Christmas Day
Birmingham, 6:15 a.m.
Jess opened her eyes. Her heart beat faster as Dan’s face came into focus. She’d been dreaming about the farmhouse... and the fire. Remembered fear quaked through her.
Dan was still asleep. She should go before he woke. She realized this but her body refused to obey. She wanted to look at him for just a minute more. She knew every single detail... but there were small changes since the last time she’d seen him. A line or two here or there. Mostly he was just as handsome as before, maybe more so.
Memories flooded her and tears brimmed on her lashes. They had been inseparable in high school and in college. Had made so many plans. They’d had their whole lives mapped out.
But those dreams had died as surely as those women had died in that farmhouse. No one had come to rescue them in time.
Marie Duncan had survived. Gant had called Jess on the way here to let her know Marie would recover. Marie hadn’t cared whether she survived or not, only that her sister got the help she needed. If you had a sister you would understand... I can’t leave her... I won’t leave her.
When had Jess forgotten how important family was? When had work become her only priority? She’d sacrificed too much.
Even him.
She resisted the urge to reach out and touch Dan. Just looking at him made her yearn for things that would never be.
More memories washed over her. The shouting. Him telling her he was leaving. Her daring him to go. If you don’t love me any more than that, just go!
She’d come home from work the next day and he was gone. Part of her had refused to believe he would stay away... but she’d been wrong.
For months after that she had argued with herself about who did what and who was right. The truth was she and Dan had fallen apart while they weren’t looking. Both of them had been so busy with school and work, there just hadn’t been time to notice the slow, steady disintegration. Their future plans had continued as if simply saying they were moving ahead with the wedding would somehow hold them together.
Pretending hadn’t been enough.
He had left her. Anguish twisted her heart. Dan had left her all alone to the life they had planned together for years.
What in the world was she doing here?
There was no going back for either of them. She couldn’t undo the past any more than he could.
She had achieved the position she’d hoped for... the one she’d spent her entire career to date striving toward. That was her life now. His life was here. He wouldn’t want to change his life anymore than she would.
But there were some mistakes she could make sure she never repeated. She was never going to take her sister for granted again. Not for a second.
Moving carefully so as not to wake him, she eased out of the bed. She gathered her scattered clothes and hastily dressed. The bruises on her knees and abdomen, not to mention her throat, were an even uglier shade of blue and green today. Her wrists were scraped and burned from struggling with the ropes. She glanced in the mirror and winced. She looked a fright. But she was alive. Maybe more so than she had been in a long time.
At the bedroom door she paused. She shouldn’t look back. It wasn’t smart. Still she looked. The white pillowcase looked stark beneath his dark hair. She closed her eyes and savored the smell of him one last time... and the lingering scent of their lovemaking.
Time to go.
She turned away.
Lily and her family were waiting.
It was Christmas.
The sound of the door closing woke Dan. He sat up, stared at the empty place on the bed next to him.
She was gone.
His heart sank and all the hope he’d dared to feel died, taking a piece of him with it. He picked up the pillow she’d slept on and hugged it to his chest, closed his eyes and inhaled her sweet scent.
He wished he had known the right words to make her stay. He’d been wrong to leave the way he had all those years ago. The truth was he’d been terrified. No matter how hard he tried he never measured up to her. Not that she kept score, but he did.
His ego had caused him to make the biggest mistake of his life.
But she had kept moving forward without him. She’d achieved her dreams. Something he hadn’t been able to do, not entirely anyway. Two failed marriages attested to that sad fact.
Ultimately that was the trouble between him and Jess. He opened his eyes and exhaled a big breath. There was no keeping her here. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her she’d informed him that she had a plan.
No force on earth was going to stop her from following her dream and making it a reality.
Nothing wrong with that... except it didn’t include him.
Or maybe he just hadn’t been able to keep up.
Lakefront Trail, Bessemer, 8:15 a.m.
As promised, Lil had left the front door unlocked for Jess. She slipped in, gifts for the kids under each arm. Lil, Blake, and their children were in the family room gathered around the Christmas tree. Torn wrapping paper and bows were scattered all over the floor.
Jess grinned. “Merry Christmas!”
Lil looked up. The happiness that beamed from her face squeezed Jess’s heart.
“Jess!” Lil jumped up and rushed to hug her. “You’re here! I can’t believe it!”
Alice and Blake junior ran over to get their gifts and to welcome their Aunt Jess. Blake senior got a hug in too.
Jess tried her best not to cry but after what happened in Ruckersville and then last night with Dan it was difficult. She joined the family around the tree. Watching made her breath catch. They were so happy. Lil was such a good mother.
Some errant brain cell had Jess wondering if she had come back with Dan ten years ago, would they have all this by now? The house, the kids?
No looking back.
“Hey!” Blake junior shouted. “It’s snowing!”
They all hurried to the window and watched the falling snow. The white stuff was no novelty in Virginia, but here it was a special treat.
It was good to be with family for Christmas.
Jess wondered if Dan was watching the falling snow too. For just one second she wished he were here.
Only because it was Christmas.
Don’t miss the first in the brand new spin-off series, the Faces of Evil: Private Eyes! DARK WHISPERS is coming in September 2016 only from Debra Webb and Harlequin Intrigue! Get your copy wherever books are sold!
Read all the Faces of Evil books in the original series!
OBSESSION
IMPULSE
POWER
RAGE
REVENGE
RUTHLESS
VICIOUS
SILENCE (A series prequel)
The Face of Evil (A short story)
VILE
HEINOUS
DEPRAVED
The Wedding (A short story)
The Dying Room (A Faces of Evil Novel)