Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 58
This serial novel is posted in draft form every Friday.
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15| Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19 | Ch. 20 | Ch. 21 | Ch. 22 | Ch. 23 | Ch. 24 | Ch. 25 | Ch. 26 | Ch. 27 | Ch. 28 | Ch. 29 | Ch. 30 | Ch. 31 | Ch. 32 | Ch. 33 | Ch. 34 | Ch. 35 | Ch. 36 | Ch. 37 | Ch. 38 | Ch. 39 | Ch. 40 | Ch. 41 | Ch. 42 | Ch. 43 | Ch. 44 | Ch. 45 | Ch. 46 | Ch. 47 | Ch. 48 | Ch. 49 | Ch. 50 | Ch. 51 | Ch. 52 | Ch. 53 | Ch. 54 | Ch. 55 | Ch. 56 | Ch. 57 |
Falling in Public
Chapter 58
Sean went down hard as the shovel made contact. Eddie dropped the impromptu weapon and fell to his knees as well, clearly hurt. Holly ran to his side, and he pressed a coil of rope into her hand.
"Tie him up. Now, before he comes to. We don't want him getting loose again."
Holly took the rope, but didn't leave. "Are you okay? What happened? How are you alive?"
Eddie sat back on his heels, the lines in his face tight with pain. "Later," he said, working to catch his breath. "Get him tied up first. Please."
A car zoomed by, then another. The sky was getting brighter, and apparently that meant more traffic. Several more cars flew past as Holly wrapped loops of rope tightly around Sean's wrists and ankles, securing them with tight knots. It wasn't long before sirens approached, and she went over to where Eddie was sitting propped up against the front truck tire.
"This isn't over yet, is it?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. But soon." He reached for her hand, entwining their fingers and rubbing his thumb over her skin. "We're probably not going to see each other for a while once those emergency people get here. After that there will be hospitals and interviews and lawyers - do you have a good lawyer?"
"Not the kind we'll need, but I'll get one." She scooted a little closer. "Will I ever see you again?"
He chuckled, the deep, comforting sound dissolving into a painful-sounding cough. "We'll be seeing a lot of each other, don't you worry. If you're okay with that..."
"I'm okay with that." She smile, then leaned over to kiss him ever so softly on the lips as an ambulance stopped on the shoulder and two police vehicles pulled up behind it.
Three weeks later, Holly stepped off the airport in Billings and scanned the crowd for that all-too-familiar face before making her way to the luggage claim. She'd feel better once she got out to her comfortable house in the country, where she could see visitors approaching and had a double-barrel shotgun and a lovely antique six-shooter at her disposal. Most people thought they were for show, but she always kept them in good working order, just in case.
Finding her bags, she tried not to look too nervous as she scanned the crowd again, walked out the door with only a slight limp leftover from her injury and through the long-term parking lot to her trusty SUV. It was going to cost an arm and a leg to get out, considering all the extra time she'd been gone, but she didn't care. Book sales had exploded as her name got bandied about by the press in California, so at least money wouldn't be an obstacle for awhile. At the moment, getting home was the only thing that mattered.
She'd nearly cried when they took Eddie away in the ambulance, and she spent a lot of time over the next few days in a small, cold interrogation room, first trying to explain all the events that had happened from the time she got to California, and then letting the lawyer Eddie sent over tell her what questions she could and couldn't answer. At the end of it all, she was frazzled and on her last nerve. It didn't help that she wasn't allowed to see Eddie at all - they told her he was okay, and still in the hospital, but every time she tried to steal away someone always seemed to need just one more thing.
For a bunch of legal reasons she had a hard time understanding, she had to fly back to California and give more statements there. When she was finally cleared to return home to Montana, she wasn't optimistic that anything would ever come of it. The evidence was abundant once they found the plane and the house she'd been held in, but none of it directly pointed back to Sean. He'd been released on bail a few days before her flight home, and she'd spent those days holed up in her hotel room with only a restraining order for company.
Eddie had tried calling once or twice, but by then, she wasn't sure what to say. So many things had passed, and she'd done a lot of thinking. Too much, maybe. But they had completely different lives and now, as she turned on to the dirt road that would get her to her driveway, she just didn't see how it was going to work between them. Yes, she could write on the road and rearrange her schedule so they could be together, but did she really want to? Her house came into view, a beautiful smallish rancher on several acres all her own, with no immediate neighbors for a few miles in any direction. Quiet, peaceful, and the perfect place for crafting her stories.
Or attracting stalkers.
The thought came unbidden as she turned into her drive, and then stopped to stare at the dark sedan that was parked beside the house. No one should be there. And no one she knew drove that kind of car...
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15| Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19 | Ch. 20 | Ch. 21 | Ch. 22 | Ch. 23 | Ch. 24 | Ch. 25 | Ch. 26 | Ch. 27 | Ch. 28 | Ch. 29 | Ch. 30 | Ch. 31 | Ch. 32 | Ch. 33 | Ch. 34 | Ch. 35 | Ch. 36 | Ch. 37 | Ch. 38 | Ch. 39 | Ch. 40 | Ch. 41 | Ch. 42 | Ch. 43 | Ch. 44 | Ch. 45 | Ch. 46 | Ch. 47 | Ch. 48 | Ch. 49 | Ch. 50 | Ch. 51 | Ch. 52 | Ch. 53 | Ch. 54 | Ch. 55 | Ch. 56 | Ch. 57 |
Falling in Public
Chapter 58
Sean went down hard as the shovel made contact. Eddie dropped the impromptu weapon and fell to his knees as well, clearly hurt. Holly ran to his side, and he pressed a coil of rope into her hand.
"Tie him up. Now, before he comes to. We don't want him getting loose again."
Holly took the rope, but didn't leave. "Are you okay? What happened? How are you alive?"
Eddie sat back on his heels, the lines in his face tight with pain. "Later," he said, working to catch his breath. "Get him tied up first. Please."
A car zoomed by, then another. The sky was getting brighter, and apparently that meant more traffic. Several more cars flew past as Holly wrapped loops of rope tightly around Sean's wrists and ankles, securing them with tight knots. It wasn't long before sirens approached, and she went over to where Eddie was sitting propped up against the front truck tire.
"This isn't over yet, is it?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. But soon." He reached for her hand, entwining their fingers and rubbing his thumb over her skin. "We're probably not going to see each other for a while once those emergency people get here. After that there will be hospitals and interviews and lawyers - do you have a good lawyer?"
"Not the kind we'll need, but I'll get one." She scooted a little closer. "Will I ever see you again?"
He chuckled, the deep, comforting sound dissolving into a painful-sounding cough. "We'll be seeing a lot of each other, don't you worry. If you're okay with that..."
"I'm okay with that." She smile, then leaned over to kiss him ever so softly on the lips as an ambulance stopped on the shoulder and two police vehicles pulled up behind it.
Three weeks later, Holly stepped off the airport in Billings and scanned the crowd for that all-too-familiar face before making her way to the luggage claim. She'd feel better once she got out to her comfortable house in the country, where she could see visitors approaching and had a double-barrel shotgun and a lovely antique six-shooter at her disposal. Most people thought they were for show, but she always kept them in good working order, just in case.
Finding her bags, she tried not to look too nervous as she scanned the crowd again, walked out the door with only a slight limp leftover from her injury and through the long-term parking lot to her trusty SUV. It was going to cost an arm and a leg to get out, considering all the extra time she'd been gone, but she didn't care. Book sales had exploded as her name got bandied about by the press in California, so at least money wouldn't be an obstacle for awhile. At the moment, getting home was the only thing that mattered.
She'd nearly cried when they took Eddie away in the ambulance, and she spent a lot of time over the next few days in a small, cold interrogation room, first trying to explain all the events that had happened from the time she got to California, and then letting the lawyer Eddie sent over tell her what questions she could and couldn't answer. At the end of it all, she was frazzled and on her last nerve. It didn't help that she wasn't allowed to see Eddie at all - they told her he was okay, and still in the hospital, but every time she tried to steal away someone always seemed to need just one more thing.
For a bunch of legal reasons she had a hard time understanding, she had to fly back to California and give more statements there. When she was finally cleared to return home to Montana, she wasn't optimistic that anything would ever come of it. The evidence was abundant once they found the plane and the house she'd been held in, but none of it directly pointed back to Sean. He'd been released on bail a few days before her flight home, and she'd spent those days holed up in her hotel room with only a restraining order for company.
Eddie had tried calling once or twice, but by then, she wasn't sure what to say. So many things had passed, and she'd done a lot of thinking. Too much, maybe. But they had completely different lives and now, as she turned on to the dirt road that would get her to her driveway, she just didn't see how it was going to work between them. Yes, she could write on the road and rearrange her schedule so they could be together, but did she really want to? Her house came into view, a beautiful smallish rancher on several acres all her own, with no immediate neighbors for a few miles in any direction. Quiet, peaceful, and the perfect place for crafting her stories.
Or attracting stalkers.
The thought came unbidden as she turned into her drive, and then stopped to stare at the dark sedan that was parked beside the house. No one should be there. And no one she knew drove that kind of car...
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