The Offspring

by Laurinda Ruby

  “Are you sure it was from me?” Julie asked. “Maybe some other girl sent it.”

  Paul laughed. “Either you’re pulling my leg or you have some memory loss. No other girl sent that letter. It was signed by you, Julie. Besides, I’m not seeing any other girls.”

  He wasn’t seeing any other girls. Julie cursed herself for thinking about that now.

  “I didn’t send that letter. And the other night, you told me that you feed a stray cat named Mojo.”

  Paul looked confused. “What-”

  “I have a great memory. I would’ve remembered sending you a letter like that. Also, I wouldn’t have sent a letter like that because I like you.”

  They stared at each other. Her steel-blue eyes looked into his deep amber eyes. For a moment, she forgot why they were here. Reality crashed into her the moment they blinked. Peter. Always Peter.

  Paul smiled before continuing. “Well, now that we have that out of the way. Let’s talk about your options.”

  ***

  Julie called the police that night. She gave them the original copies of the letters but kept a second copy of each for herself. Peter had gone too far this time. His words haunted her that night as she slept on Anne’s couch. Only hours before, she’d felt safe. Paul had made her feel safe.

  Now, she felt vulnerable.

  ***

  Jules, I hoped we wouldn’t have to take this to court. I tried to tell you what a bad idea that would be. Since you didn’t heed my advice, I’ll be forced to play your little game. You should know Julie, I never lose. I hope Paul is as careful a person as he is an attorney. It would be a shame if something happened to him before the hearing.

  You know I love you right? I never wanted any of this to happen. I just want us to be a family again. Please, Julie, reconsider.

  Chapter 12

  The older officer, Officer Ray, tried to reassure Julie. They said that the letters were considered harassment and Peter would have a warrant for his arrest. Since the restraining order hadn’t been reviewed by a judge, he hadn’t broken any laws on that count. The nature of his letters did, however, seem threatening. The officer told Julie he would be contacting Paul next to warn him of Peter’s threats so he would be aware of them. After that, Julie tried to convince Anne that she was fine sleeping on the couch and she didn’t need a babysitter. Anne, who seemed more infuriated by Peter’s letter than afraid, tried to get Julie to sleep in her bed. Julie knew she wouldn’t be sleeping at all that night and told Anne she wasn’t a very good sleeping partner. She kicked too much and what-not.

  Anne had gone to bed hours ago and Julie was still staring at the ceiling. She’d texted Paul to see if the police officer had visited him yet. Paul hadn’t responded. Normally, that wouldn’t have meant anything to her except that he was busy or asleep. Now though, she worried. What if Peter had already done something to him?

  Other than Paul, Julie’s thoughts drifted to Clara and her father. Why had they told Peter anything? Clara probably didn’t know better. Likely, she hadn’t recognized Peter from the photos in Julie’s office she’d once hung on the walls. Her father, on the other hand, knew better. The only reason she hadn’t called him was that she’d been too angry. She wanted to gain her composure before she spoke with him.

  Then her mind visited the apartments. Officer Ray said he’d check into the mysterious neighbor that’d been living next door. To make sure it wasn’t Peter. Lying on the couch now, waiting for the officer to do all of these things—find Peter, warn Paul—felt impossible. It’d only been hours, yet it felt like days and seconds all at once. Time was relative as Einstein has so aptly pointed out. Smaller objects did rotate larger objects like pennies draining round a funnel before finally falling in. She’d been the penny. Peter had been the funnel. Or had it been the other way around? Was he stuck in her gravitational pull as Anne had said? Had his “love” turned into something dangerous like an obsession? It seemed so.

  She wished their attachment was a physical one, like a string, she could sever. One snip and she’d be free of Peter forever. Even the police didn’t have scissors that strong. The warrant on Peter’s arrest did nothing to dampen the bitter taste of fear in her mouth. A warrant for his arrest and his actual arrest were two very different things. Julie couldn’t imagine Peter running from the law, but she couldn’t imagine him being caught willingly either. That’s where her mind circled back to each time: Where was he now?

  Chapter 13

  Officer Ray, an already worn-out looking man with a tire around his waist and bags below his eyes, looked even more worn out two days later when he returned to Anne’s. He had obtained a warrant for the neighbor’s apartment. The man who rented the place wasn’t home, but they had made some interesting discoveries. Officer Ray explained this to Julie in a long, drawn-out way that left her nail beds bitten to the quick.

  Julie had only been back to the apartment once to pack her clothes. Anne had insisted on going with her. Of course, they hadn’t bumped into the mysterious neighbor. So, Officer Ray was her window into the studio next to her’s.

  “The apartment was empty when we arrived. Since we had the warrant, we went in anyway and took a look around. We found some interesting, and to be blunt, concerning things in the apartment. The first thing that caught our eye was a desk in the back corner of the room.” Julie imagined the room was laid out the same as her’s and could imagine the desk clearly. “There were stacks of papers and photographs. The photographs were of you, Ms. Walsh. We believe they’d been taken over a period of months.” Julie felt her breath catch. Her lungs suddenly didn’t want to expand. “Next to them were copies of letters, similar to the ones you showed us. They had been addressed to several people, including yourself. Some of the letters were exact replicas of the ones we have in custody. The others we believe would’ve been sent out soon. Their nature was much more threatening than the previous ones he’d sent to you…” Officer Ray’s nasally voice was fading but Julie forced herself to hang on. She needed to breathe though. Air felt almost as thick as water as it pressed into her lungs. The baby kicked. “…lab will check for fingerprints. We didn’t find any evidence that the items belonged to Peter—”

  Anne’s voice cut in. It sounded far away though. “What do you mean you don’t have evidence? Peter threatened her in person to take her to court if she didn’t let him see the baby. Then he sent her letters referring to that conversation!”

  Julie wasn’t looking at the officer’s face, but she noticed his foot begin to bounce in place. He was nervous.

  “We strongly suspect that the apartment was being rented by Mr. Harper, but we sent the evidence to our lab to check for fingerprints to be one hundred percent certain nobody else was involved. That would be unlikely, admittedly, but we must be sure.”

  Anne scoffed loudly. “Even if the apartment was being rented by some other creep or Peter did have an accomplice, Peter is still guilty of threatening her. What about the warrant?”

  “We are working very hard to find Mr. Harper, but so far, we’ve had no such luck.”

  Julie tuned out when Officer Ray explained to her once again the importance of being careful and not trying to contact Peter. She nodded and pretended to be listening before interrupting to ask, “Did you tell Paul?”

  When he didn’t answer, she looked up at his eyes. The hesitation made her want to throw up. Why wasn’t he just saying yes? It’s one word. It’s not difficult to say. She noticed the officer’s foot bob up and down again. The worst came to her head.

  “I don’t want to worry you, but we haven’t been able to find contact with Mr. Stone, Paul.”

  “Did you check the place he works, Blanch Law?” Julie asked through the lump in her throat.

  Officer Ray’s eyes were downcast. “Yes. Ms. Walsh, please try not to worry. He could have gone out of town for some reason. There are many explanations. Don’t let your mind jump to the worst one.”

  Julie fought back tears. She’d caused thi
s. She’d put Paul in danger. She’d pushed Peter, a man she knew was unstable, to the breaking point. And now, she couldn’t be the one to fix this. Her gaze fell from the officer’s tired eyes to her stomach, where her thin fingers rested. The baby seemed to know she was looking and offered a kick. The baby had to come first now.

  Chapter 14

  Earlier the next morning, Julie received a call from an unfamiliar number while she was still stretched out on the couch. Another sleepless night. She’d been told not to answer any unfamiliar numbers right now. If her friends or family called, she was instructed to lie. But as the phone rang the third time, she stared at the forbidden fruit in her hand and answered. For a moment, she just listened, not offering to speak first.

  “Julie?” the groggy voice said.

  She jumped up to her feet. “Paul?”

  “Julie, I’m at the hospital, I—”

  “Which hospital?!” she interrupted.

  “No, Julie, you can’t come here. He might have followed me.”

  “Who?” Julie asked. Although she knew the answer, she needed to be sure.

  “The guy that broke into my house. He beat me with a metal bat and left me for dead. I didn’t see his face, but he told me to stay away from someone. I think he meant you.” He paused. “I think he meant you.”

  Julie recalled Peter telling her that he’d played junior league baseball. She’d assumed that was a lie too. Now, she wondered.

  “What did he say exactly, Paul?”

  “Stay away from her,” he answered. “Julie, are you somewhere safe?”

  “I’m at Anne’s.”

  “Does Peter know where Anne lives?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you need to leave,” he said, beginning to fade. Julie could tell that talking hurt, but she couldn’t bring herself to end the conversation with so many unanswered questions.

  “Have you talked to the police yet?” Julie asked.

  “They’re on their way now,” he said. “Julie, promise me you’ll go somewhere else. Somewhere Peter won’t find you.”

  Julie hesitated. She didn’t want to leave Paul alone in the hospital. Not when she was the reason he’d ended up there.

  “Do you have somewhere you can go?” he asked.

  “Peter knows all of my friends and family. They think he might’ve been living next to me for weeks. I can’t go to my apartment. I’m safer here, at Anne’s.”

  They were both quiet for a moment. Julie could hear the sounds of the hospital in the background.

  “Listen, Julie,” he groaned.

  “Are you going to be okay?” Julie asked, feeling pain all over her body as if she’d been the one beaten to an inch of her life.

  “ my parents own a cottage in Maine. They never go and the keys are under a ceramic pot. There are a few, so just pick them all up. I’ll text you the address. When I get out of the hospital, I’ll join you. Okay?”

  ***

  Julie didn’t see the bare trees she drove by in her rented Ford Focus as she drove north. She didn’t notice the way they twisted like hands overtaken by arthritis. When the rain pitter-pattered against her windshield, more snow than rain, she didn’t notice. When the cars drove past her in the opposite direction, heading back to the city she was leaving behind, she didn’t see them. Her eyes saw all of this, but her mind didn’t. If she had seen the drive to Maine, she would have been disappointed. Once again, she’d missed the brightly colored leaves.

  Her mind was still back in the hospital with Paul. Although she hadn’t stepped foot inside of the hospital, and she couldn’t even be sure which one he was at, she was there with him, sitting beside his bed. The black and blue welts on his face were clear in her mind. The tube coming from his arms where the nurse had stuck an IV in was real enough, she could almost touch it.

  The only people besides Paul that would know her exact location were Anne and Officer Ray. Anne swore not to tell a soul. Julie knew she could keep that promise. After all, they were secret-keepers for a living. Anne offered to make the trip with Julie so she wouldn’t be alone, but Julie declined her offer. She’d put enough people out already. Of course, she didn’t tell Anne that this was her reason for saying no. She told her that she wanted to be alone to think and clear her head.

  When she pulled into the driveway of the cottage, she glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It showed that it was eight p.m. The sun had already set, not that she’d noticed. Now, she had arrived at a new location while the sky was dark blue and the surrounding woods were full of the sounds of nocturnal creatures. As she stepped out of the car and glanced around, she wondered what she was looking for. Nobody had followed her. She was safe here.

  As Paul said, a key sat beneath one of five ceramic pots. It wasn’t a very good hiding place in Julie’s opinion, but she was grateful to have found it quickly either way. As she turned the key in the door and pushed the door open, her heart raced. The cottage was dark, quiet, and isolated. What had Paul been thinking when he’d suggested it to her? This was the perfect place to murder someone or hold them hostage.

  A sharp, screeching sound attacked her ears, making her scream. It was the alarm, she realized after a second. Paul had given her the code to disarm it: 55460. She punched in the numbers followed by the pound sign. The screaming sound stopped. Now, the silence felt emptier than ever.

  A strange and twisted thought crossed her mind. She imagined Paul being the one who sent all of the letters, except for the two she knew Peter had sent for certain. As unlikely as it was, she played the scenario out in her mind as she set her bag down by the front door and flipped on the lights. Instead of exploring the apartment, she walked straight to the couch and sat, exhausted in every way.

  Paul had come into her life around the time the letters appeared. He’d known about the letters and could’ve easily replicated them. He claimed someone broke into his place and beat him with a bat, but how could she be sure. What if he’d framed everything to get her up here? Now, taking his bait, she sat like a deer in an open field. She’d come right to him. What if he hadn’t been calling from a hospital at all?

  A thud came from behind her and she jerked her head to see what the sound was. The outline of a man was all she saw before she sprinted from the couch toward the door. Heavy footsteps pounded into the wood floor behind her. They were faster than her own steps.

  She reached for the handle and started to turn, but she’d locked it. The tiny silver sliver turned in her sweaty fingers and she yanked at the door, but she was too late. Slam! The door shut, almost closing on her left hand, but she managed to pull it back in time. Greedy hands clenched around her wrists like eagle talons, cutting off her circulation.

  Julie told herself to scream. In nightmares, she never was able to scream. This wasn’t a nightmare though. This was real. She needed to scream. Her mouth opened and a glass-shattering sound escaped. Nobody would be close enough to hear it, but she had to try. One of the large hands released her right wrist to cover her mouth. She bit down on the fingers, but the thick glove blocked her teeth from doing any real damage. With her free hand, she pushed against the door, throwing her body against the man. They both faltered backward until the man caught hold of a chair nearby, releasing her mouth. She screamed again.

  Julie glanced around quickly and spotted a lamp. Before the hand could clamp down on her wrist again, she reached out toward it. Her fingers brushed the lampshade but missed the chance to close down because the man’s hand hit her arm. The throbbing made her see stars. Maybe her arm was broken. His hands started to grab for her mouth once again, but this time she stomped on the foot between her legs. He groaned.

  Her hand gripped the lamp tightly and swung backward. She felt the impact and heard the sound of the lightbulb shattering. The hand holding her left wrist let go. Without thinking, she sprinted for the door again. This time, the footsteps following hers weren’t as close. Maybe she’d injured him enough to get away.

  The door turned an
d opened. She stumbled through it, holding her throbbing arm. To her surprise, a car with blue lights was parked outside. An officer told her to put her hands up. She did and told him a man was inside. Another officer emerged from somewhere and ran past her.

  The officer’s mouth was moving, but she couldn’t understand the words coming out of it. Her knees felt weak and before she knew it, she was on the ground. Both officers were standing above her. Where was the man, she asked. Their mouths moved and distance sounds were all she heard. Again, she asked them where the man was? Had they caught him? She finally understood something one of the officers said.

  “He got away.”

  About the Author

  Laurinda Ruby now lives in Georgia where she writes books and enjoys homestead farming. This is her first series.

  You can connect with me on:

  http://laurindaruby.com

  Also by Laurinda Ruby

  A Dandelion In The Wind

  Lily is dying before she’s had the chance to live. After turning twelve, she is diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. There is no cure. With less than a five percent survival rate, hope is all but lost. The treatment can only extend her life, but at what cost?

  As the weeks progress, her family seems to be crumbling under pressure. When her father loses his job and develops a drinking problem, her mother manages to put on a brave face. Still, Lily knows something is wrong, and for once, her perfect family doesn’t seem so perfect. Lily suspected that her father was struggling, but she never realized how much until her father is accused of murder.

  The Descendants: Book one

  Julie thought she’d found her prince charming when she met Peter—a handsome Irish man and successful lawyer. Turns out, some princes are a little too charming. Peter knows a dark and disturbing secret about Julie’s father, and he plans to get his revenge. The perfect opportunity for hidden secrets to be exposed to the light will present itself at Julie’s parents’ wedding. When Julie discovers who she is really married to, will a dramatic family weekend turn deadly?