Hillary:
Retribution
Book Three
Angel Gelique
Hillary: Retribution
Angel Gelique
Copyright © 2013 Angel Gelique
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without express, written permission.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidences are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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eBook Edition License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or transferred unless a separate copy has been purchased. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.
DEDICATION
This book is lovingly dedicated to…
…my sister Regina, for whom this trilogy is written.
Look at what you put me through!!!
…my husband Keith, for his patience and support.
The series is over…you can have me back now!
…all of the poor children who are abused and exploited
every day by the real monsters on the streets.
May you find a way to escape your horrors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Special thanks to Brenda LeCrone Seaberg who has been
an invaluable source of support, encouragement and assistance.
Brenda, you’re awesome! I’m so glad to count you amongst my friends.
www.AngelGelique.com
Join me on Goodreads at:
http://www.goodreads.com/angelgelique
PROLOGUE
It seemed like ages before Dr. Jake Bentley was able to free himself from the duct tape and chair where Hillary Greyson had left him, mistakenly believing that he was dead. He took two seconds to breathe a heavy sigh of relief before bolting up and running over to the table. Both cell phones were gone. He raced to Dr. Patrick Morrison’s office, ignoring the pain that the pull of gravity and motion restored to his damaged crotch, courtesy of Hillary’s torture. There was only one thing on his mind, his sole purpose: to save his family.
He reached for the phone and nearly cried out in excitement when he heard the melodic hum of the dial tone. His finger jabbed the numbers quickly, carelessly misdialing. He cursed aloud as he turned the phone off, then on again and pressed the numbers slowly and carefully. He was overcome with a feeling of nausea and lightheadedness so intense he barely realized the call had gone through. Patty’s cell phone was ringing. He fought the tempting urge to close his eyes and be swept away by the soothing darkness.
Answer...answer! He ordered Patty in his mind. Three rings, four, then another before he heard her voice on the voicemail. “Leave a message, I’ll call you back!”
“Damn, Patty, answer the phone!” He cried out as he redialed the number and prayed that she would answer this time. Was it already too late? Had Hillary arrived at his home and harmed his wife and daughter?
The phone rang on until he reached her voicemail again. Frantically, he left a message.
“Patty, it’s Jake, get out of the house…get out now!”
Images of his family being tortured plagued his mind. Waves of nausea returned as his stomach lurched. He needed to sit. He allowed himself to fall onto Dr. Morrison’s leather office chair. Beads of sweat formed along his hairline. He felt as though someone had turned the thermostat all the way up. He unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt.
With unsteady, shaky hands, he tried calling Patty back. Again, he had no luck. He set the phone down and sobbed. His head ached like never before. He closed his eyes and started to drift off.
The ringing phone startled him. He answered it quickly.
“Hello?”
“Why are you calling me from Pat’s house? And why—”
“Oh, thank God!” Dr. Bentley exclaimed. Patty’s voice was music to his ears. “Listen, grab Amber and get out of there. NOW! You have to get out NOW!”
“What? Why? What’s the matter with you?”
Dr. Bentley’s entire body was shaking uncontrollably.
“Patty, please, there’s no time to explain. She’ll be there any second.”
He could hear Patty sigh.
“So it’s true then,” she said angrily. “Your whore is on her way over.”
She had received a phone call a short while before, purportedly from his lover. The woman on the phone, who had called herself Mary, said she would be stopping by to confront her.
“No, no, no, no, no...it’s nothing like that. It’s Hillary Greyson...SHE’S GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DON’T GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE NOW!”
“Hillary Grey—”
“Get out, please Patty, you and Amber need to get far away from there!”
“You just don’t want me to meet your lover. That’s all this is about. Hillary Greyson is dead, Jake.”
“She’s not dead, but you will be if you don’t get out of there, she’s—”
“You must think I’m a real fool,” Patty yelled just before hanging up on him. She shut off her phone.
“No, no, listen....” Dr. Bentley cried into the dead air before realizing she had hung up.
He quickly tried calling her back. The call went straight to her voicemail. All that effort escaping only to fail in the end. He threw back his head and let the tears roll down his cheeks. It was now officially hopeless. He closed his eyes and just before passing out, thought, “The police!” Too late though. The call of the sirens of darkness was too great to resist and he was suddenly unconscious.
Patty sat on her couch crying, the phone still in her hand. How could Jake do that to her? After all those years, all the sacrifices she had made for him and their family. He had been frantic on the phone. It was so unlike him. Was he that desperate not to get caught? Or was she and Amber really in danger?
“Why’re ya cryin’ mama?” Amber asked. Her little voice was full of concern.
“I’m okay baby,” Patty replied, pulling the child close and planting a kiss upon her velvety-soft cheek.
“When are we going to the park?”
“In a little while. Mommy has to wait for someone to come over first.”
“Who?”
“I-I’m not exactly sure,” Patty said, a final tear escaping down the corner of her eye as she chuckled at the absurdity of her reply and the baffled look on Amber’s face.
“A friend of daddy’s,” she added.
Amber’s questioning eyes relaxed.
“Awwww,” she whined. “How long’s that gonna take?”
“I’m not sure, but we’ll go to the park right after we’re done talking.”
SHE’S GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DON’T GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE NOW!
Jake’s desperate warning echoed in her mind. She shuddered as a shiver traveled down her spine. But Hillary Greyson was dead...she was shot to death after she was apprehended in the woods and resisted arrest. Wasn’t she? It was on all of the news channels. What was Jake talking about? Why would he say such a thing? Surely he could have come up with a more plausible, clever way to get her out of the house....
Patty caught the tail end of Amber’s question. She hadn’t even realized the girl was talking to her. She looked annoyed and impatient, waiting for her mother’s reply.
“I’m sorry sweetie, what were you saying?”
“You’re not even listening to me,” she whined.
“I’m sorry. I was thinking about something important.”
“About daddy’s friend?”
You have to get out NOW!
“Yes.”
“What’s his name?�
��
“It’s a girl.”
“Daddy has a girlfriend?” Amber giggled, amused, teasing her mother.
Patty was not very amused. She was downright infuriated by the very thought of it. Hearing her daughter say it enraged her even more.
“It’s not like that, silly,” she teased back. But was it?
SHE’S GOING TO KILL YOU....
“So what’s her name?”
Hillary Greyson....
“Hillary, I guess.” She chuckled again. How stupid of her. Hillary Greyson was dead. Period. Mary the tramp was on her way over.
“What does she look like?”
“I don’t know, look, why don’t you do some coloring in the meantime?”
“I don’t want to color...” Amber whined.
“Well go watch some cartoons then,” Patty said, hoping her daughter would comply. She was in an abnormally foul mood and didn’t have the patience for Amber’s whining or prodding questions.
“I don’t want to watch TV. I want to go to the park!”
“Amby, you know mommy’s waiting for a visitor. Can you please be a good, sweet girl and find something to do?”
“Why does she have to come now? You promised we’d go...you promised, mooommm....”
“Stop whining!” Patty snapped.
Amber jumped, her eyes widened and her pouty lips began to tremble. Her mother never shouted at her like that.
“Don’t cry, Amby, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just a little stressed out right now...I need to think.”
You have to get out NOW! She’s going to kill you....
A single tear rolled down Amber’s chubby cheek and Patty brushed it away softly. She hugged Amber closely. Jake sounded so, so nervous. Could he be telling the truth? Was she and Amber really in danger? Even if he had been unfaithful to her and his tramp was now on her way over, did she really want to expose Amber to that? Things could get ugly. The way she was feeling, things would get ugly.
Patty used this line of rational thinking to justify her decision, but the real reason was that she was frightened by Jake’s words, the warnings that constantly taunted her mind.
SHE’S GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DON’T GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE NOW!
As if an ice cube had been swiped along her spine, Patty shivered. She was covered in goose bumps.
“I’ll tell you what,” she spoke quickly, “if you can get your sandals on in one minute, we’ll go to the park now.”
Amber’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Really? We can—”
“Yes, hurry…go and get your sandals on fast.”
Patty’s heart raced as she dashed to the window. No sign of anyone out there. What was she expecting, Hillary standing in her driveway with an ax? She wanted to laugh at herself, her absurd thoughts, but she couldn’t help feeling so afraid. Her conversation with Jake was too disconcerting to dismiss. Why did she have to let her emotions get the best of her? She shouldn’t have hung up on him.
Without thinking, she dialed Jake’s cell phone number. She was relieved for just a split second when her call was answered after the second ring...until she heard the voice on the other end.
“Hi Patty!” Hillary Greyson answered excitedly.
“Who are you?” She asked sternly.
“You’ll soon see. I’m on my way. Hold on a second...how much longer?” She asked the driver.
“We’re almost there, a couple minutes maybe,” he replied.
Patty heard the man’s response. Who was he? That wasn’t Jake’s voice....
“Oh goody, the cab driver says we’ll be there in a minute. I can’t wait to meet you and little Amber. We’re going to have such fun....”
You and Amber need to get far away from there....
Patty disconnected the call and ran to the foyer to grab her purse and car keys.
“Amber!” she shouted, panicked. “C’mon, let’s go, we have to leave now!”
Amber appeared a few seconds later, trudging slowly toward her mother with two different sandals in her hands.
“I didn’t know which ones you wanted me—”
Patty scooped the small child up swiftly, ignoring her protests, and made a hasty retreat from her home, locking the door behind her. She raced to the car, clicked the remote on her keychain to unlock it and quickly entered, placing Amber on the passenger seat.
“But Mama...Mooommm....”
“Hush, Amber,” Patty whispered as she closed the driver’s side door and fumbled with the keys in her right hand.
Hillary’s on her way....
“I’m not even wearing shoes!”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Am I going to ride in the front with you?”
“No, Amber, hurry up and get on your booster seat.”
“Why’re you rushing? Are we playing a game?” Amber asked, as she struggled to get her short legs over the center console and move to the back seat where her pink booster seat waited for her.
“Yes, yes, that’s right...we’re playing a game. Get your seatbelt on quick—”
Patty stopped talking mid-sentence, hearing the approaching car. Instinctively, she locked the doors. She was thankful that her windows were tinted, though not dark enough to prevent them from going unnoticed.
“Shhh, Amber, listen, I need you to get down. Pretend you’re a snake now and lie down on the floor of the car.”
“What?” she asked, too loudly for Patty’s liking. “A snake?”
“Yes, and don’t move...and don’t talk....”
“What kind of game—”
“Shhhh....”
Amber complied. Patty slowly looked over at the car parallel to hers on the left. It was an old, dented beige cab, an older Ford model with four doors. The windows, while dirty, were not tinted. Patty could see a young blonde-haired girl in the back seat. She was looking down and didn’t seem to have noticed them.
Hillary’s here....
Patty’s heart raced. She kept her shaky hands on the key that was now in the ignition, ready to be turned.
Is that Hillary? Could it really be her?
The girl looked thin and young. Patty could see her handing over some money to the cab driver. Then she opened the door on the left side of the car and got out. She walked around to the back of the car. She was carrying a shopping bag. It looked bulky and heavy in her small hand. She set it down on the floor right behind the car. Patty was able to get a good look at her then. She was wearing a cotton dress that looked at least five sizes too big on her. It looked like a tent on the girl’s emaciated body. Patty’s eyes widened. She knew that dress. It belonged to Doctor Morrison’s wife, Monica. She had seen Monica wearing it just last week.
What’s going on? Why is that girl wearing Monica’s dress?
Hillary grabbed a hold of the shopping bag. She started to walk then stopped in her tracks as she spotted Patty. Patty gasped.
“What’s wrong, Mama?”
“Shhhhh,” she whispered quietly, afraid to move even though it was apparent Hillary had already seen her.
Hillary glared at her, her eyes narrowed, her eyebrows furrowed. There was an unmistakable hatred in her eyes.
The cab driver honked his horn and yelled something that Patty could not hear. He was trying to get Hillary out of his way so that he could leave.
Oh my God! Patty thought. It’s her...it’s really her....
Without even realizing it, she had started the car.
“What are you doing?” Hillary shouted, loud enough for Patty to hear her through the closed window. Amber heard her too.
“Is that Daddy’s friend?” She asked, popping up to sneak a peek at Hillary.
“Get down!” Patty ordered. She could see the crazed look on Hillary’s face as she started advancing toward the car.
Patty placed the car in reverse and hit the gas pedal. The car jerked back rapidly then screeched when she stepped on the brake at the end of her driveway. Patty pau
sed to look at Hillary. She looked as though she was contemplating running after the car. Instead, she ran to the driver of the cab. Patty took off quickly down the road, fearing that Hillary would ask the driver to follow her. She drove erratically, not even stopping for any of the stop signs. When she was sure it was safe to proceed, she drove through a red light at an intersection. She drove like a maniac all the way to the highway, constantly checking her rearview mirror for the cab. She didn’t even think about Amber on the floor of the car or answer her questions about whether this was all part of the game. She hadn’t known at first where to go, but decided to head to Patrick and Monica Morrison’s house. After all, that’s where Jake was.
She fished her cell phone out of her purse and dialed Monica’s home phone number. It rang and rang until the machine answered. She wondered whether Jake had left. She tried repeatedly to call him there, not caring that she was violating the law against talking on the phone while driving, not caring that she was excessively speeding at eighty-nine miles per hour, not caring that her daughter was not seat-belted in on her booster seat. All she cared about was making sure that she and Amber were far away from Hillary Greyson.
~1~
Oh my God, Patty Bentley thought frantically as she sped in her car toward the Morrison residence. She knew that she and little Amber were safe, that they had escaped Hillary’s bloodshed, yet she could not stop shaking. She could hear Amber inundating her with constant whining and questions, but she could not reply. Like a broken record, her brain was stuck on unsavory thoughts and the terrifying realization that Hillary Greyson was at her house—her house—and she wasn’t there to play checkers. If she hadn’t followed her instincts and fled the house with Amber when she did, they would both be dead right now.
No, she told herself as an icy chill ran up her spine. We’d be wishing we were dead....
Patty thought about all of the horrifying things she had read about Hillary and how she had tortured and even eaten her victims. Her own family members, even. It made Patty shudder as she made a conscious effort to slow down to seventy miles per hour from the ninety she had been driving. She had been in such a rush to get to Patrick’s house and find out what was going on. Now that she was nearly there, she was having reservations. Why hadn’t Jake answered the phone? She was about to find out.
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