Sarah looked up at me with relief in her eyes, and for one unforgivable second, I let my eyes wander away from Lynn on the couch to meet Sarah’s glare. When I saw the fear striking Sarah’s eyes as her look fell on what was behind me, it was too late.
Chapter 73
There was a tray on the coffee table. It was made of thick glass and held floral decorations. Lynn had gotten ahold of it, and, seconds later, she smashed it into the back of my head. The pain felt like an explosion, and I saw white before my eyes as I crumpled to my knees. I didn’t even feel the gun being taken out of my hand, but it wasn’t there when I finally came to myself again. Confused, I lifted my hurting head, felt the blood on the back, then saw Sarah being dragged across the floor by the hair while she was screaming. I could hear the screams, but it sounded like she was underwater. It took me a few seconds to compose myself just enough to react. By then, I saw that the sledgehammer was gone, and as I stumbled to my feet, fear jolting through my body, I saw the hammer being lifted in the kitchen, swung through the air, and I heard it fall, hitting something below, crushing something.
Or someone.
I screamed.
“NO!”
I jolted forward, rushing ahead, then felt dizzy and tripped over my own feet, falling flat before I managed to get up again and push myself forward, heart throbbing, tears springing to my eyes.
Oh, my God. She killed Sarah. She killed her!
I saw the blood as I came closer and could barely breathe. I saw Lynn standing above her, one foot on either side of Sarah’s hips, still holding the end of the sledgehammer. I was blinking my eyes to see correctly as my sight was still blurry, and it felt like I was in the middle of a dream. Narrowing my eyes to better focus, I looked for the other end of the hammer. It was lodged in Sarah’s torso, in her shoulder as she had tried to roll away just as it came down on her. The shoulder looked to be in an odd position, dislocated, and now Sarah was screaming.
But screaming meant she was alive.
The question was for how long.
Lynn didn’t seem to have noticed me. She was focused on her task and pulled the hammer back up into the air, getting herself ready to swing it at Sarah again. Sarah was screaming like a wounded animal, and I knew that she wouldn’t be able to move this time. Her shoulder had been crushed. She was frozen in pain, maybe even drifting into unconsciousness. Meanwhile, the hammer lingered in the air above her as Lynn got ready to let it fall on her again.
What do I do?
I did the only thing I could do. I gathered myself, then stormed with everything I had, all I knew how to, toward her. I blasted into her by her hips and pushed her away. Lynn screamed, and the hammer was dropped, falling on my arm hard. I tumbled on top of Lynn, screaming in pain as she kicked and pushed me, trying to get me off her.
She got to her feet, then went for the gun she had put on the kitchen counter while I struggled to get back up, my arm pounding. When I finally got up, she was standing in front of me with the gun pointed at me. Her nostrils were flaring, her eyes manic.
She didn’t even say anything.
She simply pulled the trigger.
But right when she did, somehow, Sarah had gotten herself onto her feet and managed to grab a plate on the counter and throw it at her. The plate hit Lynn straight in the face, causing her to fall back right when the gun went off. The bullet whistled through the air and hit the cabinets behind me.
A second later, I was on top of Lynn, pinning her down with my one good arm. I sat on her—not letting her move an inch—until the police and EMTs arrived.
Chapter 74
It was four in the morning before I finally made it back home, my arm heavily bandaged. It wasn’t fractured, they told me at the hospital, and I had suffered a concussion from the hit with the glass tray, but I was good to go home if I made sure I got a lot of rest. I wasn’t sure I could live up to that promise with two babies in the house, but I didn’t tell the doctor that.
I opened my front door and stepped into the living room, feeling all kinds of exhausted. I threw my keys on the small table by the door, turned on the lights, then gasped, startled.
“Matt?”
He was sitting in the recliner, staring at me.
“Gosh, you scared me,” I said, clasping my chest.
He didn’t wince. He stared at me, his eyes dark and sinister.
“I waited for you,” he said.
I looked at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
“Oh, no,” I said as the dime dropped. “You went to Pompano’s?”
He nodded. “I waited three hours. I called you and texted you, but nothing.”
I looked at the display on my phone. It was pitch black.
“It died hours ago,” I said. “That’s why I didn’t call from the hospital. Plus, I knew you were all probably sleeping. I wanted to tell you everything in the morning. I didn’t have time to call earlier or text you back. It was a matter of life and death.”
“It always is, isn’t it?” he said.
I approached him with an exhale. I rubbed my forehead. “All right, maybe I could have called you back. I did see that you had tried to reach me earlier, but to be honest, I didn’t want to fight with you, and I didn’t have time to explain what was going on. I didn’t want you to get mad at me. I had promised not to deal with this case anymore. I just couldn’t, Matt. You must understand that. I can’t not care.”
“Just not about those that love you.”
“That’s not fair, Matt.”
“It’s not?”
I sat down in the recliner in front of him. I could hear my dad snoring lightly by the fireplace. They were leaving in the morning. I was looking forward to getting the house back, but I was sad to see them go.
“I found Sarah Abbey tonight, Matt. I was right. She was in great danger. I actually saved her if it’s of any interest.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah, well, she got badly hurt, and they’re not sure her shoulder will ever be normal again, but she’s alive. She and Scott can be reunited. You do know that’s what this was all about, right?”
“I’ve had my doubts.”
I stared at him while remembering the kiss Scott and I had shared. I didn’t like how much I thought about it. It wasn’t so much the kiss, or Scott, as it was the fact that I had let it happen and enjoyed it.
I leaned back in the recliner.
“Anyway, it’s over now. I handed the case over to the Winter Park Police Department, and I am letting it go now. Everything can get back to normal.”
He lifted his eyebrows.
“Normal? And just exactly what is that? Please, tell me because I honestly don’t know.”
I stared at him, scrutinizing him. I guess you could say I was looking for what I had fallen in love with in the first place.
I couldn’t find it.
“You know what?” I said.
His eyes met mine. “No, but I have a feeling you’ll tell me.”
“I am sick of this.”
He threw out his arms. “Me too.”
“I am sick and tired of having the same fight over and over again,” I said. “And to be honest, I can’t really find the reason to keep going.”