Anonymous(25)

“Wow. I can’t imagine if my husband did that. I’d probably hunt him down and beat the shit out of him.”

Taking a seat beside Jake, I stare at him. My heart would break in half if he left me like that. “We’ve seen the news though, Vik. People can flip in a matter of seconds. All it takes is a trigger.” I can hear the bell ding in the background and Vikki gasps.

“I’ve got to go, Ellie. We have customers. I’ll see you tonight.” We hang up and I focus on Jake’s face. His breathing is steady, and everything looks good on the monitors.

I move closer to the bed and rest my head against the mattress. I’m exhausted, but I can’t relax enough to sleep. The second I feel fingers in my hair, I bolt upright.

Jake’s eyes are open and his lips tilt upward slightly. “Hey,” he murmurs.

“Oh, my God, Jake.” I grab his face and kiss his lips, making my way over to his cheeks. “It feels like forever since I’ve heard your voice.” I want to fling my arms around his body, but I know he’s in pain from the bruised chest.

He takes my hand and doesn’t let go. “I heard your voice though.” The nurse had brought in a pitcher of water earlier, so I pour him a cup and hold it to his lips.

“Drink. It’ll help your dry throat.” It takes him a few minutes, but he gets it all down. “How do you feel?”

Moving his body around, he grunts a few times and shrugs. “Other than a headache, not too bad.” He rubs a hand over his side. “I feel a little bruised around here, but that’s it.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “You’re bruised from the seat belt, and you had some bleeding around your brain from trauma. The doctor said you’ll be fine.”

Gently, he places a hand on his head. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

“What all do you remember?”

His eyes blaze. “There was a man in the road, just standing there. When I took the curve, I reacted when I saw him, and swerved away. It all happened so fast. I don’t even know what he was doing there.”

“Did you see who it was?” I ask curiously. He has never met Bryan, but he knows what he looks like.

Jake shakes his head. “It was snowy and dark. His face was hidden behind a hood.” I nod and look away. It sounds like Bryan was wearing his Arrow costume again. “You’re not telling me something, Ellie. What is it?”

“The man in the road was Bryan.”

A low growl erupts from his chest. “Did the police tell you this?”

I turn back to him and pull out my phone. “Not yet, but I know it was him.”

“How?” he snaps.

Handing him my phone, he reads the texts from last night. His blood pressure skyrockets and the monitors beep. “I’m going to kill that fucker. I don’t want you texting him again, Ellie. Can’t you tell he gets off on it?”

“I know,” I say. “But at least he didn’t deny anything. We have more proof.”

“I don’t care. When I get out of here, I’ll get an alarm system on our house and I’ll work from home. I don’t want you going back to the bakery until he’s found.” He squeezes my hand so hard it hurts. “You’re mine, Ellie. He’s not going to take you away from me.”

“Or you from me,” I counter. “We’ll get through this, together.”

He nods. “Let’s call the police. I need to tell them what happened.”



* * *



Now that Jake’s allowed to have more than two visitors at a time, I sit across the room while his parents visit with him. His boss has already left, promising to have boxes of groceries on our front door step when we get home. It seems a bit much, but I’m grateful. Sometimes I think he likes to show off how much money he has, as if to impress me.

His mother loves on him and offers to stay in town for a few weeks, but he politely declines. The last thing I want is his mother staying with us all that time. There’s only so much time I can handle being around the in-laws.

He doesn’t tell them about Bryan and I don’t blame him. His father already has heart issues, and any amount of stress added to that could be detrimental to his health. They’re going to stay at a hotel tonight and fly back home once Jake is back at home. Luckily, they leave before the police show up.

Detective Bradshaw knocks on the door and walks in, followed by Officer McGee. I stand, and they nod at me. “Good morning, Mrs. Kingston,” Terry says. “Thanks for calling us.” He marches over to Jake and extends his hand. “Glad to see you’re awake, Mr. Kingston.”

Jake shakes both his and Charles’ hands. “Happy to be awake, Detective.”

“He remembers the accident,” I say, joining them by Jake’s bed.

Terry nods and I can see the turmoil in his brown gaze. “We have some information for you regarding that. First,” he begins, turning to Jake, “what all do you remember?”

Jake tells him everything, from seeing the man to running off the road. Terry and Charles take notes, but it’s obvious, they’re just passing time before dropping the bomb. Jake can sense their unease as well. “What is it? You obviously have something you need to tell us.”

Terry and Charles stare at each other and Charles nods for Terry to continue. He rubs a hand over his face. “We were at the scene all night, searching for any bit of evidence we could find. We analyzed the footprints, and it turns out, they could very well be Snyder’s. The prints are the same size and style of boots he usually wears while on duty.” He clears his throat. “We traced the footprints to a set of truck tires that disappeared once they hit the main road. The tires are the same as what’s on his truck.”