When She Falls (12 page)

I’ll definitely never see him again now.

Across the street, she could see Jay Kershaw’s police cruiser parked. He was keeping watch. She turned her back on him and headed inside without even lifting her hand to wave in his direction. The entire situation had escalated because he pulled out a gun. Perhaps it was an overreaction, but the memories of the teenage shooter with the barrel in his mouth distorted any rational thought.

Jay
had been protecting her. She knew that. Exhaling a long sigh, she walked into the house. The roses were placed on the dining table. Glass shards had long been swept away. Dried up daisy petals were still spread across the surface of the table. She knew they probably always would be.

Sawyer.

She sat down at her computer and with a few clicks found the local newspaper website. A full archive of older issues was available online. Several attempts were made before she finally spelled Verin correctly. There was an article about him dying in the hospital, but sitting up after he was pronounced dead. It had happened only a few weeks after Logan’s death.

“Weird.” A little more searching revealed
a criminal record. Theft, possession, and resisting arrest. There was also a mug shot. Candice magnified the photo. It was him, but something was different. His eyes were so… cold. “Probably that it’s a black and white photo.” She frowned as she clicked the ‘x’ in the corner. She had to stop looking.

Jay Kershaw knew he was a good guy. As an officer, he hoped even better. Cat stuck in a tree? He was there. Crossing guard sick? Sure, he’d step in. Save an emotionally destroyed girl from despair? Now
that
would be his failure. Kershaw had tried his best. He’d had the patience of a saint, but there was something in the way she looked at that hoodlum. It was time to move on.

Candice told him he was welcome to stop by when he’d called the next day. She didn’t seem angry or upset. To his surprise, she had immediately apologized over the phone for
overreacting the day before.

He’d shoved his hands in his pockets. His gun was in the truck and he was out of uniform. The last thing he wanted to do was bring another gun into the house.
Candice had once told him she understood the need for guns, but that the images they stirred in her mind were too violent. The door was opened and he invited in before he could lift his hand to knock.

“Hi, Jay.” She gave him a friendly hug.

“You look nice today. Did you do something with your hair?” Already, he was veering away from the conversation he planned on having.

“Trimmed the ends a little, washed it, and actually used the hair dryer. Thanks for noticing.” She smiled.

In the nearby room, Jay could see the bouquet of roses. He wondered if he should have been bringing flowers the entire time instead of food and other necessities she had needed. A frown had spread across his face.

“Are you still upset about yesterday?” Candice asked cautiously when she saw his expression.

“I care about you. I think you know that. In the grand scheme of things it hasn’t been that long since… you know….” He wasn’t sure how to continue. Mentioning the tragedy was a quick way to upset her and that was the last thing he wanted.

She nodded. “I care about you, too. Without your help, I would be in an even worse state than I am now.”

“In truth, I am still upset about yesterday. Not because of how you reacted to the gun or anything like that. I can wait forever for you… until you’re ready for something more.” He stole another glance toward the gift from Sawyer. “What upsets me is how quickly you seem to be taken with that criminal.”

Her hesitation in responding was enough to reaffirm his suspicions. T
here was no shock or immediate denial.

Candice backed up a few steps and leaned against the wall with her head bowed. “It’s too soon for me to have feelings for anyone. I mean, you’re a catch, don’t get me wrong. As much as I want to lie to you right now, it would be unfair. Besides, I’m a terrible liar.” She gave an awkward laugh. “That Sawyer guy, seeing him made me feel like Logan was home. I don’t know why. They don’t even look alike, but I had this feeling I can’t explain.”

“He’s not a good guy. I am not saying this for my own benefit or to convince you I’m the man for you. He is bad, plain and simple.”

“I know. I did an internet search. It wasn’t hard to find out some unsavory tidbits. He doesn’t seem like he’s a terrible person. Maybe he’s changed.”

Jay stepped closer, squeezing her arm a little with his hand. He wanted to grab her and shake her, but he didn’t. His touch was caring. She lifted her eyes to gaze at her friend. “That’s what con artists do. They find out about the victims and casually slip into their lives. It’s not difficult to find out information about a person. He’s after your money.”

“You’re right. I trust your judgment. I will probably never see him again after yesterday, but if I do, I won’t open the door.”

“You haven’t left this house in what seems like forever, yet you walk out onto the porch for a stranger. I’m not confident, but it is your life.” He said with a sigh.

“Where does that leave us?”

“What do you mean?”

Candice shrugged. “Are we still going to be friends if we never have an intimate relationship?”

Jay gave a curt nod. “Yeah, of course. I like your coffee too much to bail.” He was the one lying now. If she fell in love with another man, he knew their friendship would suffer.

“Speaking of which, I’ll get you a cup.”

It was a strained smile, but Officer Kershaw put his best effort into one for her. All he could think of was how much he hated Sawyer Verin and Candice’s infatuation with him. He planned on protecting her, if it meant following Sawyer around until he discovered a crime he could arrest him for. One more offense and the bastard would be locked up for a long time.

All the work to get back to Candice had been hard. Logan was not giving up. He refused. A glance back over his shoulder told him the officer was still tailing him. His shift was going to be grueling if he was being watched all day. Logan kicked his brisk pace up another notch. He’d walked to work to save gas.

“You look like shit, man. Were you up all night?” Matt
asked as he pulled chairs down off the tops of the tables and sat them on the floor.

“I didn’t get much sleep.” Logan mumbled shortly.

“Anything I can do? If you’re jonesing for a fix, maybe we can hang out later to keep your mind off of it.”

Logan shook his head quickly and held up his hands. “No, nothing like that. Girl trouble.”

“You’re on your own there. My last girlfriend threw all my clothing out the window and when I came home it was all over the yard.” Matt laughed. “Crazy bitch.”

“What did you do?” Logan was laughing as well.

“Gathered up my shit and moved back in with my parents.”

“I mean to make her that angry.”

Matt gave a small shrug. “Man, I didn’t do anything. She was a wacko.”

“My girl has always been a little crazy, but she is a great woman. Maybe today will go better.”

Matt tossed Logan an apron. “Hope so. If not, I know plenty of chicks I can hook you up with.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

The work day went by faster than Logan had expected. He filled a box with leftover pizza from the
evening shift. It was a mixed batch, but it was free. He hoped it would be better than showing up empty handed at Candice’s since he was literally broke again after buying the roses.

He hung his apron in the back and started the walk back to get his car. Looking around thoroughly, he saw no sign of the stalking policeman. About two-thirds of the way to his car, a torrential rain
started pouring down. Lightening flashed and thunder rumbled the ground beneath his feet. By the time he’d reached his car, he was drenched from head to toe.

The ignition took a couple of tries, but the car finally kicked to life. A
distorted voice over the radio sent out a weather advisory telling everyone to stay inside unless travel was absolutely necessary.

Great.
He thought, shifting into gear and heading out. It was dark before he finally pulled into Candice’s driveway. He’d had to drive slowly.
I need to replace these windshield wipers when I get paid.

Grabbing the wet cardboard pizza box, he shoved open the car door and took off running onto the porch. In a matter of seconds, he was soaked through again. Not that he’d had a chance to dry off from the first time he was caught in the rain.

He took off his work cap and ran a hand through his messy hair before taking a deep breath and knocking on the front door.

Candice bookmarked the page in the book she was reading and tossed it on the end table. She’d read it before, but it was her favorite comfort paperback with a tattered cover and worn pages.

“Coming!” She called out, tripped over the corner of the rug, and
toppled into the door, barely catching herself with her hands. Company wasn’t expected, but she figured it was Jay checking in on her. Wrong. Her breath left her when she saw Logan through the much used peephole. “What do you want?” She finally managed to say.

To tell you that I’m still here and I love you.
His inner voice answered, but he called out, “I had some pizza leftover at work and I thought maybe we could share it.”

“Leftover pizza?” Her fingers squeezed the lock on the door between them, but she didn’t turn it. “Why are you bothering me? I don’t have any money. My fiancé….” For a moment, her voice caught in her throat. “He died and I don’t have anything left but this house.
I’m behind in payments on it, so there’s nothing you can get from me.” Jay had said Sawyer was after money, so she was pretty proud of her lie.

“I don’t want any money. Ever since we spoke, I can’t get you off my mind. I want to get to know you. That’s all. No obligations.”

Giving in, she unlocked the door and opened it for him. “You know my boyfriend is a cop, so don’t try anything stupid. He’ll be here at any moment.” She was getting good at this lying thing.

“Candice, right?” He gave her the most uplifting smile she’d ever seen. Why was he so happy to see her? With a lifted eyebrow, he looked her over. She had her hair in a ponytail and was wearing her favorite pajamas with sheep. “Sorry about the wet box. It’s crazy out there.”

He was still talking when she finally remembered to step aside and let him in. “Candice Harworth
is my name.” Another lie. She’d never had the chance to get married, let alone change her name.

“Like the jewelry place?” Logan asked, trying to
remain calm when he really wanted to grab her, hold her close, and kiss her until neither of them could breathe.

She took the pizza box from him and carried
it into the kitchen. “Yeah.” After putting a few slices on a plate and grabbing drinks, she returned to the living room. “I was going to watch TV. My favorite reality show is on tonight.” They started to take a seat, but Candice held up her hands.

“The shows are kind of comforting.
Nice to see people are more screwed up than I am.” Logan laughed. “What?” He asked, noting her hands indicating for him to stop.

“Let me get you something to wear and a towel.”

“You don’t have to….” He started, but Candice shook her head.

“It’s fine.” She went upstairs and pulled out a few drawers. Eventually, she found an unopened pack of white t-shirts and pulled one out. Then, she grabbed a towel out of the linen closet before h
eading back downstairs. “Here you go, Sawyer.”

“Thanks.” He turned his back to her and right there in her living room, lifted his work shirt off. Muscle on top of muscle filled her vision. When he turned to face her, she barely looked away in time. She could feel her face burning red hot.
“A little tight, but it fits.”

“Good. It was new.” She gestured toward the sofa and picked up their plates.

As he had always done, Logan picked off the mushrooms on his pizza and placed them on Candice’s plate. Slowly, she chewed on her food as she watched him perform the familiar action. If he was a con artist, he was good. When he caught her staring at him, he realized his mistake and stopped. “Sorry. I always did that with my ex-girlfriend.”

“Lot of guys must not like mushrooms. Weird.
I forgot you said you didn’t like them or I would have given you a different slice.” She turned on the television to be greeted with only the sound of static. Another flash of lightning lit the house and then the power went out. “Shit. I know I have some candles somewhere.”

“Be careful. You could fall in the dark.” He stood up, following behind her as she headed to the kitchen and started rummaging through a junk drawer.

Candice knew she should be scared. It was storming and there was a strange man in her house with an unflattering reputation. Oddly, it was the first time she’d felt safe in a long time. She couldn’t understand it, but it was too much of a relief for her to analyze. Her hand wrapped around a candle and she found a lighter. “Got it. Let’s go back in there.”