by Annie Jocoby
“That’s all I can ask,” she said.
So, I thought to myself, I have to ask my wife if she doesn’t mind if I basically adopt my ex-wife. Become her financial supporter and her caretaker.
Iris is going to love this. Just love it. She didn’t sign on for my crazy life. She signed on to be with me, and, in return, I promised to love her and cherish her all the days of our lives. Our wedding vows didn’t include her agreeing to live with my ex-wife, not to mention the fact that she lived with Natalie, who was the possible mother of my child.
She didn’t sign on for this.
On the other hand, if somebody didn’t take care of Alexis, she would never get stabilized, which would cause even more problems for everybody around her for a long time. And Nick had proved that he didn’t want the responsibility for her.
To be fair, Nick had enough on his plate.
But so did I.
“Listen,” Nick whispered. “If you don’t take in Alexis, then she’s going to be out on the streets. She can’t come back to my house. I’m pretty much done.”
Great. Just great.
At that, I turned on the phone and tried to call Iris. Her phone went straight to voice-mail again. I looked at the clock – 4:30. She said that her deposition was scheduled until 5. I turned the phone off again, and planned to call her again around 5.
But the three of us ended up watching a movie in the TV room, and I lost track of time. Before I knew it, it was 6 O’Clock. “Ok, Alexis,” I said. “I really have to get home. I always eat dinner with my wife and daughter.”
“Ok, then,” she said. “I hope to see you both soon.”
I nodded. “You’re going to be ok,” I said.
And, at that, Nick and I left Alexis’ room and started for home.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Iris
I froze when I saw Andrew in my house, holding my screaming daughter. I was too much in shock, momentarily, to do much of anything. Then, a second or two later, I noticed that he had a gun in his left hand. He was holding Dalilah in his right arm. He looked at me with an impassive look, but he was massaging his gun. Then he narrowed his eyes.
How did he get in here? What about the dogs? Then I heard them barking in the backyard. Also, I set the alarm before I left the house this morning, I know I did. Didn’t I? That didn’t matter, the fact is that he is here, and he had my daughter. With a gun in his hand. Crazy or no, I would imagine that he could cock his gun and kill Dalilah before I could take a single step towards him. Once again, my brain was able to think clearly, even in the face of the most unimaginable circumstance. I had been in such a situation before, with Rochelle, and my mind was also clear then. I knew that the situation at hand would require me to think coherently, because if I did anything out of panic, my daughter was dead.
I knew it.
“Andrew, darling, it’s so good to see you,” I said.
“Cut the bullshit, Cherry. Who is this?” he asked, taking his gun and pointing it to the screaming Dalilah. I prayed that she wouldn’t start calling for me. I had to convince Andrew that Dalilah was somebody who was not my daughter. So far, she was only screaming and crying. Please, baby, please do not say mama. Please don’t say mama.
“That’s the neighbor’s daughter,” I said. “Her mother is Helena. What happened to her?”
“I sent her away,” he said.
Away. I hoped that her body wasn’t in the house somewhere.
“Away, love? I have to get Dalilah back to her.”
Dalilah started going m-m-m-m-m-m, while looking right at me. Andrew looked at her, then looked at me suspiciously.
“See, honey, she’s calling for her mama. She’s wondering where she is. I have to get her back to her mama,” I said lightly.
“You’re not going anywhere, you stupid fucking slut. I know what you did. You’re gonna pay.”
“Which thing, honey? What are you talking about?”
“You know. Where is he?”
“He?”
“Yeah, the guy you fucked before you left me. Where is he?” His face was getting redder by the second, and he was shaking. His eyes were bugging out a little, and some spittle was on the corner of his mouth.
“Give me Dalilah and I’ll tell you.”
He just looked at me, his face contorted.
“Ok, fine, I won’t tell you then. You can just guess.”
“You will tell me right now!” he raged.
“Give me the baby, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know. Otherwise, you’ll never get to know where he is.”
He looked at me, shaking, then handed me Dalilah. I had her in my arms, then I immediately felt the gun on the small of my back. I had to get out of this alive, or else she won’t survive, either. “Honey, I have to call Dalilah’s father to come and get her, since you won’t tell me where her mother is.”
He nodded, then jabbed the gun further into my skin. “No funny business,” he said.
I made my way over to my purse, with Dalilah screaming and pulling my hair, going m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m. Andrew’s gun remained on the small of my back.
Should I try to call Ryan? His phone had been turned off all morning and afternoon, probably because the hospital wouldn’t allow him to have it on. If I call him and his phone is turned off again, that would be my only chance to contact somebody to come and get our daughter. I would have blown my one chance to get her somewhere safe, because I doubted that Andrew would let me make more than one phone call.
I needed to get her someplace safe. If she was somewhere safe, then I could play more high stakes gambling here. Otherwise, I would have to play everything completely conservatively, and that probably wouldn’t work.
I had to get her somewhere safe if either of us was to have a chance.
Daniel. I called his number, silently praying. He answered on the second ring. “Daniel,” I said, my voice breezy.
“Yeah, Iris, what do you need?” he asked.
“Come and get Dalilah, please.”
Daniel knew better than to ask why. One thing about him, he’s good at following orders without having lengthy explanations. That’s part of his job description.
“I’ll be right there,” he said.
I smiled at Andrew. “Her father will be here in around 5 minutes. Then we can talk. Sorry, but it is difficult to have a conversation with a screaming brat in my arms.” I hoped against hope that I was acting like his wife. I had no idea if she referred to children as brats, but my instinct was guiding me here.
He nodded. “Ok, but after her dad gets here, you’re gonna give me answers.”
Daniel arrived after the longest 5 minutes of my life. Andrew and I were in a staring contest, with him pointing the gun so that a bullet would hit both Dalilah and me if he were to fire. Dalilah was calming down. Crap! Now that she was calming, what would happen if she started screaming again when she goes with Daniel? She knows Daniel, so maybe it will be ok. Her head was on my shoulder, and she was sucking her thumb.
I saw Daniel drive up in Ryan’s Jaguar. Andrew saw him, too, because he was looking out the window with me. “Get out there,” Andrew said. “Don’t let him come to the door. And I’m gonna know if you’re tipping him off about me being in here, so if I see any kind of body language or facial expressions that tip me off that you’re telling him about me, I will snipe all three of you in the driveway.”
“Oh, please, why would I tell him about you?” Then I walked calmly out the door, and met Daniel, who was coming up the stairs to the porch. “Here you go,” I said, giving my daughter to Daniel calmly. “Thanks for doing this.”
“Sure, Iris. I’m assuming I’ll get an explanation later?”
“You assume correctly,” I said gaily. “Actually, my hubby and I just need some alone time, if you know what I mean,” I said, winking.
He laughed. “Say no more,” he said. To my relief, Dalilah didn’t start screaming anew. She put her chubby arms around his neck, then looked back at
me and waved. It’s as if she knows how to behave. I thanked god again that Daniel and Dalilah know one another, as Daniel made his way down the stairs into his car, my daughter in his arms.
I went back into the house, relieved that she was safe, yet devastated that this might be the last chance to see my daughter in this world.
Stop thinking like that. You’re going to get out of this.
Andrew was standing there. Then, when I came in, he jerked me back into the kitchen. Again with the kitchen. What was it with him and kitchens?
“Sit down,” he said, shoving me into one of the chairs around the breakfast table. “Now, you stupid slut, you’re gonna give me answers. Then I’m gonna kill you.”
I crossed my arms. “What answers? You gotta ask the questions, first.”
“Why’d you have to fuck him?”
“Oh, honey, it had nothing to do with you. I love you, you know that.”
That was the wrong thing to say. “Shut up, slut!” he screamed, then pistol whipped my face. “Quit lying to me!”
I was momentarily stunned, then bit my lip hard to try to suppress a scream of pain. “Ok, then. It does have to do with you. We weren’t happy together, you know that,” I said.
To my surprise, this answer appeared to please him more. “Why couldn’t we go to counseling if you were so unhappy? Why’d you have to fuck somebody else, then take my children from me?” He was now on the verge of tears. “Why’d you do it, Cherry pie? Why?” Then he had his head in his hands, his gun still clutched tightly in one of them.
I was getting somewhere. This next answer was crucial. What was he looking for? What answers would appease him? I had a little bit of time to think about this next answer, because he was now crying.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “We just grew apart, you and me.”
“What about the kids?” he asked. “How could just keep them from me? Did they get any of their birthday cards or gifts?”
Fuck. He was going to want me to call them by name. “Of course, they did,” I said. “I’m not that much of a bitch.”
“Alan, how’d he like the train set?”
“He loved it, of course. He played with it constantly.”
He looked sad. Then, in a split second, he was raging again. “You fucking bitch! I should’ve been there to see him open that up!” He brought his gun back up to my head.
Then I heard voices outside the house. Ryan and Nick. They were kinda loud, so I could hear what they were saying. “I told you, buddy,” Ryan was saying. “God, I dread talking to Iris about this.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Good luck with that. I gotta get going. I’ll call you later, huh?”
Then Ryan was coming in the door.
Chapter Sixty
Ryan came in, saw the two of us, with Andrew’s gun to my head, and he froze. I knew that he also had to leave his weapon at home when he went to the hospital with Alexis and Nick, so he was just as helpless as I was when I came in the door. Ironic, all that training…
“Who are you?” Andrew asked.
Ryan was quick on his feet. He was able to cover the panic that he was no doubt feeling, the same feeling that I had when I saw Andrew and Dalilah. “I’m Ryan. What are you doing with Cherry, there?”
“I’m trying to find out who she was fucking before she left me.”
“That’s easy,” Ryan said. “I’m the one she was fucking before she left you. And, let me tell you, she was good. The best I ever had, that’s for goddamned sure.”
I knew what he was trying to do, and I silently prayed it wouldn’t work.
If Andrew kills him instead of me, I wouldn’t be able to live.
Ryan continued. “It’s me you want, not her. I was the one who convinced her to leave you. She wanted to stay, but I convinced her to leave. I told her to stop letting you see the kids, too.”
“You,” Andrew said. “I don’t believe you. You’re way too pretty for my wife. She never liked the pretty boys.”
“What can I say,” Ryan said in a cocky tone that I had never, ever heard from him. “She made the exception, you know?”
Andrew looked from me to Ryan, and back again. I shook my head violently. “That’s not the guy. Like you said, I don’t like ‘em pretty like that. I like my men craggy and old. That’s not the guy.”
“Babe,” Ryan said. “You don’t have to protect me. The secret is out. Now, Andrew, it’s me you want. You just let her go, and you can have me instead. She never would’ve left you if I didn’t talk her into it. If it weren’t for me, she would’ve stayed with you forever.”
“No,” I told Andrew. “I don’t know this guy, I’ve never seen him in my life. Please believe me. I don’t know him.”
Andrew continued to look at me, then at Ryan, trying to decide who to believe.
“Come on, buddy,” Ryan said. “I had to tap that ass. That sweet piece of ass. That’s all she was to me.”
That’s what finally set Andrew off. “You asshole! Don’t you dare disrespect my wife like that!”
What happened next went in slow motion, like when I was in a car accident. Andrew let go of me, then I reached into the drawer for a butcher knife, then plunged it into his back.
However, before I plunged the knife into his back, he shot Ryan.
Chapter Sixty-One
Somebody was screaming, but I didn’t know who. My beautiful husband was lying on the floor. There was blood. So much blood. I desperately put my hands on his wound, and the screaming sound seemed to come from everywhere around me. There was another body next to me, but I didn’t know who it was. I could only concentrate on my impotent hands, my bright red impotent hands that were desperately trying to stop the bleeding. I could hear an ambulance in the distance, screaming to a stop in front of our house.
Somebody was prying me off my husband. “Miss, you need to come with me,” the person said. “Miss, please, you need to come with me.”
“NO, NO, NO,” the screaming voice said. “NO.”
Then it was like I was floating above the room, watching myself, screaming and crying, being violently pulled off my husband while the ambulance workers loaded him onto a gurney, a bag of blood having been infused into him. Somebody had his arms wrapped around me, and I beat into his chest while I writhed and cried. There were police in the room, too, then a yellow tape was brought out that clearly said the words “crime scene.” I had a blanket wrapped around me by somebody, then I saw myself demanding to be taken in the ambulance with Ryan. Somebody else then escorted me out of the house, and I saw myself getting into a police car.
Then I was back in my body again. I was in the back of a squad car that was screaming down the street at a mad pace, the blanket still wrapped around me, and a feminine voice soothingly telling me to calm down. “Shhh,” the voice said. “We’re going to join your husband at the hospital. Everything’s going to be ok.”
No. It wasn’t going to be ok. Nothing would ever be ok again. If my husband was dead, then I would be dead, too.
Not literally. I had to live for Dalilah.
But I would be as good as dead.
The story concludes with The End of Illusions, which can be found at goo.gl/xriRbc.
Extra Extra!
Want to know what happens next? Sure you do! To get updates on upcoming books, please subscribe to my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/Ej2sL. I promise not to spam you, but I want to keep you in the loop. In the meantime, be looking for the third and final book of the Ryan and Iris saga, titled End of Illusions, due out September 23, 2013.
This series will shortly be followed by a brand-new spinoff series, which will be a New Adult series featuring a grown-up Dalilah, followed by another series featuring everybody’s favorite man whore, Nick O’Hara. These are fascinating secondary characters to me who deserve their own stories, don’t ya think?
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Thanks, and happy reading!
Acknowledgments
To my mother, Dolores, for always believing in me. To Joey, for supporting me through all the craziness. To Debbie, Florence and Carol for giving me courage and confidence. To Nancy for giving me courage, confidence, and some wicked ideas. To my father, Thomas, for giving me my writing ability. To my sister, Christine, just for being you. I love you all.
End of Illusions
by
Annie Jocoby
Copyright © 2013 Annie Jocoby
Published by Annie Jocoby on Kindle
All rights reserved
ISBN: 1491268778
ISBN-13: 978-1491268773
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above author of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.
Chapter One
Iris
Your husband is dead. We’re sorry, we did all we could, but there was too much internal bleeding.
I stared blankly at the doctor who was standing above me in a white coat, looking very serious. He had just appeared in the waiting room where I sat, alone, except for the female cop who was staying there with me. I guess that there was a fear that I would fall apart. I said nothing, just stared at the floor. I planned, in my head, the way that I would join him. Some way that wasn’t too messy and wouldn’t be too traumatizing for the people who loved me.
