Freeing Destiny (Fate #2) (35 page)

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Aubrey barked. “You leave him out of this. We’ll work it out on our own. Make something up. I’m not going to jail for an Edwards girl. I’d rather die.”

I didn’t doubt it and she
did
have a weapon. Aubrey was so unstable, the idea of her ending her life wasn’t farfetched. I hated this girl with every molecule in my body, but I didn’t want her death on my hands. “Aubrey,” I spoke, shaky and unsure. “Please calm down. You’re not going to jail. I won’t press charges. We’ll figure it out if you . . . just please let me call Jack.”

“No! No! No!” she shrieked, unhinging before my eyes. She paced the room, fists tight at her sides. I eyed her with disdain, pure and deep hatred. During my thorough examination of the woman who made me feel things so vile I wanted to vomit, I noticed something behind her. The knife stuck out from where the strings of her apron were tied together around her waist.

I looked to Emma, careful not to be seen by Aubrey. We shared a moment of gratitude, me mouthing a silent
thank you
, her blinking in her response. Before Aubrey had any more say in my fate, I caught Emma typing out a text with high speed taps of the on-screen keyboard.

Aubrey was too busy throwing her tantrum to notice that Emma had managed to update Jack
and
dial 9–1-1. I had to hand it to her for pulling off this scam thus far, but as I learned from my mother, Aubrey wasn’t the smoothest of criminals.

I stood there in awe as the girl who was once a threat to my mother, my stepfather and now me, unraveled into a heap of pitiful cries and inconsolable yelps. “Why me?” she actually had the nerve to project, when I was the one handcuffed to a chair.

There was no use trying to reason with her, or to move a muscle for that matter. Help was on the way, whether she could comprehend that or not. I slunk down into the chair that had held me captive for the last three hours and watched on as Emma tried to talk to her sister.

“What were you thinking, Aubrey? Honestly. Please tell me what’s going on in your fucked up brain. Do you know how worried everyone’s been? They had a search team looking for her and then the texts—” Emma’s attention was back on me looking for answers.

“She had my phone.
She
sent those texts. All lies.” I could barely form full sentences, I was still so shaken by everything that had gone down. The idea of my nightmare coming to an end kept me afloat in this sea of ugliness, but I couldn’t erase the fear Aubrey had instilled in me over the last day and a half. It took a very unwell individual to do the things she had done to me. I told her I wouldn’t press charges, but that was
my
lie. Bitch would pay for what she put me and my family through. I wanted her out of the picture for good.

Emma continued to berate Aubrey, prodding her for explanations. It was all incoherent nonsense as far as I was concerned. Some of the shit she told her was true, but most of it was just blathering from a lunatic. When it was almost too much to listen to, I heard the sirens in the distance. The blaring drone was like heavenly music.

My breathing accelerated; my heart pummeled against my rib cage. It was the moment of truth for Aubrey. She had about a minute and thirty seconds to pull one final, outrageous stunt. Would she go totally bonkers? Wave that knife around? Slice her wrists? The possibilities that lived inside her warped brain were probably endless, but fortunately for all involved, they were futile.

Aubrey was broken. So weak and defeated she didn’t put up a fight when Emma slyly removed the knife from her apron and hid it underneath the couch. Once a dangerous threat, Aubrey could barely lift herself from the floor when the cops barged in through the front door. With guns held high and plenty of back-up, five burly police officers rushed into the dining area, the sound of crushed glass from Aubrey and Emma’s scuffle declaring their arrival.

“Hands where I can see them!” One officer commanded.

Aubrey and Emma did as they were told and I tried to do the same.

“I’m cuffed, officer.” Another policeman with a bulletproof vest walked over to me to appraise my situation. Within seconds, he released the cuffs from my raw wrists with something from his belt.

“Thank you!” I cried. “Thank you so much!”

“We’re treating this as a hostage situation. The 9–1-1 call was followed up with a missing person’s report from the NYPD. Which one of you is Stella Edwards?”

“That’d be me.” My words came out in a whisper when what I really wanted to do was rejoice.

What happened after that transpired in a blur of craziness fit for the crazy queen herself. An EMT arrived on the scene and evaluated me. Emma sat with Aubrey as she rocked herself back and forth, unwilling to confess to a crime. I recounted the story from the second I got into the Uber until right before the cops showed up. My statement paired with the missing person’s report meant not such good things for my captor. She had some road ahead of her. One I kind of wanted a front row seat to.

When it was time to leave the house, Aubrey threw a very Aubrey-like, melodramatic tantrum. A police officer threatened to Taser her if she didn’t calm down. Apparently, the sting of a Taser gun was the only thing Aubrey feared. Her fit of rage ended in tears and she was taken out of the house in cuffs, kicking and screaming.

I felt bad for Emma. Regardless of how nuts Aubrey was, she was still her sister. And even if Emma couldn’t sympathize with Aubrey, she had to be embarrassed by her actions. When Aubrey was in the back of the cop car, still raging and flailing like a madwoman, I walked over to Emma and wrapped my weary arms around her.

“I don’t know how to thank you. You literally saved my life.”

Emma took in a deep breath and hung her head. “Stella, I’m so sorry for everything she’s put you through. I don’t even know how to look you in the eye. You have every right to hate me.”

“
Hate
you? How could I hate you? You didn’t give up on me. It’s
because
of you I’m not stuck in that house with her. Or worse!”

“I appreciate that.” A shy smile spread across her tear stained face. “But I’m not fully responsible, Stells. My brother wouldn’t give up until someone found you. This is all him. He’s the man behind the saving. I just stood in for him because he couldn’t be here.”

I was confused. His apartment was only about an hour from here. He had to be on his way, right? “What do you mean? Isn’t he—”

“Oh my God. You don’t know!” Emma’s eyes went wide with realization.

“Don’t know what? You’re scaring me.”

“No, hun. It’s all good.” She took my hand in hers and patted it calmly. “He’s in New York with your family. He flew in right after you to surprise you, but obviously you never showed up and then they thought you were missing, and then they thought you were hiding, and there was a snow storm, and now—”

“Crap! My phone,” I interrupted. I’d get all the details later. Right now I just wanted to talk to Jack. “The police had to take my phone for evidence. Can I use yours? I have to call Jack. I need to hear his voice.”

Without hesitation, Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out the one thing keeping me from my destiny. My hero. My Flame. She slid her fingers over the screen and handed me an already ringing phone.

I put it to my ear and felt my heart thunder in my chest. “Emma. What’s going on? Please tell me everyone’s okay?”
His voice. His beautiful, deep, loving voice. It’s him! Oh, Jack!

“Hi, baby.” I choked out, a lump lodged deep in my throat. “It’s me.”

“Oh my God, Stella! Thank God you’re all right! I love you so much, Sunshine. I just need you to hear that before you say anything else. I love you and I never want to be without you again.”

“I love you, too, Jack.” For the first time in days I smiled. I wanted so badly to hold him, but this was the next best thing and I would take whatever I could get as long as he knew how desperately in love with him I was. “You know I didn’t send that text, right? It was Aubrey. She had my phone. She had me . . .” Realization set in. When I really wrapped my head around it I almost couldn’t believe what I’d just endured.

“I know, Sunshine. I know. But the police gave us the news that you were okay. You’re safe now and I’ll be on the first flight out of here so I can kiss away all your tears.”

Somehow he made me believe that. As long as I had him, I’d be safe. I never wanted to be away from him again. I would stay in San Francisco. Forget about everything and everyone else. “Jack,” I sobbed. I clutched the phone to my ear as if it could bring me closer to him.

“Yes, Stella!”

“No separation. Ever again. Not even to go to the bathroom.” I smeared away the last of the tears—these were happy ones—and giggled.

“Now, that might actually be a lot of fun. An all access pass. I love the sound of that.”

“I love the sound of
you.
I thought I’d never hear your voice again.”

“Oh, baby. I won’t ever let her get away with what she did to you. I promise you, she will be held responsible for every crime she committed, and there were quite a few, so don’t worry your gorgeous little head about her. This will be taken care of, the right way, for the last time.”

Jack’s tone was fortified with vengeance. There was a time I actually sympathized with Aubrey and wanted Jack to forgive her for the sake of righting things for his family. But after today, I didn’t care how harsh it sounded or what kind of person it made me seem—Aubrey was dead to me. And since Jack and I were going to be one united entity, he would have to face the fact she was no longer his sister. Based on his promise to keep me safe, I was certain he wouldn’t care less about losing her.

I delighted in vindication. Aubrey was facing the worst punishment of all. Never mind jail time or a lifetime of repentance. Her ultimate shame was being alone. And now she’d be forced into an eternity of loathing and rejection from everyone she ever cared about.

Stella

I ran in what seemed like slow motion through the airport. “It’s you! It’s really you!” My voice cracked as I bawled.

Jack couldn’t get a flight out of the city back to me so I booked the first flight out to him. In New York. With my family. I noticed them in the distance, but love blinded you in wonderful ways. As much as I needed to hug my mother, kiss my sister, thank Caleb, Ryan, and Aunt Gina for standing vigil for me, I needed Jack. If I didn’t get to touch him within one more second, I would explode.

“Sunshine! Yes, it’s me. I’m here.
You’re
here. Oh my God. I’m so happy to see you!” Jack scooped me up in a tight embrace and then appraised me at arm’s length. His strong, wonderful hands cupped my face and pulled my lips to his.

Our kiss was more than passionate. More than greedy. More than desperate. It was unbreakable. If someone told me I’d take my last breath after this kiss, I would die a content woman. But luckily for me, Jack, and everyone involved, I had plenty of breaths left to take after this magical moment.

“I thought I’d never see you again.” Jack’s reverence became serious. He rested his forehead against mine and breathed deep and slow.

“Me, too, Jack. I was so scared!” I couldn’t say anymore. My throat was clogged with tears and my breathing was too rapid to contain.

“Hey,” Jack fussed, slouching down to meet my eyes. “Don’t cry. I’m here now. You’re okay.” Concern was evident in the tenor of his rich voice.

I shook my head and buried my face in his neck. My fingers dug into his back, my arms clutched tighter than I ever imagined they could. I didn’t want to let go. I would never let go again.

Seconds turned into minutes and my whimpers turned into sobs. I cried until I was depleted. Until the memories of the last few days were just that—a thing of the past. Even though they weren’t. We’d have to deal with Aubrey in the coming days so that meant more traveling and uprooting and . . . I refused to face that right now. I wouldn’t let her ruin this moment.

My family gathered around us; my mother cried, my sister shook, and everyone else ogled. It was a lot to take in, but I wouldn’t dare protest their unified demonstration of loyalty and love.

“Hi,” I whimpered. My eyes made their way around the circle they had created around me and Jack.