Slowly, he releases me. I turn around and see the handgun pointing straight at my stomach. Dominic’s eyes are wild, like he’s on drugs, or better yet drunk out of his demented mind. He’s sweating profusely, and on the brink of possibly having a heart attack. His face is beet red, he’s shaking and is wearing a black jacket with black jeans and black laced boots. My God, this man is out of his freaking mind, a lunatic. Did I just suddenly walk inside a J.D. Parker novel? What the hell has gotten into Dominic? This seriously cannot be happening to me!
Putting my hands up I plead– no beg him. “Dominic, you don’t have to do this. Please.” I’m so deathly afraid.
“Shut it,” he yells, making me flinch, waving the gun closer to my stomach. “Do not tell me what I should be doing. I’m the one in control, not you.” He is so not in control and that’s what scares me out of my mind. “Now get your lazy ass fingers moving and text your bitch.” Pushing me with his gun, I almost trip over my heel, trying to it make over to the counter to retrieve my phone. I do what I’m forced to do, and text Lynn. Dominic yanks the phone out of my hand to read the message. At first, I was thinking of texting her to tell her I needed help, but I had a feeling he was going to look at it to see if I had texted what he wanted me to say. “Good,” he says, sliding my phone his back pocket. “Do not say another word. Are we clear?” I can only nod. “Move.”
After I shakily lock up the store, he pushes me toward a black SUV. He forces me inside the back of the car, ties the back of my hands together, and blindfolds me. The next thing I know, we’re moving, to God knows where, to an unknown location where I might be taking my last breath.
A few days after the blow-up with Paige, Molly and I drove to San Diego to talk with her. I’ve been stuck in the hotel room like a sitting duck waiting for the storm to blow over. Wanting to see Paige, to talk with her has been eating at me all day. Instead of me dropping in on her without notice, Molly took my spot. I didn’t ask her to butt in, she insisted on helping me out. She knows how much I love Paige and how I would walk through fire for her. So it meant a great deal to me, even though Paige may never take me back. I don’t want to pressure her, or do anything to push her further away. I’m not giving up on us. I won’t. I can’t. She means everything to me, and if it means I wait for the rest of my life for her, I’ll do it. I’ll wait as long as it takes to have her in my arms again.
After Molly briefed me about Paige agreeing to meet with me, Molly went down to the pool. It’s getting closer to summer, and beginning to heat up. I thought about going down with her, but I couldn’t stop fidgeting. Instead, I went to the gym and had an hour-long workout. Getting back up to the room, I took a shower and checked my phone to see if Paige contacted me yet. Not one message. I was really hoping by that time she’d want to have coffee and talk. My patience sucks, but as I said, I’ll wait forever.
To take my mind off things, I’ve been doing some writing. Not that it has taken all my thoughts away from Paige, however a little blood and murder helped ease it. While writing, I got a call from the District Attorney in Arizona. Apparently, Dominic was nowhere to be found, and now the Feds are after him. After I phoned the cops about his confession, his case was looked into for further connections; they re-examined the tapes in which a camera recorded the accident. They still couldn’t identify the tags but they told me the model. It was in fact Dom’s car that hit Lenny and his girlfriend. From what I remember, Dom unexpectedly sold the car and purchased a new one. I never questioned why he got a new one and he never bothered to explain. It all makes sense now, and quite disturbing that he had the balls to cover up his own tragic mistake. It’s twisted.
My brother has become a total stranger to me. Fleeing from a hit and run is one thing, but to flee from a warrant? That just spells GUILTY. It’s out of my hands now. There is nothing our family can do for him, and obviously, he never wanted us to help. Helping is no longer a possibility.
Immediately after I got the phone call, I texted Molly to come back up to my room.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Molly asks after I let her inside. She’s still in her bathing suit and wrapped in a towel.
It’s now or never. “It’s Dominic…he’s fled.”
Putting her hand up to her mouth, she gasps loudly. “No. Oh God no! What is wrong with him!” she shouts. “Do you know where he could have gone to?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head.
“Well, we have to go look for him, to get him to turn himself in. He can’t do this!”
I’m just as agitated as she is, but I’m doing the best that I can by not showing it. For her sake, I need to stay calm. “Molly, I wouldn’t have the first clue where to start. He’s never been an open book, you know that.”
“There has to be a place he would go to that he’s mentioned in the past or used to go to when he was younger.” She sits downs on the bed and begins to cry in her hands. “This is horrible, so horrible.” Seeing my sister this way is killing me.
Sitting down beside her, I wrap my arm around her, tucking her into my side. “Shh, it’s okay. We’ll find him.” Trying to comfort her.
“It’s not okay, James.” She lifts her head up to look at me. “What if he’s armed? And what if tries to hurt anyone who tries to stop him and they kill him in the process? Oh my God.”
She’s jumping to conclusions. I honestly cannot see Dom using a weapon, that’s just crazy. “I can’t see him with a gun, Molly,” I comment.
“We couldn’t see him as drunk and someone who fled from a car crash either. Who knows what he’s capable of doing anymore.”
She’s got a point. “You’re right, we don’t.”
With tears streaming down her face, she whispers, “I’m so scared.”
“So am I.” tuck her back to my side.
She gasps. “Mom and Dad!” And jolts up from the bed. “They must be frantic right now. We have to get home.”
I grasp onto her shoulders and tell her, “As much as I want to be there for them, I need to stay here to talk with Paige. She needs to know what’s going on.”
“Oh, okay, yeah…um, let me text her.” Earlier, after she saw Paige, I gave Molly her phone number. Unfortunately, Paige doesn’t want me to communicate with her about setting up a meeting time. It definitely stings that she can’t even handle one text from me. That’s what I get for being a lying jackass.
She finishes texting Paige. “Why don’t you head back home, and forward any messages to me from Paige, alright?” I ask.
“Okay. Sure, I’ll do that.” She stalls before leaving the room. “James…what if he isn’t ever found? What if he left the country?” Her big blue eyes are full of worry, and on the brink of crying again.
I hug my little sister and try to be as reassuring as possible. “Listen to me…I was told the Feds are on him. They’ll find him.”
“God, the Feds? This is so bad.”
Brushing down her hair with my fingers, I agree with her. “I know.”
The lump in my throat is so thick, I can barely swallow. It’s hard to believe what Dominic has turned into. I know he’s scared, that’s why he’s doing this, but his lies and deceit have turned him stupid.
As soon as my sister leaves the hotel for the airport, my cell buzzes. Lynn. Wonder what she wants? Maybe to tell me to stop hoping for Paige to forgive me? I really don’t have it in me to get a lecture, but if I want to win Paige back, then I have to take the call.
“Hey–”
“Something’s happened to Paige,” Lynn hurriedly blurts out, distressed.
Sucking in a breath, I immediately feel uneasy. “What are you saying? Is she okay? Is she hurt?”
“I don’t know. I went for a few errands, and when I came back to the store, it was surrounded by cops.”
“I’m on my way.” Like a bat out of hell, I start hauling ass to the parking garage.
“Wait,” she shouts to stall me. “That’s not all. One of the baristas next door mentioned she saw Paige being force
d into a black SUV, a Ford Explorer, something like that. She immediately called the cops, but didn’t know how to get a hold of me until I got back. Someone took her, James,” she says, her voice shaky.
Almost dropping my phone, I come to a complete halt. Someone forced her, someone took her. My mind begins to spin with the worst outcome, and then I think of Dom. He couldn’t have. He couldn’t have taken Paige. But my gut tells me that my brother is more demented than I had thought. “James? Are you there? Please answer me,” Lynn frantically gets my attention back.
I can’t seem to get my voice to work. I’m in complete shock and out of my mind, sick with worry. All I can say again is, “On my way.” And continue running to my rental.
Without getting into an accident, I speed through the streets as safely as I can. I just need to get to her store and find out what’s happening. I need to talk to the girl who saw Paige being abducted. If these damn lights won’t stop changing, I could be there by now! Shit!
My pulse is racing to the point of overdrive. I can’t stop worrying about her. What she must be going through right now, she has to be terrified beyond belief. I’m terrified for her and pray that she’s okay. She just has to be.
Although I can’t believe my brother would do something like this, I know that he did. Dominic abducted Paige because of the warrant. There is no other explanation. He feels betrayed, even though he should be blaming himself. He created a horrible situation, and made it into a more dangerous one. You have to really hit rock bottom to do something so crazy and out of character. Regrettably, there was nothing I could have done to prevent it.
The closer I get to my destination, the closer I get to finding Paige. I couldn’t live with myself if anything ever happened to her. She’s my soulmate, the one I’m supposed to live the rest of my life with. My existence isn’t worth a damn dime without her in it, and I’ll do anything to make sure she’s kept out of harm’s way.
God, so many cop cars. I screech into a parking space, jump out of my car, and run toward the bookstore when I spot Lynn. She’s huddled in a corner between the store and the coffee shop. There are civilians, reporters, and news vans all over the place wondering what the hell is going on. They’re blocked from getting anywhere near the bookstore, its been barricaded with yellow crime tape. Well, they’re not going to block me from getting inside.
Lifting the tape over my head, I walk straight to Lynn. When she notices me, she comes barreling into my arms and begins weeping. She’s just as scared and worried for her friend as I am. She blames herself for leaving Paige alone - even if it was only for an hour. I tell her it’s not her fault. In fact…it’s my entire fault. If I had never gotten involved with her in the first place, her life wouldn’t be in jeopardy right now. I’d die if she got hurt because of my sick brother.
Taking Lynn’s face into my hands, I look at her, “Tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Just what I told you over the phone,” she responds in a weak voice.
I let go of her face. “Where’s the girl who called the cops?” She points over to a girl with short blue hair, piercings in her eyebrow and lip. Not wasting any time, I strut right over to her. “Hey, I’m James. I heard you got a good look at the guy who abducted Paige. Do you know what this person looked like? Did you get the license plate?”
Looking pretty shaken up, she tells me, “Like I told the detective over there.” She points behind me, “It was definitely the woman from next door, Paige, and some man dressed all in black. He was even wearing black gloves and sunglasses. And yes, I got the plate number and gave it to the cops.”
Good, she got the number. Hopefully they’ll track them down.
I continue asking questions. “What color hair, and how tall was the guy?”
“Light brownish hair, short and clean cut, maybe about six-two?” She shrugs. “Oh, and he had some kind of birthmark on his lower left cheek.”
Shit. Just as I knew and feared, it was Dominic. “That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you.” Touching her shoulder. Next, I walk over to the Detective. “Excuse me, Detective?”
A woman, possibly in her late fifties, turns around. “Yes, I’m Detective Donahue.”
“I’m James Parker. I believe the man who took Paige Turner is my brother, Dominic Parker. He’s got an arrest warrant in Arizona for a hit and run three years ago, which killed two passengers. One of the passengers happened to be Paige’s late husband.”
Detective Donahue takes off her sunglasses, raising an eyebrow. “Is that so? And how do you know this man could be your brother?”
“The young woman who described him said he had a birthmark on his lower left cheek. Dominic has one in that same spot. Here, let me show you.” I take out my phone, and then begin scrolling through my photos until I find the most recent one.
Once I show it to the Detective, her eyes widen with surprise. “May I borrow this?” I nod yes. “Excuse me.” I watch her walk off with my phone, showing the picture of Dom to her team. The officers are instantly on high alert.
She comes back over to hand me back my phone and informs me that they are sending the picture into her department and also the news station. They’re also tracking down the vehicle. Once word gets out about how Dominic could be a suspect in an abduction, he’s going to be all over the news and on every TV station in San Diego, including Arizona. His life is definitely over.
I go back over to Lynn and fill her in. “Are you sure about this? I mean this is totally insane!” She shrieks.
Swiping a hand through my hair, I exhale, nodding my head. “I’m almost positive.”
“Why would he take her?” she asks as she begins to cry again.
“You know how long he convinced me to stay away from her and tried to keep us apart in Maui? He didn’t want to be found out, and now is feeling betrayed she went to the cops. She knows he killed her husband, and won’t let her forget that.”
“Good Lord, my best friend is in danger, taken by a sociopath!” I couldn’t agree more. Then Lynn says, “I’m sorry. I know he’s your brother…” Her voice fades.
She has nothing to be sorry for. “I don’t know my brother anymore, Lynn. As far as I’m concerned…he is a sociopath.”
Drunken Loser of a Brother– turn sociopath
Dominic’s gun wasn’t loaded. He just wanted to scare Paige to oblivion, and to get her to listen to him. He really didn’t want to harm her, and knew he was risking his life by abducting her. After everything he did to try and cover up the worst mistake of his life. He knew the pain and destruction he was causing his family.
Going to prison was going to destroy anything good left inside him. He couldn’t let that happen. By taking Paige, maybe he could convince her it was a wrong environment to spend the rest of his life in. Everyone makes mistakes.
The night of the accident, he was drunk, lost control of his car and accidentally knocked Glen off the side of the road. He felt devastated and humiliated he could have done something so stupid. Dominic was not a killer. But things change the moment you start running for your life. You do things out of the norm and don’t think about what lies ahead. You only think about yourself and how to get away with another stupid mistake. One lie leads to another.
It’s too late to take Paige back now. She’s now his possession and she’s convinced he’s going to kill her. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He just wanted to scare the bitch.
“Please Dominic, take me back…I swear I won’t say a word to anyone, just take me back to the store,” Paige begged, crying.
Dominic wasn’t that stupid. Did she really think he would believe anything that came out of her mouth? No one kept quiet, they’re all liars. He didn’t say anything back to her. Forgetting that damn duct tape pissed him off, now he had to hear her weeping and talking.
After several minutes, Paige opened up her mouth again. “Where are you taking me? Please tell me.”
The mountains. Dominic is taking her up to the mountains to a smal
l cabin he rented online just yesterday. It’s the perfect seclusion from the city life and away from the mess he created. He needed quiet, and to think about his next game plan. First, getting Paige to drop all the charges was the only thing he could think about right now.
Turning on the radio, to drown out the continuous yapping and crying, he came upon a station notifying the locals about his latest felony: “News just got in that a San Diego resident, Paige Turner, was abducted outside her own bookstore, Chasing Pages, in Southpark. She has blonde hair, brown eyes and is five three in height. A witness says she saw the twenty-eight year old woman being pushed into a black SUV Ford Explorer with the license plate number, TJ-three-zero-three-zero-two, by a man wearing all black, and dark sunglasses. His hair color is dark brown curly hair, and is about six two in height. The abductor has a birthmark on the lower part of his left cheek and goes by the name, Dominic Parker. He’s suspected to be armed and dangerous. Please be on the lookout and call nine-one-one -”
Dominic quickly turned off the station and began panicking. He was positive he had it all thought out. Not knowing there was a witness lurking ruined everything! No turning back. The mountains were not far off, and looking more peaceful as the minutes ticked on.
J.D. Parker - Minus
After almost being mutilated, I was found. At first I thought it was a joke, but someone had witnessed a strange lunatic walking around the woods, talking to himself about how proud he was that he actually went through with killing that girl. He said he couldn’t wait to do it again– meaning me. I guess this witness called the cops after he followed him into a dark cave, set up like an old asylum. It was pretty brave of this person to put his life on the line and save my life in the process. I couldn’t have been more grateful for his heroism.
Chasing Paige (Falling for Words Book 1) Page 18
