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  Pepper shifted slightly. She must be thinking the same thing as Autumn. Maybe Violet should take it easy. They were being held by an enraged, half-drunk man with a gun.

  “Wives are always the last to know,” Stanley said. “Everyone with half a brain knows that men like Kyle Hicks sleep with their nannies and lie about it.”

  “You’ve got this wrong,” Violet said, softer now. “I don’t know what she told you, but it’s all lies. She was sick, deluded.”

  “That’s not the way I see it,” he said. “And the three of you are going to pay for the pain you’ve caused me. My baby’s gone. They killed her with a bullet. My perfect girl. I’m going to kill you three in just the same way.”

  “What do these two have to do with any of this?” Violet asked. “Let them go.”

  His gaze lingered on Autumn, then moved to Pepper. “It’s simple. Your husband loves his sister and brother. Stone Hickman loves this one. When you’re all three dead, Kyle suffers. In one fell swoop, all the women he loves are gone. Maybe then he’ll realize what he did to me.”

  “You’ll go to jail,” Pepper said. “Stone and Kyle will make sure of that.”

  He took a slug of his drink. “I can’t go to jail if I’m dead.”

  Think of something. Anything.

  But nothing came. Only a dark surety that they weren’t making it out of here alive.

  17

  Trey

  * * *

  Trey and Nico walked in silence until they reached the southern end of the beach where a line of houses, including Autumn’s, were built along the coastline. Lights shone from most of the houses and patios. Through open windows Trey could see people watching television or having dinner. A few were out on their patios and lifted a hand in greeting as the men passed by. As they drew nearer to Autumn’s place, Trey noticed a half-empty wine bottle and three glasses on the table. The patio lights were on, but no one was in sight. The shower was probably over by now. Maybe Autumn was inside cleaning up? The shades were drawn, but the lights in the living room and kitchen were on. Strange. Why would she have closed the shades if there were still guests? It wasn’t like her to leave wine and glasses outside if she and her guests had gone inside.

  Trey stopped at the edge of the patio.

  “Do you see that?” Trey pointed at the table.

  “It looks like she had guests and they were interrupted.”

  Something shiny caught his eye. Upon closer look, he saw it was the rhinestone on a sandal. Autumn’s sandal. He knew that pair. They were the ones with the rhinestones fixed on the top strap. Why would there be only one? It’s not as though someone kicked off one shoe and left the other one on. And it was by the door, as if it had fallen off. As if someone shoved her.

  Call it instinct or a premonition, but fear crawled up the back of his spine. He thought of the strange man who’d lurked outside her house and followed Pepper. “Something’s not right. Call Rafael. Tell him to get down here.”

  Rafael, former cop, would be good backup. He peeked around to the front of the house. He lowered his voice. “That’s Violet’s car. I saw her earlier at the store with Pepper. They were on their way to the shower. That means they’re still there.”

  Nico didn’t answer. He was already on the phone with Rafael. After explaining the situation, he nodded in response to whatever Rafael said on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. I’ll do that. Right. Okay.” He hung up, muttering. “He’s coming but said to call 911. He and Stone were together. They’re both coming.”

  While Nico called 911, Trey tiptoed up to the side of the house to see if he could get a glimpse into the house. What he saw chilled him. Autumn, Pepper, and Violet sat together on the couch. A man stood over them with a gun.

  He ran to Nico. “Tell the cops not to turn their sirens on. He’s got a gun on them.”

  18

  Autumn

  * * *

  Stanley had finished his drink and poured himself another. This was good. He’s gathering courage. The more he drinks, the better. Or worse.

  She could see her phone in the charger on the kitchen counter. If only she could reach it. While she was thinking about how she could get it to teleport over to her, she saw a shadow move just outside the kitchen window that hung over the sink. No one walked around the side of the house except for her and Trey. That’s where he’d suggested they put a hose, so she could easily water the pots on her patio. Was there someone there? She purposely took her gaze back to Stanley, not wanting him to follow her eyes.

  Stanley was pacing and drinking and muttering to himself under his breath. Violet had gone completely white, and tears leaked from her eyes. Autumn knew her thoughts. She was thinking about her four children and leaving them without a mother and a devastated father. A glance at Pepper told Autumn she was in strategy mode. The muscle in her cheek pulsed, and her eyes were fixed in her own lap. That mind of hers must be tripping over itself trying to figure out how to get them out of here.

  She detected further movement outside the kitchen window. This time she glimpsed a shock of light brown curls. She knew those curls. Trey. Her heart leaped with hope. He’d come for them. If he’d seen through the window, he knew the situation.

  Outside on the patio, shadows moved behind the shades. Cops. Trey had called the cops. She looked at Stanley. He was over by the liquor cabinet again, filling his glass. Autumn squeezed Pepper’s hand and tilted her head toward the west. Pepper moved just her eyes in that direction, then back again.

  Autumn would distract him. Keep him talking so he wouldn’t see that the house was most likely being surrounded. She prayed the booze would aid her efforts. “Stanley, are you going to kill us here at my house?”

  He fixed crazed, beady eyes on her. “Where else?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never killed anyone before,” Autumn said. “Have you?”

  “What? Of course not,” Stanley said. His words were starting to slur. “Never had a reason to before now.”

  Autumn motioned for him to come nearer. “I understand about revenge. Really, I do. But wouldn’t it make more sense to go after the police officers who killed your girl?”

  “I already went over that. Kyle Hicks is responsible.” He pointed the gun directly at her. “You’re first.” Sure she was dead, Autumn buried her face in her arms and scrunched her eyes closed and waited. Then came a terrible, deafening boom. Pepper and Violet screamed. Glass shattered. A sharp pain pierced her neck. She’d been shot in the neck.

  Another shot blasted through the room. More screaming. She felt her neck, and her hand came away covered with sticky blood.

  “Autumn,” Pepper screamed. “Autumn’s hurt.”

  She opened her eyes. Stanley was on the ground, bleeding from the head. A pool of blood seeped into her light gray rug. Four cops rushed into the room, guns raised. But they hadn’t shot Stanley, she realized. The shot had come from the kitchen window. Rafael stood there with a rifle in his hands. He’d been a sharpshooter, she remembered then. The cops had arrived a split second too late. If not for him, she would be dead. Or was she dead?

  Paramedics rushed in next. Two lifted Stanley onto a stretcher. Two others turned to her. One crouched down and examined her neck. “A piece of glass,” she heard him say to his partner.

  “That’s all it is, sweetheart,” he said to her.

  “I’m going to pull it out and bandage you up, okay?” the other one said.

  Everything went into slow motion. Stone and Kyle ran into the room. Stone lifted Pepper from the couch and carried her away from the blood and the dead man on the stretcher and into the kitchen. Kyle grabbed Violet and sat on the coffee table with her in his lap and reached out to Autumn. “I thought I lost you both,” Kyle said.

  “Autumn’s hurt,” Violet said, sounding dazed.

  “Not bad,” Autumn said. “Just a nick.”

  “It was Mel’s dad. He came for revenge,” Violet said.

  “Oh God. No.” Ky
le’s skin had turned green. He turned his head to look at the dead man on the stretcher. “Rafael killed him. He can’t hurt us now.”

  Cops ushered Kyle and Violet outside, leaving Autumn alone with the paramedics.

  Cops and paramedics seemed to be everywhere. They covered Stanley with a sheet and carried him away on the stretcher. She turned away, afraid she might be sick.

  The paramedics continued to work on her. She was too shocked and numb now to understand what they were doing, even though they talked her through each move. “Tugging the glass out now, sweetheart. Pressing this to the wound to stop the bleeding. Superficial cut, doll, nothing to worry over.”

  Autumn’s gaze darted around the room, searching for Trey. Where was he? She needed him. “Trey,” she whispered. “I need Trey.” Her voice rose in volume and pitch. “Can you get Trey for me?”

  The paramedic nodded. “You’re almost fixed up.” He taped a bandage to her neck. “All good. We can find your Trey now.”

  Suddenly, Trey was there. He knelt at her side in the blood and brains of the dead man. “I’m here. I’m here. They had questions for me. The police, that is.” He wrapped his arms around her legs and dropped his head into her lap. “Thank God you’re all right.”

  She stared at him, unable to focus. “They said it was a piece of glass.”

  Trey’s eyes were wet. “That’s right. The mirror shattered. That’s all. A piece cut your neck. When he tried to shoot you, he misfired and got the mirror.”

  She held up her hand to show him. “But there was so much blood.”

  “It’s a cut, but nothing serious.” She’d never seen him look pale before now. “The paramedics said you’re fine. You can come with me outside.”

  She’d started to shake violently. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “I’ll take you outside.” He sprang to his feet. She couldn’t look away from the blood that stuck to his skin and the hairs of his shins. Bile crept up from her stomach into the back of her throat.

  Trey lifted her in his arms and ran with her out to the patio and down the stairs, across the boardwalk to the sand. When they reached the edge of the incoming surf, he lowered her gently onto the sand. She knelt on her knees and vomited once, then again. All the while he held her hair and caressed her back.

  When she was done, she collapsed on the sand, too tired to move. The surf came and carried the remnants of her stomach away.

  She gasped for air as another wave came, splashing over her and Trey. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, yes. Fine now.”

  Trey stood and stumbled toward deeper water. She watched as he scrubbed his bare legs, her thoughts a tangled mess of questions. Did the blood darken the water? Were there sharks this close? Would they detect the smell of blood and come for Trey? No, they wouldn’t be this close to shore. The danger was over. The human shark was under a sheet. He wouldn’t be back to hurt them.

  Behind them, the sounds of additional sirens and shouts of the officers doing whatever it was they did in a situation like this were muffled by the cresting waves that crashed to shore. Flashing lights from the cop cars and ambulance lit the beach like strobe lights in a disco.

  Another wave washed over her bottom half. She stretched her legs out long and waited for the next rush of salt water. The sea she’d waited a lifetime to feel against her skin restored her. She’d known it would. Here in the darkness, with the first stars the only witness to her scars, she breathed in the briny scent and lifted her face to the heavens. She whispered a prayer of thanks. Thank you for my life. For my family and my friends. And for Trey.

  She realized then, too, that she’d lived in the shadows of her own life, hidden and ashamed. Coming close to death, she understood how much she wanted to live, not in the dim dusk but in the full light of day. Hiding simply because her outside appearance was flawed made a mockery of the life God had granted her. Our bodies were simply the vessels that carried our souls.

  Trey waded through the water toward her. Last night his hands and mouth had lovingly explored every inch of her. He’d asked for the light to remain on, but she’d said no. Again, shrouding herself. He loved her as she was, not how she wished to be.

  Trey loved her. He wanted to spend his life with her. Joy surged through her. She would have him by her side for the rest of her life, making a family and memories. He was her dream come true.

  Trey dropped beside her. The lights reflected in his eyes. “You okay?”

  “I think so.” She’d meant to sound strong, but traces of the earlier tremor remained.

  He put his arm around her waist and gathered her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and pressed herself into him. The heat of his body warmed her despite the cool night air and the frigid waters of the Pacific. They sat, motionless for a few more cycles of the ebbing sea, until the waves had stolen the fear and adrenaline, leaving her wrung out and chilled.

  “I thought I was going to die.” She touched the bandage on her neck. “I truly did. How did you know we were there?”

  “Nico and I were on the beach, talking about you and what a mess I’d made of everything. He talked me into walking up to your house to see if you’d cooled off so we could talk. When we got there, I saw the wine and your sandal and knew something was wrong. I think it was pure instinct that drove me to look in the window.”

  “I saw you. Later, Rafael.”

  “Nico called him, then the police. He and Stone were up at Rafael’s house. He grabbed his rifle and jumped in Stone’s truck. He said they drove here like a bat out of hell. Stone’s former experience driving a tank apparently paid off. I couldn’t believe how fast they got here.”

  A sudden thought took her breath away. “Will Rafael be in trouble with the police?”

  “Nah. They’re questioning him now, but it’ll be fine. This is a small town. It’s obvious what was happening.”

  “He’s the father of the psycho nanny,” she said. “It had nothing to do with my mom. Thank God.” Her voice cracked.

  He made a soothing noise and held her tighter. “It’s over now. You guys don’t have to worry any longer about any of that ever again. It’s time to move on from the past, once and for all.”

  “You and Nico were so quick and clever.”

  He chuckled. “For a couple of flaky artist types, we did pretty well. We knew Rafael and Stone were the ones to call.”

  “If you hadn’t come, we might have… A second later and it would’ve been too late.” She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. He continued to hold her tightly around the waist.

  “It’s going to take me some time to stop thinking about that,” he said. “If Nico hadn’t talked me into walking over to your house, we might not be having this conversation.”

  “You came for me, even though you weren’t sure how I would react. You’ve always been here for me, Trey, even when I was too scared to see it. When I think about the last year and all the times you’ve been right there to comfort me, encourage me. And then tonight—there you were again at just the right moment. I’m sorry it took me such a long time to realize that you could actually love me. It’s so obvious now. You’re the only man who ever asked me to dance.”

  “If I have my way, we’ll dance every night in our kitchen.”

  “Our kitchen. I like the sound of that,” she said.

  “I’m sorry about everything,” he said. “Please forgive me.”

  “Don’t be. You did what you thought you had to do to win my heart.”

  “I shouldn’t have lied to you. The whole thing spun out of control. I was torn between wanting to know more about you and doing what was right. Please tell me I haven’t killed any feelings of love you have for me.”

  The pain in his voice moved her to tears. She swiped at her wet cheeks with her frozen fingers as she spoke. “Nothing could kill how I feel about you. Not even a ridiculous idea by the Wolves to help their guy get his girl.” She laughed through her tears. �
�Dumb but sweet at the same time.”

  “No one ever said the scrappy Wolves of Cliffside Bay were the smartest guys ever born.”

  She laughed again. “You were smart enough to know how to save us.”

  “Dumb luck. Like finding you in the first place. I’m sorry I’m not the best at expressing myself.” He thumped his chest. “But it’s all in here. I’ll work to get better. For you I’d do anything.”

  “When I was sitting there with a gun pointed at me, it seemed ridiculous that I’d been mad at you for trying to love me. Nothing matters but us. We’re together now, like we’ve been from the start. The path that got us here doesn’t mean anything.”

  “It was wrong of me to use the information that came to me through your emails to manipulate you into swimming or letting your mom into your life. But the more I learned about what hurt you or what you were afraid of and what you wanted for your life, the more I wanted to give it to you. I’m sorry. So sorry. At the same time, you need to understand I’ll do whatever it takes to make your life better. I’m a guy, so sometimes how I go about things might not be exactly right. But I’ll never stop trying.”

  She swallowed against the lump in her throat. “Taking me swimming was exactly right. If you hadn’t pushed me, I’d still be hiding from you. You were right about something else, too. I did open up to Art in a way I couldn’t to you. There was such safety in writing to him because I didn’t think there was anything to lose. He was a stranger, or so I thought.” She nudged him in the ribs, playfully.

  He groaned and laid his chin on top of her head.

  “Being raw and honest makes the risk of losing someone you love greater,” she said. “Or so we think, anyway. I believe that’s why most people keep so much inside, even from the person they love the most. I’d like us to be different. If that means we write letters to each other sometimes, then I say we do just that.”

  “Like love letters?” he asked.