The gun was heavy in my hand. Garth stood 3 feet from me, his expression perfectly cold. The lights inside the house flashed and the siren blared. I could hear Levi's screaming and had no way to go to him.
And no Jeb.
God please let Jeb be all right. Please. Please, God....
Garth started to reach out his hand for the gun and I stepped back and pointed it into kitchen island and tried to shoot off a warning shot.
When he realized it hadn't worked, he dove for me.
I turned and forgot to kick.
Safeties. Safeties! Pull the slide!
As he pulled at my shirt and my hair, I fumbled with gun. Then I spun back to face him. And before I even knew what I was doing - I pulled the trigger.
The 'crack-snap' sound made us both jump.
With a howl, Garth dropped against the counter-top. I watched in horror as his Polo shirt darkened on his side. Blood.
He turned to face me, his face mottled with fury. Shouting, he staggered towards me while screaming epithets about everything from my breasts to my use in this world.
Shaking, I lifted the gun and aimed for his chest. Maybe 6 feet? I wasn't gonna miss. Oh, Lord, please don't let me kill him. I squinted and put my finger back on the trigger.
Then the alarm went silent.
For a split-second, all I could hear was us two, panting as we stared at each other.
"Alice," Jeb called over Levi's cries.
My heart flipped and I looked up. "Oh, thank heavens!"
"We're OK," He was standing in the doorway with Levi in his arms. There was blood dripping down his face.
"What happened to your head?!"
"It's fine. Alice, I want you to keep aimed on Garth but step back farther from his reach. Carefully."
I took a few shuffles backward and then walked around the kitchen island until I was standing between Garth and Jeb and Levi. I could see red and blue lights out the front door.
"Police are here," Jeb exhaled with relief. "Front door should be unlocked..."
"Fuck the door, you're bleeding!"
"It will be all right," Jeb said firmly.
Garth grunted and slid to the kitchen floor. I slowly lowered the gun.
"No, raise it, Alice. Over your head. Now!"
I held up my hands just as the police came through the door. I could feel my elbows shaking and the gun rattling in my fingers.
"It's OK," Jeb promised.
"No it's not," I couldn't catch my breath. Now my whole body was convulsing; it was hard to stay upright.
"We're right here. We're OK. Breathe, Alice. Just breathe."
The first officer through the door took the Glock from my fingers and engaged the safety.
"The intruder is over there, my wife winged him," Jeb explained. He reached for me and I almost tripped the dozen feet to his side.
His other arm came round me so hard, pressing me and Levi to his chest.
"Jeb!" A third officer came rushing in. She stopped and looked at him. "I was just getting off duty when the call came in! Let me call an ambulance..."
"Already done," another officer called.
I took Levi into my arms and he buried his wet face in my shoulder. The weight of him steadied me. "Jeb," I urged. "Sit down, please. Before you fall."
The female officer helped him to the chair. "I'm Tanya," she introduced herself. "Kyra's roommate. You must be Alice and Levi."
Kyra's roommate? I lifted my eyebrows but kept soothing Levi.
"I woke up when you left the bed," Jeb reached for me and put a hand on my hip. "The next thing I knew, someone hit me with... something..."
"Louisville Slugger," another officer called from the bedroom.
"I must of blacked out for a bit. I don't know why the door alarm didn't go off but the IFTTT panic button worked great once I could roll over and get my phone."
The ambulances arrived and they loaded Jeb up. I carried Levi into the back with him, daring anyone to say anything.
No one did.
"I've suggested a loyalty card program to the hospital," Jay said as he entered our emergency department bay just after we arrived. "You two will be our test cases. One more visit this month and you get a gift certificate for an Edible Arrangement."
Jeb reached up and pounded his brother's fist. Like this was funny. I wanted to smack them.
A trim, elegant woman walked in and Jay immediately made introductions. "Mamá, this is Alicia. Alice, this is my mother-in-law Bettina. She's helping with our boys tonight because Queenie's short staffed. She has offered to take Levi back to my place so he can sleep with his cousins."
"Thank you," I looked down at Levi, who was clinging to my shirt and fighting sleep. I stroked his chubby cheek and decided it would probably be best. He knew we were all OK, now.
I handed him over regretfully and he didn't fight me. Bettina smiled down at Levi and then turned to Jay. "He looks good. You are doing well. Recover quickly."
"Si, Mamá," Jeb agreed quickly.
Then she gave me a long, appraising, look and turned back to Jay. "Give her a robe, at least."
"Si, Mamá," Jay echoed immediately.
She swept out of the bay with Levi.
I looked down and realized that Levi had wet my shirt so much that my nipples were obvious through the t-shirt. I crossed my arms with embarrassment.
Jeb laughed and then grabbed his head and winced. I reached out my hand and he grabbed it, weaving our fingers together and squeezing.
Jay pulled a hospital gown out of a cabinet and handed it to me without looking. I pulled it over my shirt gratefully then put my hand back in Jeb's. It was like the physical connection between us overrode all the other signals my body was getting. I could still feel the shock and exhaustion pressing but it felt farther away.
A pair of police officers arrived in our bay next. They talked to us for a while, getting information like the PIN on the Scout security system Jeb had. He also walked them through the process to access the footage from the Nest cameras.
I stayed quiet throughout the whole interview. No one was asking me anything. The senior officer's eyes were looking straight straight at Jeb. I couldn't be sure what he was thinking.
I wanted to know about Garth. I wanted to say I had no choice even though my heart was squeezing with guilt from pulling the trigger.
The more I listened, the more I couldn't believe it all.
The first officer finally turned to me and gave a long sigh.
"What?" I demanded.
"The neighbors across the street from the Scott Farm called us just around the same time as Jeb sounded the house alarm. A car was idling in the driveway for some time and they suspected that someone was breaking into the farmhouse. Just lucky the woman had insomnia and happened to be looking. We did a drive-by and ran the plate. Rental car...."
"It was all the way at the farmhouse?" It would have been a long, long walk through very dark land to get to the Jeb's cabin. Had Garth done that? Had he stalked us over those acres? Perhaps using his phone as a flashlight?
My insides shivered. Garth was a hunter. And now I realized I'd been the prey. And who had helped? Lonnie...?
"Alice," the officer looked at me, not unkindly. "It was your mother behind the wheel."
I think I started crying simply out of reflex. Jeb put his arm around me and I dropped my head onto his chest, practically climbing onto his hospital bed. He stroked my hair and said soothing things in his deep voice.
Finally, I rubbed away the tears and sat back up. Perched on the bed and wishing I could run.
The officer asked me the basics and I walked him through. I blushed when I admitted to having been in Jeb's bed though no one else seemed to think it odd. The officer was confused why I walked across the entire house to use the bathroom.
"My stuff is there," I explained.
"Like...special toilet paper?"
"No!" I scrunched my face trying to decide how to explain.
"It's her bathroom," Jeb said softly. "Levi and I use the other one. Just habit."
"Whatever," the officer made note. My fingerprints were already on file but I got scared thinking about being investigated.
Like he could read my mind, the other officer gave me a sympathetic smile. "This is a 'stand your ground' state. You had the right to protect yourself."
"I'm proud of you," Jeb added.
It was dawn by the time everyone left us alone. After they taped together the broken skin on his temple, Jeb was moved to a regular room for observation. When the nurse left, he patted the mattress. I shook my head but his light eyes were hard and stubborn.
I surrendered, climbing in next to him. He wrapped me close and dropped a few kisses on my fingertips. We both drifted off to sleep.
I don't know what time it was when Jeb shook me awake. But Ari was staring at me from the plastic chair.
"What?" I sat up in shock. "Ari?"
"Good morning," Ari stood. "There's a private plane waiting, Alice. How quickly can you be ready to go? I assume your wallet and things are at that lovely house I saw earlier? Industrial modern on the farm?"
Behind me, Jeb chuckled. "Industrial cheap is more like it but yeah, that's the one."
"What you did with that reclaimed wood is inspirational."
"Thanks."
"Hello?" I clutched at Jeb. "Enough patio talk. I'm not going anywhere."
"You're not staying here. You father thinks this has gone on long enough," Ari flipped the cover over his phone. "Until the police can get this under control, you should be far, far away. I mean, what's next? Drone attack? Think of the child. I've told the pilot we'll be there in under two hours."
"Think of the child? Levi? He wasn't harmed, right?"
"Shhhh, he's fine," Jeb promised.
"Good. Then tell Dad..."
"Tell Dad, what?" My father walked into the room with a guy I didn't know behind him. He looked like a fire hydrant with a head.
"You're here?" I leaned back against Jeb in surprise.
"Yes. You must be Jeb Scott. I'm George St. Georges. Please call me San," he held out his hand.
Awkwardly from his position on the bed, Jeb shook it.
"I apologize for..."
"Dad, no..." I winced.
"I apologize for my ex-wife," Dad surprised me. "She and I married very young but even then, I knew her opinions and views were off-center. Her second husband is even worse. I think it is probably in everyone's best interest if we get Alicia safely away from the situation."
"I'm not going."
"The church has already begun to spin this as Garth being a victim."
"WHAT!?"
Jeb struggled and sat up. I put my right arm against his back to help steady him. "Have the police made a statement?"
"Later this morning. I've spoken with the governor. Alicia will be exonerated on the facts..."
"So..."
"Alicia," my dad turned to me. "I know that the people at that church are mostly good folks. They worship, they educate their children, they feed the hungry and they've got a dang good musical program. If you'd grown up there as just another daughter of another family, it would have been fine. That's why I never said anything. But...this family she married into, Ali-bear. They are certifiably insane. And it's like your mother drank some kool-aid and forgot that you were more important."
I bit my lip. He'd never spoken like this to me.
"And with so many people in that congregation," he continued. "And so much loyalty...and this Lonnie still on the loose? Just get on the plane with us. Please."
"I can't, Dad. I have a job! I have Levi! I have a whole life! God, my job! I have to call Paul..."
"I'm sure he's seen the news," Jeb pointed out.
"What will the parents say?!"
"Weren't you leaving in a few weeks, anyway?" Ari demanded.
I leaned back, stunned. Every single day at the cabin as Jeb's wife and Levi's stepmom had felt so precious that it almost hurt to hear Ari clump the 20 we had left and toss them away like nothing.
"Alice," Jeb sought my eyes. "They're right."
"No, no...Jeb...I promise...I..." The pain and frustration crashed back into me.
"Stop. You aren't responsible for what Garth did. This is about making you safe. That's part of why we got married, remember. Taking care of each other; me for you, you for Levi?"
"I don't need you to take care of me."
He was silent for a long moment. Ari started to say something but Jeb put up a hand to silence him.
"You're right," he put his hand on my jaw and stroked my chin with his thumb. I closed my eyes for a moment and gave in to the comfort. "When was the last time you truly felt safe? Like you could trust people? Relax and be yourself? That road trip with Katie?"
"Right now," I disagreed. 'I trust YOU."
The corner of his mouth twitched in a smile. "Before me."
"Probably the road trip. Sometimes at the dorm before..."
"Right. So I want you to imagine a world in which you always feel safe. Right here, whether at the park with Levi or at the drive-in...I agree with Queenie. She thinks there's more to it than just Lonnie being obsessed. But even if that's exactly what it is, there's a ground war to be won. Lonnie will be found guilty and put in jail for at least a couple of years. Garth can't wiggle his way out of this one for long, either. What matters is you, Alice. We gotta stop this."
I refused to smile. "But when would I come back?"
"You'll come back for the trial. You'll come back."
"Promise," I held him close.
Jeb kissed my forehead. "I promise. Don't worry about anything."
"Says the guy with the concussion," I quipped.
He kissed me, right in front of my father.
Two hours later, I was boarding a private plane to California.
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I am averaging a chapter a day which is wow. We're rolling to the end. If you like the story - please vote. And if you'd something in the story or if you want to see something happen - please let me know with a comment! --->
:) /bella