Chapter 31
Sawyer
When I first met Agent Jack Weathers, I didn’t care much for him. I always thought it was because of the way he looked at Anastasia, but now I can’t help but feel I shouldn’t have ignored that inkling.
The discernment that let me know he was not a man to be trusted.
It’s something I will never ignore again.
The FBI arrived to try to take Jack into custody shortly after he was cleared from the hospital, but Leopold held them off just long enough for me to have this face-to-face.
Luckily, the bullet I took back on the boat went clear through the meat on my arm, leaving me with some pain and only needing a handful of stitches front and back.
Anastasia’s was a bit more extensive, but she was cleared just a few hours ago.
This is the final loose end in need of tying.
And I’m beyond happy to do it.
“You should have let me drown,” Jack says as he glares at me.
“That would have made me no better than you.”
“You think you won.”
“Given that you’re in shackles, I would say yes.
You should know, your buddy Ryan sang like a canary once he knew you were in custody.
Seems he wants to cut a deal by offering up information on those twelve murdered women.
You know, from that serial killer case you were assigned to.
Guess blood really isn’t thicker than water.
Or the desire not to get the death penalty for someone else. ”
As it turns out, Ryan is Jack’s half-brother. In exchange for his help from time to time, Jack provided Ryan with drugs and freedom to do whatever he wanted to do without risk of prosecution.
Jack’s expression darkens. “They have no proof. I’ll be out on good behavior. The stressors of the job got to me, and I snapped when my girlfriend chose another man.”
I lean in closer. “Except, Ryan has already told the police where to find all the evidence they need to put you away for Violet’s murder, too. And, you should know, Jack, that if you do manage to get away, I will be waiting right here to take you out the moment you set foot in Stormwatch Landing.”
“Do you think I fear you?” he scoffs. “You’re nothing but a has-been who didn’t have the courage to kill me when he should have.”
He’s taunting me, and I know that. But it’s still hard not to take the bait.
Still, instead of doing what I want and repeatedly slamming my fist into his face, I force a smile.
“Do yourself a favor, and don’t let it slip you were a cop.
I hear prisoners don’t take too kindly to dirty cops.
” Pushing to my feet, I head for the door.
“I’m going to come back for her! Do you hear me! You’d better kill me now!”
I turn toward him. “And rob you of what comes next? Not a chance. Why do you think Weston chose to stay away? We’re all going to enjoy the thought of you rotting away behind bars.” I close the door behind me just as Leopold and three suits approach.
“Sawyer Maddox?” A man in a black suit offers me his hand, so I take it. “I’m Agent Nate Harper.”
“You going to make sure he doesn’t ever breathe air as a free man again?”
“Jack Weathers will not be a problem for you ever again. The information Ryan gave us led a team to a storage facility where he kept enough evidence to lock him away, not just for the murder of Violet Hayes but the deaths of those twelve women as well.”
As horrific as it is, I’m glad the truth came out.
Now Anastasia, Weston, and twelve families can find closure.
Finally.
“I would like to apologize on behalf of the bureau. We should have picked up on it sooner, and we didn’t.”
“He’s good at playing a part,” I comment as I glance back at the door. “Or, at least, he was. Thanks again, Agent Harper.” I shake his hand.
“Thank you. And hey, if you ever want to think about a job with the FBI, we’d be lucky to have you. That water rescue—I hear it was one for the history books.”
“You would be lucky to have me,” I reply with a grin. “But I already have my team. See you later, Leopold.” With a final nod at the FBI agents, I head back down the hall and out of the precinct.
The drive to Linda’s doesn’t take long, but every minute I’m away from Anastasia feels like a lifetime. I pull up in front, happy to see that Garrison, Weston, and Ryker are all here, too. Since Zane and Tessa moved into the other side of her duplex, his truck is parked just beside Anastasia’s car.
I climb out and make the short walk up the steps. The door is unlocked, just as I knew it would be, and I move inside to complete and total family chaos.
It makes me smile.
Weston and Ryker are in the kitchen while Linda is seated at the table, clearly wishing she was in there, too. Zane is in front of the sink, washing dishes, while Tessa, Katelyn, and Thomas all work on setting the table.
Katelyn notices me first. “She’s in the bedroom,” she mouths, and nods toward the hall.
Quietly, I slip away from the group and head down the hall. Anastasia is just inside Linda’s room, the door partially cracked. She’s stretching a brand-new sheet over the top of the bed, her eyes glassy. She’s favoring her injured right side, but is clearly determined.
“Hey,” I say.
She stops and turns toward me. “Hey.”
With how fast everything has moved, Anastasia only gave me bits and pieces of what she went through while on that boat. In those panicked hours when I had no idea where she was. Had Jack not messed up by not discarding his cell phone before leaving the dock, we might never have found her.
There’s a fresh bruise on her cheek, right above her scar. Every time I see it, I almost wish I’d been able to let him drown.
Because I know she won’t just take a moment and sit, I step forward. “Let me help,” I offer and move all the way into the room to take the far corner of the sheet and stretch it over the mattress.
Anastasia smooths out the creases of the sheet. “I wanted her to have fresh bedsheets,” she explains. “She needs to be comfortable.”
Her voice wobbles as her bottom lip quivers.
She lifts a folded flat sheet and sets it on the bed, but I cross over toward her and pull her into my arms before she can stretch it out. Anastasia leans her head against my chest, her tears only evident in the way her shoulders tremble.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“I just can’t believe it was him this entire time, Sawyer. I betrayed my friend. I betrayed Weston.”
I pull away and cup her face in my hands. “How do you figure that?”
“I was literally dating her murderer. We kissed, Sawyer. I went to dinner with him. Let him stay in my guest room. He told me he was going to marry me and give me—” she trails off. “A good life and children. What if I had said yes? What if—”
“You didn’t. And you have nothing to be sorry for.” But the trauma has already taken root. The survivor’s guilt I’ve seen so often in soldiers. It’s there, reflected on her face. “You have to stop focusing on what-ifs.”
“He killed my friend because of me.” She looks up at me. “He told me that he killed her because he wanted me.”
“Baby, none of that is on you.” More anger, but I beat it down because she doesn’t need that right now. Anastasia Knox needs my calm in her storm.
“Logically, I know that.”
“I’m going to remind you as often as you need.”
She opens her eyes and looks up at me. “Thank you, Sawyer. Thank you for coming for me. For rescuing me. And for being the kind of man who wouldn’t let him drown.”
“Baby, there is not a single thing in this world that could have kept me from you. As for not letting him drown? That wasn’t me.
I wanted him to die. But Pastor Reeves had some words with me, and it put things into perspective.
” I smile at her, hoping she can see the love reflected in my gaze.
“He reminded me that vengeance isn’t ours to take.
No matter how badly we want it. I wouldn’t have hesitated to pull the trigger if I had to, but there was another way. So I took it.”
“Well, thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me. You’re my entire world, Anastasia. Everything I am, everything I have…it’s yours for as long as you’ll have it.”
She rests her head on my chest. “How does forever sound?”
Love surges past the anger, filling me with a warmth I’m not sure I’ve ever felt before. “Baby,” I start, “forever sounds absolutely perfect to me.”