Chasing Paige (Falling for Words Book 1)
Page 19
The lunatic, or madman, whatever that creature was, was taken away and I was finally set free. Seeing my parents and little sister again was the happiest day of my life, and I vowed to never fight with either of them ever again. It was over.
The nightmare may have been over, yet I still had a lot of mourning to do and understanding and weekly therapy sessions to help me get past my abduction. It will take a long time to feel safe again, and to be happy. However long it would take, my life is forever indebted to the man who made it worth living again.
I heard the news on the radio, so I know they’re looking for me. Thank God, an eyewitness saw everything. How long will it take the authorities to come find us? Someone has to track us down sooner or later! Lynn must be going out of her mind with worry and it makes me cry. She must be feeling so guilty for going on her errand run, but I’m glad she wasn’t there when Dominic held me up. There would have been two of us fighting for our life and freedom instead. Not that I’m scared about Dominic shooting me with his gun, rather I’m petrified about his drinking and driving. Who knows if he was drinking before he decided to come snatch me up?
I feel us swerving a little and it’s making me car sick. I only pray I don’t vomit all over the place, and will make it in one piece…wherever we are heading. Having this blindfold on is making the carsickness that much more worse. My arms are tingling from being bound behind my back and it’s the most uncomfortable feeling ever. Dominic won’t listen to me. Every time I tell him anything…especially about taking me back home, he yells at me to shut up.
I don’t know what I ever did to him to do this to me. It’s not my fault I found out about his involvement with Glen’s death. Going to such lengths of keeping me quiet, is only making it worse for himself. It doesn’t make any sense!
James. What is this doing to him? I know he’s in San Diego with Molly, and no doubt has heard the news through Lynn. Sadly, there is more guilt to add onto his list of things to feel guilty about. He doesn’t deserve it. I may still feel betrayed, hurt and don’t trust him, but I still love him. This situation must be killing him and that hurts me as well. To be in his arms again, after all this is over, sounds like heaven, but my heart is still not in the right place to accept that. You would think, since my life’s in danger and all, I wouldn’t let his lies stand in the way anymore, we could move forward and spend every waking moment together for the rest of our lives. Yeah, you would think. Instead, I continue to be stubborn…even though I’m bound and blindfolded in a car with a crazy man. My life has turned into a complete nightmare!
Dominic leads me into a cold room, which smells a bit musty, like it needs to be aired out, and then finally takes off my blindfold. He flicks on a lamp in the far corner of the living room, immediately blinding me. Squinting my eyes, I look around the place. I get the feeling we’re in a cabin, up in the mountains. No wonder my ears plugged up and I continued to get wheezy. Why in the hell would he take me all the up here? He’s out of his ever loving mind if he thinks he’s going to get away with kidnapping me, and hauling me up to some cabin.
Still bound behind my back, Dominic grabs my arm and forces me to sit on some couch that has seen better days. Goodness, I hope there aren’t any cockroaches or dead rodents lying around in this Godforsaken place. It’s pitiful.
“Where are we?” I ask.
Standing in front me, with that damn gun still pointing at me, he replies, “Some place where we can talk.”
“Talk?” I almost laugh. “That could have been easily arranged.” But no, instead, he just had to take me as some collateral hostage, which won’t do him any good. Crazy.
He tucks the gun behind his back. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he warns me, I detect a bit of regret in his tone.
Ignoring his warning, I urge him to keep talking. He needs to open up to me, and I need to figure out a way to get the hell out of this place. “You don’t have it in you to actually hurt me, Dominic. You’re just scared.” His pained eyes flash and widen from my accusation. Then the sudden deep scowl between his brows and the shaking of his hands scare me. Who knows what he’ll do to me in his state. Even though I can sense he’s dying for another drink, I continue to badger him. “You’re scared of going to jail for killing my husband. Did you really think by kidnapping me that all your troubles would magically disappear? Well I’ve got news for you…your troubles have escalated into something that could have been prevented. Prison is looking more and more in your favor.” I sit super quiet and still while I watch him begin pacing the small enclosed, drabby room. There’s no TV or life in this place, only dark wooden paneled walls, a wide window to my left, a couple scenery pictures on the walls, and a fireplace. When I know I’m in the clear of him doing anything to me, I quietly say, “They’re going to find you.”
Spinning around, shaking and sweating, he shouts, “You don’t think I know that?”
I slightly flinch at his response, yet I manage to keep any nervous or scared reactions at bay. He doesn’t need to know he’s freaking me out. “Then why would you go this far, huh? Why make things worse for yourself?” Dominic remains manic, pacing in circles and making a wear in the dark brown carpet, mimicking the chaos in his mind. I can’t stand the silence, it’s killing me. If he doesn’t talk, I’ll never leave. “Talk to me,” I shout, raising my voice.
That got his attention, because he comes stomping up to my face, fuming at the nostrils. I know I’m getting on his nerves, and that’s my intention, but I just hope I don’t force his hand on me or anything. Or worse, kills me off.
Shaking a finger at me, he responds in a sharp tone, “We’ll talk when I’m good and ready. We need food. I’m going to cook something up. In the meantime, just shut up, okay?”
Just then, as he storms off to go outside, I see my phone sticking out from his back pocket. Somehow, I’ve got to get my hands on it. How will I be able to get it when my arms are still tied behind my back? My heart begins to pound against my chest as I try to figure out a way to get my hands on my phone. Please, God, help me! Twisting my wrists around, I’m almost able to get this damn rope to loosen up, but I stop the second Dominic returns with grocery bags and a cooler. I watch him as he unloads all his food– and it’s a lot of food! What does he intend to do with all of it? How many days does he think we’ll be here? He’ll be caught, he just has to be.
After situating the old, yellow kitchen with groceries, he then opens a bottle of liquor. Not surprising, since he was jittery and on the brink of detoxing, he guzzles straight from the bottle and eyes me staring back. With a wipe to his mouth from the back of his hand, I tell him, “There are a lot of people who are going to be worried about me, and that includes your brother.” His nostrils flare again and I can see I’ve pushed another button. My body flinches when he slams the bottle down onto the counter and starts to march his way over to me. The redness mixed with anger on his face is not attractive. It’s like he’s an animal, seething at the mouth, which terrifies me. This is it…I’m dead meat. I wince from pain when he grips onto my upper arm, and drags me away from the couch, dragging me down a dark hallway and into another room…this time a bedroom. He pushes me inside and slams the door shut. I hear a lock on the other side, which means there is no way out of here.
I pound my foot against the door, begging him, “Don’t lock me up in here, please!”
“I have to,” he angrily snaps at me. “I can’t have you talking my ear off when I’m making us dinner.”
When I know he’s no longer on the other side of the door, I start to cry and sink down to the ground, praying that someone will come and find me. I pray for my life. I pray for Dominic’s, because he’s going to need it once he goes to prison for the rest of his life.
What seemed like hours, I sit with my knees up and huddle against the door, waiting for Dominic to come back. The rope around my wrists won’t loosen up anymore, so I give up on trying to set them free. It’s eerily dark in here, except for the moonlight cascading insid
e from the window. Unfortunately, this reminds me too much of a scene from James’ book, Minus. The girl on that cot, looking at the soft lighting of the moon, praying and hoping she wouldn’t be getting chopped up into tiny pieces before she ever saw the light of day again. I shiver from that very same feeling. Though, I don’t think Dominic is a cold blooded killer, I do think he’s snapped. His fears of going to prison has caused him to do the unthinkable, and deep inside, I don’t blame him. He’s doing anything to keep himself from a life behind security doors, amongst murderers, and rapists. Would we all go a little nuts if we knew our life was over? In his case, a life away from his family and the beautiful world that is beyond those doors? I know I would. Having been taken from everything and everyone I loved, I know I wouldn’t be able to do what Dominic has done. He has seriously ruined any chance of redemption. It will certainly take years of forgiveness on his part, and possibly mine to truly let this madness go.
I feel myself nodding off when there’s a shove on my back, and I’m pushed down onto my face. Dominic has opened the door. The dull aches in my wrists are finally being cut free from that wretched rope. I sit rubbing them both, as he once again grabs me by the arm and hauls me into the little dim lit dining room. The table is set with lasagna, a green salad, and garlic bread. How homey of him. The thought of eating anything he’s cooked up, makes me sick. What, he just assumes food is the answer to everything? He wants me to friggin’ eat and obey his every command? I hate him. What he doesn’t know, is I see my phone on the counter and the car keys sticking out from his jeans. I’ve got to find a way to get to them!
He drags me over to a chair and forces me to sit down, then proceeds to make himself comfortable in the other chair. Placing his gun right next to his plate, I ask him, “Is that thing real?”
Patting it like it’s a dog’s head, he answers me, “Yes, it is. Now be quiet and eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat something.”
I clench my jaw, pissed as all hell he’s keeping me here against my will. “No. What I need is to go home. Keeping me here makes no sense. I didn’t do anything to you, so why kidnap me?”
He slowly chews his bread, and then swallows it before he responds. “To hear me out before I get taken away.” Before taking another bite of his dinner, he lifts his caramel colored liquor up to his mouth and gulps the stuff down. Right after, he pours himself another glass.
“Still doesn’t make sense,” I mutter.
“I guess it doesn’t.” He shrugs, and then takes another drink of liquor. “I’m so messed up, I can’t function, can’t think.” He pushes away his plate, and then adding another drink to his lips.
The anger inside of me is building up by the second. He’s feeling sorry for himself and continues to drink it away. Well, he’s not get any sympathy from me. “Of course you’re messed up. You covered up a hit and run, guilted your own brother into not saying anything to me, and made him into a liar just to bury your own mistakes. That’s sick!”
He’s losing himself in that drink, and bows his head in defeat. “I’m a drunken loser who turned into a sociopath,” he mumbles. He can say that again.
The more he drinks maybe I can actually knock him out with something. As he downs another gulp, I look to my right and notice a vase on a small bookshelf. It’s a couple feet away from me, and hopefully will be easy enough to grasp onto without him noticing.
Obviously, he’s becoming more and more intoxicated as we speak, and he’s slowly opening up to me, so this is a good enough chance to get some answers about what happened the night of the accident. “I need to know what happened that night.”
His hand tightens around the glass, almost to the point of shattering it, but I can see he’s leading up to his confession. With his eyes peering down inside his almost empty glass, he slurs, “It was late, and I had just left a bar.” I get chills from just hearing the first few words of how it all happened. I’m almost ready to have a drink myself, this could get ugly. Dominic pours more, what looks to be whiskey, into his glass and continues talking. “There was no one on the road. I thought it was a dead road, I couldn’t see straight and was falling asleep as I drove home. Next thing I knew, I felt my car hit something. I swerved and almost crashed, but saw a red car go off the side of the road, flipping until it landed upside down. I rushed over to the car and asked if everyone was okay. No one said anything. I didn’t know it was him until I shined my cell phone flashlight on his face. I didn’t even know there was anyone else in the car with him. I panicked, called nine-one-one and got the hell away. I left them alone.”
I was totally unaware I’d been crying, when a tear startles me as it slides its way down my cheek and drops down onto my hand. This time, I’m unable to wipe my pain away. “You were a coward,” I painfully whisper.
“Yes,” he says, taking another drink.
“You’re still a coward.” That vase to my right looks more inviting than before. I just want to kill him! I can’t believe he would leave my dying husband on the side of the road like that and hightail it before getting caught. It’s all so deranged and screwed up.
Still looking down into his booze, he says, “If I could change what I did, I would.” Then looks up at me with red-rimmed eyes, and hoarsely admits, “I’m sorry.”
Not expecting his apology, I suck back a breath. I don’t know what he wants me to say. Dominic ruined my life, and made me a grieving widow at such a young age. He made it so I would never be able to see Glen ever again. It doesn’t even matter if he was cheating on me. I still loved him with all my heart.
Years of not knowing who took him away from me…the man who took his life is sitting right next to me. I’m utterly disgusted with Dominic. How did he cover up the fact he was the one who was responsible that night? What did he do with his car? Raging with pain and loss, I was told that the license plate wasn’t showing in surveillance cameras, so the authorities couldn’t identify the driver. Crappy cameras and crappy investigators! It had to be the hardest thing to ever hear. They wouldn’t ever find the person responsible for the accident. I was beyond shattered and consumed with grief.
“Let me go home,” my voice barely audible.
Dominic scoffs, shaking his head. “I don’t want to go to prison.”
The nerve of this man! I’ve had enough of his cowardness. “You made the choice to drink and drive, to leave two people in their car, dying.” I shout. “And now this! You don’t have any other choice, but to let me go and to turn yourself in. Please.” I choke with tears running down my face. I take a napkin from the table and dab it all away.
If I haven’t heard enough already, Dominic slurs against his words with, “I can’t face Glen’s parents and his sister, Becca.”
I gasp. “Oh my God.” This is all way too much for me. Glen’s parents are alive, and his sister is actually Becca? The same Becca who invaded my Maui getaway? I’m blown away, and devastated. Glen told me his parents had died before he started college, and that he had no other family members. It’s the reason for a small memorial. Only my family and close friends showed up. None of this makes any sense! Why would Glen lie to me about not having a family? There is so much I don’t know about him, and the only one who can explain it all is James.
Dominic begins to nod off a little more, jerks and takes another drink. He continues mumbling, but I think it’s more to himself than toward me. “I was dumped by my longtime girlfriend. We were going to get married. I got deeply depressed and started drinking. Lost my job and pressured my ex into taking me back. She put a restraining order on me.” My Lord, he has serious problems.
While he’s in this state, I need to take advantage of it. Either I can take Dominic’s gun, or I can slowly get that vase. The gun doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t want to shoot him, plus I’ve never used one before. Without him noticing, I quickly grab the vase and tightly hold onto it as I keep it hidden underneath the table. My pulse is racing, I’m so nervous.
Still clenching onto the vase, I remain composed when I tell him, “Your brother could have helped you. From what I know, he looked up to you.”
“I didn’t want anyone’s help.”
His forehead hits the edge of the table, and says one final word before he eventually passes out.
“Looks like I’ll get that in prison now.” A second later, he’s snoring. Thank God, I don’t have to use the vase to knock him out! He just needs to stay unconscious long enough for me to call for help.
Bolting from my chair, I snatch the car keys from his pocket, grab my phone and quickly go outside. I look both ways to see where I’m at, but it’s so freaking dark out here. I can barely see the car. My hands are shaking, but I’m able to unlock the door and climb inside. I start up the car and drive away, but before calling the cops, I check my GPS to see the location. I have to drive up the hill and pull over to the side so my connection will work better. Once I get the connection, I look at my map, take note on it and then immediately call nine-one-one.
There’s hope for me yet.
Drained from all the questions the authorities had for me, my energy was gone. I had nothing left inside me and knew I wouldn’t get any rest until Paige was safe and out of harm’s way.
So when we found out Paige had been found and would be coming home, I almost fell to my knees. We didn’t know all the details, but apparently she was up in Big Bear, and was able to get to a phone and called nine-one-one. Lynn, myself, and Paige’s family were all waiting for her at the house on pins and needles. She wasn’t in need of a hospital, thank God, so they returned her to her home instead.
Hours before we knew of her safety, Lynn called Paige’s parents, and brother to inform them about the abduction. Like any worried parents, they immediately hopped on a plane and came straight to Lynn and Paige’s house. Her brother, Laith, was able to come right after.