Page 52 of Hidden With You

“Never. I’ll never forget you, and I’ll never stop searching for who did this to you.”

“They hide in plain sight, you know,” Sandra said. “We never saw it coming. You never saw it coming. But Jasper, my love, hindsight is twenty-twenty. All you have to do is look in the right place.”

He shook his head, unable to understand the words. “What do you mean? What are you talking about?”

“Remember, look in the right place. They hide in plain sight. You would never see it coming. Good is bad and bad is good and we don’t know the difference until we know. And, my love, now it’s time for us to go.”

“No,” he began, but he didn’t get to finish the sentence. Instead the word transformed into a scream as the car fell away from beneath him.

He clung to the rope, his hands tight on the knots, his feet clambering for purchase. It was shaking, the ground beneath him rumbling. He looked down, trying to see where the car had landed. But it was gone.

For a moment, the clouds shifted, revealing the sun. He saw one flash of light below, as quick as a wink, then that was gone too.

For an eternity, he hung in the void alone.

Then he looked up. He saw Zelda.

And Jasper began to climb.

Jasper woke with a start, his cheeks wet with tears. He was groggy. Disoriented.

Then he looked down and saw the woman in his arms, and a sense of calm came over him. He was where he was supposed to be, and he had the blessing of his wife and daughter.

For the first time in a long time, life was good.

He bent over, gently kissing Zelda’s bare shoulder. He knew it was just a dream, but it had soothed him. It had been a push. Hell, it had been an order. His subconscious telling him to forgive himself.

He would never stop trying to find their killer, but it was time to move on. And he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Sandra would not only want him to, but that she would adore Zelda as much as he did.

As if awakened by his thoughts, Zelda turned in his arms and smiled at him. “Hey there,” she whispered, and he answered her with a kiss.

“I could get used to waking up like this.”

He reached downward and gently pushed the hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear. “I’m never going to stop looking for the monster who killed Sandra and Bonnie.”

Her brow furrowed. “I know. Did something happen?”

“I had a dream about them,” he told her. “Are you okay with that? Knowing that I’m not going to stop looking.”

The crease between her eyebrows deepened, and she pushed herself up on an elbow. “Well, yeah. Of course. But I don’t really have a say in that.”

“Yeah, you do.”

“I do?” She bit her lower lip, like a kid working their way through a math test. “Why?”

He took a breath. “Because I’m falling in love with you,” he said, the words feeling perfect because they were real. “I know it’s fast, but it’s true.”

He watched her eyes go wide.

“Oh.”

For a moment, she said nothing, and fear started to prickle at his skin. Then her lips curved up. “Well, that’s pretty convenient,” she said. “Because I’m falling in love with you too.”

For a moment, they simply looked at each other. Then he kissed her. He didn’t intend to start something, but with Zelda, he never seemed to have any self-control. Before he knew it, he was deep inside her, passion growing as they claimed each other, each unable to get enough, until finally they exploded together in a symphony of light and pleasure.

“I think I like waking up like this,” she said, then snuggled closer. Her face was buried in his neck and he could feel her breath along with the movement of her lips as she spoke. “Will you let me do something for you?” she asked.

“Anything.”