by T. K. Chapin
“Thanks.” Joy filled her, knowing she’d be pain-free in moments. She turned to leave when he spoke again.
“What happened to you, O?”
“I got clean and married.” She left it at that. She didn’t want him knowing that she was single at the moment.
“You’re not wearing a wedding ring.”
“It’s being repaired.” Olivia’s lying capabilities were on-point. They had to be though. She wasn’t talking to someone like Tyler who wouldn’t push boundaries. Champ was the complete opposite of Tyler. He was ruthless and unkind and would take whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. She grew uncomfortable. “Well, it was nice seeing you again. I’d better get going. Thanks again!”
“Olivia.” His words were ice-cold, sending a chill up her spine. She turned to him.
“Yeah?”
“What about payment?”
“Oh. I’m sorry, of course. It’s just been a weird day or I would’ve remembered.” She dug through her purse with trembling fingers and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, then came over closer to him. “Is this enough?”
When he reached out to grab the money, he skipped the cash and grabbed her wrist. He jerked her toward him and onto his lap on the bed. Her heart beat faster and her insides froze. Her eyes went wide, knowing this was not good. The pain in her hand didn’t matter anymore, not right now. All that mattered was getting out of that house. She struggled to free herself and almost made it out of his grip, but then he slapped her in the side of the head and held her arms down.
“That fifty dollars doesn’t even begin to cover what you owe me, O.”
His hand came up to her arm, and he jammed a needle from out of nowhere into the side of her arm. Terror overtook her, and her eyes widened as she watched the liquid inject into her arm.
“What was that?”
“Just consider it an old friend.” He laughed maniacally, and her body suddenly relaxed to a state she hadn’t been in for a long, long time. She willingly slid off his lap and lay on the bed as the drugs ran their course. All her muscles loosened and her thoughts slowed. She suddenly didn’t care about anything or anyone as she was brought to the edge of reality where death was only inches away.
Chapter 26
THREE MONTHS LATER, TYLER awoke in a cold sweat the day he and Jonathan were set to fly out to meet a new client in Phoenix. Glancing at the alarm clock, it read six o’clock. He had the dream again, the same one from the last time he wasn’t on talking terms with Olivia. Hanging his legs off the edge of the bed, he pondered the dream. He wondered if it meant something or if it was just chance. He still thought of Olivia every day since that fateful end in her apartment three months ago. He wondered how she was faring in life. Was she working at some dental office now that she had gained her certificate? He also pondered little Molly, and his heart ached as it brushed against memories. He had resisted each time he felt the urge to pick up his phone to reach out. Olivia’s angry expression as she kicked him out that last time he saw her still pained him.
Rising from his bed, he went out into his kitchen and made a pot of coffee. The dream replayed through his mind as he placed the coffee canister in the cupboard. The walk on the forest path, the feeling that someone was next to him, and then the struggle in the bushes before finding himself on a grassy mountainside near a lake. By the time he finished his coffee and devotions that morning, it was seven thirty, still five and a half hours before he had to be at the airport.
He walked to the sliding glass door and peered out to his patio and fire pit. A light dusting of snow had fallen last night and had covered it in a blanket of white. He thought of Olivia again. An urge too powerful to ignore came over him to go to her. He hadn’t felt like this since that day in the apartment. He was trusting God, but this urge now felt divine. He had the perfect excuse to swing by her apartment. He had been holding onto this particular excuse for months. He had another dress for Molly from Chet’s old things in the barn. He found it sitting in a woven pine-needle basket with a woven lid. He knew it must’ve been special. If nothing else came of it, he’d at least get a chance to see if she was doing well or had moved on, unlike himself.
Parking in a guest parking spot at the apartment, he noticed her car wasn’t in her reserved apartment spot beneath the covering. A different car was there. He almost stopped and left, thinking it could be another man’s car, and the pain gutted him with the thought. But he decided to go knock anyway. He needed to know for sure.
“Hello?” An elderly lady answered the door. He didn’t recognize her. Confusion was on both of their faces.
Rubbing his coat arms to keep warm, he held the woman’s gaze. “Is Olivia here?”
“Nobody by that name lives here. Sorry.” The door closed a moment later. Tyler’s heart took flight with worry as to where Olivia was now. He walked through the parking lot and back toward his car. Maybe she moved? He thought for a moment but then dismissed it, knowing she was in a lease. Nothing was making sense. Suddenly, an uneasiness settled across him. He started to regret giving her space the last three months like he had done. But then he doubled back on his thoughts as he recalled her coldness in the apartment that last day. This is what Olivia wanted. He just wished he knew what this was. Clutching the dress he had for Molly in his hand, he felt like he was lost in a sea of confusion. He got into his car and turned the key over and prayed. God, I don’t know where she is or what she’s doing, but I pray she’s okay. Please, Lord. Please help bring me clarity on this matter. Amen.
Lifting his gaze as he turned the key over, he recalled her parents’ house. He could go there. Surely, she had to be there if not at her apartment. Tyler drove to her parents’ house, and upon pulling into the driveway, he noticed Kora walking out to her car with Molly on her hip. Tyler’s heart lightened with joy upon seeing Molly. Olivia was here. Thank You, Jesus, he thought, getting out of the car. He approached Kora in the driveway.
“Hey, Kora.”
“Oh, hey, Tyler!” She smiled big and opened her free arm to embrace him with a hug. He was surprised by the affection but welcomed it and hugged her back.
“How is everything going?” Kora inquired as she opened her rear car door and set Molly in the car seat.
“Great. Is Olivia inside? Can I go see her?” Tyler was excited he was so close to her.
Kora finished buckling Molly and stood upright, turning around to Tyler. Her face grimaced and she didn’t say a word.
“What? Is she sad? Still in pain?”
Olivia’s mother’s eyes watered and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth slightly. “You don’t know.”
“Know what?” Tyler’s heart downshifted from feeling good, to okay, and now to panic. He took a step closer, frazzled and contrite over his lack of involvement in Olivia’s life for months now.
Olivia’s father came walking out the front door and down the steps, joining Tyler and Kora at the car.
“Hi, Tyler! You come by to see Molly?” His grin was huge as he patted Tyler on the back like the two of them were old friends.
Kora, with tears in her eyes, turned toward him. With a soft voice, she spoke to her husband. “He doesn’t know, Dan.”
“What’s going on?” Tyler shook his head and glanced at Molly through the open car door, then back at the two of them. “Please tell me.” Without answers, Tyler was going to worst-case scenario in his mind . . . of Olivia being dead.
Dan nodded, his eyes moist. “Molly lives with us now.”
Tyler’s pulse jumped. “What? Why? What happened to Olivia?” She’s dead, Tyler thought to himself. I’ve lost Olivia forever now. The thought of Olivia being in Hell sent a cold shudder through his body. His eyes welled with tears. Oh, God! No. How can this be? Please, Lord, let this not be true. Tyler prayed to God he was wrong in those moments while Olivia’s parents looked at each other and whispered to one another.
A teary-eyed Kora couldn’t handle the conversation anymore and shut Molly’s car door, then got int
o the passenger side of the car. Dan stepped closer and placed an arm around Tyler. “A few months ago, Olivia dropped Molly off with us for a few hours. She was feeling tired and needed the sleep since they were in the ER earlier that day. We thought nothing of it and agreed but told her we had a thing a little later that evening and needed her picked up by six. Six o’clock came and she didn’t show. Then we called, and she didn’t answer. Then we canceled our evening plans and stayed by the phone, waiting for word from our daughter. It never happened. We waited two days and then had the police get involved.” At this point, Olivia’s father got choked up on his words and paused to regain control of himself.
Tyler waited eagerly for him to continue, wanting all the details, all the information. Please be alive, he thought to himself.
Dan dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief from his back pocket, then continued. “Anyway, they found her out in Suncrest, with some known druggie loser. She was high, they suspected, but with no evidence of drugs on the scene and her being able to communicate that she was safe and okay, the police had to leave.”
Tyler was moved with happiness at hearing Olivia was alive, but a deep sadness set in quickly afterward at hearing of her state. He took a step back. This didn’t seem like her to him. It didn’t seem like the Olivia he had fallen for over the summer. “What’s the address?”
“I don’t have it.”
“Where’s Rachel? Can I get her address?”
“Sure. She hasn’t talked to her much, but she did a little after we figured out where she was. Rachel was where we went first too. Here, just a second.” Dan put his reading glasses on, then retrieved his cell phone from his pocket. “Here’s the address.” Dan was pure business at this point. Tyler wondered if he had to separate his emotions from it all to survive these days.
After Tyler entered the address into his phone’s navigation, he thanked Dan and headed to his car.
“Hey, Tyler.”
Stopping at Dan’s words, Tyler turned at his driver’s-side door, facing the serious man before him.
“She can’t come around Molly right now. We have to put Molly’s safety and wellbeing first.”
“Of course. I understand.” Tyler was well aware of situations like this after watching Jonathan go through a similar one with his old sister-in-law.
Leaving Olivia’s parents’ driveway, he headed to Rachel’s house. As he drove, he replayed the conversation with Dan in his head, still unable to fully wrap his mind around it. He was beyond thankful she was still alive, but being doped up wasn’t Olivia. Sure, he knew about her past, but he refused to believe that she had returned to it like a dog returning to vomit. Memories bubbled to the surface of his mind. He remembered at the park when he caught Olivia looking at Molly with so much love and joy, and his heart broke. There was no way she’d throw her relationship with Molly away for drugs, no matter how bad that pain in her hand had gotten. As he got closer to Rachel’s home, he thought of Olivia losing that job and the fact that she had been so close to finishing school, and his heart ached bitterly. Then he thought again of her past with drugs. He couldn’t deny her past existed, nor the Scriptures that specifically say people return to their old ways. The reality was that the evidence was stacked on both sides. He didn’t know what really happened, but he knew God did and prayed the rest of the drive.
Rachel let Tyler into her house upon his arrival and made him a cup of coffee as they sat together at her kitchen table.
“I’ll ask you once more, Rachel. Where is she staying out in Suncrest?” Tyler was losing patience fast, his heart yearning to find Olivia sooner rather than later.
She squirmed at the question. Guilt hadn’t left her face ever since she answered the door. “Do you need more sugar for your coffee?”
Tyler slammed his fist against the top of the table, rattling their cups of coffee. His jaw was clenched. “Just tell me!”
“I’m not only her cousin, Tyler. I’m her best friend. What kind of friend would I be if I ratted her out?”
“When I couldn’t find her at her apartment and her parents were tight-lipped and sad at first, I thought Olivia was dead. For that brief moment in time, a part of me died too. Listen, Rachel, I know you want to do the right thing here. It doesn’t matter how mad she’ll be at you for it. Please help me get to her.” Tears surfaced in Tyler’s eyes, waiting for a response from Rachel.
“And your plan is to do what when you get to her?” Rachel was moved by his speech but seemed to be holding back for some reason unbeknownst to Tyler.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of her.”
“Like . . .” Rachel slid a thumb across her throat and then laughed. Tyler didn’t join her in the laugh. “Sorry. I shouldn’t laugh, especially since you actually thought she was dead.”
“Stop delaying and tell me where the woman I love is, right now.”
Her shoulders loosened and she tilted her head as she peered into Tyler’s eyes. “You really do love her. Don’t you?”
“I do.”
“We’ll see about that. You want to know where she is? Fine. She’s with Champ, her ex-boyfriend from back in the day. They did heroin together for years, and that’s what she’s on right now, and she’s with him right now. She doesn’t want to see anyone, not even me, and I’m sure, especially not you. I wouldn’t go after her, Tyler. Just let her be.”
He stood up. “Thanks for the coffee. You have the address of Champ’s house, I take it?”
She hesitated, giving away the fact that she knew exactly where it was.
“Give it to me. I’m not playing games anymore, Rachel.”
She jotted the address down on a slip of paper and handed it to him. “He’s a drug dealer, Tyler. He has guns and bodyguards. He’ll kill you if you show up there.”
“He won’t kill me, and I’ll get her out of there.”
Her eyes widened, and she appeared surprised by his confidence. “Doesn’t this all create even an ounce of fear within you?”
Folding the note, he shoved it in his coat pocket. He shook his head as absolute confidence emboldened him. “No, I have God on my side.”
He turned and left her house. On his way out to his car in the driveway, he recalled his brother Jonathan and their flight to Phoenix. Knowing his brother was probably doing final touches on the design sketches in the office, he stopped in at Willow Designs downtown to speak with him. As he walked into Jonathan’s office, his brother set down his pencil.
“You’re not going.”
Tyler was surprised to hear him guess correctly. He nodded but held a perplexed look on his face. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
“You have that fire back in your eyes. The same one you had when you were dating Olivia. I’ll cover for the two of us in Phoenix. What’s going on?” Jonathan crossed his arms as his eyebrows went up. He appeared curious yet fascinated too.
Tyler felt nervous but confident about what he had to do. “She’s in trouble, Brother. I have to go rescue her out of a dark place.”
“Go get your girl.”
As Tyler came closer, Jonathan stood up and they embraced in a brotherly hug. Jonathan patted his back and then released him.
“Be careful, Tyler.”
“I will be.”
Tyler left the office and headed to the address on the slip of paper. It was about an hour away from downtown, out in the Nine Mile Falls area. He prayed every moment of the way out to the location in Suncrest. Tyler thought more about Molly being at her grandparents’ house, and he was thankful that they’d stepped up and taken care of her. Molly needed solid people, people who were stable and able to care fully for her, and that wasn’t Olivia, not right now. He knew that Olivia would have to act quickly if she ever wanted a chance to get Molly back before it was too late. He knew from Jonathan’s conversations with counselors and mental health experts that children don’t do well with shifting homes frequently in their lives. More than one time, Jonathan was told by professi
onals that even seven or eight months away from a mother and in a new home was long enough to where the child couldn’t go back without suffering in the process.
Arriving at the address on the slip of paper that Rachel had given him, Tyler reached over to the glove box and popped it open. His pistol fell into view and he prayed. “God, I don’t know what I’m doing here outside of rescuing this woman. Please don’t make me use this weapon. I don’t want to hurt anybody. I just want her for you, God.”
Grabbing it, he checked to make sure it was loaded and then switched the safety off. He got out of his car and walked the driveway toward the front door. His pulse raced.
Arriving at the front door, he opened it and proceeded inside, praying no one could hear how loudly his heart was beating. A person came in from the living room and he punched him in the nose as he swept the leg, sending the man dropping to his backside and to the floor. He snatched the man’s handgun and quietly placed it in the freezer in the kitchen, feeling a sense of calmness now that the main bodyguard was gone. Then he headed upstairs. Room after room, he found nothing but drugged-out people lying in beds. Some appeared to be younger than eighteen. The horrific sights were unsettling to him, but he knew now that the police would have a good reason for searching the home. He went downstairs to the lower level. Opening the first door on the right, he found Olivia and a man in bed.
His heart flinched, pain crushing him at the sight of what was going on. It was a sight he hoped to forget but knew he never would. It broke a piece of him.
“Get off her!” Tyler held his gun firmly in both of his hands, pointing it at the man who was in nothing but boxers.
The guy jumped off the bed and off Olivia. His steps fell back to the closet. He fell backward and onto his butt in the closet. He held his hands up with a fear-ridden expression in his eyes.
“Don’t shoot me, man!”
Tyler moved quickly to the bed and wrapped Olivia in a black blanket. Then, he hoisted her into his arms, keeping his gun pointed at the man.
“You need Jesus, Sir,” Tyler said coolly and collectively, and then he unloaded two bullets into a container of white powder on the nightstand and left the room.