Chapter Twenty-Two
Ariella
“Izzie, do we have to play hide and seek again?” I asked, exasperated. I adored Jaxson’s daughter, but she was a constant bundle of energy, and she’d already hid a dozen times. She didn’t grasp taking turns, and she liked to hide in the same place every time.
The doorbell interrupted our game.
I headed to the front door and attempted to glance through the peephole, but it was too tall for me. It had clearly been drilled for Jaxson. Pulling the door open, Emma stood on the opposite side trembling, covered in blood. Her hair was wet, her clothes muddy and torn.
Rain pelted outside, the weather a few degrees above freezing.
“Come inside,” I said, ushering her into the house and disabled the alarm. Jaxson had given me a secondary code that I was to use while he was away.
Her teeth chattered, and she rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm up.
“What happened?” I locked the door behind her and armed the alarm. She looked like she could have been mauled by a bear. I glanced her over from head to toe. Maybe it wasn’t that bad. She still had her arms and legs, but she looked in bad shape.
“I was at my place and he started shooting.”
“Who started shooting?” I pulled out my phone. “We need to call the police.”
Her eyes were wide and frantic. “No police.” She put a hand on my phone, her wet fingers making a mess of my device. I wiped it down and shoved it back into my pocket for the moment.
“If someone broke into your house and started shooting people, we need to call the sheriff,” I said.
“Ella?” Izzie said, attempting to say my name. It was cute and amusing, considering she could say ‘Ariel’ and ‘Ella’ but refused to put them together. Honestly, I didn’t mind the nickname. It was endearing.
I picked Izzie up, holding her in my arms, protecting her from Emma.
Emma didn’t look well, and the fact she wasn’t letting me call for help had me worried she wasn’t herself.
Emma stared at Isabella transfixed by the little girl, her biological daughter. When was the last time she’d seen her? Had it been when she’d dropped her off and left her with Jaxson? I’d heard the story from Jaxson about how Emma had intended to give her up and asked him to sign away his parental rights, but I’d never heard her speak of it, ever.
The long sad stare at Izzie had my stomach in knots. I gently put Izzie down on the sofa and grabbed Emma by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. “What the hell is going on?” I asked. I stood so that Emma’s back was to Izzie and I could keep an eye on the little girl.
“He came and killed everyone.” Emma’s normally porcelain skin was sickeningly pale. Sweat glistened her forehead.
I reached for a clean rag and dampened it in the sink, adding a touch of soap and suds, helping clean her abrasions on her forehead. She needed a shower, though, and a fresh change of clothes.
“Who came?” I asked, trying to get it out of her. I wanted to know what happened. Was it the men who had been after Hazel? Why would they have gone to Emma’s home? The two women didn’t look anything alike. She shouldn’t have been mistaken for Hazel.
“I fucked up, royally.” Emma swiped at her nose. Her eyes were red and brimmed with tears.
I reached for her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Whatever you did, I’m sure it can be fixed.”
“I don’t think so. They’re dead because of me.”
While I didn’t know Emma that well, I didn’t believe she had it in her to kill anyone. We’d worked together for a short time at the resort and been friends. Although lately, we hadn’t seen much of one another, I couldn’t believe she had done anything that terrible. She had to be overreacting, right?
“Who is dead?” I needed to get her to open up and confide in me.
She wiped the tears and I grabbed a paper towel, offering it to her to dry her eyes.
“Thanks,” she said between sniffles. “All of them. At least, I think they all are. I ran out the back door while they shot up the compound.”
I didn’t understand what she was talking about. “The compound? Don’t you live in one of the cabins near the resort?”
“I only had that place while I was interviewing for the job. I’ve been living with the guys up there,” Emma said and gestured north on the mountain.