Page 2 of The Queen of Nightmares

With a sigh, I settled back against my pillow and reclined on the bed, thinking about the long, boring day ahead. I didn’t know if Kara would visit me today. She was the only one I ever saw aside from Jack. The few short times I saw him each day should have made me happy. Instead, every time he left, it just widened the hole in my heart a little more. My chest was always aching these days. I had thought that nothing could hurt as badly as my arm when I first woke up in the hospital. I was wrong.

ChapterTwo

THE QUEEN OF NIGHTMARES

Iwas washing the teacup and small plate in the kitchen sink when I heard the doorbell ringing from the front door. I quickly dried my hands with a kitchen towel and all but ran to let Kara in. I needed the company, or I was going to go out of my mind.

I peeked through the peephole to be safe, then grinned when I saw Kara holding up a bag that was clearly from the deli in town.

I swung the door open wide to let the gorgeous blonde enter. Immediately, the alarm started shrieking its ear-splitting scream. “Shit! Shit! Shit! I forgot to turn off the alarm! One second,” I yelled as I frantically punched in the code to disarm the alarm, then let out a breath at the sudden silence. “Damn, Jack’s going to be pissed,” I whispered. I shut the door, punched the code back in to reset the alarm, and turned to see Kara watching me with shrewd eyes.

I pasted on a bright smile, trying to pretend that my chest wasn’t heaving from the stressful moment. “Hey! I’m so glad you’re here.”

She returned my smile with one that looked almost as forced as mine was. “Hey, girl. Are you okay? Is Bones going to do anything to you for setting the alarm off?”

I waved away her concern. No, I didn’t think Jack would hurt me. I just hated seeing the disappointment or the frustration that he always seemed to look at me with these days. I longed to see him smile at me the way he used to, and setting off the alarm wasn’t going to give him a reason to be happy. “No, of course not. I just know he will be concerned after what happened before, you know?”

I led her into the living room and gestured for her to take a seat on the leather sectional. “I’ll go grab a couple of plates. Do you want a soda?”

Kara nodded as she sat down on one end of the couch, and I went into the kitchen. My phone was still on the counter where I left it, and I could see it was lighting up with a phone call from Jack already. The alarm company had likely called him the second the door opened. I let out a gust of breath, then picked it up, knowing I had probably already missed at least one call from him. If I didn’t answer this time, I would bet every earthly possession I owned that he would send the entire club out here, guns blazing.

“Hey, Jack,” I said quietly.

“Is everything okay? Do I need to come back to the house?” His voice was gravelly and rushed, the concern just barely discernable under the harsh tone.

“No, everything is alright. I forgot to turn the alarm off before I opened the door.” I walked to the fridge and pulled on the door, having to give it a little extra effort with my left hand. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

There was a deep sigh from the phone as I grabbed two cans of soda from the fridge. “Damn it, Sally. You have to be more careful.”

I swallowed back the retort that wanted to come to the surface. I wished I could say what I really wanted to. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask Jack if it was me he cared about or his baby, but I clamped my teeth shut. It wasn’t until I heard nothing but silence that I blinked and pulled the cell phone away from my ear to look at the black screen. He hung up just like that, without a single word of goodbye.

I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes for a minute.Damn it, Jack.I couldn’t keep doing this. Not for the next six months. Not for the next eighteen years. I loved that man more than life itself. But I couldn’t, just couldn’t keep going the way we were. I needed him to be my Jack again. I needed him to hold me and tell me everything was okay between us.

I picked up the plates and sodas when I heard Kara call out to me. When I walked back into the living room, she looked at me with concern. “Are you okay, Sally?”

I gave a small laugh that sounded as far from cheerful as I felt. I placed the plates down on the coffee table where the sandwiches had been set out. Kara had opened the wrappers on the subs and had two bags of chips sitting there waiting.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Jack was just worried, that’s all.”

She eyed me dubiously but picked up her sub sandwich, transferred it to her plate, and wadded up the paper it had been wrapped in. “You can talk to me, you know.”

I sat down with a huff, then picked up the remote. I didn’t want to talk about my issues with Jack. It felt like a betrayal to even have her asking. But I did appreciate that she worried about me.

“I know, Kara. I really appreciate it. But there isn’t anything to worry about. I promise.” I pushed the button to turn on the TV, ignoring her skeptical stare at the side of my face. “Which episode were we on?”

I flipped through the apps until I found the right one, quickly finding our show and starting it where we had left off before she could say anything else. She grunted from beside me and then took a huge bite of her food. I chose to ignore everything: the pain in my heart, the worry about the weakness in my still healing arm, and the baby that was my only tether to the man I would never stop loving. I picked up my sandwich and my plate, then settled back to get lost in the problems of the make-believe world on the TV.

* * *

“I think you should come to the party tonight.”

Kara’s words jarred me from the story playing out in front of me, and I turned to look at her, popping the last chip from the bag into my mouth. “What party?” I asked, covering my mouth as I chewed with one hand to ask her the question.

“You didn’t know? There’s a huge club party tonight. You’ve already missed the other ones. I think you should come out to the one tonight.” She tipped back her head, finishing the last of her soda before leaning forward to set the empty can beside her plate. “People are starting to talk.”

“Talk about what, exactly?” I turned to face her on the couch, the show forgotten.

She eyed me incredulously. “About what? Girl, no one has seen you since before the whole kidnap and murder thing. Bones is always at the club. People think you two aren’t even together anymore.”

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