I twist around, my heart thundering in my chest as a hooded figure steps out of the next stall. Smoke billows into the air as he drops a cigarette to the ground and grinds it out on the cement.
The overhead light swings back and forth in the breeze, casting him in shadow every few moments.
“Who—?”
But I stop as he slips off the hood of his jacket, and I see Terrance Holcomb turn to face me. Rain has darkened his sweatshirt and glistens across his face as he looks me up and down.
No.
I didn’t hear bikes approach. There are no vehicles outside. He arrived undetected.
He snuck in here.
Quickly, I glance around for anyone else and take a step back, toward the exit.
“We didn’t invite you on the property,” I bite out. “No one wants to see you here.”
“There’s no one here except you, though,” he says, eerily calm. “You’re all alone, right?”
Keeping my eyes locked on him, I reach over and pull a rake off the wall that I can see hanging there out of the corner of my eye while slowly reaching behind me to pull my phone out of my back pocket. His eyes are fixed on my weapon.
He chuckles, stepping toward me as I step back. “At least it’s not a shotgun,” he jokes, and I remember Kaleb and Noah, armed and rushing to the pond to get me away from this guy all those months ago. “It’s cute how they try to protect you.”
“They don’t have to.” I squeeze the long handle. “Leave.”
“What if I came just to talk to you?”
“By lurking in our stable on a dark, rainy night?”
Yeah. This isn’t a social visit. He either saw the Van der Berg’s in town without me and seized his opportunity, or he’s been here, waiting for them to leave.
I retreat another step, his boot crawling heel to toe and approaching.
“Kaleb is going to be charged over the damage he did to those bikes last November,” he says.
I press the power button on my phone and try to swipe in my security pattern behind my back, listening for the small click over the rain that tells me it’s unlocked.
“And yet, you’re here and not the sheriff,” I point out.
I try a few more times, my fingers shaking, but I finally hear the click.
“I’ll say it was an accident,” he tells me. “I’ll take his side and back him up.”
“What makes you think I care?” I tap the screen where I know my phone icon is located.
Terrance grins knowingly. “Everyone saw you two in town today,” he replies. “It was really a no-brainer. Women love assholes, especially the quiet ones. He was always going to have you, even if just a piece.”
My chest is too heavy to breathe. He tries to close the distance between us, and I retreat, the rain growing heavier outside the door behind me.
“You sponsor me, and I will not pursue him,” Terrance proposes. “I’ll get the sheriff and my team to back off, and you and he can live happily ever after.”
“You have a sponsor.”
“I had a sponsor,” he retorts. “They pulled their support when Kaleb destroyed the bikes.”
I cock my head, leveling my eyes on him. Kaleb caused some damage, so he lost his sponsor? Really?
He shrugs, knowing I’m not buying it. “And they got wind of some other things, too,” he admits.
I nod. Yeah. Like his clubhouse, maybe. Or any one of a million shady things I’m sure he’s up to, because he’s a sleazebag. A reputable business doesn’t want him representing them.
Kaleb may be fined—he’ll definitely have to pay damages—but he’s not getting arrested.
“So what do you say?” he asks.
I hold his eyes.
He doesn’t want to hear no. He came up here when he knew I’d be alone, because he’s prepared to coerce me.
Will he leave if I lie and agree?
A ring pierces the air, my phone vibrating in my hand, and my heart stops.
He bolts for me, and I throw the rake at him before spinning around and dashing for the house. I splash through puddles, rain pummeling my head, the storm heavier now, and I don’t look behind me as I cry out and race through the open bay doors, into the dark shop, and up the steps to the house.
Swinging the door open, I barrel inside and answer the phone, seeing Jake’s name on the screen.
I hold it up to my ear but see a dark form in the kitchen and stop, dropping my hand.
My lungs empty.
“Hello?” I hear my uncle on the other end of the phone.
But I look around, my attention only on the two other men in the kitchen whom I don’t know. I can’t get a good look at them in the dim light.
“Hello?” Jake calls out again.
“Get out!” I shout, more to alert Jake than order the strange guys.
My stomach churns, and I circle the island, pushing pots and pans at them to keep them back. Why would he bring back-up? What is he planning?
I don’t want them to know someone is on the phone or they’ll take it. I stick it in my pocket, leaving it connected.
Terrance charges in the same way I came, breathing hard and his blue eyes look at me, almost amused. I stare at the three of them.
“Just think about it,” he presses. “You’ll control the purse strings, meaning you’ll control me and my racing. I’m good for other things, too… when you want.”
I shake my head. He thinks that’s where this is going? I’ll support his endeavors, because I’m a pathetic, rich little orphan who needs some love?
“I’m not romantic.” He gazes at me, determination on his face. “I won’t be faithful. But I’ll be at your beck and call. You can push me around all you want. Don’t you want to be the one on top now?”
A boy toy is what he’s proposing? Someone to use for affection without any romantic hassles. Without getting my heart invested.
In exchange, all I have to do is pay him.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” he croons.
But I straighten, never more disgusted. I know what perfect feels like. I don’t want anything less.
“I’m thinking you remind me of my father.” I grab a knife out of the butcher block. “People like you hurt the soul.”
“Tiernan de Haas—”
“I’m a Van der Berg,” I growl, correcting him and launching the knife.
He dives out of the way, shielding himself, and I pluck out two more and throw those, as well, the guys stumbling into the living room.
I don’t waste time. I run back into the shop, keeping the lights off and the bay doors open.
“Get her!” I hear Holcomb shout.
My heart leaps into my throat, and I go to make a run for it, but think better of it.
If I can just get them out of the house…
Slipping behind the wardrobe in the shop I’d painted months ago, I freeze, tucking my arms in tight, so they don’t see me.
Footfalls hit the small set of stairs, and I hear shuffling on the cement floor of the shop.
“She can’t go far!” Holcomb shouts. “Get her the fuck back here!”
I see one of the guys dash outside, and I pull myself in tighter, afraid he’ll see me.
But then he’s gone, and the lights in the shop turns on, the other two moving around.
What does he think he’s going to accomplish? I guess if he gets what he wants then he wins. If not, I can’t prove he did any more than scare me. He hasn’t laid a hand on me yet.
I put my palm over my mouth to silence my breathing.
“Take the bikes,” Holcomb grits out. “They owe us.”
“What about her?”
“I’m gonna fuck that bitch, just as soon as I send her crazy-ass boyfriend to jail,” he fires back. “Dumb cunt is going on my wall.”
His wall. The scoreboard Jake warned me about. Jesus…
“You sure there’s not a warrant out for us?” the guy asks instead. “I saw Jake in town earlier, heading into the station with Kaleb and Noah.”
“They can’t prove that fire was us.” Tools shift, cabinets open, and something slams shut. “And if I can’t find the fucking keys again, I’m burning down the stable this time, with the horses inside.”
My hands go cold as realization hits me. Fire.
Keys.
Jake was right. Someone started that fire in the barn. They couldn’t make it out with the bikes they intended to steal that night, so they started a fire, instead.
“This is getting out of hand,” the other guy tells him. “We almost died trying to get up here and back down last winter. What if that fire had spread? They could’ve gotten killed.” His tone grows harder. “There’s no help up here if they needed it!”
“I know.” Terrance chuckles. “That’s the beauty of it.”
I peer around the corner, seeing him searching the worktables and desk. The other guy faces away from me, but I see he has a dark buzz cut and rings on his fingers.
Terrance spins around to look at him, and I dive back behind the armoire, spotting my bow on the tables behind me. Thunder cracks outside, and I grab it, picking it up quietly.
“So what would you rather do?” Holcomb asks him. “Join the Army like your dad wants you to, or you wanna race? I’m getting us our bikes and a new sponsor, and I’m not leaving without them!”
I stick a few arrows into the back of my jeans and load another one into the bow.
“She’s writing me a check, and then—maybe—I’ll leave,” he says. “After I turn her inside out, but you don’t need to stick around for that part.”
Kaleb, where are you?
The bowstring creaks, and I wince, waiting to see if they noticed the sound.
“Or you can stick around for that part, too, but me first,” he adds.
I blow out a silent breath, pinch the arrow between my fingers, and get ready.
“Here!” he bursts out, and I hear keys jingle. “See if that works.”
The bikes fire to life, and I realize they found the keys to the finished projects Jake is about to ship off. I don’t know where the third guy is, and a trickle of sweat glides down my back.
Just leave. Take the bikes and go. Please.
Just leave.
“We won’t get away with this,” the other man says.
“We will,” Terrance retorts. “They were lost in the fire.”
“What fire?”
I hear laughing, and I pause, letting his plan sink in.
Holcomb is going to threaten me when he finds me. I know Kaleb won’t get into any serious trouble for some damage to their property, so his attempt at blackmail failed.
So Plan B is, if I don’t comply, write him a check, and give him whatever else he wants from me. He’s going to take everything. He’s going to set another fire.
And he has two witnesses with him who will vouch he was anywhere else but here tonight. They’ll make off with the bikes, and the fire department will never get here in time.
I swallow down the bile.
Jake, Kaleb, and Noah built this place. This is Kaleb’s home. The only place he feels good outside of the fishing cabin.
I almost stop and reach into my pocket for my phone again. I could call the police.
But by the time I tried to alert them, Terrance Holcomb would be on me. And by the time they traced the call, he’d be done.
Shooting out from behind the armoire, I pull the bow string, drawing back my arrow, and shoot quick and sure, grazing the other guy’s shoulder.
He flies back, falling to the ground as the arrow stabs the wall behind him, and Terrance darts away, out of the area, stunned.
I round them, making my way for the steps of the house again and load another arrow, aiming for Holcomb and shooting fast.
I just want them to run. Just go!
He flies out of the way, crashing to the ground and shattering my end table into pieces in the process.
They scramble to their feet, the other guy staring at me wide-eyed like he suddenly realizes he made a mistake.
But they don’t run. Holcomb charges for me, and I scream.
Fuck!
I dart inside the house and lock the door, racing through the living room and up the stairs. I’ll lock myself in my room, call the police, and if I have to, I’ll escape off the balcony. I wanted to stop him from burning down the place, but not at the risk of him hurting me.
He’s fucking insane.
I stumble on the stairs, my shin slamming against a step. I cry out, but then a couple of pounds hit the door downstairs, and I hear wood splinter as it flies open, hitting the refrigerator.
I stop breathing.
Climbing to my feet, I dig in my heels and run to the second floor, hearing footfalls on the stairs behind me. I bypass my door and keep going, tearing up Kaleb’s stairs and swinging the door closed behind me, locking it. I back away from the door, pulling out another arrow, but I trip over my shoe and fall to the ground, catching myself on my hands.
Scurrying farther away, I nock the arrow, hearing his steps ascend the stairs, and I pull back the bowstring as he kicks open the door.
I fire.
His shoulder jerks backward, and I hop to my feet, plucking the last arrow out of my jeans.
But before I can fit it, I watch as he stumbles, sways, and falls to his knees, the arrow pierced through his right shoulder.
I exhale, my lungs and stomach screaming.
More sounds hit the stairs, and I draw back the last arrow, seeing his friend fill the doorway.
His worried, dark eyes fall from me to Holcomb lying on the floor.
I point the arrow at him, and he straightens, holding out his hands in defense.
“The Army sounding like a better idea yet?” I growl.
He nods, and I jerk my chin, telling him to beat it.
He casts one more look at his friend and then bolts, his footsteps disappearing down the stairs.
Terrance grunts, his face twisted in pain as he tries to rise, and I see his sweatshirt soaked with blood.
I shoot out my foot, kicking him to the ground. He lands on the end of the arrow sticking out of his back and howls as I point my last one at him.
I need to call the cops, but I’m not taking my weapon off him yet.
“Fuck,” he cries, gritting his teeth.
He rolls onto his hands and knees and then climbs to his feet. I scramble back, about to shoot him again, but he stumbles out of the room and leans into the wall, descending the staircase. I don’t fucking care if he gets away, as long as he leaves.
I follow him, watching as he hits the floor again, crawling for the staircase. His hands give out underneath him, and he falls, sliding down the stairs and screaming at the arrow in his shoulder.
“Tiernan!” Noah calls from the living room. “Tiernan, answer me now!”
“Here!” I call.
Holcomb spills down the rest of the stairs, and I hold the bow and arrow, seeing Kaleb rush for me, taking my face in his hands.
Noah takes the weapon from me, and I hear the front door swing open again.
“Jesus Christ,” Jake snaps, taking in the scene.
“Stay down,” Noah orders Holcomb, planting his boot on his back and pushing him to the floor. “Or I’ll show you how we handle an injury like that up here without an ambulance.”
Kaleb stares into my eyes, breathing a mile a minute before jerking me in and pressing his lips hard to my forehead.
“Are you okay?” Jake asks, rushing up to us.
I nod, my heart still hammering. “I’m fine.”
I think. I don’t know, everything hurts, but I can’t tell what exactly.
I pull away, looking at Jake glance between Holcomb and me. “Tiernan, I’m sorry,” he says. “You’re okay? Really?”
“Fine.”
“I didn’t think.” His hand goes to his head. “We shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“You heard the call?” I ask.
“Yeah.” He smiles weakly. “We sped here the whole way.”
I knew they’d come.
“You’re sure you’re fine? He didn’t…try anything?”
“He tried a lot.” I don’t know if I want to laugh at how miserably he failed or cry at how relieved I am. “I’m perfectly fine, though.”
Holcomb groans on the floor, and Jake shoots him a scowl, taking out his phone as he walks away. “I’m calling Benson.”
The sheriff. And since they visited him once tonight, and Kaleb is still here, then I guess no one’s pressing charges like Terrance threatened.
“Hey, you didn’t miss, at least?” Noah tries to joke.
I feign a laugh. “It was at close-range.”
He smiles. Then he presses his foot down harder, grinding his boot into Holcomb’s back. “Motherfucker,” he taunts. “You just made my day.”
Yeah. Kaleb might be in the clear, but Holcomb just took his place with the sheriff.
I look up at Kaleb.
But he’s not looking at me anymore.
He stands a few feet away, looking over at my suitcase by the door. His eyes turn to me, suddenly hard.
I swallow through the tightness in my throat.
“Were there others?” Jake asks as he comes back in the room.
It takes a moment to tear my eyes away from Kaleb.
Finally, I nod. “There were. They scattered. I didn’t recognize them. I can describe one of them, though.”
Kaleb walks outside with his father to check the property, and I sit down on the stairs with Noah, resting my head in my hands for minutes and minutes to try to calm down.
After a while, the sheriff arrives, the ambulance not far behind, and they load up Holcomb on the stretcher while Benson takes my statement. I tell them about the fire last winter and Holcomb’s confession when he didn’t know I was listening, and he tells us they passed his car on the road on the way up here. They guess he parked off somewhere quiet, so he could come onto the property undetected.
Kaleb and Jake come back in, Kaleb staring at me the whole time from across the room like he’s scared and sorry, but his distance is scarier. Why won’t he come over to me?
He’s so far away all of a sudden. Every once in a while, his eyes go to my suitcase.
The cops and ambulance finally leave, and Noah heads outside to secure the stable and check the animals, while Jake stands on the porch, finishing up with Benson.
I walk into the kitchen, seeing Kaleb sitting in the dark at the table. His elbows rest on his knees as he leans forward, bows his head, and locks his hands together.
He raises his eyes, looking at me.
Reality comes crashing back in.
I don’t know what I expected, I guess. Obviously, I didn’t ask for Holcomb to show up here, but maybe when Kaleb rushed in, took my face in his hands, and saw what could’ve happened, he’d realize that he wanted a life with me.
That he wanted to live instead of hiding inside himself.
Instead, he saw my suitcase and shut down, because he thinks I’m like his mother, and that I’m abandoning him. He’s being betrayed, but what he doesn’t realize is it’s not abandonment when you’re an adult. It’s called leaving, and he has it in his power to stop me.
Tonight could’ve gone so much worse. Doesn’t he realize that?
“The baby isn’t his,” Noah whispers behind me. “Dad was able to squeeze the doctor for info. Cici got pregnant last August. Kaleb was at the fishing cabin the entire month. He didn’t show up until the beginning of September.”
That first night we met.
“Holcomb?” I guess.
“That’s what we’re thinking, too.”
Holcomb is the father. He and Cici were together at the bar on my birthday. She was fucking with us today.
I stare at Kaleb, a horrible feeling falling over me instead of relief, though. He’s not going to fight for me. He won’t write to me. He won’t sign.
He’ll never talk to me.
He’ll never communicate with his children if he has any.
He loves everyone in this house, but he won’t even tell us.
Something crushes my chest, and tears pool as I gaze at him.
“Tiernan!” a woman yells outside. “Oh, my God!”
I blink.
“Is Tiernan here?” I hear Mirai’s voice as she pummels up the steps on the porch.
Jake says something I can’t hear and then she shouts, “Get out of my way!”
Mirai?
Tears stream down my face, and I spin around, seeing her run into the house, lock eyes with me, and drop her handbag, rushing over.
She wraps her arms around me, and I pause a moment and then… I crush her to me, holding her so tightly she probably can’t breathe.
I hold back the sobs, but I can’t hide the tears. I didn’t realize I’d missed her until now. I squeeze her so hard, everything hitting me at once.
“What the hell happened?” she asks.
I release her, drying my eyes. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” she shouts, and I can see Jake walking back into the house behind her. “You’re bleeding!”
She turns my face to inspect my cheek, and I touch it, pulling my hand away to see a little blood. I must’ve scraped it somewhere in all the running.
I hug her again, her long, dark hair soft like designer shampoo can do and smelling like a spa. Memories wash over me.
I pull away to look at her. She looks like I used to. I’d forgotten how manicured I once was. Her nails, her make-up, her hair…
“How did you get here?” I ask. “I thought I was picking you up at the airport.”
“I got an earlier connection and rented a car,” she explains, still inspecting my body to make sure I’m okay. “I had a weird feeling you were going to try to keep me from here or something.”
Very astute, actually.
I look around, seeing Noah and Jake staring, Kaleb still silent in the kitchen.
“Let’s go back outside,” I tell her.
“Tiernan…” Jake says as I pass, but I ignore him.
I grab my jacket, Mirai’s handbag, and hand it to her as I take her back out to her car, which still sits running with the headlights on. She must’ve bolted from it when she saw Benson’s cop car. She might’ve even passed the ambulance on her way up here, too.
“Is that him?” She looks behind us as I take her back down the steps. “Your uncle?”
“Just come on.” I slip on my jacket.
I should introduce her. We should all sit down and talk.
But I can’t do this. I need to get my head straight before I decide what she needs to know and doesn’t, and too much has happened in the last twelve hours, I haven’t even processed it myself. I need to send her off, deal with Kaleb, and then deal with her.
“I need you to go to a motel in town,” I tell her, stopping at the car. “I’ll come to you in a bit. I’ll meet you there.”
“What?” she blurts out. “No!”
“Please?” I plead, gazing into her brown eyes with those warm flecks of amber. “I need to do something here. Please. Don’t worry.”
“Tiernan,” she starts.
But someone approaches, and I look over, seeing Kaleb open the car’s back door, set my suitcase inside, and close it again.
I freeze.
I watch as he moves to the passenger’s side front door and open it for me, meeting my eyes.
And suddenly, Mirai isn’t here. Jake and Noah aren’t watching from the porch, and I can’t feel the rain that’s turned lighter now, hitting my head.
He’s helping me leave.
He’s telling me to leave.
I stare at him, my eyes burning, but I’m too shocked to cry. He’s drawing a line. The line I was afraid to draw earlier when I packed. I didn’t want to leave.
I just thought I’d give us some space.
Or maybe I hoped he’d find me gone and come after me.
He’s telling me to go, though. He would rather me leave than ever have to say anything to me.
I hold his beautiful green eyes, seeing the emotion behind that he tries to hide, but as I try to search for what to say to solve this—to save us—there are no words left.
Maybe words were never really the problem. Actions speak louder, don’t they say?
And his are loud and clear.
I climb into the car, as if on auto-pilot, quickly closing the door, my insides knotting and twisting, because the idea of leaving isn’t real. This can’t be happening.
This isn’t happening.
“Kaleb,” I hear Noah bark.
Mirai rounds the car, hopping into the driver’s side and putting the car in reverse.
“Tiernan!” Jake bellows, and I see him pounding down the steps out of the corner of my eye.
“No!” Noah yells.
Jake slams his hand on the hood of the car, staring at us through the windshield. “Stop!”
“Just go,” I tell her, turning my head away so Kaleb can’t see the tears. “Please…. please just go.”
She locks the doors, slams on the gas, and I bury my face in my hands until we’re deep, down the dark highway, away from the house, and I can’t see his face again.
