by Emelia Blair
My eyes moved frantically to meet the kind ones of Clarence, “How?”
He shook his head, “I saw the accident happen. Can you move?”
I gingerly tested my limbs and then groaned when my head moved suddenly, “I think I hit my head.”
The rain lashed over me and I shivered.
“Come on, inside the car. We’ll get your head looked at.”
He helped me into the backseat of his car and I didn’t understand why he got in the driver’s seat.
My mind wasn’t working so great. I was too shell shocked.
I glanced back at Philip’s totalled car and saw Tim’s unconscious form, “W-What about them? We have to help them!”
I couldn’t understand why Clarence was smiling so cheerfully, “They’ll be fine. Let’s get you away from here. Why don’t you lie down in the backseat? You’ll feel much better.”
No. I didn’t want to lie down. I wanted to help Tim and Jim.
“We have to help them,” I protested, weakly, fumbling for my phone. “Have to call nine-one-one.”
Clarence’s eyes hardened, “Lie down, Charlotte.”
Why was he calling me Charlotte? He always called me Mrs. McCoy.
I didn’t have my phone, I realized vaguely.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my haziness slowly leaving me. This area was familiar. This was where my bus passed from.
He was taking me to where I used to live?
As fear and doubt started creeping in, I had to force the fogginess away.
I was in danger.
My instincts were screaming at me.
“Detective Clarence, where are you taking me?” I asked, scared now.
He looked at me from his rear-view mirror, and smiled, no hint of that kind look in his eyes “We’re going to go see your step-father. You remember him?”
“Nick? What? You know where Nick is?”
Nothing was making sense here. What did Clarence want with Nick? How did he even know Nick?
The throbbing in my head wasn’t helping any.
“It took me a few years, but I managed to dig him out. And now with you here, I’m going to be handing you and him over to a few very unhappy loan sharks.”
I must have looked confused and terrified because he chuckled, “I’m surprised you don’t remember me, Charlotte. I used to be your step-father’s arresting officer. He was also the one who urged on my gambling problem.”
My hand crept to my bag and I felt the cylindrical shape of the small mace tucked inside. Terror was rampant in me right now.
“You used to be a small thing back then,” Clarence continued. “Underfed, broken. Maybe it’s not that strange.”
A dark room.
I was tossed on the ground in front of a bunch of men who leered down at me.
“You were there!” I gasped out, remembering that night. “You stood in the corner, watching me.”
“Good job, Charlotte!” Clarence seemed almost delighted.
“It was my idea, you know? To sell you to pay off both of our debts. And it was going great. They liked the look of you. Probably would have sampled you before selling you off. But then you had to go ruin that by running away. And then your father decided to go into hiding, or wherever he went. I was stuck paying off both our debts.”
He whistled, a cheerful tone that was so at odds with the atmosphere, “Ten years, but I finally found you. Now, you and your father are going to clear my debts, while I can retire peacefully.”
My voice shook in fear and outrage, “I am not some piece of property. I’m a person! You can’t just sell me like I’m like livestock!”
Clarence shrugged, “I feel bad, obviously. But I have to look out for myself, first.”
When I tried to open the zip of my bag, my fingers felt too numb to open it.
He glanced at my lowered head, and sighed, “Don’t be so glum. You’ve always been a slippery little thing. Even at the bakery, I was going to set the fire and get you out of there. That particular accelerant is so strong, the entire place would have been razed to the ground. But then, that husband of yours showed up. And you started attacking me like a maniac. Sorry about hitting you. I didn’t have much of a choice.”
I struggled to open the zip.
“You’re crazy,” I whispered, hoarsely. “You’re completely insane!”
I saw the main street just as the zipper came apart. My hand went onto the mace and I drew it out.
Alarmed at the sudden movement from behind the bars that separated the first half of the car, Clarence looked towards me and I sprayed him in the eyes, making him howl in pain.
The car swerved, and as he clawed at his eyes, my slim hand reached the side of his seat and pressed the unlock button.
Hearing the doors on each side of me unlock with a loud click, I didn’t hesitate, pushing the closest one open, and throwing myself out of the moving car. I rolled over, my hands around my head in a protective movement.
When I came to a stop, I ignored the way the ground seemed to move, and I ignored the thousands of cuts and bruises on me.
I just ran towards the main road.
Hearing Clarence shouting after me, I pushed my feet harder, tears of desperation in my eyes.
Oh, God! Let somebody recognize me!
I felt his feet splash in the water as he gained on me.
The rain had me drenched and I was just praying and hoping with a fervor that I reach the road.
Hearing the sound of him slipping behind me, I picked up pace and burst into the middle of the road.
Cars honked at me, people swore, a few cars stopped. A man opened his door, “Hey, get out of the road, lady!”
“Help me!” I screamed at him over the rain. “He’s going to kill me!”
The man blinked and then took in my face, “What? Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
“Charlotte!” I heard Clarence shouting my name and I begged the man, “Please call my husband, the police, anyone! That man wants to kill me! Don’t let him take me!”
The stranger started to look worried and took me to a corner of the road, “What’s your husband’s name? I’ll call him.”
“Philip. McCoy. Philip McCoy.”
The man gaped at me, “You’re the woman from the news.”
I saw Clarence walking towards me from across the road, and I gripped the stranger’s wrist, “Don’t let him take me! Please!”
He gave me an uncertain look, but he too must have seen how maniacal Clarence looked because he pushed me behind him, “Look, man. Let’s just call the police and we can-“
I saw Clarence lift his gun and I pushed the man out of the way, as the gun went off.
The burn in the side of my arm told me that it had grazed me.
My hand was on the mace when Clarence ripped it from my hands and grabbed me by my injured arm, menacingly, “You’re coming with me.”
“No, I’m not!” I struggled in his hold.
“I’m calling the police,” The good Samaritan yelled out as he got up. “Leave that woman alone!”
Taking advantage of Clarence’s distraction, I knee-ed him in the balls, and watched him drop to the ground with a groan.
Taking a step back, I broke into a run, almost hitting a black Mercedes that stopped just an inch away from me.
The man who emerged from the car, made my knees weaken with relief.
I was wrapped in familiar arms as Philip dashed over to me, “You’re okay! You’re okay. You’re fine. I’ve got you.”
I shook my head, “It’s Clarence. He-“
“We know,” Came another familiar voice and suddenly me and Philip were no longer being drenched by the rain.
Zayn looked at me, “Are you hurt?”
“My head. I think I hit it when the car totalled. I feel dizzy,” I mumbled.
Zayn glanced at Philip, “Maybe you should take her to a hospital. We’ll take care of the rest.”
Philip nodded, and herded me into the car,
his movements quick but gentle as he buckled me in. As he leaned back, I grabbed his sleeve, “Tim and Jim. They’re still there!”
Philip brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers, a gentle caress, “They’re fine. Ian’s with them.
He quickly slid behind the wheel after making sure I was secured and drove off.
We drove in silence for a while, before I mumbled, “I was so scared. He was going to give me to those loan sharks.”
Philip didn’t take his eyes off the road, his hands tightening on the wheel till his knuckles were white, “I did some checking up on Clarence. He’s up to his neck in debt. It wasn’t hard to find the paper trail he left behind. His links to the loan sharks and your stepfather weren’t that hard to uncover once we knew what we were looking for. We have enough evidence to lock him away for a very long time. And once this whole thing is done, you and I are going to take a long vacation to somewhere with a private beach.”
I pursed my lips, trying not to cry, “I thought I would never see you again.”
Philip put his hand on my lap, his silence speaking volumes. His jaw was taut as he said, “It was Zayn’s idea to put tracking chips in your bags. Just a precaution.”
I stared at the bag that still hung across my body, “There’s a tracking chip in this?”
Philip nodded, “You take this everywhere. Even your phone has a tracking chip. We didn’t know where the danger was going to come from so we covered all our tracks.”
He gripped my hand, “I was this close to losing you tonight, Charlotte. I don’t think I’ll be letting you out of my sight for quite a long time.”
I held his hand, my body shivering, my voice hoarse, “I can see it.”
He gave me a startled look, “What?”
“Us being married in five years. I can see it. I want that. I don’t want to be separated from you again, Philip.”
Philip’s hand gripped mine, tightly, “We won’t be. I won’t leave your side. Ever.”
As my world spun, I found darkness descending upon me.
When my eyes opened, I felt warm and cozy.
Vaguely, I wondered where I was, before realizing that I was staring a man’s chest.
Looking up, I saw Philip sleeping, his arm around my waist, one leg tossed over mine, completely entwined with me.
I moved slowly, and the movement was enough to jolt him awake.
He stared at me with relief in his eyes, “You’re up.”
There were fresh aches and pains on my body, but I felt more like myself, “How long was I out?”
He settled his hand on my stomach, “Just over twelve hours. You passed out in the car. Thankfully, you didn’t have a concussion, but you were banged up bad so the doctor just treated your scrapes and prescribed a day’s rest.”
I was silent, and then asked, “What happened? With Clarence. Did you get him?”
Philip ran his fingers through my hair, “Him, the loan sharks, they’re all in jail. Madison’s in jail. Your ex-fiancé is in jail.”
“What?” I blinked at the last part. “Why are they in jail?”
Philip just shook his head, “it’s a long and complicated story. I’ll tell you once we get up. But, meanwhile, I have something for you.”
I stared at him as he rolled over and picked up something from the nightstand.
“Give me your hand,” He told me, and I held out my left hand.
He took it and then removed the ring from it.
I felt something cold roll in me, and I asked, hesitantly, “Philip?”
He held out a box to me, and opened it, showing me a simpler, more stunning ring, “That one wasn’t from me. This one is. It’s our wedding ring. It’s my promise to you to love you forever, till my dying breath. This ring is also the one that I will put on your finger again when we get remarried, which we will on a date of your choosing.”
I held out my hand, my eyes brimming with tears, “You can’t ditch me this time.”
He slid the ring on, and then cocked his head, “I was more scared of you ditching me.”
I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips, “I love you, Philip. Thank you for loving me.”
He stared at me and I could swear I saw a sheen in his eyes, before he ducked his head and buried his face in my neck, murmuring, “My heart is yours now, Charlotte. Now and forever.”
I felt a happy sigh escape my lips, contentment filling my soul.
“By the way,” He spoke, looking up at me, “We can’t have unprotected sex anymore.”
I blinked, “Uh?”
He nodded, a wide grin on my face, “Brenda called. She told me you were very much fertile. And are capable of giving me very beautiful babies. In fact, she insisted on it.”
Amidst the warmth blooming in my chest, I couldn’t help but laugh, “Brenda insisted on it, did she?”
I felt his hands move along my body, suggestively, “I think we shouldn’t disappoint.”
I laughed as he kissed me and then dragged me to him to hold me in his arms.
I hadn’t thought I would ever be this happy, but as this man teased me and kept affirming his love for me, I let myself sink into the warmth that was him.
THE END
Also from Emelia Blair:
Wintertime Heat
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