Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
Anna called Curtis as soon as they were back in the house. She kept the news simple, only the truth. That truth was somewhat incomplete, but she considered it accurate enough, for now. Emily had fallen and hit her head, and she’d been taken to the hospital for observation. It was simply a precaution. Emily had her cell and would call when she could. Anna didn’t share the news that her cousin had fallen because she’d been attacked. She didn’t know enough to answer any of the questions that would follow. Emily could tell her husband everything, when they talked.
Even without knowing everything, Curtis insisted on heading out tonight. Anna urged him to wait. Emily should be out of the hospital by morning, and if all was well she and Nina could be on the road in a couple of days. They agreed to talk in the morning.
She wouldn’t be surprised if Curtis showed up here by noon tomorrow, call or no call.
Anna dropped her cell onto the couch and walked into Colt’s arms. She sighed, already tired from thinking of everything she had to do tonight. For now she just wanted to be held. By Colt. She didn’t care where they were or how many ghosts might be watching; she needed him.
Neither of them spoke for a few long seconds, and then Colt whispered,
“I thought it was you. For a split second, when I first got here… I thought it was you and my heart damn near stopped.”
“I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be me,” she said, as calmly as possible. Her pounding heart gave her away, though. She was anything but calm. “Jack made things shake, I knew it had to be him, I knew something was wrong. Then I heard Emily shout as I opened the door.” She waited for Colt to remind her that he’d told her to stay inside. He didn’t. “The man who attacked her had a knife in his hand but when he saw me… he was surprised, I think. He ran.”
He stepped back, held her at arm’s length. “Knife?”
“Was this the man who killed Nicole?” she whispered.
Colt didn’t answer that question. He didn’t need to. “Can you identify him? Did you tell Mac?”
Anna shook her head. The police chief hadn’t asked her detailed questions, at least not yet. They’d told him a man jumped Emily and she fell. More questions were coming, she was certain, but for now it was down to her and Colt. “This has something to do with Jack, doesn’t it? What was he into that could lead to this, all these years later? Is he here? I have questions.”
“Jack isn’t here. He’s with your Mom.”
“Always?”
“Pretty much. He did break away long enough to tell me you needed me, but the effort exhausted him. He’s done some bad shit, and yes, this is all his fault, somehow. I know it. But he tried to save you. Dammit, I should’ve been with you instead of out playing amateur detective.”
She agreed. He should’ve been with her. Tonight. Last year. Tomorrow…
“I always thought Seawolf Beach was such a sleepy, peaceful little town. People aren’t supposed to be murdered here, or attacked on the sidewalk, or…” She stopped, sighed, pressed her face into Colt’s chest. “There’s so much to do, but all I really want to do is stand here and hold you.”
It had been a long time since she’d wanted or needed anyone the way she needed Colt. Was that a good thing?
He saw ghosts. Her brother, dead for five years, had dragged them all into a heap of trouble. If she was smart she’d see her mother on the way to Florida and light out of town right behind her.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Life was short, too short, too uncertain. She lifted her head and looked into Colt’s warm brown eyes. “I love you.”
Anna’s unexpected words shocked him. Time and place, Anna, time and place . He didn’t say those words out loud. Instead he said, “You’re in shock.”
Instead of taking offense, she laughed at him. “That might be true, but it doesn’t make what I said any less true. Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to say the words back. Maybe you will one day. Maybe not. We’ve known each other for such a long time, but this is new. We’re new. I have no idea where we go from here so maybe I jumped the gun. And yeah, I might be in shock.”
“Right now I just want to focus on keeping you safe.” Safe and alive . Having Anna’s ghost around would be torture.
He wasn’t ready to confess that he loved her, he wasn’t even sure this was love. But he didn’t want to let her go, and kissing her was easy. More than easy; he needed it.
They had so much to do.
After a too-short kiss, which grounded him more than he’d imagined it would, he disengaged and indicated she should sit on the couch. He took the chair beside it. “Jack and Crystal were pulling some kind of scam, and long story short it came back to bite them on the ass.”
She looked sad, but not surprised. “Who’s Crystal?”
He explained, as simply as he could. The pictures, the list of names and numbers, Crystal’s ghost.
“Do you know who they pissed off badly enough to…?” She couldn’t say the words aloud. To commit murder. To kill her brother. To stab Nicole and burn the Miller home and come after her.
“I have the list, and I know who’s in the picture with Crystal, but I have no idea if the man who killed Jack is there or not.” Anna’s brother had always been on the lookout for the easy way. He’d conned people all his adult life.
He’d even tried to con his old friend. There was never any restaurant deal. Colt had suspected before, but now he knew without doubt.
The easy way had gotten Jack murdered.
“The man in the picture is Walter Wakefield, Sawyer’s dad. I don’t know what it means, that he was with Crystal at The Magnolia. I don’t know that it means anything at all.” Someone else was there, too, the person Crystal had been looking at over her shoulder.
“Why now? How did he know?” Colt whispered, more to himself than Anna. “It’s been five years, but until now…”
“You’ve been talking to people about Jack, and so have I. Who panicked when we started asking questions about my brother?”
Not for the first time Colt asked himself, who took the pictures? Had Jack taken them then run off and left Crystal to deal with the consequences? He didn’t want to think his old friend, imperfect as he was, would do that. To be honest, he didn’t really know the man Jack had become. He wasn’t the same person he’d been as a teenager, either. No adult was.
Colt ran a mental list of those he’d spoken to. It was fairly short. Who among them might've mentioned Jack afterward? To family, to friends. Nicole might’ve told a friend or a customer that she was collecting things from the Miller house to sell. Had that been enough to make the killer panic?
“They must’ve known Jack kept a list, but did they know about the pictures?” Anna asked.
“Knowing Jack, he blackmailed Walter.” Anything for an easy buck. “Walter was with Crystal on what I’m pretty sure was her last night at The Magnolia.” The night she’d been killed.
Anna leapt off the couch, grabbing her cell as she stood. She took the short hallway, calling back, “We’re going to the hospital.”
Colt said, in a voice loud enough for her to hear, “We won’t be able to talk to Emily for…”
Anna reappeared wearing a sweater and carrying her purse. “We’re not going to talk to Emily. We’re going to interrogate Jack.”