Secrets (A Standalone Novel) (A Suspense Romance) (13 page)

“How about I walk with you and you can take pictures
without worrying?” Chris said as we were walking back to the house.

“Alright, I did want to go out by the dairy farm and
take some photos out there.”

“Let’s do
it,
”
Chris said with an unusual amount of enthusiasm.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I doubted taking pictures
was at all interesting to him, but his willingness to be enthusiastic about it
was cute for sure. The dairy farm was almost two miles out of town, but it was
a beautiful sunny day so it was well worth the time it took to get out there.
The mid
seventy-degree
weather offered a
slight breeze to cool us without dropping the temperature too much. I reached
out for Chris’ hand to hold it as we walked.

He smiled and gripped me firmly, but I could tell that
this type of intimacy was not something he was comfortable with. His whole arm
tightened up and he held his hand almost motionless. I tried not to laugh out
loud at his awkwardness.

Every now and then I noticed him looking around either
to the side of us or behind us. Certainly not instilling confidence in his
notion that we were not in danger. I thought I even noticed his jaw tensing as
we got farther and farther away from the town. We really were sitting ducks if
anyone was trying to get us.

As we walked down the dirt
road,
there was no place to hide and no escape if someone happened
to come down this dirt road with
wrongdoing
on their mind. At the dairy
farm,
I
stopped to visit with the owner. He seemed a little leery of
Chris
but warmed up to him when I said he was
an ex-Navy Seal. Mr. Reynolds had been in the Navy also, many years before
Chris though. The two men shook hands and Mr. Reynolds took us out to where the
cows were grazing. He had a
four-wheeler
with two seats in the back and drove us quickly out to the top of the hill where
the cows were.

“I’ve already let them into the field, I hope that
works alright.”

“Yes, that will be great.”

“Just make sure the gate is closed when you head back
to town. Have fun.”

Mr. Reynolds took his four-wheeler back toward his
house and left us at the top of the hill with about a hundred cows grazing all
around us. I started taking pictures immediately.

When I looked over at
Chris,
he seemed to be in protection mode and was eyeing a large cow that was walking
slowly in our direction. He looked like he was ready to take the cow down if he
needed to.

“You don’t have to be afraid of them, they won’t hurt
us,
” I said with a smile.

“I’m not afraid,” he said as he tried to play off his
uncomfortable stance.

I could tell he was at least uncomfortable with the
number of cows around us. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who spent a lot
of time on a farm, especially this close to the animals of the farm. A young
calf made her way toward us and I got down on my knees to take some pictures.
She kept coming toward us with an interest that was very charming. Chris
grabbed some grass and held it out in his hand.

I snapped some pictures of the two of them. Chris and
his
tall,
muscular frame feeding the
small baby calf, with the sun setting right behind them; it was perfect. I
hoped that the lighting didn’t wash out Chris and the calf when I tried to
develop the pictures.

“That was
adorable,
”
Chris said as he looked at me.

I was concerned he was going to get mad at me for
taking his picture again. I really hoped he didn’t force me to delete the
photo, it was so perfect. He looked at me and then at the camera. I felt him
trying to decide if it was alright that I took his picture. He seemed to be
going through some sort of internal struggle. But he was silent and he did not
force me to delete the picture.

“Yes, that was very adorable. Should we head back
to
town?”

I got up off the ground and Chris leaned over and
wiped the grass off of my knees. He grabbed me close and kissed me. The
spontaneous gesture was just another reason I was starting to fall for this
guy. He grabbed my hand and held it in his as he led the way back into town.
His grip seemed more comfortable this time and he was much more relaxed. He was
getting a hold of this whole boyfriend thing.

Wait,
boyfriend…is that what he was?
I didn’t know the answer
and wasn’t about to ask him. I felt like we were a couple
now,
but I wasn’t really sure. Maybe my
perception of things was different than his. It wasn’t the right time to talk
about things; we had had enough deep conversations for today.

We continued into town and turned down the street
toward my house. When we got close
enough,
I could see that the front door was open. I turned and looked at Chris, who
instantly went into his protector mode. He brought us down the alley behind the
house to see if there were any cars or anything. Then he opened the garage and
did a quick look through my dark room.

“Get in your dark room and lock the door. You
understand me?”

I shook my head yes and quickly went into the room.

Chris had his gun drawn and took the sling off his
hurt arm. He seemed to be able to move it
slightly,
but I could only imagine how much pain he was in.

“Chris,
” I said as my
eyes started to well up with tears.

“I’ll be fine. Lock the door. I’ll be right back.”

My brain raced with thoughts of what was going on. Why
would someone try to break into my house? I could hardly breathe because of how
scared I was. I tried over and over to take a deep breath and nothing seemed to
help.

Chris was gone for what seemed like forever. I sat
at
a table in the corner of my dark room in the
pitch black. I didn’t hear any shooting and for that I was very grateful. I
closed my eyes and tried to listen as hard as I could. I didn’t know what else I
was listening for, as long as there
weren't
gunshots
I was pretty happy.

I heard a noise outside the garage and the door
opened. I tucked myself even deeper into the corner of the room. My heart
pounded with excitement and I was so afraid someone was coming for me.

“Katelyn, it’s me,” Chris said.

Oh what a relief. I jumped up and opened the door.
Chris looked perfectly fine so I let out a sigh.

“What happened? Did I just leave the door open or
something?”

“
No,
I’m afraid
not. Let’s go get some of your things and then you are going to need to stay
somewhere else while I figure out what is going on.”

We walked back up to the house and I could tell that
the front door had been kicked in. It seemed odd that they would kick in the
front door considering the back door was much older and would have been easier
to get through. But I figured whomever it was who had kicked in the door didn’t
really care which door was easier. My house looked like it had been torn apart.
Furniture was moved, carpets lifted up; someone was certainly looking for
something.

“Who are they? What were they looking for?”

“I thought there had been three men the other day when
I got shot, but I couldn’t tell for sure because things happened so quickly.
One of them must have gotten away and now he knows I’ve been staying with you.”

“What does he want?”

“The guns, but he can’t have them. Or he wants more
money. The guns are already in Chicago and we aren’t paying them any more
money. I’m going to have to go back to Chicago and see if I can figure out what
is going on.”

I could feel the color draining out of my face. I
couldn’t be left alone. These people were trying to find guns and would
obviously kill if they didn’t get what they wanted. My heart raced and I could
feel the room getting wobbly.

“Um, I don’t feel
good,
”
I said just before my knees gave out and I started to fall. Chris, of course,
caught me and set me down gently in one of the chairs. He closed the front door
the best he could and brought me a glass of water.

“What do you need from here? Absolute minimum,” he
said as he prepared to go up the stairs.

“Clothes and my mom’s jewelry box.”

Chris was gone for only about three minutes before he
returned with a bag full of my things. He grabbed me by the arm and took me out
to my car. He already had the keys in his hand and we were driving down the
street before I even knew what was going on.

“Oh no, my camera. I left my camera there.”

“It’s fine. You can get it later. Let’s just get you
out to Rebecca and Robert’s house.”

“I need to call them first and see if it is alright.”

“Katelyn, you will get killed if you stay at your
house. It will be fine with them.”

I guided Chris as he drove us out to Rebecca’s house.
I didn’t know how I would be able to explain things, but I knew there was no
hiding what was going on now. I was too afraid to hide anything. I needed to
feel safe again.

“Where will you go? How will you stay safe?” I said as
I reached for his hand.

He held my hand tightly for a moment but then needed
to use it to drive. His injured shoulder seemed to be bothering him very badly
by that point. It was leaking blood through the bandage and onto his shirt.

“I’m going to go to Chicago. I have to figure out what
is going on. I have to end this.”

I tried to
swallow,
but a big lump started in my throat. How was he going to stay safe if he went
right back out there?

“How do you know the people that tried to kill you
weren’t the ones from Chicago?”

Chris seemed to ponder what I was saying and did not
immediately answer. He looked in the rear view mirror and was preoccupied. I
watched as he continued to drive to Rebecca’s house and took special care to
make sure no one was following us. He never did answer my question.

As we pulled up to Rebecca’s
house,
I felt my heart pounding very hard. My face was flushed and
I didn’t know how I was going to explain things to Rebecca. I watched Chris as
we pulled up to the house, he seemed very focused and intent on a plan that I
was not aware of.

After parking in their driveway, Chris jumped out of
the car and went up to Rebecca and Robert’s door very quickly. He didn’t wait
for me and he didn’t look back at me. Robert opened the door and I watched as
the two shook hands and exchanged some words. Chris motioned for me to come up,
so I grabbed my things and made my way to the door. When I got
there,
Chris kissed me quickly and shook
Robert’s hand, then he left. He didn’t wait around; he didn’t have time for
small talk. He was just gone.

I stood in the doorway and watched Chris drive away in
my car. The last thing I was worried about was my car though; I was worried
that Chris was going back to Chicago to settle the score for whoever had come
to his house and then my house. I was worried that Chris was going to end up
dead after confronting the people he was going to see. Never had I been so
concerned for a man I had only met a few short weeks before.

I knew it was going to be difficult to explain
everything to Rebecca and Robert. My life had become so dangerous that even I
couldn’t believe what was going on. I could see the concern on Rebecca and
Robert’s faces and I knew they wouldn’t be happy until I told them everything.

So I did.

I just let out everything. I told them about sleeping
with Chris, I told them about my art show and following Chris to the airport. I
didn’t leave anything out, except the details of our nightly rendezvous.
Finally,
I told them about my last couple of
days and Chris getting shot.

It was all so much, so hard to relive in such a short
period of time. I started to cry as I finished the story and ended with my
house being broken into and Chris needing to leave to go settle things in
Chicago. Rebecca just shook her head in disbelief.

“Katelyn, this guy is bad news. You need to stay away
from him,” Rebecca said finally.

“Yes, you’re going to end up hurt or dead if you keep
hanging around that
guy,
” Robert added. I
could see where they were coming from. It wasn’t like I could argue that Chris
was a good influence on me. Since meeting
him,
I certainly had put myself in a very delicate position. But I wasn’t willing to
let go of Chris. I held out hope that he would be alright and this all would be
settled soon.

“I know it looks bad guys. But just trust me, Chris is
going to settle everything.”

“Katelyn, this is not alright. You can’t be hanging
around some mysterious guy who is murdering people in his house and getting
shot.” Rebecca did not seem pleased with my choices at all.

“It’s not like that. He isn’t a murderer.”

“Well, actually, that’s exactly what he is. Didn’t you
say he killed the two people in his house?” Robert said.

“Well technically yes, but they shot him and were
going to kill him.”

“Katelyn, you need to get away from this guy and
that’s it. You can stay here as long as you need to, but you need to end things
with him. He’s obviously only out for himself. Look how he just abandoned you
here with us and took off.” Rebecca obviously did not like Chris anymore.

“I know how it looks guys. I really appreciate you
letting me stay here.”

I wasn’t about to continue to argue with them. Chris
needed to go to Chicago and end this craziness so I could show Rebecca and
Robert that things would be alright. Because
at
that moment
I was starting to believe them. Maybe staying away from
Chris was exactly what I needed to do
in order
to
stay safe. I certainly didn’t want anything bad to happen to me. I
didn’t want to end up shot or dead. It wasn’t on my
ten-year
life plan to have something like that happen to me.

For the next two
weeks,
I continued to stay with Rebecca and Robert because I had not heard from Chris
yet. I intended to stay with them until I finally got word from Chris that
everything was alright.

“Robert, can you take me to my house to get my
camera?” I asked one late afternoon.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Robert asked with a look of
concern.

“Yeah, it’s been two weeks. If something bad
was
going to happen
then,
it would have already happened.”

“How about we drive by the house today and see if
anything looks out of place, then maybe tomorrow you could go in and grab your
camera and anything else you needed?”

“Sure, I can do that.”