He surmised that the loss of the baby must have touched something in her. The Haley he knew was very tenacious. She wouldn’t give up if she wanted something.
But lying before him now was a very different Haley. The miscarriage seemed to have changed her.
“What are you saying, Haley?” He had to understand what she was trying to tell him.
He didn’t want to start assuming what wasn’t there. He needed to understand where she was going with her touching speech.
Haley sniffed and looked down at their joined hands. Then she lifted her tear-stained face to him.
“I know when I’m beaten. I want you to go and find Sandy so that I can apologize to her.”
“What?”
“I can’t tell you how guilty I feel for everything. It’s my entire fault. If I hadn’t shown up even after you told me to wait for you in New York, she wouldn’t have left the ranch and be kidnapped. I’m so sorry.”
Stunned, Seth withdrew his hand from hers and leaned back in the chair.
“Are you serious or this is just a ploy to get me to feel so guilty, I wouldn’t want to leave you?” Seth had to ask because he didn’t understand why Haley was suddenly throwing in the towel after all she had done to try to get him back.
She smiled through her tears. “I can understand why you’re skeptical about what I just said.” She sniffed heavily as more tears poured down her face. “I’ve given up, Seth. I love you but I know now that you don’t love me. You love Sandy. I won’t deny the fact it hurts so much giving you up but I don’t want to remain unhappy. Someday, I’ll find love again. I’m sure of that.”
Seth stared at her, wide eyed. “Are you sure?”
She cried some more and nodded. “Yes. You can go and find Sandy. I’ll be fine. I can’t keep you here when you don’t want to be here.”
Seth, filled with so much joy, took her hand and kissed it. Then he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
“Thank you so much. I’m sorry about the baby.”
She sniffed and nodded. “I know.”
“Thank you,” he told her with heartfelt emotion and she smiled.
Seth immediately called the cops to find out their location. After telling Haley that he would be back as soon as he found Sandy and would send Malcolm and Jules to come and check up on her, he left.
With his heart feeling as light as air, he walked out of the hospital. Now he would focus all his attention on finding Sandy and he knew he would be successful.
Chapter 6
Huddled in a corner of the room, Sandy wiped away her tears. She had wept so much all through the night; she was beginning to think that she might not have any more tears left in her tear ducts.
She had tried all she could to get away from the dirty room but all her attempts proved futile. The bars in the window refused to give way. She had also tried leaving through the door but she hadn’t been able to pry it open.
Sandy couldn’t reach the ceiling because it was too high. The previous day, she had been optimistic that she would be able to escape, but after several attempts during the night, it dawned on her that she might not be able to.
Fear held her immobile for a while. At a point, she had dozed off but had a fitful sleep. She kept dreaming of James hurting her and Seth trying to save her.
Her tears increased when she thought of Seth. She wondered what he was doing. Maybe he was with Haley and they were having a good time. She sniffed and shook her head. She didn’t think that he would be having a fun time with Haley while she was missing. He wasn’t that kind of a person.
But what did she know? He had lied to her about the reason for her accident and also his profession.
Does he think I’m a gold digger?
After having Haley in his life, it was little wonder that he thought all women were after his money. No matter how much he apologized, she didn’t think that she would have anything more to do with him.
She loved him but she didn’t think that they could be together. Obviously they were from different status groups in life; a gap that would be too much for them to fill.
Even if she had left Plyrock to study art, she was still a small town girl while he was a sleek, city neurosurgeon billionaire. How would their worlds fit?
Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself, Sandy? Don’t you think you should get out of here first?
Tears welled up in her eyes again as her dire situation hit her once more. If she couldn’t get out of James’s grip, she might as well not bother thinking about Seth.
Her thoughts went to Aunt Karen and her tears flowed again. She couldn’t imagine how worried her aunt would be at her disappearance. The poor woman would be beside herself with worry by now. She knew that her aunt would definitely knock on every door until she was found.
She’s all I’ve got now. Sandy sniffed and drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
Sandy felt so lonely and vulnerable at this moment; she believed she would never be able to get out of here.
Her defenseless state brought back memories of when she was younger and had to hide from James when he was drunk and in a foul mood. She used to hide in the basement even though the place scared her. The dark corners of the place were definitely better than facing James in his terrible mood.
For hours she would stay there after school and do her homework if she hadn’t been able to make it out of the house before James returned. Once she heard him come in growling, she would sneak out of her room and go straight to the basement, locking the door behind her.
More often than not, she would hear James drag himself to her room and snarl when he didn’t see her there. Then he would go all over the house breaking things and cursing out her and her mother.
She would never forget the day that she had just finished taking a shower, hoping that she could get to the diner before James showed up. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been fast enough and James had arrived without her knowledge.
Her heart had almost jumped out of her chest when she just finished putting on her clothes and James pushed her door open. They had stared at each other for minutes on end. She would never forget the battle that ensued between them that day.
She had looked around her room and used whatever she could lay her hands on to defend herself. James had come at her with everything and she had also fought as if her life depended on it, which it actually did.
Breathing heavily after having successfully kicked him in the crotch, she had rushed out of the room and out of the house. It wasn’t until she was far away from the monster that she had finally stopped running.
At the diner, she had broken down in tears as what almost happened to her as he last hit her. She had wept as if she would never stop. Her mother, also crying, had begged her to stop sobbing.
“Mama, please kick him out. We can’t continue like this,” she had sobbed in her mother’s arms.
“I know,” her mother had said with tears running down her face, “but I can’t. He promised to hurt us if I ever tell him to leave.”
“But he’s already hurting us,” she argued, jerking out of her mother’s arms. “Look at you. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t hit you. One of these days, I’m afraid that he might succeed in having his way with me.”
They had sobbed together, realizing that there was no getting out of their situation until something happened to James or until he left on his own accord, which seemed highly unlikely.
After that day, she stopped going home after school. She would simply go straight to the diner. That had earned her the nickname of ‘diner girl’ because she was always at the place. What folks didn’t realize was that it was her safe haven. In the back room, she was able to paint her feelings.
Sandy sighed as she remembered how she used to pray every night for something to happen to James. She used to wish that they would wake up one morning to discover that he had died in his sleep. Sometimes, she used to wish that he would be shot in the bar he frequented. Anything—as l
ong as they didn’t have to deal with his nastiness anymore.
But none of that had happened. Eventually he left, but then she had lost her mother as well which was heartbreaking.
And now, years later, she was still as terrified of James as she was years ago.
Then it hit her. When she was younger, she had been frightened of James and even had nightmares about him. And now, as a young woman, she was still afraid of a man who had tormented her childhood. If she got out of this alive, she would still be scarred by the event for life.
If James was caught and taken to jail, he would be released eventually and then he would come after her again. And she would live in fear until he did. Then the cycle would begin again. But not if she did something about it.
For how long would she allow James to dominate her life? If she didn’t stand up to him now, he would continue to think she was a weakling.
She wasn’t, and she would prove it to him. He couldn’t continue coming into her life to torment her and think it was okay to do so.
Sandy wiped away her tears and rose. She was having none of that again. She had been through enough, losing her mother and struggling through life, for James to come and turn her life upside down.
If he was going to kill her, he might as well do so now. She wouldn’t cower from him anymore.
Angered and pumped, she crossed the room to the door with determined strides and banged on it.
“James! Let me out of here,” she yelled as she hit her fist on the door.
She continued banging on the wooden surface until she heard a key turning in the lock.
She took a step back and waited for him to push the door open. He eventually did, looking as unkempt as ever.
“What?” he shouted, rubbing a hand across his face. “I was sleeping.”
She folded her arms across her chest and firmly said, “Get me out of here.”
His face scrunched into a frown. “Do you want to use the bathroom?”
Sandy dropped her hands and said, “No. I want to go home. Let me go immediately.”
James looked confused at first before he burst into laughter. “Are you for real? You think that by ordering it, it will come to pass. You must be a dreamer.” He came forward with a menacing look on his face. “I’m not one of your employees, you hear me? I will not have you dictating to me. You will leave here only when I say so. That’s an if, by the way. Once I get the document, I’ll decide what to do with you.”
It was Sandy’s turn to laugh although it sounded forced. She wouldn’t allow his threats get to her.
“You’re full of air and nothing more,” she threw at him with a savage bite.
His eyes became as large as saucers. “What?”
She eyed him from the top of his shaggy red hair to his dusty boots. “You heard me. You’re nothing but a coward who preys on innocent people who you think are weak and can’t challenge you, no matter what you do to them. Well, think again when it comes to me because I won’t allow you to bully me again.
“Ever since you came into my late mother’s life and showed your true colors, I’d been frightened of you. Well, not anymore. You can do whatever you like, I don’t care. But get out of my way so that I can go home because I’m sick and tired of being here.”
James’s face turned into a cold mask of fury. Fear trickled down Sandy’s spine but she pushed it away. She couldn’t back away now, not when she just told him what she should have said to him a long time ago.
“You better keep quiet right now or you’ll regret your words,” he warned with a finger stabbed in the air at her.
Sandy scoffed. “Empty words. I’ve heard all that before. You’re nothing but a bully who wasn’t loved as a child and have decided to take it out on others. My mother loved you. I loved you at some time, but you decided to throw all that away because you’re a sick person. You should be committed, not taken to prison.”
Once she started, Sandy found that she couldn’t stop. Years of hurt and pain came through words that struck James and made his face darken with anger.
Sandy acknowledged that she was treading on thin ice which would eventually lead to something unpleasant from him, but she couldn’t stop the outpouring of emotions running through her.
Secretly, she hoped that he would get so angry that he would slip and then she would be able to escape.
He bellowed at her, “I’m warning you for the last time, Sandy. You will regret it if you don’t keep your mouth shut this minute, I tell you.”
Sandy flipped her hair back and thrust her chin out at him. “You can do your worst, James. I’m not afraid of you anymore. Even if you end up killing me, I want you to know that I don’t fear you, I despise you. For what you did to me and my mother and for what you’re doing now, you’ll die a lonely and a miserable death.”
James’s jaw dropped.
Chapter 7
Sandy smiled with satisfaction when she saw how shocked James was at her challenge. Even though he might eventually kill her, she was happy that she had finally stood up to him. Perhaps it would set him on the right path and get him to think about his miserable life.
All of a sudden, she began to feel pity for him. James had obviously had a terrible childhood. He had a lot of anger in him which he let out on other people. It was possible that he got relief from his troubled past by inflicting pain on others.
Sandy didn’t know and neither did she care. All she was concerned about was getting out of there.
She swallowed thickly when she read the intense fury in his eyes. Maybe she had gone too far in her quest to show him that she was no longer afraid of him. One way or the other, it didn’t seem to matter anymore, whatever he did to her.
Compassion for her aunt went through her. She was the one who would mourn her most. Her employees would be sorry that she was gone; perhaps, Seth’s conscience might prick him, too. But Aunt Karen who had lost sister and niece would be the one hit hardest by her demise.
James stumbled toward her but Sandy stood her ground. He was going to strike her; she knew that from history and from the deadly intent in his eyes. She would try to dodge it if she could. And if she couldn’t, she would fight him to the last.
James growled like an injured animal and shocked her by lunging at her instead of the slap she had expected. It was just in the nick of time that she was able to dodge him, leaving him to fall hard on the ground.
A groan rose from his throat. Sandy didn’t waste time trying to find out if he was okay or not. Freedom was within her grasp and she would take it with both hands. James moaned with pain. The sound pulled her from her shocked state.
Kicking his leg, she turned and ran out of the room.
“Come back here,” he yelled, but Sandy didn’t stop.
She ran to the room that served as the living room. The stench almost made her gag. She rushed to the door and pulled at the doorknob. She groaned when she discovered that it was locked and there was no key sticking out.
She cursed and looked out at the windows. She ran to them, stepping on the debris that littered the floor. Flinging aside the dirty curtains, she groaned when she saw the strong iron bars across the windows.
“Dammit! I’ve got to get out of here,” she shouted as adrenaline pumped in her veins.
She ran out of the living room, looking for the kitchen and a back door. From the corner of her eye, she saw James stumble out of the other room facing the one he had kept her in. When she noted the gun in his hand, she dashed into the small kitchen and shut the door. She turned the key in its lock.
Sandy ran to the wooden back door. It was locked and there was no key in sight. She cursed and looked around the empty space for anything resembling a key. She threw open the cupboards but found nothing except empty cereal packs.
Sandy stood there confused at what to do next. James banged loudly on the door causing her to jump.
“Open this door, bitch. You’ll pay for this nonsense and for running your mouth.”
Shivering with fear, she ran to the back door again and tried to force the door open. She only succeeded in breaking the doorknob, but the door was still locked to her.
Frantic now because of what James would do to her in his furious state and holding a gun, her eyes fell on the window above the sink. Her eyes widened and she wondered why she hadn’t noticed it earlier. There were no bars across the window pane. All she had to do was slide the glass open.
It was a little bit tricky because she had to climb across the sink to do so. Quickly, she pulled at the glass and sighed with relief when it drew back. She had just succeeded in squeezing herself through the narrow space when a gunshot rang in the air.
Her heart slammed against her chest as she saw that James had shot at the door and would gain entrance into the room in seconds. She pushed herself out of the window just as James barged into the room.
Not waiting for him to react, she started running. She had no idea where she was going but running away from James into the woods was her safest bet.
“Come back here!” James bellowed behind her.
Sandy turned and looked at him glaring at her through the window. He pointed the gun at her.
“I swear. I’ll shoot!”
Sandy didn’t listen. Instead, she increased her pace. However, she paused when a shot rang out and a bullet whizzed past her. She quickly ducked to the ground.
Her eyes widened as she hit the ground. When another shot rang out, she began crawling on the dried leaves. Her heart beat rapidly against her chest as she started to feel faint.
Nausea clung to her throat. Sandy pushed back all the emotions as she heard a door slam shut. James had found a way to let himself out of the house and he would be coming after her now.
Realizing if she didn’t stand up and continue running, she was done for, Sandy pushed herself to her feet and forced herself to take flight again.
“Stop!” James called close to her.
Sandy decided that he would have to shoot her because she had no plan of stopping. She would continue running from him until there was no breath left in her.
Just Guard Me Forever Page 4
