Chapter Thirty-eight – Not Running Anymore
Chapter Thirty-eight
Andie
NOT RUNNING ANYMORE
Performed by Bon Jovi
I was halfway to the Wylees’ when Luca called. At first, I let it go to voicemail, but then I panicked. What if something was wrong? What if…
No. Nothing is wrong. Don’t panic.
I hit the button on my steering wheel to listen to his message, and my stomach grew tighter and tighter with each word he spoke.
“Hey, Andie. Grams dropped me off at our house while she went grocery shopping so I could get some of my things and pick up the dog food for Akela. But I don’t think we have any more of his treats, so I’m going to stop by your place and pick some up, okay?
I just didn’t want you to freak out if you saw them missing, so I wouldn’t get accused of B and E again or—”
The phone went dead. At first, the rush of panic that filled me was because I thought he’d been taken. That someone had already gotten him, but then I realized my phone had simply died.
Damn it. I hadn’t ever found the charging cord. Hadn’t even thought to charge it after the encounter with Dad.
The words on the note from last night blurred in front of me. The threat to Luca and Akela.
Tears pricked my eyes. Bile rose, nearly making me dry heave.
I had to protect them.
I jerked the steering wheel, whipping a U-turn in the middle of the road at speeds that caused my back wheels to fishtail.
God, I’d never reach Luca in time if I crashed.
The minutes it took to get back to town were some of the worst of my life. Worse than waking to a body full of pain. Worse than being told Ben was dead because of me. Luca… I’d risked Luca.
Every horrible possibility spread before me.
By the time I pulled into my driveway, it hurt to breathe. It felt like Eddie had punched me over and over again in my ribs…my chest… Please, please, please let Luca be okay.
The house was dark and silent, and Cooper’s place held no sign of life either.
For a moment, relief crept in. Maybe Luca was already gone. Maybe Lydia had already picked him back up.
I stared at my house. But what if he was inside? What if she had him?
Was Misty really my stalker?
Why? Who was she to Eddie?
Had he been having an affair like Cooper had asked?
Something tugged at me. The eyes…the expression…
I didn’t have time to try to figure it out. I had to check both my house and Cooper’s. I had to make sure Luca wasn’t here.
As I got out of the car, a gust of wind nearly blew me over. The storm had picked back up. Violent, dark clouds hung over our homes.
I pulled the collar of Cooper’s jacket up, breathing him in. The scent grounded me, wrapping me in something warm and real. For a moment, I let myself believe everything would be okay. That Luca was safe with Lydia. That Cooper would help me bury my past so we could live the dream we both wanted.
But the truth was crueler. I’d likely end up in handcuffs. Cooper would be forced to lock me in a cell while the feds and tribal leaders decided my fate.
I ground my teeth together in an effort not to cry as I forced myself up the porch steps.
Was this just another huge mistake… I glanced back out at my car. I’d just go inside, make sure the house was empty, and use the landline to call Luca and Cooper.
I wouldn’t risk anyone else in my life. Dad was already in the hospital…
because of me. He’d slipped on an icy road, just like Ben, except it wasn’t an accident any more than Ben’s had been.
And while I couldn’t take responsibility for Dad’s role in this story, I was the reason he’d driven to Swift Rivers. I was the reason he’d crashed.
Just because I didn’t want my father in my life anymore didn’t mean I wanted him dead.
Dawson. I had to call Dawson. And my mother. The thought of talking to Belinda after nearly a decade did nothing but churn the angry swarm swirling like a tornado inside me.
The only light in my life today had been Cooper, and the I love you he’d given me.
When was the last time anyone had said those three words to me? I couldn’t remember. Eddie never had, even when I’d convinced myself he did. I’d been so sure that I’d let him talk me into a Vegas wedding.
My parents had never used the words—with me or with each other.
Dawson. Dawson had returned the I love you I’d given him just the other day.
But no one had ever said it and looked at me with the certainty and warmth of Cooper.
It was my most favorite memory. I wanted us to be able to say those words to each other a million more times.
I wanted to say them to Luca. To Dale and Lydia.
I wanted to be theirs and to claim them as mine.
I wanted the perfect sitcom family to be my reality.
What I didn’t want was to bring danger to their doorstep.
I unlocked the house, pushing it open hesitantly, trying to listen over the sound of my own choppy breathing. Nothing. No Luca. No Akela. Not a sound.
Thank God. Thank God.
I’d just be a minute, I promised myself. I’d call Luca first. Tell him not to come, that I’d grab the treats, and then I’d call Cooper so he wouldn’t worry where I was at.
I headed for the landline in the bedroom. I almost hadn’t had one installed, but Beckett had talked me into it for when the power went out, which happened at least once a year here. Now I was so grateful I had it.
Grabbing the phone off the base, I was almost ready to press the last number when a shadow shifted across the room, and a rustle behind me had me whirling around with a shriek.
A woman stood in the open doorway of my closet with a gun aimed straight at my chest.
Not Misty.
Muirgen.
The woman from the Wylees’. A woman wearing my missing coat from the party. Once, she must have been stunning, a raven-haired beauty with soft curves and bright eyes, but time had only sharpened her, honing the darkness within until it curled like a wraith around her.
“I knew you had the money hidden somewhere,” she said calmly. The horrible voice slid over my spine, and my skin broke out in goosebumps.
She shook the old fishing tackle box I’d kept from the shed down by the river. Its beat-up patina had been too beautiful to toss. It held nothing. A collection of pictures I’d been foolish enough to hold on to from my past and a cell phone I should have gotten rid of a lifetime ago.
My hands went slick, the landline slipping from my grasp onto the bed.
How long would it take for her to realize there wasn’t any money in the box? How long before she pulled the trigger in frustrated fury?
“It’s not what you think. I didn’t take anything from you. Eddie—”
The gun cocked, the sound snapping the words right out of me.
Muirgen shook the box she held. “No use lying now, Ariana. Eddie had borrowed from me many times, but he never had the balls to take it and run until he met you. You spread your legs and convinced him he didn’t need me.
Convinced him to forget everything I’d done for him.
Wasn’t it me who dealt with the body after he killed his father saving his useless sister?
Wasn’t it me who took them both in, welcomed them with open arms, and only asked for some damn respect in return? ”
My heart thundered, confusion spreading like a fog over me.
“I-I don’t know who you are. I-I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about.”
She laughed. It was cold and hard. “You can drop the helpless-little-victim routine. I know you. You use that girl-next-door face of yours to reel in an unsuspecting male, sleep with him, learn everything about him and his business, and then slit his throat in the night to take over. I know you, because I am you. How do you think I’ve built my empire?
Your problem now is that you didn’t steal from a man you can lead around by his waste of a penis. You stole from me.”
“I swear—”
“Shut up,” she snapped. “Let’s go. I have a proposition for you. A way you can barter for your life.”
I did as she said, easing out of the bedroom. She stepped in behind me, the nose of the gun landing between my shoulder blades, and my body convulsed, tremors weakening my knees.
I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to die when I finally had so much to live for.
But the terror that pounded through my veins was magnified a million times when a bark accompanied by a boyish laugh sounded in the backyard.
No. No. No.
Muirgen grabbed my bun and yanked my head back. Her breath was hot in my ear as she hissed, “Get rid of the kid, unless you want him to end up dead.”
She shoved me into the kitchen just as the back door swung open. Akela barreled in, snow flying everywhere, and Luca followed, laughing as the dog shook himself off.
“Andie’s gonna kill us if you make a mess. Bad enough I had to pick the lock to get in.”
I barely managed to whisper his name. Luca looked up, surprise flickering across his face.
As Akela rushed over to me, shoving his snout into my palm, Luca shot me a guilty smile. “Oh. Hey. I didn’t expect to see you.”
“You’re not supposed to be here,” I said, my voice shaking despite my effort to keep it steady.
His smile faltered. “Don’t be mad. I just wanted to grab some of Akela’s treats.”
“I don’t have any more. We’ll have to order them from Teddy.” I mindlessly petted Akela’s head before pushing him back toward the teen.
Luca stilled completely, assessing me with his father’s knowing eyes. He looked toward the counter and the cookie jar where I kept the dog treats.
“You okay?” Luca asked.
No. Not even a little. I swallowed. But I needed him to leave and to keep Cooper from showing up and getting shot, so I lied. “Yes. I’m fine. I’m heading out to your grandparents’ place, but I had a few things to do here first.”
He frowned but didn’t respond.
“Really, Luc. You'd better get back to your house before Lydia thinks you’ve skipped town.”
He nodded, eyes darting behind me to the hallway and then back to my face. “Okay.” He whistled for Akela and picked up the leash as the dog bounded over to him. “Let’s go, boy.” At the back door, Luca glanced over his shoulder at me. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, right?”
I nodded, unable to say anything else.