it was just that motherly part of her who had loved and lost that would always jump to the worst conclusions when it came to people she cared about.
There was a pad of paper on the edge of the counter and she stepped over to it, intending on leaving a note about the food. But there was already a typed note sitting on top. She read the first line, her concern growing as she picked it up, reading quickly.
She folded the note slowly, putting it in her pocket before rushing out of Harper’s apartment.
Forty-five minutes later, she was pulling into her own driveway, and twenty seconds after that, she was rushing into the house. “Mark?” she called, tossing her purse and keys on the console table in the foyer.
“Mark?”
“Hey,” he said, appearing from the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been calling you,” she said, as he met her in the foyer.
“Sorry. I came from the hospital. Halston Fairbanks had a heart attack. Damn, I must not have turned my phone back on.”
Laurie stopped, her eyes widening. “Halston Fairbanks had a heart attack? Oh my God.” She shook her head in disbelief. That could wait for a minute. She brought the note from her pocket and thrust it out to Mark. “This was in Harper’s apartment. She left it for Jak. It . . . doesn’t make sense.” She paused. “Does it?”
Mark read it quickly, his brow creasing. “Killed Driscoll? Amity Falls? They’re . . . running away together?”
“You talked to Jak earlier at length. Does it make any sense?” Her heart beat quickly. Was it only that she didn’t want it to make sense? Was it only her own delicate emotions that were trying to insist two people who had suddenly attached themselves to her heart wouldn’t possibly just pick up and leave?
Mark shook his head. “No. I took his full statement about Driscoll’s death earlier.” His brow wrinkled as though he was considering whether Jak had lied in some way. It smoothed out. “No. But Harper’s not answering her phone so I haven’t been able to get hold of him. He could feel . . . I don’t know, responsible somehow for his grandfather’s heart attack? Apparently he found him and alerted the family. But this?” He held up the note. “No. And what? Did he flag down a ride to the falls?” He looked to the side, pressing his lips together. “Hell, that man could have run there if he was inclined to do it.”
Laurie stared at him for a moment. “I have a bad feeling, Mark.”
They both stood there for a moment, so many things flowing between them. The memory of the moment Laurie had mentioned her concern over the bruises Abbi kept getting—bruises that were explainable by the sports she was involved in, but that her motherly instincts told her were worth a doctor’s appointment. The diagnosis. The fight. The ultimate loss. The unthinkable grief. Their drifting apart . . .
He'd always listened to her intuition, though. He’d never made her feel silly, or irrational. “You need to go there. To the falls. They need you,” she said.
He looked at her closely for another moment, nodding. “I’ll get my coat.”
She grabbed his keys for him as he put on his coat and boots. “They’re fighters,” she said, more to soothe herself, to convince herself they were okay.
Mark opened the door, pausing. He turned back, taking the few steps to her, his hands wrapping around her upper arms, holding on. “Our girl was a fighter, just like you, Laurie. She fought until the very end. She’d want us to fight too. We’ve stopped fighting. For us. We need to start again. I will not lose you.” His voice was full of so much emotion, a lump filled Laurie’s chest, so full she couldn’t breathe. Joy sparked within her. A rekindling of their life.
Laurie nodded her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Come back to me,” she choked. “And bring those kids with you.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Society will benefit. The children will benefit. Eventually the world will benefit.
My God. He’s a psychopath. Did he really think anyone in their right mind would accept this? And yet, a cold spear of dread moved through Harper, the knowledge that already, others had prescribed to this madness. Not only prescribed to, but put into practice. Who else out there was suffering? Trying to survive any number of unknown terrors and hardships right that very moment? She shuddered.
“You really think people are going to accept this?”