Unreal Part 3 - FREE AND DISGUISED: (THRILLER ROMANCE AND MYSTERY) Page 16

  Three. Two.

  Ethan forgot his phone and stepped towards the door, his teeth on edge as he waited for it to just slide open. A few other travelers eagerly pressed against his back, but when the train came to a stop, he elbowed them back and took off. A stray rat ran over his shoes, and Ethan gripped a grimy railing as he pushed into the night. Once he could draw a breath of fresh hair, he galloped across the pavement and plucked his phone from his pocket. Trying to strike his most recent call back to life, he groaned inside when Nick failed to answer. Had something gone wrong? He should have gone after her. Been with her through whatever had…

  His soul swirled with regret when he turned the corner, and his building came into view. An unmarked car rested against the pavement with a series of sirens close at its side.

  Okay. Cops are here. So she has to be safe. But… but what happened before…

  “Juliet!”

  He was at the foot of the steps when Nick appeared from beyond the doorframe and gripped his arms.

  “Hold up, Ethan! She’s fine. She’s---”

  “I have to see her!” Ethan bellowed. “Where is---?”

  “Wait!”

  Nick pushed him back to the edge of the building and held him against the bricks.

  “Someone… someone was hiding and waiting for her. We should have kept her with us.”

  “You… you let her walk into it on her own?”

  “Thought you were on your way home or whatever,” Nick said. “Julie---”

  “Get off of me!”

  Pushing away from Nick, Ethan moved up the steps and found his way blocked again by a barrel-chested cop standing before Nick’s door.

  “Sir, what is your business---?”

  Ethan started to speak when he glanced over the cop’s shoulder. He froze as he saw Juliet huddled against Danielle as Morales paced the room.

  “So you didn’t know who he was, Julie?”

  Biting down on his lip, Ethan watched her sadly shake her head as Danielle held her hand tighter.

  “Thought Ethan was coming to take me back,” she said. “When he… when he had me on the bed, I didn’t… I didn’t know what---”

  “Juliet!”

  Ethan shrugged off the cops. Julie seemed to shudder at the sound of his voice, but as soon as he fell to his knees, he pried her hands from Danielle’s. Taking what felt like forever to register his presence, Juliet sighed as she flung her arms around his neck.

  “You’re okay!” she said. “Ethan, I…”

  She collapsed into a series of sobs, and Ethan pulled her closer as he stroked her heaving back and whispered into her hair.

  “I should have been here,” he said. “Forgive me, Juliet.”

  Holding her as she cried, Ethan glanced up at Morales.

  “Tell me have you a lead,” Ethan said.

  Morales scratched though her braid and shook her head.

  “No joy. Sorry. Not her stepdad. He’s on his way to a long hard sentence.”

  Clinging to that was something, he cuddled Juliet closer and tried to smooth the tension from her back.

  “If it… if it was that prick McCord, I swear to god that I’ll---”

  “Wasn’t him either, Ethan.”

  Turning his eyes towards the detective, Ethan’s movements were mirrored by Juliet and Danielle, Nick and the street cop taking up the back. Morales tried to swallow her words back, but Ethan was barely able to keep Juliet under her arms when she found her way to her feet and squared her shoulders.

  “Why not?” she asked. “Are they locked up?”

  Ethan took note of he hope in Juliet’s voice. His heart shared in the promise, and they seemed to sink into the depths together when Morales sighed and cracked her knuckles.

  “Seems that they were back to their old tricks. Found their bodies this morning. It… it was a mess.”

  Danielle gasped and pressed her hand to her mouth, Nick moving into the room as he lightly took hold of her arms. Ethan remembered his first meeting with Carter McCord, thinking that the man could somehow be his friend until…

  “Bloody mess?” Juliet asked.

  All eyes, Ethan’s included, fixed on Juliet. A strange calm washed over her face, and Ethan felt her growing taller, stronger under his arm.

  “Good,” she said. “I’d like to shake the hand that did the deed.”

  “No leads yet,” Morales carefully stated. “Have a few ideas though.”

  “Who do you… what do you think happened?”

  Juliet’s voice was full of questions, but Ethan pressed her closer to her side.

  “Don’t lead her on,” he cautioned. “Give her… give he something to hang on to or let it drop for now.”

  Ethan was ready to strike down any man or woman that might threaten her, alive or not, but the cop just hung her shaking head.

  “Best we can tell for now, they went back to their old habits. Didn’t pan out so well for them this time around.”

  Juliet slipped away from Ethan’s arm and sank back to the couch. He watched her hold her face in her hands and knelt down to touch her. Juliet made no move to bat him off as she rested her head to his shoulder, Juliet’s whisper just hitting his ear.

  “I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t pick up,” she murmured. “I… should have stayed….”

  Tears streamed down her scarred cheek, and Ethan gathered her into his arms and kissed her neck.

  “We’re both here now,” he said as he shushed her. “I won’t leave you again.”

  Ethan held her as Morales conferred with her backup. Danielle and Nick still seemed shaken, but Ethan took Juliet’s face in her hands and peered into her eyes.

  “Can you tell me the rest?” he whispered.

  Juliet brought her head to his chest.

  “He… he hit me,” she started. “He threw me on the bed. His… his hands…”

  She starred to sob, and Ethan folded her closer, his lips at her neck as he stretched his mouth to her ear.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m here now. No one’s going to hurt you.”

  Juliet calmed into his arms, and he carefully looked up at Morales.

  “Can I… can I take her away from this?” he asked.

  The detective nodded, and Ethan lifted Juliet away from his knees. Her arms winded around his neck, and he was at the edge of the steps when Juliet started to shake and sob.

  “Okay,” he whispered. “Not there. Not tonight.”

  He signaled for Nick to call a cab, and Ethan brought her back into the night and felt Morales at his heels.

  “We’ll keep eyes on the building,” Morales promised. “Last thing I want is…”

  Morales’ voice trailed off, and Ethan held Juliet closer as a yellow car pulled into view.

  “See that you do,” he said. “I’m keeping her away until you figure this out.”

  Ethan eased Juliet’s body into the leather, and his hand was light against her cheek as he turned back to Morales.

  “I can’t let anything else happen to her,” he said.

  “Then don’t leave her on her own to face the fallout.”

  Fighting back the urge to push her back into the pavement, Ethan forced a smiled and nodded his head.

  “I’m with her now,” he said. “I’ll take care of her.”

  Cuddling close to her in the back of the cab, Ethan took Juliet into his arms, kissing his cheeks as clasped her hands.

  “Juliet, I’m… I’m just sorry.”

  Her gaze seemed to soften around his stare, and she fell back into his chest and ran her fingers up and down his arms.

  “Take me someplace else, Ethan. Make it better.”

  21

  “Better?”

  Julie nodded at the feel of warm bathwater surrounding her limbs, oils and suds dotting her legs and arms as she savored the heat and found his eyes.

  “Getting there,” she said. “Thank you for this.”

  Just the thought of going back to his place, all overturne
d and soiled stilled curled her heart in her chest. As soon as he made the move to the cab, Julie relaxed. He was what she needed most in this moment, and now that she was hidden behind a deadbolt in a tub without a single stick of furniture overturned, Julie relaxed within her own skin and beckoned his hand back to the bath.

  “Ethan?”

  He stilled her further with a single kiss and started to run a damp cloth down her back. She moved into the stroke of his hand and started to shift from the suds as she pressed her arms around his neck.

  “I kept thinking of you,” she said. “While it was happening. I---”

  “Should have been there, Juliet.”

  “You were,” she whispered. “You’re always with me, Ethan.”

  His lips were tentative against hers, but Julie accepted his kiss with a smile and pulled him into the bath. Suds splashed over the edge of the tub, and she smiled into his chest when he drew back with a look of distress in his eyes just above his curled lips.

  “Ethan?”

  “You need to take it easy now,” he soothed. “Just rest.”

  Doing as she was told, Julie tried to savor the soft suds surrounding her body. If she imagined hard enough, this was just a trip. What their honeymoon might be. Maybe for one night; maybe much longer. But they were free to play and laugh and pretend that everything waiting at home was normal.

  Except it…

  “I… I don’t know who he was,” Julie murmured.

  “I know that. Neither do I.”

  His touch was light as he moved the damp cloth down her back, and when she tried to stretch up to kiss him again, Ethan turned his head away and coughed into his shoulder.

  “Main thing is that you weren’t hurt,” he continued. “I mean… I mean really hurt. Right, Juliet?”

  She nodded into her chest and hugged her body close under the water as Ethan’s hand kept moving up and down her bare flesh. The absence of his eyes did not mesh with the soft feel of his fingers, and he stopped his wrist mid-stroke.

  “Ethan?”

  Staying in the bath, she watched his head hang as he slammed his lids shut and bit down on his lip.

  “I am sorry,” he repeated. “If only I hadn’t---”

  “Don’t blame yourself,” she said as pushed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and felt the water sloshing against and around her thighs. A hot bath after nearly being broken? How could she deny that? But when he wouldn’t look at her, when he denied her his kiss…

  “It’s not like the last time,” she finally said.

  That caught his attention, and Ethan peered into her stare, his eyes wide as he struggled to speak.

  “No,” he started. “Of course not.”

  “Because you were the one who saved me.”

  He never asked for it; he was only with the late and unlamented McCord and Troxel on account of several strange twists of fate.

  “And you can’t stand the thought.”

  “I never could, Juliet,” he said. “You’ve always known that.”

  “But… but you thought that you got me clean,” she said. “Made it so no one else could ever hurt me again.”

  Ethan released an anguished groan, and Julie’s mind flashed back to the sad story of his sister. Bound and helpless, he had no choice but to watch. And there was no question in her mind that he would have clasped her close and sworn nothing but his undying protection had she survived the blast.

  But if it happened again when he could have been there with a chance in his hand…

  “Now even you think I’m dirty,” she said.

  Ethan dropped the washcloth into the tub, and he tried to take hold of her hands.

  “No, Juliet,” he insisted. “I don’t---”

  “Then why won’t you kiss me? Why do you look so disgusted?”

  He started to speak when he bit his words back and just shook his head.

  “Not with you,” he said. “Never with you.”

  Now he made the move to kiss her, but Julie turned away and left the bath. Seizing a large towel from the rack beside the door, she dried her body quickly and concealed her flesh in the fluffy linen.

  “I think you are,” she finally said.

  “With myself!” he swore and he rose and tried to take her into his arms. Julie accepted his embrace for all of a second, inhaling his scent as she started to wrap her hold around his neck. Their eyes just met when he kissed her quickly, his lips desperate as he pulled her closer and ran his fingers through her hair.

  “If I’m trying to wash anything away… it’s my crime. Not yours. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

  Staying in his arms, Julie slowly moved to touch his cheek, and she lightly touched his face, her soul relenting as she worked her fingers back down his neck.

  “I ran out on you,” she said. “I gave you back the ring…”

  His eyes expanded at the sound of her words, and Julie tried to speak again when he gave her what she wanted most. His lips swirled around hers, and she sank into his deep kiss as she winded her arms around his back held on tight.

  I’m never letting go, Ethan. Nothing can make me.

  Ethan parted first, and Julie tried to drag him back, wanting everything as it was when he first took her, when she was almost able to forget that one long summer when he fell to his knees and pushed his hand into his pocket.

  “Please tell me that you’ll wear it again,” he said. “If you… if you just keep it on your finger, I’ll keep you happy.”

  Julie almost accepted the band when she held her hand back and stared down at him.

  “Even if something bad happens to me?” she asked.

  “Yes. I…”

  He hesitated, and she was ready to give into the fear that he could never make any woman his if he lacked the chance to pull her out of the darkness. Better that she should have stayed there so long ago and waited for death? Did he resent Nick for running interference when he was otherwise occupied? But the call to leave his side came from her lips, and Julie watched the tears starting to form in his eyes when she scooped him up off the floor and sighed.

  “Guess we’re a work in progress,” she said as she kissed his cheek and took his face in her hands.

  “Juliet, I---”

  “But it’s okay,” she said. “I keep living through it right.”

  Her voice was mirthless as the words tripped off her tongue, and Ethan was on his feet, his arms stronger than she remembered as he lifted her to his chest and kissed her faster, harder.

  “Always,” he said. “I’ll die before that stops.”

  Bringing her back to the bed, Ethan unveiled the towel and tenderly kissed her breasts. She didn’t flinch when he eased her under the sheets and curled his leg around her thighs.

  “Don’t talk like that. I want you to stay with me, Ethan.”

  He lowered his head to her chest and caressed her sides.

  “I want you, too, Juliet. But… but the last thing I’m gonna do is force you after---”

  “Stop talking.”

  She didn’t want be and stay a victim of Pete or Carter McCord or the masked man. Somehow she had broken free of all of them, and if she could just be with him again, that would wipe away the stain away, and she would fold into his body and feel strong. Safe.

  “Ethan…”

  Guiding him to his back, she started to unbutton his collar and raked her nails down his chest.

  “Make me whole,” she pleaded. ‘You’re… you’re the only one that can.”

  Peeling off his shirt, Ethan took her in his arms and seemed to rise to the challenge. He hold was strong, his lips burning against her breasts as he murmured into her sides.

  “I don’t want to do anything else. I swear.”

  Julie fell to her side and grabbed his chin. Seeing the agony that still lingered in his eyes, Julie tried to kiss the terror away and lay closer to his body.

  “I’ll take the ring back now,” she said.

  At the sound of that, a weight seeme
d to shift from his shoulders, and he started to ease the band back around her finger.

  “Where it belongs,” he said. “I just---”

  They were pulled apart by the sound of her phone buzzing in her purse.

  “Ignore it,” Ethan said. “Stay with me.”

  She nearly made his desired move as the ring fell silent. But before she could accept his gift and his kiss, the phone started up a second time, and Julie reluctantly pushed away from him.

  “Maybe it’s Morales,” Julie said. “Like a lead or something.”

  “Not tonight,” he begged as he lifted his body from the bed and held her close. “Not when I just got you back.”

  Julie kissed him again and almost felt the ring when her phone blew up again, and she lowered her eyes.

  “I won’t be long.”

  Kissing him and making no effort to conceal her body, she pulled the phone from its pouch and saw Kim’s name flash across the screen. Without a second’s hesitation, Julie brought the phone to her ear and spoke fast.

  “Kim, what---?”

  “Oh, Jules!” she squealed. “I… I tried to come by you place.”

  A question blared across her brain. How had she known what had happened? Despite the ropes and the blindfolds and the lonely moments of isolation, were they more in tune with each other’s pain than she had ever imagined?

  “Kimmy, I---”

  “But don’t be mad at Ethan,” she said. “He was just being nice to me. If I hadn’t gone back, he’d… I’m so sure that he’d have gotten to you so much sooner.”

  Frost whirled around her heart at the sound of Kim’s words, and Julie kept Ethan in her line of sight as she nodded her head and spoke slowly.

  “What… do you mean?”

  “I… I wanted to make it up to you guys,” Kim said over the line. “And he really is so nice. Maybe it got a little too friendly, but he went back to you in the end, right?”

  Hardly able to comprehend the words pushing into her ear, Julie let her phone fall to her side.

  “Jules? You there? I---?”

  She ended the call and saw Ethan crawling back to her side.