This One Moment (Pushing Limits, #1)(73)
“You were Sarah’s father, weren’t you?” I said, more to myself than to him. I didn’t wait for him to reply. “She and Tanya have been dead for five years now. Why now? Why did you wait so long to look for the documents?” I suspected that was what this was all about.
The knife dug in a little deeper, piercing my skin. I cried out in pain. Warm blood trickled from the wound. This time I couldn’t get away like I had in the kitchen. He was making sure of it. If I tried anything, he would stab me. And if the wound wasn’t enough to kill me, it’d be enough to take me down so he could finish the job.
“I couldn’t risk the truth getting out. I was married to my first wife when Tanya got pregnant. We had used condoms, so the risk of the baby being mine was small. After she found out she was pregnant, we ended things. But I loved her and that never changed.
“My first wife and I divorced several years later, and I moved away. A few months before that * murdered Tanya”—the pain in his voice was unmistakable—“I moved back to Northbridge with my second wife and her kids. I didn’t expect to see Tanya again, but I bumped into her, and just like that, we resumed our old relationship. But as much as I loved Tanya, I couldn’t leave my second wife. If I divorced her, I would have lost everything. Tanya knew that. That’s why she stayed with him.” He practically spat the last word.
“Did…did her husband ever suspect?” But even as I asked the question, I already knew the truth.
“Before the day he confronted me, we had never met. I knew Tanya from high school. The * moved here after college. I don’t know how he found out about us, but he did. He confronted me the night he killed Tanya and the girl.”
“Her name was Sarah,” I bit out. “Your daughter’s name was Sarah.”
“Yes…Sarah.”
“Why didn’t you stop him? Why did you let him kill them?” Tears clouded my vision. I didn’t bother to blink them away. There was no point.
“I had no idea he was going to kill them.” His voice came out as a croaked whisper. “He was drunk and angry. I had no idea what he was capable of. Had I known, I would have done anything to save them.”
I couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth or if they were just pretty words he felt he needed to say. And it didn’t matter either way. The end result would be the same.
“Are you really my parents’ neighbor?” I asked, stalling the inevitable.
“No, I saw you leave your apartment with the suitcase. I already knew where your parents lived, and since you weren’t driving toward the airport, I took a chance you came here. I’d heard last night on the radio that this neighborhood was one of those hit by the power outage.”
I was about to ask how he knew where my parents lived when Nolan spoke, his voice oddly calm. “Why don’t you put the knife down and we can talk?”
Surprise, relief, and hope surged through me, and I silently prayed I wasn’t imagining things. That Nolan really was here and wasn’t a delusion brought on by intense fear.
The knife plunged a little deeper into my back and I gasped. The trickle of blood became heavier, streaming down my back, soaking into my jeans, taking with it what little hope I had left. Lindsey’s stepfather tightened his hold on my hair and twisted us around to face Nolan.
Nolan’s face was pale, and I could only imagine how this was for him. His mother and sister had been stabbed to death, and he hadn’t been able to save them. And now the likelihood of him saving me was nonexistent. Instead, he’d be forced to watch me being killed. Or worse yet, Nolan could be stolen from me. Murdered like he was almost murdered the night his family died.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“Don’t come any closer,” Lindsey’s stepfather barked, the hand holding the knife in my back trembling—and I started piecing things together. This guy wasn’t used to hurting people. As a firefighter, he was used to saving them.
This revelation was of little comfort with the knife cutting into me. Tears leaked from my eyes at the burning pain.
“Okay,” Nolan said, hands up to show he was unarmed. “I’ll stay right here if that makes you feel better.” His gaze darted to mine. For a second, pain flashed in his eyes at the sight of me.
“No,” Lindsey’s stepfather grunted. “I want you to back away. Slowly.” He backed away too, pulling me with him, cornering himself further in the room. No longer was I just someone he wanted to kill. Now I was his human shield.
The shakiness in my legs increased, helped along by the blood loss and pain. If he hadn’t been holding me with his arm tight against my chest, I would’ve collapsed. But his arm was also making it hard for me to breathe. Each gasp was a struggle for oxygen.
Afraid that this was the last time I’d see Nolan, I kept my eyes on him. And maybe that’s why I noticed his body jerk. The movement was so slight, it was only noticeable if you were paying attention to him and nothing else.
“All right,” Nolan said. “Just don’t hurt her, okay?” He stepped backward into the hallway, then moved to the side. I could still see him, but it was as if he was giving the man room to escape.
As soon as Nolan was away from the doorway, Lindsey’s stepfather shoved me forward. But my strength was rapidly fading and I stumbled. The knife shifted in my back and I screamed from the intense pain.