Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Marti
Iloved Sutton. Yep, shocking. Who could have possibly guessed that was going to happen?
That much time with a man like that? Whether or not he loved me back was yet to be seen, and after today, there was a good chance he was going to kill me himself, so that little epiphany might be going to the grave with me.
“We’re both going to die today,” Rendi whispered next to me, echoing my thoughts.
“No we’re not.” Well, she wasn’t. I really hoped I wasn’t either, but only time would tell, I supposed.
We were hiding behind the dumpster at the diner, peering into the woods. Waiting. Jackson hadn’t been seen in town since he’d stabbed Sutton and run off two days before, but I knew he was out there. I could feel my skin crawling with his presence.
Sutton had a meeting at the office this morning, and because he still insisted on dragging me everywhere with him, I’d gone too.
He’d ordered me to stay inside, and since I’m so good with orders, I didn’t.
I’d snuck out, called my best friend to come get me, and the two of us had conspired to catch a psycho, which mainly consisted of not letting him get me before I got him.
Rendi ducked her head and looked up into the trees, like she thought he might spring on her from above… and actually, that might not be far off. I looked up into the trees too, scanning them carefully, since I knew my dad and brother used to own more camo than the Army.
“Your brother is so stabby, and our skin is so much softer than Sutton’s.”
“The only way Jackson will ever come out of hiding is if we give him a reason. Now that he knows Sutton is around, he’s going to be watching for him.” I couldn’t let Jackson get near Sutton again. Just like I couldn’t let him near Rendi, which was why she was relegated to look out only.
“And Sutton is a clingy mofo,” she muttered “Once he gets out of that meeting, and realizes you left the building, he is going to kill us both. So, we’re both going to die today.”
“Did you call Langston?” Movement toward the park had me tensing slightly, but it just turned out to be a dog chasing squirrels, and thankfully not even close to catching them.
“No way,” she scoffed, her voice getting high and loud, so I reached out and covered her mouth, shooshing her. When she batted my hand away, she glared. “I called the kid that’s with him sometimes.”
“What?” I whisper-yelled, swatting her arm. “He barely knows how to hold a taser. How is he going to protect us?”
“We’ll use him as a shield.”
“He’s not big enough to cover both of us.”
She shrugged, smirking. “Well, I secured my shield. You snooze, you lose, I guess.”
I curled my lip, suddenly more nervous, since I knew I was running out of time when I wasn’t directly under Sutton’s guard. After this, I wouldn’t be surprised if he cuffed me to him. “Do you think he’ll know not to pull up in his police car?” I asked, remembering how young the man was.
Rendi’s eyes widened before she cringed. “Crap.”
“Crap. We’re both going to die today.”
“I assure you, Deputy Boyd is plenty capable of being more than just a shield, ladies,” Langston’s voice had us both spinning and clutching our chests, but at least neither of us had screamed, though I’d been pretty close.
“You are way too big to be sneaking around here like a dang ninja!” Rendi whispered harshly, leaning back against the wooden box. I was sure there wasn’t actual trash on it, since we went to the other side when we carried the bags to the dumpster, but I still wasn’t sure I’d lean against it.
His expression was blank as he looked at her, blinking twice.
“I didn’t sneak. I literally pulled right up behind you on my bike.
” He threw a thumb over his shoulder, and sure enough, there was a motorcycle sitting right there, parked nearly touching the side of the building.
“How did you guys not hear that? I didn’t even think it was possible for someone to be so unobservant. ”
Rendi blew a raspberry, shooting spittle everywhere. “Don't blame us because you’re wearing sneaky-sneak shoes.”
“Why do conversations with you make me want to punch myself in the face?”
“I’m not your therapist—” He cut her off by reaching up and pinching her lips together.
“Sh.” His expression didn’t change at all, but I would swear I saw a sparkle in his eyes as she started smacking at his hand until he finally let go.
“So, how do you want to do this? He knows we’re watching for him.
It’s not likely that he’s going to think you’re stupid enough to wander around by yourself. ”
“You overestimate his intelligence and underestimate just how much he wants to torture me,” I told him.
“I’m going to pretend to take a phone call and that I’m searching for a place with good reception.
I’m going to step over on the other side of those trees…
” I pointed to a wide-open area just before the slight hill that led up to the park. “And see if he comes to get me.”
“What if he’s not here?” Rendi was talking to me, but she was glaring daggers at Langston.
“He is. I could feel it when I got out of the car earlier.”
“You aren’t afraid he’s going to shoot you?” Langston looked on the verge of calling this whole thing off.
“No. Getting straight to the point was never his MO.”
Rendi’s eyes snapped to mine, anger contorting her features. “When we catch him, and if we don’t die, I think I’m going to pay off the kid to give me a little time alone with your dear brother.”
“One, Deputy Boyd Is the same age as you two. Two, please don’t say that in front of me. And three, you better not get anywhere near Jackson’s cell,” he growled, face dark. “I called Sutton. It only takes about fifteen minutes to get here from his office, so you better hurry.”
“What?” Rendi demanded, obviously offended. “Why would you do that?”
So that had been why my phone was blowing up in my pocket. I pulled it out and quickly turned the haptics off. Sure didn’t need the thing going off when I was in the middle of my fake phone call.
“I’d want him to do the same if my woman was doing something stupid,” Langston grumbled, making Rendi gasp.
“You have a woman?”
He raised an eyebrow at her tone, but didn’t reply other than that. He just turned and walked around to the front of the building to get to the other side where I was sure he had a better view.
“That wasn’t an answer.” Rendi turned to me, her eyes wide as she licked her lips. “You think he has a woman?” She watched me for a moment before giving me a strained smile. “Not that I care. I’m just wondering how. He’s so gruff and rude.”
“And hot.”
“Pfft. And rude.”
“Well, I guess my time is limited. I better get to baiting.” I glanced down at my phone to see that it was ringing. Langston was calling me, and for some reason, that helped to ease some of the anxiousness. He was going to be with me the whole time.
“Do not go any further than that tree line,” he grumbled in my ear when I answered. “Deputy Boyd is in the park.”
I resisted the urge to look that direction and I eased out from behind the box, moving toward the spot we’d designated.
“Hello? Hold on. Hello?” I moved even closer, pausing just a few yards from where the trees broke slightly to allow someone in.
He sighed in my ear. “Sutton is going to kill all of us.”
“Hey. Hey. Yeah. Where’s Sutton?”
“Be ready, I think he’s to the right a few yards up.”
I looked down at the ground, using my peripheral to watch for movement. “Is he okay? Okay. Just don’t let him open his stitches again. Tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”
I saw the motion to my right, but I heard the snap of a twig to the left, and I reached in my pocket just as Langston growled in my ear.
“Marti,” my brother called to my left. Close. Close enough to get tased.
He jerked and fell to his knees, but that wasn’t good enough, so I hit him again, stepping quickly back, so he couldn’t reach me as footsteps pounded toward us.
His usually short, choppy, sandy blond hair was a bit longer, but still a mess. His jeans were old and covered in stains, and he looked filthy. Had he been straight up living in the woods since Dad went away? If he wasn’t trying to kill me, I might have felt sorry for him.
“My favorite part about growing up with you and Dad was how much you underestimated me,” I told him, feeling like the weight of the world was lifting off my shoulders as Langston and Deputy Boyd Came in from two different directions.
“It made it easy to get him, and now it’s made it easy to get you. ”
He didn’t answer, but it looked like he was still trying to get his muscles to work correctly, so he was probably a bit preoccupied.
“Watch out, Mar,” Rendi yelled as she came running up too. “I’m about to elbow drop on this fool.”
Langston’s eyes rounded hilariously as he reached out and caught her in the air, stopping her from doing exactly what she said she was going to do. “No, you’re not.” He pulled her up, holding her backward on his hip like a baby, her legs dangling off the ground awkwardly.
Since his hands were full, Deputy Boyd Put the cuffs on Jackson by himself, but I wasn’t sure how much of a fight my brother could even put up at that point.
He was glaring as he was helped to his feet, his eyes never leaving mine. He was promising things with a look.
Another deputy showed up, pulling his car in close, before helping Deputy Boyd get Jackson in the car.
“Someone will let me know if he makes bail, right?”
Langston shook his head. “He’s not making bail. Not only does he not have anyone around here that could help him, but Judge Wagoner won’t even consider it. Especially if he knows the man stalks you.”
“Marti!” Sutton’s angry voice had me cringing, and the way he charged toward us, holding his side made me cringe even more.
“Uh oh.”
“Let her have it, Sutton,” Rendi yelled throwing a fist in the air.
I glared at my friend, who still looked ridiculous dangling from Langston’s arm, just as Sutton reached me and jerked me into his arms with enough force to knock the air out of me.
“I’m so mad at you.”
“It was Langston’s idea!” I yelled quickly, suddenly not sure I was ready for the repercussions of my own actions.
Sutton gripped my shoulders and pulled me back far enough to watch my face. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that Langston seems to know what he’s doing, and I should probably listen to him.”
“The man stabbed me. What if he would have stabbed you?”
“I tried to tell her how much softer our skin was than yours,” Rendi volunteered with a shrug, swinging her legs slightly like she was sitting in a chair that was too high.
Sutton’s expression was serious and nothing like when he usually looked at me, so I doubled down on my lie, knowing full well that he didn’t believe me. “Langston threatened me. He said, do it or else.”
“Wow,” the grumpy man in question replied dryly.
“Yeah, Mar.” Rendi sent me a disappointed look. “I hate to agree with Langston, especially since he nearly got you killed, but wow.”
Langston sighed walking off toward the diner with Rendi still backward on his hip, her weight clearly not even registering to the man. I wasn’t sure why she was letting him, other than it probably amused her somehow.
“I’m waiting,” Sutton growled, regaining my attention.
“I needed him to come out of hiding,” I whispered, feeling guilty even as I didn’t regret it. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life waiting for him to jump out of a bush and stab you again.”
“So, you’d rather he stab you?”
“He is my brother. I’m the one he’s after.”
His fingers tightened on my arms, still far from painful, but he was clearly agitated as he let his head fall back on his shoulders. “I’m trained for that. You’re not. You could have been seriously hurt.”
“You were!” I snapped, and he brought his head back down quickly in surprise. “It isn’t your responsibility to take a knife for me!”
“Yes it is!”
“I fired you!”
“I was never hired.”
I growled, trying to shake his hands free, but he didn’t release me. “Fine! The next time some psycho comes after me, I’ll let him stab you! We good now?”
He nodded once, licking his teeth. “Good.”
“Good.”
He took a long deep breath and pulled me close, tucking my face against his neck. “You have very many more psychos coming after you?”
“Probably not.”
“I love you.”
“What?” I squealed, jerking my head back, and he shrugged. “Did you just shrug?”
“Did you just yell at me after I told you I loved you?”
“That wasn’t a yell. That was a shout of surprise.”
“Are you really that surprised?”
“Pfft,” I sputtered, nodding my head. “More surprised than that.”
He gave me a disbelieving look, garnished with that crooked smile. “You really couldn’t tell?”
Shoot. I bit my bottom lip, reaching up to fiddle with the button at the top of his shirt. “I mean, I thought you might like me a little.”
“You knew I’d be mad when I found out you did something this stupid.”
“That just means you care about your job.”
“I was never hired, remember?” He released my arm to lift my chin with his finger. “And you knew I’ve been basically keeping you captive at my house.”
“You do seem a little attached. Possibly even clingy.”
His smile was too much. It made my stomach dip. “I love you,” he said again, moving his hands to my waist and pulling me close.
“I love you too.”
His kiss was gentle and slow. It was long and dizzying.
“I’m still really mad, though,” he whispered against my lips when he finally pulled back.
“I see that. You’re about to kiss my face right off.”