Haunted(31)

“Good. Did you see the intruder?”

“Yes,” Roman gritted out.

Oh f*ck! I hadn’t seen anyone.

“Mr. Reed, can you describe him or her.”

“No, he was in shadow.”

“Was it a man?”

“I think so. He was average height and average weight,” Roman gritted out.

Oh…f*ck. Average height and average weight…

It was Andrew, of course, it was Andrew. He would be the only one who knew about the doll, the mask. How did he know about the Nikita thing? I dropped the phone and it automatically shut off.

“Beth. Beth. Beth!” Roman pulled over into a nearly empty drugstore parking lot. He turned off the ignition and ran around to my side of the car. He opened the door and pulled me into his arms. He was shaking with adrenaline.

“Beth?”

“He was in the house. He was in the house while Phoebe and I watched La Femme Nikita. That is the only way he knew what to write on the bathroom mirror. He was in the house after she left. He was in the house while I showered. He was in the bathroom with me while I showered.” My knees gave out and Roman caught me.

“It is okay, baby. It’s okay. I’ll keep you safe this time. I swear. I will never let anything happen to you again. Trust me!”



Chapter 24 – Beth



We showed up at Phoebe’s house.

When she answered the door, I said, “Good news, I am not crazy!” Phoebe’s mouth dropped opened. “Bad news, Andrew has been f*cking with me in my house.” Phoebe’s mouth closed. “Can we come in? By the way, the police are on their way to the house.”

Phoebe motioned us inside. I thought this was the first time Phoebe remained silent. I wondered if I broke her...

“Phoebe, is there a room where Beth and I can have a few minutes alone?” Roman asked.

“Yeah, my bedroom is through that door. I’ll put on a pot of coffee, make some calls, and maybe go smoke about ten cigarettes.”

Sing it sister!

Roman led me to the bedroom. I had several different emotions going through my mind, but the one that stood out was joy. I wasn’t crazy, which made me happy. I knew that seemed off, but it was the truth.

I took off my shoes and sat on Phoebe’s bed with my legs crossed over each other. Roman shut the door and faced me.

“So the mask is the reason you left the house this morning?” he asked and I nodded. “You came back to tell me that you thought you were schizophrenic? And you thought I would leave you because of that?”

I nodded again. I could tell he was furious.

“Do you not trust me at all?” he yelled.

I looked down.

“When are you going to get it through your head? I love you! For better or worse! Until death do we part!” He waited for an answer.

“All this started happening before you and I got back together, so technically it wasn’t any of your business.”

“Really? None of my business.”

Now he was really pissed.

“Roman, I thought I was going crazy. I hadn’t had an episode since we got back together. I thought it was Post-traumatic stress at first. The only time it happened since you’ve been back was the mask in the box. I was going to tell you, but–”

“You thought I would leave you! I know you better than you think! I was locked up with you for more than a month 24/7. When you made love to me this afternoon, you thought I was going to leave you because you thought I couldn’t handle you being sick. Well f*ck you, Beth! Fuck you for not trusting me. Fuck you for not believing in me. Just f*ck you!” He turned around and faced the wall.

Hell, I’d never seen him this mad, even when Tate kidnapped us.

“Roman, I am sorry.” I really was. “I wasn’t looking at it like that. I was looking at it like I was going to lose the two best things in my life, Joey and you.”

“He could have killed you, Beth.” He turned around. He had nothing but worry in his eyes.

“But he didn’t.” I stood up and went to him. I hugged him. I was worried he would push me away, but he didn’t. He hugged me in return. He put his hand on the back of my head and held me there. We stayed in Phoebe’s bedroom for a little while just holding each other.

Someone knocked on the bedroom door. “Hey, guys, the police are here,” Phoebe said through the door.

“Okay…coming,” I called out.

“I love you.” Roman looked me right in the eyes. “You know that, right?”

“I love you too.” I kissed him and he kissed me back. Then we walked hand and hand to see the police.




Chapter 25 – Roman



We walked into the den, and everybody was there, and I mean everybody. Phoebe, Dennis, Eve, Berg, Eric, and even Tara. I couldn’t believe everyone got there so fast.

Shit! Did Phoebe have the whole gang on speed dial?

“Where’s Joey?” Beth asked Eric. Eric stood and went to Beth and hugged her…and kept hugging her.

Okay, you can let go now, not your wife anymore.

“I had Mom and Dad come pick him up. He’ll stay there until things are safe.” Eric looked right at me as though this was my fault. Well, shit, it kind of was.

I nodded at him. It was man code, stating I acknowledge that I f*cked up and it is my responsibility to make it safe for your son.