Crazy In Love: A Standalone Christmas Thriller

by Ivy Smoak

  His eyes softened. Or at least I thought they did. But I guess I was wrong, because he hit Detective Torres' name on my phone to call him.

  "Noah, stop!" I reached out with my foot to try to hit the phone out of his hand, but he dodged me.

  "It's best if he hears it from you," Noah said. "Tell him I'm home safe."

  I tried to kick him in the face but my leg didn't lift high enough.

  He grabbed my ankles with one hand and pressed my feet against the mattress. He held me still no matter how much I struggled against his grip. "Behave." He put the phone to my ear. "Tell him to call off the search."

  I couldn't do that. I just needed to figure out a way out of these ropes so I could finish my plan. God, what am I going to do? "Hang up. Noah, please hang up. Hang up, hang up, hang up!" I tried to squirm out of his grasp, but apparently his biceps were stronger than my hamstrings.

  The phone stopped ringing and I had no choice but to stop begging.

  "Detective Torres speaking."

  "Hi, Detective Torres,” I said. “I...I need to tell you something. Important. Could you come by the house sometime today?" Please be busy. Please be randomly in Canada again.

  "Yeah. I have something important to discuss with you as well."

  Oh, fuck. What had he found out?

  "Give me a few hours," he said. "I'll be there before noon."

  I glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was a little before 10 am. "Great," I gritted through my teeth. It was anything but great. It wasn't enough time.

  The line went dead.

  "He'll be here in two hours," I said. "I thought it would be best to tell him in person."

  Noah lowered the phone from my ear. "It'll all be over soon, babe."

  It would be, whether I was ready or not. I had two hours to get untied. Two hours to get my money back. Two hours to get the hell out of here before I got caught with Noah's blood on my hands.

  Chapter 24

  Monday

  "Noah." I tried to keep my voice steady, even though I was freaking out inside. I needed more than two hours to prep everything. Every second I stayed tied up was precious time I was losing. "Can you please untie me now?"

  "I will, babe. I promise. As soon as I'm sure you're not planning on hurting me."

  Tough luck, ass hat. "I don't think I'm going to hurt you." That was the best I could do.

  His hands holding my ankles firmly to the mattress didn't budge. As soon as they did, I was going to kick him right in the throat.

  He shook his head as he looked down at me. "I don’t believe you. Ensley, you just confessed that you've been wanting to see blood. My blood. I don't believe the sudden change of heart."

  I tried to take a deep breath, but it didn't calm me at all. "What if you keep my hands tied together but let me loose from the bedpost? I have to get ready. I'm running out of time."

  "Running out of time for what?" He lifted my phone in the air. "Oh, right…the passport thing? You're not going anywhere today, babe." He brushed his thumb over my ankle and I tried to ignore the soothing feeling. "We need to talk this out. And we can't do that until you tell me what's really going on with Sophia Tremblay and Dr. Collins. I need you to tell me everything you know."

  I was so upset when I woke up tied to the bed that I hadn't really thought about the questions he was asking. He knew my name. Which meant he remembered. But...if he remembered, why was he asking me questions that I should be asking him. I narrowed my eyes. "I need you to tell me everything you know about Sophia and Dr. Collins."

  "What a stalemate. No...wait. You're tied up and I'm not. Which means you have to give me the answers, not the other way around."

  "I'm not the one with the answers! You are!"

  "Help me help you,” he said. “Just tell me what you know."

  "About Sophia freaking Tremblay?" I closed my eyes, I couldn't even look at him I was so mad. "You cheated on me with her. I know you did. But Detective Torres said you didn't. That you were stalking her." I shook my head. "But that can't be true. You called her all the time. And talked for hours. And you definitely did something to her. I saw the pictures of her face."

  "What did I do to her face?"

  "You hurt her. Her eye was purple and blue. Her cheeks were swollen too. There was a gash on her lip. You're a monster."

  He didn't reply.

  I opened my eyes to see him scowling. "Why does she look like me, Noah? Why did you hurt someone who looked just like me?"

  His hands left my ankles so fast I didn't have time to kick him in the throat.

  He was staring at me like he was angry with me. But I wasn’t the one who beat up women. He was. He should be angry with himself.

  "Why did you do it?" I asked again.

  He shook his head. "I need to step out for about an hour. I'll be back before Detective Torres stops by, okay?"

  "Okay? No, not okay! Noah!" I screamed as he disappeared out the bedroom door. My head throbbed as I thought about him roaming the streets. "You can't leave this house!" I pulled against the ropes. "You can't let anyone see you!"

  Silence.

  "Noah, I'm serious!" Tears started spilling down my cheeks. He didn't get to ruin my life for a second time. "I swear to God if you leave this house you'll get us both killed! Get back here!"

  No response.

  "You can't leave!" I was choking on my sobs. "You can't leave me like this!"

  The sound of the garage door opening had me pulling on my ropes so hard I thought I'd dislocated my wrists. "Noah!" I screamed as loud as I could. But I knew he couldn't hear me anymore. The garage door closed and I heard the screeching of tires.

  I pressed my hands against the headboard. And I let myself cry. What am I going to do now? How had I let this happen? He tricked me. He tricked me. Of course he tricked me. I'd been duped my whole marriage. I was a sucker. All he had to do was kiss me and I’d let my guard down. I'd let my whole future slip away because of a kiss. Again.

  I'd had one job, despite all the things on my list. All I really needed to do was keep Noah tied up while I fled town. I could have done without the confession. Hell, I could have done without the money too. I'm sure there were jobs I was qualified for in Mexico. But I'd thrown all my hopes and dreams away for cash and revenge. There were question marks at the end of my to-do list because I wanted the freedom to change course. Yet, I didn't change course when I knocked Noah's memory out of him. And now...I looked up at the ropes. Now what?

  Snuggle Muffins barked.

  Oh, my sweet baby Snuggle Muffins. "Snuggle Muffins!" I called. My puppy could be my savior. "Where are you?"

  He barked again. It sounded like he was downstairs. I thought about all the times I carried him up and down the stairs. He acted too feeble to do it on his own. But it didn't mean he couldn't. He was just being lazy. If I was a dog, I'd probably demand my owner to carry me everywhere too.

  "Snuggle Muffins, come to Mommy!"

  He barked again. It didn't sound like he'd moved at all.

  "Sweet baby puppy, I really need you to come upstairs!" I wasn't positive, but I was pretty sure dogs had sharp little razor teeth. At least, they did in my mind. Huh, maybe that's why I thought I didn’t like dogs. Well, one of the reasons. I also thought they were gross little monsters, but I found my dog to be quite lovely. He was different than the rest. And he would come up here and save me, I knew he would.

  He barked again but still didn't sound any closer.

  Don't give dogs a bad name again. "Snuggles, you need to go up the stairs!"

  He didn't respond.

  "Snuggles, I promise if you climb the stairs right now I'll never make you do it ever again!"

  Nothing.

  "I swear I'll carry your little prince butt everywhere. Even if there's a one-inch step, I'll lift you up!"

  Silence.

  "Please, Snuggle Muffins. Please, I need you!"

  No response.

  He probably got distracted by the mailman or s
omething. Dogs. I looked back at the ropes. Noah said he’d been able to get out of them with a pair of pliers. I looked at the nightstand. I was on Noah's side of the bed, and I honestly had no idea what he kept in his nightstand drawer. I reached my foot out and somehow wrapped my toes around the little knob. But when I went to slide it open, my foot slipped. God, why didn't I take foot exercises more seriously? This was the kind of shit they should have taught in high school. Valuable life lessons instead of learning U.S. history over and over again for the millionth year in a row.

  After several more attempts, I finally got the drawer open.

  I wasn't at all surprised to see a few dirty magazines. My husband was the scum of the earth. I picked one up after the other with my toes and threw them on the ground. And then I rummaged around in the drawer. I was hoping to at least find a pen or something to help. Obviously a knife would have been better, and I wouldn't put it past him to have one by our bedside. But there was nothing useful.

  Huh. My foot paused on an envelope. It was open. I looked over my shoulder like I was worried he was back and watching me. But I knew I'd hear the garage door when he got back. I lifted the envelope with my foot. After trying to get it to my mouth a few times unsuccessfully, I gave up on that idea. I needed to do more yoga.

  Instead of trying to pull out whatever was in the envelope, I stretched my leg over the side of the bed, turned the envelope upside down, and let the contents fall to the floor.

  Pictures? Huh. I peered over the bed. No, not just any pictures. Only a handful of them were turned right side up. But all the pictures that I could see were of me.

  I was at some sort of café in one. Walking toward an office building in another. There was even one picture of me eating in a dining room. It looked like it had been taken through a window.

  There was just one problem. I had no recollection of that café. Or that office building. Or of the dining room. How had Noah gotten so many pictures of me doing things I didn't remember doing?

  Wait. I squinted down at the pictures again. There was only one logical conclusion. They weren't of me. At first glance I would have thought they were, but... Oh my God. They were of Sophia Tremblay. They had to be. It's not like I went around town not recognizing cafes and buildings I went into.

  Was it possible that Noah wasn't having an affair? Sophia Tremblay's testimony was seeming more and more accurate. It really looked like Noah was stalking her. But why? I was still missing something. I looked back at my tied hands. I was running out of time. Honestly, I didn't care what my no-good husband was up to at this point. I just needed to get out of here.

  I looked back down at the drawer but there was nothing at all useful. Shit. I looked at the nightstand itself. The bedside lamp was metal, but the light was glass. If I could somehow...

  A bark made me turn my head.

  "Snuggle Muffins?"

  He ran over to the pictures and sat down on top of them.

  It felt like I was dreaming. "Snuggle Muffins, you did it! You climbed the stairs. Jump up here."

  He looked at me like I was crazy.

  "Come on boy, you made it all the way up those stairs. One more little leap."

  He lay down on top of the pictures.

  "Please, Snuggle Muffins. One last hop. I realize that I promised no more climbing after the stairs, but clearly this was included. You need to use your sharp little teeth to help me get out of these ropes. You're my only hope."

  He sighed.

  "No more jumping after this. I swear to...whatever god dogs believe in. I'm going to lean down like this." I created a kind of ramp with my back, that led perfectly to the ropes. "And you're going to climb up and bite these ropes, okay?"

  No response.

  "I'm going to be so good to you. I'm going to buy you a Santa hat. And never make you go up stairs again. And feed you all your favorite foods. You liked bacon. Do you want more bacon?"

  I felt the bed sag behind me.

  "Snuggle Muffins, you did it!"

  He was looking at my back leading up to my tied hands.

  "You're such a good boy. Now, free Mommy. You got this."

  He started climbing up my back.

  If I got my money back and ever figured out who owned Snuggle Muffins before me, I made a silent promise that I'd give them half of it. They had trained this little dude so well and I loved him so freaking much.

  He put his dirty little butt on the back of my head as he sniffed the ropes.

  Gross, Snuggle Muffins. Maybe I just tolerated him.

  He started biting at the ropes.

  No, I loved him. I was right before. Screw Noah, this dog was the only man I needed in my life. "Good job, Snuggle Muffins. Just like that. Good boy."

  I stayed in that awkward position until my knees started shaking, my back ached, and I'm pretty sure my head smelled like dog ass. But finally I felt my hands fall loose.

  "Oh my God, you dog genius!" I collapsed on the bed. I thought Snuggle Muffins would get off the back of my head, but he just kept sitting there.

  "I promised you a whole lot, Snuggles, but I did not promise that you could be my permanent crown." I lifted him off the back of my head. "You're amazing. You're wonderful. I love you."

  He licked the side of my face and I only kinda grimaced.

  "Okay. Now we just need to pack everything really quick.” Hopefully I’d remember everything, since stupid Noah had stolen my phone and with it all of my reminder alarms. I jumped off the bed and tried not to cry from how much my back hurt.

  I started throwing random clothes into my suitcase. All I could hear was a clock ticking down in my head, slowly counting to zero. I needed to be gone before Detective Torres came. And definitely before Noah came back. I couldn't play that game of high stakes hide-and-go-seek around the house again. I was going to hightail it out of here...

  Shit. Shit, shit, shit! I threw the lid down on my suitcase. Noah had my car. That son of a bitch had a way of ruining everything.

  I tried to take a deep breath. Go with the flow. Think of another way. An Uber to Mexico would literally cost a fortune. A plane or a rental car would require my ID. The last thing I wanted was to be stopped at the border.

  I snapped my fingers. I'd hotwire a car. There was a knock on the front door.

  I peered out the curtains and stared down at the top of Charlotte's head. Her perfect blonde hair glistened in the blinding light coming off the snow. She was holding another casserole dish. I didn't want her handouts. I let the curtains fall back in place as I lifted Snuggle Muffins into my arms.

  I knew exactly where Charlotte was right this second. And it was the middle of the day, so her husband was at work and her kids were in school. It was their last day before Christmas break started. For all I cared, Charlotte could stand at my door all day waiting for news on my husband, gossip that she'd spread like wildfire. Actually I hoped she would stand there for a while. Because in the meantime, I was going to hotwire her car and get the hell out of here.

  Chapter 25

  Monday

  I pulled a long wool coat over my ridiculous Mrs. Claus costume, grabbed Snuggle Muffins and my purse, and left out the back door.

  Geez that's a lot of snow angels. I touched my forehead. It seemed like Noah was right about last night. I must have been out here for hours making all these.

  For a second I just stared at the snow angels and dog paw prints everywhere. Noah knew I was high. And he'd slept with me. I should have felt betrayed. But Noah was an asshole. Taking advantage of women was just part of an endless list of terrible things he'd done.

  I bit the inside of my lip. I'd thought he was high, and I’d slept with him. Actually, I’d thought he was way more high than I was. Because most of the weed was out of my system after running around the back yard all night. So actually...didn't that make me the one taking advantage of him? I smiled to myself. But then I immediately frowned. Kidnapper and rapist? God, what is wrong with me?

  Also, why am I thinki
ng about who raped who last night? I needed to focus.

  I trudged through the snow toward Sally's fence. All I needed to do was get through Sally's yard undetected to get to Charlotte's. But if I wanted to go unnoticed, it would be best if I didn't go through her back yard. I made my way into the woods, being careful not to slip on any of the ice or trip on any of the snapped branches.

  "Ensley? Is that you?"

  God, Sally, give me a break! I turned to see Sally peering over the back of her fence at me. "Hey," I said and smiled. I would have waved but Snuggle Muffins was in my arms. I'd made him a promise about walking, and I was a woman of my word.

  "Ensley, what on earth are you doing back there?"

  "Just taking my dog on a walk." I was getting used to having a go-to excuse. Who knew that having a pet was so useful at getting away with weird things?

  "Oh, well, let me join you."

  What? No, you crazy bat. "I'm actually not feeling very well. I don't want you to catch whatever I have."

  "Ah, probably because you were outside without a coat last night."

  Oh, no. The image of her with a snake face came back to me. Had that actually happened? If it had...that meant she'd seen Noah through my kitchen window. Fuck me.

  She opened the back gate and joined me in the woods. "Don't worry, it would be hard to catch anything from you with all this fresh air." She took a deep breath. "I love the smell of freshly fallen snow."

  I wasn't worried about her catching a fake cold. I was worried about her catching me. If she told Detective Torres that she’d seen Noah, my whole plan would be ruined.

  "Are you excited for the Christmas light contest tonight?” she asked. “My fingers are crossed that you'll win it this year."

  I nodded, but I barely heard her words. For a few seconds we walked in silence, the only sound the snow crunching under our feet. I needed to say something. Anything that would make her keep her mouth shut. I was considering threatening the wellbeing of her lawn gnomes when she broke the awkward silence.

  "As a good neighbor, I should have seen it." She stopped at the end of her property line.