by L. G. Davis
“Not really.” I did hear his name mentioned a couple of times around town. Apparently, he likes to keep to himself.
“Well, he has been threatening Victor for years.” Mary Jane rubs her hands together, excited to be the first to share with me such juicy gossip. “Apparently; it was Victor who was performing surgery on his wife when she died four years ago. Rumor has it that Victor was drunk that morning. It was a big thing. But Victor denied everything.”
“Wow.” I twist my wedding ring around my finger. “Do you really think he did it?”
“It would make a lot of sense. He openly threatened to kill him once when they bumped into each other at the store. I heard every word.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say.
“Anyway,” Mary Jane says, “I’m sure we’ll know soon enough if he’s guilty.”
Not long after Mary Jane tells me about Jason Marone, the doctor calls her in and I’m left wondering whether what she told me is true.
Could it be possible that Victor somehow ran into Jason sometime that night—after I left—and they had a run-in with each other that turned deadly?
I hate to see anyone go to prison, especially a man who is still hurting after the loss of his wife, but the thought of bringing my baby into the world behind prison bars scares me.
Even though I feel like a terrible person for thinking it, I would prefer for someone else to take the fall instead of me.
Chapter 18
Dr. Celine Whitmore is a small African-American woman with salt and pepper hair wrapped in a knot on top of her head.
Smiling brightly, she extends her hand and gives me a strong handshake. She’s somewhere in her fifties, but her skin is smooth and unlined. I feel tired and old next to her. I probably aged a bit in the past few weeks.
The examination doesn’t take long.
“You are definitely pregnant,” she says when we leave the examination room and take a seat in her office.
“Are you sure?” I ask her for the fourth time, even though I do feel pregnant and saw the baby on the screen.
“Very sure.” She laughs. Her fingers tap the keyboard of her computer, but she glances up with a smile. “You heard the heartbeat and it was nice and strong.”
I blink the moisture from my eyes. Watching the tiny baby on the screen and listening to the heartbeat has shifted something inside me.
I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to love the child, but on screen it looked so small and fragile that I couldn’t help feeling something. With the rush of warmth that flooded my veins, my motherly instinct also took me by surprise.
Now that it’s real, it’s clear what I have to do. I have to protect my child. No matter what happens between me and Jared, the baby will be my top priority. Even though it was delivered in the most unpleasant way, it’s still a gift.
When my tears refuse to stop, Dr. Whitmore hands me a tissue. I wipe my eyes and blow my nose before wrapping my fingers tightly around the damp tissue.
“Tell me everything I need to do to make sure the baby is healthy.”
Dr. Whitmore explains all the tests I still have to do in order to confirm that the baby is fine. “Most importantly, you need to take care of yourself. Eat and sleep well. Keep that blood pressure low. It was too high for my liking. We have to monitor it.” She hands me the ultrasound photo and I hold it so tight it’s in danger of being crumpled.
A knock on the door startles both of us.
Dr. Whitmore asks the person to enter.
The door opens and I let out a silent gasp.
“Jared? What are you doing here?” When I told him about the appointment, I never expected him to come with me.
Instead of acknowledging me, he moves across the room and shakes the doctor’s hand. “Good afternoon, Dr. Whitmore. I’m Jared Bloom, Kelsey’s husband.”
“Very nice to meet you, Mr. Bloom. We were just wrapping up. It’s a shame you were not able to see the baby live.”
Jared doesn’t even react. His face is hard as stone and his eyes don’t meet mine. “That’s fine. I actually came because I wanted to ask you a question.” He pushes his hands into his pockets. “Is it too late to get rid of the baby?”
Both his tone and his words send chills down my spine.
A flicker of confusion crosses the doctor’s face. Her gaze moves from Jared to me and back again. “Well,” she says in a low voice. “Up to twenty-four weeks should be fine, but I thought—”
“You thought right, doctor,” I snap. “Please forget what my husband said. I’m keeping my baby.” With that, I storm out of the room, followed by Jared.
Outside on the pavement, my eyes are hot with rage and my hands are clenched into fists at my sides as I turn on him.
“How dare you!” I don’t bother to lower my voice. I don’t care that the people passing by are staring. I don’t care what anybody thinks right now. “How dare you ask the doctor that question? For your information, I’m keeping the baby.” I swallow the sob rising in my throat and glare at him. “If you don’t want to be a part of this, you don’t have to be. I wanted to leave. You’re the one who brought me back.” I attempt to walk away, but he shoots out a hand to grab my arm.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me.” He tightens his grip on my forearm. “I brought you back because you are my wife. We made vows to each other and I take mine seriously.” His tone is dangerously low. “Now we need to solve this mess before we can move on with our lives.”
“This mess is mine,” I retort. “I’ll handle it my way. Now let go of me.” I yank my arm from him. “Don’t ever touch me like that again.”
My newfound courage takes me by surprise. I’m stepping on dangerous ground, but I can’t hold back. The baby is giving me strength I never knew I had.
He follows me the short distance to my car. A few days after he brought me back home, he had someone drive it back from Polson. I don’t know if he removed the tracker, but I don’t care. I don’t plan on going anywhere soon. Not when I’m pregnant.
When I get into the car, I lock the doors so he can’t get in. He curses under his breath and pushes his hands through the passenger window—which is open a crack—grabbing the window pane.
“You know I never wanted a child,” he growls, bringing his face close to the window. “So, don’t be surprised by my reaction. How do you think it feels to know that my wife is pregnant with another man’s child, a stranger’s child?”
“How do you think it feels to be raped and find out you’re pregnant with the baby of the man that hurt you?” I’m shouting now. “This baby was not planned, but I’m keeping it. It’s my child, too. If you expect me to get rid of it, you can go to hell.”
“Be careful how you speak to me, Kelsey.” His withering glare makes me stiffen in my seat. “Don’t forget that I’m the one keeping you out of prison.” His mouth takes on an unpleasant twist. “Besides, how do I even know you’re telling the truth?”
“What are you trying to say?” I throw him a scathing look. “What exactly are you implying, Jared?”
“Maybe you had an affair. How would I know?”
“How could you say something like that? I have never...” My throat thickens so much with tears that I can’t get any more words out. I close my eyes, take a breath, and try again. “I’m not doing this right now. See you at home.” Without another glance at him, I start the car and allow it to move forward.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he shouts, but steps back before the car drags him along the street.
As I drive away from him, careful not to speed, the sound of his angry voice cuts through the air. I don’t care what he’s saying. I need to get away from him for a while.
The thought of escape sneaks into my mind again, but I’ve learned the hard way that Jared will not let me get away easily. He’ll do everything to find me again. He says he wants me in his life because he loves me. I no longer believe it. It’s an obsession and nothing more.
<
br /> Not for the first time, I wonder if it was him sending me all those notes, pretending to be Victor. As I turn the thought over and over in my mind, it hits me that Victor never wrote his name on the notes, which means they could have come from anyone.
But I still don’t get why Jared would want me to return to him if he wanted me gone. Could it be one of his mind games?
Also, what about the text messages? They came from Victor’s number.
I release a frustrated groan. What the hell is happening here?
I drive through town for half an hour, trying to figure everything out until I hit a dead end. I only stop the car when I come across a maternity dress boutique tucked between a toy store and a jewelry store.
I don’t plan on buying any clothes, but looking around might be a welcome distraction. Right now, the thought of spending Jared’s money while our marriage—if I can even call it that—is in tatters makes me uncomfortable.
The only thing I need from him is a roof over my head, food, and medical insurance, something I won’t have if I leave him. If it weren’t for the baby, I’d risk leaving him again.
As soon as I enter the store, I grab a cherry red maxi dress from a rack and take it with me to a changing room. I pull the door closed and sit down on the little bench, gazing at myself in the mirror. Blank, broken eyes stare back at me.
I force myself to breathe for the baby.
Minutes later, someone coughs outside my cubicle. I try to get up, but my knees are too weak to hold me up. I sink back down.
“It will be all right,” I whisper to myself, my hand on my upset stomach. “We will get through this.”
“Ma’am, are you all right in there? Do you need assistance?”
My head snaps up to see red peep-toe shoes peeking out from underneath the door gap.
I clear my throat and push back my shoulders. “No. Thank you. I’m fine. Just...just trying on some clothes.”
The red shoes move away from the changing room and my shoulders sink with relief.
After several more breaths, I reach the point where I’m strong enough to get to my feet, to face the world, to fight.
I leave the store without buying anything and hurry to my car.
I come to a screeching halt when I find Jared sitting in the driver’s seat. He has a spare key.
“Get in,” he barks. “And don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again.”
The thunderous look on his face warns me if I disobey, there will be a high price to pay. So, I do as I’m told.
Chapter 19
The local radio station is playing soft jazz music that’s as soothing as the rose-scented bath water surrounding me.
I dip my hand into the water. It comes out covered in white foam. The soft evening breeze coming through the window makes it look alive as it sways from side to side.
I lean my head back and stare at the iron bars on the window, identical to the ones in the bedroom. Even though they still make me feel claustrophobic since they remind me of prison, I prefer to have them up. My stalker is still out there.
Sometimes I think it was Jared stalking me, but some pieces in the puzzle don’t fit right. He has revealed himself to be a completely different man from the one I married, but something tells me it’s not him.
I close my eyes and inhale. That’s all I need to do tonight, keep breathing. I have been so tense the past four days. Seeing another side to Jared totally threw me.
Every time I look at him now, anxiety builds inside my chest, making me breathless. I’m finding it increasingly harder to breathe around him.
To outsiders, things would seem fine. Jared still pretends to be the perfect husband. When people are watching, he opens doors for me, kisses me, and holds my hand, even when I try to discreetly pull it away. He’s an expert at fooling everyone.
Behind closed doors, he ignores me most of the time. It’s a weird marriage that we are in. He still insists we sleep in the same bed and share our meals together like a family, but he barely speaks and never touches me. I’m pregnant and he doesn’t even ask how I’m doing.
The day I found him inside my car at the maternity boutique, he brought me home and locked himself in his office until dinner. When he emerged, he told me he was hungry and in the mood for Indian food. He ordered the food and we ate it in front of the TV with neither of us saying a word.
I still can’t decide whether he still wants me in our marriage. Maybe he derives some twisted pleasure from having control over me.
He has started choosing my clothes again when we go out. He has bought me several dresses that are clearly meant to hide the pregnancy.
As long as he doesn’t harm me or my baby, I will put up with his weird behavior until the baby is born. I’m better off with him than out there alone with no money and no job. Right now, I’ll take what I can get from him. After the baby is born, I will have to make some difficult decisions. I’m pretty sure that the baby crying every day is going to drive Jared insane, especially since he doesn’t want any children of his own.
I sink deeper into the foam until it tickles me under my chin. The tension and aches melt from my body as the music washes over me.
The music soon dies and the eight o’clock news starts.
My ears perk up when Victor Hanes’s name is mentioned.
“The town of Sanlow is still grieving the death of Victor Hanes, whose body was found in the Sanlow Lake. Even though the police questioned a number of suspects, they did not make an arrest. Until today. We can confirm that this morning, a local resident of Sanlow was arrested for Victor Hanes’s murder. The police have not given any further details at this point, but the residents of Sanlow can finally breathe easy knowing that the killer is behind bars.”
I sit up in the bath so fast the warm water spills over the edge and splashes the tiles. I drag my wet, warm hand down my face, from my forehead to my chin to remove the foam. I’m sitting rigid, the blood pounding in my ears as I stare at the white wall.
An arrest has been made. Someone has been arrested for Victor’s murder and it’s not me.
Was it Jason Marone? Does it even matter who it is?
The most important thing is that the baby and I are safe. I won’t be going back to prison.
But why doesn’t it feel that way? Why do I still feel the weight pressing down on my chest? Why does my freedom still feel out of my reach?
It’s Jared. He knows my secret. He doesn’t speak about it, but the threat of him informing the cops that I’m a fugitive hangs over me like a toxic cloud. One word from him and I’m back behind bars.
I pull myself from the bath, careful not to slip. The water is suddenly too warm.
I grab a fluffy bathrobe from the hook behind the door and put it on, then I walk down the short hallway to our bedroom, leaving wet footprints on the floor behind me.
I stop in front of the door, my mouth dry. It’s open. I didn’t leave it that way.
Has Jared come home early? It wouldn’t surprise me. There are times he shows up without me expecting him. It’s his way of making sure I never get too comfortable or think of escaping.
Every nerve in my body is on alert and alarm bells are going off inside my head. Jared scares me sometimes, but not like this.
I take a step back as my skin prickles with fear. My sweaty hand grabs a vase from a nearby table. Holding my breath, I push the door open wider with my foot, expecting the intruder to jump out of their hiding place, to attack me.
When nothing happens, I take a few steps into the room, my vase raised above my head. There’s no one.
I lower the vase onto the bed only to notice a piece of paper peeking out from underneath the pillow. Another note.
With shaking hands, I pull it out. As soon as I read the words, my fingers open again. It flatters back onto the comforter.
Did you miss me, Porcupine?
I was wrong. I was wrong about everything.
It wasn’t Victor or even Jared who stalked me. It was
a man much more dangerous than both of them put together. A man I never thought I would see or hear from again. A man I thought was firmly locked behind bars.
The only man who ever called me porcupine because of the stubborn streak I had back then is Garry Tyler. I fell in love with him, worked for him, and finally betrayed him. Now he’s back to seek revenge.
I want to move, to run, but my feet won’t budge. They feel so heavy. My entire body is frozen, but my mind is going crazy.
I swallow through my parched throat, my gaze sweeping the room once more, searching for him.
I want to save myself, but most importantly I want to save the baby. It’s thoughts of my baby that bring my body back to life.
Suddenly, I’m running through the house, checking every door and window, making sure everything is closed. Everything is closed except for the kitchen window, which is swinging lightly. It’s big enough for a person to fit through and Jared has not installed bars on it.
I slam it shut and draw the sheer curtains closed. It might not be a good idea for me to run out right now. That’s what he wants. He wants me to run straight into his arms.
It was stupid of me to think he would never escape from prison.
On trembling knees, I return to the bedroom, wishing I could call Jared, but I can’t. I never told him about Garry.
* * *
I’m sitting on the bedroom floor, my arms around my knees. My body is cramped because I’m afraid to move a muscle.
My eyes are on the door as though I expect Garry to break it down and crash back into my life.
How could I not have suspected it could be him? I was so foolish to believe that that part of my life was over.
I cannot believe that after Garry I still managed to fall in love with another man who thinks he owns me.
I met Garry two months after I escaped from prison. He found me sleeping on a bench and rescued me. At least that’s what I thought he did. He helped me change my name without even knowing what I was running from, gave me a job, and promised to protect me. I quickly fell in love with him. Everything changed when I found out how he earned his money. It scared the hell out of me.