Page 65 of Captivated

“I get it. I do. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She rises to her toes and plants one more smoldering kiss on my lips, and then gets inside her car and drives away, taking a piece of me with her.

Sighing and running my fingers through my hair, I make my way back inside of the hospital to check on Birdie. The doctor comes in to speak to us all, telling us what to expect in terms of her recovery. Luckily her hip was just bruised, not fractured or broken, so other than the concussion, she should be fine in seven to ten days, but maybe a little longer because of her age. I mentally plan all the times I can be at the retirement center to care for her, but know that Samuel and their in-house nurse will be there when I can’t, offering me a little relief.

By the time I leave the hospital, the sun is rising in the sky. Creamy orange and pink colors paint the scene as I drive home. I can barely keep my eyes open, so when my head hits the pillow, sleep finds me fast until a thought of Piper wakes up my subconscious, providing me with all sorts of explanations to what she has to tell me later this evening. By the time I actually decide not to fight my pillow anymore, I’ve barely had five hours of sleep, when I’m normally a seven-hour kind of guy. But I can’t block it out anymore.

I shower, shave, and dress, preparing to arrive at her apartment around six o’clock. She asked me via text if I wanted to have dinner while we talked, but I honestly don’t know that I’ll have much of an appetite until I know what she has to say. I offered to bring something instead, but she declined and said she would make something, indicating she wanted to show me how much she appreciates me giving her the opportunity to explain everything to me.

A few hours later, I arrive at her place, shutting the door to my truck with a shaky hand and walking to her apartment as if there are cement blocks tied to my boots, the heaviness of their smack on the ground crunching the ice beneath. It’s the middle of November, and winter is hitting our little town hard already, a heavy snow surprising us two days ago, making for icy roads and sidewalks, like the one Birdie slipped on yesterday, and a cold chill in the air that stings your skin. I wrap my peacoat around my body tightly as I trudge to her door and knock, my heart pounding just as hard as my fist.

I’ve been trying to mentally prepare myself for what she has to say all day, reminding myself that I won’t know how to move forward if I don’t hear her out.

But nothing could have helped me get ready for what happened in the next ten minutes.

Chapter 25

Cash

“Hi.” Piper answers the door wearing a pink sweater and jeans, looking stunningly beautiful, just like I thought the first time I saw her—but her face can’t hide her nerves.

“Hey.” I tuck myself inside of her door as she closes it behind me, grateful for the warmth of her apartment I just stepped into.

“Come on in and take off your coat. I just pulled dinner out of the oven, a chicken and broccoli casserole that was one of my favorite dishes growing up. I had to call my mom for the recipe, but I promise you, you’ll love it.” She seems more cheerful than she was last night, but almost jumpy, like maybe she’s just putting on a façade for me since she knows she’s about to make my heart sink to my stomach.

“Well, it smells good,” I say, shrugging out of my coat and hanging it on a hook by the door. I feel uncomfortable in my own skin right now, yet being near her in this apartment again does provide some comfort. I’ve missed her so much, even when I felt like punching something. I swear, I’m just volleying back and forth between those two emotions right now—love and anger.

“Take a seat at the table. I just need to find my phone really quick. I’ve seemed to misplace it since earlier this afternoon.” Her head turns every direction around her apartment in search of the item.

“Do you want me to call it?” I ask while retrieving my phone from my pocket, swiping across the screen to unlock it and bringing up her number.

“Yes. That would be great.”

We both listen for the sound of her ringtone, but hear nothing.

“Oh! I know! I left it in my car after I went to the store. It’s probably in the cupholder. Stay right here and I’ll run out and grab it really quick,” she smiles, lunging for me to give me a chaste kiss, and then rushes out of the door leaving me all alone.

I sit there in my chair for a moment, and then decide to survey her apartment, noticing the lack of personal touches here that I didn’t notice before, like pictures. Piper has not one picture on the walls or in a frame sitting on a piece of furniture. I know there’s not one in her bedroom either, and as I walk around the living room, it’s clear as day she hasn’t had one out here this entire time. For someone who moved across the country to start fresh, yet misses her parents more than anything, why wouldn’t she have a picture up to see them every day? Why couldn’t they come and visit, like I asked her, remembering how vague her response was.Maybe someday.

“What the fuck was that?” My head pivots on my neck as the sound of a gunshot echoes outside of Piper’s apartment, muffled by the walls of the room I’m inside—but I would recognize that sound anywhere. Being a sheriff lends my ears to knowing what I’ve heard, and I definitely knowthatwas a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun.

I react on instinct, running for the door and bursting through the opening, frantically searching for the origin of the sound and the woman who owns me. The cold chill of the winter night hits my face as soon as I exit the building and twist my body around, searching for my blonde beauty. Ice crunches beneath my shoes as I step onto the sidewalk.

“Piper? Piper!” I yell just as movement on the asphalt in the parking lot of her apartment complex draws my attention to the right, accompanied by furious footsteps moving away from her. I faintly make out a figure running from the scene as I hear the splash of feet on wet pavement, but then my eyes fixate on something else.

Blood. And lots of it, so dark that it looks black from the night sky surrounding us and the dim street lamps lighting up the parking lot, but the red hits leftover snow and I know instantly something is wrong.

“Fuck! Piper!” I race towards her as her body lies still, curled up on her side, her blonde hair falling over her face. As I reach her, I drop to my knees and brush her locks from her eyes while panic sets in. My heart beat is wild, my entire body shaking from the adrenaline running through my veins, and I don’t know where to touch her first.

“Piper, baby… where are you hurt? What happened?” My hands are everywhere, yet I feel frozen, incapable of processing the image in front of me.

This woman I never knew I wanted or needed in my life is lying on the asphalt, bleeding more than I know is alright, and I have no idea what to make of it.

“Cash,” she croaks, coughing my name as blood trickles out of the corner of her mouth.

“Shhhh, baby. Just breathe, hold on for me, Piper,” I whisper through a shaky breath, brushing her face as the hole in her stomach becomes more apparent from the headlights of a car approaching us. I shuffle her lightly to lay her head in my lap as I retrieve my phone from my pocket, my hands almost numb as my body vibrates from my rapid pulse. “Fuck! Come on!” Yelling as I desperately locate my phone is not making the process go any smoother.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” The dispatcher comes through my cell that I dialed with shaky hands, the light from the screen highlighting Piper’s increasingly pale face.

“Fuck! I need an ambulance! My girlfriend… she’s… she’s been shot! There’s blood everywhere! Please hurry!” I yell, just as the car approaching us stops and the driver vacates the vehicle.

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