Chapter 27

After returning home from the liquor store, Roy insisted that Jenny take a nap while he ran out to Norma’s in his truck to pick up Isabelle and the dog.

Jenny didn't know how Roy was managing to stand up straight, let alone keep his eyes open. He had gotten less sleep than her, yet he seemed energized. She imagined he was running on pure adrenaline. After all, they were getting so very close to freeing Joey from his horrible fate. In a matter of days, Joey would be free to step back out into his life and his name would be cleared.

Jenny couldn't have imagined a better ending. It was a far cry from the one she had envisioned when she first arrived in town. If the old Jenny had stuck around, Joey would be no closer to freedom. She didn't know how she could have lived with herself if she had never taken Roy up on the offer to explore other ideas.

Without Roy, she didn't know where she would be. He had a knack for surprising her. Often, he tested her limits, she found she enjoyed that. He gave her hope, especially when things were impossibly hard. He was her knight in shining armor.

She turned over in his double bed wishing he could have joined her. Their hot shower together still burned fresh in her mind, and she delighted in recalling the more passionate details of the experience. Roy had given her a new lease on life, not just in general, but in the bedroom as well. Before him, she hadn't been so cold when it came to lovemaking, but Roy drew out her deepest desires and passion. She couldn't imagine being intimate with anyone but him after that.

She was in a quandary. She wanted to be with Roy, but what would their future look like? And would they be on the same wavelength?

She had a career and a life back in New York. She had responsibilities to attend to there. Sooner or later, she would have to go back and face it, either to regain control or to begin packing up her things. As much as she found herself falling hard for Roy, the idea of moving back to Ombrea didn’t sit well with her. Instead, she felt dread. Dread for what her life would be like without a job or money.

It didn't seem fair that she would have to choose between love and money.

* * *

Roy was taking longer than planned, so Jenny assumed Norma had invited him in for dinner. Roy probably assumed she was still asleep and had taken her up on the offer. It had been a few days since Isabelle had seen her good friend, Norma, and so a little extra time would be just what the pair needed.

Jenny didn't feel like sleeping any longer. Instead, she preferred to keep busy. She had promised Roy she wouldn't call the police commissioner until he returned home, and she intended on keeping that promise.

She took a quick shower to wake herself up a little more. She wished he could have been in there with her. The memory of their last sexual encounter was still playing vividly in the back of her mind.

She fumbled through her duffel bag for something to wear. The pieces she had brought with her seemed foreign as she picked through the silk blouses and designer jeans. For the first in years, she just wanted to wear something simple, something that didn't make her stand out. She pulled on the most basic pair of jeans she had and turned to Roy's chest of drawers for her next bit of inspiration.

Finding an old army T-shirt of his that fit a little loose, she pulled it on. She didn't think he would mind. If he had a problem with it she would take it off for him. The thought brought an easy smile to her face. It had been far too long, she thought, since she’d had anything fun going on in her life.

Her work at the magazine had been enjoyable, but now that she had been away from it for a while, she found she didn't miss it quite as much as she’d thought she would. After her quick departure to Ombrea, she assumed the job offer had been voided, and wondered if she had a position at the magazine at all.

She didn’t mind. There were always other jobs and other positions in the fashion industry she could fall back on if she really had to. When she was out here in the cabin, the only thing she was really concerned about was a life with Roy. Having a big, fancy career and a closet full of designer clothes suddenly seemed much less of a priority.

Family also mattered. She decided to visit her brother in jail one more time.

She thought he must be lonely. If she were in his position, she knew she would be feeling that way. She felt a strong desire to tell him that this whole, horrible ordeal was almost over. They had enough evidence to go on and enough pin the murder on Chief Cartright.

Her stomach turned at the very thought of him. His stare still unsettled her. That was when the thought hit her. The stare of the stranger in the woods had the same effect.

But what would Chief Cartright be doing hanging around in the woods beside the cabin, she thought, as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. She remembered Roy had told her he had seen a stranger in the woods at the Dale property too.

Was Chief Cartright watching them, or was he looking for what he had left behind the day Chloe was killed?

After the attack on her at the Dale House with the Molotov cocktail, it was obvious he would do anything to keep his crime a secret, even going so far as to commit another murder. He had to be stopped before he tried anything else.

She was filled with an increased need to see her brother. She had to tell him everything that had happened since they last spoke. She checked out the kitchen window to see if Roy's truck had pulled back up the beach, but he was still nowhere in sight.

He didn't own a cell phone, recluses rarely do, so she penned him a note on a piece of scrap paper from his office and left it on the kitchen table for him to find. That way, he wouldn't be concerned if he came home to find the house empty. He would know that she was not in any danger.

Unless going to the Police Department were a dangerous place. Even if it were, it wouldn’t stop her from going to see Joey. Her little brother was stuck in that place feeling hopeless, and she wanted to put an end to it. He had to know that soon he would be a free man, and she wanted to be the one to tell him.

She grabbed her handbag and headed out to her car.