Stealing Grace

by Shelby Fallon

  “Wonderful. Why?”

  “Still just curious. I’m taking a poll of sorts. I wanna see why women do the things they do. Why some women stay with some men while other’s leave, how much can they take before they crack under the pressure? You know, things like that.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t really help you with that one. My husband isn’t anything I would want to be away from. I stay because I want to.”

  “Yes, but what if he were to do something terrible and... unspeakable? Could you stay with him?”

  “Depends on what you’re talking about, I guess.”

  “Let’s say he was involved in something like...human trafficking.” As soon as he finished that last syllable she froze staring at him.

  Her breathing was rapid and definitely noticeable. She could feel the pink in her cheeks and her lips go pale and numb.

  “Why are you asking me this?” she breathed afraid of knowing the truth.

  Had someone found out their past? Had the community hired someone? Was someone playing a joke? They hadn’t shown their faces in the news for the coverage of the trial. He spoke, crossing over her running thoughts.

  “Why not? Just curious. Why would a woman who was stolen, for lack of a better word, stay with the man who stole her? What would it take to break that man? Maybe he would have a change of heart. Maybe she tricked him into helping her like the evil succubus she is. Maybe all women deserve a little lesson in humility to be of any good use.” His voice was raising and becoming more agitated as he spoke and Elena was about as scared as she thought humanly possible.

  Her hands shook behind her back with the scissors she had grabbed earlier in her plight for a weapon from his touch. She could feel her knuckles turning white from her grasp.

  “I think you should...leave now. My boss will hear you from the back and call the cops.”

  “I know he’s not here you stupid girl. Why do you think I am? And your precious Alex isn’t here to help you either. What to do, what to do? Are you going to try to tailor my shirt with those scissors?”

  She gasped as he spoke and fell back into the wall.

  This is it. This is not a joke. He’s gonna kill me.

  “Stupid girl! Did you really think you would get away with it? Did your stupid husband think he could? Did you think it was just a few girls you were saving? Fools! You have no idea what you’ve done and the reign of horrors you’ve brought down on yourselves now.” He was glaring at her and leaning further on the counter. “We have eyes and ears everywhere.” He was yelling at her with his balled fist beating on the counter with ever sentence end, just as Mr. Pete came through the door.

  Oh God no! He’ll kill him too!

  “What’s going on here, Elena? Young fella, I think you should leave. What are you thinking talking to my girl like that? Go on, get.” He paid no mind and kept walking and mumbling as he talked and started putting things away that were in his arms.

  “See you around, Elena,” the mystery man whispered and flashed her a devil’s smile as he slipped out the door and Mr. Pete still talking his gibberish the whole time.

  Elena didn’t hear him either, she was making mental notes of the mans face and voice and the things he said. He must be someone that the community had hired.

  So even jail wouldn’t stop the monsters.

  As she ran through the conversation in her mind one thing stuck out more than anything. He knew Alex’s name. I never said his name. Oh. This wasn’t some prank. They know. They know everything. They are gonna kill us. We have to leave, again.

  After apologizing profusely to Mr. Pete and telling him what she could about the situation and why she had to leave. That she was involved in a federal case and was a witness and her cover had been compromised. He acted like she was speaking Italian, not understanding a word and then that turned into anger.

  “Girly, you keep your lame excuses to yourself. I thought I hired you for the long haul, not a few weeks for you to waste my time! Just go on and get. I’ll mail your last paycheck, go on.”

  He was mad and it irked Elena because he wouldn’t listen. He thought she was making it all up, lying. As she walked out the door, checking both ways of the sidewalk for the mystery man she pulled out her cell and dialed Alex.

  Voicemail. She dialed Roger and Amy with the same results, leaving no one a message for fear of their reaction, she thought it best to talk in person so no one would freak out and they could rationally all come to a solution.

  The end result would have to be leaving again. Elena knew that but could they really just keep moving, waiting for the next hired man to come and kill them?

  She walked down the street, crossing at the bank and walking the 11 blocks to Alex’s office. She had never been up there before but after trying his number once more thought it best to head up and interrupt him, hoping he wouldn’t get into trouble or be angry with her. Though at this point, it wouldn’t matter as they’d have to leave anyway.

  The walk was brutal. It was blazing hot in the midday sun and she hadn’t had lunch or breakfast, as she had been running late, nor anything to drink all day. The pavement under her seemed to blow hot air right into her bones and she could feel the heat through the soles of her shoes.

  By the time she got to Alex’s office building, she was drenched in sweat, her heart was erratic and fuzzy feeling and her hands and feet were numb and tingling.

  The stairs we’re musty and hot and winding. Alex told her his office was on the third floor. She made it, barely, but was panting and sluggish as she pulled frantically on the heavy door with a big black cracked number three.

  Her head spinning, she managed to pull open the door. As soon as she felt the air conditioned air on her face, that was the last thing she remembered before the aching pain in her face.

  Her subconscious was working overtime though. She thought she was under a drug or something. Not hearing anything but her mind running non stop. Oh no! The man is here already. Did he hit me? Alex! Alex! Run! I’m so hot...no ...I’m freezing. My veins feel like ice water running through them. I’m spinning. My face hurts. My stomach hurts...ah...

  * * *

  The commotion in Alex’s office was causing a stir. Some of the nearby people in a cubicle saw Elena fall after shifting halfway through the door and came to help, having to pull her through the door as she collapsed half way through, leaving her legs in the stairwell and the door was trying to push closed on her stomach.

  “Miss? Miss, are you ok? Who is she?”

  “Someone call 911.”

  “Already did, got them on the line.”

  “Why was she taking the stairs?”

  “Who is she? Does anyone know this woman?”

  Alex, in his office a couple doors down the hall, heard all the voices but was on the phone with a client and trying to finish up. Once he got off, he checked his phone in his desk drawer and saw that Elena had tried to call but left no message.

  He decided to peek out and see what everyone was still going on about out there as he dialed her number, no one could work with all that racket. He peeked out and did a double take, dropping his phone on the floor before making a running sprint to his woman that everyone hovered over, lying limp on the floor.

  “Elena! Elena.”

  “You know her?”

  “Yes, she’s my wife!” he yelled as he bent down and then looked up to the people around her. “What happened?”

  “Dude, she just passed out or something. She was coming up the stairs and as soon as I saw the door open she just fell to the floor. Marilyn called 911 already.”

  Alex picked her head up into his lap, trying to smooth her sweaty hair away from her face. He gasped when he touched her forehead. She was burning up.

  “El? Baby?” he bent down to whisper.

  Alex’s manager had walked over and heard what was going on from a bystander.

  “Alright people, give them some air. Go back to your desk,” he said, trying to give Alex some room. />
  The paramedics had just come through the elevator doors when they finally got a few feet of room to breath. They took her from Alex, literally pulling her hands from his, placing her on a gurney with wheels and immediately taking vitals and getting her ready for an IV.

  Alex was surprised at the answers he knew, her blood type, history of family diabetes and her drug allergies. Somehow, those things had come up in conversation between them and he was grateful for it now.

  They braced her neck and strapped her to the gurney as if she would brake in half. It hurt to look at her, so fragile looking and red and unresponsive. Not knowing what had happened let alone what she was doing at his office was the worst part of all. What if she had passed out on the street in the baking sun instead of his office’s stairwell?

  What if she’d passed out in the stairwell before she reached the top? No one took the stairs. They wouldn’t have ever found her, him having no idea that she had come to his office.

  He pushed that all aside as they made their way to the elevator. A coworker brought his coat to him and briefcase and he thanked him numbly before he followed the suited rescuers leaving a host of curious eyes behind him.

  * * *

  Elena tried to pry her eyes open but they seemed glued shut, stuck. When she tried to move her arms, they too felt adhered to something. Slowly she pushed, seeing ever so slightly a break of light until she was blinking rapidly trying to adjust to the bright fluorescents.

  Suddenly a hand that already held hers tightened and she glanced over to see a teary red rim eyed and tired man looking back at her. Oh, Alex.

  “Elena,” he breathed, “I thought we talked about this? You said you wouldn’t do this to me again, remember?” He was trying to joke with her but the wetness of his eyelashes gave him away.

  “What happened?” she croaked.

  “You came to my office but passed out at the stairwell. I didn’t even know it was you out there for a few minutes until I got curious enough to go see what the commotion was about. Some one had already called 911 by then.”

  “I...passed out?”

  “The doctor thinks your long walk in the heat and then the hot stairs was just too much and you just...fainted, from heat exhaustion.”

  “Oh. Yes.” She remembered. “I tried to call but didn’t get you so I was going to see you and then everything just went black. Ow,” she gasped at the pain in her stomach and side.

  “Yeah,” he said patting the hand on her side and wincing with her, “the door apparently tried to slam on you and bruised your ribs up pretty good. And you hit your face on the door frame on the way down. You got a little blue and yellow cheek going on there.”

  “Wait... What day is it? How long have I been here?”

  “Thursday. You’ve been out since noon yesterday.”

  “Oh no, Alex, there was a man! He was one of them! He knew our names and he came into the flower shop and-” Alex interrupted her as she was almost screaming now.

  “Honey, shh, it’s ok. Slow down. What are you talking about?”

  “A man came into the shop yesterday morning, asking me all these questions about us and our marriage. He knew our names. He asked me ‘did we think we’d get away with it?’” she continued and told him the whole spill in as little breaths as she could do, as each one was excruciating.

  Alex finally began to understand and became more stiff. Still not reacting as Elena had when the doctor came in and they cut off all conversations until he left again.

  She realized with chagrin, it was her not-so-well-mannered doctor from her appointment. As far as Elena was concerned, at this point, no one could be trusted.

  “How are we feeling today? Better?” the doctor asked cheerfully.

  “Well, I guess. I don’t remember much, so.”

  “That’s normal with black outs. I’m sure Alex told you my diagnosis for all this. You sure gave everyone a scare. We don’t get too many of these types of emergencies in our little town.”

  Elena realized then that she was in the hospital.

  “Great. I’m all about good first impressions,” she tried to smile at her joke but her face hurt and she reached up to touch it.

  Alex leaned over and gave her a sympathetic look and removed her hand from her face, taking it in his.

  “Yes, I drove over here to the hospital to see you since you’re one of our own,” he laughed like it was some private joke they should know about. “But I see you are well taken care of. I’ve looked at your chart and everything looks good. Vitals good, blood work good, nothing on the CT scan and ultrasound. Just a spell of low blood sugar but you should be fine. Your face and ribs should heal soon enough, nothing was broken.”

  He started to rise and push the chart cover back but paused and stood quietly with his back to them for just a moment. He then turned smiling before he spoke.

  “Oh,” he said and smiled wider, “and uh...the baby will be fine, too.”

  Chapter 16

  Elena thought she had blacked out again. She turned to Alex for a reiteration but he seemed just as dazed as she did. She turned slowly back to the doctor who was smiling widely and a bit smugly at that. He knew she had been in his office with ‘symptoms’ and he just hadn’t gotten the results back yet on her tests.

  “I’m sorry?” Elena managed to get out with her suddenly desert dry throat.

  “I said you’re going to have a baby, Mrs. Brooks. And he or she is fine. Your ribs apparently took the brunt of the force from the door slamming on you. That’s why you were in my office with symptoms. You’re pregnant.”

  “But...but...I...haven’t missed a period...I-”

  “It’s not unheard of for women to have a period if they get pregnant close enough to the time they usually start. You’d be about to start again, right? Well, you won’t have one this time. You are pregnant, Mrs. Brooks.”

  “But we took a home test.”

  “Blood test don’t lie. Home test sometimes do.”

  Alex still sat silent. Elena just tried to regulate her breathing. The doctor kept smiling as he turned and starting walking out the room to give them a minute of adjustment or panic, whichever, they needed a minute alone. He turned one last time before closing the door behind him.

  “Oh and uh, congratulations.”

  And then he was gone and Elena and Alex were alone in the stunned silence.

  Elena looked toward Alex’s face, gauging. I would think he would be thrilled. He wanted this. Why is he so stunned? She decided she should speak before the silence enveloped her and she was lost in thought. Alex’s face still straight and looking forward.

  “Alex?” He slowly turned to look at her. “Are you ok?”

  “Yeah. Are you ok?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m...shocked. But it definitely explains some things.”

  “Yes, it does, but... I’m sorry, El. We were careful but, not careful enough I guess.”

  “I...I though you wanted this? I thought you’d be happy?” she muttered and was surprised by how her voice was altered by the tears in her throat.

  “I want you to be happy. Are you happy?”

  “Alex, I meant what I said. I do want a baby with you. And we were pregnant this whole time thinking I wasn’t. All that fretting for nothing. Alex?” He was staring at her bewildered. “Alex? What is it?” she asked just as bewildered by his reaction.

  “I thought you were just telling me what I wanted to hear since the test was negative. I thought you didn’t want to have a child with me. I thought...I don’t know.”

  “Alex, look at me.” She grabbed his face with two hands, wincing a little as she felt the I.V. pull in her hand, and held it tight in place as she looked into his eyes. “I will not lie to you, do you hear me? Not even to spare your feelings. I will always tell you the truth and I want that from you too. I want to have a baby with you.” She smiled at that thought but then sobered, almost angrily. “Why are you always second guessing my decisions? Why are you always makin
g it seem like I’m repaying a debt rather than doing it because I love you? I do love you and I think I shouldn’t have to prove it anymore.”

  “It feels like that sometimes. I just didn’t think I deserved you and- I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He shook his head in her hands and he saw her begin to speak. “I’ll never second guess you again.” He took her hands in his, kissing her fingers and his smoldering eyes beamed into her soul. “You really want to have a baby with me? Really?”

  “Yes, really. I told you that when I thought I wasn’t pregnant so you know it’s true. Alex...you’re gonna be a daddy. We are gonna be parents.” She rolled her eyes at the absurdity of the whole situation and the tears came right on cue.

  Happy tears.

  “Yes, we are.” He jumped up. “I’m gonna be a daddy!” he was yelling playfully, smiling, beaming and paced the room a little bit.

  Elena knew all the people down the hall could hear but she didn’t care and she knew for sure he didn’t. In fact this was probably his plan, to tell everyone he met.

  He walked back to the bed slowly and kissed her, trying to be gentle with his bruised mommy-to-be. He ran his fingers down her cheek as she sat and cried happily.

  “So I’ve been here since yesterday? What about Roger and Amy?”

  “I called them and they visited last night. You were really out of it, scared me to death. Doctors told me it would be ok, but they didn’t know you were pregnant then. I wonder if they would’ve been different with you now. Anyway, they said they’d come back tonight, in fact they should be here in about an hour and a half. Doctor said you’d have to stay at least until in the morning if you can keep some food down.” Speaking of food. Jeez!

  “Food! Yes, please, I’m starving. That explains that too, I guess. Could you grab me something please? Like, now?”

  He laughed.

  “Of course, baby. I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

  “Oh, ha ha. Where am I gonna go?” she said laughing.

  He walked out, glancing back at her before pushing the door closed, beaming still.