What Echoes Render Read online

  With James gone, it would leave her almost two weeks to spend time with David. They’d been seeing each privately whenever they could since that weekend in June and she was still enjoying their time together. Maybe it was because they were both older or both knew what it meant to have responsibility, but things seemed easier with him in some ways than they had with Mark. David cooked, did his own laundry, made his own schedule, and cleaned up without having to be asked—he took care of himself while still making an effort to be with her. He was considerate of her time, as she was with his, and so far, they’d made it work well. She would miss her kids over the next few weeks, but it would be nice to have more time with him.

  “I know,” she said, answering Matt’s comment. “But just because I knew it was coming doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”

  He grinned and wrapped an arm around her neck, pulling her close. He was so much taller than her; it always made her laugh. “You want me to go college, admit it.”

  “You know I insist you go to college, but again, it doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she said, jabbing a playful elbow in his side.

  “Come on, let’s go,” James insisted, joining them and tossing his one duffel bag into the trunk of her car. She wasn’t sure it was going to close, but between the boys, they got it shut.

  “I don’t suppose you plan to ride with me, James?” she asked.

  The boys gave each other a look that she was pretty sure most parents were familiar with—the one that said something along the lines of “Mom’s talking crazy but how do we tell her without hurting her feelings?” They had their moments, but she was glad they were close enough to have such conversations, even if they were silent.

  “Never mind.” She shook her head. It would be James’s last chance to spend some time with his brother before college and she didn’t want to take that away from him.

  “I’ll come with you, Mom, if you want.” Both her boys were sweet, but James, the baby, was definitely the more affectionate of the two.

  “Thanks,” she managed a smile. “But your music will drive me crazy anyway. Go with your brother.”

  They hit no traffic as they headed into the city, making the trip an easy one, but it was still late afternoon by the time all Matt’s things were unloaded and set up in his room. She dropped James off at Naomi and Brian’s Back Bay townhouse, a building they’d divided into two large apartments, one for each twin. Then, after that, Jesse headed to Vivi’s North End apartment. As a professor at the university, her friend often stayed over in Boston, so she’d kept her old apartment there to use as needed. It frequently sat empty, so Vivi was happy to give her use of it for the weekend.

  She and the boys had agreed to meet up at one of the small Italian restaurants in the North End that Vivi had recommended. The area wasn’t that far from the nearest T station, but the neighborhood, with its myriad of narrow, crisscrossing streets, also wasn’t as easy to navigate as she would have liked. However, she figured it would be a good test of the boys’ directional skills to not only get to the North End but then find the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, as well.

  She was pleased when they had both arrived, and on time, too. Together, they enjoyed a decadent meal before James headed back to the Back Bay and Matt set off to meet up with his new roommates.

  Alone and back at Vivi’s apartment, Jesse called David to check in. He still had two more nights on shift so he couldn’t drive to Boston to meet her. She was seriously contemplating going home a night early but decided to see how she felt the next day. She had just hung up with him when the apartment buzzer rang, telling her someone was downstairs. She frowned. She wasn’t expecting anyone.

  She searched for the right button on the wall by the door and called down. “Yes?” she said.

  “It’s us.”

  Jesse couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t altogether certain who constituted “us,” but she definitely recognized Kit’s voice. She hit the buzzer and in less than a minute Kit, Vivi, and Matty were bursting through the door.

  “Kind of a last minute thing,” Matty said, dumping an overnight bag on the ground.

  “Thought you might not want to be alone tonight,” Vivi said, stepping forward and giving Jesse a hug as best she could with her burgeoning belly.

  “And we’re going dancing!” Kit grinned and did a little jig.

  “Dancing? I haven’t been dancing in ages. Like, to a club?” Jesse asked.

  “Yep, we’re going clubbing.” Kit started digging through her bag, found something, and tossed it to her. “Here, put this on.”

  Jesse looked at the piece of black fabric she now held in her hands. “This” didn’t look like much.

  “Everyone here is several years older than you, Kit.” Jesse said. “And Vivi is almost seven-months pregnant. Exactly what kind of club are we going to?” she asked, eying the small piece of material. But secretly, the idea was starting to appeal to her. She hadn’t had a real girls’ night out in forever.

  “The slutty kind. Probably Lansdowne Street, although the Alley is closer. Young men will buy you drinks and you can treat them like kids and they’ll spend half the night trying to prove to you otherwise. It’s very entertaining. You should try it more often,” Kit said as her head all but disappeared into her bag as she dug around for something else.

  Jesse glanced at Vivi and Matty to ask what they thought of this plan. She was surprised to find that they were both pulling out their own outfits for the night.

  She grinned. “Then I guess the only question I have is, should I wear my hair up or down?”

  ***

  David chuckled into the phone.

  “Don’t laugh, it hurts my head,” Jesse said, which only made him laugh louder. She grumbled something unkind. She’d texted him the night before to let him know that her friends had shown up on her doorstep and they were going out dancing. He’d been glad to read that she was getting out but had felt a tug of regret at not being able to see her all dressed up for a club. As the night progressed, it was obvious she was having a good time, and maybe having a drink or two—or twelve. She’d sent a couple more text messages—some spelled correctly, some barely comprehensible, and most suggestive enough that, by the time the fourth one came in, he’d needed to excuse himself from the communal room at the station to read them.

  “I wish I could be there to take care of you,” he said now. And he did. He’d bet she looked cute all grumpy and hungover.

  “Me, too,” she mumbled. “I think it’s safe to say that I’m going to miss any shopping I had planned, though. The thought of walking around and talking to people, let alone listening to the sounds of traffic on Newbury Street, so does not sound good right now.”

  He smiled to himself. She sounded so put out by the whole thing. “So, what are you going to do?” he asked.

  “Take a bottle of ibuprofen and sleep, that is, after I drink a gallon of orange juice. God, in some ways I’m glad I missed this in my twenties.”

  “Yeah, me, too. But the younger you are the faster you recover. So they say.”

  “No kidding. Kit is up making breakfast. I think I hate her.”

  He laughed, and then wondered where Jesse was just then. Though he’d become less strict about not talking to her while he was at work, they still didn’t usually talk when other people were around, since neither of them were inclined to want to answer any questions that might come up from anyone who happened to be listening in. It was one of the reasons why their relationship was the way it was.

  She sighed. “I think I’m going to sleep it off and just come home. I’m not going to do any shopping, so I would rather just curl up in my own bed. Since you’re on shift, Mike will have to do for company.”

  “I wish I could be there.” And he did, a lot.

  “Me, too. But you’re off tomorrow, and the boys are gone for two weeks, so we’ll have more time.”

  Thank god, he thought. It wasn’t that they didn’t spend time together;
he just always felt greedy for more. He made a sound of agreement that must have let her know where his mind was going because she laughed.

  “Maybe it’s a good thing you’re not off until tomorrow, since I’m not sure how much fun I’d be tonight anyway.”

  “You’re always fun. And after some of those text messages you sent me last night, you have some payback coming.”

  “I texted you?” she asked, obviously trying to recall the action.

  “Oh, yeah.” He let his tone hint at just what kind of texts she had sent.

  She paused. “Oh god, did I sext you?” She sounded horrified.

  “And how.” He laughed. “I know you’ll have them on your phone, but I think it’ll be more fun for me to read them to you when I see you tomorrow.”

  “No! You saved them?”

  Her indignation made him laugh again. “Yep.”

  She groaned. “Am I going to be embarrassed?”

  “I’m hoping you’ll be inspired.”

  She laughed at that. “I guess I’ll deserve what I get.”

  “You’ll enjoy it, believe me.”

  “Promises, promises.”

  “Definitely.” The bell rang in the station and he looked up at the board to see the location even as he started moving. “I’ll call you later,” he said.

  She mumbled her assent and he gave a momentary thought to saying something more, but then she hung up. And while he might have spent some time thinking about just what that more might have been, he pushed it aside and pulled on his gear.

  ***

  David smiled to himself as he drove up Jesse’s driveway that evening. She’d left a message for him letting him know when she’d left Boston and he’d decided to surprise her. And after his long day, which had been one thing after another, his chief had told him to go home early and get some rest. Luckily, there hadn’t been any fatalities, just two fires, a car accident, and the start of another arson investigation. He was looking forward to a leisurely night with Jesse. And maybe showing her those text messages.

  The lights were on in her house when he pulled up, always a good sign. But as he got out of the car, he was struck by how quiet it was. He could usually hear Jesse moving around, or the radio on, but the only thing he heard was the distant sound of an animal as it moved through the forest on the back side of her property. He frowned. Maybe he was just overly aware of the silence after his long day. Or maybe she was already asleep; after all, he was supposed to be on shift and she wasn’t expecting him. But still, judging by the time she left the message for him, she couldn’t have been home for more than thirty minutes.

  His curiosity ratcheted up into anxiety when he saw that the kitchen door was ajar. He called out her name. She didn’t call back.

  He pulled out his cell phone as he pushed the door open with his foot, careful not to touch the doorknob. Quickly, he thumbed in 9-1-1 on his phone, ready to hit send if needed.

  “Jesse?”

  Still she didn’t answer.

  He looked around the kitchen. He’d been over enough times when the boys were away that he knew everything looked normal. Jesse’s bag was on the floor where she would have dropped it when she walked in.

  But something wasn’t right. At all. He wished he had Ian’s number rather than the generic 9-1-1. But more importantly, he wished she would answer him.

  “Jesse?” he called again walking into the family room. Nothing.

  He walked toward the front of the house, then turned to the right, toward her bedroom, calling her name again. A sound to his left made him jump. Mike slinked out from underneath one of the throw blankets on the couch, looked at him, then curled back up on top of the blanket.

  The light in her room was off, but he needed to look. He needed to know if she was in there before he checked the rest of the house. Stepping through the doorway, he flicked the switch on.

  And saw Jesse, crumpled on the floor, blood oozing from her head.

  CHAPTER 14

  DAVID SANK TO HER SIDE, even as he hit the call button on his phone and switched it to speaker. Dropping it beside her, he felt for a pulse, a wave of dizzy relief washing over him when he found it.

  “9-1-1 dispatcher what’s the nature of your emergency?”

  In a quick dispassionate voice, he gave the details of the situation, then added a request to have Ian MacAllister called personally. He checked her over and was, at this point, pretty certain that her only injury was to the head. But head injuries could be tricky.

  “Come on, Jesse,” he coaxed. Without more equipment or a doctor, there was little he could do beyond holding a compress to the wound. “Jesse, please, you’re giving me a heart attack here.” He murmured, needing to do something, say something.

  He heard the dispatcher say that an ambulance was on the way, as was Ian.

  Then her eyelashes began to flutter and her eyes slowly opened, causing him to let out a whoosh of breath. She blinked a few times, then focused her eyes on him.

  “David?” She looked confused and made to move, but he held her still.

  “Are you alright? Can you feel your arms and legs?” he asked. She looked even more confused, but she dutifully tested each limb, then nodded. And then cringed.

  “My head. I didn’t think I was this hungover.”

  For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he gave a small smile. “Something happened and you hit your head. It’s not your hangover. Or not entirely, anyway. Just relax and lie still,” he directed.

  She stopped trying to raise her head and lay back. One of her hands came up to wrap around his forearm. He couldn’t help it; he leaned down and rested his face beside hers, cheek to cheek.

  “God, you scared me, Jesse.” His voice was rough, and raging through him was more than just adrenaline.

  “I’ll be fine,” she managed to say, but he could sense the fear creeping into her as her confusion dissipated and the reality of the situation fell into place. He reached up and pulled the quilt off her bed. Keeping one hand on the compress, he wrapped it around her.

  “I hit my head? What happened?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Other than the fact that you were lying here unconscious with a gash on your head, I don’t know.” And there were so many things wrong with that statement that he couldn’t even think about it just then. Not when she was still lying dazed on the floor.

  He tensed as he heard a car drive up to the house, but then he saw the reflection of red flashing lights. He took her hand in his free one and kissed her palm.

  “Ian’s coming. As is an ambulance,” he said.

  “I don’t need an ambulance.”

  “Maybe not,” he answered as he heard Ian calling his name. “In here,” he shouted toward the door before turning back to her. “But you do need to be checked out. I don’t know how long you were out but I’m sure you have a concussion, at the very least.”

  “Jesse!” Ian cried as he pounded into the room. David saw Ian’s eyes settle on him before jumping back to Jesse.

  “How are you?” Ian asked, coming down to her side.

  “I’ll be fine. My head hurts, but I can still feel everything.”

  “An ambulance is on the way. Do you know what happened?” The sheriff pressed, though judging by his tone, David would wager the question was more out of concern than the beginnings of any future investigation.

  She tried to shake her head, then winced and stilled. “I came in, set my bag down, and walked into my bedroom. That’s all I remember.”

  Ian looked at him. “When did you get here?”

  David looked at the clock. “Twelve minutes ago. The door was open when I got here, and I found her in here on the floor.”

  “Did you touch anything?”

  He shook his head, then stopped himself. “The bottom of the kitchen door with my foot and the light switch in this room. It was dark when I got here,” he added, looking to Jesse to confirm whether she’d turn the light on or not.
/>   She tried to shrug, then just closed her eyes. “I didn’t turn it on when I walked in. I was going to head straight into the bathroom.”

  Ian gave a curt nod. “You good in here?” he asked. “I want to make sure the EMTs don’t disturb anything more than they need to.”

  He nodded, then called Ian back. “When I got here, it was quiet, unusually so. I heard what I thought was an animal crashing through the woods in the back part of the property. I didn’t see any other cars on the road.”

  Ian seemed to take this in, including the fact that he had obviously been to her house enough times to have an idea of what was “unusual.” Without a word, he turned and headed back toward the kitchen, just as a second set of red flashing lights appeared through the windows.

  “I think our cover is broken,” David said, looking back at Jesse. He couldn’t have cared less at this point, but after almost two months of successfully keeping things on the down-low, they seemed to be coming out with a bang.

  “Ian can be discreet.” Her voice was quiet and tired, but she offered him a smile. “What are you doing here, by the way?”

  He picked her hand back up and rubbed her palm, needing to touch her. “Long day, the chief gave me the night off since I have to pick up an investigation tomorrow. I thought I would surprise you.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  He was, too. Her injury wasn’t life threatening, but he hated the idea that she might have been alone, trying to deal with something like this when she came to.

  The paramedics walked in a few minutes later and took over, though David refused to leave the room. He watched as they helped her get up, sat her on the bed, and went through the process of checking the wound, her eyes, and all her vital signs. He watched in an angry silence as they cleaned up the blood. Jesse seemed relieved when they declared that she wouldn’t need stiches. Using some skin adhesive, they bound the edges of the cut together.