by Dori Lavelle
He doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, he brings out a plastic lawn chair and helps Christa onto it.
As soon as the sounds of sirens in the distance reach my ears, something shifts inside my body. Suddenly, every ounce of energy left in me melts away and I find myself falling, my legs completely giving way. Cory catches me before I hit the ground. In his arms, I close my eyes as darkness pulls me under.
When I wake up, we’re inside an ambulance, my stretcher next to Christa’s. Both our faces are covered by oxygen masks.
I remove my mask and a middle-aged female EMT with extremely long lashes and dark, oval eyes, smiles at me. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” I say. My mouth feels dry. “How’s my sister?”
“She’s stable. She was dehydrated and she’s been in shock. But I think she’ll pull through. So will you.” She places a hand on my forehead.
I nod. “Thank God.” I don’t care about me right now. Christa is my priority. As I watch her, tears seep from the corners of my eyes.
“I hope you don’t mind, but the police are waiting at the hospital to talk to you.”
“That’s fine. I’ll speak to them.” I hesitate. “He wanted to kill us.”
The woman looks at me confused. Clearly, she doesn’t know most of the story. It doesn’t stop me from blurting everything out, everything that had happened.
“He killed so many people.” My eyes well up again.
“You were brave to get away from him,” the woman says, tears in her eyes.
I close my own eyes again, feeling exhausted. Now that I’m on my way to freedom, I allow myself to relax. I give my body permission to let go completely.
Chapter Nineteen
I wake up feeling groggy and a bit disoriented. I have no idea how long I’ve been asleep. It feels like several hours.
In the first few seconds of wakefulness, my body automatically tenses, thinking I’m back on the farm. Then I remember what happened and feel myself sink into the mattress, overcome with relief.
My eyes feel heavy as I look around me without moving my head much because the headache lurking at the back of my skull won’t let me. The bright lights in the white-washed room don’t help.
I blink several times until my eyes get comfortable. It feels as though I had been trapped inside a dark room for days and now I have to adjust to the brightness.
I finally turn my head completely to the side, so I get a better view of one side of the room.
When I try to sit up, a female voice discourages me from doing so.
“Don’t tire yourself out.” A blonde nurse of about my age nears my bed and looks down at me with kindness. “How do you feel?” She has the whitest teeth I have ever seen on anyone and dimples that make her look younger than I think she is.
“How long have I been sleeping?” I ask the most important question to me at the moment.
“Just a couple of hours. But you’re doing great. You were exhausted, which is understandable after everything you went through.”
The EMT I talked to inside the ambulance must have passed on the news.
The nurse’s words trigger something inside me that opens the door to the memories of what happened. The image of Dax sprawled on the dungeon glass floor with snakes on his body fills my mind. Then I remember Christa and how lifeless she had looked on the floor of the shed.
“My sister? Where’s my sister?” A wave of panic rushes through me. I try to sit up again.
The nurse places a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. She’s fine now.”
My eyes widen and my mouth goes dry. “What happened?” I had detected a slight hesitation in her voice. “Is she really fine?”
“She was dehydrated, and she showed some immediate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms, but she’s doing okay now. You’re both going to be fine. But you will be monitored closely. Should anything change for the worse, you will be flown to a larger hospital in Dallas immediately.”
The door opens and this time when I sit up, the nurse does not stop me. She’s distracted by the sudden flurry of activity on the other side of the window that stands between my room and the hallway. The three pairs of eyes peering through the glass are police officers.
Another one of them stops in the doorway. “Miss Stanton, I’m Officer Garland from the Stonebay Police Department. May I come in? I would like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.” The police officer has a thick, black beard with a gray stripe down the middle, and small, intense dark eyes.
“That’s not a good idea, Jim,” the nurse says. “Miss Stanton needs to rest.”
They must know each other, which is not surprising in a small town.
I lift a hand from the bed sheet and give her a weak smile. “It’s all right.”
The officer will not be the only one with questions. Besides, they might need me to tell them where to find Dax’s corpse.
“Fine,” the nurse says and glances at me. “If he wears you out, ring the bell next to your bed.” She leaves the room and the officer takes her place next to my bed. He lowers himself into the empty chair. The feet of the chair scrape the floor when he inches closer.
I bunch my hands into fists to stop them from shaking. Even though there will be enough evidence to prove what Dax did to me and Christa, a part of me cannot help but be terrified that the cops will think I’m a murderer, that they will not believe I did what I did out of self-defense.
“Thank you for your time, Miss Stanton. I won’t be long.” The way he’s looking at me, with wide eyes and a big crooked smile, makes me remember who I was for a brief time in my life, a famous Hollywood actress. He’s clearly star-struck in my presence. But he does his best to remain calm and professional during the questioning. “Mr. Brookins filled us in on your story, but it would be nice to hear your story straight from you.”
I frown. “Who’s Mr. Brookins?”
“The man who called 911. The owner of—”
“Right, yeah, I remember him. I told him what happened while we waited for help.” I clutch my chest. “He’s dead. Dax Pierce is dead.” I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again slowly. I wish I could wipe the image of him from my mind. “It was self-defense. He was going to kill me. . . me and my sister.”
“We know that. We found the farm where he held both of you hostage. There were cameras.”
“So you saw everything?” I’m not surprised there were cameras on the farm.
“Yes, pretty much everything.” He moves his gaze to the window for a moment as though he can’t bear to even think about the horrors I went through. When he looks back at me, his eyes are warm and kind. “I’m so sorry for what you went through, Miss Stanton. You were brave to do what you did.”
“Thank you.” I wipe the moisture from my eyes and tell him the whole story from Hollywood to Stonebay, filling in the blanks in his mind.
Word by word I reveal all the layers of Dax Pierce. Going back to the horror of everything that had happened, there are times I need to take breaks, and he pours me a glass of water from a jug on the table.
By the time I’m done, I’m exhausted and his eyes are round with shock.
The questions after I’m finished telling my story take longer than he promised it would.
Finally, I tell him that I’m tired, but I’m open to questioning later. He respects that and thanks me.
He pushes himself to his feet and walks to the door. Before he steps out, I call his name.
“There’s something else,” I say, biting my lip. “It might be important.”
He turns around. His face is still pale with shock. “Everything is important at this point.”
I tell him about the phone call I overheard while in the bathroom, that there are more people like Dax out there, dangerous people who kill like it’s a game.
It’s clearly new information to the officer because he returns into the room and starts jotting down my words. Maybe Dax’s office didn’t have cameras.
> Since I don’t have much more to tell him about the person I heard Dax talking to or the club he had been referring to, Officer Garland soon leaves, saying I gave him enough to work with.
When he’s gone, a disturbing thought crawls to the forefront of my mind. What if the officer was one of the dirty cops? The man who was on the phone with Dax had mentioned that there were cops on their team ready to help Dax clean up his mess.
I force the thought from my mind. I won’t make myself go crazy. I’m safe now.
When the nurse comes back to the room, I ask to make a phone call. She brings me a cell phone, which I use to call Curtis. The phone call goes straight to voicemail. I’m disappointed when I end the call and give the phone back.
“Can I see my sister?”
“She’s sleeping right now. But you can see her later, after breakfast.”
“I need to see her now.” My lips are trembling. “She needs me, even if she’s sleeping.” I don’t care if she doesn’t speak to me. I want to make sure she’s really all right, to see her with my own eyes.
“I understand.” She touches my shoulder. “I’ll take you to her.”
The nurse wheels me to Christa’s room. The distance is longer than I thought it would be. My dizziness makes us stop and I can tell the nurse wants to take me back to my room, but she doesn’t say anything.
Outside Christa’s room, I gaze through the open door. For a moment I simply watch her sleeping, her chest rising and falling. Warmth spreads through my chest. My sister is alive. I saved her.
“Can I go in?”
“Of course. But try not to wake her.” The nurse guides me into the room and helps me settle into the chair next to the bed. Even though Christa is hooked to some machines, there’s color in her face and her lips. She looks better than she did when I rescued her.
I force my mind not to remember how I found her, how terrified I was that she wouldn’t make it. My stomach still cramps up at the thought that I came close to losing her.
My eyes are burning as I cover my face with my hands.
“Don’t you dare blame yourself, sis.”
I look up. Through my blurry gaze, I notice a soft smile on her face. Joy bubbles up in my chest. She’s back. “How can I not blame myself,” I manage, choking up. “I did this to you.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “It wasn’t you. How could you have known he was a monster?”
“But I should have listened to you, at the start. I shouldn’t have chased fame.” I grab her hand and hold on tight. “But it’s over now. He can’t hurt us anymore. I killed him, Christa. I unleashed the snakes on him.”
“I knew you would find a way to save us. You did what you had to do.” Her own eyes fill with tears. “You saved my life. So no more blaming yourself, okay? We’re safe now. That’s all. . . that’s all that matters.” She squeezes her eyes shut. Tears trickle down the sides of her face. “I was so scared for you, sis. I thought—”
“I thought he’d kill us both.” I draw in a shaky breath. “I would never have been able to forgive myself if something happened to you. I’m sorry he treated you like a slave.”
“As your big sister, I’m telling you to stop blaming yourself. Let’s just look forward, okay?”
It takes me a long time to respond but finally I nod. I lift her hand to my lips and press a kiss on her skin.
“Are you all right?” Worry clouds her eyes. She knows I went through so much more than she was able to witness. She can sense how deep the wounds on my heart are.
“One day I will be. Right now, I’m just happy you’re safe.”
I give her a kiss on the cheek, then the nurse takes me back to my room for a round of tests. After we’re done, I sink into the bed. I can finally breathe again.
After breakfast, I call Curtis again but I’m still unable to reach him. I leave a message telling him I’ve escaped and he can reach me at the hospital.
Two FBI agents show up to talk to me between breakfast and lunch. They explain that they will be the ones questioning me now and not the local police since Dax had taken me over state lines. They look legit so I tell them what I told the officer.
After they leave, I tell one of the doctors that I no longer want to be questioned. I also tell him to keep hospital employees from sneaking in for autographs. I’m desperate for some rest.
Finally alone, I lean back on the bed and turn on the small TV in time to see a local news station exploding with my story. It feels unreal to see snapshots of the farmhouse that has been my jail. Dax is being labeled a monster. I’m not even sure anymore whether that’s the right title for him. He was so much worse. It’s incredible how much information the press can capture within only a few hours.
As I watch the story unfold, my body clenches up again as though I’m back there.
I can’t watch anymore. It’s too painful. I turn off the TV again and close my eyes to shut out the painful images. I can’t bear to even see his face on the screen.
Chapter Twenty
My eyes open when the door opens. Happiness blooms inside my chest at the sight of him rushing into the room. While I have changed both physically and emotionally, he’s the same man I left behind when I visited hell, but the spark that used to light up his blue bedroom eyes has died, and his face is a touch more serious than it used to be. But it’s him. I never thought I’d see him again.
“Curtis,” I say breathless. “My God, you’re here.”
For a moment he stops a few steps from the bed, studying me with broken eyes. He takes another step forward, then another. “Of course I’m here. As soon as I heard, I got on a plane. Jesus, are you okay?”
I don’t answer as tears spring to my eyes. I sit up in bed and stretch out my arms. “Hug me, please.”
He nods and comes to fold me in his arms. “You’re alive.” His voice is hoarse with tears. “I thought. . . God, I thought I would never see you.” He pulls back to look at my face.
As his gaze takes me in, a wave of humiliation sweeps up my neck. “He shaved off my hair.” I blink away tears. “He made me ugly.”
“No.” He places a thumb on my cheek to wipe away my tears. “He could never do that. You’re as beautiful as the last time I saw you.”
I want to believe his words badly, but right now I can’t because I still feel the effects of Dax.
I allow him to pull me into another hug. For a few heartbeats, we hold each other in a silence that’s only broken by our sobs. For the first time since Dax stole me, the knot in my stomach unravels and warmth spreads through my body, melting away some of the remaining pain.
In Curtis’s arms, I notice how different my feelings for him are now, but this is not the time or place to give thought to that. With what I’m going through, romance is the last thing on my mind. I’m happy to have my friend here. The next few days, months or maybe even years will be dedicated to finding myself and healing.
Curtis stays with me for a while, but when I try to tell him what happened, he’s unable to hear it. He tells me he heard most of it already on the news and he doesn’t want me to torture myself. So most of our time is spent in silence, in gratitude. With him by my side, I feel safe and grateful to have him as someone I can trust.
“Emma,” he says finally. “I want you to know that I did everything to find you. I’m so sorry I failed.” His face crumples with disappointment.
“Hey, don’t do that.” I squeeze his hand. “You’re here now. And I’m alive.”
We hug again but move apart when a doctor I haven’t met yet steps into the room.
“I’m Dr. Daniels.” He stretches out his hand to shake mine. “How are you feeling, Miss Stanton?”
“I’m okay. . . tired.” I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck and survived.
“Can we talk alone?” He glances at Curtis.
I frown. “Is everything all right, doctor?”
Dr. Daniels gazes at the clipboard in his hands. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk in p
rivate?”
“No.” I smile at Curtis. “This man is my agent and best friend. I want him to be here.” The truth is, I’m a little terrified of what the doctor wants to tell me. I don’t want to be alone.
“All right.” He smiles. One of his teeth is slightly crooked. “I have your test results. Everything looks great, but there’s something you should know.” When he hesitates to continue, I cut in.
“Whatever it is, I can handle it.” I’ve handled so much worse already. I can’t imagine anything topping what I have gone through.
“We discovered that you’re pregnant, Miss Stanton.”
A gasp bursts from my lips and blood drains from my face. I’m suddenly warm and cold at the same time. “How. . . No. Are you sure? I mean, I was pregnant. I told the nurse. But Dax, he made me take an abortion pill.”
The doctor is silent for a moment. “Looks like it didn’t work.”
“But how’s that possible?” I don’t even look at Curtis, but I can feel his own shock cutting through the air. “I was bleeding.”
“Some pregnancies survive the abortion pill. It could be that it wasn’t administered properly.”
Silence falls in the room and the only thing I can hear is my pounding heart, the blood rushing in my ears. I’m pulling in several deep breaths, one after the other to calm myself down, but it’s not helping.
“Miss Stanton, are you okay?” the doctor asks.
“I don’t know.” I reach for my half empty glass of water and down the liquid. It’s hard to hold the glass with my shaking hands, so I put it back down. “It’s okay,” I say. “It’s. . . it’s a bit of a shock, that’s all.” I swallow hard. “Thank you for letting me know, doctor.”
“Of course.” He gives me a kind smile.
I can’t believe I’m still pregnant, after I had grieved my baby. I hated Dax for killing my baby before I had a chance to make a decision on whether I wanted to be a mother.
I place a hand on my stomach and keep it there, my eyes closed. “It’s a miracle,” I say softly. “It’s a miracle.”
“Yes, it is,” the doctor agrees. He waits for me to open my eyes again and tells me he has other patients to see and will be back later.
