Jay's Salvation

by Rowena Dawn

The pastor breathed with relief. He had come there for a wedding, not a murder.

  When the ceremony ended, and Ellen had finally become his wife, Jay hugged her with all his might and kissed her passionately for everyone to see.

  “Finally, you’ll sleep in my bed tonight,” he shouted, completely forgetting about the others, and Ellen became scarlet.

  “Jay,” she slapped his arm. “Have you lost your mind to shout something like that?” she wondered.

  People were laughing around them, and even the severe pastor smiled with a shake of his head. ‘Huh, they don’t love each other,’ he scoffed. ‘Rebecca has lost her mind,’ he decided.

  “Sorry, sweetie,” Jay apologized. “I’m just very happy,” he brushed his lips over her knuckles.

  Then, he squeezed her hand again and pulled her toward the family. When his eyes fell on Rebecca, he decreed in a hard tone of voice, “You’re out of here. Right this moment.”

  Afterward, he led his new wife to his parents. Marjory hugged Ellen with tears of joy in her eyes. “You’ve made my boy so happy,” she whispered. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “I ALWAYS LOVED CHRISTMAS,” Jay whispered to Ellen, holding her in his arms. They were lying under the tree they had decorated together and gazing into each other’s eyes. “I loved most the Christmas presents I found under the tree in the morning,” he admitted with a chuckle. “But I’ve never known that one day, I’ll find the best gift ever under my own Christmas tree,” he reckoned in a serious tone of voice.

  The man raised Ellen’s hand and gazed at the ring he had put on her finger a few hours earlier, and said quietly, “Mine. You belong only to me now.”

  EXCERPT FROM “DOUBLE-EDGED”

  The young woman was sitting in a cushy armchair in the lobby, a magazine open on her lap. She pretended being lost in a story she was reading.

  Her huge blue slouch-hat was designed to cover half her face and matched the short summer dress, showing off her long, tanned and shapely legs.

  A pair of big, black sunglasses completed the ensemble. She looked like Audrey Hepburn in Charade. Hidden behind the black lenses, her eyes carefully watched the people coming to the front desk and speaking to the receptionist.

  She had already arranged with the much younger man at the front desk to signal her when the person she was interested in would come. He was supposed to raise his hand, as if he’d said ‘just one moment, please.’ Then, he was supposed to turn away for a couple of seconds and check something on the monitor.

  Since her watch began, two couples had already passed by the front desk and talked to the clerk. They’d just taken their keys and left immediately, so she didn’t bother with them anymore.

  Finally, after a few more minutes of impatient waiting, a tall, dark man came to the reception area and addressed the clerk. The clerk nodded and raised his hand, the sign they’d pre-arranged. He checked his computer screen for a couple of seconds, bowed again and then, took a bag from behind the counter and handed it to the man.

  He took the bag with a nod and, turned around. His eyes brushed expertly over the people in the lobby. He gave the impression he was just mildly curious, yet she noticed he analyzed everyone carefully. She watched him furtively so she wouldn’t expose herself.

  She imagined her appearance didn’t impress him. After he’d looked her over, from head to toe, taking his time when he swept over her legs, he turned around and went toward the elevators. Probably, he didn’t think she posed any kind of danger, and he didn’t worry about her.

  Again, her senses perceived nothing clear about him, and that annoyed her much more than before. She realized she had stumbled onto the first person in the world she couldn’t read at all. That frustrated and infuriated her to no end.

  She’d believed she’d be able to sneak a peek into his mind once she’d be in his presence. It made sense she wouldn’t encounter any barriers when she was near. Apparently, she’d been wrong. The man always remained entirely opaque for her vision.

  When he disappeared from her sight, she stood up with lazy and fluid moves. She laid the magazine on the table next to her armchair as if she’d had all the time in the world. She smoothened her skirt with long and light strokes, and then, her eyes swept over the hotel lounge, furnished with taste and comfort in mind.

  With lazy strides, she walked to the front desk. The clerk beamed at her, warmly. He hurried forward to do her bidding as if the other person at the front desk hadn’t mattered at all.

  She noticed his rush to serve her and believed the huge tip she’d given him earlier determined his behavior. Yet, something else lay behind the young man’s grin. He’d enjoyed their game and even imagined all sorts of thrilling scenarios in his head.

  EXCERPT FROM “EYES IN THE DARK”

  A thin crowd surrounded the casket and not because of the cold spring rain, which had been pouring for the last twelve hours. Not many people had attended the church service either.

  ‘A funeral in the middle of the week will do that to you,’ Diane shook her head with grief. People had jobs and families. She couldn’t blame them for their absence.

  The pastor’s words flew past her ears. She’d never been a religious person and didn’t find any comfort in the ritual now, either.

  When Diane’s eyes had swept over the faces of the few people inside the church just moments before, her heart had tightened. Bad luck had taken away her aunt’s chance at having the people she’d known for years at her side on this last day.

  The late Martha Elgin had been well known and respected in the county. ‘I never even imagined so many people loved her,’ Diane thought and wiped her tears.

  The constant string of people, coming to pay their respects during the last three nights of the wake, had impressed Diane MacLean, Martha’s only niece.

  She only realized the priest had ended the service when people began to move and file before Diane to present their whispered condolences and regrets once again.

  Some squeezed her hand with affection while others hugged her, although they’d known her for only a few days. Afterward, they left the cemetery, huddled under big umbrellas.

  They would come to the house later, where Diane, with the help of a catering company, had prepared the last repast in her aunt’s honor, scheduled for three in the afternoon.

  Soon, however, Diane remained alone near the casket, her eyes misty with tears, while two burly young men were waiting impatiently under the canopy of a big oak. They wanted to finish the burial and find some shelter inside, away from the rain. Their eyes laid squarely on her, willing her to leave already.

  Diane whispered her farewell and touched the lid of the black lacquered casket with a shaky hand. She loved her aunt and regretted she hadn’t come to visit her for almost three years already. Now, her words fell on deaf ears.

  She nodded toward the gravediggers and followed the stone path leading out of the cemetery and to the parking lot. She failed to notice the three men hidden in the shadow of a cluster of trees behind her.

  The tallest leaned forward and whispered a few words. Nodding, one of the other two made his way through the trees to the same parking lot.

  The man beat Diane to the punch. Comfortably seated in his car, he watched her coming up the trail slowly.

  She seemed tired and didn’t care about the rain, even though her umbrella didn’t shield her very well. The faraway look in her eyes betrayed her scattered thoughts.

  Diane didn’t notice the man in the car. She placed the umbrella in the trunk of her SUV and hurried to the driver’s side.

  She drove away, oblivious to the other car, which was trailing her closely now. She drove under the speed limit, although she was expected in town. Her aunt’s lawyer had invited her to the reading of the will.

  ‘I already told him I might be late. What’s the rush after all? The will won’t change.’

  EXCERPT FROM “PULLED IN”

  A door slammed hard in the distance, and Darcy practic
ally jumped out of her skin. She halted her furious pacing and sharpened her ears, listening intently.

  Emmett Driscoll was in one of his moods. He barked orders left and right, but so fast that Darcy didn’t understand what he was saying. The woman tiptoed to the door and listened intently.

  Quick steps sounded on the wooden floors toward the front exit of the mansion. Darcy sighed with relief. She leaned her shoulders on the door and crossed her arms over her chest.

  Emmett didn’t want to come to her that evening. He probably went out into town, either for a deal or to find some relief for his tension.

  Darcy didn’t care a fig about his intentions. For her, it was important that he left.

  The woman went back to the window and looked out. Her eyes swept the border of the forest again. Darcy had already decided to escape, but she had been waiting for the right moment to run away and slip from under Driscoll’s thumb.

  Initially, Darcy had come as a guest in Emmett Driscoll’s house, but the woman had been held a prisoner in that bedroom since she came back from her shopping trip the day before. Darcy had returned earlier than everyone expected her and unwillingly witnessed something she shouldn’t have.

  The expensively furnished room felt like a cage. The walls suffocated Darcy, and the golden decorations danced before her eyes.

  The woman rubbed her red-rimmed eyes with the back of her fingers and winced. Her eyes stung, and a pang of pain shot through her puffy eyelids. Tears had dulled the cobalt of her irises, but the dark blue still set off the paleness of her skin.

  “Jim, Gabe, and Jon, you and your teams will come with me. Frank and Matthew will hold the fort with their men,” Emmett Driscoll’s voice shouted distinctly from the front of the house.

  Darcy’s heart beat faster in anticipation. If Emmett Driscoll’s left, she could fly the coop right then.

  The sun was already setting in the west, and Darcy didn’t know the mountain. However, she knew that the night would conceal her movements.

  “What about the woman, boss?” a grave tone of voice asked.

  Darcy held her breath. She feared Emmett’s answer.

  ‘What if he puts a guard under the balcony and one before the bedroom door?’ she wondered frantically.

  “She won’t pose a problem, Gabe. I took care of that,” Emmett Driscoll replied to his employee.

  Sarcasm filled the man’s voice, and Darcy fairly growled with impotent rage. Her belly revolted with repulsion.

  Darcy remembered how Emmett had taken care of her with his fists. He had also kicked her a few times for good measure.

  Worse, the man had laid his hands on her body. In spite of her constant refusals and begging, Driscoll had raped her a couple of times.

  Darcy felt like throwing up again when she remembered everything. But then, her stomach was empty. She hadn’t been able to swallow any food since the beginning of the previous evening. Darcy would just gulp some water now and then when her lips got dry and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. The mere sight of food made her sick.

  Darcy shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. She had more pressing things to do and couldn’t wallow in self-pity.

  The sound of wheels running over the pebbles in the yard reached her ears. Darcy rubbed her arms with anxiety. Her eyes searched the patch of woods visible through the balcony doors again. The woman felt her heart in her boots, but she knew what she had to do.

  Darcy wiped off her forehead with the back of her hand. The air inside the bedroom was moist and hot, although the ceiling fan was busy. The blades continuously stirred the air coming through the French doors thrown wide open toward the garden and the forest.

  The hypnotic movement of the pallets compelled Darcy’s eyelids to drop. Yet, she couldn’t fall asleep. She needed to leave right then.

  Darcy had made the math. Her only way to freedom was to cross the forest and climb up the mountain slope. She had caught a glimpse of the ridge while driving up toward Emmett’s ranch. The sight had intimidated her then. Now, she just pushed that thought aside.

  Darcy had noticed that Emmett left only a few guards behind when he left the house. About fourteen people milled around, and most of them kept their eyes on the stables.

  Emmett feared that someone would snatch his award-winning horses. He didn’t believe that someone would dare to breach into his house. So Darcy planned to sneak out the opposite way.

  Absently, Darcy wiped her clammy palms off the towel discarded on the back of the chair set before the vanity table.

  She had taken quite a few showers within the last twenty-four hours to get rid of Emmett’s smell. It still clung to her skin and invaded her nostrils, even though Emmett hadn’t come to her room since the day before.

  When she replaced the towel, Darcy avoided looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was ashen, and lines had found their way on her forehead. Bruises marred her once beautiful face and smooth arms – a constant reminder of her credulity.

  Darcy strode quickly to the bed where she had prepared a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt earlier. She pulled them on with hurried gestures.

  The woman chose to wear sneakers for her hike, and she tied their laces tight. Darcy had never climbed up a mountain, but she didn’t think that she could make it in regular shoes.

  Darcy looked around, her mind searching for what else she should take with her.

  ‘You should have thought of that earlier, girl,’ the woman admonished herself with irritation.

  Darcy felt like slapping herself. She wasted precious time on small things.

  In the spur of the moment, Darcy fished her ID and a few banknotes from her purse. She left the credit card behind. Films showed that people’s moves could be traced if they used credit cards.

  After she shoved everything into her pockets, Darcy started toward the balcony doors with purposeful steps. The woman looked over the edge of the suspended terrace.

  Darcy had to climb down the trellis, which ran on the side of the balcony, but she could do it. She had climbed a few trees in her adolescence.

  Darcy clambered over the brink of the balcony. Men’s laughter from the other side of the house reached her ears.

  AUTHOR’S BIO

  ROWENA DAWN writes romance, reads thrillers and watches comedies. She likes walking through the woods but insanely loves the sea. She has a love-hate relationship with her writing and drives her dog crazy whenever she doesn't stop writing to take him out.

  OTHER BOOKS BY ROWENA DAWN

  BECKA’S AWAKENING – Book One in the Winstons series

  Matt’s Dilemma – Book Two in the Winstons Series

  Ariel’s Dream – Book Four in the Winstons Series (forthcoming)

  Leap of Faith

  Double-Edged – Book One in the Perfect Halves Series

  Eyes in the Dark – Book Two in the Perfect Halves Series

  Pulled In – Book Three in the Perfect Halves Series

  Mr. (Almost) Right

  About the Publisher

  It is based in Toronto and brings to public various books: poems, novels, short-stories, children's books, language study books and non-fiction.

  It publishes the literary review: Scarlet Leaf Review: www.scarletleafreview.comOur mission is to help emerging authors and poets to make their works known to the public.Contact email address: scarletleafpublishinghouse@gmail.com