Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake, #1)(87)

A weird combination of emotions flowed through me. Heartbreak at the taking of an innocent life for the most selfish of reasons. An innocent who had meant so much to me in my young life. Relief followed closely on its heels by guilt. Relief that Julie would have her justice and that losing Julie had meant I was free to find Taylor—the woman who truly set my soul aflame. And guilt for feeling both of those things.

I pushed those thoughts aside as Ashlee kept talking. “I told Bryce, and he said he would take care of it. He did.” The rage reignited in my veins. All the years of betrayal… It was almost too much to bear. “You didn’t really date seriously after that, so I didn’t really have to do anything. I know you just needed time to sow your wild oats. And I was giving you that.”

Ashlee’s eyes snapped towards Taylor, anger flooding her expression. “But then Caitlin got greedy. It wasn’t enough to just date you. She wanted to marry you. She wanted what wasn’t hers. I heard her in the bakery.”

My mind flashed back to the scene Caitlin had made that morning at the shop. Ashlee and Bryce had both been there. Was that all it had taken to set Ashlee off?

“Then she had to come.” Ashlee shook the gun in Taylor’s direction. “That liar. She said nothing was going on between you two, but the whole time, she was trying to snare you. I knew it!”

I took a step towards Ashlee, keeping one hand outstretched. “We can figure this out. There’s a solution, I promise you. We just have to find it.”

Ashlee’s head bobbed up and down in a jerky nod. “There is. She has to die.” I froze mid-step as Ashlee’s eyes and the gun swung from me to Taylor and then back to me again. More tears fell from her eyes, her shoulders heaving. “And you have to, too. You killed Bryce. Why? Why did you have to do that?”

I was going to have to tackle her and hope for the best. Fuck, I really didn’t want to get shot again, but there was no way Ashlee was giving up on this crazy mission she was on. My eyes were drawn to a spot behind Ashlee at a small movement. The door was creeping open. I really hoped it was a cop from the waiting room and not some unsuspecting nurse.

I forced my eyes back to Ashlee, not wanting her to be clued in to the intruder behind her. I needed to keep her talking. “I’m sorry—” I blurted. “I didn’t know the whole story. If I had known what happened to you and Bryce, I wouldn’t have killed him.” Lies. Total lies.

“It’s too late. You did, and now I have to defend him. Protect him like he did for me, even if it’s too late.” She cocked the hammer on the gun, and my muscles coiled in preparation to leap at her. Suddenly, she crumpled to the floor in a heap. Left in her place was Liam, standing there decked out in a hospital gown and those socks they gave you with the rubber dots on the soles, holding a fucking bedpan.

My jaw fell open. “Did you just knock her out with a bedpan?”

Liam grinned. “It seemed only fair. Her brother cracked my skull open with a skillet.” His face grew serious. “Are you guys okay? She was fucking crazy. I could hear her all the way out in the hall.”

I crouched, lifting the gun from where it had landed on the floor. “You might want to grab some on-duty officer and an orderly.”

Liam nodded and ducked back outside to get some help. I turned to Taylor. Her eyes were wide, and her face was as white as a sheet. I rushed over to her, panic licking at my veins. “Are you okay?”

She nodded woodenly. “She’s crazy. But at the same time, I feel horrible for her, she’s led such a messed-up life.” Taylor’s gaze went from Ashlee on the floor to me. “Is it over now? Please tell me it’s finally over.”

I set the gun down on the table next to the hospital bed. “I hope to hell it is.” Brushing my lips against hers, I cupped her face in my hands as police officers and medical staff burst through the door.





46





Taylor





THREE WEEKS LATER



Strong arms engulfed me from behind. I let out a little moan as I burrowed back against the hard, warm body behind me. “Too early. Let me sleep.”

Sleep was coming much easier now. I never would have thought that would be possible just weeks after almost getting hunted down by a serial killer, but it was. I’d had a couple of nightmares that first week when I was still in the hospital, but Walker had been right there beside me, never leaving me to face the darkness alone.

He talked me through whatever was on my mind. Held my hand, stroked my hair. He spent every night in a narrow cot beside my hospital bed. But since returning home, he’d held me each night, and no more nightmares had come.

A chuckle sounded from right next to my ear, and then teeth nipped at my lobe. The action sent a zing of sensation down my spine. I was awake now. Walker’s low and husky voice sounded. “The doctor cleared you for all activities, didn’t he?”

A slow smile crept over my face. I’d been to my final doctor’s appointment yesterday and had gotten a clean bill of health. It had been a full day of doctoring and running a few errands that we’d been putting off, so by the time we got home, I was exhausted. I’d fallen asleep on the couch and had only awoken when Walker carried me to bed. There’d been no sexy times. Only a love affair between me and my pillow.