Hidden Fates (Hidden Heroes #4)

Chapter 23

“This is so beautiful,” Reese gushed, as she and Garrett walked into Caden and Hallie’s backyard. Strings of lights hung along the lower branches of the trees that lined the property, and dozens of tiki torches were lit along the creek. Floating candles in shallow bowls were set up as a centerpiece on a large table covered with a white tablecloth, and there were several more place settings than Reese remembered there being at Garrett’s a few weeks ago. The sun was setting, leaving behind trails of pink and purple clouds in a creamy blue sky. There was a magical feeling in the air. “Did Caden mention if this was a special occasion when he texted you?”

“No,” Garrett said, sounding just as confused as Reese felt.

“Dang,” Blake said, coming up behind them with Skyla. “What’s the occasion and were we supposed to bring something?”

“Hallie just said to come over for a barbeque,” Skyla said, then her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened.

“What is it?” Blake asked.

“I think I know what this is,” she squealed. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I can’t believe they pulled it off.”

“Pulled what off?” Reese asked.

“Oh, good, you guys made it,” Caden said, stepping out of the back door. “Come on in, have a seat anywhere really,” He wore light colored slacks, a white button-down shirt, and nice dress shoes. He was definitely over dressed for a casual barbeque with friends.

“What is going on here?” Garrett asked his friend with no heat. “Is Skyla right? Are you getting married?”

Caden tried and failed to hide the huge grin on his face even if he had wanted to. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag. Now get in here and make yourselves at home. We’ll get started as soon as Hallie is ready.” He turned and went back in the house, leaving everyone stunned.

Reese turned to Skyla. “Did you know they were planning this for tonight?”

“No,” Skyla said. “I mean, she’d mentioned a few weeks ago that they were talking about doing something casual and maybe making it more of a surprise kind of thing, but I had no idea it was tonight. I would’ve brought something; I mean besides booze.”

Reese laughed. “We’ll have to get together and get them something big and super special.”

“Absolutely,” Skyla agreed. “I wonder where Orly is. I saw Luke’s truck parked out front.”

“Aren’t Orly and Hallie like best friends?” Reese asked. “I bet she got here earlier and is helping Hallie get ready.”

Skyla smiled, tears glistening in her eyes. “I can’t believe they’re really doing it.” She took off toward the back door, Blake following behind her, leaving Reese standing with Garrett.

“I think we might have a few minutes,” Garrett said. “Want to take a walk with me along the creek? There’s a path so we won’t get our shoes dirty.”

The fresh air and the sound of the trickling creek was even more inviting now that Garrett had mentioned it. “Sure, I’d love to.”

Garrett led the way to the creek, holding her hand and giving it a small squeeze as they meandered the path through taller grass.

“I’m glad you told me to wear this shirt,” Garrett admitted with a smile. “I was just planning to wear a t-shirt to be honest.”

Reese adjusted the collar on his button down. “I don’t think Caden and Hallie cared what we wore. They just wanted us here. No fuss. No muss.”

Garrett shook his head. “Those two are amazing. You know their second date was a party at my house for Luke and Orly who’d just gotten married?”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Garrett nodded. “After everything those two have been through, I guess I’m not surprised they didn’t want to wait or make this into a big deal. They know what’s important in life. As long as they have each other, and their friends and loved ones, what more do they need?”

Reese smiled and nibbled her lip. She was happy for Hallie and Caden, but she wanted that same kind of love for herself. “Garrett?”

“Yeah,” he said absently, looking out over the creek as a bird flew by. There was still no sign of the bride and groom. Reese didn’t think she’d get another opportunity like this tonight, so she took a deep breath, and braced herself for what she was about to do.

She had no idea what to expect, but she hoped it would be alright. She could wait another day or two, but there really was no point. She was ready to look Garrett in the eye. To really see him and to let him see her. She wanted to do it. And tonight, surrounded by their friends felt like the perfect time.

In a way, this was just the first step in showing Garrett that what they shared was more than just a series of fleeting moments and incredible sex. He meant so much more to her.

She placed a hand on his cheek, and he leaned into her touch like he always did. Then his gaze met hers, but instead of averting her eyes, she held his gaze.

Likely realizing what she was doing, he tried to look away, but it was too late. All it took was a second for her to connect to him, and as her hand fell away from his cheek, a horrifying scene unfolded in her mind. Garrett stepping into a log cabin, screaming ‘Russell!’ and then everything exploding around him, and Garrett being thrown from the blast.

Reese gasped, and clutched at her chest. Garrett was still young. Probably the same age as he was now. She staggered, her feet searching for solid ground as the last of her worst fears faded into the present moment. “Noooooo!” She screamed.

Garrett reached for her but she turned and ran, unable to think or speak, hardly able to breathe. She raced back toward the house in search of - something - anything - she didn’t even know what. She had to get out of there. She never should’ve let Garrett help her. And now she was about to ruin Caden and Hallie’s big day.

She was nearly past the house when Tanner stepped out in front of her from seemingly out of nowhere, and she practically bounced off him. “Whoa,” Tanner said with a chuckle, holding her so she didn’t fall backwards. “Where’s the fire?”

She averted her eyes and tried to push past him, but he stood there like a brick wall, unmoving, unyielding to her silent pleas to get out of her way.

“Hey,” Tanner said softly. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Breathless from her run and from what she’d seen, she looked up but averted her eyes from his. Everything was suddenly too loud and too bright. A door opened behind Tanner.

“Reese?” Orly’s voice caught her attention, but Reese just glanced at the woman, then back at Tanner. She didn’t know what to do. What to say. And before she knew what was happening, Orly was dragging her past Tanner, into the house, past a large, beautiful kitchen, and into what appeared to be a guest room. Orly gestured for Reese to sit on the bed, and shut the door, leaving the light off. The dusky lighting in the room was perfect. No chance of making eye contact here. “What happened? You know you can talk to me,” Orly pressed.

Reese shook her head. “I won’t ruin Caden and Hallie’s day. You should go be with your best friend. I need to leave.”

“My best friend is having a moment with her mom right now, and I’m exactly where I need to be. Let me guess, you looked into someone’s eyes and saw something horrible?”

Reese gave her the barest of nods.

“Who was it?” Orly asked. A knock at the door interrupted them. Orly opened the door. Someone said something in a hushed tone. Reese thought it might’ve been Hallie’s dad. Orly turned back to Reese. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

Reese nodded, wiping the tears rolling down her cheek. She was glad for the interruption. If she told anyone about what she saw, it would not only ruin their day, it would ruin everything because they’d know Garrett was going to die. Because of her.

And then a moment of clarity hit her. Maybe there was something she could do to stop all this. The only reason Garrett would ever go after Russell was to protect her. But if she left right now, maybe there was a chance of stopping all this.

She loved Garrett so much. From the way he looked at her, how protective he was, how much he genuinely cared about her thoughts and feelings, to the way he made love to her and called her Miss Graham. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him, even if that meant breaking his heart. But that had to be better than the alternative. At least her leaving would give him a chance to live. Hopefully.

The door opened and Tanner came in. “I saw Orly step out. Mind if I join you for a few minutes?” The man wore a traditional cowboy hat, blue jeans and a flannel short sleeve shirt. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a modern Western.

“I have to go,” Reese said, starting to stand, but Tanner gently took hold of her arm.

“Garrett is out there talking to Caden. He says you looked into his eyes. Tell me what you saw. Maybe I can help,” Tanner said.

Reese bit her lip and shook her head. “No. The best thing you can do is stay away. I don’t want you or anyone else getting hurt, too. Please, just let me go.”

“I once saw a guy about to pull the trigger on a sixteen-year-old kid.”

“What?” Reese’s head jerked up to look at Tanner. The room was too dark to see his eyes, so she wasn’t worried about that.

Tanner sat in a chair in the corner of the room and removed his hat, placing it in his lap. “I was a rookie back then. My training officer and I were on a case in gang territory, and this guy across the street pulled a gun on the kid. I froze and my T.O. was involved in a situation he couldn’t get out of. There were other officers on the scene, but they had their hands full. I opened my mouth to say something or to scream… I’m honestly not even sure what was going through my head at the moment, but the next thing I heard was a bang, and the kid dropped with a hole in his head bleeding out onto the pavement.”

Reese drew in a ragged breath and covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. That’s awful. And you were so young. Only a rookie.”

“Yeah, it definitely tainted my view of the world.”

“Tainted it? Isn’t that why you became a cop? Because you knew the world sucked and you wanted to make it a better place?”

“Not exactly. But my point is that just because you see something happen, doesn’t mean you’re responsible for it. Whatever you saw happen, maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t. But -”

Reese closed her hands into tight fists. “I can’t let that happen to him. Not if I can stop it.”

“How can you stop it?” Tanner asked, leaning forward in the chair. “You told us yourself; you have no control over anything you see.” When Reese didn’t reply, Tanner sighed and nodded in understanding. “Something happens to Garrett?”

More tears streamed down Reese’s face and she quickly wiped them away. This wasn’t the time to sit around and cry. She had to get moving. If she could get out of here before the ceremony started, maybe the night could be salvaged. Garrett would be forced to stay a while longer to watch his friends get married, giving her time to pack a few things and disappear from his life.

“Reese?” Tanner asked. “Is it Russell?”

Reese looked at Tanner, barely able to make out the shape of his features in the dark room. “He’ll kill Garrett.”

Tanner stood abruptly, replacing his hat on his head. “No. He won’t. We won’t let him.”

“You can’t stop it,” Reese said. “No one can. Except for maybe me. If I’m not here. If I go back to Los Angeles or anywhere else, then Russell will have no reason to come here. Garrett will be safe.”

The door opened and Orly returned. “And what about me?” She asked. “How will suffering at the hands of your own step brother help me? Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I wasn’t sure if I should come in. Then I heard you saying you wanted to leave. Reese, I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m so glad that we’ve gotten to know each other and spend time together. You’ve become one of my closest friends and I don’t want you to leave. We need you here.”

It wasn’t like Reese wanted to leave. She loved her life with Garrett, and her friends. Orly, Hallie, and Skyla showed her what real friendship was all about, and Reese knew she’d never find anything like it again, no matter where she went. But Garrett’s life was on the line. Russell was going to kill him unless she did something to stop it. “I don’t know what else to do,” she finally admitted. “I can’t let Garrett die.” She hiccupped and swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I won’t survive that, especially knowing there’s a chance I could prevent it.”

A knock at the door had both women look up. Caden and Luke both stood in the doorway.

“What’s going on?” Luke asked. “Shouldn’t we all be outside getting ready for the ceremony?”

“Garrett asked me to check on you,” Caden said. “He told me what you did.”

Orly went into her husband’s arms. Luke enveloped her, not missing how she sought out his comfort and protection. “Orly? Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Orly pulled away from Luke just enough to look up at him. “I didn’t get the whole story because Hallie needed my help fixing her hair, but Reese saw Russell kill Garrett.”

“Orly!” Reese whisper-shouted, but Caden held up a hand, telling her without words that this was not the time to keep quiet about things.

“She what?” Luke asked his wife as he held on to her tightly.

“Please,” Reese said. “I can stop it. I have to at least try. You just have to buy me some time. Go get married. Just keep Garrett here, okay?”

“What do you mean, stop it?” Caden asked. “I thought you couldn’t prevent people’s deaths?”

“She can’t,” Tanner said. “Her plan is to leave Dallas without saying goodbye to Garrett in the hopes that if she leaves now, Russell won’t come here looking for her.”

“It’s a good plan, and then Russell might be too busy with me to worry about you,” Reese said to Orly. “I mean, you’ve been here already for how long, but it’s me that’s going to bring him here. Not you. I’m his step sister and he knows what I can do. Now that he has photographic proof that I knew Molly Edgar, he’s not going to want anyone else to make that connection.”

“Reese, a psychic can’t testify in a court of law,” Orly said. “Even if you shouted what you saw from the rooftops, it wouldn’t stand up in court.”

“I know,” Reese said. “But that doesn’t seem to matter to Russell. He’s coming to Dallas, and if I don’t leave now, he’ll kill Garrett. I won’t stand by and let that happen.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Garrett nearly roared from the doorway. Reese hadn’t even seen him there, but now all eyes were on him. Everyone stood aside and let him pass, but Reese couldn’t face him. Not now. Not ever. She was the reason he was going to die a young, handsome man, having never married or had kids. Everything she wanted for him was never going to happen if she stayed. She had no other choice. Leaving was the only chance she had to keep him safe. To keep him alive.

Garrett came to stand in front of her and took her hands in his like he had by the creek. “I don’t care what you saw. I don’t care if it happens. I don’t care about anything right now, except making sure that you don’t leave.”

“It’s the only way to protect you,” Reese insisted. “Don’t you understand? I don’t want to leave. I have to.” She couldn’t keep the helplessness from her voice if her life depended on it. She loved this man and leaving him would be the hardest thing she’d ever have to do.

“No, you don’t. Come back outside with me and let's enjoy our friends’ wedding. Dance with me. Have cake with me. Talk to me. Just don’t leave me, Reese. Stay. Stay and let’s face this together.”

Reese shook her head. “If I stay, he’ll come. But if I leave -”

“Do you know for sure that if you leave, he won’t come?” Orly asked.

Reese had never felt more helpless in her life. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, wishing she had a better answer. “No, of course not. But me being here, with Garrett, makes Garret a target. If I’m not here, even if Russell does come, Garrett will be in the clear. Russell won’t care about him. He won’t kill him.” Reese barely choked out the last words.

Garrett kneeled in front of her, then stroked the side of her cheek, wiping away the moisture that streamed down her face. “If you run, I’ll run with you. If you leave. I’ll leave with you.”

“You can’t.” How did he not understand that she was trying to save his life? “I’m sorry, but you have to let me go.”

“Did you know that I ran from Russell and kept my identity a secret from Luke for months?” Orly asked. “We talked in our heads, but I wouldn’t tell him anything about me. I did that to protect us from Russell and the serial killer that was taunting me. But guess how well that turned out?”

Reese didn’t want to hear more about the horror that Orly and Luke had been through because of her stepbrother. She was already living in her own worst nightmare. “What do you suggest I do? And don’t tell me to stay and ignore what I saw, because I can’t do that. It will happen, and it’s soon, because -” She looked at Garrett, and even though she couldn’t see into his eyes right now in the dark room, she could feel his desperation and love for her, and it was nearly her undoing - “because you’re the same age as you are now. It could literally happen any day.”

“Then we prepare,” Caden said.

“We fight,” Luke said.

“We keep our guards up,” Tanner said.

“We find a way to bring the fight to him,” Garrett added, standing back up to his full height. “Instead of waiting for him to find me, I’m going to start looking for him. I’ll have both the element of surprise and the advantage of being on the offense.”

Reese looked at each man as they spoke, and for whatever reason, their words were easing her nerves just a little. Maybe if they were expecting Russell, they could help protect Garrett. “It happens in a cabin I’ve never seen before. He blows it up and Garrett…”

“Okay,” Garrett interrupted. “I’ll stay out of cabins. That also tells me it won’t happen tonight or at the school, because you’d recognize both those places. It also won’t happen at my house. Right?”

Reese sniffled. “Yeah, that’s right.” Her breathing was starting to slow and she was feeling more like herself again.

“Okay,” Garrett said. “Look at me, Reese.”

She lifted her gaze to him as he pulled her up to her feet. She brushed her fingers across his cheek and he leaned into his touch. “I don’t need you to look me in the eye to know how you feel about me, or how I feel about you.” He covered her hand with his, holding it to his face like his life depended on her touching him and never letting go. “I’m a man who knows what he wants, and I want you, Reese Graham. I want to give this a real chance. Because I can see forever with you and I want it more than my next breath. So, here’s the deal, from now on, we’re in this together. No more thinking of leaving, or running, or hiding. Whatever happens, we face it head on. Together. Okay?”

Reese wanted forever with this man more than anything else in the entire world. She wanted to stay here in Dallas, build her life with Garrett, and have more fun nights out with her friends. She wanted to watch Caden and Hallie get married, and dance with Garrett, and go home with him, and make love on their picnic table under the stars again. If there was a way she could have all that without worrying about Russell… “We just can’t let anything happen to you, Garrett.”

“It won’t,” Garrett assured her, pressing a kiss to the palm of her hand.

“And it sure as hell wouldn’t be because of you,” Luke added.

“Now, can we have a wedding, please?” Caden asked.

“We better,” Tanner said.

All eyes turned to Caden and the whole room seemed to take a breath and release a tense chuckle. Reese even managed a soft smile. “I’m sorry I caused a scene.”

“I’d be pissed if you didn’t,” Caden said. “You saw someone kill one of my best friends. I - all of us - have a right to know. And as soon as Luke, who so graciously offered to become ordained online, marries us, you better believe we’re going to start planning and talking strategy, because there’s no way in hell I’m going to let that son of a bitch hurt another person I care about. Ever.”

The resolve in Caden’s voice actually helped put Reese more at ease. “Okay,” she said, shakily, though oddly feeling better about everything. “Let’s get you hitched.”

Caden took Reese’s hand and held it for a long moment. “I don’t envy your gift, but I’m damn grateful for it. I will do everything in my power to keep you and Garrett safe.”

“Thanks,” she said, knowing he meant every word. But the pit in her stomach was still there, because she had never been able to stop a death she’d seen. Then again, she’d never actually tried to stop anyone’s death. So maybe, just maybe, if they all worked together, they could save Garrett’s life.

Caden released her hand and Reese found herself in Garrett’s arms. When everyone else left the room, she turned to look at Garrett, but he just crushed her to him and held her tight, stroking her back up and down with one hand while his other hand held her firmly at the base of her neck. “Don’t ever run away from me like that again, Reese. If something scares you or upset you, I want you running to me, not away from me.”

She grimaced at his words. She hadn’t meant to take off on him at the creek like that. She just couldn’t accept what she’d seen. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do when I saw you die.”

Garrett recoiled at her words, but recovered quickly and tightened his hold on her. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I wish you hadn’t looked into my eyes.”

“No, I’m glad I did. If Tanner, Caden and Luke are right, maybe there’s a way to stop it. Maybe I can save you without losing you in the process.”

“Would you have really left without saying goodbye?” Garrett asked.

Reese hated admitting it, but it was the truth. “In a heartbeat. If it meant there was even a small chance it could save your life, I would do anything. Even leave you. Break both our hearts. Spend the rest of my life wondering if what we have could’ve been more. I’d endure all of that, for even a small chance at saving you.” Reese couldn’t read Garrett’s expression but he covered her mouth with his, kissing her so passionately and desperately, she could hardly breathe. She opened for him and his tongue surged inside. She moaned softly and he pulled her in tighter, giving her everything he hadn’t said with words.

When he pulled back, they were both breathless. “Don’t ever leave me,” he said, his voice cracking. “I don’t care if it saves my life. Just don’t.”

She placed her head on his chest and he covered it with a gentle hand. “I love you,” she said softly. “I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

“I love you, Reese Graham. And you’re not going to lose me without one hell of a fight.”