Forgotten (Shattered Sisters Book 2) (23 page)

She looked up at him, her eyes so intense he wondered if she'd been reading his mind again. "I want to go home, Ash." She closed her eyes, shook her head slowly. "It's been a long day. I just want it to end."

He nodded, turned her toward the door and slipped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his side. It had been a long day. They'd gone back to the lake with the police, answered endless questions, waited restlessly while the area was scoured for evidence. All for nothing. Not a single clue had been left behind. Whoever he or she was, the Slasher was good. Careful. Cunning. Sooner or later, though, there would be a slip. And then the killer would land behind bars. And then....

He stared down at the top of Joey's head. Seemingly sensing his gaze, she looked up, met his eyes. And then
what?
he wondered.

The closer the car got to her house, the better Joey felt. She had to put all of this out of her mind, just for one night. She wanted to relax in a steaming bath, drink a glass of wine and spend the night wrapped in Ash's strong arms, feeling safe from the world.

She tensed, though, when Ash drove the car over the graveled driveway and the house came into view. Lights glowed in the windows. Shadows moved behind them. Dread ran in her veins like ice water, and she shot Ash a glance, seeing the same alarm clouding his beautiful face. Then it eased, and he pointed.

"Look. It's Caroline's. She's back."

Joey glanced in the direction he pointed, seeing her sister's station wagon parked in its usual spot on the paved strip. But instead of relief, Joey felt an even deeper fear take root inside her. Caro shouldn't be here. She was in danger. God, she'd only been in Florida for a couple of days. Why did she have to come back now?

Ash pulled the car to a stop beside Caroline's, and Joey was out like a shot, limping around the house as fast as she could manage, flinging the back door open. "Caro? Caroline! Where are—?"

Her words were forcibly stopped by two small bodies hurling themselves into her arms and hugging the breath out of her. She returned the girls' hugs, but didn't hear their giggling greetings. She focused beyond them, to the foot of the stairs, flooded with relief at seeing Caroline there.

She released her pent-up breath all at once, smiling. But the smile died on her lips when a tall, straight form stepped from the bottom stair into her range of vision. Her arms fell limply to her sides, and she gaped.

"Hello, Joey."

Ash was at her side. She felt his strong presence there, felt his eyes on her. But she couldn't look away from the man.

"Isn't it great, Aunt Joey? Grandpa came back with us. He's gonna take us to the zoo and..."

The stream of high-pitched words faded. A dull roar filled Joey's ears instead. Clenching her teeth she forced herself to speak. "Hello, Father."

"Joey." He came forward, smiling, stretching out a hand to clasp Ash's. "You must be my new son-in-law."

Joey watched Ash shake her stepdad’s hand. "Ash Coye," he said. "Good to meet you, Mr. Bradshaw." As he spoke, Ash glanced her way.

"Matthew to you," he replied. "I had to come. Had to meet the man who managed to lure my Joey to the altar."

"I am not
your
Joey. I'm not your anything."

Caroline bustled her way between them, gathering the girls away from Joey's legs and chattering loudly in an effort to break the tension that filled the room to bursting. "Let's all go upstairs. I made us supper, and if it stays in the oven any longer, it'll be dry as a chip. Come on."

Joey opened her mouth to say she was leaving, but clamped it shut before the words escaped. She couldn't leave Caroline alone, not when the Slasher was so close, so perceptive, always seeming to know where she was, what she was doing.

"Go on ahead, girls, and finish setting the table," Caroline instructed.

They groaned, but obeyed. When they'd left the room, Joey glared at her sister. "What is he doing here?"

"You can address me directly, Joey. I'm standing right in front of you."

Her gaze shifted to him. She hadn’t seen him in a year, not since her mother’s death. He looked older. His skin had lost its tightness and some of its color. His hair was grayer than she remembered. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Well, that's good, because I have a lot to say to you. Maybe you'll be quiet and listen for a change, hm?"

She shook her head quickly, her hair flying over her face. Ash's arm came around her and squeezed, infusing her with strength when she thought her knees would buckle.

"Come on, Dad," Caroline said softly. "Come on upstairs. Just give her a minute." She tugged on their father's arm and, reluctantly, he turned and went with her.

The second they were out of sight, Joey turned into Ash's arms, burying her face against his hard chest. Her arms twined around his neck and she clung to him as if she would never let go, battling tears that fell anyway.

He held her tightly, nearly crushing her to him. One hand stroked her hair. "It's okay. I'm here, just hold onto me. You can get through this."

"I don't want him here."

"I know."

"Make him leave, Ash. Throw him out, tell him—"

"Joey..." He cupped her face in his palms and tilted it up to his. "
You
have to tell him. Whatever it is that's burning inside you, you have to let it out, say it to his face. And maybe hear whatever it is he feels he has to tell you."

She blinked the tears away. "I don't want to do this. I can't."

One hand left her cheek to brush the hair away from her face. "Sure you can. I'll be here for you. I'll help you."

As she stared into his eyes, Joey saw the pain in their velvet brown depths. Pain for her. And steely strength, as well. If he would stay beside her, hold her close to him, maybe she could get through this night. With Ash at her side, she felt all of a sudden, she could get through anything. Anything at all. My God, how had she let herself fall so hopelessly in love with him?

Oh my God, she thought. I am. I’m in love with him!

He lowered his head and caught her lips with his, still cupping her face with one hand, while the other threaded through her hair. He tasted her, sipped from her mouth. A tender kiss, but one packed with emotion. He slanted his lips over her face, kissing away her tears, then lifted his head, staring into her eyes.

"I need you, Ash." Her voice was choked, hoarse. The words came of their own volition.

"You've got me, Joey."

She closed her eyes, knowing all too well that she didn't have him. Not really. Not for much longer. But at least for tonight.

The doors were locked, the gun loaded and within his reach. Brittany and Bethany were finally asleep upstairs, but only after insisting Ash tell them a half-dozen fractured fairy tales. Ash had Beverly Issacs's word, for what it was worth, that a squad car would cruise the neighborhood all night, just in case.

Joey stood stiffly, watching him. Her sister occupied the rocking chair, and her stepfather Matthew Bradshaw sat in the recliner. Ash took a seat on the sofa, and Joey immediately sat down beside him, her body tight to his. He put an arm around her, bent to kiss her cheek. Why he felt like a lion protecting its mate, he didn't know. He wished he could take every ounce of her pain and suffer it himself. But he couldn't. The best he could do was help her through this as he'd promised he would. She'd seemed to take strength from that promise. He vowed to live up to it.

"Does Ted know you're back?" Joey's voice was as tense as her body.

Caroline shook her head. "I'm going to call him later, before I go to bed."

Joey glanced at Ash, worry in her eyes, then looked back at her sister. "Why don't you wait until tomorrow, Caro?"

"Why?" Caroline stopped rocking, her brows furrowed. "Do you know something, Joey? Is he out meeting some—"

"Of course not!" Joey's eyes widened in surprise. "God, you think I'd keep something like that from you? I just thought you could use tonight to unwind, get your head together. That's all."

Caroline still looked skeptical, but she settled back in the chair and began rocking again.

"My God," Matthew Bradshaw said in a gruff voice. "My God, just look what I've done to my daughters." He addressed Ash, and his eyes were brimming. "It's all because of me, you know. They can't trust any man now, because the father they thought was perfect had a flaw."

"A
flaw
?" Joey turned her icy stare on him, and he seemed to shrink back into his seat. "Is that what you call it? You broke our mother's heart, and it's nothing to you but a flaw? She died alone while you were in bed with another woman, and it's a
flaw
?"

Ash squeezed her closer, hearing the tears that choked her voice, but she pulled free and shot to her feet, immediately adjusting her stance to take most of her weight on the good leg, then turning as if to leave the room.

Her father stood, as well, gripped her shoulders and forced her to face him. "Your mother didn't die alone, dammit. She died with her lover right beside her."

Joey slapped him so hard he rocked back on his heels. "How dare you!"

He lifted a hand to his face, running his palm over the red mark she'd left there. "You're going to hear some harsh truths tonight, Joey." He glanced at Caroline, who had gone still and white. "Both of you are. And you're going to sit there and listen to what I have to say. After that, you never have to see me again if that's the way you want it. But no one is leaving this room until I've said what I came here to say."

"No. I won't listen to you spew lies about my mother!"

Again she turned from him, and again he caught her shoulders. Roughly. Too roughly. Ash got to his feet and shouldered between them, folding Joey into his arms. Her entire body shook, and he held her tighter. He looked over her, at her father, and saw the man's distress. Matthew spun away, pacing a small circle, pushing his hands through his hair. Ash was glad the girls were playing upstairs, out of earshot.

"Look, I'm not trying to tarnish your mother’s memory. I'm not saying she wasn't the most wonderful woman on this planet, because she was. But, Joey...Caroline, she never loved me. I never loved her. We married because she was pregnant. We were both too young to know anything about love."

Joey turned in Ash's arms, but held them around her waist and kept her back pressed to him. "I don't care why you married her. She was your
wife.
She gave her life to you, and to Caroline and me. She didn't deserve...." Her voice trailed off. Her head lowered and a sob wrenched her body.

“We were honest with each other from the start, your mother and I,” he said. “Our feelings were out in the open. We decided to stay together, raise Caroline in a stable environment. That’s why we didn’t split up when she had the affair with Tito del Rio, and got pregnant with you, Joey. I didn’t blame her. We were very clear about what we were to each other, and what we were not.”

Joey stared at him, frowning. “You always knew you weren’t my birth father?”

He nodded slowly. “I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you sooner. Your mom and I planned to go our separate ways when you two girls grew up. As time went on, she fell in love with someone else. Not Tito, that was just a fling. But she did fall in love, deeply in love with another man. And I fell in love with another woman. It wasn't a secret dirty liaison. It was all right on the table. When we moved to Florida, we lived separate lives. We only kept up the pretense for the sake of you two girls. Your mother couldn't bring herself to tell you the truth. Not even after she’d admitted to you, Joey, that I was not your father.”

"I don’t believe it. She loved you and you broke her heart," Joey whispered.

"It was George Prentiss, wasn't it?" Caroline spoke for the first time, her voice soft, wounded. "He was always coming around, bringing presents for us...and for Mom. Sometimes he'd be there when we came home from school...."

"Uncle George was just a friend!” Joey shouted. “God, Caro, how can you believe this garbage?"

Ash reached down to close his hands around her clenched, trembling fists. "Easy. Hold on to me, remember?"

She opened her hands, laced her fingers through his and held on tightly.

"Yes, it was George."

"Liar," Joey spat.

"I don't expect you to take my word for it." He stared at Joey, his eyes filled with pain. "I brought your mother's diary. It's all there, written in her own hand. I know she wanted you both to know the truth after she was gone. She wanted you to have it sooner, but I just…I hoped you’d never have to know.” He shook his head, his shoulders slumping. He looked like a beaten man. "You're adults, women, with families of your own. It's time you understand...and forgive. If you can."

Joey shook her head rapidly. "Get out, damn you. Just go, I don't want to hear any more of this."

He nodded. His feet scuffed the floor as he walked into the kitchen and through the door, down the stairs to the back entrance. Caroline ran after him. "Daddy, wait!" Her footsteps pattered down the stairs, and their muffled voices floated up from below.