Officer in Pursuit (30 page)

“I don’t think the police give that
big of a shit. They gotta ask questions; that’s their job. Tell ‘em
whatever will get ‘em off your back. Look at your face, for fuck’s
sake – that bitch is the one who deserves to be locked up, not you.
They’ll see the truth as soon as they look at you. I’m telling you,
you’re making mountains outta molehills.”

Maybe that was true. But Brad still
wasn’t going to apply for the job. He didn’t need to be chained to
some factory making plastics for twelve bucks an hour. He needed to
be in North Carolina, getting his wife back.

He’d fetch Kerry, finally teach her
all the lessons she was begging for. And if she threw another
fucking whiskey bottle in his face – if she wouldn’t come – he’d at
least make sure she wasn’t running around, fucking other men behind
his back.

How the hell could Michael expect him
to give a shit about things like bills and rent when that was going
on? Kerry was one big, whoring loose end he needed to tie up before
he could get the rest of his life in order.

Once things were settled with her,
he’d get a new job. Make back payments on his rent. Michael would
see – they’d all see. Everything would work out after he set Kerry
straight.

* * * * *

“It still looks painful,” Grey said,
holding Kerry’s hand in his own like it was something breakable. He
traced the bright pink lines that crisscrossed her palm, thinking
of how they’d always be visible, even after they turned
white.

“It’s not that bad, anymore.” She
opened and closed her hand, then looked up and met his eyes. “It
could’ve been a lot worse. I’m just glad to have the bandages off
and stitches out.”

The lacerations on her hand were the
price she’d paid to escape from her ex-husband. He knew that, and
he was glad she’d been brave enough to make the sacrifice, but he
still hated to see her scarred, to be reminded of how she’d been
hurt.

Hell, she was still hurting, no matter
what she said – the scars were more than physical. He’d spent every
night with her for the past two weeks, and knew better than anyone
how she jumped at every noise, flinched every time they were in
public and got too close to a strange man about Brad’s size. She’d
just gotten her car back out of the shop, and every morning before
she went to work, Grey drove it around the block a couple times,
checking the brakes.

It was a shitty way for her to have to
live, fearing that her ex might show up at any moment and try to
finish what he’d started. But at the same time, Grey and Kerry had
packed so much passion – so much pleasure – into the past couple
weeks that he almost could’ve said that they were happy.

In some ways, he was happier than he’d
ever been.

He loved spending so much time with
her, even if they both looked over their shoulders more often than
any person should’ve had to.

He loved waking up next to
her.

And God, he loved fucking
her.

She smiled. “I was thinking – maybe
today we could buy our Halloween costumes.”

“That’s right – less than two weeks
‘till the big day. We’d better do it, or all the good ones will be
sold out.”

He held onto her hand, his skin
prickling at the feel of her scars. If he enjoyed being with her
this much during a time like this, he could only imagine how good
it’d be when her ex was caught and she didn’t have to be afraid
anymore, when the haze of fear lifted.

Until then, he’d deal with anything
just to be able to sit with her like this, with her hand in
his.

* * * * *

It was barely 70 degrees outside.
Still, Sasha was wearing her signature bikini.

And Kerry was wearing hers. She loved
the blue swimsuit Grey had helped her choose and was glad to have a
chance to wear it, even if it was only under her clothing. She
still wore her shorts and tee and wasn’t sure if she’d be getting
in the water.

Sasha, who never swam, was serving up
pumpkin cheesecake in her red suit. “I know it’s a weird thing to
bring to the beach,” she said, “but Faye wants me to make it for
the fall festival and I had to perfect my recipe. I’ve got four
cheesecakes in the fridge at home right now.”

They ate it off of paper plates,
sitting on the two blankets they’d put down side by side to
accommodate the group. In addition to Kerry, Alicia, Sasha, Grey,
Henry and Liam, Jeremy had come along today. He’d also brought his
11 year old daughter.

Kerry had never seen him out of
uniform before. It was strange to see him sitting on the beach in
shorts and a t-shirt, stubble shadowing his jaw. He seemed more
relaxed than she’d ever seen him.

They didn’t talk about his work, or
what had happened three weeks ago. Kerry was grateful, but also
realized Jeremy probably didn’t want to talk about it anymore than
she did. The poor guy hardly ever seemed to get a day
off.

His daughter, Paige, was the only one
not eating cheesecake. Instead, she was down by the water, standing
where the waves were sweeping under the pier. She had long, curly
brown hair that Kerry guessed she’d inherited from her dad, though
his was cut too short to tell for sure. She seemed sweet, on the
quiet side – a little lost and probably bored among all the
adults.

Kerry felt bad for her. She wracked
her brain for a way to make her feel included, but she hadn’t had
any experience with kids that age since she’d been one
herself.

It occurred to her, suddenly and
uncomfortably, that if she hadn’t miscarried, her child would’ve
been just a couple years younger than Paige.

It was a strange thought, one that
drew her gaze to Jeremy and made her wonder what his life was
really like, outside of work. She was used to seeing him dressed in
black, driving around in his cruiser, putting together the puzzle
pieces of other people’s troubles and trying to make things right.
But he was more than just a sheriff’s deputy; he was a single
father.

“Oh my God, Sasha,” Alicia said,
sitting beside Liam in jean shorts and a purple bikini top, her
toes buried in the sand. “This cheesecake is amazing! Is it the
recipe you settled on for the fall festival?”

Sasha grinned. “Yes. It’s perfect,
right?”

“You can say that again,” Jeremy said,
halfway through his slice already. “I should see if Paige wants
some.”

Paige was coming to them now, walking
out of the waves’ reach and to the blankets. She wore shorts and a
long-sleeved t-shirt, the sleeves pushed up to her elbows. Her
hands were sandy and she held something in one of them. “Look, dad
– I found a sand dollar. It’s not broken, either, like last
time.”

Jeremy put down his cheesecake and
held out his hand.

“Wow,” he said when Paige handed over
her find, “it’s a nice one. Perfect. We’ll have to add it to the
collection.”

Sasha strode toward father
and daughter, carrying a paper plate that sagged beneath the weight
of an enormous slice of cheesecake. “That
is
a nice sand dollar,” she said.
“Here, everyone’s having cheesecake. This is yours.”

Paige’s eyes got big when she accepted
the plate. “I don’t know if I can eat all this.”

Sasha grinned. “Give it a try – you
might be surprised. And I’m sure your dad will help you out if you
can’t finish it.”

Nobody said much of anything for a
while, because they were all busy eating. The silence left Kerry to
think more deeply than she wanted to.

October was drawing to a close. The
days were shorter and cooler, and several storms had rolled through
already that month. She was grateful for the chance to have another
day at the beach with everyone, but like everything good in her
life of late, the experience was tainted by dread.

What if this was the last time they
were all together? What if something awful happened before they had
a chance to get together again?

She felt vaguely guilty, hanging out
with her friends. Despite the fact that they clearly didn’t agree,
she couldn’t help but feel like a bad luck charm. Grey was fully
aware of the risk he was taking by being around her, but the rest
of them?

They knew what had happened, but they
didn’t seem to acknowledge that a certain degree of danger came
with spending time with her. Or at least, they didn’t care. The
thought made Kerry’s heart swell with affection, but then she
caught sight of Paige and Jeremy sitting side by side, their heads
tipped together as they examined the sand dollar.

Her guilt returned, along with a surge
of dismay. Was she the only one bothered by the fact that Brad was
still out there? Weeks had gone by with no sign of him, but she
wasn’t any less wary. Three years had gone by before he’d first
found her – three weeks was nothing. She knew he hadn’t forgotten,
hadn’t given up on her.

“Hey.” Grey nudged Kerry’s shoulder.
“Wanna go for a walk?”

“Sure.” She sprang up from her place
on the blanket and took his hand when he offered it.

“You looked worried,” he said when
they reached the water’s edge. The wet sand shifted beneath their
feet as they walked, and cool salt spray hit their ankles every
time a wave crashed. “Thought you might want to get away from the
group for a while.”

She nodded. “Thanks. I can’t really
say much there, especially with Paige around.”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t want to scare her.
She’s only what – 10 or something?”

“11, Jeremy said.” Kerry’s chest
tightened. “Do you think everyone should be worried? About spending
time with me, I mean?”

“Not at all.”

“Are you just saying that to make me
feel better?”

“No, I mean it. And don’t worry that
I’m letting my guard down – I’m not. I know the police haven’t
found him and it bothers the hell out of me too. But look what
happened the first time: he attacked when you were alone. He’s a
coward, Kerry. Even if he was here, he’d never strike when you were
in a group like this.”

Her heart lightened the tiniest bit.
What Grey was saying rang true. “I hope you’re right. Hanging out
with our friends, I feel like a sick person in a group of healthy
people. I wonder if I shouldn’t have just stayed home for everyone
else’s good.”

Grey squeezed her hand. “No. You were
right to come. Everyone’s having a good time. You think Jeremy
would’ve brought his daughter if he’d thought there was any danger
in it?”

“When you put it that way…” She
stepped over a spot in the sand where a tiny clam had been
unearthed by a wave and was scrambling to dig its way back under.
“I realize I’m just being paranoid.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t have to – I know it has to
be getting old for you, me jumping at every little thing. I
appreciate you putting up with it and helping me put things into
perspective. But I know I’ll be thinking like this until Brad is
caught and prosecuted – I can’t help it.”

“I don’t expect you to. Do you really
think worry doesn’t eat me alive every day when I’m at work, away
from you, knowing something could happen and it’d be hours before I
found out? Being inside that prison means being locked away from
the rest of the world, even if it’s just for one shift. To tell the
truth, I’m a little paranoid too.”

“I can’t wait for this to be over.
It’ll be like the weight of the world being lifted off my
shoulders. If Brad is locked up, it’ll all be worth it – I’ll be
glad the car wreck and abduction happened, if that’s what it takes
to finally be free of him.”

“You are free, Kerry.”

She laughed.

“You’re not letting him control you.
You’re not living by his rules. You’re free, because you decided to
be.”

There was truth in what he said,
though it hadn’t been exactly what she’d meant. She didn’t just
want to be out from under Brad’s thumb – she wanted freedom without
fear. She wanted Brad to be a memory she could bury, not a monster
lurking in the dark.

“Speaking of freedom,” Grey said after
a while. “When are you going to show off that new bikini? I can see
the strap sticking out of your shirt. It’s like you’re trying to
drive me crazy.”

“It’s barely 70 degrees! I wore the
bikini under my clothes just in case it got hot enough to
swim.”

“Oh, come on. Soon it’ll be a lot
cooler and it’ll be a good seven months from now before it’s this
warm again. Are you really going to make me wait that long to see
you in a bikini on the beach?”

Imagining a day on the beach seven
months in the future put a spring in her step, pushed back the dark
cloud of dread that’d been hanging over her for so long. She could
see it – she could see them here in the future, happy and having
fun.

She ached for it – ached to know it
would happen, that everything would be okay.

“Oh, all right,” she said, grabbing
the hem of her t-shirt and pulling it over her head. She couldn’t
guarantee anything for tomorrow, but she could let herself be happy
right now.