SARA
I pacedthe front lobby of the sheriff’s station, unhinged with fear. This bad feeling in my gut kept getting stronger, and if I knew anything, it was to trust my instincts.
Something was wrong.
I hadn’t heard from Theo. I thought he’d be back by now. The power had gone out, but the generators kicked in a minute later, making us lucky in that respect. I just hoped the rest of the town was okay.
I bit my nails and paced some more.
Crack.
Was that a gunshot? No, it was thunder. It had to be. But it sounded different. If there was a gunshot outside, how would I have even heard it over the sound of the storm? My mind swirled. I felt like I was going mad.
But my gut kept telling me I was right. Something was wrong and I was right. I felt it in my bones. I walked to the vestibule to look out the glass front doors, but then blanched. The blood drained out of my face. Across the street, Theo’s truck was haphazardly parked in front of my shop. Was that a light I saw through the window? The rest of the town was pitch black. Why was Theo there?
Immediately, I knew the answer. Or, at least part of the answer. Something was wrong and he stopped to check. I felt it, I knew it. He was in trouble.
“Trish!” I called, running back to the front desk where she sat. “Theo is over at The Witch’s Brew. Something is wrong, I know it.”
“Wait, what? How do you know?”
“His truck is there, something happened. I know I sound crazy, and I don’t expect you to believe me, but I know it.”
She looked at me like I was a little bit crazy, but I didn’t have time to waste convincing her.
“I’m going to check on him. I don’t expect you to follow, but if something happens, that’s where I’ll be.”
“What? Sara, wait!”
But I was already gone, running out the doors and into the rain. Running toward danger, to save the man I loved.
* * *
I didn’t know what I’d find as I approached the front door of the shop, or what I expected to do if I was right and there was some kind of trouble inside. I just knew Theo was inside and I had to make sure he was okay. And if he wasn’t, I had to do something to make it so.
The door was ajar, which put a lump in my throat. No one would purposely leave it that way in a storm. But now that I was here, drenched, only a foot from the door, I realized how stupid I was. I had no idea what I was about to walk in on. I took a deep breath. No point in questioning it now.
I pushed the door open and walked inside. The room was dark and quiet, the bell over the door had been removed. That was a sign. Not a good sign, but one I was potentially right about the situation. I made my way to the back, creeping alongside the counter. The window in the kitchen door was illuminated, casting an eerie glow in the space in front of the door. And when I looked down, I saw blood. My heart sank. I turned to look behind the counter and saw him.
“Theo!” I scream-whispered. I dropped to my knees next to him. He was warm, the pulse in his neck steady against my fingers. But in his shoulder was a bloody bullet hole, and beneath him, a puddle of blood was growing bigger by the second.
I called 9-1-1 and put the phone down, hoping Trish would see the call from dispatch, and, knowing where I was, come to the rescue. I grabbed a towel from the shelf next to me and used it to put pressure on his wound. He stirred, just a little, but it was enough to know he was still with me, and it gave me strength.
“Well, well. Look what we have here. I’ve been waiting for you.” The voice came from behind me. The same scratchy voice from the phone calls. But I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to see when I turned my head.
A ghost.
“Billy?”
“Hello, Sara.”
My ex-boyfriend, back from the dead. His hair was longer, and greasy. His face wrinkled from the sun. He’d lost weight. But it was still the same man underneath all the changes. And at the sight of him, my stomach turned.
“You, you were supposed to be dead. Mitt told me you were dead.”
“Yeah, he told me you were, too. Seems my cousin had some explaining to do. Too bad I cut his tongue out. He won’t ever be able to talk again.”
“Wh—what?”
“You see, he was supposed to have you killed. You knew too much. When the guys broke in that night, they were supposed to end you. Mitt told me they had.”
“You faked your death? Why?”
“Devil’s Rain was after me. I knew it was only a matter of time before you let it slip what I’d been up to. I had to get rid of you and start over. I just never expected Mitt to spare you and lie to me.”
My mind was spinning.
“So you came here after all this time? That doesn’t even make sense. I had no idea you were still alive. I’m not a threat to you.”
“Oh no, this isn’t about you being a threat anymore, this is about finishing what I started. I wanted you dead. So now I’m going to make it so.”
He charged toward me and grabbed me by the neck, lifting me up off my feet. I sputtered out a plea, but it was no use.
“I think it’ll be fun to do it with my bare hands. Make up for all this time.”
I tried to kick him, punch him, but even with the weightloss, he was still so much stronger than me. I couldn’t breathe, the pressure and pain on my neck taking me further and further into unconsciousness. I couldn’t see Theo on the floor anymore, and it brought me back to the fire. How I just wanted to see him one more time. Just one more time before I died.
A shot rang out. Billy’s eyes grew wide in surprise, and then rolled back. We both fell to the ground. I hadn’t seen who’d shot Billy, but he was slumped on the floor. I crawled over to Theo. Tears streamed down my face, but I was alive. He was still alive. I just needed him to stay that way.
“Did you call an ambulance?”
I looked up, and shock ripped through my system. Standing over me was a biker, wearing a leather vest with the Devil’s Rain symbol. His wet hair was black as night, and he had a beard to match. He knelt down next to me and took over putting pressure on Theo’s wound.
“You’re not here to hurt me.” I said it as a statement, not a question. But my mind was still working through the whole situation.
“No. We’ve been tracking Billy for a while now. Ever since we learned he was still alive. We, uh, have ways.”
I looked around and saw that a number of other bikers had come inside the shop too. Everyone was soaking wet from the rain, but didn’t seem bothered by it.
A siren rang out, and everything happened so fast. Trish and Miller appeared, and after I explained what happened, they talked to each of the Devil’s Rain guys while I sat with Theo. The paramedics had taken over and had him stabilized, but he was still unconscious. An injury to his head from when he fell after being shot, they said.
One of the paramedics helped me up, and walked me to the ambulance. The storm still raged, soaking me to the bone, but I hardly cared as I sat next to Theo, holding his hand as they drove us to the hospital.
It was all a blur, but we were safe.