Sucker Punched: A KT Morgan Short Suspense Read online

  Sucker Punched

  by

  Kathryn J. Bain

  Copyright © 2021 by Kathryn J. Bain

  Kindle Version

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means – electronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying), recording, or otherwise – without prior permission in writing from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. As such, any names, characters, places, incidents, and dialog are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual places, events, or persons (living or dead) is purely coincidental.

  To find out more about this book or the author, visit: www.kathrynjbain.com.

  Dedication

  I’d like to thank my critique group for all their help. Also, to Shannon Roberts and Marcie Bridges for cleaning up all my grammar issues. And a special thanks to Murphy Rae for her awesome cover.

  Sucker Punched

  September 28

  2:15 p.m.

  Jonah Fredericks swore his heart stopped. Whenever his fiancé, Karen, walked through the front door, he had the same reaction. Dressed in her green work shirt from Publix, strands of hair coming loose from the bun on the back of her head, she was beautiful. And her smile almost drove him to his knees.

  He worked to catch his breath.

  “Jonah? Are you there?” His sister, KT, asked over the phone.

  “Yeah, I’m still here.” Jonah refocused his attention. “How soon will you be here?”

  “About an hour.”

  Music from the radio could be heard over the line. “Great. Can’t wait to see you,” he said.

  “Can’t wait to see what you’re up to.” Her voice teased.

  “I’m not up to anything. I just have a surprise for you, that’s all.”

  “Gotta be something big if Aunt Lou won’t even tell me why you want me home so bad.”

  Jonah was glad the two were finally speaking. His aunt and sister hadn’t gotten along well when KT, as a teen, became dead set on enlisting in the military. Aunt Lou tried to force that decision out of her with piano lessons. She’d even tried to talk KT into ballet lessons at one time, but to no avail.

  Two hard-headed women in one home made things tense, growing up.

  “You’ll just have to be patient,” Jonah said.

  “Not my strongest suit.” KT laughed. “See you soon.”

  “Bye.” He slid his finger over the phone. She sounded like her old self, which was good with all that’d happened over the past few years. He’d give just about anything to have his sister home.

  “Hey, babe.” He walked over and wrapped his arm around Karen’s waist.

  “I hope your sister likes me,” Karen said. “You probably should have told her we were getting married. Let her get used to the idea instead of springing it on her.”

  Her soft floral perfume encompassed him. “She’ll like anyone who takes good care of me. And by not telling her, I get a true first impression.” While true, his main reason for not telling KT his news was she’d check up on his fiancé with the security company she worked for. “I just hope she doesn’t cut and run.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s still a bit sensitive, since—”

  “Mom. Mom.”

  Jonah gave a quick glance out the window and saw Matthew running through the backyard with a neighborhood friend following.

  “You never seem to finish what you’re saying when it comes to your sister.” Karen leaned against the kitchen counter.

  “Maybe it’s just as hard for me to talk about as it was for her to live it.” Jonah glanced at the floor, knowing there was so much that needed to be spoken.

  Matthew crashed through the back door. “Look what Danny and I found.” In his nine-year-old hands was a large toad.

  Ribbit

  Karen made a funny face. “Ick.”

  “What? He’s just a frog.” He looked at Danny and shook his head.

  Jonah laughed. “He’s sure a big one.”

  “Well, you need to let him go,” Karen said. “Jonah’s sister is on the way, and you need to get cleaned up.”

  “Doesn’t she like frogs?” He asked Jonah.

  “I know she’s eaten a few of their legs in her time.” Jonah raised a brow.

  “Eww.” He and Danny both scrunched up their noses like they smelled something bad. “We better get him out of here before she wants to eat him.”

  “Yeah,” Danny nodded. His bangs fell in front of his face. “Or he won’t be able to hop anymore.”

  “Well, hurry.” Karen shooed them out the back door. “I don’t want you smelling like a swamp when she gets here.”

  Jonah kept his eye on the two boys out the kitchen window as they ran to the back pond. He couldn’t help but smile. These past few months had been wonderful getting to know Matthew. Too bad his father hadn’t stuck around to see what a wonderful son he had. And what about KT?

  Would his sister also flee from White Springs when she found out Karen had a child the same age TJ would have been?

  2:43 p.m.

  Clarice Seidel scanned the pictures on the cell phone. Her daughter leaned against her arm. The other three girls sat scattered around the living room. The house they were staying in was nicer than most, and large enough for them all with three bedrooms, and one bathroom. Better than living in a car.

  As long as the former owners didn’t show up, they were fine. With the house in foreclosure, there was little chance of that, unless for some reason they returned for the furniture left behind. While the house was without electricity, the sun was still out until around eight in the evening. And the van they’d taken in Charleston was used to charge their cell phones, so they had a way to keep up with what was going on in the world.

  “Who’s that?” Evenie pointed to a man on the cell phone.

  “Your grandfather,” Clarice said. The photo was taken from a news article when William Seidel was given an award for most popular principal of the year for the local middle school in Hamilton County, Florida.

  “When will I meet him?” Evenie was the spitting image of her mother. In a few short years, she and Clarice would probably pass for sisters. Both with the same beautiful purple eyes and blonde hair color.

  “In time.” Clarice combed her fingers through her hair.

  “He doesn’t look very friendly.”

  “Because he’s not. But with you as pretty as you are, it shouldn’t take much to sway him in our direction.” Clarice flipped to the next picture. “First we must deal with her.” She jabbed the cell phone.

  Stefania Lathem smiled in the photograph. But then, Clarice would be happy too if Daddy spoiled her like he did Stefania. She was sure Stefania lived in a home Daddy paid for. He didn’t buy a house for Clarice. Didn’t pay her way. Instead, he’d tossed her out like a bag of old clothes.

  She never thought she’d return to White Springs, Florida, the town she grew up in. But even a boring small town was better than sleeping on the streets. And she’d not put Evenie in such a living situation. She was a better mother than that.

  Clarice’s grip tightened on the cell phone. Stefania had always been Daddy’s favorite. “Once we get rid of her, then everything will fall into place.”

  One of the three girls on the floor shifted.

  “I thought you said family was the most important thing in the world.” Meredith wrapped her chewed gum around her finger and stretched it from her mouth.

  “Stop playing with your gum,” Clarice barked. “You’re not a child.” You’d think animals had rai
sed the girl. Good thing Clarice had found her and taken her in.

  Meredith’s face reddened.

  Though a mother wasn’t supposed to play favorites, out of all the girls, Clarice disliked Meredith the most. You’d think a nineteen-year-old would know when to keep her mouth shut. But no. She was always questioning Clarice’s decisions.

  “Family is the most important thing,” Clarice forced a smile. “But sometimes those with your blood toss you away, so you have to form your own. So now, you're my family.” She smiled at each of the girls and gave her daughter’s hand a squeeze.

  All this was for her “children” to have a good life. Within a year, they’d be living in a beautiful home, swimming in the large pool, and enjoying movies in the entertainment room.

  Clarice swiped her finger over the phone and returned to the picture of her father. How long would he live once she tore his world apart? She patted the pistol she kept beside her leg. The one stolen from the house in Raleigh. Yeah, if the “incident” didn’t kill him, she surely would once he gave her everything.

  3:07 p.m.

  Jonah had left Karen to wash Matthew up. Not a simple task with a hyperactive kid. Jonah pulled his car around the corner, food for the next couple of days in the back seat. He caught sight of the black Jeep parked outside the graveyard to his right.

  KT always stopped there, though the cemetery was the primary reason his sister didn’t visit often. He parked behind the Jeep, got out of his car, and waited.

  Flowers on the gravestones gave off a wonderful aroma. Someone kept the place up nice, making sure all the cemetery vases were full of a variety of colors.

  KT’s lips moved as she spoke to the white stone, but he was too far away to hear. Fresh flowers had been placed on the graves of Tristan Morgan, loving husband and Tristan “TJ” Morgan, Jr., age five. Though they died in France, she had them brought here where she could visit when her job situated her near town.

  She brushed at her eyes. It wasn’t fair. She’d lost so much. First their parents, then a couple close friends in the military, and then her husband and son. Life seemed to make a habit of kicking her in the teeth.

  This last one, she’d kicked back. Hard. And it almost destroyed her.

  She rose and turned. A smile came over her face when she saw him. “How’d you know I’d be here?” she asked as she neared.

  “Took a chance. Nobody ’round here has a Jeep like that.” He nodded to the shiny black vehicle with gigantic wheels.

  They hugged each other. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her until that moment. Talking on the phone wasn’t enough.

  “So how are you?” he asked.

  “Be better if all the houses weren’t encroaching on the cemetery. Liked it better with the trees surrounding it.”

  Jonah glanced at the nearby subdivision going up. Too quickly built to be strong enough to survive a hurricane if White Springs were to get hit head on. Good thing they were in the middle of the state.

  “The place is really growing,” he said.

  “Lake City, too.”

  He should have known she’d cut through the city sixteen miles away where they grew up before heading here.

  “You hungry?” he asked.

  “Always.” She patted her stomach.

  “I can fix you something at the house or we can stop somewhere.” He paused with his hand on his car handle. “We’re having steaks for dinner. Figured you’d approve.”

  “Definitely. We can just head to the house so I can get settled.” Her eyes shone. More proof she was making her way back from all the guilt she’d heaped upon herself.

  She followed him to the house. He’d turned the garage into a spare room, so when she visited, she had a place to call home. Though he had four bedrooms, the garage gave her a sense of having her own place with more privacy than just a spare room would offer. Jonah had even installed a private bath and her own entrance so she could come and go as she wished. The only thing she had to share was the kitchen.

  They pulled up in the driveway. Jonah’s heart pounded. Maybe he shouldn’t have kept Karen a secret. He knew they’d get along great, but would his sister leave once she found out about Matthew? Too late now.

  He hopped out of the car and led KT into the house. Inside the foyer, voices mumbled from behind the kitchen wall. The aroma of baked blueberries hung in the air.

  “So, I finally get to meet this woman you’re marrying?” KT bobbed her eyebrows.

  Jonah stopped mid-step. “How’d you know?” A dash of relief and disappointment mixed. “Aunt Lou?”

  “No. She can keep a secret, but I’ve still got friends around here. And women who are getting married aren’t really quiet about it.”

  His sister was probably right.

  Karen walked out, hesitated, then continued forward. “KT, nice to meet you. I’m Karen Thibodeaux.” She held her hand out, which KT took.

  “Nice to meet you too.” KT turned to Jonah. “How’d a goofy-looking guy like you get such a pretty one?”

  “I wore her down.” He laughed.

  “Jonah, do I have to eat vegetables tonight?” Matthew stopped dead in his tracks. He looked up at KT, dressed in black jeans and a black jacket. At a muscular five foot eight, she lumbered over his mother, who stood at five two and weighed about one ten. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” she said back.

  “KT, this is Matthew. Karen’s son.” Jonah’s mouth suddenly went dry.

  “Nice to meet you.” The shine left her eyes. Sadness filled them. “I gotta get something from the Jeep.” She pointed to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Jonah took hold of her arm. His throat tightened, fearing if he let her leave, she’d not return.

  “I got something for the kid. I wasn’t sure he was going to be here yet.” She paused at the door and turned back to Matthew. After a deep intake of air, she said, “Wanna come with me, Kid.”

  “Is it okay, Mom?”

  “Of course.”

  Jonah couldn’t help but smile. His sister always was one step ahead of him.

  September 29

  7:04 a.m.

  Jonah pulled the breakfast cereal from the cupboard. Flakes. Boring for a kid Matthew’s age, but he didn’t want bacon and eggs. Jonah opened the fridge door to get the milk. The cool air hit him in a wave.

  Sun shined through the kitchen window. Another day that was supposed to be clear of rain. Hopefully, it’d stay that way for another week, at least until after the wedding.

  While he loved Karen, and was ready for them to be a family, she insisted they wait until after the ceremony to live together. She’d headed home the night before, leaving Matthew behind to get fitted for his tux since there was no school due to a teacher’s planning day. He’d played with the Marvel action figures KT had gifted him until it was time to go to bed. KT even got down on the floor with him, ensuring that she became his favorite aunt last night.

  The door between the house and the garage creaked open. KT walked in dressed in black leggings and gray t-shirt with the logo USMC. On her feet were bright blue tennis shoes. She was already coated with sweat, probably from the weightlifting equipment in her room.

  They’d spent the night talking until about two in the morning though you wouldn’t know it from her.

  “Good morning,” Jonah said with a yawn.

  “Doesn’t look like it’s morning for you yet.” She pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Hey, Kid. T-shirt fits you well.”

  “Yeah, I love it.” Matthew was referring to the Captain America shirt she’d given him the night before. “Where you heading out to so early?” He shifted in his chair, a ball of energy that couldn’t or wouldn’t sit still.

  “Running.”

  He looked her up and down.

  “What’s that?” He pointed to a thin black pouch on her hip.

  “A knife.” Always great at changing the subject, she pointed to the bowl in front of Matthew. “What’s that you’re
eating?”

  “Boring cereal.”

  Jonah chuckled. “I don’t have the good stuff.”

  “Good thing I do.” She disappeared back into her room and returned with a box of chocolate cereal. “Here, you go, Kid. Live it up.”

  “You’re going to get me in trouble,” Jonah said. “Karen thinks there’s too much sugar.”

  “Compare the boxes.”

  He did, the flakes had the same amount. He handed the box off to Matthew. “Guess you can have the fun stuff.”

  “Really?” Matthew’s face lit up.

  “You two enjoy,” KT said before she walked out the front door.

  Jonah walked to the front window and watched as she jogged around the corner. He always enjoyed having her visit. Now he just had to find a way to keep her here. Matthew’s chair scooted. Jonah glanced back at the boy who was now standing while he ate. After a second, Jonah returned his attention out the window.

  Unfortunately, it was hard to keep a ball of energy in one place.

  7:11 a.m.

  Clarice stared out the white van window as the older man approached Meredith. Though morning and the end of September, northern Florida was still hot out. A bead of sweat trickled down her back. The van reeked of sweat from Sophia and Haley hiding in the back with Clarice. Evenie’s eyes focused on her phone playing some game where she broke candy. She spent all day staring at the phone on the same game as if she were addicted to it.

  Meredith was the oldest of the three girls they’d picked up heading back to Florida from New York. Sophia and Meredith, sisters, had been at a diner outside Raleigh, talking about how bored they were with their lives. They both wanted to fit into a family since their parents dumped them after divorcing and remarrying others.

  Haley, a stranger to them all, had been living on the streets in Atlanta since she was thirteen, selling herself, doing anything to survive. Though a whiner, she was more prone to do what she was told for fear of being tossed out.