Page 91 of Until Tomorrow Comes
I scoff, angrily wiping away the tears that won’t stop falling.
“I thought I was being paranoid. That I had been thinking about him earlier in the day and my mind was playing tricks on me.”
Before anyone can speak, one of the officers speaks up.
“Who owns the house?”
“I do.” Jackson says, scooching us forward and carefully lowering us from the truck.
“If it’s alright with you, the three of them are gonna go search and clear the house. While they do that, I’m gonna ask some questions. Once it’s clear inside, we can go in and take pictures if you want to file a report.”
“Yes ma’am, thank you.” Jackson replies.
She gives a thumbs up to the three other officers to proceed, while Jackson and I answer what feels like an endless stream of questions and fill Officer Robbins in on my suspicion about Zack.
It’s almost an hour later that we finally get to head inside. Officer Robbins follows us in, while her partner takes pictures to file with the report.
I head into the kitchen with Thea while Jackson checks the house to see if anything was stolen. Moving toward the fridge, exhaustion weighing heavily on me, I freeze when I see the refrigerator.
The blood in my veins turns to ice as I force myself to cross the kitchen. Distantly, I hear Thea speak, but all my attention is on the two pictures taped to the center of the fridge.
On the left, is a picture of Jackson and I walking hand in hand on the beach at sunrise. It would probably be a beautiful picture, if not for the fact that it’s slightly blurry and clearly taken from the grassy coverage of the sand dune.
Beside that picture, is the one that got me here. The picture of Zack and I on our wedding day.
Someone touches my shoulder and I whirl around, arms flailing as I half expect to find the man of my nightmares standing behind me.
“It’s me, Kat.” Jackson soothes, wrapping me in his arms and leading me out of the kitchen. “I’m sorry, I tried getting your attention before coming up behind you.”
I let him guide me to the living room, sitting in the center of the couch next to Thea.
“Cooper is on his way over. Him and his friend have been helping me fix some things up around Grans house, so they already have supplies to board up the broken window until you can get someone out to replace it.” Thea says gently, putting her arm around me and hugging me to her side.
“Thank you.” Jackson says to her all while keeping his eyes on me. He’s kneeling in front of me, watching me closely.
“How?” I manage to whisper out, not needing to clarify.
How did he find me?
Thea and Jackson stay silent, neither able to answer or say anything that can make this better.
Sucking in a deep breath, I force a humorless laugh.
“I think I’m gonna need more than justoneglass of wine tonight.”
29
Jackson
“Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
“Jackson, we’ve talked about this.” Kat scolds, turning to face me with her hands on her hips. My gaze tracks down her frame, taking her in, and wanting nothing more than to drag her back upstairs.
“Besides, it’s not like she’s alone.” Thea states over her shoulder before moving to place the pan of brownies in the oven.
Placing a hand on Kat’s hip and bending forward, I press my forehead to hers. Kat blinks up at me, her features softening as she wraps her arms around my waist.
“It’s only a few hours. We spent all day yesterday preparing food for you to take, it would be a waste for you tonotgo.” She tilts her head back, placing a gentle kiss on my nose. “Besides, Alan is on his way and will be here in a couple hours.”
