Against All Odds Read online

  Later, Mackey invited her out to lunch. “A bunch of us are going to try that new Italian place. It’s supposed to be good.”

  “Sure.” Genevieve gathered her purse and rode with some others, including Chang. He didn’t so much as look at her in the car or the restaurant. No sideways glances or comments.

  It was nice, but she couldn’t help worrying about what he had coming next.

  Regret

  Alex woke to a blinding light. No, that was just the morning sun. He pulled the blankets over his face and groaned. His head felt like it had been run over by a truck. Actually, his entire body felt that way. His stomach wasn’t doing so hot, either.

  He tried to remember what would’ve caused this, but nothing came. Obviously, he was torn about Zoey. Worst of all was how fast the days were passing. He had no clue what day it was but it felt like she’d been gone longer than anyone else he’d had a hand in helping return home. Well, except his sister. She’d been gone for months. How had his parents survived that?

  Alex needed to talk to Nick. Hopefully he’d found something from Corrine or her house. A clue that would lead them to Dave with Ava and Zoey.

  He felt around for his phone, then pulled off the blankets slowly. The light still felt like razors to his eyes. What he needed was some ibuprofen, and quick. He covered his face with one arm and stepped out of bed.

  His foot rolled over what felt like a glass bottle. Alex swung his arms out to regain his balance, blinding himself with the light again. He closed the curtains and squinted, glancing around.

  Several empty beer bottles lay scattered around the bedroom.

  His heart sank.

  He’d given in, and badly from the looks of it. How far had he gone? What had he done?

  Alex held onto the wall as he crept out into the living room.

  The first thing he noticed was more scattered, empty beer bottles. There were at least six, and he hadn’t yet seen the kitchen or the other side of the couch. He could only see the back from where he stood. Who knew what lay in front of it, where he had probably crashed and watched the news, torturing himself.

  The second thing he saw made his heart skip a beat.

  Women’s clothing.

  No!

  Black leggings, a pink shirt, socks, a bra, and panties trailed from the hallway to where he stood in front of his room.

  No, no, no, no!

  Alex leaned against the wall and covered his face. He hadn’t—he couldn’t have. No matter how desperate or in pain he was. Cheating on Zoey would ruin everything!

  What had he done?

  There was no undoing this. None at all. While his fiancée was fighting for her life, Alex had done the unthinkable.

  He ran to the bathroom and retched in the toilet. Again and again until there was nothing left.

  How could he do this? How could he be so stupid?

  Why couldn’t he have held himself together? Zoey would never forgive him. How could he blame her, when he would never be able to forgive himself either?

  In one foolish, weak moment he’d manage to ruin the dreams of his daughter and fiancée. All three of them were so excited for the day Alex and Zoey would marry.

  Now that would never happen.

  He rose and cleaned himself up in the sink. His reflection showed a pathetic man. Alex balled his fist and punched the mirror. It cracked, spreading out in all directions. Blood and flesh stuck to the middle. Pain seared through his fingers, but he didn’t care.

  What he needed to do was to get the woman out of his apartment and then figure out what to do next. As tempting as it was to hide his mistake, he had to tell Zoey. Their relationship was based on truth.

  He would have to explain that it was the drink that did this. He couldn’t even remember any of it—not even leaving the apartment.

  Alex stared at his fractured reflection. He didn’t deserve Zoey, not before this screw-up, and definitely not after. And how was he going to explain the breakup to Ariana?

  Tears blurred his vision. He was tempted to hit the mirror again with his remaining good fist, but it wouldn’t hurt himself enough. What he needed was to have someone beat the crap out of him.

  He glared at himself and released a string of profanities, calling himself the worst, most derogatory things he could think of. Still, it was too good for him.

  His head continued to pound. Alex dug out some painkillers and swallowed a few. He needed to pull himself together to face the woman and kick her out.

  After taking a few deep breaths, he locked the door and started the shower. That would buy him some time for the ibuprofen to kick in. He turned the water as high as he could stand it, preferring physical pain to emotional. Whether Zoey returned alive or not, his life was over. Either way, they weren’t getting married. They would never be a family with Ariana. They’d never give her little brothers or sisters. All his dreams were dead. Gone. Destroyed. All because he was too stupid to live.

  Why had he allowed himself to get his hopes up? To think he had a future with Zoey? He should have known he’d do something to screw it up. He was Alex Mercer, after all. Lifetime mess-up. The guy who would never get it all together.

  What made him think he could pull off a career as a cop and be a husband to the most beautiful woman alive? Of course he would destroy it. That was what he did. Mess up everything he touched. Kind of like that guy who turned everything to gold, except that Alex turned everything to crap.

  Eventually, the water turned cold. He stood there until he couldn’t stand it. Then he dried off and tip-toed back to his room so as not to wake the woman before he was ready to talk to her.

  Once dressed, he took a deep breath. It would be hard not to scream and kick her out, but she hadn’t done anything wrong. Alex was pissed at himself. He couldn’t take it out on whoever it was.

  His heart raced as he crept toward the couch. What if it was someone he knew? That would make this horrible situation all the worse.

  He froze when he saw the couch. It was empty.

  Where was she? It wasn’t a big apartment, and she hadn’t been in the bedroom or bathroom. She wouldn’t have gone anywhere without her clothes, which were still spread out on the floor.

  Alex scanned every inch of the living room. She wasn’t there. He went into the kitchen. Empty. He went back to the bedroom, even checking in the closet and under the bed.

  The little one-bedroom apartment was empty.

  He went back to the living room. “Hello? Are you still here?”

  Nothing.

  Alex drew in a deep breath, trying to make sense of it. Had the woman left in other clothes? Taken something of his? Or brought an overnight bag and just forgotten the stuff lying on the floor?

  An overnight bag.

  He slapped his forehead and ran over to the clothes. Stuffed under a side table was a gray bag with ZC embroidered across it.

  It was Zoey’s bag. She’d left it at his place just in case she needed it.

  Alex ran over to it and picked it up. It was empty. The clothes strewn across his floor were hers. Not some random woman. He hadn’t been unfaithful to Zoey!

  He couldn’t be sure why he’d taken out her clothes, but relief washed through him as he realized that was exactly what had happened. Maybe it had somehow made him feel close to her.

  He picked up the clothes, held the shirt to his face and breathed in. It smelled like a mixture of her perfume and fabric softener. He closed his eyes and held the scent, imagining she was right there.

  That had to have been what he’d done the night before.

  Hidden

  Nick jumped at the sound of a car door slamming outside. It was too soon for Corrine to be back. She’d taken the kids swimming to get their minds off everything, then they were going to the grocery store.

  He tiptoed out of her room and peeked out the front window, anyway. A neighbor across the street pulled out of his driveway.

  Nick breathed a sigh of relief and went back to the bedroom
. So far, all he’d found were pictures of her oldest child tucked away in a wooden box. None of them gave Nick any clues. They spanned the boy’s lifetime, so she’d either been collecting them over the years or Dave gave them to her when she lived across the country.

  Not that it mattered, because none of it brought Nick closer to his daughter. She was still missing, and if Corrine knew anything, it wasn’t in the box of photos.

  He tucked it back underneath her bed, exactly as it had been placed. Next, he pulled out a shoe box. The perfect hiding spot. In his job, many revealing clues had been found in those.

  Nick held his breath as he pulled off the top. Letters. Some in envelopes, others just folded paper. He grabbed one from the top and unfolded it. He recognized the handwriting immediately.

  It was an old love letter from when they were dating. If only he could go back in time and smack some sense into his younger self. But then again, if he could, he wouldn’t have his three kids—his reason for waking up every morning.

  He set his old letter aside and picked up another. It was also from him, declaring his undying love for the cheater.

  He decided to try an envelope next. It was written in a man’s script, addressed to Corrine. No name, but an address from Connecticut. Nick opened it and regretted it. It was a love letter from Dave, written around the time Nick had written his.

  How could he have been so stupid? Blinded by love—the expression couldn’t have been more apt. That was a mistake he wasn’t going to make again.

  Nick picked up another envelope. Same handwriting, different address. This time North Carolina. The next one was from Florida, and the next from DC.

  Was that because Dave had been working for the airlines all along, or because he moved often? Someone deranged enough to shoot up a school would have a hard time keeping relationships. It made sense that he’d move a lot.

  Based on the dates, the man had sent Nick’s wife letters all throughout their marriage. Most talked about their son, more than a few begged her to return to them.

  Anger churned in Nick’s gut. How had he missed the signs? He studied the envelopes for clues.

  Then he noticed something. All of the letters were addressed to Corrine at a post office box one town over.

  Sneaky little devil. She’d not only hid a child from him, but an entire relationship. Even if it had been one way. Dave’s letters indicated that he hadn’t been getting the response he’d wanted from her.

  Nick was about to put the box away when one envelope caught his attention. Its return address was from Washington state. He recognized the city name, but couldn’t place it.

  A car door slammed shut outside.

  Nick jumped, then shook his head at himself for being so jumpy. He wasn’t the one in the wrong. Corrine was.

  Laughter sounded outside. It sounded close.

  Like Parker and Hanna.

  The key jiggled in the door.

  Nick shoved the lid back on the box, pushed it back to its place under the bed, and jammed the envelope in his back pocket before leaping out of the room.

  The door opened, and the kids’ discussion grew louder.

  Nick darted into the bathroom and took a deep breath. Had he lost track of time, or had they returned sooner than he’d expected?

  Knock, knock!

  “You in there, Daddy?” Hanna asked.

  “Yeah, honey. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Okay.” Her footsteps faded away.

  Nick closed his eyes and geared himself up for acting normal. He caught sight of himself in the mirror and noticed the envelope sticking out of his pocket.

  Where could he hide it without folding it? Corrine would notice a new crease once he replaced it. She always noticed small details like that.

  He held it up, trying to figure out what to do. Then he noticed something he hadn’t before. The date stamp.

  It was recent. As in, the last week. Just before the shooting.

  Nick’s heart nearly exploded out of his chest.

  What was written in there?

  Hands shaking, he pulled out the note. He read it slowly, having a hard time taking in the words.

  Dave was begging Corrine to come back to them. He said that would be his last letter, and if he didn’t hear back by the day before the shooting, Corrine would regret it.

  And she’d told nobody about that?

  Fury tore through him. This letter could have saved Ava days ago! Days!

  How could Corrine be so selfish and stupid? It was one thing to keep an affair from her husband, but to hide it to the detriment of their daughter?

  Nick nearly ripped the hinges off the door as he flung it open.

  “Parker! Hanna! You two need to go next door. Now!”

  Hanna stared at him with wide eyes. “What—?”

  “I said now!”

  Corrine glared at him. “What are you doing, Nick?”

  He held up the envelope. “We have to talk.”

  Her face paled. “What? How did you get that?”

  Nick met Parker’s gaze. “Take your sister next door, son. Now.”

  Parker scrambled from the couch, took Hanna’s hand, then led her outside.

  Nick waited until they had crossed the yard before he turned to Corrine. “You knew about this before it happened?”

  “I didn’t know he was going to do that!” She reached for the letter.

  He pulled it back. “You had your chance to do something with this.”

  She jumped toward him, reaching around back. “You had no right to go through my things! Give it back!”

  “Why? Because it makes you look guilty?”

  “I’m not! The only thing I did was ignore him. I didn’t want that psycho around.”

  “You withheld evidence from the police! Evidence that could’ve helped save our daughter. If anything has happened to her, just know that you’re to blame!”

  She shook her head.

  He pointed to the return address. “Where is this? Is that his cabin?”

  “I don’t know.” She reached for it again.

  “Guess we’ll find out.” Nick pulled out his phone and called Garcia.

  Assault

  Zoey froze mid-step. Her breath hitched and a chill ran through her. Tiny hairs rose on her neck and arms.

  The dog stopped and turned, looking around. Its ears arched, and it released a low growl.

  It could sense whatever Zoey could. If only she knew what it was.

  The dog continued growling, focused behind Zoey.

  A chill ran down her back, making her feel like someone was watching. It was so strong, she was certain someone—or something—was nearby.

  Whether she ran or stayed, it was a risk. She could potentially run right to the danger since she didn’t know where they were.

  “Is someone there?”

  Silence. Not even the dog growled.

  Zoey couldn’t risk being caught by Dave again.

  Without putting another second’s thought into it, she burst into a run, ignoring her already-sore feet as more sharp objects dug into them.

  Footsteps sounded behind her. Hopefully it was just the dog.

  Her heart threatened to explode out of her chest. She couldn’t hear anything over the sounds of it and her harried breathing.

  She glanced from side to side, still not seeing anything. It would be too hard to see something hiding in the woods as she ran.

  The dog caught up with her and ran ahead, growling again.

  It still felt like someone was watching. Chasing. Growing closer.

  Everything ached. It didn’t feel like she could go on, but there was no other choice. If she wanted to see her loved ones again, she had to keep going until she physically couldn’t.

  She pictured a road just out of sight. A road with cars full of people who would stop to help her. People who would call the cops and send help for Ava.

  Zoey gasped for air, her mouth uncomfortably dry. Her calves burned. Sharp pai
ns radiated out from her right knee.

  Her left foot landed on a rock. It rolled out. She stumbled.

  Almost fell. Caught her balance with her other leg.

  Explosive pain shot out from her ankle. Everything else disappeared from her vision. Time seemed to move slower.

  She gasped for air and felt her ankle. It felt normal to her hand’s touch, but hurt inside.

  Grimacing, she took a step. More pain.

  Tears stung her eyes.

  Snap!

  Zoey glanced to the left. She couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  Snap!

  The dog whined, urging her to move.

  Her ankle was hurting worse by the moment. The pain was growing hotter. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.

  She gasped for air. There was no time to let an injury slow her. Not if she was going to see Ariana and Alex again.

  Surely, they were fighting for her.

  She had to fight, too.

  And she would.

  Zoey pressed her foot down, putting weight on the screaming ankle. It held her weight.

  She burst into a run again. It was awkward and wobbly, but she was moving. Running from the danger and to her family.

  Nothing would keep her from them. Not Dave, not the woods, not a wild animal.

  The dog kept close to her, staying on her left side. The injured side. How did it know?

  Gratitude ran through Zoey. With the dog at her side, she would make it.

  She focused on the dog, on her family, on everything other than the ankle threatening to slow her down.

  There was probably nobody behind her, anyway. She’d zigged and zagged through the forest and was now far from the cabin.

  She hoped. There was the chance that she’d only gone in circles. It was so confusing.

  Something hit her from the side and bounced off.

  Zoey rubbed her arm. Blood dripped down, getting on her hand.

  Something else hit her shoulder. A rock.

  She ran away from the direction it had come.

  Footsteps.

  Someone slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground. Her chin hit an exposed root. She scrambled up to her knees, but her leg went out from under her.