2. Chapter 2
June 23, 2011
7:32 pm
Trey Harbor hated being on call, but unfortunately it came with the territory. Being the Chief of Police of a small town like Auburndale, Florida wasn’t difficult or overwhelming. It was simply mundane. There was hardly any crime and, if there was, it was small-town issues being blown into big-city proportions.
His days consisted of speeding tickets, expired tags, and connecting with the community. However, a more exciting day included getting a call about kids playing ding-dong-ditch or some new form of tag in an old cow pasture that hasn’t had a cow inhabit it since the early 90’s.
To say his job was rather uneventful was an understatement, something he never thought he’d say. His younger self would be both impressed and shocked by Trey’s career choice. He had always expected to end up in jail by the time he was twenty, but life was full of surprises.
Trey smiled when he thought about his teenage years. He had made a name for himself as the town prankster, the local rebel, Auburndale's very own bad-boy. Something he still found rather amusing.
He spent many days doing exactly what he was now paid to stop others from doing. He had been known to graffiti old bridges, play pranks on unsuspecting neighbors, and run wildly around the city. And one couldn’t forget the many fights he’d been in or the time he almost caught a felony charge for running through the orange groves.
Needless to say, he found trouble and trouble found him; a match made in hell for his poor mother.
Now he was the Chief of Police. How he pulled that off he didn’t know.
Yes, most days were filled with mundane tasks of keeping the city in order. Today, however, had been anything but quiet.
Trey walked toward the crime scene tape that warned passersby not to enter the residence. He lifted it above his head and crouched underneath, making his way toward the other officers that were inside.
It was an old mobile home that had seen better days. The missing shingles and the overgrown grass were the least of the owner’s worries. He swatted at a bee that had ventured from the hive that hung from the corner of the roof.
What initially started as a wellness check quickly turned into a missing persons report and possible homicide.
From what Trey gathered about the alleged victim, Nicole House had been working at the local pizza joint since it opened, first as a waitress and now as a manager. From all accounts, she was great at her job. Miss House was known to make her customers and staff feel welcomed, heard, and cared for. She was never late to her shifts and had only called in sick a handful of days over the years. So, when she didn’t show up for work and no one could get a hold of her, the assistant manager requested a wellness check.
Trey had expected the woman to be playing hooky, maybe nursing a hangover, or pushing a one night stand out the front door. Instead, he was shocked to find her home in complete disarray. Pictures had fallen from the walls, an end table had been knocked over, and knick-knacks had become shards of glass that glistened in the now-setting sun.
Then there was the blood pooling on the kitchen floor along with the spatter that covered the cabinets and ceiling.
There had definitely been a struggle, but there was no sign of Nicole.
Though Trey heard good things about the woman, he didn’t know her personally. He was, however, familiar with her son. Ryan House and Trey Harbor had a unique history, one plagued with fist fights and death threats.
The last time Trey threatened to kill Ryan was thirteen years ago.
Trey had been at the Strawberry Festival with Hailey Gallagher, unaware they had been split up in the crowd. As one of the top fairs in the country, the festival brought thousands of people to the small town of Plant City. And, unfortunately for Trey, they had gone on one of the busiest nights.
After a few minutes of mindlessly wandering, Trey had finally found Hailey standing near the Ferris Wheel. His heart had plummeted as he saw Ryan gripping Hailey’s forearm as he whispered something to her. Her entire body had tensed, and her eyes rounded as she tried to pull away.
Ryan’s grip had only tightened. He had attempted to drag Hailey away, her shouts of protest falling on deaf ears as the crowd either didn’t notice or purposefully ignored her, not wanting to get involved. Trey had heard her soft cries across the sea of people, and he took off after them, a guttural instinct pushing him to protect her. Rage overtook him and a brawl had ensued as he pummeled Ryan to the ground.
Though Trey was strong, Ryan hadn’t given up easily. Blows were shared back-and-forth and after the drawing of a crowd, Trey had managed to get the upper hand as his fist connected with Ryan's nose, breaking it. By the end, they had both dripped with blood.
Trey had shoved his forearm into Ryan's throat, cutting off his airway. “If you ever lay a hand on her again, I swear I’ll kill you.”
And he had meant it.
Ryan had simply smiled as crimson smeared his face and leaked into the dirt.
Trey had taken Hailey to get ice cream after that, hoping to ease her anxiety with something he knew she loved. Thankfully it worked, and they had laughed together the remainder of the evening.
Hailey never told him what Ryan had said to her that night, and Trey had respected her too much to push her into revealing what she wanted to keep secret. Even after all these years, Trey still felt uneasy just thinking about it.
The crime scene techs were hard at work collecting any evidence, working in sync like the hive of bees just outside the door. Though there weren’t many techs present, the house was still full of life.
Trey stepped around one man who was dusting for fingerprints on the knife block. Three of the five knives were accounted for in the block, and one had been found in the dishwasher, leaving one lonely knife they needed to find.
Trey didn’t think they would locate it. Nicole had likely been murdered, the killer using Nicole’s own knife to do it. The amount of blood alone was enough for him to believe she was dead.
But, without a body, the case would remain a missing persons case.
He shivered as he thought about her last moments. Did she see it coming? Did she call out for help only to be met with violence? Did she survive an attack just to be taken to an isolated area to suffer even more?
There hadn’t been any signs of forced entry; no broken windows or splintered door jambs. Someone who knew Nicole had likely harmed her, in the safety of her own home, no less. She opened the door for a friend only to find they were actually an enemy.
“Harbor.”
Trey looked to his right to see Jason Shuarts near the back door just off the kitchen. He made his way over to his friend. “Hey, Jay. What can you tell me?”
Jason was crouching down to study the floor, his brown skin glimmering in the sunlight that was slowly fading into the night sky. Once Trey got close, Jason stood up. “I can tell you need some sleep. You look like shit.”
Trey laughed. “I don’t think you’ve got much room to talk. It’s a wonder you managed to lock down someone like Angie looking the way you do. She’s clearly out of your league.”
Jason returned the laughter then slowly became somber as he pointed toward the backyard. It could be seen through the sliding glass door which remained open as officers and CSI techs came and went, collecting evidence as they did. Trey followed Jason’s motion and eyed the small droplets of blood that stained the concrete steps descending into the yard. He noted the weeds that were sprouting through the cracks, eager to feed on the sun’s fading rays.
“She went out the back door or someone carried her. Could be the perp’s blood, too. Either way, the blood stops in the grass.” Jason walked outside, carefully following the trail of violence to its stopping point. Trey went behind Jason, studying each drop.
“Footprints?” Trey asked.
“Not that we found. But if there were any, the rain washed them away. Thankfully the porch protected the blood, so we’ll run DNA testing to see if it’s Nicole’s or the perp’s.”
Trey nodded. Florida was known for its sunshine by the tourists, but for the locals, it was the afternoon showers that everyone begrudgingly anticipated. Trey looked up at the sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, the wrath of the thunderstorm hardly evident in the aftermath.
“Do we have any leads?” Trey asked.
Jason shook his head. “Not yet, but it’s still early. As soon as I find anything, I’ll call ya.”
Wanting to talk about something less gruesome, Trey said, “So are you ready for your big day?”
The man beamed. “You know, it sounds lame, but I’m ready to settle down.”
Jason was finally marrying his high school sweetheart, Angela Moretti. Trey and Jason had been friends since grade school, and now Trey had the privilege to stand next to him as Jason’s best man. He was happy to celebrate his friend’s special day. It was the least he could do after everything Jason had done for him over the years.
Jason had seen Trey through some of his worst and best moments in life. He was there when Trey’s mom was diagnosed with cancer and when she beat it; and when it came back with a vengeance that eventually took her life. He was there when Trey got his first arrest at thirteen years old and when he had to do community service as his punishment. He was there when Trey passed eighth grade after thinking he would fail. And Jason was there to pick up the pieces when Hailey left and never looked back.
Trey wasn’t proud of the fact that a woman nearly broke him beyond repair. Trey thought Hailey was the one and when she left without so much as a goodbye, he was devastated. He poured his pain into one bottle of bourbon after another until Jason dragged him out of the hole he was in.
“Trey?” Jason said.
He snapped out of his thoughts. “Sorry, I just can’t believe you two are tying the knot after all these years. Took you long enough.”
Jason chuckled. “Yeah, well, I would have done it sooner, but you know she wanted to finish school.”
Trey winked. “Better late than never.”
Jason smiled and shook his head. Then, he became silent, looking around as he shifted slightly.
“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet,” Trey teased.
Jason hesitated for a split second before saying, “No, not cold feet.” He ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath, a tell he’d had since they were kids. He did it every time he had an internal battle of wills. You could almost see the little angel and devil on Jason’s shoulders as he contemplated whatever it was he wanted to say.
“You’re doing it,” Trey said.
“Doing what?”
“You want to tell me something but aren’t sure if you should. Just say it. I’ve got shit to do today.” Trey shouldn’t be annoyed but he was. Though a man’s man, Jason was still relatively empathetic in a way that few men were. He’d rather ignore a situation altogether than potentially hurt someone’s feelings by talking about it.
Not Trey. He went looking for trouble, sometimes even created it out of boredom. If there was something going on, he wanted to know about it. He’d deal with the repercussions later.
Jason sighed. “Hailey is coming to the wedding. We didn’t find out until today and I figured you’d want to hear it from me instead of running into her.”
Trey’s heart slammed against his chest at the sound of her name. Memories of her flooded his mind, ones he’d buried long ago.
Thirteen years ago, Hailey left town and never looked back. To his knowledge, not so much as a phone call made its way to or from Auburndale.
Trey chuckled, wondering if this was Jason’s sorry attempt at a joke. “Why would she be coming back for the wedding? She and Angie haven't talked since Hailey left.”
Jason looked away and said, “No, they’ve been talking on and off for years.”
Trey froze and he lifted a brow. He tried to hide his surprise but failed miserably.
He shouldn’t be shocked by the news, though. Like Trey and Jason, Hailey and Angie had been best friends and Angie had been devastated when Hailey left. And poor Jason had been left to deal with the wreckage of both Trey and Angie in the aftermath of Hailey’s departure.
“What are you talking about? You never told me they kept in touch,” Trey said.
“I know.” Jason continued to avoid Trey’s glare. “Angie didn’t talk to Hailey until almost two years after she left. By then, you seemed to have moved on and weren’t a total mess anymore.” He added quickly, “I didn’t want you to get hurt again.”
Trey crossed his arms over his chest. “So, they’ve been talking this whole time and now she’s coming back for the wedding?”
Jason simply nodded.
A pang of jealousy creeped into Trey’s heart. He wished he still held a place in her heart the way Angie did. He spent countless nights wondering when Hailey would come back to him, but she never did.
Now he was sure she wasn’t even thinking of him anymore. She was probably playing house with a man whom she loved deeply with three kids running around. Trey bet she even had a dog and a white picket fence.
And as angry as he wanted to be at the life, he pictured for her, he loved her too much to wish anything else. If she didn’t choose him, he hoped she found someone who gave her butterflies every time she saw him.
Trey tried to hide his conflicting emotions about the woman he still loved. He shook his head. "I doubt she’ll even show up. She’s never come back before, why start now?”
“Look, I just know things were messy at the end and I didn’t want you to be blindsided.” Jason paused for a minute. “What happened between you two, anyhow? One minute y’all was talking about getting married and the next she just up and disappeared.”
Trey could never bring himself to tell Jason the whole story of why Hailey left. Truth was, he was embarrassed he broke things off with her and didn’t want to be called to the carpet. He had tried to reconcile with her a few weeks after her mother’s death, but she refused to see him. And, according to her father, she wanted nothing to do with Trey.
So, Trey never admitted his stupidity and Jason never pushed too hard. Thankfully, Jason didn’t let Trey drown himself in bourbon like Trey wanted, despite Trey’s secrecy.
Looking back, Trey was mortified at how desperate he was when Hailey left. But, then again, he was a kid at the time… twenty, full of life, and naive as hell. He thought he found the love of his life and she had taken his heart the moment she left.
Now, though, he could clearly see it was only a whirlwind romance that had been exhilarating and filled with lust. She had been his first love. And like most first loves, they weren’t meant to last.
As time went on, he found himself thinking less and less of the brunette who lit up his life all those years ago. The sparkle in her hazel eyes was defiant yet soft, daring yet cautious. She was always the balance between his rebellious side and the caution that came with being responsible. She somehow managed to keep him on his toes while simultaneously keeping him in line.
“Not much happened, honestly. She got mad and left. I’m sure her mother’s death didn’t help any and then her sister gets hauled off to jail for the murder.” Trey shook his head. Hailey had been through so much in a short summer’s time.
Jason pointed at Trey. “People don’t just ‘get mad’ and completely uproot themselves, Trey. Y’all were going to get married . You’re telling me she wouldn’t stick around for you ?” Jason crossed his arms. “Like I said: more to the story.”
Jason was now hardly able to keep his anger at bay, a rare sight for Trey. A vein throbbed on his forehead as he said, “And how could she do that to Angie? She was devastated when Hailey left. I just want to know what you did to make her leave like she did.”
Jason’s words cut Trey to the core, and he tried not to shrink at his friend’s accusation.
So that's what this was really about.
Jason was worried Hailey would hurt Angie again.
What Jason didn’t realize was that Trey didn’t like to talk about that summer because it still hurt him. Though the wounds Hailey left had healed, the scars still burned. And as much as he would deny it, that was the truth.
Trey spent a great deal of time being angry he wasn’t enough to keep her here. She’d never given him a chance to explain why he broke things off with her. He often wondered if he’d tried hard enough.
Feeling old wounds split open, his own anger gripping him, Trey said, “Well, she did. So, mind your damn business. If I wanted you to know, I’d tell you. I didn’t want to talk about it then, and I don’t want to talk about it now.”
“Why, Trey?” Jason flung his arms out, matching Trey’s anger. The two received glances from the other officers who took notice of the heated conversation. Jason lowered his voice and said, “If you’re over her like you claim, why won’t you talk to me about it?”
“Why do you care? It’s done and over so let it be.”
Jason shook his head. “Who are you trying to convince: me or you?”
Trey let the silence answer for him.
Not wanting to talk about Hailey any longer, he changed the subject. “Look, tomorrow is your wedding day. Don’t let Hailey Gallagher ruin it.”
Jason sighed and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“And Angie is a grown woman who can take care of herself. Give her some credit.”
Jason smiled. “She definitely can. I shouldn’t worry so much, but I love her. Plus, that whole ‘protect’ thing kinda comes with the vows.”
“I know.” Trey smiled back.
Trey turned to walk away but Jason stopped him. “Watch out for Hailey. We don’t need a repeat of thirteen years ago. I don’t want to spend my days peeling you off the bathroom floor after your dates with Jim Beam night after night.”
“Don’t worry, she’s been a memory since the day she left.”
The two finished the conversation by promising to keep one another in the loop about Nicole’s case. Trey made his rounds and spoke to a few other officers and CSI techs, none of whom had anything helpful at the moment; something Trey wasn’t surprised by given how fresh the case was.
Trey left the old mobile home and headed toward his truck where his thoughts turned back to Hailey, much to his dismay. Even after claiming he’d long since forgotten about the woman, he couldn’t get rid of the conflicting emotions that were now surfacing.
He was angry at her for leaving without so much as a goodbye or an explanation. Then his anger toward her turned to resentment toward himself for not stopping her or going after her. Then it all turned into sadness as he mourned what could have been.
Yet, as infuriated as he was with her, he couldn't blame her for leaving the way she did. Her mother had been murdered and her sister was to blame for the violent act. So, instead of losing just one person she loved, she lost two that night.
To make matters worse, her father had never been kind to her and Sara, which had worsened a few months before her mother passed, so there was no more familial connection keeping her here. Trey suspected David had much to do with Hailey’s departure, despite his claims of not being involved.
It didn't help that Trey broke things off with her that night out of his own insecurities. He’ll never forget the way her face contorted in pain, the tears that streamed down her face as she ran off. He had spent the last thirteen years hating himself for it, though Hailey had never given him the chance to make things right, to tell her he loved her so much he thought his heart might explode.
He climbed inside his truck and quickly blasted the air, welcoming the coolness. Despite the sun having been replaced by the moon, the Florida heat never seemed to retreat along with it.
Before pulling out of the driveway, he took out his wallet and retrieved a necklace he kept within its fold. It was a small, gold locket with a single rhinestone embedded in the center. It was Hailey’s and she had given it to him the night he first told her he loved her. He never could find the nerve to toss it. It was the last piece of her he had left.
He ran his thumb over it, letting the memories rush through his mind.
As much as he hated himself for it, he still loved her. She was the one that got away and no woman had ever come close to outshining Hailey Gallagher.
Life was about to get interesting if she returned.
Jason was right: Trey should stay away from her if he knew what was best. But that was the problem. Trey always went looking for trouble. And Hailey had been a whole new kind of trouble, which was why he had wanted her so badly.
Their relationship had been a whirlwind of emotions that he never wanted to repeat. Trey pushed her out of his mind long ago and he planned to keep it that way.
However, he found himself painfully aware of the fact that once Hailey left after the wedding, she’d never have another reason to come back to Auburndale again. This would be the last time he would see her, and he wasn’t ready for such a permanent goodbye, even if he saw this one coming.
But no matter what happened, he had to stay away from her, for both their sakes. Being with her once had ended horribly. Trying it for a second time might just kill them.