Healing Her Spirit (Serenity Springs Book 2) (4 page)

After placing a call to the school to let them know Cara was picking up Ethan, Lacey pocketed her phone and left the van.  Grabbing her coroner case from the back of the van, she followed Katy into the house.  Her stomach tightened at the grim looks on the faces of the two deputies standing at the top of the stairs.  “Ma’am,” Cody Wainwright said as he tipped the brim of his Stetson in her direction.  Jace Jackson reached out and took her case from her, his face void of expression.

“Deputies,” she said smiling tightly at them.  “What are we dealing with here?”

“A big fucking mess,” Creed ground out as he entered the kitchen.  “We got a call a couple of hours ago from Sherry’s employer.  She hasn’t shown up for work the past two days.  They tried calling her parents first, but they are out of town on business.  Sherry has no siblings and no boyfriend, so they decided to call us next.  I sent Jace and Cody to check things out and this is what they found.”  Motioning to the stairs, Creed grimaced and made his way down them, Lacey on his heels.  She stopped when she got to the bottom, her eyes widened in horror.  In all her time as a coroner, she had never witnessed anything like it.  She dealt with disease, old age, car crash victims; nothing like the horror that was in front of her right now.

Making herself continue into the room, Lacey was suddenly glad Jace had taken her case upstairs.  She was sure she would have dropped it at the sight before her.  Sherry’s basement was small and unfinished.  The floor and walls were concrete, painted a light blue color.  Sherry lay in the middle of the floor in a pool of blood, naked except for a pair of white lace panties.  Her wide, unseeing eyes stared at the ceiling.  Her arms were tied together above her head and secured by a long rope to an old water heater that stood in the middle of the room.  Her legs were tied in a similar fashion and secured to the bottom of a heavy woodworking bench.

Stepping closer, Lacey squatted down beside Sherry and winced at the sight of several deep lacerations all over her body.  “What do you think, Lace?” Katy asked from where she stood a couple of feet away. 

“I need my kit, Jace,” Lacey said as her gaze roamed the still body in front of her.  “No one else comes down those stairs, Creed, except for Ryan.  No one.”  Opening the kit Jace had set beside her, Lacey donned a pair of latex gloves.  “We have a sick bastard on the loose,” she told them as she pointed to the small, but deep cuts on Sherry’s stomach.  “One that likes to play with his victims.  He killed her when he slit her throat, but he played with her for a long time before that.”  Glancing back at them, she ordered, “Someone go get my assistant, and then I want everyone out of this room until I’m finished.”  Looking back down at Sherry, she whispered, “I’m going to find the person that did this to you before they do it again.”

It was after 9 that night before Lacey finally left Sherry in the morgue at the hospital and went to pick up Ethan at the Caldwell ranch.  She had done everything she could for now, but she was afraid it was not enough.  She had a feeling that whoever had done this to Sherry was going to hit again.  Lacey had found a drug in the woman’s system that he had used to knock her out, but it was very faint.  She was positive Sherry had been alive for the torture session the killer put her through.  It broke her heart to think of the pain and suffering Sherry endured. 

Pulling into the driveway leading up to the house, Lacey wiped at the tears that had escaped.  The thought of the terror Sherry must have experienced tore at her, and Lacey fought to get control of her emotions.  Stopping in front of the garage next to the house, she shut off her car and rested her forehead against the steering wheel.  She could not let Ethan see her like this.

Lacey jumped a moment later when someone knocked on her window.  Looking over, she was grateful that the yard light shone brightly so she was able to make out Ryder Caldwell’s face.  After the day she’d had, every little sound made her nervous. 

Opening her door, Lacey stepped out of her car into the stifling heat of the night.  “Hey, Ryder,” she said softly.

Ryder leaned back against her car and stuck his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.  “You okay, Lacey?” he asked quietly, his clear blue eyes full of concern.

Rubbing her face tiredly, Lacey whispered, “I will be.”  Raking a hand through her hair, she said, “I better get Ethan and get home.  It’s way past his bedtime.”

Ryder grinned, “That little man is going to pass out as soon as you get him home, if not before.  He spent all afternoon riding horses with me and Justice, helping us fix fence.”

“He what?” Lacey stammered, her eyes widening in shock.  She had known there was a chance Ethan and Justice would meet today, but Katy had told her Ryder and Justice would not be home until later. 

Ryder laughed, “You have nothing to worry about, mama.  Ethan is a natural.  He was born to ride.”

Ryder had it all wrong.  Lacey was not worried about Ethan being in any kind of danger, but she couldn’t tell him that.  Swallowing hard, she said, “I’m sure he was safe with both of you there.”  Leaving him by the car, Lacey almost ran to the house to get her son.  She needed to get out of there now.  She had just spent several hours trying to get inside the head of a psychotic lunatic to try and figure out exactly what happened to the poor woman he had sliced up.  She just could not handle anymore right now.

Before Lacey could knock on the door, it opened and Cara smiled at her, a sleepy Ethan by her side.  “Thank you so much for taking care of my son for me,” Lacey told her gratefully as she knelt down and pulled Ethan into her arms.  Leaning back, she ran a hand through his soft hair.  “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you from school today like we planned, buddy,” she whispered, kissing him gently on the cheek.  “I had to work late.”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Ethan told her as he snuggled close.  “I learned how to ride a horse today.  And Justice showed me how to rope, too.  I have to practice though.  I’m not very good at it.”

“You will get better, buddy,” a gruff voice said from behind Ethan.

Lacey’s heart sped up and her breath caught in her throat as she slowly raised her eyes to the man standing in front of her.  He was tall, with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes.  A short, dark beard covered his cheeks and chin, but she knew when he smiled, there would be dimples in both cheeks.  She had seen them all the time as a child.

Lacey quickly lowered her head as her eyes once again filled with tears that threatened to spill over.  It was all just too much right now.  Picking her son up, Lacey turned and walked toward her car. Looking back over her shoulder, she called out, “Thank you so much, everyone, for taking care of my son. I need to get him home and to bed now.”  Not waiting for a response, she rushed to her car, opening the back door and sitting Ethan inside.  After making sure his seat belt was secure, she shut his door and opened her own.  Sliding behind the wheel in the front seat, she fastened her seat belt and started the car.  Taking a deep breath, Lacey glanced back over to where Cara, Justice, and Ryder still stood looking at her in bewilderment.  Giving them a tremulous smile, she waved before putting her car in gear and heading back to town.  Lacey forced herself to concentrate on driving, when all she could think about was the fact that she had just met her brother.  The man probably thought she was crazy now.       

It took another week and a half, but Clint was finally starting to feel more like his old self.  He was beginning to wonder if the ache in his chest would ever go away, but figured he should be happy with the slight ache it was now instead of the intense pain it had been just weeks before.  He had not seen Lacey since she’d brought him home, but he was also doing everything possible to avoid her.  The feel of her mouth on his had brought back all of his old feelings full force; the intense longing to have her near, the love that he had never felt for another woman, the dreams of forever that he had kept hidden from her.  He had quickly pushed her away in an attempt to bury all of those feelings again, but it had not worked.  All he could think about was her big, green eyes, her soft, pink lips, and how right she felt in his arms.  There was one thing he did not understand.  She had been talking to Carl, her boyfriend, just moments before she was wrapped tightly around Clint.  Lacey was not the kind of person who would cheat on someone she cared about.  At least the Lacey that Clint knew wasn’t.  So, that brought up the question…was Lacey still with Carl? 

Clint swore silently as he got out of his truck and walked into Mac’s Diner.  He had just come from a long, hard day working on his Dad’s ranch.  All he wanted to do was eat dinner and find his bed.  He didn’t care if it was only 6 in the evening or not.  Against his father’s protests, Clint had spent the day helping him round up some cattle for sale.  The doctor cleared him to do some light work around the farm, so he convinced himself being on a horse all day would be fine.  He was really regretting his decision now.

At the sound of his name, Clint turned just in time to catch the small hurricane that slammed into him.  His eyes misted slightly as he recognized Ethan Donovan clinging tightly to his leg.  Running a hand gently over the boy’s light brown hair, Clint said, “Hey there, buddy.  How have you been?”

Ethan lifted his tear-filled gaze to Clint and whispered, “You didn’t die.”

Clint’s eyes narrowed as he knelt down beside Ethan.  “No, Ethan, I’m alive and well.”  Wiping the tears from Ethan’s cheeks, Clint smiled, “You can’t get rid of me that easily.  We have baseball season coming up soon.”

“Baseball?” Ethan questioned as he looked up at Clint excitedly.  “I don’t know if I can play baseball.”

“Why couldn’t you play baseball?” Clint asked as his gaze connected with a pair of long, bare legs.  Raising his eyes, he took in the sight of Lacey in a soft pink dress this time.  She was almost always wearing dresses, preferring them over jeans.  Clint was not complaining.  He loved seeing her sexy legs. 

“I don’t know,” Ethan shrugged as he brought Clint’s attention back to him.  “I’ve never been able to before.  I’m not sick anymore, though.” 

As Clint stared at Ethan in confusion, Lacey interrupted them.  “I think it would probably be alright for you to play this year, Ethan.  We will check with Dr. Adams on your next appointment, but everything has been great, so I don’t see a problem with it.”    Resting a hand lightly on top of Ethan’s head, she said, “Why don’t you go finish your ice cream?  We have just enough time to go to the park before we go home.”  Ethan grinned in agreement, giving Clint a quick hug before pulling out of his arms and running back to the booth where he and Lacey were sitting.

Clint stood and watched Ethan for a moment, his hands resting lightly on his hips and his brows furrowed in confusion.  When Lacey made a move to join Ethan, Clint quickly reached out and grabbed hold of her arm.  “What’s wrong with him, Lacey?” he asked her quietly.  In all of the time he had known Lacey and Ethan, not once had he realized Ethan could be sick.  He looked like a healthy, normal child. 

Lacey turned sad eyes up to him and whispered, “I don’t want to talk about it here, Clint.”  Glancing around the diner, she continued softly, “Why don’t you eat and then meet us at the park?  I want to tell you, but I don’t want the whole town to know.”  Following her gaze, Clint realized half of the people in the diner were watching them, trying not to be obvious about it.  Nodding, he dropped her arm and went to sit on one of the red vinyl stools at the counter in the front of the diner. 

After Dottie took his order, Clint looked around to see that Lacey and Ethan had already left the diner.  Turning back, he gazed at the old records on the wall above him.  Damn, he had missed that little boy.  Their trips to the park months ago had consisted of talks with Lacey, but also of play time with Ethan.  Clint had pushed him on the swings, swung him around on the merry-go-round, and had even gone down the slides with him.  Clint had not only pursued a relationship with Lacey, but also with her son.  He wanted both of them in his life.

Rubbing a hand over his face in exhaustion, Clint smiled gratefully at Dottie when she placed his bacon double cheeseburger with fries on a plate in front of him.  After quickly devouring his dinner, Clint paid and then went back out to his truck.  He debated on just going home, but the thought of something being wrong with the little boy he had begun to care so much for stopped him.  He was, however, driving to the park even though it was only a couple of blocks away. 

Pulling up beside Lacey’s car, Clint shut off his truck and rubbed absently at the ache in his chest.  After fighting it for a total of two days, Clint ended up filling the pain medication prescription the doctor had called in for him, and he was very happy about that tonight.  He was going to speak to Lacey, and then he was going to go home and shower, take some of the medicine, and hopefully pass out.

Seeing Lacey sitting on their old bench, Clint fought down the memories as he walked over to her.  Lowering himself beside her, he waited for Lacey to speak.  His eyes were trained on where Ethan played just a few feet away when she started, “A couple of years ago Ethan was diagnosed with Leukemia.  He was given chemotherapy and the cancer is now in remission.  I still watch him closely.  I am so scared the cancer will come back.”

At those words, Clint felt his world crashing down around him.  He had seen what cancer could do to a person.  He had watched his mother fight it for months before finally succumbing to the horrible disease.  The pain in his chest now had nothing to do with his injury, and everything to do with the thought of losing the little boy who was climbing the ladder to go down the slide in front of him.  Not only had he fallen in love with Lacey months ago, but he had also fallen in love with that little boy.  “What are the chances the cancer will come back?” he asked hoarsely, his eyes never leaving Ethan.

“I don’t know,” Lacey admitted, as she watched her son as well.  “Unfortunately, there is never any way of knowing with something like this.  Ethan takes preventative medicine now.  All I can do is pray that it is gone for good.”

Swallowing hard, Clint asked, “You have been going through this all alone?”  At least when his mother was sick, he’d had his father and some good friends by his side.

Nodding, Lacey whispered softly, “Yes.  Back in Nebraska, I spent all of my time either at work or with Ethan.  I didn’t have time for close friends.”  Lowering her head in shame she said, “Ethan’s father is not in his life.  He was a one-night stand.  When I found out about Ethan, I went to him and asked him to be a part of my son’s life.  I thought it was important that Ethan have more support than just me.  He said there is no way Ethan is his and he refused to even have a paternity test done to find out for sure.  He said he didn’t want a sick kid.”  Shaking her head in disgust, she went on, “My mother was a drug addict and an alcoholic.  She passed away from a drug overdose a few years ago.  I never knew my father.”

Clint’s hands tightened into fists when Ethan giggled loudly, the sound floating over to them from where Ethan now played in a sandbox with another child.  How could Ethan’s father not want him?  “That stupid son of a bitch doesn’t know what he is missing out on.  Ethan’s a good kid.”

“I agree,” Lacey told him as she watched her son, love shining in her eyes.  “Ethan is my life, Clint.  I would do anything for him.”

Gazing out over the park unseeingly, Clint fought back the pain and despair that rolled through him as he remembered his mother’s last days as she fought a disease that had already won.  Realizing the battle Lacey had been going through alone for the past couple of years, Clint slowly unfolded his fists and reached out to enclose her small hand in his.  Feeling her fingers trembling, Clint scooted closer to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close.  Kissing her softly on the top of the head, he whispered, “I’m so sorry, Lacey.  No one should ever have to go through something like that alone.”  He could give her friendship, if that was all she wanted.  Now that he knew what she had gone through, there was no way he was going to let her push him away again.

Lacey shivered as she cuddled closer to Clint.  She had been alone for so long, and now it would seem she finally had someone in her corner.  Life in Serenity Springs had been hard for her, not having anyone to confide in and lean on.  She stiffened as she thought about the other secret she had kept from Clint.  She refused to go forward in their relationship, no matter what kind of a relationship it may turn out to be, on a lie. 

Pulling away from Clint, she looked up into his eyes.  “I need to tell you something else, Clint,” she said, as she clutched at his hands.  Bowing her head in shame, she said, “I lied to you.  I’ve lied to everyone here in Serenity Springs.”  Looking back up at him she rasped, “I never told anyone why I really moved here.  And after I heard Justice died, it seemed pointless to bring it up.  But now he’s back.  He is back and he’s alive.”

“Justice?” Clint questioned in confusion as he watched her.  “Justice Caldwell?”  His gaze swinging from her to Ethan and back again, he demanded, “Is he Ethan’s father?”

“No!” Lacey exclaimed as she moved closer to Clint.  “No, he isn’t.  Ethan’s father is some loser I met years ago who was only after a piece of ass.  He wants nothing to do with me or my son.”  Reaching up, Lacey cupped Clint’s cheek in the palm of her hand and said softly, “Justice is my brother.”  As Clint’s eyes widened, she went on, “When I was nine and he was five, our mother decided she didn’t want to keep both of us.  We were too much work and too expensive.  She left Justice at a church and I never saw him again.  I hired a private investigator who tracked him down for me and I came to Serenity Springs.  I knew he was out of the country, but I wanted to get to know the family who raised him.  It didn’t seem right to tell them who I was until I had spoken with Justice first.  But then I was told he died.  Now he’s back, but it sounds like he has his own issues.  I’m trying to give him time to adjust to things after being held captive before I bombard him with something else.” At the sound of Ethan’s laughter, Lacey let her hand drop from Clint’s cheek as she looked over at her son. “He looks so happy right now.  You should have seen him just over a year ago, Clint.  He was so sick.  I couldn’t even take him to daycare.  I had to hire an in-home nurse to be with him.  I don’t ever want to see him go through that again.”

Clint gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as he said, “That’s what happened when you stopped talking to me.  You heard Justice died.”

Lacey nodded as she agreed quietly, “That was part of the reason.”  She was grateful when Clint didn’t push her on the subject, because she did not want to get into how she really felt about him right now.  “I need to talk to Justice soon, but I’m scared,” she admitted softly as she looked over at Ethan.  “What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me?”

“I’ve known Justice Caldwell all of my life,” Clint said as he looked out over the park again, seemingly keeping an eye on Ethan.  “He’s a good man.  He will want to get to know you and Ethan.  You are family, and family means everything to the Caldwells.”