Chapter 28
twenty-eight
Leo
Ifelt like I’d aged ten years in the past twenty-four hours. For the three hours after Carolina had gone missing, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
I didn’t want to let her out of my sight. I stayed with her the whole time she was checked out at the hospital. I held her hand as she gave her statement to the officers.
When we got home last night, I stayed with her on the couch, her head rested on my chest as she slept.
I couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard I’d tried.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her lying on the bed in that cabin, and thought about what could’ve happened if we hadn’t gotten to her in time.
I told Gentry that I wouldn’t be in today and he gave me the rest of the week off so I could be with Carolina. I didn’t think I’d need that much time off, but he insisted.
Carolina had been quiet all morning. She sat on the couch with a cup of tea in her hand and stared off into the distance as Luke, Carolina’s dad, and I helped him build his Lego sets.
The house had been busy with my brothers, sister, and Carolina’s parents coming by to check on her.
She smiled at everyone and assured them that she was fine, but I knew differently.
The look in her eyes told me all I needed to know.
They looked vacant, like she was here, but really somewhere else.
I hated that he’d gotten to her. I hated that she had to experience the fear of not knowing if someone would get to her in time to save her.
“You want to stay the night with Grandma and Grandpa tonight?” Carolina’s dad asked Luke.
“No,” Carolina said from the couch, and all of us turned to face her. She stared down at Luke with so much fear in her eyes.
“But, Mom, we need to work on the castle. It’s been forever, and it’s almost finished,” Luke said in a huff.
“I want you here with me, sweet boy,” she said as her lip trembled before she stopped it with a bite of her teeth.
I needed to broach this topic carefully. The danger was physically gone now, but the aftermath was still fresh, and I knew that Carolina didn’t want to let him out of her sight because she was scared.
I nodded to the door when I glanced at her dad. He nodded that he understood.
“Let’s go see if your nana has some more cookies,” her dad suggested as he pushed himself up from the coffee table that was covered in Legos.
Luke perked up a bit at the mention of cookies and got up quickly and ran out of the room, and her dad trailed slowly behind.
When they were out of earshot, I let out a heavy sigh as I stood and walked over to the couch and sat beside her.
“It’s okay, Carolina. Luke will be safe with your parents.
You look like you could use some more rest. Why don’t you let him go so you can relax tonight?
” I asked softly, as I cautiously put my hand on her thigh.
She flinched beneath my touch, and it took everything in me to keep from revealing how much that bothered me.
She looked away from me and hid her face behind her long brown hair, her hand covering her mouth before I heard her sob behind it.
“Hey,” I whispered as I slid closer. I put my arm on the back of the couch behind her, and used the other to move her legs into my lap as I tried to turn her to face me.
She tensed her body for a second, before she gave in and turned toward me.
With her back up against the arm of the couch, she covered her face with her hands and broke down even more.
“You’re safe now, firefly. He can’t get to you or Luke anymore,” I softly whispered as I rubbed my hand up and down her leg.
“You don’t understand,” she said through her sobs.
“What don’t I understand?”
“He wanted our son too, Leo. You heard me tell the deputies that. But you didn’t hear the sound of his voice when he said it. It’s all I can hear on repeat in my mind,” she cried.
“What do you mean?” I hated that she had been in that psycho’s grasp for even a second.
“It sounded like an obsession warped with a taunt. He wanted us to be this family, and I can’t for the life of me understand why. I didn’t do anything to even hint that was a possibility. I just don’t understand,” she said as she uncovered her face and finally looked up at me with confusion.
I took a deep breath and reined in the anger I felt at hearing what she’d said.
“Maybe it’s not for you to understand, firefly. He had something mentally wrong with him. He was delusional. That’s not on you. That’s on him,” I said to her in hopes that she found some comfort in my words.
“I’m scared to let Luke leave,” she admitted as she picked at her nails.
“He can never get to you or Luke, firefly. He’s behind bars. Luke doesn’t understand why he can’t go. Your parents aren’t goin’ to let anythin’ happen to him,” I promised.
“I know. I know I can’t smother him, but I’m just not ready yet,” she looked up at me and pleaded.
“I understand. I know it’s still fresh in your mind. But your parents just want to help. And Luke seeing you so upset without understanding isn’t good for him either,” I explained to her.
“I know. I’m trying to hide it, but it’s hard,” she said and sniffled.
“You won’t get better overnight. It’ll take a while, but why don’t you let him go, and if you feel like you can’t handle him bein’ gone, I’ll make up an excuse and go get him. Just try. You look exhausted, but you won’t rest with him here.”
She took a long moment to think about what I’d said before she nodded.
“I’m goin’ to go get him packed and ready to go stay with your parents. Do you need anythin’ when I come back?” I asked as I moved her legs to stand. I put her legs back on the couch after I stood and made sure she was covered before I leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
I found her parents, Luke, and my parents around the kitchen island.
“Who wants to go to grandma’s and grandpa’s?” I said with a clap of my hands.
“I do,” Luke said as he climbed down from the barstool and ran over to me. He wrapped his arms around my legs and squeezed tight before he looked up at me with a bright smile.
“Thank you, Dad,” he said before he let go and ran around the corner and up the stairs.
“I’m goin’ to go get his clothes and blanket.
She agreed to let him stay, but I told her if she felt like she had to have him here, that I’d make up an excuse to come get him,” I told her parents who both had worried expressions on their faces.
They nodded in understanding before I left the room and raced up the stairs to gather Luke’s things.
I found Luke sitting on his bed looking at the floor with his blanket in his hands as I entered his room.
“You okay, little man?” I asked as I approached the bed and knelt in front of him.
“Is Mom okay? She looks sad,” his tiny voice whispered, and it broke my heart that he’d noticed his mom’s demeanor when she’d tried to hide it so well.
“Yeah, your mom’s okay. She’s just got a lot on her mind. You don’t need to worry about her, okay?” I tried to reassure him.
“And you’re sure she’s okay with me going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house?” he asked as he looked up at me with worried eyes.
“I’m sure, bud. Why don’t we grab your pajamas and clothes for tomorrow? It’s gettin’ late, and you still need to get a bath,” I said as I ruffled his hair before I stood and walked over to his dresser.
He hopped down from the bed and followed. I held out two choices of pajamas and outfits to allow him to choose. He pointed at which ones he wanted, and I put the others back before he raced out of the room, dragging his blanket behind him.
Once we got downstairs, I walked over to the table and grabbed Luke’s backpack and checked to make sure his EpiPen was inside before I put his clothes in the bag and zipped it.
I walked to the back door where Carolina’s parents stood with Luke as they waited to leave.
“Say bye to Nana and Papa and run to the den and tell your mom bye, bud,” I told Luke as I handed the backpack off to Carolina’s mom.
Luke ran over to the island and gave my parents each a hug and told them he’d be back tomorrow before he ran down the hall to the den.
“She doin’ okay?” her dad asked me with a worried expression.
“As okay as she can be. I’m hoping she’ll rest while he’s with y’all. Thank you for suggestin’ he go to your house. I’m goin’ to try to keep her mind occupied so she doesn’t feel the need to have him back home,” I told him.
“You don’t have to thank me, son. Thank you for savin’ my daughter. I’ll never be able to thank you and your family enough for figurin’ out where they were,” her dad said with tears in his eyes.
It was Ainsleigh who figured it out. I called her and asked her to check the recent reservations.
Something in the back of my mind nagged at me that Mitchell had gotten into the clubhouse without an issue.
She found a couple of reservations that stood out because the cabins only had one guest each, which was odd for this time of year, because they were usually only booked by families during the summer.
When the sheriff arrived, he checked one of the cabins, but that person had checked out.
Thankfully, we found them in the other cabin.
“No thanks needed,” I told him just as Luke came back into the room.
“I’m ready to go now,” he said as he looked up at his grandparents.
“Call us if you need us,” her mom said before she grabbed Luke’s hand. I told them to have a good night before I followed them to the front door and they walked out.
I closed the door and leaned against it. My head and heart were heavy with worry about Carolina. I was scared she was goin’ to want to leave again even though the threat was no longer an issue.
Pushing off the door, I went back to the den and found her curled up on the couch staring at nothing.
“You okay?” I asked knowing she was anything but, as I walked over and stood behind the couch.
She shook her head as she stared off.