chapter 10
Two months later
It has been a perfect two months. I have been in Good Hope for almost five months now. This was beginning to feel like a real home I was healing here, I was no longer having nightmares of Max. I was tired of being afraid of him and he could not hurt me anymore. Especially since Oliver was with me almost every point of the day.
He was only away while we worked, but made sure that I always had someone with us when he could not be. I was not afraid anymore, I figured that by now Max had to of given up and moved on to his next victim. On the other hand, maybe it was still me he wanted, I hope not and quickly pushed that thought out of my mind.
It was Christmas time and Good Hope was a sight to see at Christmas, It was incredible here. I was so happy, Belle was happy too, she was thriving. She had her fourth birthday last month and I could not believe it, she would start preschool next month, Max never allowed her to be in it before, he was strict with everything.
We were getting ready for the town festival. Oliver had called and said he would be over soon. Maggie’s husband, Tom, had just dropped off Belle and stayed until he knew that Oliver would be over soon. “It’s ok Tom, you can go home now. Go get ready for the festival, I promise I will be fine.” He looked at me nervously.
“Well, Grace, Oliver doesn’t want you here alone; he wants me to stay until he gets here.”
Oh, for crying aloud, I am fine. “Tom, seriously it’s been months, honestly, he will be here shortly, and I promise I will be fine,” I said sternly. I could tell that he knew I wanted to be alone. It was as if I did not even know what that was like anymore. “Ok, but lock this damn door when I leave,” Tom said with a grin.
“Sure thing”, I said. I really liked Tom, he was away on business a lot, but he was perfect for Maggie. I had only met him a few months ago, he walked outside and I locked the door behind him. I was not a dummy; I would at least lock up. I went back into my bedroom to finish getting ready. Belle was in her room playing with her dolls, so quietly. She was such a good girl.
I was almost ready to go when I heard footsteps on the porch, that must be Oliver, I thought. I walked into the living room and the front door was open, that is weird I thought, I could have sworn that I locked that door when Tom left.
Just then, my lights flickered and then finally went out altogether. Shit, what is going on? It is not storming, and the wind is not even blowing. I suddenly felt sick, horribly nauseated and about to lose my mind completely until suddenly, I smelled bourbon. I knew that smell anywhere; it was the cheapest bourbon around. Max had a lot of money, but he was a cheap son of a bitch and bought the cheapest least expensive bourbon there was. I ran down the hall and told Belle to hide under her bed and not to make a sound; she thought we were playing a game. I locked her door behind me and went back into the hallway.
Max, you bastard! He had found me, how did he find me? I heard the door to my bedroom close. “Who’s there?” I called. “Whoever you are, I don’t have any money and my boyfriend is the sheriff who just so happens to be on his way over here,” I shouted loudly. I heard footsteps followed by his laughs. Ugh that laugh. I hated him with every fiber of my being. It made my skin crawl.
“Oh Gracie, baby did you miss me? I sure missed you and playtime is over, it is time to come home darling,” Max said. I took a deep breath, I can do this. I can face him.
“Screw you Max, I do not belong to you anymore, I never did and I left for a reason. You cannot do the things to people that you did to me, it’s over,” I yelled.
His silhouette came into view, and he was skinny, sickly looking, as if he had been drinking himself to death. “Oh Gracie, it’s not over until I say it’s fucking over! Do you understand me? However, you are right, it is over, and it will be for you tonight. I am done searching for you, and I will take Belle with me and you will be out of the way, for good,” He laughed. I ran, ran as fast as I could back to my bedroom to try for the window to yell for help. He must not know Annabelle is here.
He chased me into the bedroom where I tried to slam the door on him. He was too strong, he was always too strong and I could never get away. Why was this happening again? He flew the door open sending me flying into the bedpost; he grabbed me, threw me on the bed, and wrapped his hands around my neck. It was as if I was back there, six months ago. I thought the nightmare had ended.
I was so wrong, it would never end until I was dead, that was all he wanted. I fought as long as I could, I kicked, screamed, and begged, but it was no use, I surrendered to the darkness and let go.
That was the last thing I remembered. It is a funny feeling, strange and terrifying feeling, knowing you might be breathing your last breath, knowing that no matter how hard you fought, you were just not strong enough, what would become of my Belle, and Oliver, who would take care of them.
CHAPTER 11
“Grace! Can you hear me? Grace,” Oliver shouted. Was I dreaming? Was I dead? I could hear muffled voices. It was like an echo, but where is it coming from? I slowly opened my eyes, is this real; I was in a bed, a hospital bed. I looked around the room and saw Oliver, Oh, thank goodness, wait am I seriously dead, and how did I get here? “Oliver, what is going on? Why am I in a hospital bed?” I said confused. “Grace, do you not remember,” Oliver said.
NO, I remember all right, Max’s crazy ass showed up and killed me. “I remember Oli,” My voice cracked. I had a sense of dread wash over me, I was so afraid. No matter how much I tried to tell myself I was not, I was terrified. “Oli where is Max? What happened to me?” I was panicking having a real panic attack; I was losing my shit real quick.
“Shh baby its ok; you are going to be fine. He choked you until you lost consciousness, but it is ok now, it’s over,” He said lowering his head on my hospital bed. He looked like he had aged 10 years since the last time I had seen him.
OMG, Belle. “Oliver, where’s Annabelle? Did he take her? Where is she? Belle! Belle!” I screamed, I was trying to get out of my hospital bed, I needed my daughter and I needed her right now, how could any of this be happening, I fought so hard to protect her.
“Grace calm down, Belle is fine, she is fine, and she is with Gloria. I have one of my deputy’s at the house with them, although, they do not really need any protection anymore, but we found Belle tucked under bed holding her ears singing. She said she thought that you were playing hide and go seek with Daddy,” Oliver said.
“Oh Oli, thank God she’s ok. Where is he? Where is Max? Did the police get him? He knows how to get past the law, my heart is breaking that she had to hear him there like that,” I said panicking.
“Grace I need you to calm down, I have to tell you something. This may or may not be hard for you to hear, I don’t want to upset you,” He said looking down at his feet, his face went pale white.
Why was he being so weird? I grabbed his hand and noticed that he had dried blood on his knuckles. What was this from? “Oliver, where did this blood come from?” I asked confused. He could barely look at me. “Oliver, are you ok?” I said again. “Grace, he cannot hurt you anymore,” His voice got quieter and quieter.
“What do you mean Oli? He will make bail and surely come after us again; he always gets what he wants,” I said knowing it was true.
“Grace I got to your house moments after you passed out, he almost killed you, I walked in quietly so he could not hear me. I saw you passed out on the bed, something snapped inside me; I love you so much that I just, I lost it, I really freaking lost it. I lunged at him and hit him repeatedly, I couldn’t stop myself,” Oliver said dropping his gaze from mine. Oh no, what did he do? “Oliver what happened?” I said demanding he tell me now.
“I...I killed him Grace, I did not stop myself; I literally beat him to death and I just lost it, I am so sorry, please tell me you don’t hate me,” He said with tears in his eyes.
I could not believe he was dead. I honestly felt nothing, I was so numb from what had happened, my life was so fucked up,
will I ever be the same? “Oliver, do the police know?” I said almost afraid to ask.
“Yes, they do. Once the Boston PD found out, they issued a warrant for my arrest. I am guessing he has friends on the team there,” Oliver said.
I cannot believe this is happening. Tell me it is not. “Grace I have to turn myself in, tonight,” He said.
“What no! No Oli this is all my fault, you were just trying to protect me. Do you see now why I said I had to leave? Dammit Oli! You wouldn’t listen and now what? You’re going to prison for the murder of my husband who tried to kill me?” This was beyond too much, I felt dizzy, outraged, I could not even breathe, I felt like I was having a panic attack.
“Calm down Grace, lie back and close your eyes, I will fix this, I have friends too, I will get out and this will all be over, and then we will be together again.” I was exhausted, I let it take over.
I laid back and closed my eyes, I was never meant to be happy, I felt like all I wanted was to hear my mother’s voice, I needed peace, but I would never find peace. I gave in to the dark, once again. That is the funny thing about giving in, is it considered giving up as well? In all of the time I have spent running, running from the darkness that chased me, I have gotten nowhere. Finally being free of him should make me feel better, only now the one person who helped me find my way back into the light will suffer because of him. Now I feel I have fallen back into the darkness and it is darker than I ever could have imagined.
PART II
“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”
-Christopher Columbus
PROLOGUE
I had finally lain down to sleep after an exhausting week stay in the hospital. I was in my own bed but somehow I felt more alone than I had ever been. Before all of this happened I was lonely and sad, but once I found this sleepy little town and found Oli, I knew that we were home. I wanted nothing more than for that to be true. I have spent years trying to get over losing my parents at such a young age when most kids need their parents the most. It never gets any easier, I have lost a lot in my life, so when Oli told me that he had done something unthinkable, something that would forever change our lives, and I was numb to the feeling of it. Max had found me and wanted to kill me and take Belle.
Oliver thought that he was helping us by doing what he did, but while it helps that Max is gone, it hurts to say goodbye to Oli too. The day after my almost deadly encounter with Max was the day I woke up and Oli told me that he had to turn himself in to the authorities for the murder of my husband. That was 5 days ago, and it gutted me to say goodbye to him not knowing if I would ever see him again. I closed my eyes but knew that I would soon wake up, mainly because I could not sleep without Oli, but mostly because I was afraid of my unconscious state. Survival is a tricky thing.
Our survival skills take over when they need to, it is like our mind and our body just knows what to do. You can be in the worst of all situations and then your brain flips this switch and you are fighting. I have done this several times in my short time on this earth, survived, but how do you survive when you have no more strength left? You just do, the want and need to survive is buried deep down inside your soul and you awaken it by fighting. When all is said and done you wake up stronger, you wake up a warrior. As I let myself drift off into oblivion in my bed tonight, I feel like anything but a warrior. Fear takes over and for the first time in years I have let the fear win.
CHAPTER 1
Six weeks, Oliver had been in jail for 6 weeks. He has the best lawyers that money could buy considering he used to be a big shot cop in New York City, but no matter how good his lawyers were and how many people he had backing him, he was not being released. They took him to Boston PD since that is where Max lived. We did not have a major police department in Good Hope, so they wanted him somewhere bigger.
I could not visit him that often because it was so far away. I would take the bus whenever I could but I did not want to take Belle with me, I did not want her to see Oliver like this. She adored him and I knew he would not want her to see him this way either. I felt like the world was playing some cruel trick on me. Why was I being punished this way? What have I done that I need to apologize for or fix in order to have my life back? These things played in my head repeatedly. I cannot help myself, but I want to help Oliver.
He never deserved to be caught up in this mess. I swear I tried to tell him and everyone this, to stay away and let me go, but they would not listen and now he is locked away in some scumbag prison for loving me. Max deserved what he got, I felt a chill run up my spine, no Grace, do not fall that low, Max was many things but he needed help. I wish he were a different man mainly for Annabelle. When I told her about Daddy going to live with Jesus she just said as quietly as possible, “Maybe daddy will feel better now that he is with Jesus, mommy, because Jesus takes away your sickness and makes you happy!” What a brave sweet girl, I guess in all of my faults and all of my mistakes I have really done something right with Belle.
I heard a knock on my door as I was finishing the dishes in the sink, I peeked out the kitchen window. “Maggie,” I said, she was here checking up on me. I walked over and opened the front door before she could knock a third time. “Hey Mags, it’s good to see you, again!” I smirked, I joke with her but I really love her as if she were my sister. “Grace, I need to talk to you,” She did not look very happy. Great this cannot be good. It never is when someone starts with that. “Sure Maggie, what’s up?” I asked eager. She sat down slowly on the sofa; she looked up at me and sighed. “Well I talked to Oli last night, he sounded…off, so naturally I questioned him until he caved with annoyance. He said that his lawyers had gotten him a fast tracked hearing for Friday morning; it is to post his bail, which is ridiculous. They are asking for a hundred grand for removing that scum from this planet, oops I’m sorry Grace, I didn’t mean it like that,” She said apologetically. I knew what she meant.
“Maggie I should be the one who is sorry, your brother is paying for my mistakes, my mess and it kills me to be without him, I didn’t know I could feel so lost, “I said tearing up. She reached for my hand, “Grace he did what he did because he is madly in love with you, he never did anything the normal way, I mean look at what happened with him and Lindsay, he jumps into things wholeheartedly Grace, it is who he is. I did not think he was ready to love you, but he proved me wrong, like he always does. He will fix this, he needs to control most situations, but come to think of it, he has never tried to control anything with you, strange,” She said. What was that supposed to mean? I guess I could tell from the beginning how he insisted on taking me home. He definitely liked being in control but most men do, Max was the worst. Was Oli a control freak? Was he holding back because of what has happened with Max?
“Maggie, I love him, I really do, I need him to come home, and I am lost, so incredibly lost. I have never felt that way before about anyone,” Tears were streaming down my cheeks. “Oh Gracie sweetie, its ok he will come home,” She reached for me and pulled me into a hug, it was comforting, Maggie was just a few years older than I was but she reminded me of my mother, she always called me Gracie.
“Ok enough of this sappy shit, I need to get home to the boys, oh my gosh I almost forgot, Oli sent me a letter for you. I am not sure why he sent it to my house and not yours but he wrote me one too, he said to make sure this got to you before his hearing,” She handed me the letter and looked nervous, does she know something that I do not, I hope not, I cannot take much more. Once she left I sat down at the kitchen table, Belle was in her room playing quietly still, she was good at that. I placed my hand on the letter, I took a deep breath in and let it out, stop being such a baby Grace open the letter, ok, here goes nothing. I placed my finger under the sealed part of the envelope; I could feel my breathing becoming panicked and heavy, deep breaths Grace. I slid the letter out from the envelope and opened it up; I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
My Dearest Gr
ace,
Where do I even begin to start? I know why you said that you cannot visit me more, I understand it, but I also know you, and you like to overanalyze every situation. I wanted you to understand the whole truth about what really happened the night Max came back. All of the digging I had been doing when he was missing was to protect you, I told you that I looked into him and knew about him, what I did not tell you was what I found. I know this is going to be hard and it should be because he was a part of your life, a huge part, even though your memories with him are haunting ones it’s still important that you forgive him and go on from this, and I want to help you do that. Max Peterson was a liar. He had a trust fund set up by his grandparents, it specifically stated that he had to be married and produce a child that was his to inherit this fortune. When I dug as far as I could I found that he had taken out a large life insurance policy on you and Belle. He was hiding secrets and he hid them right under your nose the entire time. Before he met you he was married to a woman named Grace as well, she literally looked exactly like you. They had gotten into an altercation one night and he hurt her pretty bad, she got away though, no one, not even him knew where she went. His friends at the Boston PD helped him look for her but they never found her. He was looking for you Grace, you looked very similar to her and he knew it would fool his family since they had not yet met her. I am telling you all of this because he never loved you, he used you. You do not deserve this and I only want to be honest with you. When I saw him hovered over you with his hands around your neck I could not believe he had found you. I had planned to tell you everything that I found when I got to your house and when I saw him, I just lost it. I just did not want him to hurt you anymore. I have screwed up so much in my life Grace, but know this…you are the absolutely best thing to have ever walked into my life. You are so strong and we can get through this, if you will have me…criminal and all.
Save Me Page 6