“Got this from Morton. If he doesn’t have you, who do you think he has?” I asked, showing her the message on the screen.
“Natalie,” we both said in unison.
“I’ll drive. Get dressed. We need to go,” I ordered, rushing back to the car, turning it around, and waiting impatiently for Tara who bound from her front steps within minutes.
The car raced from town to the house I slowed when we were a few feet from the driveway, taking in anything out of the ordinary.
We crept down the driveway toward the house, not knowing what to expect and hoping that we weren’t too late.
Morton’s car came into view, parked in the circle drive, and not far from it a body lay across the driveway. The garage door stood wide open, and the second car was missing. “Morton’s car,” I told Tara as we drove closer.
Pulling to a quick stop, we both plunged from the car to the body, praying that it wasn’t Natalie.
Tara arrived at the body first, rolling it over. “It’s Morton!” She yelled to me, and relief swept through me. Then I looked around for any sign of Natalie. She had to be hiding in the house. Tara checked Morton’s pulse, and she shook her head conforming the worst.
“You go check on Natalie. I’ll call this in,” she ordered, and for once it felt nice to have someone else in charge.
I dashed for the house, searching and calling for Natalie. When there was no answer, I looked in the bedrooms, the bathrooms, linen closet, and even the basement.
The office door caught my attention, and I looked there too, but other than the door being open, there was no sign of anything being disturbed and no Nat.
As I walked back to Tara who was evaluating the scene outside in an official capacity when the second car missing again caught my eye. One of the first things I’d noticed when we drove up, but in my need to make sure Nat was safe, I’d forgotten. She must have taken the car and hit Morton in the meantime. That’s my girl.
The ambulance and police sirens were getting closer as Tara and I stood by awaiting their arrival.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Natalie
My shoulders shook gently and the bed dipped from someone's weight. A shudder of fear shook my body as I tried to pull myself from sleep.
“Natalie,” A voice called to me, and when my eyes fluttered open, a vision of Duke sat beside me. At first, I thought it was a dream, but then as the world began to focus, I realized that it wasn’t a dream, and it was indeed Duke sitting behind me.
“Duke!” I shot up and threw my arms around him. I had been so afraid that I would never see him again.
After driving from Duke’s house, I kept going until I was pulling up in front of his apartment. Drawn to the place that we shared many wonderful nights together before he kidnapped me.
His arms wrapped tightly around me. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispered and then pulled me away to inspect for injuries.
Sobs of relief flooded the room as I fell against him again.
“Nat. It’s okay. You’re safe now. It’s over,” he said, brushing the tears from my cheek and pushing the hair behind my ear; then, he cupped my cheeks in his hands and brushed his lips comfortingly over mine.
When the sobs subsided enough for me to form some words, I asked, “It’s over? You got him?”
“Nope.” He shook his head, and a small smile played on the edges of his lips. “You got him.”
Confusion passed through me as Duke explained that the hit from the car had knocked Morton out, and he had landed on a rock, which had killed him.
“Oh, my goodness. Am I going to jail?” I shrieked at the thought that I was now in trouble. “And how did you find me?”
“No. Never. It’s all taken care of. The police will want to get a statement from you, but Tara and I cleared up all the loose ends. And there is a tracer in the car.” He smiled.
“But the evidence? I screwed it all up. You’ll never find the evidence you need.” I hopped from the bed, pacing in front of Duke.
Duke reached for my hand, catching it in mid-swing at my side, and pulled me to a stop in front of him where his arms came around my waist. I looked down at him.
“Nat. He had pictures on his phone that the police were able to trace back to a storage shed. Everything was there. It really is over,” he explained.
I couldn’t believe it was over. My head came to rest on Duke’s shoulder as I absorbed that it was all over. I was free. Duke was free.
AS THE SUNSHINE HIT my face, my eyes locked on Duke fidgeting by the car, waiting for me. He’d offered to escort me to the police station to provide a statement, and while I wanted the support, I knew it was something I had to do on my own, so instead he drove and waited outside for me.
His nervousness was due to him not having an idea if I’d share the kidnapping and all the twisted things that had happened since then. He didn’t know if the police would turn his victorious moment into a criminal one. He told me I needed to do what I needed to do, and if that meant turning him in he’d understand, just like he had asked me to understand why he had done what he had done.
I ran down the steps of the station to him, and I flung my arms around his neck and looked him straight in the eye. “Duke. Will you take me home?”
He nodded and drove us back to his place, which we hadn’t been to since the accident since it was still considered part of the crime scene. Having been cleared then, we returned.
I stood in front of the house, staring up at it, and thinking about how all my nightmares and dreams came truet here.
Duke came to my side, and he turned me toward him so we were facing. “Natalie. You’re free to go now.” He handed me a phone and said there was a ride on its way to take me wherever I wanted to go, and with one last squeeze to my arm, he left me standing in the circle drive.
He was releasing me. I was truly free then.
My future away from Duke rumbled up the driveway. I glanced at the house. If I got in the car, I could move on and put all this behind me, but could I ever really put this behind me?
Duke and I had come together in the strangest way possible, and it was awful at moments and wonderful at others, but no matter how much I wanted to return to my life, I knew things would never be the same.
I walked toward my future, and when the door opened to a shocked Duke, I eyed him up, hoping that he still wanted me. When his arm reached out to my waist pulling me to him, I finally felt safe.
“You stayed,” he said in a sultry voice with a smile forming across his lips and his eyes lighting up.
I nodded, knowing that I was only free if I was with Duke.
The Immortal Stone
Lorah Jaiyn
Chapter One
Tori knew her sister should not be trying to cast a spell. She just didn’t know how to stop her. Words seemed not to have any effect.
“Felicia, I’m telling you. Nothing good is going to come of this.”
“Oh, stop being such a mother.” Felicia adjusted her hat, a leftover from Halloween. “We’re just having fun.”
Tori rubbed her face. “You’re exhausting. And you’re the older sister. You’re supposed to be the responsible one, not me.”