Beautiful Perfection (Beautifully Unbroken Book 2) (15 page)

Cooper Henderson diary entry for prosecution.

Evidence log number 32.

So it’s been a couple of days since my last diary entry, the reason for that? I have been stuck in a fucking hospital bed recovering from the attack that I suffered at the hands of psycho Sara a couple of nights back. Just as I thought that life was becoming better, bang goes Sara and now I don’t have a fucking clue where she is or what she is even doing out there. One saving grace is that I know that Jo and Blake took off this weekend, so wherever Sara is, I know that Jo is safe, for now. But she is going to be back soon enough, I know that Blake heads off to Miami on Monday for two weeks. I need to find Sara before then and I need to put a stop to this shit. It was all so ridiculous, I had come home with the car as she had wanted but she was acting weird. She then asked if she could see the car, I should have known that she was up to something when she brought her purse and said that she wanted to go out for a test drive. I had opened the door when the next thing I knew, I was flat out on the floor after she had smashed it against my head God knows how many times. She then began to yell at me, accusing me of sleeping with Jo behind her back. Little did I know that when I was out that morning and just happened to see Jo walking down the street, Sara had been following me, she had then come home, put two and two together and got a fucking thousand. So yeah, she beat me up and left me lying on the floor bleeding to death, thank God someone had got to me in time otherwise I don’t think I would have pulled through the shit. My mission now is to find Sara, take her slutty ass back to Washington and back to rehab or a fucking mental institution; either way, I need to make sure that until I do find her, I will keep Jo safe and if that means being her shadow the whole time that Blake is away then so be it; whether Jo likes it or not, I refuse to let Sara beat me on this one, this is something that I need to do.”

Case number 15896.

Cooper Henderson diary entry for prosecution.

Evidence log number 33.

“This morning was the first day in my keep Jo safe from Sara plan. I turned up at the studio knowing that she was due there at any minute and waited for her in the canteen along with Marcus and the rest of the guys. I can’t say that she seemed happy to see me when she arrived. I sat down next to her and handed her a cup of tea, she did however look concerned at the state of me, I shrugged it off as nothing which I think she bought, with how my life was lately I suppose that most people thought I deserved a good beating anyway. Jo seemed guarded but didn’t once ask me to leave or tell me that I was making her feel uncomfortable, thank God because I am invested in this now until I find Sara and god knows when that may be. I hung around for the rest of the day and everything was working out just right; that was until we stepped out onto the parking lot and saw the state of Jo’s new car. Someone had taken a knife to each and every single tyre
and  keyed
along the paintwork. Only I knew exactly who had done this. How could I tell them that it was Sara? That would make me just as guilty as she was, so I kept quiet and showed my concern; only that didn’t work, Jo approached me and got right into my face accusing me of being the one who did this, of course it would make sense that it was me, after all, as Jo said in her own words; I have done worse to her.

Seeing Jo so upset today was gut wrenching, she didn’t deserve this, she didn’t deserve any of it, she only deserved to be happy, why couldn’t she just be happy?

In that precise moment I came so close to confessing everything to her. All about how Sara had turned up begging for my help, about how I was here because Sara wanted her dead and I was trying to protect her, I wanted so desperately to tell her about how all I have ever wanted, was for Jo to love me the way that I was so deeply in love with her. But I couldn’t; the devil within me would not allow it, I was a bad person and I deserved bad things, if I were to die today because I had saved Jo’s life, then there would be no better way for me to leave this world, and that was as far as the truth was ever going to go.”

Case number 15896.

Cooper Henderson diary entry for prosecution.

Evidence log number 34.

“I feel like a stalker. I have been following Jo around all week without her having the slightest idea. So far, I have followed her to a wedding boutique, a florist and to and from rehearsals all week, I have offered her a ride each day but she was back to ignoring my texts; I can see why, Blake would be more than angry if he knew that she was spending time with me, but he would end up being more than grateful if he knew I was only doing it to protect her.

I have also stood and watched her jog in the park and then go grocery shopping, I don’t know how I have managed to
stay anonymous but somehow I have.  The only time I haven’t had eyes on Jo is when she i
s in her apartment or rehearsing in the studio. During those times I sit outside and keep an eye on who is coming and going. Sara has seen me on numerous occasions watching her and would speed off hastily giving me no chance of following her. I still have no idea where she is staying; she is very good at slipping away from me whenever I would follow her. I am beginning to get tired of hanging around, but it has to be done, I owed that much to Jo.

Tonight was Jo’s first live show, I breathed a sigh of relief that we had almost got through the first week unscathed. I sat backstage as I watched Jo shine up on stage like the star that we all knew that she was. I feel proud of her, it’s weird to feel something like pride for someone who doesn’t know how much I love her, but I really well and truly do feel so proud.

After the show we all headed to the little Italian place that Marcus always likes to use, I pulled out the seat next to Jo and sat down as if I hadn’t seen her for the past week but her mind was occupied, she didn’t seem to want to talk to anyone and eventually told me that she was missing Blake like crazy. She also told me how guilty she feels for talking to me knowing that Blake would hate it. Not long after, Jo decided that she wanted to call it a night. I somehow managed to convince her that it was safer for me to take her home, which she eventually accepted, so tonight was another night done, another night that I know I have managed to keep Jo safe from the wrath of Sara.

Case number 15896.

Cooper Henderson diary entry for prosecution.

Evidence log number 35.

“I hadn’t heard from Jo for the past few days. I had been texting her but she never replies, I have still watched her as she left her apartment for a run or to fetch some groceries. She was beginning to look tired and worn out and I wondered whether Sara was using other ways to get to her which I wasn’t aware of; so I called Sara, but she wasn’t taking my calls either.

So this morning I decided to bite the bullet and show up at Jo’s rehearsals. Acting like nothing had been going on was hard, but I needed to keep face. I stood outside her dressing room and waited for her to emerge. When she opened the door she wasn’t smiling, she stormed past me as if I had done something to offend her. When I finally got her to stop and talk to me she was crying. Her beautiful face was wet with tears caused by someone trashing her room. They hadn’t only trashed her room but had torn up her clothes, crushed flower petals in to the carpet and used Jo’s lipstick to write the word ‘slut’ on her mirror. She had been there, Sara had this time got too close and I hadn’t been close enough to prevent it. Jo yelled at me over and over that I was responsible; she believed that I had done that to her, she couldn’t be more wrong. Jo continued to walk out of the building even though I was begging her to stop but she wouldn’t wait, she wouldn’t stop walking and I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that Sara must have been waiting somewhere to finish what she started.

As I approached where she stood I could hear the revving of an engine, I turned to see the black SUV that Sara was driving waiting for her down the street.

I yelled as I ran towards Jo to stay where she was, I begged her not to place a foot on that tarmac but she wouldn’t listen, she just would not listen to me. The car came speeding towards her at full speed as Jo stood still in shock in the middle of the road. With the car coming as fast as it could I wrapped my arms around Jo and pulled her with me as we both crashed to the concrete. I opened my eyes just as Sara sped off down the road. I had saved her life. I had saved her from Sara who would have killed her if I hadn’t just done what I had. We both lay in silence for a few seconds trying to digest the fact that we could have both just been killed with one hit of the car. Jo was alive and it was me that had saved her.”

Case number 15896.

Cooper Henderson telephone call to defendant Sara McDonnell for prosecution.

Evidence log number 36.

“Sara, it’s over. You have until tomorrow lunch time to return the car and disappear or I will be contacting the police. I never wanted it to end like this, but you did this, remember that you did all of this. I meant it when I promised you that I would look after you, you should have believed me; we had something, you and I, we actually had something that could have been so special but again you let your stupid selfish bitter mind get the better of you. Jo is not responsible for anything that you may be feeling, you brought it all on yourself you really are a stupid selfish bitch, do you hear me? You told me that you weren’t crazy, that you didn’t need to be locked up in a clinic and to think that I actually began to believe you, I actually brought into that shit, I actually wanted to love you, I wanted to love you and forget all about Jo, well you know what? Not any more, it ends and it ends right now. Shall I tell you something else sweetheart? They need to lock you up and throw away the key. We could have been happy together, I think that eventually I could have loved you, just the same as I love Jo, we could have made something of ourselves me and you and yeah you heard that right sweetheart, I love Jo and I have done so for a long time now, but I would have tried for you, I would have tried to stop loving her if you hadn’t have done what you have. You make me sick Sara; you really do make me sick.

If you had just put your stupid bitter jealousy behind you, then the future could have been a lot different to what it is going to be now. You made the choice Sara, always remember that; you made the choice.”

*~*~*

I dropped the papers into my lap and for the first time since Cooper’s death I allowed myself to cry for him. I had always protested that Cooper wasn’t responsible for trying to harm me, even when the police were adamant that they had sufficient evidence that put him as much to blame as Sara, I knew in my heart that Cooper would never have intentionally tried to hurt me and even though I still to this day will never be able to forget what he did to me on that horrific night at Sugar, to finally see that he was innocent of my attempted murder was bittersweet.

The same words continued to replay in my mind, I had read so many pages but all I constantly kept going back to was “
if I were to die today because I had saved Jo’s life, then there would be no better way for me to leave this world.”

To read those words cut so deep. He had died at the hands of Sara after saving my life. She had taken the wheel and swerved his car off the road when the police were on their tail until the car had hit a tree sealing Cooper’s fate, so re-reading that sentence over and over again really did hurt but the more my mind processed everything that I had read, the more my feelings for Cooper changed until eventually that hurt was suddenly met with anger. Cooper could have stopped all of this at any given moment, he could have stopped it from the minute that Sara turned up at his apartment and threatened my life but instead and for a reason that no amount of evidence could provide, he had continued to allow her to stay there, to threaten me and to ruin his own life. As the tear began to fall faster my anger towards him grew higher and higher. “Why, Cooper?” I whispered harshly. “Why didn’t you stop this when you had the chance? Why did you let her do this to us both? You could have stopped this Cooper but you didn’t, why?” I stood abruptly and began tearing the papers with anger, screwing up what was left before throwing them away from me as my body shook, “why did you carry on until she killed you Cooper? Why!” I fell to my knees and placed my head into my hands as I continued to cry angry tears.

I felt the warmth of Blake’s arms wrap around me gently as he knelt alongside me and held me in his arms. “It’s okay beautiful, it’s okay, I’m here for you, I promise I will get you through this.” I clung to Blake as I continued to cry and Blake continued to comfort me, gently rocking me in his arms as I cried for Cooper, five months after he had lost his life at the hands of Sara. At some point Blake had lifted me from the floor and carried me back to bed where he continued to hold me until I could cry no more tears. I had fallen into a deep and dreamless sleep where my mind was free to process everything that I had read that evening.

*~*~*

I woke the following morning with a mixed array of emotions, the anger that I felt after reading the evidence still remained firmly at the forefront of my mind but that was now joined by an overwhelming feeling of guilt. Last night Blake had held me while I sat and cried for Cooper. He had sat with me in his arms and rocked me until I had cried every single tear that fell from my eyes; I couldn’t even begin to imagine how it must have made him feel to see his wife crying uncontrollably over another man. One thing that I needed Blake to understand however was that the tears I had shed last night changed absolutely nothing about the way I felt about Cooper. My anger stemmed from the fact that Cooper would still have been alive today if he had just done the right thing and gone straight to the police, there was no question in my mind about that. The only sadness that I felt came from not grieving for him at the time of his death along with not going to his funeral.