Norma Jean Read online

  “Grace?” Declan says confused.

  “Umm can I speak to Caden?” she asks walking into the room after Declan pulls the door open enough for her to enter.

  Caden looks angry, which is the normal expression for him whenever the tall leggy blond enters the same room as him. “Not now Grace, Chance’s girlfriend is missing.” He waves her off and Grace looks upset.

  “This is really important. I swear.” she pleads to the back of his head.

  Caden sighs and gets up off the couch. He passes her without a glance and heads up the stairs. Grace slowly follows never once looking back at us.

  “I don’t even want to know.” Teagan says pretending that didn’t just happen.

  I roll it off my shoulders and start pacing again. The waiting game is something I never want to do again. It is literally killing me that I don’t know where she is or if she is okay. She has to be okay, I won’t believe anything else. My phone starts ringing and I nearly jump out of my skin. “Hello?” I nearly yell without looking at the screen to see who it is.

  “Chance. I guess while I’ve been staying at my moms, Creed stole my truck. I’m sorry I didn’t find out sooner. I’m coming up with Aunt Elizabeth so get out looking for my car. He couldn’t have taken her far.” I hear wind blowing around him like he’s in a vehicle with the window down.

  “How do you know he stole it?” I question scratching the back of my neck.

  “He left me a fucking note. The crazy bastard is so dead when I get my hands on him!” he bellows out frustrated.

  “What did it say?” I ask impatient.

  “Hey Marley. I’m off to kill your cousin and I need your truck. I know where Chance lives and you should find me before I find them.” I can’t tell if that’s really what it said or if he is just being sarcastic.

  “He wrote that?” I sit down on the coffee table and push my fingers into my hair.

  “Yeah. Exactly that. I always knew that bastard was crazy.” I quickly get off the phone with him after. I pull my truck keys out of my jean pocket and head for the door.

  “Wait!” Declan exclaims making me stop in my tracks. “What did he say?” I turn back to look at him feeling more impatient than ever before.

  “Creed stole his truck and came this way. I know what it looks like. I’m going to drive around and see if I can find them.” I turn back around taking another step towards the door.

  “What kind of truck and we will look too.” I glare at him but it doesn’t seem to faze him. “You could use the help and I don’t really want to sit here waiting for something to happen.”

  Damn he’s right. I rattle off the make and model of the truck. Before I leave I hear Declan say something about getting Caden and Grace to help look too. I don’t really care at this point. I just want to get out and find Norma Jean.

  I climb into my truck feeling completely lost. I don’t even know where to start. They could be anywhere, hell he has had all day to get her somewhere and hurt her.

  I won’t think like that though. I have to keep strong and clear headed for smalls.

  Chapter 17

  Norma

  I’m floating on nothing. Like literally floating on nothing. Everything is black and cold. I can’t touch anything or feel anything but I’m not falling, just floating. Its freaks me out. Where are the fiery gates of Hell? Or the pearly gates of Heaven? Maybe there really isn’t a Heaven and Hell. Maybe our souls just exist in limbo until the end of forever. Damn that’s a really long time.

  I feel like I’ve been this way forever. Like I can’t remember a time I was alive. I wonder have long I have been dead. I don’t like that limbo is the way I have to spend eternity. I would have loved to be a ghost. Then I could have followed Chance around until the end of his hopefully long life. I would have seen him get married and have children. I could have seen him as a loving and dutiful husband. Something I will never get to experience now.

  Tears fall down my cheeks and fall off into the deep emptiness around me. I hope my mother doesn’t take it too hard. Losing my Grammy and me in the same year might be too much though.

  How I wish I could have foreseen all of this happening. The evil lurking behind Creed’s eyes wasn’t something I searched for. I never expected to see it there. Somehow the good boy turned out to be the bad boy. And the bad boy turned out to be really good.

  I hope that Macy doesn’t miss me too much. I know I haven’t been around all that often lately but I love that little girl. She made me happy when nothing else could even make me smile. She deserves all the joy in the world. I pray that she meets a guy like her uncle. Not like her father. I wouldn’t wish my experiences with Creed on anyone.

  Will I spend an eternity here living through my mistakes over and over again? Will I have to deal with all the pain of stuff I never got to do? I never had kids. I wanted 4. An entire house full of them running around. Little auburn haired boys with hazel eyes. My little Chance’s.

  It’s funny how I didn’t want them when I first started dating Chance. Now that I know he was my forever, I can’t stop thinking about how much I wanted them.

  Life seems to always be playing some sick joke on me. My eternal happiness is right at my finger tips and then it’s gone. Over and over again. Maybe it’s good I didn’t bring babies into the world. I wouldn’t want to pass my luck on to them.

  When I feel something touch my wrist, it’s safe to say I freak the hell out. I look around my prison of nothing but darkness though it’s useless. I can’t see a thing. Something that feels close to arms go under my head and legs pulling me up. Am I finally being moved from limbo? Will I go to heaven or hell? Will I be reborn?

  Then I am moving. I still can’t see a thing but it feels like something is walking with me in its arms. I am finally being set free.

  *****

  When I open my eyes there is so much light. It blinds me and I have to blink several times before I can even keep them open. “Where am I?” I ask on a croak.

  A shadow stops in front of my face blocking out the light. I can’t make out any features but it seems to be holding something. “You’re safe sweetie.” says a nice grandmotherly voice.

  “Grammy? Am I in heaven?” I feel tears start to fall down my face but I can’t muster the energy to raise my arms and wipe away the tears.

  “No dear. Just a nurse at the hospital.” She pats my arm before moving away. The lights are back on full force causing me to wince.

  “Huh?” I ask turning my head the way I think she moved in.

  She walks back towards me, blocking out the light again. I sigh in relief. “You were shot in the leg. The bullet nicked your femoral artery. You would have bled out but you had a blood clot and it saved your life. Well that and the nice hunter who found you.” She pats my shoulder this time and moves away from me again.

  I’m fucking alive! Are you kidding me right now? Somewhere, somehow I’m not dead. Maybe my luck decided to change. Though something doesn’t seem right. Where is everybody? Chance. My mom. Dad. Marley. Hell even Declan, Teagan, and Caden. “Where are my family?”

  “We have been waiting for you to wake up to tell us that. There are no missing person’s reports for a woman your age and you didn’t have any identification on your persons,” says a male voice.

  “My name is Norma Jean Davis. I’m 22 and I’m from Duke, Arkansas. My mother’s name is Elizabeth and I need to call her. She is probably freaking out right now.” I stammer out. I can’t believe I’m alive. I also can’t believe no one knows where the hell I am. Why didn’t they file a missing persons report?

  “Alright sweetie, calm down. Give me any numbers I need to call and we will get everyone here.” I prattle the number for mom and Chance. “Listen to the doctor now sweetie. Your family will be here soon.”

  “Now Ms. Davis, the police are here to talk to you. There was a male with you. He didn’t make it. They would like to know what happened out there.” I look up at him and nod my head. I don’t really want t
o see the police but I will do whatever they want.

  An older gentleman in a suit walks into the room. His badge flashes in the light and he has an easy smile on his face. “Hello Ms. Davis. I’m Detective James and I have been assigned to your case.” I nod and he keeps talking. “Now I was listening outside the room and I ran your name through and there does seem to be some activity.”

  I’m sure I looked really confused. I haven’t even been pulled over for speeding. What could my record say? Do they have tapes of me selling drugs for Creed? Oh my god I’m going to jail for the rest of my life! The machine that is hooked up to my heart starts going crazy and my head starts to feel dizzy.

  “Calm down Ms. Davis. I only meant that your friend Chance Duncan tried to file a missing persons on you earlier today. Since you hadn’t been missing for 24 hours they had to wait but it did say to keep a look out for a woman matching your description.” He pauses looking through a notepad I’m sure he pulled out of his jacket. “Creed Donovan is wanted in the connection of kidnapping a Macy Duncan and setting fire to a Mrs. Chambers house. And the theft of a Mr. Marley Chambers vehicle. Is that the male we found with you? He didn’t have any identification either.” He looks up at me hopeful.

  “Yes that was Creed Donovan. He is my ex-boyfriend. We broke up weeks ago. I hooked up with my old boyfriend, Chance Duncan and Creed wasn’t happy. He has been stalking me the whole time. He kidnapped Macy because it hurt Chance and I at the same time. I guess he set my Grammys house on fire just to hurt me. It scared her so bad she had a heart attack.“

  “Mrs. Chambers did have a heart attack but it says here that she was dead for at least 8 hours. Mr. Donovan was spotted in Arkadelphia at the time of her death so there is no way he was the cause of her death.” He looks up at me I guess expecting me to go on.

  How do you go on from that revelation? He had nothing to do with it. Somehow shooting him feels wrong and completely disgusting. I thought he killed Grammy and in my head it was like a life for a life. I know it wouldn’t bring Grammy back but at least I would have gotten revenge. Now his death at my hands was pointless. I really didn’t mean to kill him but I was still trying to make it seem better in my head.

  “I was staying at Chance’s house because Chance thought Creed didn’t know where he lived. We thought I would be safe there but Creed knew all along where Chance was living. He waited until everyone in the house went to school and came in through the front door. I’m not sure if it was locked or not because I didn’t hear him enter. He hit and kicked me a few times until I passed out. He took me out there to that cliff.” I pause, tears start to flow. “He said some things to make me really upset so I said some things back to him. The gun was in his left hand it was pointed down. It went off and hit me in the leg. I fell to the ground and he dropped the gun. I didn’t even think I just picked it up and shot. I didn’t know it would hit his chest and he would die.” I sob out placing my head in my hands.

  “Calm down Ms. Davis. Nurse Gladys will come back in here and kick my ass.” He places a card down on the blanket but I don’t look up at him. “I’ll get this filed but we ask that you don’t leave the county. There will be a full investigation and you will need to be available to answer any questions.” I hear him leave the room and I start to cry even harder.

  I’m going to go to jail for killing Creed. Where’s the justice in that?

  I fall back onto the pillows and curl into my sides. Apparently I have only been gone for hours instead of days. I wonder how that hunter found us. I know it’s not deer season, so I can’t imagine what he was hunting up there.

  I may not have deserved the things that happened to me but neither did Creed. He was just a lost man who had trouble finding his way. It’s funny the difference between my two guys. One who beat the odds given to him and the other who let it drown him. I think I will always hurt for what I did to him. I should have pushed that gun over the cliff. Anything really but shoot him.

  The nice older nurse, Gladys I think Detective James called her walks in then and stops in her tracks with a scowl on her face. “Why are you bawling like that sweetie?”

  I shake my head as sobs start to rack my body. I can’t hold them in. I’m a terrible person. How could I have done this? What kind of person kills? I should have done anything I could have not to kill Creed. “I killed someone.” I stutter out to her.

  Her face softens and she walks over and sits down on my bed and starts rubbing my back. “I understand. Well not exactly but I think it says a lot that you are crying about it. I would think you were a monster if you weren’t upset and guilty over it.” She smiles gently. “People sometimes have to do things to survive that doesn’t sit right with them. All they can do is learn to live with it.” She stands up and grabs my hand. “And you are going have to learn soon, that baby doesn’t need a messed up momma.” She winks before leaving the room again.

  Excuse me?

  Chance

  My phone ringing from my hand wakes me up. I stayed out till one am looking for Marley’s truck in hopes of finding Creed and Norma. I look at the alarm clock and note I had been asleep for two hours. Two hours where Norma wasn’t safe. “Hello?” I say answering my phone to a number I don’t know.

  “Mr. Chance Duncan?” comes an older ladies voice.

  “Yes, who is this?” please don’t tell me you have Norma’s dead body. I just might die myself.

  “This is Gladys, Ms. Norma Jean Davis asked me to give you a call and tell you she’s at the hospital. She has been through a lot but you can come and see her whenever you like.” To say I’m rendered speechless is an understatement.

  “She’s alive?” I breathe.

  “Yes sir. I’ll let her explain when you get here.” She says goodbye and the call disconnects.

  I’m off my bed and running out of the room before you can say Thank Fuck. I stop at Caden’s door to tell him where I’m going so he can let everyone know in the morning. What I don’t expect is for him to be thrusting into his twin brother’s girlfriend. His face is thrown back in pure pleasure and Grace is dragging her nails down his back. Neither one notices me as I quickly close the door.

  I don’t even have time to process that right now. I stop at Declan’s door knocking before I open. Teagan is curled up in his arms thankfully dressed. I don’t think I could handle seeing anyone else having sex tonight. “Dec.” I say softly startlingly him awake.

  He shoots up in bed knocking Teagan to the side. “What? What’s wrong?” Teagan moans beside him and rolls over never waking up.

  “Norma is at the hospital. I’m heading there now.” I turn to leave but he stops me.

  “Wait we’ll go with you.” He shakes Teagan until the raven haired beauty opens one eye.

  “No y’all go back to sleep. She isn’t dying or anything. At least I don’t think so. The nurse didn’t really give me and details.” This time I make it to the door before Declan speaks again.

  “Call us and let us know how she is.” I nod and finally leave the room well almost.

  “Chance, man you might want to put some clothes on.” Teagan chuckles.

  When I arrive at the hospital my palms start to get sweaty and I can’t seem to catch my breath. Please let her be okay. I don’t care if there is anything serious wrong with her. Like missing a leg or going blind. I just want her to be alive and breathing. This world would be an ugly place without Norma Jean’s beauty.

  “Hi, I’m looking for Norma Jean Davis.” I say to the kind older woman at the nurse’s desk.

  “Mr. Duncan I presume?” I nod and she gets up from the desk. She motions me down the hallway and opens the door to room.

  Inside sits my entire life.

  “Norma had to have surgery on her leg so we have her on some pain meds that make her sleepy.” When I start to look worried she explains. “Norma was shot in the thigh and the bullet nicked her femoral artery. She would have bled to death if she didn’t have a blood clot. The doctors had to repair the dam
age so that was the cause for surgery. She is going to be just fine. A scar the only lasting effect.”

  “Thanks.” I tell her nodding and walking into the room that holds Norma. She looks so small and broken lying in the bed. I don’t even think before I’m laying down beside her pulling her sleeping body into my own. She doesn’t seem to notice or care.

  I lay there smoothing my hand over her hair and it doesn’t take me long to fall asleep. I feel at peace that she is okay and alive. Whatever tomorrow brings I can make it through with her by my side.

  *****

  “Chance.” Norma whispers in my ear. I smile cuddling closer to her warmth. God I love waking up next to her.

  “Good morning.” I murmur nuzzling her cheek.

  “Chance, wake up.” She chuckles swiping her fingers through my hair.

  “I am awake. Let’s stay in bed all day.” If only we could stay in bed all day every day.

  “Umm that would be okay if we were alone. My mom is kind of in the room.” That makes me open my eyes and take in my surroundings. The standard hospital bed is small and crowded with both our bodies lying on it. The sun shines in through the blinds, making the room brighter and it kind of hurts my eyes.

  Elizabeth stands at the foot of the bed grinning like an idiot. “Good for you to finally open your eyes. I kind of thought we would have to get a doctor in here for you.”

  “Mom. He’s tired. He did have a horrible day yesterday.” Norma stares pointedly at her mom and the older woman cringes.

  “Yeah, I’m really sorry about yesterday Chance. I shouldn’t have yelled and threatened you like that.” She looks away from me wiping a stray tear.

  “It’s okay. We were all scared and frustrated.” I shrug finally looking down at Norma. Her chestnut hair is all over the place but her violet eyes are bright and full of life. Her face is busted up but there’s nothing I can do about it now.