“Mitch is fine,” Zach said for the fourth time in the past hour. He’d done a little more digging, called in a favor and found out that Isaac was being treated at Broward County General Hospital. They had been waiting for news all night, and finally learned that Isaac was out of surgery and in stable condition, and Zach had been working on getting him transferred to nearby Dawson Memorial Hospital.
Kimberly crossed the room again, making sure to keep a calm demeanor as the babies happily played with their toys in the corner, blissfully unaware of the day’s events.
She noticed that Aaron liked objects of all kinds and pretty much everything went in his mouth. Rea wasn’t much different except she seemed to delight in books of all sizes and shapes.
Her daughter especially seemed to love one about animals that had fur-like substance on the dog page and other touchy-feely animals. She cooed in delight and chatted in baby talk as she patted a page. Being with her children gave Kimberly strength and focus. She was starting to see a life with them in some way. She had no idea what that might look like just yet but she had to figure out a way to be with them again.
Life without her family made her feel like she was dead already.
Zach’s desk phone rang. Marybeth’s voice came over his intercom.
“It’s Deputy Talisman from Hatch, New Mexico,” she said.
Fear struck like stray voltage. Why would he be calling? How would he know where she was?
Zach glanced at Kimberly before walking over and picking up the phone.
After a perfunctory greeting, he said, “Would you mind repeating the name one more time?”
Kimberly prepared herself for what would come next, the same look of condemnation she’d experienced growing up. The judgment. The rejection.
She steeled herself against the pain that would come because she cared what the Kent and McWilliams families thought about her. Her gaze bounced from the door to the twins.
Amy must’ve been watching because she came over and sat down, taking Kimberly’s hand in hers for comfort.
Zach said, “I see,” a few times into the receiver.
Every time he spoke, the knot inside Kimberly’s stomach tightened. Her fate was sealed and it frustrated her that everything in her life could be taken away again with the click of handcuffs.
Everything but her mind and her willpower, a little voice inside her said. Give up hope and she might as well be dead.
Zach ended the call and she took in a sharp breath.
Instead of talking, he leaned back in his chair. His gaze fixed on a spot on the opposite wall.
“What is it?” Amy asked. “What did the deputy say?”
“I’m pretty certain that I was just threatened,” Zach admitted. There was a mix of surprise and anger in his voice.
“Threatened?” Amy repeated, like there was no way it could be true.
“I should probably be shocked,” Kimberly said. She wasn’t. “You know who I am.” Although, in her mind she’d left the past behind and was Kimberly Kent, not Lily Grable. “The question is what are you going to do about it?”
“About you?” he asked. “Nothing. I told Talisman that I haven’t seen you. But I have every intention of doing something about him.” He turned to face Kimberly. “Tell me what happened in Hatch.”
She filled him in on the way she’d been interrogated by Talisman following her foster father’s murder.
“I’ve been in trouble with the law before.” She was prepared for judgment and was surprised when she got sympathy instead. “For the record, I was a kid acting out. I’m not that person anymore. Although, there are people who would say a leopard never changes its spots.”
Amy patted her hand. “It’s brave of you to admit your mistakes to us.”
Kimberly’s heart nearly burst. She’d experienced that kind of acceptance only with the Bristols.
“You’re family,” Zach said. “You’re one of us now. And a leopard’s spots do change from adolescence to adulthood.”
Those beautiful words sounded so natural coming out of his mouth. It convinced her that he believed them as much as she wanted to.
But she didn’t want to put him in a bad position. “I know you can’t harbor a fugitive.”
“The deputy said that you skipped out of town before he could complete an investigation. All he said was that he’d like to talk to you if you showed up in town,” Zach said. “He hasn’t issued a warrant and was careful not to give away too much information.”
“I don’t understand the threat,” Amy interjected.
“He said that I should be careful with this case. That it was complicated and could come back on me otherwise,” he stated. “Those were his exact words.”
What did that mean for Mitch and Isaac?
Before she could mount another plea for Zach to make another call to Sheriff Bogart, Mitch’s athletic frame filled the doorway. She didn’t think about her next actions; she just ran to him. He caught her in his arms and held her tightly against his chest.
For a long moment there were no words. Her eyes welled with tears—a surprising well had sprung in the last hour she’d spent waiting for news about Mitch.
Mitch tipped her chin up.
“It’s okay. I’m here.” That strong male voice of his reverberated down her neck, arms and spine.
“I was scared something had happen to you.” She blinked away the tears blurring her vision and zeroed in on a large piece of gauze taped to his forehead. “What happened?”
“It’s a scrape. Treated and released at the scene of the accident.” His voice, his confidence, was so reassuring. She’d been a mess since this whole ordeal had begun and she wanted to wrap herself in a blanket of his confidence that everything would magically work out. It was a childish fantasy. “The Jeep rolled and I took a hit from Isaac’s toolbox that got knocked loose.”
Mitch shifted gears, focusing on Zach. “Any word on Isaac?”
“He’s at Broward County General in stable condition,” Zach informed him. “I’m working on a transfer.”
Mitch kept his arms around Kimberly. He didn’t seem to mind the quizzical glances from Amy and Zach. Joyce sat on the floor, playing with the children, and Zach invited Mitch to sit down.
He held tightly to Kimberly as he made his way over to the leather sofa. He made an attempt to bend down to comfort Rea but he winced with the movement and Kimberly realized he was downplaying his injuries.
“I can get her for you,” Kimberly offered.
Mitch nodded as he eased onto the sofa. He was most likely still shaken up, and nothing more. He’d be fine once he knew Isaac was headed home.
“A deputy drove me over. I would’ve called to let you know we were on the way but he kept my cell until he parked out front. Marybeth signed the paperwork and then shooed him away the minute I’d been handed over. I’m technically in protective custody, pending a grand-jury investigation into the case,” Mitch said as he locked gazes with Zach. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”
“The charges won’t stick. Sheriff Bogart should’ve dropped them altogether.” Zack shook his head. “He’s being a mule.”
“That reminds me. I owe a call to Harley,” Mitch said and Kimberly recognized the family attorney’s name.
“He’ll see to it Bogart focuses on finding the bad guys instead of wasting his time with me,” Mitch continued. “A name came up. Ever hear of anyone called Baxter?”
Everyone’s gaze shot to Kimberly.
“Never heard the name before.” She shrugged.
“I got a partial description of the men in the Camry when I overheard a deputy talking.”
Kimberly had never gotten close enough to the men chasing her for an accurate description. Her heart hammered her ribs.
Zach perked up at the news.
The thought of putting faces to the male figures frightened her.
“One of the males has light blond hair. He was described as being short.” But then Mitch would most likely already know that since he’d seen him at the medical plaza. “Maybe five feet eight inches. He’s built like a male gymnast according to witness accounts. The other one is a couple of inches taller but definitely shorter than six-feet tall. He has black hair and a runner’s build. Both are being considered armed and dangerous—obviously. The sheriff informed his deputy that he’s about to put out a bulletin that both are wanted for fleeing the scene of an accident. Both were wearing aviator sunglasses and hoodies. Similar to when I saw them in the plaza.”
“What plaza?” Zach asked.
Mitch brought his cousin up-to-date.
The descriptions weren’t much more than they already knew. She stared blankly at the wall.
“You’ve never seen the men before they started following you?” Zach asked, striking his keyboard with decisive finger strokes.
“No,” she responded. “Wish I knew who they were. My father didn’t say anything about new people hanging around, either.”
“Fair enough.” Zach paused. “Nothing about the descriptions strikes a familiar chord? Nor does the name Baxter?”
“No. I doubt there’s any trace of this guy. He wiped out my father’s business with a fire, no doubt to cover any documentation of their business transactions,” she informed him.
“People use fires to cover tracks. They also use them to cover crimes,” Zach stated.
“I do feel like my foster father’s truck-rental business is key. I mean why burn it down otherwise in either case,” Kimberly said. Without a criminal case pending there was no way for Zach to get more information. No agency cared about her foster father’s death.
“I haven’t gotten any bulletins in the system,” Zach said.
“Do you think Bogart’s involved?” she asked.
“Based on his reputation, he’s not playing both sides of the law. He could be scared, though,” Zach admitted.
That made two of them, she thought.
“Tell me more about your parents. What kind of people were they?” Zach questioned. He had to know it was a dead end but she appreciated the effort he was making. And he was most likely just killing time while he waited for a hit in the system.
“Mom was incredible. She volunteered at my school when I came to live with them. She’d been working full-time on Dad’s business and said it was a nice change to have something else to focus on. She said I was good company even though we both knew it was a lie when I first came to live with them. Dad was a rock. He was always lending someone his personal vehicle if they didn’t have money to pay for one of his rentals. Mom used to say he had a heart of gold. She was right.” It was nice to refer to him as Dad again, like she’d begun calling him junior year of high school. She’d bought him one of those super-cheesy #1 Dad coffee mugs from her part-time job selling pretzels at a kiosk in the mall. He’d teared up when he opened the present. Then he’d surprised her by asking if she’d like to call him by that name instead of Randy. She’d shocked herself by saying she would. They’d both had a good cry that Christmas morning. Her foster mother, Julie, had joined in, wrapping both of them in a warm embrace. It was then that their family seemed to click. Life seemed easier and Kimberly felt like she belonged somewhere for the first time in her life. Tears streamed down her cheeks at the memories. When she shook off the reverie and looked up, everyone in the room had become intensely interested on what was in front of them or in their lap.
She cleared her throat, swiped at a few stray tears and continued, “They put up with me and acted like my antics were no trouble.”
“What kind of antics?” Zach asked but there was no judgment in his voice like she’d expected to hear.
“Flunking a history test so hard it should’ve been embarrassing after my mom had spent the entire night studying with me.” Kimberly looked toward the window that bathed the room in sunlight. “I expected her to lose her temper with me after that. Maybe grab a switch from outside like so many others had. I knew that material inside and out.” She paused. “All she did when I walked through the back door after school was hug me, hand me a bowl of chocolate ice cream and tell me I’d get the hang of taking tests.”
“Sounds like an amazing woman,” Mitch said with so much reverence, goose bumps raised on Kimberly’s arms.
“She was. The best.” Kimberly had to suppress a sob. She could admit to still getting emotional about her mother’s death. Kidney disease had been a slow, painful way to go. A woman who was so...good...didn’t deserve to die like that.
Kimberly’s being there by her mother’s side as she left the world was the only consolation. The two had held hands until her mother’s had gone slack.
“I didn’t stop there. I guess I wanted to prove by that point that I was as unlovable as I felt,” she admitted.
“It’s normal for teens to test the boundaries,” Zach said. “With your background, I’m surprised your behavior didn’t get a whole lot worse.”
“It did.” Admitting this next part—the part about being a criminal—hurt. But the family had been so kind to her and they deserved to know everything at this point. “I broke into a neighbor’s barn with a guy I’d been sneaking out to see. He seemed so tough, like he could handle anything. He’d made a trip to juvie and I thought he could teach me how to live in the real world and show the Bristols there was no saving me. Mark coaxed me into taking a couple drinks of beer. At least, that’s what I thought it was. Turns out he’d laced it with that popular date-rape drug. Thankfully the owner came home and caught him before he could follow through on...”
Kimberly looked down, trying to get a handle on her emotions.
“...his plans.”
“How old were you when this happened?” Mitch asked. His voice was a low rumble of anger.
“Fifteen,” she answered. “My fosters pleaded for leniency and the judge must’ve been feeling good that day because he let me off with time served after my arrest and three years of probation. He wouldn’t have had to do anything, though. I was so freaked out by the whole experience when I realized that Mark could’ve done anything he wanted to me. I never wanted to be that vulnerable again.” She glanced at Mitch. “Which is the reason I didn’t want champagne on our wedding day. I can’t stand alcohol.”
“You could’ve told me before, Kimberly,” he said and his voice was soft this time. “I would’ve understood.”
She needed to change the subject or she might get lost in that same sense of comfort that had caused her to make so many mistakes in her life recently. Even with the Bristols she’d never felt the sense of home that she did when she was with Mitch. He was her true north. But letting herself get lost in that feeling again would be a mistake. Even if her current situation could be cleared up—which she highly doubted would happen with her still being alive—what would happen next? Something had always come along to mess up the scarce few good situations in her life.
She also needed to change the subject before she got wrapped up in the warm sensations that would cloud her judgment when the time came to split again.
“Why would Sheriff Bogart suspect you had anything to do with what was going on?” Kimberly asked Mitch, picking up Rea and moving to the sofa. She set the baby in between her and Mitch. The feeling of being a family overwhelmed her. It all seemed so natural. The three of them sitting on the sofa together. But it wouldn’t last; it couldn’t last.
Mitch and Zach exchanged knowing glances. What was that all about?
“Mr. Clean would be jealous of your spotless criminal record,” she added.
“Not important.” Mitch glanced at her so quickly, she almost didn’t catch it.
And then it dawned on her why.
“It’s because of me, isn’t it?” she asked. “He suspects you because of my criminal background.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, focusing on Rea. Her daughter was innocent and beautiful and full of potential.
Birds of a feather, she thought. Mitch was most likely arrested because of his association with her. Her reputation would damage her innocent children’s lives. They’d be better off never knowing her than to be hemmed into that same box as she’d been her whole life and would be for her entire existence.
“That’s not fair to you. You had no idea what was going on. That’s part of why I never told you anything. Exactly so you would never be put in this position.” She reminded herself to calm down for Rea’s and Aaron’s sakes. Her past would follow her for the rest of her life, tainting everyone around her. When word got out about her faking her death and her involvement with this Baxter person—whoever he turned out to be—her children would be labeled, too. Anger churned through her. It wasn’t fair. People made mistakes. Why was it so hard to shuck the past and start fresh?
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“No need to apologize,” he said quickly. “It is what it is.”
That might be true. But her presence dragged down the good Kent family name—a name she wanted her children to be proud of precisely because of the one she’d been given.
The name Grable was most often associated with unemployment, get-rich-quick scams and deceit.
No matter how right it felt to be with Mitch and their children in the moment, Kimberly’s background would always be an albatross around their necks.
If she stuck around.