Captured Again (24 page)

“Gabby... You’re not talking,” Jake said as he gently poked her, trying to curb the seriousness. “I can’t help if I don’t know what’s wrong, girl,” Jake prompted again.

She sighed. “Jake, I’m sorry. There have just been a few weird things happen that have freaked me out. I don’t feel safe here right now. It’s just a feeling. Can’t we just go for a few days and take a break from... here?” she pleaded.

Jake reached up and stroked her hair. “I’ll make you an offer. We’ll go... maybe a short trip to the mountains or even the beach. But I don’t want to blindly run away from something. You need to tell me what you’re running from, and then we’ll go. Deal?”

“Okay.”

Gabby jumped up and reached under the bed for their suitcase. Turning to the closet, she jerked shirts off their hangers, snatching quickly without bothering to take any time in choosing, and was stuffing the suitcase—

“Whoa, Gabby! Stop. Tell me first. Then we’ll pick a place and pack for it. Slow down, girl,” Jake said.

She stopped and turned back to Jake, her chin quivering.
I. Will. Not. Cry. Dammit.

“Jake, it’s going to sound bad,” she said while shaking her head. “I think he’s back. And he’s messing with me, trying to make everyone think I’m crazy,” she blurted out, wringing her hands. She looked down, afraid to meet Jake’s eyes.

She continued before she lost her nerve. “I had a panic attack when I thought someone was in the house last week. It was just a feeling, but I
swear
I really think they were here. I locked myself in the laundry room, and Emma brought someone out here to check. But apparently, I freaked out and panicked for nothing. There was no one here. But then I found a tiny dragonfly in a bouquet of flowers I’d bought for my office. I
know
it wasn’t there when I bought it. I would’ve seen it! And right after that, there was a dead—
red
—dragonfly on the dash of your truck.”

She paused for his reaction. She looked up at him, but he just sat there, waiting. His face didn’t give anything away.
He thinks I’ve lost it.
She grabbed the post of the bed, leaning her weight onto it and looking at the floor again.

“I know, Jake. All that seems random to you, but I don’t think so. Today, when I dropped by the office, someone had put flowers in my office. I called Jerry, but he didn’t know anything about them. The card said ‘marked by the dragonfly.’ Who would write something like that? Outside of my family and you, there’s only one person I can think of that knows about my tattoo...”

She sucked in a deep breath and looked at the ceiling, trying to maintain calm. She returned her eyes to Jake, hoping she didn’t see him looking back at her with anything other than understanding. Inside she was terrified; it had to be him, but she couldn’t say that to Jake. Look at the disaster that followed the last time she’d freaked out over thinking she saw the enemy. And why would he come back after all these years? He’d left them alone since Gabby’s attempted suicide—and after a strongly worded conversation from her usually humble husband. Why now?

She loudly exhaled her breath.

Jake cleared his throat. “Where’s the card, Gabby?” he asked, looking skeptical.

“I dropped it on my office floor. It scared me... but it’s there, Jake. Really. You can call Jerry and tell him to go look. The flowers are there too. I left it all and came straight home,” Gabby said, her voice sounding more confident. She had proof now. She’d just left it there.

She tensed as she waited for Jake to speak.

Jake hobbled off the bed, grabbing the other foot post for support. He shrugged his shoulders. “Let’s go, then. We’ll head to the beach. I can track down who sent the flowers just as easily from somewhere else. If you wanna go, we’ll go. I can use a vacation with my wife.”

Gabby let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. She stepped over to him and leaned her head against his chest. “Thank you, Jake. Thank you for believing me.”

CHAPTER 30

Emma
was frustrated. She couldn’t find her phone. It had been missing since class. After searching through her backpack and her purse, as well as her car, she’d given up and decided to get her mind off of it by watching a movie. She figured if she wasn’t thinking about it, it might come to her where she’d put it.

They were barely five minutes into the movie when her plan worked. She knew just where her phone was. Excitedly, she bopped Rickey on the head—actually, on the top of his baseball cap. “It worked! I remember!” she exclaimed. “Get up! Come with! Hurry!”

Emma wanted her phone, wanted it bad. But it was dark. She was glad she’d have company for the drive over to get it.

She turned off the TV and slipped on her sneakers. Within a few minutes, she was ready to go. She’d been hoping Dusty would call, and maybe he had. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow to check, even if that meant another late night before school. She just had to know if he had tried to call before she saw him in the morning. And if he had called, she hoped to get a few minutes of privacy to call him back before it got too late and he went to bed.

E
mma was stoked.
He called! He likes me!
she sang in her head, feeling like a child with her first crush.

She erased the smile off of her face, trying to hide her excitement from Rickey, who stood there watching her check her phone. She’d found it right where she’d left it, on Gabby’s front porch. She’d stopped by after work for just a few minutes to welcome Jake home, but no one had answered the door. She had laid it down when she’d picked up a wooden footstool Gabby kept in front of one of her rockers—meaning to use it as a step to peek in the garage window. She wanted to see if Jake’s truck was in the garage so she’d know whether Gabby was home—maybe just
busy
welcoming Jake home herself. She hadn’t wanted to interrupt them by phone or doorbell on Jake’s first day back. But if they weren’t
busy
, she wanted to see if they needed anything. She’d quietly checked the garage first, and the truck had been gone. Disappointed, she’d left without remembering to go back and get her phone.
Duh!

Emma saw a light on in the house and rang the doorbell. “May as well say hello since we’re all the way out here, okay?” she mumbled, mostly to herself. She wasn’t looking for agreement. She had to go in. She needed to pee, and it looked like Dusty had left her a message. She wanted to hear it in private.

No one answered the door. That was strange. Emma glanced toward the garage window, seeing the footstool still under it where she’d left that too. But the garage was dark. She wouldn’t be able to see Jake’s truck if it was in there.

She knocked loudly.
Maybe they didn’t hear the bell?

Still no answer.

Emma bounced from one foot to the other while she dialed Gabby’s number. It rang straight to voicemail.
It must be off.
Emma left her a silly message, giving her warning she was coming in... ready or not. She had to pee, and it was too long a ride back home to hold it.

She dug out the hidden key and let herself in. The house seemed heavy with silence. She could hear the refrigerator humming in the kitchen and the ticking of a clock, but not much else. Gabby and Jake’s bedroom door was closed. She excused herself and headed toward the bathroom, taking her phone with her.

Emma barely got her pants down and sat on the pot before responding to Dusty’s message. She texted:
WYD? I just got your msg. R U up?

She set her phone on the counter and finished up. She flushed and stood to wash her hands. She waved them in the air to dry—Gabby didn’t have a hand towel hanging—and then resorted to rubbing them down the front of her pants before picking up her phone again and swiping the screen, looking for a return message; maybe she just didn’t hear the alert.

Damn. No text,
Emma thought.
Should I call him?

She turned around and sat on the counter for a minute, thinking it through. No... if I call him right after I texted him, he’ll think I’m desperate. And I can’t talk to him in front of Rickey anyway. That would be weird.

Her mind made up, she opened the door, flicked off the bathroom light, and walked back into the den only to find Rickey had fallen asleep sitting on Gabby’s couch, his head leaned over at a weird angle with his mouth hanging wide open. Emma chuckled.
Damn, I was in there less than five minutes!

Still smiling, she realized now she could try to call Dusty with privacy. But first, she wanted to see if Gabby and Jake were home so she could stop sneaking around their house.

Too scared to knock on their bedroom door and risk embarrassment—for either party—she tiptoed through the kitchen toward the garage. She turned on the light and opened the door, fully expecting to see Ruby. Where else would they all be? She was surprised to see an empty garage.
Maybe they went out and had a late supper and caught a movie? Seems like that might be a bit too much for Jake, but who knows? Maybe he was itching to get out.

She shut the door loudly—forgetting about Rickey—and walked back into the den fully expecting him to have woken up and be ready to go, but he was still asleep.
Good. I’ll just sneak out to the front porch and call Dusty. I’ll only talk for a few minutes. Then I can wake him up and we’ll go.
She needed to get home; class was going to come early tomorrow.

Emma stepped out to the porch and sat in the rocking chair. She dialed. It rang once. Her heartbeat quickened. Two rings... Now she felt panicky.
Maybe he doesn’t want to talk to me?
Three rings...
He probably didn’t return the text for a reason. Maybe he’s with someone else
. Voicemail.
Shit!
She hung up at the beep, not knowing what to say.

“Idiot!” Emma hissed out loud to herself. “That was stupid. Now he’s going to see a text, then a hang-up on a missed call from you. He’s going to think you’re a stalker, Einstein.”

She needed to wake Rickey. He’d want to go home—he hadn’t seemed too enthused about riding over here to start with, he’d had a long day too. But if Dusty called her back now, she wouldn’t be able to have a private conversation after all, and how would she explain that to Dusty?
Sorry, I can’t talk right now... after I just texted you and called you! Yeah, right.
She turned it off.
Better he get my voicemail if he tries than to be told I can’t talk. Maybe he’s just asleep anyway.
She’d just have to wait and see him in class tomorrow. She turned around to peek in the window.
Rip Van Winkle is still out!
She laughed at the little bit of drool she saw clinging to his chin.
He really is in a bad position. I should wake him.

Emma looked at her watch and frowned.
I wonder where Gabby and Jake are this late?
Now that she had her phone back, she could call Olivia and ask if she knew, but most likely, Olivia was asleep already. She usually started her workday at six in the morning.
She’ll kill me if I wake her up just to be nosy about Jake and Gabby.

A few more minutes won’t hurt him in there. I’ll just wait a little longer to see if they come home.
She looked out over the yard and noticed something hanging from Gabby’s swing. She wandered over, after placing her phone on the bottom step. She didn’t have any pockets. She wished she’d changed out of her tank top into something else before coming out. She was still wearing her work clothes: yoga pants, a tank top, and sneakers, with her hair pulled into a high ponytail.

How sweet!
Someone tied long ribbons to the ropes.
Probably Jake... looks like something he’d do, always the romantic,
Emma thought wistfully. She hoped one day she’d marry a man that loved her as much as Jake loved Gabby.

She hoisted herself up onto the swing and sat swaying back and forth. It was September, still hot during the day and comfortable at night, usually. But for some reason tonight, she felt a chill in the air.

She leaned way back on the swing, letting her ponytail nearly touch the ground. She could see dozens of stars in the sky; it was so peaceful out here by herself at night.
No wonder Gabby loves this swing.
She pulled herself up in a swift movement, feeling a funny flutter in her stomach from the quick up-down-up. She laughed and did it again, remembering how as a little girl she used to do the same thing on the swings in the schoolyard—they all had. She was surprised that even as a grownup, she still felt that swoopy feeling.

She leaned back again and pulled on the swing ropes, trying to gain some momentum. It was no use; the rope was too long to get the swing really moving without someone pushing, but it was still a nice place to sit, feeling weightless, giving the ropes sideways twists to keep it swaying.

She heard a twig snap. She couldn’t tell how far away. Her mind had been busy thinking and she’d barely noticed it. She peered over her shoulder but didn’t see anything.
Probably just a squirrel or something in the woods,
she thought.