Broken Beginnings: A High Heat Small Town Romance Suspense (Citrus Cove Book 1)

I PACED the hall back and forth. Waiting, waiting, waiting. 

Waiting for news.

Waiting to know if she was going to make it.

Everything was a nightmare. Alexa was dead. She’d been the first across the field and Thomas shot her before shooting Haley. She’d died instantly. I’d never seen someone die before, and prayed I never did again. If I wasn’t thinking about that, then I was thinking about how I’d been too late in stopping him from hurting Haley too.

He’d just missed her heart.

She wasn’t out of the woods yet though.

Grief washed through me. I’d known Alexa for a long time. I couldn’t shake the nightmare of the storm and her just going down. It happened so fast. She’d died trying to save the woman I loved.

Alexa hadn’t been the only one though.

The house where Haley was taken belonged to David’s parents, who were long dead. After we’d gotten him, Hunter forced info out of him. I didn’t ask how. The house was on the outskirts of Citrus Cove, pretty much in the middle of fucking nowhere. But we’d made it.

We’d made it just in time.

Several of the files in the basement were filled with pictures of women Thomas killed. All of them had been blonde, like Haley, about the same height. Same color eyes. All over the country, too.

The smell down in the basement. The foul stench that I had sworn was an animal the day we moved the kids out. It belonged to an animal. It seemed that while David wasn’t a serial killer like his brother, he did sometimes kill things.

I felt sick knowing that Thomas had done this. Even more so finding out that there had been times he’d pretended to be David. It was a mind fuck for all of us, especially Sarah.

I didn’t know what Sarah would do. It had broken her in a way that I wasn’t sure could be mended. All of us were doing our best to keep things from the boys, but it was hard with the news trying to cover everything.

How many women had Thomas Connor killed? His obsession with Haley made me feel sick. My stomach twisted, my thoughts going through the cycle again.

Grief. Worry. Fear. Pain. Sadness. Horror.

Over and over.

I couldn’t stop it.

And above it all was the very real thought that I might lose her. I might lose Haley. I loved her so much that it made me feel weak, and losing her would destroy me.

“Cam, honey, you need to sit down. You’re bleeding again.”

I ignored my mom, the same way I’d ignored everyone else. Everyone was waiting too. I was still covered in her blood, her expression haunting me.

I love you.

She’d whispered the words right before she’d passed out. I thought then and there that she had died in my arms. I’d never screamed like that before.

“Cam.”

Hunter grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to look at him. He wore that big-brother face right now, his muscles tense.

He’d seen Alexa go too. He’d been the one to check Haley’s pulse, to keep me from completely falling apart. He and another officer had been the ones to uncover the basement, the photos, everything.

“You got to stay together, man,” Hunter said. “And in order to do that, we need you well.”

“Leave me,” I whispered.

“No. I won’t. I got the nurse. She needs to look at your wound. We should have word on Haley soon.”

“I’m not leaving until I know,” I said, my voice soft but firm. I needed to know. I needed to know that she was okay.

She was still in surgery. They were removing the bullet.

The bullet was just part of the problem. He’d hurt her. He’d hurt her badly. Between broken ribs, her concussion, being shot, and the blood loss, it didn’t look good.

I couldn’t lose her.

“Hey, Cam.”

I looked up to see my nurse from when I was here only days ago. It felt like that was ages ago, when in reality, this was just the longest week of any of our lives.

She stopped in front of us, folding her hands together.

“Do you have anything?” I asked, wincing at the desperation in my voice.

“Haley is out of surgery,” she said, holding up a hand before any of us could speak. “She is stabilized. They lost her for a moment, but she is alive. We won’t know more until we get through the night. And if you plan on being there when she wakes up, you’ve got to let me look at your stitches. She wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

My knees felt like they were going to buckle. Hunter gripped my arm, holding on to me.

I felt a different hand pat my shoulder and looked to my left. Honey stood there, more exhausted than I’d ever seen her before. “Please let her look at you.”

I couldn’t say no to her. I sighed and nodded.

“Thanks,” Hunter murmured to her. “I also brought you new clothes.”

He handed them to me. I followed the nurse to a room, my thoughts whirling. I kept replaying what happened in my mind. “Lie back on the table. We’ll get you restitched up and cleaned up. By the time we’re done, I’ll take you to Haley.”

* * *

Three days passed.

I laid my head on the edge of the hospital bed, listening to the beeps of the machines. I listened to her breathing.

Tears slid down my face again. My eyes were tired from crying.

I’d prayed. I’d begged. I’d sobbed.

All three on repeat for hours, and I’d keep doing it until she woke up. I slipped my hand into my pocket, feeling the outline of the engagement ring in my pocket.

I reached in and pulled it out. Mom and Colt helped me pick out the perfect one. There was a single diamond in the center surrounded by a dozen smaller ones and a twisted vine silver band.

It was perfect.

There was a knock at the door, but I ignored it, tucking the ring back in my pocket.

“You have to eat.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

It was Sammy. I drew it a sharp breath and leaned back, looking up at him. “Not hungry.”

“Cam,” he whispered. “We’re all worried about you. Almost as much as you’re worried about her.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“If you don’t eat, then I’m going to have them kick you out. Hunter and I will drag your ass back home and force-feed you.”

“I’d fight you.”

“You’d lose.” He stepped closer, shoving a brown bag at me, followed by a water bottle. “Eat. Drink. If not for us, for her. She’s going to need you when she wakes up.”

I nodded, reluctantly taking the food. He left as I pulled out a burger. I looked up at Haley, tears welling again.

Her face was still covered in bruises. Her chest rose and fell, her eyes closed.

The first day, I’d been so angry. So fucking angry at David. And then Thomas. Angry that he’d killed Alexa. Angry that all of us had never paid more attention.

I’d always hated David. We’d all known there was something not quite right, but I never would have imagined that maybe it was because his twin brother was a serial killer.

Sarah had been in and out. She wouldn’t look at me. I felt a flicker of guilt over that, but I couldn’t worry about mending that fence right now.

My anger drained me, leaving me feeling hollow and scared. Scared that Haley would die.

I’d gotten my chance to love her. To be a better person. To be the best man I could possibly be, to give everything I could to her. I wanted to create a life with her. A future.

I couldn’t imagine a world without her in it.

I ate the burger and washed it down with water. I knew my body appreciated it, but I still felt empty.

My head fell back, my eyes roaming over the ceiling tiles again. I’d counted them at least twenty times, but what was once more?

I counted them once. Twice. And then leaned forward in my seat, slipping my hand back into hers. I waited, hoping she would squeeze it. Some sort of sign that she was there. That she was fighting.

I laid my head on the edge of the bed, looking up at her.

My eyes started to close. I fought myself but could feel the exhaustion starting to take over.

And then I felt her hand.

And I heard her voice.

“There’s my husband.”