CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Michaela
Three in the morning is a ridiculous time to wake up. When the night is still, the snow softly falling, and you’re wrapped around a man who’s existence had become your own, the sound of banging and shouting outside the warm blankets and thin bedroom door is a shocking annoyance that becomes terror after your mind is catapulted from dreams into reality.
Why three? Why not wait until eight in the morning? Why not ten at night for that matter? Why does everything horrible have to happen at the worst possible time?
Holden and I both sat up with a start, our eyes dragging to the window where beams of light attempted to break through the blinds.
“Police! Open up!”
“Fuck...” Holden muttered as he scrubbed his palms over his face. Throwing the blanket off his legs, he scooted to the edge of the bed and mumbled, “I guess it’s show time.”
My hand locked down on his wrist, holding him in place. “Not for you, it’s not.”
Where I’d found the strength to breathe, much less speak, was beyond me. My heart was thundering, my rapid pulse carrying every last drop of fear to my brain, but still I managed to function enough to stop Holden before he could make a mistake.
His head turned my direction. “Listen, I know I promised you I would play dumb in this-“
“And that’s exactly what you’re going to do,” I bit out between clenched teeth. Three in the morning? Fucking seriously?! I hated the police.
It felt like chaos was erupting all around us, the potential for disaster staring us in the face if we didn’t calm down and work together. “I know you don’t want me getting myself in trouble,” I whispered, my words coming out more like a hiss because the anger inside me was building far too quickly. “And I won’t, Holden. But I can’t fix this if you don’t trust me.”
“POLICE!”
My eyes darted to the muffled voices and banging, time counting down before they bust through the front door and screamed in our faces. I had to get Holden to agree with my plan. There was no other way. He HAD to agree. Otherwise it would come down to a fight over who actually killed Jack. Holden wasn’t going to prison, and if I had to lie and claim I’d killed Jack for the fun of it, I would.
But if Holden would just trust me, it wouldn’t come down to either of us going to prison.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Michaela. I know you’ll tell them the truth.”
“Who’s telling the truth?” I hissed, still holding him in place while the cops outside were most likely bringing in the battering ram. “Neither of us killed, Jack. Do you understand me? Neither of us know what the fuck happened to him. Stick with what I told you. I showed up at your house, beaten and crying. I still have the fading bruises to prove it. I’ll handle it from there.”
What Holden didn’t know was that I would be telling the police the truth about one thing - one thing not even Holden knew about what happened that night.
“We have a warrant to search the premises! Open up now or we’ll break down the door!”
My fingernails were cutting into his skin from how firmly I held on. “All you know is I showed up and asked to be hidden. You have to stick with that story. I’ve told you nothing beyond that. Do you understand?”
“They interviewed me yesterday and I never mentioned you. How the fuck am I supposed to explain that?”
It’s interesting how in times of crisis, the mind goes in one of two ways. Either it shuts down, leaving you frozen in a state of panic, unable to think clearly or remember your own name, or it slaps you across the face, clarifies the world around you and gives you such acute focus that the answers to all your problems start pouring in, begging you to take action.
Fortunately, my mind had gone into overdrive, every instinct waking up until I knew without doubt what I had to do.
“Tell them you wanted to come home and talk to me first. You can also tell them I promised to go to them the following day. Which is exactly what I would have done if they hadn’t shown up at an ungodly hour in the morning. Just tell them that, okay? Promise me.”
Indecision held him in place, and I made a choice I hated to make. But at that moment, I was willing to do anything to keep Holden from confessing his way into a prison cell for the rest of his life.
“Please, Holden,” I begged, tears beginning to well in my eyes for what I would say next. “If not for me, then do it for Delilah. She needs you.”
I choked on the words, hating myself for having used them. His confusion shouldn’t have been a tool, especially when I didn’t know how it started, what really happened to Delilah, or how badly he would react to learn that his sister wasn’t here like he believed. But I’d used it as a tool regardless, and I would regret it until the day I could fix that problem as well.
One problem at a time, Michaela...Breathe...
“You’re right. Shit! I need to get to her before the police wake her up.”
My hand gripped harder, our eyes locking as beams of light flashed through the blinds, brightening our panicked faces. “Do you promise me, Holden?”
His jaw ticked, his black hair a mess framing his head. Rolling back his shoulders, he cursed beneath his breath before answering, “Yes, I promise. But I hope whatever you have planned works, Michaela. I don’t want you getting dragged down with me.”
Reaching over, I cupped his cheek with my hand and kissed him while praying to God this wouldn’t be the last time I had the chance. A million kisses weren’t enough to satisfy the love I had for him. A million hours would never be enough time to time to bask in his light. A million heartbreaks would be worth it if it meant I could just have one more day by his side.
POLICE! OPEN THE DOOR NOW!
Breaking the kiss, Holden and I met eyes one last time before we both jumped to get dressed, leave the room and head in opposite directions. While he took off to help a sister who wasn’t there, I ran toward the front door that was being pounded on so hard it shook against its hinges.
I took a deep breath in and released it slowly. My hand wrapped over the knob, the door shaking from the beating of fists on the other side. Closing my eyes and opening them again, I twisted the handle and yanked the door open. Bright lights blinded me, large bodies jostling against each other before rushing forward. Like a brick wall coming at me in full force, the police yelled orders so quickly, I couldn’t process them all, but one voice rose above the others.
“Stop! That’s Michaela Paige.”
Movement stopped, my eyes blinking against the blinding lights as the sea of uniformed officers parted to allow one man through, his eyes stern as he stared down at me, his jaw tight. “Are you hurt? Has Holden Bishop been holding you against your will?”
Chaos erupted behind the men, the lights continuing to beam down on me, my throat clogged by so much fear my tongue felt swollen and I couldn’t think to respond. Holding up a hand to shield my eyes from the lights, I swallowed hard and answered, “I can’t see you. Can you please take those off my face.”
The apparent lead officer raised a hand, bringing it down and saying, “Turn them down. We have one of the missing kids right here.”
The lights were lowered, and I blinked away the remaining glare. The officer’s face came into focus and I was able to see the stern set of his lips, the confusion behind his brown eyes. “Ms. Paige, is Jack Thorne here with you?”
“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “I haven’t seen Jack in two weeks. Not since the night at the diner. Listen, I know-“
Reaching forward, the officer dragged me outside while the other officers rushed into the house. I called out to stop them, but I was yanked back, my eyes following the men charging inside as the man who grabbed me continued asking questions.
“What happened to your face? There’s a bruise over your cheekbone.”
Turning to him, I narrowed my eyes on his. “Jack happened to my face. You all need to leave Holden alone. He was only helping me.”
From inside the house, I could hear doors being slammed open, men calling out to each other as they cleared different rooms. My heart was beating in my throat as they progressed down the hall.
“I’ll need you to come with me, Ms. Paige. We can talk in the car.” His head turned toward more men standing farther out. “Can somebody bring me a blanket?”
“No! I don’t need a blanket. I need you to listen to me. Please call your men back and ask them to get out of the house.”
My requests were ignored, the yelling coming from down the hall grabbing both my and the officer’s attention. I could hear Holden’s voice, could hear the panic in his words as he demanded for the officers to get away from Delilah. Tears leaked from my eyes and I tried to run to him, but the officer wouldn’t let me go.
“Ms. Paige, you need to come with me.”
“No! You don’t understand!” No matter how hard I tugged, I couldn’t break free of him. Terror flooded me, the desperate need to escape the officer’s hold so I could get to Holden. “You have to stop them!”
He was too strong, and despite the fight we could hear coming from Delilah’s room, I was dragged away from the door, a blanket being wrapped over my shoulders as I was forced toward the cars.
“Get away from my sister!” Holden yelled, just before a crash sounded from the room.
I was being dragged in one direction, my head turned toward the house. “Holden, stop fighting!” I screamed, the tears pouring down my cheeks from the fear he would get himself killed.
“Is there another woman in the house, Ms. Paige?”
“No. It’s not what you think. You have to let me get back to him! Please!”
“You’re not going back to the house.”
“Please!” I screamed, tugging as hard as I could, not caring that his hand was bruising my arm and my feet were being dragged over the icy ground. I had to get to Holden. Had to. If I didn’t stop him from fighting they would hurt him. If I didn’t admit that I never saw Delilah in the house, he would never believe the other officers. This was all my fault and I had to stop them before -
A gunshot blasted against the cold night air before I could finish the thought, a woman screaming so loud that the sound was piercing my eardrums. The world around me spun and shifted, the house going in and out of focus as the screaming went on and on, never ending, never decreasing in volume.
It was the sound of a heart shattering apart.
The sound of a happy future being shredded.
The sound of a soul being ripped from a woman’s body as her world was torn apart.
It was my voice cutting through the chaotic night, my heart crumbling inside my chest, my soul being torn to shreds as I fell to my knees and tried to crawl toward the house.
Everything stopped and started at once. The house going silent as men rushed past. I was grabbed from behind and lifted from the ground before I could process what was happening.
I was still screaming for Holden as I was shoved in the car, left to watch helplessly through the window while every officer abandoned me to run inside.
My fists beat against the window, my throat burning from the sheer volume of my voice.
“HOLDEN!”