“Luke,” McKnight says calmly, too calmly. My stomach drops. “I need to escort you to the station. There has been an incident.”
24
- Amber -
“Pick up, c’mon, pick up,” I whisper into the phone. Luke hasn’t answered any of my calls, none of my texts. It’s been over an hour since the ambulance loaded Arnold and rushed him to the hospital. Eric was then loaded up into another ambulance for a bullet wound that had grazed his shoulder and Sarah went with him after instructing me not to call Henry to check on the kids.
I’m going out of my mind with worry for them. Has Henry hurt them? Does he plan to hurt them? So many unsettling thoughts race through my head. All I want to do is make sure they are ok, but Sarah said one call to Henry could put them more in danger and I’m not willing to sacrifice my need to know they are ok over their well-being.
“I’m sure he’s fine. He probably isn’t checking his phone,” my mom tries to reassure me as I pace across the kitchen floor.
A police officer is standing by the front door making sure nothing is touched and the crime scene stays preserved until a detective can come on-site—not that there is much to preserve. The front door was pried open and doesn’t close fully, the crowbar used remains close by it, and several bullet holes throughout the house surprisingly didn’t leave much wreckage, just chunks of sheetrock and splintered wood.
I hadn’t had time to really decorate the place fully, focusing on getting the necessities like a TV, couch, and bench in the mudroom. The only real decorating I had done was Christmas-related. Just this week we got a Christmas tree and used some of Luke’s old childhood ornaments. The kids picked out new stockings but none of it was harmed.
My mother’s phone goes off and I stop my pacing to watch her answer, hoping and praying it’s Luke, even though I know he would call me before he would call my mom. What can I say, desperation is a funny thing.
“Oh good, that’s good news.” She nods into the phone and for a moment, my heart thumps in relief that maybe it is Luke and he’s okay. “I’ll let her know. Okay. You’re heading over there now?”
It isn’t Luke.
Where is he? Why hasn’t he called? Did Arnold kill him before coming to kill me? All these questions play on repeat in my head. A person can go mad with worry. Every time I try to reassure myself that Luke is okay, I am consumed with regret. Regret over not telling Luke I love him. If he died without knowing, I think my world might crumble. The shoe finally dropped, and I may have missed my opportunity.
Getting myself worked up over the unknown isn’t good for me. I know this, but my body won’t stop moving and my mind keeps racing. I need to lay down, elevate my feet, and take calming breathes. I’m an ER nurse, I know what shock looks like and the effects it can have on a person, but all I want to do is get in my car and drive to Luke’s shop and make sure he’s okay. Unfortunately, the deputy standing by the door won’t let me leave.
I pace back and forth, jumping from one worried thought to another. When I try to stop thinking about all my worries, I move to reliving the shooting. It’s so surreal to learn someone wants you dead. No, not someone . . . my ex-husband.
It was no secret he had a want for money. I knew he wanted to be secure financially when we started dating—it’s the kind of thing you talked about when you planned a future with someone. That want for financial security motivated him to build his insurance business. I never saw that as a bad quality. I shouldn’t have overlooked how disconnected he became when he found out I was pregnant with Matt. I thought he was worried it would set him back on his goals, but somewhere down the line his wants shifted from financial security to wealth, and he put that want for wealth before me and the kids.
I thought when he married DeeDee his want for wealth wouldn’t consume him so much and he would pay more attention to Emily and Matt. DeeDee was rich. Her trust fund alone was worth more than I would ever see in a lifetime, maybe even two lifetimes, but that didn’t satisfy Henry. He continued to grow his insurance empire, barely paying any attention to his kids.
I didn’t care that Henry was neglecting Emily and Matt because I knew together, the three of us were happy. We were content, and I can’t force a relationship between Henry and his kids so I stopped paying attention to what Henry was doing, how his life might be going. He wasn’t my concern anymore.
Now I can’t help but wonder if I should have been paying attention. Would I have seen the signs that led him here? I know none of this is my fault, but will Emily and Matt see it that way? They are going to lose their father over this. How do I even begin to explain that?
“That was your father,” my mom says, pulling me from my racing thoughts. “Molly is okay, but the vet wants to keep her for a few days for observation. She needed a few stitches, the crowbar cut her open pretty deep, but she should be fine.”
“Oh good.” I sag in relief. When the police arrived, Eric relinquished his gun and let the police and paramedics handle Arnold while he rushed to Molly, who was panting in a pool of her own blood.
Arnold used the crowbar to pry open the front door and when Molly lunged for him, he hit her hard in the head and then again in the gut, tearing her open.
Eric would have taken her to the vet himself if the paramedics hadn’t offered assistance. They stopped the bleeding and bandaged her up so my dad could take her to the vet. Only then did Eric allow the paramedics to look him over.
After the ambulance and police arrived, there was a whirlwind of activity that mostly blurs together. The paramedics checked everyone over including me, but I couldn’t leave, not until Luke returned. But now I wonder if I should have gone to the hospital. If Luke was rushed to the hospital, I could be with him now. We could be figuring out how we can get the kids away from Henry unharmed.
“Amber, I really think you should lay down,” my mother pleads, stepping in front of me and blocking my path. She lays her hands on my shoulders before she pulls me in and hugs me. “Please lay down, you’re going to make yourself sick with worry.”
“Amber Baker?” a gentleman asks coming through the front door. He’s wearing jeans and his button-up shirt is slightly wrinkled but the badge he wears on his belt loop eases my stress some.
“I’m Amber.”
“I’m Detective Dennison with Peak Valley PD. Are you up for a few questions?” he asks and all I do is nod. I’m not up for questions. I want to know how my kids are and where Luke is, but delaying the questioning means being stuck in this house longer.
“Alright, let’s start from the beginning.” Detective Dennison has me run through everything, only jumping in when he had a question or when he thought I needed a moment to collect myself. By the end of it, my chest had grown so tight I have a hard time breathing. Reliving it all over again for Dennison to hear made it less like a horrible dream I wish I could wake up from and more of a reality I have to live through, possibly alone, because Luke still hasn’t called back and I still don’t know if my kids are okay.
“I think that’s all I have for now. I’m going to take a look around,” Dennison says with a patient smile.
I’m about to ask him if he could have someone check on the kids and help me find Luke when Sheriff McKnight walks in, followed by Luke. All the anxiety, fear, and stress washes a little bit away when he rushes over to me and pulls me into his chest.