He saw the worry in her eyes. “Sure. I’ll be fine. There are plenty of supplies, and I was going to try and finish this piece anyway.” She smiled.
He looked at the painting of the beach scene and saw the outline of a couple walking hand in hand. His hope for the future was very strong. He wanted nothing more than to walk with her along the beach hand-in-hand for the rest of his life.
“I can stay.” He watched her face.
“No,” she shook her head. “Your work is important. I understand. You’ve been gone almost three weeks. Go.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’ll be okay. There's no way my family knows where I am. Besides, Ethan’s man is supposed to be here later tomorrow.” He could see her smile falter.
“I’ll try to be back around noon. Is there anything from my place you need?”
She thought about it. “No, I’m fine. Just hurry back.” She leaned over and kissed him softly, causing him to want to stay longer.
Ten minutes later, he was in the car driving out of town, Sandi on his mind. He’d never really felt this way about anyone before. He knew he trusted her more than he’d ever trusted anyone before. She had even trumped Carter, his best friend from grade school. How he’d ever allowed their relationship to move to this level was beyond him. She was everything to him. Driving along the highway, he realized he even missed her in the car as he drove.
Sitting in silence was different with her in the car. The silence seemed less ... quiet. Maybe it was her scent that he missed? The soft feminine smell seemed to follow her everywhere. He didn’t think he could describe it if he had to. All he knew was that when it was gone, he missed it. It was there in her hair, on her skin. This got him thinking about the softness of her and how he’d always enjoyed finding another soft spot to explore on her.
She was everything he’d ever dreamed of, everything he’d ever hoped of having. Then why was he having such a hard time saying those simple words to her? He’d said them to plenty of women before. He’d told Suzanne he’d loved her before she’d even said the words herself.
Maybe it was because it hadn’t meant the same as it did now? When he said it this time he knew, somehow, that she would be the last woman he’d ever say it to.
Just then his phone rang. Switching it to speaker he answered the phone.
“Hey buddy, how’s hiding out going?” Carter’s voice sounded.
“Good, I’m on the road and should be there in a few hours.”
“Here?”
“Yeah, I got the message that the Travis account was going sour and you guys needed me to come in and smooth things over.”
“What? The Travis account is going south? Why am I the last to hear about this?” Mitchell could hear Carter talking to someone. He presumed it was Eve.
“Uh, hey buddy, I don’t know where you got your intel, but the Travis account is secure. Eve’s on the phone with them now and everything looks fine.”
Mitchell thought about it, then slammed on his brakes and spun the car around. “Shit! Listen, I’ve gotta go.” He hung up the phone and punched the gas. He was almost twenty minutes out of town and prayed he was fast enough.
By the time he arrived back at the house, the sun was setting and the first thing he noticed was how dark the house was. He jumped from the car before it had fully stopped. Leaving the door open, he rushed towards the back door of the house, only to find it kicked in, its glass broken, shattered all over the floor.
He rushed in, fear causing everything to feel slowed down. Flipping on the lights, he screamed her name over and over. Running through the house, he searched ever room and found nothing. The room she had used as a studio was thrashed, paint supplies thrown everywhere. When he rushed in, he’d thought the red paint on the floor was blood and his heart stopped. Then he noticed the tube of oil paint, squashed as if stepped on by a boot. He followed the red boot print into the hallway, back down the stairs and out the open front door.
He ran into the kitchen and grabbed the flashlight, then ran back out the door. He headed towards the beach at a sprint.
Where would she go? Was he going to be too late? He stood there listening and after a minute he heard a gunshot and then a scream. Running towards the cliffs he ran faster then he’d ever run in his life, praying the entire way.
Sandi watched the car disappear around the twisted drive. She stood there for a while thinking about their relationship. She didn’t know much about how to show him what she felt. She’d tried telling him, but it seemed her words just weren't enough.
She leaned her head against the window and felt like crying. Instead she stood up and walked back over to her desk. She knew that engrossing herself in her art would help the time alone pass. She was so engrossed in her art, she didn’t register the noise downstairs at first.
When the sounds of glass breaking finally did register, she panicked. Looking around for a weapon, the only thing that was handy was her paints. She stood against the back of the door, barely breathing as she listened for any sounds.
They’d been in the house for several weeks now, and she knew every sound associated with going up and down the stairs and hallway. When she heard the sound of the floorboards on the stairs, she held her breath.
Questions flooded her mind. How was she going to escape? Where would she go? She didn’t have a car or a phone. She didn’t even know where the nearest neighbor’s house was. When she heard the door upstairs open, she bolted from the room and ran down the stairs. She shot out the front door and ran across the yard without looking back.
When she hit the tree line, she slowed down and looked back at the house. She saw a shadow in the window of her art room, then it was gone and she knew he was coming after her. She turned and ran for her life.
She heard footsteps behind her and ran faster. She thought she was on a pathway, but when it opened up, she realized she’d run right towards the lighthouse at the end of the cove. As she stopped in the clearing, she got her first glimpse of the large white building. Large rocks jutted all around it. It sat, a large white beacon in the dying light. She made her way over the rocks, heading away from the building, not knowing if there was any way to escape. She knew the lighthouse was at the tip of the cove. She’d meant to head the other way and in her panicked state, she’d gone the wrong direction. Stupid, she scolded herself. Just like the dumb women in those horror movies she hated watching. She slowly made her way over the dark rocks and when she hit the grass, she sprinted. She thought she’d actually lost her pursuer, but she stopped short when a shadow appeared before her.
She screamed and skidded to a stop, landing on her hip and hands in the small rock pathway. Pebbles embedded in her palms and ripped the jeans she wore. When she finally stopped she looked up into her father’s face.
“Pita?” She held her breath, not knowing what to do.
He stood over her, like so many of her nightmares from the last five years.
“Palatu.” He wore all black. Gone was his dhoti and long robes. In their place he wore black jeans, tennis shoes, and a leather jacket. She’d never seen her father dressed in American clothes, and she stared at him like he was a stranger.
“Palatu, why are you running away from me?” The sound of her native tongue was like ice on her soul.
She quickly stood up and rubbed her hands against her jeans, not realizing that her blood smeared across the front of her legs.
“You’re here to punish me for leaving home.”
He nodded. “But why do you run?”
She stood tall. “I don’t want to die. I’m happy here. I’ve created a good life. I work hard. I make my own way and I’ve found love.”
“I know, I’ve been watching you. Is he good to you?”
She felt herself shaking, but tried to control most of it by holding her hands together in front of her. “Yes, he’s a good man. I wish more than anything to wed him and have many children.”
He nodded. “I’ve seen you two together. I think he takes good ca
re of you.”
She was confused. Had he been watching them? How long?
“Palatu, I’ve only come to see you are happy. If you were not happy, I was going to take you back home. To your mother. She worries so.”
She looked at him and in the dying light she couldn’t quite read his face. Was this a trap? Why was he talking like he was trying to help her?
“I don’t understand. What about Anish?”
“Anish? He is here.”
She was more confused than before.
“Anish, he said he was here to take my money, that the family had suffered because I left. That I had to be punished because I left you with nothing.”
Her father stood still and finally, as the clouds disappeared for a moment and the full light of the stars and the moon hit him, she saw his face for the first time. He looked older. His black hair was streaked with silver and looked thinner on the top. She noticed wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He looked tired.
“Anish has talked to you?”
She nodded. “He threatened me. He hurt someone close to Mitchell. He broke into my apartment and broke everything.”
“Anish did this?”
“I thought you had helped him.” She took a step closer to him as she saw the sadness come into his eyes.
“No, I knew of nothing. I’ve been following you. Trying to decide if you were happy. We came here together, but shortly after we found where you lived, he took off. I followed you here and have been here since you arrived.”
She thought about it. “You aren’t mad at me? You aren’t here to kill me?”
“No, my pet. I could never hurt you. Your mother and I, we only want to know if you are happy. When you left, you took our heart. We realize we were wrong, trying to force you to marry Ishat. We didn’t know he requested the mādā janānga vikrti until the day after you were gone. We would have never let him harm you.”
Her heart mended the rip that had been torn for so long. Realizing all the years she’d believed her parents didn’t care caused the guilt to sink in.
Just then they both turned as another voice chimed in. “Finally.” Anish stood next to a tree breathing hard. “Good, you’re both here. It’s easier to take care of things this way. I’ve waited for a long time to get the two of you together. Ever since my father was imprisoned I’ve thought about my revenge.”
Sandi realized he had a gun in his hand when the moonlight reflected off its barrel. She gasped and took a step back towards her father.
Anish continued talking and walking slowly towards them. “You, Haidar, I’m going to kill you for sending my father here in the first place. You only thought of Sannidhi. She was just a stupid girl. Yet you sent your brother across the world and look at where it got him. Life in prison like a common thief.”
Sandi tried to think. If she ran, she knew Anish would shoot her. Then there was her father. She didn’t know how fast he could run, but after having Anish chase her through the streets of Manhattan, she knew she would have a hard time staying in front of him. She wished Mitchell was here.
“Sannidhi, I’m going to enjoy killing you. I think I will seek vengeance first. Take my time and enjoy it. I’ve always had a thing for you, you know. Besides, what good are you for? You’ve caused my family nothing but pain. Everything I have was taken when my father was incarcerated.”
Her heart stopped as she realized how evil her cousin was. Her father pulled her back another step, holding her still in case she tried to run. She knew he thought the same thing, that neither of them would make it very far.
“Anish, put the gun down. This is not how you deal with your family. I’m the head of the family. I’ll take care of my daughter myself.” Her father stepped forward, putting his body next to hers. They stood shoulder to shoulder.
She heard it then. Mitchell’s voice screaming her name over and over again. Her cousin heard it, too. He swung his arm and head towards the house and then he spun back around and pointed the gun at her chest. Just before he squeezed the trigger, she was pushed aside by her father.
She screamed as she felt her father’s body jerk and land next to her on the rocky ground. When she looked up again, her cousin stood over her, a twisted smile on his face.
“I’m going to kill your man when he gets here. I’ll make you watch as his body is drained of life, then I’ll take you next to his cold body. I’ll slit your throat and have your family’s money to line my wallet.”
Just then Mitchell ran into the clearing. When he saw Anish standing over her, he growled as he sprinted towards them. Her cousin turned, starting to aim the gun at Mitchell. She viewed it all like it was a movie in slow motion. Fear closed her throat so that she couldn't even scream.
Using all her strength, she kicked out and landed a blow to her cousin's legs. Anish fell forward just as the gun went off. Grabbing hold of him, she rolled with a kick, taking her and her cousin towards the edge of the cliff. Not knowing where the gun was, she continued the motion until she heard Mitchell scream her name, but she didn’t stop until she felt her body start to fall.
Chapter Seventeen
“I’ve got you.” Mitch was gripping Sandi’s arm, praying for the strength to hold on. His side stung where the bullet had grazed him, but he wouldn’t let go. Couldn’t let go.
As he looked down, he saw her cousin's body twisted at the bottom of the small cliff, his neck at an odd angle. Focusing his eyes on Sandi’s face, he started pulling her up towards him. She kicked her feet, trying to dig into the mud and rocks, dislodging them as she tried to pull herself up. Finally, when she was back on solid ground, he pulled her close and held on for a moment.
Then she was pushing him away, and running to her father’s side.
“No! Pita.” She knelt over him, tears falling from her face. She said something else to him in Hindi and Mitch noticed the blood pooling around the man’s chest.
“Mitch? Help me.” She looked up into his eyes and he would have done anything for her.
Kneeling beside the man, he took off his jacket and placed it over the hole in his chest. Applying pressure. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed 911.
“Pita! I don’t know what to do. Please stay with me.” Sandi begged. “Don’t go.” She cried seeing her father’s face go ashen. She knew he was beyond help. There was something in his eyes that told her he was ready to go.
“Palatu, Sannidhi, my daughter, my light. I’m sorry I caused you such fear. I never meant to hurt you. Can you understand this? I only wished to see you happy. When I was younger, I was blinded by my brother and the desire of money. He talked me into binding you with Ishat’s family because they had money and power. But what he started, I couldn’t stop. When my brother shamed our family, I knew then that I had to find you. To make things right with you. I saw your painting in Bhubaneswar. I knew it was yours. It took me months to find the dealer. When I came here, I did everything to find you. I never meant to scare you.” His hand came up and cupped her face. “Never to scare you my pet. I love you, my daughter.”
The tears fell from her face as his hand went limp in hers and then dropped from her face.
Mitch watched the scene, and his heart broke a little as Sandi cried over her father’s lifeless body. He stood there, not sure what to do, not exactly sure what had happened.
He knew the pain of losing family, but there were no words he could say to take some of it away. Instead he knelt there, looking down at the scene, wishing that her freedom hadn’t cost her so much.
By the time the police arrived, Sandi and Mitch were standing in the driveway, Sandi silently crying on Mitch’s shoulder. She stayed back at the house with a female officer as he walked the police out to the scene. Four officers followed him, asking him questions as they went. His jacket still lay over her father’s face. The gun was still by her cousin's body at the bottom of the cliff.
Once he’d shown them the bodies and described what he’d seen, an older office walked with him ba
ck to the house. They were asked the same questions over and over. An hour later, he made a pot of coffee, passing out cups to all the officers still on the scene. It seemed every police officer in the small town was at the house now.
When the coroner’s van came, he tried to keep Sandi from noticing as they carted the bodies past the front of the house. The female officer was a big help in keeping her occupied. She asked questions about Sandi’s paintings and tried to keep Sandi’s mind from what was happening outside.
Several officers helped him put a wood plank over the broken glass, closing up the back window in the door until it could be replaced. He called Carter and explained everything, His friend was glad that they were okay and told him not to worry about the door, that he’d have it replaced later that week.
Finally, hours later, when everyone had left, they walked upstairs. It felt like his body was at past exhaustion. He imagined that she felt the same way.
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