Skylar (The Love Family Series Book 1) (9 page)

She spent the next hour reminding him just how taken he was before reminding him again in the shower.

They both dressed and ate breakfast before he drove her back to her place. He pulled up in the driveway and let the car idle. “I’m going to go take care of some business and then check on Declan. What are your plans?”

“I’m going to deal with the store.” She let out a long sigh. “And check on Olivia. Do you want to meet for lunch?”

His lips twitched. “Absolutely, only this time I pick the place. How about Channing’s at noon?”

She chuckled before kissing him and getting out of the car. She took a quick glance at her watch. “Absolutely.”

She closed the door and watched him until he turned off her road before spinning on her heels and hefting her bag over her shoulder.

She dropped her keys on the table in the foyer and carried her bag straight to the laundry room. The stillness in her house was an unfamiliar feeling after the week she’d had. She opened her windows to let the fresh air in on the breeze while whisking the stale air out. The smell of the clean, salty air drifted to her nose, renewing her spirit and rejuvenating her strength.

She called the fire inspector to hear they’d determined an accelerant had been used, but they were still determining the origin. Did it matter where it started? She already knew who’d started it. What she still didn’t understand was why. Regardless, the building was off-limits while they investigated, so she was at a standstill on repairing any of the damage.

She spent the early afternoon making the rest of her calls, to Declan, her insurance agent, and the police station to see if they’d found the connection, dealing with all of the things that might offer her some closure. She wanted to forget everything that had happened, to pretend that life was normal. Only her brain wasn’t cooperating. She kept going over each of the incidents, unable to put her finger on a specific reason that could have started the snowball effect in her life.   

She checked her watch and hurried to close the house. She was ten minutes late for their lunch date.

Chapter 10

Luke strolled into the hotel to find Justin reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee in the lobby.

He closed the paper, folded it beneath his arm, and picked up his coffee. “Luke, I’ve been trying to call you all morning.”

Luke pulled out his phone and glanced at the black screen. “Sorry, it’s dead.” He’d turned to walk toward the elevator when Justin stopped him and turned him around to face the front door. “You’ve got a closing on the mainland, and you’re about to miss the ferry. Megan Dagger won’t sign unless she meets you in person.”

“But I was supposed to meet Sky at Channing’s for lunch.”

“I’ll meet her and explain why you couldn’t make it. If I’m going to be living here, I might as well get to know the locals.” Justin shoved his cell phone into Luke’s hand.

“Megan’s number is in my phone, and the GPS is loaded with the directions to the closing agent. Now go. She’ll never sell it to you if she thinks you stood her up.”

“You’ll meet Sky?”

“Of course.”

“She’s important to me.”

“I got it. I’ll be on my best behavior. Now go.”

Luke jogged back to his SUV and hopped inside, dialing Sky from Justin’s phone. She didn’t answer. “Shit.” He shoved Justin’s phone into his pocket and plugged his into the car charger before pulling out and heading toward the ferry. He’d have to make it up to Skylar with a celebration dinner and see Declan when he got back.

****

Declan smiled as Olivia entered the hospital room with Henry on her heels. “Miss me already?”

“Puhlease.” She rolled her eyes. “What kind of a best friend would I be to Sky if I didn’t make sure you weren’t scaring away the doctors? Besides, you’re the only one that can call off the dog.” She gestured toward Henry. “No offense.”

“None taken.”

Declan gave the nod of approval and waited until Henry left. “You feeling better?”

“Oh yeah, you know it takes a lot more than a blow to the back of my head to take me out of the game. How are you feeling?”

She moved to sit on the side of his bed. “I’ve had better days,” he admitted.

She moved to the window avoiding eye contact with him.

He cleared his throat. “So why are you still here? I called the guard off.”

She spun to meet his smiling face.

“Jerk. I just thought you might like some company.”

Instantly, he knew she was lying, thanks to his gift, but he bit his tongue, not calling her out.

The door flew open, and Simmons walked in with a file in his hand. “I’ve got something.”

Olivia moved closer but stood just out of reach.

“Jerry Mitchell.”

“Who?”

“The guy who shot you,” he reminded Declan. “I couldn’t find a tie directly to Skylar or Olivia, but I did find this.”

He pulled out a bank statement and handed it to Declan. “Three transactions of ten thousand dollars, all starting the day Luke came on the island.”

Declan scanned the paper and verified the dates. “From who? Amanda?”

“No, that’s the kicker. Justin Healy.”

Declan’s gaze shot up. “That’s Luke’s assistant. He’s here on the island. Send a unit to watch Skylar and alert Luke, and then put out an APB on this son of a bitch.”

“I already did,” he answered. “Skylar isn’t home. We’re still trying to locate her.”

Declan winced as he tried to get out of the bed. Olivia laid her hand on his shoulder and eased him back into the mattress. “You can’t go.”

“We’ll find them.”

“Check with the fire inspector. She was probably dealing with that today.”

“We’ll keep you posted,” Simmons called out as he hurried from the room.

Olivia picked up the hospital phone and tried Sky’s cell. It went to voicemail.

“Sky, this is Olivia. Justin is behind this. Tell Luke and go to the police or somewhere safe until they catch him.”

****

Luke pulled up at the ferry to find it would be delayed thirty minutes. He pulled out Justin’s phone and scrolled through to look for Megan’s number. He paused on Amanda’s name at the top of the list. His brows dipped. “What the…”

He continued down to Megan and dialed.

“Hello.”

“Ms. Dagger. This is Luke Tanner, and I’m just calling to let you know that I’m delayed getting to the signing.”

“Mr. Tanner? I’ve already signed two days ago. Didn’t your assistant tell you?”

“No. I’m sorry. I’ll reschedule for tomorrow if that’s okay.”

“Sure,” she agreed. “I’m just happy to get rid of that old building.”

“Thanks.” Luke hung up and went straight into Justin’s text messages and opened the ones between Amanda and him. His stomach dropped into his feet as he read the explicit details about their relationship and how Justin would rather see Luke dead than to play the charade any longer.

“Fuck…”

He got out of the messages and called the hospital as he hurried to get in his car. Olivia answered Declan’s phone and put him right on.

“Justin orchestrated the whole thing.”

“I know. We just found it in his bank records. Tell me that Sky is with you. We can’t find her.”

Luke gripped the steering wheel tighter and clenched his teeth. “Justin is meeting her for lunch at Channing’s at noon. He claimed I had a closing on the Dagger building, and I was late, so he went in my place.”

“Shit, God damn it. If that motherfucker touches her…”

“Call your guys. I’m on the way.”

****

“Skylar?”

She spun around. “Yes?”

A man extended his hand. The energy around him was a pukey yellow. “I’m Justin, Luke’s assistant. I’m afraid he’s been called away and won’t be able to make it to lunch.”

Skylar gave him a sad smile. “That’s okay. I’m sure it was important.”

“If you’d like to eat with me, I’m starving.”

“No, that’s okay. I’ve got some things to take care of today anyway.”

She turned and headed back to her car, listening to her voicemail as she went to shove the key inside.

She heard Olivia’s panicked voice. “Justin is behind everything. Get somewhere safe.”

Her heart raced, and as she tried to open the door, she felt the bite of steel in her side. She didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know who held the gun. He slipped her phone out of her fingers and dropped it to the ground, crushing it with his foot.

He took her keys and kept the gun pointed at her. “Get in the car.”

She slowly got in the driver’s side as he rounded the car and got in the other side. She buckled her belt as he shoved the keys into the ignition.

“Where are you taking me?”

“The Dagger building,” he announced, turning in his seat to face her, ignoring his seatbelt.

She’d bit her tongue to stop from telling him to buckle up. What did she care if the asshole was in a crash?

“You’ve ruined everything. If Luke had stayed with Amanda, I wouldn’t be on this piece-of-shit little island, and I’d be rich.”

Apprehension filled Skylar’s gut as she eased out onto the road. The gun in his right hand pointed at her side.

“I had nothing to do with Luke leaving Amanda. He knew she was cheating on him.”

“I know.” His lips turned up in an evil grin. “With me. But if it hadn’t been for you, he wouldn’t have wanted to move back to this godforsaken place. This date is special; she’s important; blah blah blah… He made my ears bleed.”

“Why’d you kill Amanda if you loved her?”

“I didn’t kill her.” He gawked. “That fuckhead killed her when I refused to pay him his last payment after he botched the drinks.”

“Luke’s going to come for me, along with the entire police department. They’ve tied you to the guy from the hospital. There’s nowhere you can hide on the island where they won’t find you.”

“He’s not coming for you, sweetheart.” He chuckled. “He’s on a ferry going to a closing that already took place, on the same building where you’re going to die.” He huffed. “It’s fitting really. He’s going to own it, and you died there. A constant reminder of what he’s done.”

She had only four miles before she got to the building. She was running out of time if she was going to make it out of this alive. Her eyes scanned the car as sweat beaded on her brow. There was no way she was walking into that building. If she died, it wouldn’t be there.

She spotted her opportunity and clutched the wheel with both hands, pressing down on the accelerator.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Slow down or I’ll shoot.”

“You won’t shoot. Then you’ll die, too, when the car crashes.” She gritted her teeth and pressed harder, trying to keep control as she veered the car off the road. It bumped and jolted as she hit the shoulder and grass before ramming the passenger side into a large pine tree. His airbag exploded, smashing his face. She heard the crack from the bones in his nose before blood gushed out. She winced as she scrambled to get her seatbelt off. His fingers still clutched the gun. Cupping his nose, he sneered at her. The black and blue around his eyes already started to show. He raised the gun as she jumped out, taking cover by the rear door.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” he screamed out.

She limped into the woods, ignoring the pain that radiated through her entire body. She held her neck to help ease what felt like thousands of pins prickling her neck and collarbone. If he was going to kill her, the fucker had to catch her first, and she had a good head start since he was wedged in because of the tree. He’d have to climb out the other side of the car and that gave her the head start she needed.

She’d dragged herself far into the woods when she realized where she was. “The camping grounds,” she whispered to herself, easing over the fallen tree in her path. Her breath came out in pants. Anything bigger and her lungs protested with coughing and wheezing.

She couldn’t stop; she wouldn’t stop. A city boy from New York was no match for a local on this island. She heard his scream from behind her, just as she found the camping grounds empty, and realized he was probably free.

She hurried around. Her eyes darted around each corner for a weapon, anything that one of the local explorers might have left behind, and that’s when she spotted the broken tent drifting on the breeze from the makeshift camp left behind. Cut-up firewood and empty food cans. She dropped to her knees, measuring each item as a potential weapon. Moving the firewood to her side, she spotted the glass bottle. She cracked it against a tree and held the three pieces of broken glass in her hand.

She ripped the sleeve off her shirt and used it to clutch the makeshift knife and save her fingers. When she heard him, she held her weapon, pressing her back into the bark of an oak tree while waiting for him to find her. Her heart raced and her hands shook. Her heartbeat thumped loudly in her ears.

She heard the crackle of leaves as he approached further into the camping area and then stopped.

“Justin,” Luke called out. “You don’t want her. You want me. Well, here I am. You want to fight? Then drop the gun and fight me like a man, instead of going after a woman like the coward you are.”

She peeked around the tree to find Luke holding his hands open wide. 

Justin leveled the gun using his bloody hand to aim the gun at Luke.

She eased out of her hiding spot, taking measured steps so he wouldn’t hear her approach from behind.

Luke spotted her and his eyes widened for a split second before he kept taunting Luke, probably to cover her sounds.

“If you didn’t want to live here, you should have just quit.”

“You’re so fucking stupid,” Justin spat out. “You ruined everything. Why couldn’t you just stay with Amanda? All of this could have been prevented.”

Luke held up Justin’s phone. “I read your text conversations with her. She was playing you just like she did me. You were just too blind to see it.”

Skylar plunged the glass into Justin’s back, twisting it as the gun fired. Luke dove for the ground as Skylar pulled the weapon out and plunged it in again. Justin dropped to his knees; the gun fell from his hand, and she scurried to pick it up. In the distance, sirens wailed, and she knew that the cavalry was on the way, even if they were too late. Justin fell to his side and his eyes closed as blood seeped from his wounds.   

Luke jumped up and hurried to her side, easing the gun from her hands. He tossed it behind them and pulled her into his arms.

Her shoulders shook as realization of what she’d just done hit her like a ton of bricks. “I killed him,” she cried and clutched Luke’s shirt.

“Shhh….It was either him or us, baby.” He smoothed her hair and bent down to eye level. “You saved my life.” He pulled her to his chest again as the tears fell.

“I told him you would come,” she said through her sobs. “He didn’t believe me.”

Luke stroked her back. “I’ll always come for you, always.” He broke his embrace and looked her in the eyes. “You’re my heart, Sky. I’ll never give up on you, or us. I love you.”