Unbreakable (36 page)

“You said you had two girlfriends, who was
other one?” I question him.

“That would be Sydney,” he answers and I
cringe at the way he says her name. I can tell that he cares for
her. “Not what you think,” he explains when he sees the hurt on my
face. “We are friends, good friends, and she knew all about you,”
he clarifies. “We did make out one night, and did some stuff when
we both had way too much to drink. The next day I felt so horribly
guilty about it. Sid told me it was okay and she knew my heart
belonged to someone else. From then on, we never so much as
touched, but she was always there for me,” he says smiling. “I know
she had more feelings for me than I did for her. All she wants is
for me to be happy.”

“It sounds like you really care for her,” I
observe and word it in the present tense to see if he still does
now.

“I did, and I do. She’s a very sweet girl,
but I love you not her. She is good friends with Sarah, so I guess
I think of her more like a sister. She always knew there was never
going to be anything between us. I would actually like you to meet
her someday,” he says and the thought of meeting an old girlfriend
makes me nauseated. “I think you would like her, she is a lot like
Sarah. They went to med school together and now they work
together,” he adds. I can’t stand the way he talks about her. I
don’t want another girl in his heart because he’s mine.

“Maybe someday,” I say not too convincingly.
He can tell I’m irritated with the thought.

“You don’t need to be jealous baby, you have
my whole heart,” he says as if he was reading my mind. “It’s always
been you, Lilly flower.” He leans over and kisses the tip of my
nose.

We stay in bed and talk till our stomachs are
growling. It’s still raining but it is after 7:00 and we wonder
what the rest of the house is up to.

Jacob’s door is open and I find Lucy in the
study her fingers flying over the keyboard. She is glowing and her
face lights up when she sees me.

“Hey, Lilly, I’m out of MSG’s network so
hopefully I can avoid those ‘criminal charges,’” she says with
finger quotations.

“You know that I will have every lawyer in
Louisiana fighting those bastards, right?”

“No worries. I checked your contract and you
had every right to their network. It’s part of the deal,” she says
and it makes me feel better that she is not going to have something
on her record because of me. “He was trying to scare us. Not sure
if he didn’t think we could read or not, but it is clear as day in
the papers,” she scoffs at his stupidity.

“So, what now?”

“Now that we are not in a network, and
everything is in the house, it is actually a lot easier to keep him
out. The only problem is that it’s going to be harder to find him.
I was getting closer to figuring out what he was doing. A few more
days and I probably could have pinpointed his location,” she says
the later with frustration. “Not that this equipment is not good, I
just don’t have the server to really track him. He’s been bouncing
his signal all over the place.”

“So is there anything I can do?” I ask her. I
have no idea what she is talking about so I doubt there is.

“Jacob’s trying to pull some strings down at
the police station to see if we can temporarily access their
server, but it’s a long shot.”

“Sometimes money talks, so tell Jacob he can
do whatever he needs to do to get that access.” I smile at her and
she takes out her phone to text Jacob my message.

“Yes ma’am!” Lucy’s eyes are gleaming at the
possibilities.

I check my phone to see that Emma has texted
me saying that Jimmy and her are at her house and that they won’t
be back till morning. Miss Finnegan is out again at her mother’s,
so I go to the kitchen to fix some supper.

I fix the four of us spaghetti and meatballs.
After we eat, we sit around and talk for a few hours. Drinking red
wine has made me very tired and I am ready to crash early. Luke and
I head to our room leaving Jacob and Lucy to whatever they want to
do.

Chapter 41

I sleep very well, only waking up once just
to fall right back to sleep in Luke’s strong arms. It is almost
8:00 in the morning now, and the sky is grey so it feels earlier. I
turn to reach out for Luke but he is gone the sheets are cool so I
think he’s been gone awhile.

After showering and dressing in jeans and a
t-shirt, I head down the stairs to find Luke. Jacob’s door is open,
so I look in the study and no one is there.

The kitchen is empty also and I see movement
out the window. I notice it is Jeffrey trimming some bushes and I
push through the French doors to go talk to him.

“Hey sweetheart” Jeffrey greets when he see
me. He puts down the trimmers and gives me a warm hug.

“Have you seen Luke or Jacob?” I ask looking
around the property as I do.

“Yeah, they are walking the perimeter making
sure everything is secure,” he says and I start to walk in the
direction he was pointing.

“Lilly, wait!” Jeffery shouts after me. “Just
wait and I will come with you. Luke will kill me if I let you walk
out there alone,” he says catching up with me.

“It’s the middle of the day. He’s never done
anything during daylight,” I argue. “I’ll just walk a little ways
and see if I can see them. I won’t leave the sight of the house.
Please Jeffrey, I can go alone,” I tell him and don’t wait for an
argument. I see his disapproving look before I turn my back and
walk away from him.

Making my way through the trees, I stop every
few minutes thinking I hear something. Surely it’s just my
imagination. I can see the fence now, but no Luke or Jacob, so I
turn around to head back for the house. I’m a little freaked out
for letting my imagination get the best of me.

I stop again when I hear rustling to the side
of me. It’s a little windy today so I bet it’s just the leaves.
Stepping around a tree I don’t see anything, and I keep walking but
slower and quieter. I hear rustling again, but this time I know it
is not the trees. It’s someone walking, but it sounds farther off
to my right. I can see the perimeter fence from where I’m standing
so I stop and try to focus my eyes into the woods. Man my mind must
be playing tricks on me.

I’m just about to turn and start walking
again when he steps out from a tree beyond the fence. His tanned
skin is like leather and he has facial hair, but not a lot. Maybe a
week’s worth. His clothes are dark and his eyes shadowy. He doesn’t
move, just stands there staring at me. I feel like at any moment he
could hop the fence and be at me in a second. I’m frozen. Is this
him? Is this the man that has been watching me for months? Is this
the man that has made my life hell this past week?

I stand frozen not knowing what to do and he
stares at me for what seems like an hour. Then I hear his voice,
gruff and mean like a growl. “Mine, soon you will be mine,” is all
he says. Then all of a sudden he’s gone. Darting through the woods
he disappears. My heart is racing and I can’t feel my legs. I can’t
make them move. He looked so mad and his eyes sinister. They felt
like they were peering right through me. His voice was gruff and
shallow. My body shudders with fear. I feel so stupid for not
listening to Jeffrey.

I step backward one step and I can feel my
legs start to work again. Not wanting to take my eyes off where he
just was, I continue to walk backward. With each step, I think I
see something, but then I don’t. When I make it far enough I can’t
see the fence anymore, I turn and run toward the house.

I reach the spot where I had left Jeffrey.
He’s no longer there and I don’t see him anywhere. I keep going
toward the house and don’t see a soul in sight. Normally this place
is crawling with men everywhere. Now I can’t find anyone. I think
that maybe someone will be in the cottage so I burst through the
doors, and again no one. I run in the house yelling as I go, “Luke,
Jacob, anyone. Where are you?” I shout now panicked.

I run through the kitchen yelling, “Hello,
someone please, where are you,” anxiety rising in my voice.

“What? What?” Lucy runs out of the study,
from the sound of terror in my voice. “What is it, Lilly?” She
comes up and grabs my arms. “You’re trembling, what happened?” She
asks again.

Emma and Jimmy are coming through the garage
door. Hearing my screams, Emma rushes for me.

“What’s going on?” Emma says with
concern.

“He was out there.” My voice quivers. “Where
is everyone?”

“What do you mean he was out there?” She
questions me with worry. “Come sit down, you need to calm
down.”

“Where is everyone?” I shout this time. “He’s
been here,” I repeat.

“You mean the stalker?” Emma questions. “The
stalker was out there and you saw him?” She looks toward Jimmy and
he is out the door.

“Where’s Luke?” I ask again.

“They were out doing some scouting and
checking the perimeter,” Lucy answers. Instantly fear envelopes me.
Is he in danger, did something happen?

“No, I’m sure they’re fine,” Emma says
reading my mind. “Hear let’s call their cells. Lucy, call Jacob and
I’ll try Luke,” Emma says and they both have their phones to their
ears in seconds. They both must have answered at the same time
because Emma and Lucy talk at the same time. They tell them to get
back to the house. “They’re on their way. I think when they both
got calls at the same time they were already running this way,”
Emma tells me. I instantly feel better knowing that they are coming
and Luke is safe. “What happened?” She asks and I can’t talk. I
want Luke here.

About five minutes later Luke and Jacob come
running in the kitchen door. Panic is on Luke’s face, and Jacob is
trying to stay calm, but I can tell he is scared.

“What?” Luke says coming instantly to me and
I am off my feet. He has me in his arms and they are wrapped around
me tight. He looks me in the eyes and I can tell he is scared.

“She says she saw him outside,” Emma tells
Jacob. “That’s all I know, she won’t say anything else,” she tells
him.

“Baby, what happened?” Luke looks into my
eyes. I bury my face into his neck. That man’s voice and those eyes
burned into my brain. I hear Jimmy walk back in the kitchen.

“Lilly, tell me where?” Jacob asks as Jimmy
shakes his head that he didn’t see anything.

“He was by the red dogwood trees, where I saw
him the first time,” I tell them the spot I was standing when I saw
him. “He was in the timber, beyond the fence.” My voice quivers as
I speak.

Jacob talks into his walkie informing Sam to
meet him at the location with the dogs. Luke puts me down and makes
like he is going to go with them.

“No!” I yell and grab his arm. He stops and
looks at me, seeing the fear in my eyes so he stays.

“I’ll stay here,” he tells Jacob and Jimmy,
and they are gone. Luke picks me up and carries me over to the big
overstuffed chair in the family room. He sits and cradles me in his
lap. I bury my face into his neck again and he whispers to me,
“It’s okay. You’re safe baby.”

“He wants to hurt me, I could tell. He said
mine, soon mine,” I tell him softly, not wanting to lift my head
from the safety of his neck. I can smell him and just his scent
makes me feel safe.

“He’s not getting near you baby, I promise,”
he swears to me.

“Where were you? I was looking for you and I
couldn’t find you and I was so scared.” Tears start rolling down my
face, my heart still racing. I’m so scared. I feel like he can get
me at anytime. That he is just toying with us and I am not safe.
I’m having trouble catching my breath now as it all starts to sink
in. What will he do to me when he does get me?

“Baby, you need to calm down.” He rocks me
gently trying to calm me down since I’m just getting more worked
up. The more I think about it the more worked up I feel.

“Here, take this sweetie,” Emma says handing
me a little white pill and a glass of water. I don’t even question
her to what it is, and swallow the pill in a second. She’s sitting
on the couch right next to the chair and I hear Luke whisper to
her. “What’d you give her?” I don’t hear her response.

I hear them whisper back and forth and Luke
keeps his arms around me tight. I feel very sleepy all of a sudden,
and the last thing I remember before I drift off to sleep is Luke
telling Emma they found something in the woods.

I’m sitting on a hill by a large tree. I
can’t see anything but green grass as far as my eyes can see. I’m
leaning up against something cold and hard and turn to see it is a
gravestone. Samantha it says, but it’s so blurry. It says something
else, too, but my eyes won’t focus, and the harder I try to see
what it says, the more it disappears. I try to stand up, but I feel
frozen to the ground, like something me is holding me down. I feel
dread and sadness and start to cry uncontrollably.

I wake up in my bed. It’s dark now and I
don’t know how I got here. I realize that I was dreaming, but I
still feel sad, and like I’ve been crying. I feel my cheeks and
there are no tears. “It’s okay, Lilly,” I hear Emma’s voice in the
darkness and she switches on a lamp. “I’m going to tell Luke you’re
awake, he’ll be right in.” She slips out the door. I see on the
clock that it is 11:00 pm. The last time I remember looking at a
clock it was before noon. Then it all comes back to me, the man and
his eyes. I sit up immediately and dart out of bed. As I run from
my room I hit Luke square in the chest.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here, you’re safe baby,”
he says hugging me to his chest.

“What’s going on? Why did I sleep so long?
Did you find him? What did you find in the woods?” I throw
questions at him, my mind going a mile a minute.

“Let’s go downstairs and we will explain
everything,” he tells me and we walk down the stairs. That dream is
still in my head and I think about Samantha. With everything else
going on I have put her in the back of my mind.