If you want to do it, go ahead.” Uncertainty fills her eyes
and she glances in the direction of the bathroom. I flip the safety and put the
gun to my head, staring her in the eyes. “Just know that the moment you do, I
pull this trigger.”
Her eyes open wide in fear and she scrambles to the floor,
kneeling before me. She throws her arms around my waist and buries her face in
my chest.
“Ethan, no! Please don’t!”
“I will.”
“Okay, okay. I promise I won’t just… put the gun away. Please.”
I flip the safety again and place the gun back in the holster.
Horrified, she stares at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. I swear I have
never known fear until this woman came into my life.
“Don’t you dare leave me, Casey. You are not allowed
to remove yourself from my life.”
“I won’t, I won’t. I promise!”
“Casey?”
I turn and see Clara stumbling in, blood plastered to a
wound on her head. What the hell? I’m on my feet and at her side to catch her
before she falls.
“Clara!” Casey shrieks. “Oh, my God, what happened?”
She rushes over, helping me get Clara onto the bed. I reach
for my phone and dial Charlie’s number.
“Get your ass over here now!” I shout into the phone when he
answers.
What the fuck is going on here today? Casey races to the
bathroom, returning with the first aid kit.
“It doesn’t look too serious. I just need to clean the
blood. Get me a bowl or something with some water.”
While I’m in the kitchen, Charlie storms in like a mouse
with a cat on its tail.
“What’s going on?” he asks, urgency in his tone.
“You tell me! I come home to find Casey in the bathtub with
a knife to her wrist, and then Clara staggers in with her head bashed in.”
“What the hell?”
“Exactly. Find Anna. Bring her to me.”
“Anna?”
“She knows something, and I’m going to find out what.”
Back in the bedroom, I find Casey cooing to Clara. At least
she has something to keep her busy. Clara will be fine in a few hours, but I
don’t need to tell her that. I watch as she carefully cleans the wound and
bandages it.
“It’s superficial, but I think we should take her to the
hospital.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need a hospital.”
“Clara! Oh, thank God.”
“What happened?” I ask, helping her up.
“I got a call about… a patient.” She glances nervously at
Casey, so I know it’s wolf-related. “Anyway, since Anna was here, I figured I’d
just run out, take care of it and come back. When I got to the house, there was
no one there. I turned to go back to my car, and something knocked me from
behind.”
How could someone have snuck up on her? No one can sneak up
on a wolf. She would have smelled him long before he got too close. It had to
be some kind of weapon, or maybe a trap.
“Casey, stay with her. I’ll be right back.”
I get downstairs in time to see Charlie walking in with
Anna. She’s wringing her hands, looking nervous and frightened.
“Anna.”