Ragan's Song (Fairfield Corners #2) (9 page)

Chapter 22

As Ragan climbed the porch steps, she wondered how Sky would react if she spent more time with Mark. Her feelings for him were slowly growing stronger and she thought she might be falling in love with him. She worried how Skylar would take to the idea, since his life had already been drastically changed by their move to Fairfield Corners and the revelation that Adam was his father.

The visitation schedule she had proposed seemed to be working, and she hoped that it showed that she was willing to have Skylar spend time with his father. The summons had scared her; initially she had been afraid Adam would try to take Sky away from her completely. Over time she realized he would never keep Sky from her; he wasn’t a vindictive person and he would never do anything to hurt their son.

Pulling the mail out of the mailbox, she flipped through the envelopes as she turned to head inside, separating junk mail into her left hand. The plain, white envelope with no postage appeared harmless, but Ragan knew different. She turned the envelope over, seeing that both sides were blank.
Oh God, it’s starting again
. Her hands shook as she opened it and found a two-line message, much like the others she’d received three years ago:

You are mine

Stay away from him

Ragan gripped the note tighter, crumpling it in her hand as she felt the pressure building in her head; the precursor to the visions that sometimes predicted future events. The problem was, she never knew how far in the future, or if the prediction would come true. This time, she envisioned a hand writing a note similar to the one she had just received, except the second line had changed:

I warned you—he will die
.

A knock on the door startled her, literally making her jump. “Ragan? You home?” The front door opened and Cassie entered. Ragan stood there staring at the note, fear freezing her in place.

“Ragan? What’s wrong?” Cassie asked as she led Ragan to the couch.

“I can’t go through this again, Cassie. I just can’t handle it.” she whispered, “I can’t let him hurt anyone because of me.”

Cassie pushed her down onto the cushions and sat tentatively beside her. “Handle what? What in the world are you talking about?”

Ragan handed the note to her best friend. “This.”

“What is this? Stay away from who?” Cassie asked with a frown.

“I think it’s Mark this time that I have to stay away from,” Ragan replied.

Cassie grabbed Ragan’s hand, demanding more firmly, “What do you mean,
this time
?”

“Notes like these are part of the real reason I left in the middle of the night three years ago,” Ragan admitted. “I need some coffee.” She walked into the kitchen and filled the coffeemaker with water, spilling the ground beans on the counter as her shaking hands scooped from the canister into the filter basket.

Once she pushed the brew button, she leaned against the counter and stared out the window as her thoughts whirled around in her head. As if sensing Ragan’s need to gather herself, Cassie quietly waited for her friend to begin her explanation.

After the coffee had been poured and they were sitting at the table, Ragan opened up about the events that led to her disappearance back then. Her voice held a slight tremor at the emotional roller coaster she could not escape. “A couple of weeks after Adam and I started spending time together, I started receiving notes like this one. After that, I had a couple of visions about me and Adam. One of them scared me bad enough to run away.”

Ragan sipped her coffee, wrapping her hands around the cup to warm them. “The first vision was great. Adam and I were dancing at our wedding reception to a song that Logan was singing. After a couple of days, the visions changed. I saw myself standing over a freshly dug grave while holding the hand of a little girl. I now know that she is Jenna. James was there, telling me that it wasn’t my fault; that no one knew the stalker would kill Adam. The only way I knew how to stop it from coming true was to leave and hope that this person would be satisfied and leave Adam alone.”

Ragan fought back tears as she struggled to continue. Cassie held her hand and waited patiently, allowing her friend the time she needed to calm herself.

“And now it’s happening again,” Ragan sobbed, wondering how she would find the strength to leave this time. If she did, and took Sky away from his father, she knew he would do whatever it took to find them and bring Sky back.

“It’s okay, Ragan; we’ll figure this out. Right now, I’m calling Logan. Someone from the sheriff’s office needs to know about this.” Cassie stepped out onto the porch to make the call, leaving the other girl alone with her thoughts.

Ragan put her head down on her knees for a moment. Crushed to think that Mark could be in danger because of her, she walked over to the stereo to sort through the CD's. She wanted something that matched her mood, but had no luck; music wouldn’t take her mind off this new turn of events. She sat back down on the couch, forcing herself to stay seated instead of fleeing to the bedroom to pack a bag and run away.

Cassie returned to the room and handed Ragan a fresh mug of coffee. “I doctored that with some of the brandy I found in the cupboard. You look like you could use it.” After she watched her take a sip, she continued, “Logan’s on his way over to take a report. I made him promise that he wouldn’t tell Adam anything you don’t want him to know. But, you know you need to tell Adam the truth about why you left.”

“I know. I just don’t know how. I’ve lied to him, and now I’m not sure he’ll ever forgive me.”

“Do you want me to be here when you tell him?”

“No, I need to muster the strength to do this myself, alone, with no distractions.” Ragan stared into her cup of dark liquid as if it held the answers to all her problems. “I also need to tell you about what happened the night I moved into this house.”

Cassie sat, speechless, while Ragan explained about Adam showing up that first night and how everything had happened. She followed up by sharing her turmoil over the summons that James had delivered the next morning, including her visit to the pub the because of it. Then, the sound of a car door brought the conversation to an abrupt end, and Ragan turned to hide the fear in her eyes when she saw Logan approaching the front door.

Cassie stood to let her husband in, playfully calling, “Hey, Dudley, thanks for getting here so fast. Ragan needs our help.”

“This better be important. I’m still on duty,” he frowned at Ragan. She knew he wasn’t happy about the way she left Adam three years ago, and the custody case hadn’t improved his opinion.

Ragan’s phone rang and it startled her. “Hi, Adam. Can you keep him for a while longer? Cassie and I have something to take care of… great. I’ll call you when we’re done if that’s okay. Bye.”

Logan noticed her hands shaking while she spoke into the device. Once she had ended the call, he asked with genuine concern, “Ragan? What’s got you so scared?” That’s all it took. Ragan broke down and sobbed again.

Eager to help, Cassie took over and told Logan the whole story, starting with the visions Ragan had experienced as a kid, all the way to the note she had received in the mail that day.

Gauging his reaction, Ragan could see that Logan obviously wanted to believe her. As her friend finished, she started humming the song she’d heard Logan singing in her vision, but his reaction stopped her cold. His head whipped around in her direction, a look of disbelief on his face.

“Where did you hear that song?” he demanded sharply. He remembered it clearly, even though he had only heard it once before. It had been years ago, when he and Adam were just kids, and he allowed the past to swallow him for a moment.

The scorching sun had beat down on him as he hurried through his chores on Miss Hattie’s farm, his mind already on jumping into the pond out back to escape the heat. Maybe the cool water would snap him out of the strange mood he’d been in ever since he’d started having that weird dream every night. He found Adam scattering feed to the chickens, a dreamy expression on his face as he hummed.

“Is that a new song? I’ve never heard it before.”

Adam looked at him, “What?”

“That song you were humming, is it new? Doesn’t sound like the one you played for me last night.”

“Damn, it’s gone again.” He looked around guiltily as if he was afraid his grandmother was going to let him have it for using a swear word. “Whenever things are quiet I can hear that tune in my head, but as soon as I think about it too hard, it’s gone.”

The memory fading, Logan stared at Ragan intently.
How did she know that tune?

“That’s the song you were singing in my vision. I’ve never heard it before,” Ragan’s lip quivered slightly, and she could see in his solemn stare that he believed her.

Logan sat down beside her and took her hands in his, his grip growing tighter as he thought about all that Cassie had told him. “Adam was dead in your vision? Is that why you left?”

She nodded a few times, “I had to keep him safe. I couldn’t let him die because of me.” He pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as she sobbed, “I didn’t want to leave. I loved him so much…”

“Shhh, it’s okay. We’ll find the culprit and everyone will be safe.”

Ragan inhaled deeply, working to pull herself together. After blowing her nose and wiping her eyes, she finished telling Logan the rest. “There’s more. Just before Cassie got here, I had another vision. I saw someone writing another note like this one, only the second line read:
I warned you—he will die.
You’ve got to keep Mark safe. Now I think he’s the one in danger because of me.”

“Don’t worry, Ragan, we’ll catch this guy. Where’s the note and envelope you received today?” Logan put on his gloves, snapped pictures of them and put each into a plastic evidence bag. “Maybe he left fingerprints. Sometimes these guys aren’t smart enough to wear gloves. I’ll need you to come down to the sheriff’s office so we can get your prints for elimination purposes. The sooner you can do that, the better.” He placed the bags on the table and returned to Ragan, pulling her into a hug. “You need to tell Adam about this; all of it, Ragan, especially why you left.”

“It’s too late for us and I don’t want him worrying about me. Promise me you won’t say anything to him. He’s safer if he thinks I’m over him.” She stood tall and glared at him squarely, focused on his deep blue eyes. They were just like Adam’s.

“I promise. But, if this puts him or the kids in danger, I’ll have to let him know, whether you want me to or not. I need to go and start working on this. Call me if you get any more notes.” He gave Ragan a quick hug and kissed Cassie on the cheek, leaving them both in silence.

“Don’t worry, he’ll figure this out, Ragan. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe.”

“I don’t know what I’d do if someone gets hurt because of me. God, I hope they catch this guy fast.”

Chapter 23

Ragan walked out of the sheriff’s office, wiping her fingers on the paper towel in her hand and wishing this whole situation would just go away. Logan tried to make her laugh, cracking jokes the whole time, but all she could do was force a smile. Getting fingerprinted made it all too real.

When James realized why she had come in, he sat her down at his desk and made her tell him the whole story, even the parts about the visions. He believed her about the premonitions, though there was a time when he would have thought she was nuts. After what Cassie and Logan had lived through three years ago, dealing with a demon, believing in the paranormal had become easier for him. He gave her a hug and assured her that they would catch the stalker.

As soon as Ragan arrived home, she called Adam, letting him know that he could drop Sky off anytime. With supper in the oven, she sat at the kitchen table editing photographs on her laptop when she heard Adam pull up into the driveway. He knocked on the door and then let himself in, setting Skylar down to run to his mom. “Did you get everything done this afternoon? I can take Sky again tomorrow if you need me to.”

Ragan reached for her baby, swung him around in a circle and gave him a big kiss. “No, that’s okay. We got everything done this afternoon.” She turned her head so that Adam would not see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath, “I made lasagna; would you and Jenna like to stay for dinner?” she asked. “We should try to be friends, for Sky’s sake.”

He studied her as if he were afraid she would change her mind. “I agree. We should try to put the past behind us. Jenna told me that you’re teaching her photography class. She seems to really enjoy it. Putting her behind a camera seems to have brought her out of her shell. She’s been talking more this week than she has for years. I want to thank you for that.”

His love for his daughter showed in his eyes, and Ragan felt grateful to help Jenna in any way that she could. Turning back to the stove, she hid the depth of her feelings for him and hoped that he wouldn’t pick up on them as the evening progressed.

Leaving her to finish the meal, Adam went out to his truck and brought Jenna back to the house, and then sent her to the bathroom with Sky to get washed up for dinner. “Ragan, I want to talk to you before they get back. I want to apologize for what happened two weeks ago. It’s difficult for me to talk about it, because I don’t know what came over me, but I hope you can forgive me so we can move past it.”

Ragan saw the relief in his face when she replied, “It’s in the past. Let’s start fresh, from this moment and move forward.” She felt the urge to settle close to him for a kiss, but the kids chose that moment to run back into the kitchen. She gave herself a mental shake, knowing she couldn’t start anything with Adam; it was really too late for them. Instead, she lifted Sky and put him in his booster seat as Adam brought the lasagna over to the table. They ate dinner as Jenna chattered about her day at school. That time together seemed like real family time, and Ragan pretended for a moment that they were a normal, happy family enjoying a meal together. Too bad it couldn’t happen.