Chase arrived at his parents’ farm shortly before six thirty that evening. He was surprised to see that his father’s car wasn’t in its usual spot. Ethan had texted to let him know they were back while Chase was picking up pizza from the take-and-bake place, then Chase had called when he was five minutes out to let Ethan know he was clear to leave if he wanted. Chase didn’t want to have to explain to Beth what was going on, and he knew if they stuck around, he would.
Given the time, Chase had assumed his parents would be home before he got there. He felt a quick rush of concern and told himself he was overreacting, but at the same time, he knew he wouldn’t feel better until he’d set eyes on Annie.
As he parked, she came around the corner of the house, hose in hand, apparently having been watering some of the flowers that graced the landscape of the pool area separating the main house from the guesthouse. Even though her hair was pulled back in its usual style—held off her face by a clip—silky auburn curls sprung loose here and there.
She was dressed in worn denim shorts and a loose tank top, and as he watched, she pointed the hose in his direction and gave a quick squirt, the water falling short of his car by several feet. She grinned and pushed an errant curl back behind her ear, only to have the wind tug it loose again.
His heart turned over in his chest, and he knew then exactly how deep he was in. The idea that a monster could be bearing down on her was almost more than he could take. Shaking himself free from the fear, he grabbed the food and the folder with the lease and climbed out of the car.
Annie finished rolling up the hose and walked over to meet him. “Hey. Your parents called. They got held up at the office, but they’re on the way. You looked like you were lost in deep thought. Everything okay?”
“Sure. I hope it wasn’t anything serious with the folks.”
“I don’t think so, admin stuff and the like.”
Richard was a doctor with a small practice in Leroy, and Jackie was his office manager. It was an arrangement most married couples would have found too close, but somehow they made it work.
“Where’s the kid?” he asked as he followed Annie into the guesthouse.
She chuckled. “You know Joely’s twenty years old, right? She really isn’t a kid anymore. You have to get used to the idea sometime.”
Chase returned her smile with a sheepish grin. “I know, but she’s my baby sister. I’m a typical big brother—I’m not ready for her to grow up. She’ll probably always be a kid to me, even when we’re in our nineties.” He set the pizzas on the counter and tossed the file onto the small table in the eat-in kitchen.
Annie wagged her finger as she turned on the oven and unbagged the salads he had brought. “If she hears you say that, I hope she doesn’t have the same right hook Beth does. And to answer your question, she’s spending the night at Beth and Ethan’s. I’m surprised you didn’t pass them on the road.”
“You all had a good day, then?” He leaned against the counter to watch her move around the kitchen.
“Pretty good. I finished getting what I need for day-to-day living.” Her voice was deceptively casual as she unwrapped one of the pizzas. “So what’s going on that has you so upset?”
He froze. “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.”
Annie was incredulous. “Chase Hudson, I’m not some ditzy bimbo who can’t put two and two together. You called me and left a message, sounding frantic. Then you called Beth, and whatever you said to Ethan, he went on high alert.” When he frowned, she waved. “Oh, not like that. He got—hypervigilant, I guess. He kept it pretty casual, but it was obvious something was up. So what gives?”
As he started to answer, they heard Richard and Jackie heading across from the main house. “I’ll tell you later. I’d rather not get into it in front of Mom and Dad.”
“Okay, but you don’t leave here without telling me what’s going on, understand?”
“Cross my heart.” Chase went to open the door for his parents.
At Annie’s request, they got the paperwork for the lease out of the way first, then they sat down to eat. As the meal progressed, talk quickly turned to Richard and Jackie’s upcoming vacation. They were scheduled to leave the next morning for a river cruise of Europe and then the Mediterranean.
“I’m glad you’re still going,” Chase said after Richard expressed concern about missing so much work on top of his father’s funeral. “This will be the first real vacation the two of you have had without one or all of us kids along for the ride in over thirty years.”
He was surprised to see his mother blush at his words.
Richard sent Jackie a warm look. “We’re approaching it as a second honeymoon. And yes, as much as we love you kids, we’re eager to spend some time alone. This has been a tough year, and it’s time for a break.”
“You’re riding down to Louisville with Joely, right?” Annie asked.
Jackie nodded. “It made the most sense. She starts classes next week, and the drive will give us a chance to spend some one-on-one time with her. We’re spending the night in Louisville tomorrow and flying out early that next morning. Now, how we’ll get home from Louisville in a few weeks, I’m not sure.” She laughed at Chase’s exasperated groan and winked at Annie.
“Mom, we’ve told you—”
Jackie cut him off with a grin. “That was too easy. I’m joking. I’m fully aware that Beth and Ethan are planning on driving down to pick us up. Just don’t forget to check in on Daddy while we’re gone.”
“Especially on the weekends. I know,” Chase said. “Though Pops has been so busy lately with his lady friend I doubt he’ll even notice if we don’t. I would be surprised if there isn’t a wedding announcement in his future, the rate they’re going.”
Jackie scowled. “Richard Chase Hudson, hush your mouth. That’s not funny.”
He grinned. “That was too easy, Mom.”
She wadded up her napkin and threw it at him. “Annie, you’ll have to keep a close eye on this one. I shudder to think of what kind of trouble he could get into left to his own devices.”
Richard laughed. “The boy’s been living on his own for a number of years now. I think he’ll be fine. But I agree, Annie—you should keep a very close eye on him while we’re gone.”
Annie blinked, a pink flush climbing into her cheeks. “Umm… okay.” She turned to Jackie. “It must be interesting, to say the least, for you to see Sampson dating again at his age.”
“Mm-hmmm. That’s one way of putting it.” Jackie took a sip of tea and considered her words carefully. “Don’t get me wrong. I want Daddy to be happy. God knows the last few years Mom was alive were no picnic. Still, it’s a really weird feeling, seeing him with someone else, even though Mom has been gone for a while now.”
“I can understand that. Speaking of mothers, how is your mother doing, Dr. H.?” Annie asked.
Richard scowled, then sat back and crossed his arms. “Oh, she’s on a tear. I went by today at lunch to check on her. She pretty much told me to go to hell when I refused to cancel this vacation and stay in town to be at her beck and call. Queen Ethel was on full display. I shouldn’t say that,” he added, shamefaced.
Chase frowned. “Bull. It’s nothing less than the truth. After how she acted the day of the funeral, I don’t know if I could force myself to go see her unless she was sick and dying.”
“That’s pretty harsh, don’t you think?” Jackie admonished.
“Not particularly. Not after the things she said.”
“Do you think it’s the stress of losing J.R. that’s making her act like that?” Annie asked. She and Hannah had been filled in on the day’s events after everyone returned to the farm yesterday afternoon. She stood and started clearing the table, and Chase got up to help.
“No, unfortunately,” Jackie said. “That’s who Ethel is. If she ever has anything nice to say about this branch of the family, that’s when we should worry.”
Annie rested her hand on the handle of the fridge. “That’s so sad. Family shouldn’t be like that, and I’m sorry she is. Moving on, I have a Brown Bag blueberry cheesecake. Who wants a piece?”
“Me!”
Everyone laughed when Chase raised both arms straight up and waved his hands. His weakness for cheesecake was well known.
“None for us, honey, but thanks. We’ve got to scoot and get ready for tomorrow,” Jackie said as she and Richard stood. “I’m only half packed, and this guy still has a ton of paperwork to get through.”
“We’ll probably see you in the morning before we leave.” Richard gave Annie a quick hug before they made their way to the door.
“I’ll walk you out,” Chase said.
When Chase returned, all the stress from the day came with him. Even seeing the large piece of blueberry cheesecake Annie had cut for him didn’t do much to improve his mood.
“Okay, now I’m really worried,” she said as they took their plates to the couch. “It’s pretty bad then?”
He nodded but didn’t speak, taking a large bite of cheesecake instead. He held the dessert in his mouth for a minute before he swallowed. It tasted like sawdust. “Do you have any beer?”
“In the fridge. I’ll take one too.”
He got up to fetch a couple of bottles, then came back. Before he sat down, he pulled a couple sheets of folded paper out of his back pocket. “I received a card at the office today. This is a copy of the letter that was inside.” He handed it to her but hesitated before letting it go. “It’s pretty graphic.”
“Who’s it from?” Annie set her plate on the coffee table and took the paper.
“Remember my girlfriend who was murdered when I was in law school? Apparently it’s from the man who killed her.”
As she read the words the killer had written, Chase saw her swallow. He set down his own plate and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
When she finished reading, she handed the letter back to him. “You called the cops, right? Gordon, Ethan? Someone?”
“Of course. I called Gordon, and he called Stacy. She came over and got everything, took it down to Louisville for processing. I made the copy before she got there.”
“That’s a page out of Beth’s book,” Annie said seriously. “She’d be proud of you.”
Chase gave her a half smile. “It’s easier to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission. I didn’t think Stacy would object to me copying the letter, but I didn’t want to take a chance. I snapped a picture of it with my phone and printed it out before I left the office.” He fell silent, gazing at the label on the bottle of beer.
“God, I’m sorry. Surely what he says in that letter, it isn’t true. About Kiely.”
He scoffed bitterly. “I have the feeling every bit of it is true.” He stood and paced around the room, restless and angry.
“Why do you say that?”
He took a long swallow of beer, then finally, he sighed. “All these years, I’ve never told anyone this. Not anyone outside the investigation anyhow, and even then, not in gory detail. It didn’t seem right to tell anyone, to blacken Kiely’s memory. There wasn’t any point to it, not when the truth would cause more pain than good.” He kept his gaze on the bottle in his hands, picking at the label as he spoke.
“Okay. You know you can tell me anything, right? Or if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine too.”
This time, his smile felt less rigid. “I do know that. As for Kiely… you’re aware that she was killed right after school started back. What most people don’t know is that we’d pretty much broken up that spring. I’d been offered an internship with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office down there over the summer, and she wanted me to go home to Ashland with her. I chose the internship instead.”
Annie frowned. “Surely you don’t feel guilty about that. You were barely even in law school then, weren’t you? For you to have been offered that internship at that age, that early in the game—you’d have been stupid not to take it.”
“I’d finished my first semester. I was about a year ahead of my class.” His laugh was hard. “We always have a choice. Good, bad, or ugly, I don’t regret making the decision I did. Not after everything else that happened.” He paused when thunder rolled in the distance.
She sent him a soft smile. “This house has a screened-in porch, you know. Want to go out back and sit? Watch the storm roll in? You look like you could use a diversion.”
“You have no idea. Sure, storm watching sounds good.” He picked up the plates off the coffee table and carried them to the counter. When he turned toward the hall that led to the back porch, Annie was waiting, hand outstretched.
“Come on, friend. Let’s go watch the storm, and you can finish your story.”
“Are you sure you want me to?” He took her hand and followed close behind her down the hall.
As soon as she opened the door, the wind rushed in with the smell of ozone. He took in a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs and calm him. They settled in on the glider lounge, and he took a minute to relax. Annie angled her body toward his and rested her head on her hand, watching him enjoy the storm.
When Chase saw what she was doing, he shifted self-consciously. “I like storms. The tempest, the violence, and then the calm.”
She touched his arm lightly. “I know. So back to that summer… you broke up because of the internship. Then what?”
“Then she came back for the fall semester. She was hell-bent determined to make up with me. We did, then we had another fight. Then she died.” The wind picked up as he said the last sentence, and Chase raised his face into it, letting it wash over him. “When they found her, they discovered that she was two months pregnant.”
Annie sucked in a sharp breath, then laid a hand over his and squeezed. “Oh, my God. Chase, no. I’m so, so sorry.”
He squeezed back. “Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t mine. We were never intimate.” He felt the surprise that jolted through her body. “Apparently she’d hooked back up with her high-school sweetheart over the summer. He was going to marry someone else, and when she told him she was pregnant, he didn’t care. It didn’t stop his plans. She knew her father would marry her off to the first man he could find who was willing to take her, and I guess I didn’t seem like such a bad prospect after all.”
Annie didn’t speak, only tightened her grasp on his hand and laid her head against his shoulder.
He continued. “See, Kiely’s family never liked me. I wasn’t one of them, wasn’t from the hills. They knew I’d take her away from them, bring her here, and they didn’t want that. They were big-time coal operators, and her leaving home didn’t fit with their plans to build a mountain empire.
“After they found her body, they blamed me, suspected I had something to do with her death. So her sister, Amy Lynn, was all too glad to tell me exactly what they thought of me and what Kiely’s motives were in coming back to me that fall. She was going to get me into bed as soon as she could, then ‘discover’ the pregnancy soon after. She knew how I felt about family and responsibility, and she knew I’d think the baby was mine. By the time I found out otherwise, it would be too late. They came up with that little scheme when the baby’s father refused to marry her.”
A large clap of thunder sounded, seeming to punctuate his words. Annie jumped, and he tucked an arm around her as the storm began in earnest. For several minutes, they watched the rain blow around the house.
“When did you find out she was pregnant?” she asked.
He crossed his right ankle over his left knee and scratched at a mosquito bite. “When the investigators asked me about it. Then later I had an argument with Amy Lynn. That’s when it all came out… what Kiely didn’t count on was that I’d started having doubts over the summer. I had Mom and Dad as an example of how a couple should work. I’d also been a really geeky, awkward kid, and I didn’t have any confidence in myself. Kiely was my first serious girlfriend. I didn’t want to jump in and move too fast.”
Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and moved his arm back to his lap. “I wanted our relationship to be about more than sex, and when Kiely came back, there was something different about her. Something harder, edgier. It hadn’t been there before. I guess it set off a warning signal inside me somewhere. It definitely made me uncomfortable. When she started using every trick in the book to get me in bed, it left me cold. I knew she was up to something. I just didn’t know what.”
Annie was quiet for several minutes. “I’m torn.” Her voice was soft, but he heard the anger threading through it.
“Torn how?”
She looked away, toward the field and barn beyond. “Because I’ve known women like that, women who use men. They make me sick. They think the world exists to serve them. And that Kiely did that to you? Your first experience with women was her?” She blew out a breath. “It hurts. You’re too good for her. I hope this doesn’t upset you too much, but if she were here right now, I’d slap her upside the head.”
Chase didn’t say anything. He just wrapped his arms around her and held on for a long minute. Before he pulled back, he kissed the top of her head. “Thank you. I needed that. You don’t know how much.”
She ducked her head. “Glad to oblige. So this letter you got today… I guess it’s the real deal then. What does it mean? Are Beth and I really in danger?”
“Yes, I think so. You should be extremely concerned, especially since you’re going to be out here on the farm by yourself. I don’t like that. I wish we’d considered that sooner.” He met her gaze in the moonlight that was peeking through the clouds now that the storm had passed. “Come stay with me, at least until Mom and Dad get back from vacation.”
“I can’t do that. You know I can’t. And there’s no way you could have known this would happen, so stop playing the blame game.”
He scowled. “Why can’t you come stay at my place? How else am I going to know you’re safe?”
She smiled. “Where would I sleep? You only have one bed, and we’ve already been through the whole ‘sleeping on the couch’ discussion.”
Chase decided to throw his cards on the table. “I don’t have a problem with sharing the bed.”
She stood, arms crossed, and walked over to the porch railing. “Well, maybe I do. We’re friends—good friends, the kind of friendship that doesn’t come along that often. I don’t want to risk that on… on something that might not happen or might not work out.” Agitated, she peered out over the small yard and said softly, “You mean too much to me. I can’t lose you.”
He swallowed down the anxiety his admission had caused. “That’s exactly why I need to know you’re safe—because you mean so much to me.”
“Chase…”
“Fine. Then I can come here for a few weeks. At least until Mom and Dad get home and you aren’t so isolated. I can stay in the big house.”
She shot him an incredulous look. “Aren’t you forgetting something—or someone, as the case may be?”
“No, I don’t think so. Who?”
“Murphy? Ten pounds of pure love and destructive willfulness? What are you going to do with him for three weeks while you’re out here?”
“I’ll bring him with me.” When she shook her head, he growled with frustration. “What? What’s wrong with that plan?”
“Have you forgotten how he acts when he’s someplace new and you abandon him? He would do fine until you left for work the first day, then it would be complete and utter devastation. Your mother’s curtains, her antiques, the carpet—I don’t even want to think about what all he could do in a day. She’d kill you and me both when she got home.”
Groaning, he raked his hands through his hair. “Danged troublemaker. He would, wouldn’t he?”
“Oh, honey. It would be cheaper to hire a bodyguard,” Annie said, completely serious.
“Then what do you suggest we do? Doesn’t it worry you, what this guy said in his letter? It worries the hell out of me.” He moved to stand beside her at the railing.
Annie leaned against one of the support posts. “Of course it worries me, but I’m twenty-eight years old. I haven’t made it this far on my own without being at least halfway cautious.”
“To my knowledge, you’ve never had a serial killer watching you either. You do remember that they suspect this guy of several murders, right?” Chase braced his hands on the railing in front of him. “Gordon thinks this guy has killed at least eight women, not counting Kiely. He hasn’t been merciful about it either. Don’t you understand that I can’t sit back and wait for him to do that to you?”
Their gazes locked, and for a long moment, neither spoke.
She looked away first. “Fair point. What do you want me to do?”
He gave himself a minute to regain his emotional balance. “Any chance you would consider moving into the big house until Mom and Dad get back?”
Annie shook her head. “I’m not comfortable doing that.”
“What if we had a security system installed here? And you could get a gun. That would probably be a step in the right direction too.”
“Absolutely no way on the gun. I hate the things. As to the security system, maybe. It depends on what your parents say. I’d pay for it, but how would you explain the need without freaking them out?”
He spread his hands. “That’s the easy part. A lot of people know they’ll be out of town. Not everyone knows yet that you’re going to be here. Mom and Dad know you don’t like guns, so the idea of adding a security system actually makes sense. They have one for the house, and they’ve talked about getting one for this place in the past but have never gotten around to it for one reason or another. It shouldn’t be a hard sell at all.”
“I hate to ask them to do that, what with having just moved in and them getting ready to leave tomorrow.”
“If you’re okay with the idea, I’ll stop by and talk to them on my way home tonight. I can act on their behalf for the installation if that makes you feel better. Okay?”
Throwing her hands up in defeat, she gave in. “Okay. But I’m paying for it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Chase wasn’t about to argue. That was a battle he could leave up to Annie and his parents to fight. With the storm over, literally and figuratively, he was exhausted. Straightening, he stretched his arms up over his head, grunting as his back popped. “I’d better head out. It’s been a long day. A long week, as far as that goes.”
“That’s the truth.” She followed him back through the house. “I’d rather not have to go through anything like this week again, if it’s all the same to God and the universe.”
Chase scoffed around a yawn. “Unfortunately, it isn’t up to us. Oh, by the way, I’m supposed to get everyone together tomorrow at Beth and Ethan’s around seven. You game?”
“Sure. I can meet you there.”
He hesitated with his hand on the front doorknob. “You know it will take a few days to get the security system installed. What are we going to do in the interim?”
“Oh, geez.”
When she ran a hand across the back of her neck and rolled her shoulders, he was tempted to offer her a neck rub. He held off, however, thinking he had probably pushed things far enough for one night.
“Bring Murphy over tomorrow night after work. Bring his big dog crate, and we can leave him in there while we’re at Beth’s. He should be okay for a couple of hours if he gets some extra attention later,” she said. “You guys can stay with me here. But you will pick up after yourself, and you’re sleeping on the couch, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say, ma’am.” He saluted her and grinned.
She narrowed her eyes as he walked out onto the porch. “And no sassing me, mister. Oh, and one more thing.” She waited until he turned around to face her. “Murphy can share the bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
While he was still trying to pick his jaw up off the porch, she shut the door. The clicking of the lock snapped him out of his surprise.
“I’ll be hanged,” he muttered, a wide grin spreading as he headed next door. “I never thought I’d be jealous of a cat.”