Paradise Falls (Paradise Falls #1-5)(21)

8.





The steaming water turned Jennifer’s skin red. Teeth clenched, she shoved her head under the spray. Scalding water poured over her face, and soaked into her hair to weigh it down her back in a thick hot cord.

She grabbed the ring and pulled. It refused to budge past the first knuckle. She seized the bar of soap and ground it between her hands, using the ring’s edge to scrape off small thin slivers. The furious pumping worked up a thick lather between her hands. She yanked harder on the ring, whimpering at its grip on her finger. Braced against the tiled shower wall, she screamed in frustration as she pulled, feeling like she would rip her finger out by the joint.

Sobbing at her failure to get the ring off her throbbing finger, Jennifer plunged her face in her hands. The look on Jacob’s face when she ran out of the house etched itself in her mind, and no matter how hard she tried, the image wouldn’t leave her alone.

Jennifer slid down the shower wall and curled into a ball in the tub. The water went cold, and she reached out her foot to turn the water off, kicking the handle a little too hard in the process.

The sun faded behind a rising thunderhead, flaring here and there with lightning. The first roll of thunder came deep, rattling through the house’s old bones. After pulling herself out of the tub, she found her phone and dialed Katie’s number.

Her sister’s drowsy voice answered after three rings. “Jennifer?”

“Katie.” Jennifer couldn’t hide her turmoil.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

Katie’s loud and ragged sigh signaled a mix of annoyance and concern. “Take your time, Jen. Tell me what happened.”

“It started on the first day of school. I was going to work and Elliot stopped me in the street.”

“Oh my God,” Katie said. “What did he do?”

“He wouldn’t let me by. He g-g-grabbed my hair.” Her voice grew small.

“I’m coming up,” Katie said.

“You don’t have to do that,” Jennifer said.

“I’ll be there by one thirty. We can get something to eat. Get some sleep.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Take a nap, Jennifer.”

Katie hung up.

Rain drove against the windows in a steady drum punctuated by the occasional distant beat of thunder.

Should I call him?

He probably thought she was out of her mind, if he wasn’t insulted.

Stupid, just running out like that. Stupid of me even to try.

Sleep came swiftly and blessedly unbroken until a knock on the front door jolted her awake.

“I”ll be down in a minute!” she called.

Jennifer tied her hair and threw on some baggy sweats. Ready to greet Katie, she went to the front door and pulled it open.

Elliot stood there scowling with his hands in his khaki pockets. Rain spotted his white polo shirt. He reached for the handle on the storm door. Jennifer twisted the lock just in time. Elliot yanked, and the metal pulled away from the frame enough to form a small gap. Jennifer swung the big door closed and bolted it.

“Open the goddamn door, Jenny.”

Jennifer bumped against the wall opposite the door, gasping for breath. He was here. At her house. She dropped the piece of wood Franklin used to bar the door back in place and willed him to leave.

Her throat went dry. “Go away,” she said from behind the closed door.

The storm door rattled. “No, Jenny. We need to talk.”

Liquid panic spread through her, turning her legs to stone. She touched the closet door before she realized she couldn’t just crawl in and hide from him.

Jennifer backed away from the door.

Elliot appeared at the front window, and rapped on the glass. He wasn’t going away. He was grinning, and the way he leaned over to peer through the window gave a predatory cast to his face. She could hear the mockery in his voice.

“I just want to have a civil conversation,” he said. “There’s no reason to make this difficult.”

She was cornered, nowhere to run. Her heart was pounding and her temples throbbed. It was like a sinus headache, but worse, the rhythmic beats of pain sharper and deeper. Any more and her teeth would stat chattering. Go away, go away.

“You’re trespassing!”

“Open up the door, Jenny. I’m not going to leave until you talk to me.”

Sweat tingled on her palms as she opened the window over her crafting bench. “What do you want?”

“I want to come in and talk.”

“I’m not letting you in my house. Get off my porch.”

Elliot sneered at her. “I don’t take no for an answer, Jenny.”

She shoved the window closed, or tried to. Elliot clawed through the screen. Jennifer stared at his wriggling fingers. In a moment of sheer panic, she shoved the window down with all her might. It moved down in fits and starts, catching on the old rails until it shrieked and slammed down on Elliot’s hand. Elliot howled as he pulled his hand free.

“You f*cking bitch!” Elliot pounded on the storm door with his uninjured hand. “Get the f*ck out here!”

Heart pounding, Jennifer ran up and into the bedroom, and yanked open the top drawer of her nightstand. Her father’s .38 special rested in an old cigar box. She tipped the cylinder out, fumbled with the tarnished bullets, and pushed them into the chambers one at a time. When it was loaded, she locked the bedroom door and went to the window, gingerly holding the weapon as though it would leap out of her hands and bite her.