Wicked Bad Boys (49 page)

You’ve told her you love her, yet you’re still sitting around looking like a wounded puppy dog. You need to take action.
He let out a deep breath. “I make the calls around here,” Jake said. “Not any of you!” He put his fingers to his temples, as another powerful headache manifested. “Okay, okay. I’ll do it soon,” he answered them, and drove off in the SUV.

W
hen they returned home
, Tara was on a high. As she walked into the house, something wasn’t right.

“Kevin, does something feel strange to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, just a gut feeling.”

“About what?”

“That something isn’t right in here.”

He looked around, walking from room to room on the main floor. Nothing was out of place, and no one was around.

“I’ll check upstairs. Wait here,” he told her.

She couldn’t shake the eerie feeling as she waited for him to come back. It was like something was out of place and hiding in plain sight, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

“There’s no one upstairs, Tara. Want me to check the basement?”

“Okay. But take this.” She passed him the metal shoehorn the owner of the house left out.

He took it and went down the hallway to the basement, but was back a few minutes later.

“Nada.”

“Something is off and it’s going to bug me until I figure it out.”

“Well try to stop worrying,” Kevin said, rubbing her arms to console her. “Let’s make dinner.”

“
W
hat was that
?” Kevin asked, lifting himself from between Tara’s legs. They had been watching TV on the couch earlier. Tara had excused herself, and came back dressed in high heels and the purple lingerie. He couldn’t keep his hands off her, and whatever they were watching was immediately lackluster in comparison. But that sound he just heard didn’t come from the TV. He was sure of it.

She sat up. “I don’t know.”

He heard the hitch in her voice and jumped up to check. He looked through the entire house again and no one else was there. Just to be safe, he looked out the front door to see if the police were around. The white van was parked outside.

“Did you find anything?”

“Nothing at all. But I know I heard something. He sat beside her on the couch and pulled her into his arms. She was shivering. He was about to throw a blanket over her when everything went pitch black.

Tara screamed, tightening her grip around his waist.

“Did you scream like this when the power went out all those times during the snow storm?” he asked in the darkness.

“No,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know why I just did that.”

Kevin tried to look around, but there was no point; he couldn’t see a thing.

“It has to be another power outage. Let me check at the front door.”

Sure enough, the two or three houses he could see outside were pitch black too.

“Looks like the whole area’s out. Not to worry. The cops are still outside.”

“Maybe that’s why this place was so cheap to rent.”

“Yeah. It was too good to be true.”

“But how do these other people survive out here?”

“No idea. Maybe backup generators.”

“Well I want to get out of here.” Her voice was shaky and he could see the fear in her eyes.

“Want to come to my place?”

“Yes, please,” she answered.

They felt around the couch and floor for his clothes, but would have to find her something to wear upstairs as she had come downstairs in just her lingerie. They felt the walls to get upstairs and into her room. She pulled the clothes from her bed and threw them on as Kevin waited.

“Where’s my phone?” she mumbled.

He helped her look, but to no avail. “Don’t bother with it. Let’s just get out of here and we can come back during the day.”

She threw her sweater on, and felt around for Kevin’s hand. They were down the stairs, dressed in winter coats and out the door in no time.

They walked hand in hand to the car.

“Do you sometimes feel that whenever odd things happen, it has something to do with Jake?” she asked him.

“Not sure, but in this case, with the lights out everywhere, I don’t.”

His brother was capable of worse, but he couldn’t pull off an area-wide blackout. He nodded at the men in the surveillance vehicle as they left. Their vehicle was soon behind them. It was reassuring to have their protection.

In the corner of his eye, he saw her tuck her coat tighter around her slim frame and turn to him.

“Doesn’t it worry you?”

There were indeed moments when he felt panicked, and a little paranoid, but he couldn’t admit it to her. He had to be strong so she could relax.

“If Jake wanted to harm either of us, he would’ve found a way to do it a long time ago. This is the fear from our own minds playing out scenarios. By doing this, we’re giving him more power than he actually has. He’s not in charge.”

She didn’t look totally swayed. “Sometimes I feel like he is.”

“Not possible. We’re stronger together than he is by himself. You’ll see.”

It would be foolish to think Jake wasn’t dangerous. Jake had proved he was, time and time again. Kevin was determined to keep her safe until she could have some peace of mind. With what he was planning to ask her next, he needed her to be in good spirits.

T
ara was already emotionally drained
when she got to Kevin’s place. She would have given anything to leave it to fate, to know in her heart Jake wasn’t a threat to them. Yet, it wasn’t that easy. She walked into the house after Kevin.

“Do you want to stay here for a few nights?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I’ll feel better if you stay. You probably will too.”

“Will your parents be okay with it?”

“Of course. They love you. And they may be away on business again.”

“Okay. I’ll stay. I’ve got some things here, right?”

“Yeah. A few sweaters, jeans, maybe a skirt too. Definitely underwear. Good thing, too.”

Tara couldn’t look away from Kevin. He seemed pensive. Something was on his mind.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Whatever has your brows drawn and your forehead all wrinkled up from worry or whatever you’re thinking about.”

He paused and looked at her before answering. “Tara, I’ve been doing some thinking…a lot, actually. I think we should take the next step.”

“What next step?” she asked.

“We love each other. We enjoy each other’s company. A lot. And soon we’re going to be heading off to Montana together. I’d like to think we no longer need separate accommodations.”

Tara saw where he was going. She had been thinking about it a lot since they made up after the storm.

“We spend most nights together, and when we’re not, I’m thinking about you. Why don’t we just go for it?”

Her head was spinning. She was giddy with excitement. “So you’re asking me—”

“Let’s move in together,” he blurted out.

“Really? You’re serious?”

“Dead serious. I want to be there for you at all times. I love being around you. I love what we have and I want more. And we won’t have to do all this back and forth stuff.”

“What about your parents?”

“They’ll understand. They know things have been tough on both of us. I don’t think they’d be shocked at all. Let’s do it.”

The words ‘let’s move in together’ resonated. She had been thinking about it too and couldn’t hold back the excitement anymore.

“Yes, Kevin…yes!”

She threw her arms around him and hugged him so tight. She breathed in his musky cologne, sighing against his neck.

“When?” she asked him, pulling back to look him in the eye.

He laughed. “What better time than the present? Well, whenever we head back to your place. But I think we should let the owner know about those annoying blackouts.”

She bounced up and down, enthusiastic about their plan.

“I’ll help you pack!” She started to pass him, but he reached out and grabbed her hand. “What?” she asked, lifting her gaze to him.

“Actually, there’s something I need to do first. I have to go out for a while.”

“At this hour? It’s after eight at night.”

“It won’t be too late if I go now.”

“Can I come?”

“Actually, I’d prefer to go alone.”

“Oh…” Her face fell in disappointment. Being alone at his house was not the way she thought they’d celebrate such a big decision.

“It’s not that I don’t want you there. In fact, I’d love for you to come with me. But I need to do it alone.”

“Do what?”

“It’s kind of a surprise. Consider it a Christmas present.”

“Oh alright,” she said, pouting as he put his jacket back on. “Hurry back okay?”

“I’ll be back before you know it. I promise.”

K
evin knocked
on the door and waited. Finally, she answered. He could tell she was surprised to see him by her facial expression, which showed confusion and surprise.

“Hi Mrs. Matthews. May I come in?” he asked.

“Kevin? What brings you here? Yes, come in.”

Thank you,” he said. He was so nervous now. Before, he had felt confident. “I want to talk to you about your daughter. Well, more like ask you a question about her.”

“I didn’t think you came here to discuss the price of eggs,” she replied with a brief smile. “And by the way, you can call my Mary. So tell me, what is it about Tara?”

“Can we sit?”

“Sure.” She led him into the living room and each took a seat on opposite ends of the couch. “What this about, Kevin?”

“I love her. She loves me. We’re in a great place right now.”

“Yes. She’s been so happy lately.”

“And what I’m getting at is, as happy as we are, there is something missing in the equation. I—I’d like to ask her to marry me. So, I’m here to ask you for your permission.”

“Oh that’s wonderful, Kevin!” Mrs. Matthews jumped out of the chair and leaned over to hug him. He stood up to accept her embrace “When are you going to ask her?”

“At Christmas dinner, if you’re still coming over?”

“That would be fantastic! Yes Kevin! I’ll be there. And I’m so thrilled for you two. You’ve been a constant in Tara’s life, and especially after her dad died. You were a lifeline to Tara, her best friend, and now you’re together and I can’t think of a better person to call my son-in-law one day.”

“Thanks so much, Mrs. Matthews!”

“Call me Mary,” she corrected him again.

“Yes. Mary. I’m so relieved you feel this way. I can’t tell you what this means after everything that’s happened with my family.”

He couldn’t say anything more. The words wouldn’t come when he felt the tears welling up in his eyes.

“It’s okay, Kevin,” she said, rubbing his back to console him when she noticed his tears. “I do watch the news. I know your brother is the one who’s suspected of murdering people around town. Everyone’s talking about how he’s got to be a sick, twisted, heartless killer, but no one is talking about the possibility that he’s just not well. Mentally, you know?”

“I don’t think I ever sat and spoke to Tara about this, but when her father died, I—I was so stuck. All I could do was grieve and I couldn’t let her in. I was depressed, you know that? Clinical depression, the doctor called it. It felt like sinking in quicksand with your hands stuck at your side, so you can’t even reach out to take any help that’s offered. So I know firsthand how mental illness can physically hurt. I imagine Jake is not mentally balanced. And yes, what he’s suspected of doing is horrific. But what’s more horrifying is that we know so little about mental illness, and we do even less as a society. What’s horrifying is he needs help and we can’t set aside his actions—not even temporarily—to help him.”

“But what I need you to know, Kevin, is that no matter what he did,
you
are not your brother. That I know. And although the timing may not be ideal for your family, I want you to set aside the sadness about Jake and celebrate what you and Tara have. I’m so happy she found you.”

He sat on the couch and lowered his head into his hands as he sobbed, unable to keep his composure anymore.

“Oh, Kevin,” she said, sitting beside him. “I can see how hard this has been on you. You’ve probably had to be strong for your family and for Tara, and I guess for everyone in town.”

He nodded, but couldn’t speak for a few minutes.

“I’ll get you some tea,” she said as she left for the kitchen.

As embarrassed as he was about breaking down in front of Tara’s mom, he felt such a relief. He had feared she wouldn’t be on board because of Jake. There was a stigma around the family of murderers. When Jake became the prime suspect, Kevin couldn’t shake his worry that she would think of him as the brother of a serial killer. But his relief was not just about her approval. He really
had
been keeping it all in since everything happened with Jake. He hadn’t given himself time to process it. It was like a death in the family. He lost his only brother and felt responsible, even though he couldn’t do a thing to help save him.

“Here you go, Kevin. Drink this. You’ll feel better.”

“Thank you Mrs. Matthews,” he said when he finished the tea. “And thanks for your support.”

“You don’t have to thank me, son.”

“Well it doesn’t show at the moment, but I’m so happy you approve. And that you understand. It means more than you know. I should get going now.”

“No problem. You have a good night. See you on Christmas day. And thanks for the great news!”

“Good night and thank
you
.”

As he headed back to his car, he felt he had made so much progress. And Tara’s mom was a godsend. Now it was time to head to his parents’ house to pack some clothes, and begin his new journey with Tara.

T
ara noticed
the change in Kevin after he returned. He wouldn’t tell her where he went, and she couldn’t even hazard a guess, but he looked so much calmer; so at peace. It was good to see him this way.

When he settled in, he suggested going back to the house first thing in the morning. They hadn’t taken the time to turn open faucets in case the pipes froze.

“Well, why don’t we go back now?” Tara asked. “You can bring a few things now, and a flashlight. Who knows, the lights may be back on.”

“Sure. Good idea.”

She helped him pack a duffel bag and they left for her house again. The lights were back on, but the second they got in, Kevin wanted to leave again.