The Last Woman (All That Remains #1) (20 page)

Deeply touched that he trusted
me enough to share such a personal secret, I take his hand. “I promise, but
it’s not a big deal. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“I know. Have you ever been
tied up?” he asks, changing the subject.

“Yes.”

“Really?” He glances at me,
surprised.

His reaction makes me giggle.
“Yes, you?”

“No, were you blindfolded when
you were restrained?”

“No, I didn’t trust him not to
take pictures once I was blindfolded. I only let him tie my hands to the bed
with a belt from a robe. I could have escaped if I’d wanted.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s get out, the water’s
getting cold,” I suggest. “I’ve had a wonderful time tonight, Air,” I say when
we snuggle down to sleep.

“Me too, sweetheart.”

 The next morning, while Airen
and I walk back from our mini vacation, I decide it’s a good time to discuss
the kids. “Before we head back to reality, we need to talk about something.”

He looks at me, alarmed.
“What’s wrong?”

“Relax, it’s not a big deal. I
walked in on Carson and Jayla kissing.”

His face relaxes, and he tries
to conceal a small smile. “Did you talk to them?”

“Yes, and I think Jayla will
come to me if things move too fast. I talked to her about the dangers of
pregnancy and taught her about birth control.”

“You don’t think they’re…?” he
asks, wide-eyed, with a gesture I don’t care to repeat.

“No! I just want to make sure
they’re safe if the time comes.”

“I’d like to talk to Carson
about a few things.” My anxious look makes him chuckle. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do.”

“I just want him to respect
women and know how to treat them.”

I kiss him on the cheek.
“You’re a good role model when it comes to that.”

* * *
*

Mandy continues to be overly
nice to me, and to everyone. She’s been helping with chores she avoided before,
especially laundry and cooking, and isn’t flirting with Airen or dressing
provocatively. I know she’s only biding her time, and I don’t trust her. Joseph
announces he’ll have her power on in a few days, and she can move into her
house.

She flashes a smile that
doesn’t reach her eyes, and asks Sara, “Do you know which room you want?” Sara
looks down and gnaws her lip.

Airen speaks up. “Sara is
going to stay here.”

“No, she ain’t. She’s been
with me since...forever. Ya can’t make her stay.”

“Nobody is making her do
anything. Sara is nearly eighteen years old, and this is her decision. She
wants to stay here with Jayla. You know how close they are,” Joseph replies,
attempting to smooth things over.

“Well, Jayla can live with us.”

“No, she can’t,” Airen
declares.

“Oh, I ain’t good enough ta
take care of a kid?” Her eyes blaze at Airen hatefully.

“Not my kid,” he snaps.

“Air, you aren’t helping.”

Mandy glares at each of us and
shoots a look of pure loathing at Sara. “Fine! Do what you want. What the hell
do I care?” she fires at her and storms off.

“I’m sorry,” Sara whispers,
with tears in her eyes.

“Don’t be. You haven’t done
anything wrong.” I hug her. “I’m so glad you’re staying with us”.

“So am I, sweetie,” Joseph
says.

Airen agrees, smiling at her.

“Don’t worry, it will all blow
over,” I promise.

Mandy returns to her
pseudo-cheerful self by evening, continuing the facade even when Sara announces
she’s sleeping in Jayla’s room. I don’t blame her. I can only imagine the bile
Mandy would spew at her once they’re alone.

Come morning, Airen is
outside, sweating over the garden. The tomatoes are getting destroyed by worms,
and he’s determined to solve the problem without using pesticide. Mandy
prepares oatmeal for breakfast before she heads to her house. The table is set,
and Joseph and Walker are eating. A place is set for me with a bowl of oatmeal
and a fruit cup. I grab some juice and join them.

“What are your plans today,
young man?” I ask Walker, ruffling his hair. I dump the fruit cup into my
oatmeal and mix it together.

“I want to play in the
sandbox.”

“Sounds fun, I’ll rake through
it for you.”

A sunny smile lights his face.
“Why don’t I take vitamins?” he asks.

“The nutrition drink you have
with lunch has all the vitamins you need. Why do you ask?”

“Just wondered. When Mandy
added vitamins to your oatmeal, she said I didn’t need any.”

All the blood drains from
Joseph’s face, and I freeze with my spoon halfway to my mouth. Thank goodness I
didn’t take a bite! Joseph stares at me, and I shake my head slowly. We don’t
want to scare Walker.

“Does Mandy always put
vitamins on my food?”

“No, just today. I seen her
get the new box from under the sink.”

“Will you show me?”

“Sure.” He jumps down eagerly
and retrieves an open box of rat poison.

I swallow hard, trying to
control the tremor in my voice. The crazy fucking bitch is trying to kill me!
“Did she put it in anyone else’s food?”

“No, just yours. She said you
deserved it.”

Joseph is still speechless,
staring at me in shock and disbelief. “Go wash your hands really well, and you
can watch some cartoons before you go outside,” he tells Walker.

Walker runs to the sink to
wash his hands and then to the living room.

“She’s trying to kill you,”
Joseph whispers, astounded. “We have to...have to,” he stumbles, unable to
finish.

“Joseph, I’m okay. I didn’t
eat it.”

“You’re okay,” he repeats,
reassuring himself. “We have to tell Airen.”

Airen will kill her. I don’t
doubt that for one second, and I can’t let him kill another human being because
of me. I know the scars it leaves even when it’s done in self-defense.

“We will, but I want to talk
about what we should do with her first,” I agree calmly.

“He’ll kill her.”

As sure as shit sticks to a
blanket. “We can’t let him. It’s a hard thing to live with, Joseph. I’ve been
there.” I shudder as I recall twisting the wire around Mr. Disgusting’s throat.
“Is there somewhere we can lock her up?”

“The last time Airen and I
went into town, we looked in the county jail, just for fun. We were ridiculing
it because the cells are so old they still use keys instead of electronic
locks.”

“Okay, let’s tell Airen.”

I ask Airen to join us on the
porch, where we always seem to congregate when there’s a serious issue to
discuss.

“What is it?” Airen grumps. He’s
worried, and I know it’s because of the look on Joseph’s face. He’s no poker
player.

I sit next to Airen. “I have
to tell you something, and you’re going to be really, seriously pissed off, but
I want you to promise me you won’t react before you hear us out.”

“Okay,” he replies,
hesitantly.

“I’m serious, Air. You have to
trust me.” I slip my hand into his sweaty, dirty one.

“I trust you. Now tell me what’s
going on.”

“We need your help to capture
Mandy and lock her in the county jail.”

“What? What the hell did she
do? Did she hurt Sara?”

“No, Sara’s fine. She tried to
poison me,” I blurt.

“What? How?”

“She put rat poison in her
breakfast,” Joseph exclaims, finding his voice.

“What!” Anger and shock twist
his face, and he grabs me by my arms.

“I didn’t eat it! Calm down!”

“Calm down? I’ll bury that
bitch!”He leaps up. Joseph grabs his arm, but he shakes it off.

I catch his hands. “Airen! You
promised!
Please
.” He sits back down and takes a deep breath while I
explain what we want to do.

“What’s the point, Abby? She
was going to kill you. Don’t you think she’d try it again? Why are you trying
to spare her?”

“I’m not. I’m trying to spare
you from taking a life. I don’t want you to have to live with that, and it’s
harder than you think. I don’t know what we should do with her. I just want her
locked up now, so we have time to figure it out.” He sits there with his hands
in mine, pondering our idea, and I finally feel his grip loosen.

“Fine, we’ll lock her up.
Joseph and I will go and get the bitch and take her to the jail, but you’re
staying here,” he orders. I open my mouth to argue, and he shouts, “You’re
staying here!” He’s furious, and trying to control his rage.

I lay my hand on his cheek. “I
will, but be careful, please. Both of you,” I add, gazing at Joseph.

“Get the rifle,” Airen tells
Joseph.

“What are you going to do?” I
ask.

“Joseph will hold the gun on
the bitch while I tie her up. We’ll lock her in the cell and come right back.
Don’t worry, darlin’, we’ve got this.” His expression softens as he gazes at
me.

“Do you promise you won’t
shoot her?”

“I promise,” he replies,
grabbing his rifle and heading out the door.

I try to picture what must be
happening next door. At least they can catch her off guard since she has no
idea we know about the poison. It’s been hours, and I’m a bag of nerves until I
see the truck pull in, and Airen and Joseph hop out. I’ve been imagining all
sorts of horrific scenarios.

“Well?” I ask, meeting them in
the yard.

“She didn’t even deny it,” Airen
replies, stunned.

Joseph looks shaken. He’s pale
and his hands are trembling. I switch my gaze from him to Airen. “Did something
happen that you aren’t telling me?”

“No, but she planned on
killing you, Jayla, and Sara so there would be no competition for Airen,”
Joseph whispers.

“She admitted that?”

“She’s still promising to
carry through with it.” Airen laughs bitterly. “She’s locked in a cell with
nothing but a few buckets of water, and she’s still threatening to kill my girls.
Because I’m just too fucking pretty to resist!” he spits. He shakes his head
and mumbles, “I need a drink.”

I gaze after him as he stalks
into the house, not sure what I should do or say to reassure him this isn’t his
fault.

“Give him a few minutes to cool
down, Abby,” Joseph advises, and we sit on the step.

“Are you okay?” I’ve never
seen Joseph look so upset. He nods quietly, but his eyes have a faraway look,
and his usually red lips are pressed together so hard they’re nearly white. I
run my hand down his back.

He starts to shake as he
lowers his head into his hands, the enormity of our position hitting him hard.
His whole body quakes, and he gasps for air. “She could have killed you all.”

When I wrap my arms around him,
he embraces me tightly. “She didn’t. We’re all right here, and she’s gone.”

“What are we supposed to do
with her? There are no cops! No courts! She’s an attempted murderer!”

“We don’t have to have all the
answers tonight. She isn’t going anywhere. We have time to think, and we’ll
figure something out.”

“I shouldn’t have insisted we
bring them from Evansville. Airen didn’t want to. He was against it from the
very beginning.” His voice is full of regret. Why are they both so quick to
blame themselves?

“He was the same way with
you,” I remind him. “Airen is suspicious of everyone, and that’s not a good
thing. Would you rather Sara had been left with that crazy bitch?”

“Of course not, but what are
we supposed to do? There will be more people, evil people like Mandy and that
man who kidnapped you. We can’t call the police. There’s no one to protect us
from them.” The despair on his face is heartbreaking.

“We’ll protect each other,
Joseph, just like we have been. We stick together and protect each other.” I
hug him tighter.

Airen slips out the front door
with a bottle of whiskey and gestures for me to give them some time alone. “He’s
scared,” I whisper.

“I’ve got this.”

I give him a quick kiss and
leave them to drown their worries.

The next day, after a long,
heated discussion, we decide to tell Carson and Jayla the truth, minus the plan
Mandy had for Jayla and Sara. We let Walker believe she has simply moved out
again. Sara is devastated. She didn’t know what Mandy planned to do, but keeps
apologizing, though everyone, especially Jayla and I, have repeatedly assured
her she bears no blame. Jayla, however, is royally pissed off.

“I don’t understand why you
locked her up. She doesn’t deserve to live,” she complains.

“We can’t just murder someone
in cold blood.”