Hideaway Hill (18 page)

Arthur’s finger moved to the trigger as he
shouted, “Don’t touch her!”

Blake wrapped his arm around Veronica’s
waist, and pulled her to the ground just as he heard the deafening
sound of the gun being fired. The gun went off two more times as
Veronica and he were mid-fall. A hot searing pain ripped through
his shoulder. Blake let out a loud groan as their bodies hit the
floor, Veronica safely under him.

M
iller had received calls about Arthur all day, but after Jane
Plattfords phoned saying she saw someone who looked like Arthur
walking through her backyard,
Miller became
worried. Jane lived a block over from Blake. When Miller tried to
call it into Martin, he received no response, so he decided to
check it out. It wasn’t like Martin to turn his radio off. Driving
above the speed limit, he made his way back to Blake’s street. He
found Martin’s car still parked out front, but he didn’t see the
officer in it. Electing not to pull his car up too close, Miller
parked a few houses down, and set out on foot toward Blake’s home.
As he neared his best friend’s house, he heard yelling. His phone
started to buzz in his pocket. Not wanting to alert whoever was
shouting of his advance, he quickly turned the sound off. He also
shut the radio off.

Blake had huge hedges in
the front of his house, so it made it hard to see the activity
going on, but nearing, Miller was positive it was Arthur yelling.
It appeared that Veronica was trying to talk to him. As he waved
his arms about, Miller spotted the gun in Arthur’s hand. While
Miller artfully snuck up behind him, he caught the tail-end of
Arthur’s rant. It almost made him falter in his sneak
approach.
Did he just say he killed Vee’s
parents? Damn.
The man she shared a bed
with, had murdered her parents in cold blood. As Arthur finished
incriminating himself, Blake moved from the side of the door, and
pulled Veronica towards the inside of the house.

Moving a second slower than Arthur, Miller
pulled his gun out of his holster. When Arthur took aim, Miller’s
heart began to race. Blake and Veronica were right in his line of
sight. Miller pulled the trigger of his gun, and it went off a
millisecond after Arthur fired his. Not caring that the first
bullet hit Arthur and he was already starting to fall, Miller
pulled the trigger again. The first bullet entered the back of
Arthur’s head, and the other went right through his chest. Arthur,
Blake, and Veronica hit the ground all at the same time. Arthur’s
body made a bone chilling thud as it hit the pavement. Blood was
everywhere.

Miller was sure the first shot killed him,
and the second was only for good measure.

As Miller edged closer, he
kicked the gun further away from Arthur’s hand. Bending, he checked
for a pulse. Not feeling one, he moved towards Blake and Veronica.
As he neared the door, he saw a pair of feet sticking out from
behind the shrubs. He hoped it was Martin, and prayed he was
unconscious. Pulling his radio out, Miller called for Lloyd and
Curtis. He filled the other two officers in, before entering the
doorway where Blake wasn’t moving. A lot of blood covered his body.
Miller bent to have a better look, and breathed a sigh of relief,
as he watched Blake’s back rise and fall.
Thank you. He’s still breathing.
His
attention moved to Veronica. Blake’s body practically covered her,
but he heard her weeping.

“
Vee, can you hear
me?”

“
Yes, is he
dead?”

It was hard to discern what she said, and he
wasn’t sure if she was talking about Blake or Arthur.

“
Vee, listen, Blake has
been shot. I just called for help, but I don’t want to move him by
myself. He’s alive, do you feel him breathing? Will you be all
right for a minute or two until the others arrive?”

“
Yes, I’m fine.”

Groaning, Blake began to stir. With no help
from either Miller or Veronica, he rolled over to his good side.
His eyes were closed, and he tried to hold his wounded arm
still.

“
Ulfred, did you or that
Stentson shoot me? You sure better hope it was
Stentson.”

Miller was glad to see his friend was okay.
He reached to pat Blake on the shoulder, but then thought better of
it. Instead, he leaned over to help Veronica into a sitting
position. As soon as she was able to move, she wrapped her arms
around Blake, who propped himself against her. Since they seemed to
be all right, he went to check on Martin. When he shifted out of
the doorway to feel for Martin’s pulse, Veronica gasped. He didn’t
need to look to see what caught her eye. From where she sat, she
had perfect view of Arthur’s dead body sprawled on the walkway.
Hearing the other deputies’ cars drive up, he was grateful to have
the help. Blake needed to get to the hospital soon. Thankfully,
Martin was still alive—his head was split open and he would need
stitches—and Miller was pretty sure he would live.

*

H
elping Blake into the car, Veronica was glad to finally be
leaving the hospital. She had seen enough of one to last her a
lifetime. The gunshot wound Blake suffered missed his major
arteries. Since the bullet entered and exited his body on its own,
most of the damage was caused as it left his body. Besides stitches
to close the wound, the doctor assured Blake he would heal fine.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Blake kept trying to tell Veronica
everything was fine, and that she shouldn’t feel bad. Still,
Veronica felt awful for the mess she caused. He’d taken a bullet
for her. She didn’t even want to think about the fact that Arthur
was dead or all the gruesome things he told her.

Parker and Carol picked Blake and Veronica
up from the hospital. The doctor wanted to keep Blake a few days,
but Veronica refused to leave without him. She was sure Hayley
wanted to come and pick them up too, but the library would have
been short staffed if she did. Richard volunteered to step in as
Mayor while Blake recovered, and Miller was trying his best to keep
the citizens of Surpatch from overcrowding the hospital. Everyone
seemed to want to wish Veronica and Blake the best. Parker
forewarned them that they had done nothing for the last few days
was except gifts of food, flowers, and cards from all the concerned
neighbors. Carol remained quiet during Blake’s hospital stay, but
Veronica knew she wasn’t upset with her. Once they were given the
news that Blake was fine, Carol pulled her aside, and told her she
was happy Veronica was back in his life. She didn’t care what led
to it. That brought Veronica to tears. In the last few days, she
had cried more than she ever knew any one person was capable of
doing. Before then, she was scared Carol would tell her to stay
away from Blake after everything she put him through. She was also
concerned the town was going to shun her. Most of all, she feared
Blake would want nothing to do with her. Yet, the town had come out
to show their support, Blake wouldn’t let her leave his side, and
his mother still approved of her.

Sighing, she leaned her head on Blake’s good
shoulder. She caught a glimpse of Blake and her in Parker’s
rearview mirror and smiled.

Blake lowered his head and whispered in her
ear, “What is that look?”

Veronica glanced into his bright blue eyes
she said, “Can you see us in the mirror? We’re a sight, all
bruised, and bandaged up. We’re a mess.”

Blake smiled down at her, and brought his
arm around her, pulling them closer.

“
Yes, we are. But you know
what?”

“
What?” she whispered,
snuggling into Blake’s chest.

“
We’re each other’s mess,
and that’s all that counts.”

Kissing her on the forehead, they both
laughed. He was right. They were each other’s mess, and she didn’t
want it to be any other way.

Once they were back at Blake’s house, she
understood what Parker meant by all the gifts the citizens of
Surpatch lavished upon them. Blake’s house smelled like a cross
between a florist shop and a bakery. After they were settled,
Parker and Carol didn’t stay long. With Veronica’s newly casted
arm—the doctor put on a new one since the other one looked like it
had gone through a war and Blake not being able to use his left
shoulder, they were promised to have help later. Parker and Hayley
would be over later that night, and Richard and Carol would come
over the following day. Blake and Veronica assured them they could
fend for themselves, but they didn’t put up much of a fight once
Parker offered to let the neighbors come check on them, if the
family wasn’t allowed to.

Lying in each others’ arms until Hayley and
Parker came over, Blake thought it would be a good idea if they
talked. Veronica agreed. They had a lot to catch up on, and a lot
of things that had been unsaid. It wasn’t going to be easy, but
nothing could be any harder then everything she had already lived
through. She refused to run from Blake again. As he pointed out,
they were each other’s mess.

Epilogue

Eight months later

Veronica wasn’t sure if it was just her, but
making the climb up Hideaway Hill wasn’t as easy as it used to be.
She wondered if it was because she wasn’t as young as before or the
fact that she was eight months pregnant. Nearing the top of the
hill, Blake stretched his hand out for hers, giving her a sheepish
grin.

“
I guess I didn’t plan this
part out very well.”

It was a spur of the moment decision when he
called and invited her to a picnic lunch with him on the hill. She
agreed and met him at the bottom of their old secret hiding place
about thirty minutes later. Climbing the hill, Blake explained how
he snuck out of the office to meet her for lunch. Their lives were
drastically changing in the next few weeks, and he wanted to spend
some one-on-one time with her.

Reaching the top of the mound with Blake’s
help, Veronica stepped forward to have a look over the town, lake,
and park. She had forgotten how breathtaking the view was. She was
glad Blake picked this spot for them to eat lunch. He was right,
there was a lot coming up in the next few weeks. A few months ago,
they decided to bring Blair home to be laid to rest. The Darwood’s
didn’t want a huge production of it, only a small family affair to
have a chance to say their goodbyes. Veronica knew it would give
her peace of mind as well to have Blair closer to home. Also, with
the seasons changing, they were going to do a simple dedication to
her parents. Instead of rebuilding the house, she asked the town if
they would mind if she turned it into a small memorial garden. The
town accepted her proposal, and the garden ceremony was that coming
weekend. Going through the remains of the house had been tough.
Arthur used any and every flammable liquid in the house and spread
it throughout every room. Even if the firemen worked all night,
there was no way to save the house. Besides finding her fireproof
box, nothing was left. As for Blake’s house, Blake and Veronica
decided it was time to move. His house was adequate for a baby, but
with everything that happened there, they wanted a fresh start.
Blake’s parents believed it was best if Blake took his rightful
place in the Mayor’s mansion. After months of going back and forth,
they finally made plans to move his parents into their new home,
and Blake and Veronica into the manor that coming week.

Rubbing her belly, she watched as Blake
spread out a blanket for them to sit on. Through the whole ordeal,
Blake had been amazing. When she sat up at night because she
couldn’t sleep, he sat with her. As she sifted through the ruins of
the house, he was there too. Blake even refrained from making
comments when Miller came over with information on Arthur. While
reviewing the information she found he was born Kent Arthur
Stentson, and was one of three children. Reading further, Veronica
saw a fire had claimed the lives of most of his family. No one
could figure out how it started, but the fire killed his parents,
and baby sister. The middle brother, Jeffery, who was the other
survivor, made claims that he witnessed Arthur setting the fire
because he was mad at his parents over grounding him. The police
could never pin the arson on Arthur, so they dropped the case.
Years later, Jeffery was placed in an asylum. Arthur had him
committed. Afterward Arthur dropped Kent from his name, and joined
the army, where he racked-up a list of altercations, including a
few run-ins with women who stated he assaulted them. None of them
pressed further charges, but obtained restraining orders. After
being dishonorably discharged from the service, Arthur then
enrolled in college.

“
Okay, all set,” Blake
called from behind Veronica.

Veronica turned away from the thought of
what else Arthur could have done to her, and walked over to the
blanket. Blake and Veronica slid their shoes off and sat. She
leaned against his chest, as Blake reached around and placed the
basket of food in front of her. Blake then wrapped his hands around
her and her belly. She loved to feel his hands on her stomach. He
would spend hours moving his hands around, waiting to feel the baby
move. The pregnancy came as a surprise to them, considering how
much stress Veronica had been under. But after they came home from
the hospital, they promised each other to take the world head‒on
together. This was their first mission.

Waiting for her to pull the food out,
Veronica sensed Blake was ready to eat, because he kept fidgeting.
She lifted the lid of the basket and saw a small black velvet box.
Veronica gasped, and removed it from the basket.

“
I should have asked you
this a long time ago, Vee. I hope you can forgive me for taking so
long.”