by Dani Wyatt
And so did the TV cameras. I remember people screaming my name. I remember being pulled away from my parents.
In the frenzy, my parents and some of the members of the group were able to grab me. We fled and went into hiding, and my life from then on was more normal than I’d ever known, but the memories never left me.
But this is different, I have to believe that. Lock proved it to me. These visions are real, not fake, and these people are calling his name, not mine.
But why? Who are they? What do they want with him? Who really is Lachlan Marcus?
First it was just a couple of them, but now the entire small structure is surrounded and out the window, which Lock has now draped with a sheet, all I could see were people running up and taking pictures, calling his name and asking who I was.
“What’s going on? How do they all know you?”
“Baby.” He squeezes me as terror fills my chest. “Just trust me, okay? I won’t let anyone hurt you. I won’t let them hurt us, but you have to give me some time to fix this, you have to trust me. And we need to get away from here.”
He goes to the bathroom window and looks outside. I can still hear the voices, but they’re distant, and when he turns back to me there’s something like relief in his face.
“There’s nobody on this side of the cabin right now,” he says. “It’s not perfect, but we can squeeze through this window.”
“I don’t know...” Fear grips my throat and I shake my head. The idea that someone might recognize me makes my heart thunder. I was ten years old, I’m sure no one would know it’s me, but the terror from those memories squeezes my chest and makes it hard to breathe. “I need to tell you—”
“Do you trust me?”
I nod. “Yes, but—”
“Nothing else matters, Teah. Nothing. I’m going to keep you safe.” He peers through the window again. “I’m going to climb through first, then I’ll help you through behind me. We can head straight from here into the woods. Look, Teah, there are things about me you don’t know, but I can’t explain right now. There’s a security team heading our way and they’ll get us away, but we can’t stay here.”
Security team?
In a daze, I stand there as he quietly eases the window open, then squeezes through, athletically dropping down on the other side. I take his hand when he offers it, and start to climb up, looking out the window, then I freeze.
Someone is there. And they’ve seen us.
“Hey! He’s here! Lachlan’s right here!”
Lock turns at the sound of his name, and I pull from his hand.
They’re calling for him, shouting his name, more voices joining in all the time and I can’t fight off the desperate terror that is growing in my belly.
Whatever is happening, it puts into sharp focus just how little I know about the man I married today. The words of the Justice of the Peace echo in my head that we had until tomorrow morning to annul the marriage.
Tomorrow.
I can still get out of this.
Sobs grip my body as the thought that I could already be carrying Lachlan’s baby engulfs me. The world is just like my parents said. I made a mistake thinking I wanted to be part of it.
It feels like a hand is gripping my throat, cutting off my air, and I sink to the floor and crawl out of the bathroom, grabbing my backpack as I head into the living room. I sit down and take a long deep breath, gathering my courage, ignoring the shouts of Lachlan Marcus all around the cabin and the sound of his voice calling for me.
I don’t know how to drive, but I do know how to run. And it sure seems like all these people are really just interested in Lock, so I gather up all of my things, shoving them into my backpack.
Peeking out of the front door, I see cars but no people. They must have all run to the back of the cabin when they found out he was there. It’s clear. It’s my only chance.
I hitch my pack up onto my shoulder, and I’m off at a dead run toward the path that leads to the other cluster of cabins. I hear yelps and screams from behind me, but all I can think to do is run.
All the years of lessons and teaching from my parents flood through me. The survival skills, the lack of trust in the outside world.
I run past the cluster of cabins until my lungs burn and the path begins to disappear. I look left and right, trying to decide what’s next. Where to go. It’s warmer that the other night, but I still need to find or make some kind of shelter to get me through the night.
Then, I don’t know. I’m married to a man I don’t know who clearly has a life into which I can never fit.
I walk through the woods and find a hollow under a large tree. I just need to sit for a minute, to think and try to figure my way through everything that’s happening.
I’ve barely slept and the adrenaline is wearing off. My lids are heavy and I take off my pack and lean into it against the base of the tree. Reaching inside, I pull out a heavy sweatshirt and cover myself with it, fighting off the visions of Lachlan holding a baby, sitting on a porch somewhere, smiling back at me.
I shake my head, trying to clear the vision.
As I drift off to sleep, I hear my father’s voice telling me when I left to go find my way in the world that I’d be sorry. That I’d see why they kept me from the world the way they did.
A hard slumber takes me and I’m relieved. I don’t know what’s next. I don’t know where to go. Tomorrow morning, I will find a phone. I will call the shared phone in the compound where I last saw my parents and beg for them to come and save me.
They were right. I was wrong.
My chest is tight. I can’t do this. I can’t live like this.
Tears stream down my cheeks as I fall asleep. My heart shatters in my chest and each piece has a part of Lachlan reflecting back.
I’M DREAMING.
It’s Lachlan’s voice.
“Teah.” His hands run behind my neck, warm and safe. “Baby, don’t ever run from me. I said I would fix this and I will.”
My eyes flutter open and he’s there. A mixture of ecstatic relief and deep sorrow cover me.
I see him turn his head, dark shadow across one side lending him an air of mystery. The sun is giving in behind the tree line and the odd warmth of the day is falling. “Hey!” He shouts. “She’s here.” Then his eyes meet mine. “I’ve got you, Teah.”
“I don’t even know you. I don’t know what those people want, but I can’t live like that. If that’s your life, I can’t be a part. I just can’t.”
“You’re my life, Teah. That...” He motions back toward the cabin. “That’s nothing to me. I should have told you, but I wanted us to be us. I didn’t want what the world sees me as to be part of something amazing. I’ll fix this. I don’t need any of that. I just need you.”
“Who are you?” I ask, unsure any answer will wash away the doubts that feel like they are cutting into all the soft parts of me I’d already given to him.
“Lachlan Marcus.”
“I know your name.” I snap back.
“Well, Lachlan Marcus is a product. I started off in the music business. Then, I did some movies. Started some companies. I was on the cover of Time Magazine two years ago. But yesterday morning, before I met you, I walked away from it all. I knew I couldn’t live that life anymore. I bought that bus ticket and fate took it from there. Teah, baby, please. Whatever I need to do to make us work, that’s what I’ll do. I can’t promise I can do it today, but I will do it. I’ve got thousands of people that count on me for things, I can’t leave them all hanging, but if you’ll just trust me. Give me some time. I will make our life the life we want. Please baby, you are my life now. You can’t tell me what we have isn’t real. It’s crazy, I get that part. But it’s real.”
I stare at his face. There’s a desperate sadness in his eyes and the conflict tangled inside of me rages.
“I don’t know,” I say, honestly. “There are so many things we don’t know about each other. Not just about you, but about me, too
. Lock, I haven’t told you the whole story about me. About my family. Things that the people we were with were planning to do...not my parents, but—”
“I hope that one day you’ll be able to tell me, that you’ll feel safe enough to share whatever burden you’re carrying, but if that day never comes, I won’t care.” He takes a deep breath, crouching down just as some other men come into view. “I love you. I’ll always love you.”
The other men surround us both, talking into walkie-talkies, reporting that they’ve found the target, to bring the vehicles right away. But I don’t care about any of that.
“Kiss me.” I surprise myself at the words. “Close your eyes and kiss me. Then tell me what you see, and I’ll tell you.”
He pauses, tips his head to the side, then leans in. Our lips come together, his tongue gliding along my bottom lip before sinking into my mouth, his hands on the sides of my head, holding me steady.
We stay connected that way for a long minute. Then two. Breathing into each other until we both pull back in the same instant.
“What did you see?” He looks at me, blinking, and I know it’s hope I see looking back at me.
“I see us. We’re old. We’re holding hands. There’s a room full of our grown children, our grandchildren running and climbing everywhere. I see us fifty years from today and it’s our anniversary.”
Tears break over his bottom lids and he drops his head. His hands come down to find mine and he brings them to his lips. I see his shoulders shake and I lean forward, pressing my forehead to his.
“That’s what I saw, Teah. I see it all. My wife. My love. I see us.”
“Then I guess.” I take a deep breath as he pulls back, meeting my eyes. “I guess it’s time to let go and see what happens. I’ll trust you Lock. I’ll trust us.”
12
Lachlan
Epilogue One – One Month Later
“I’m not ready.” Beverly sits at the breakfast table in the new house I bought in rural Kentucky the week Teah and I returned from Chaplain.
We picked Kentucky the same way we’ve been doing everything. When we closed our eyes and held hands, it came to us. When we both said the state name together after opening our eyes, we knew it was where our life would continue.
Teah is rattling around in the cabinets of the massive kitchen in the hundred-year-old farmhouse, knocking pots and pans together and singing ‘Staying Alive’ as Beverly tugs at her fingers and I rest my hand on her wrist. Teah’s taken over all the cooking, since if I was in charge we would starve or probably die of food poisoning.
She’s doing well, but I’ve eaten my share of burned casseroles while making sure I always ask for seconds, wiping the tears from her eyes.
I look at Beverly and lean back in my chair. “I’ll still be here for you. Shit, Bev, you’ve practically run everything about me for years anyway. Now it’s just time to make some of it official.”
There’s a stack of papers in front of us, waiting for her signature. I’ve divested much of my business to others but the things that mean the most to me I’m handing over to Beverly.
“It’s too much money.” She fusses and Teah stands up from behind the kitchen island and leans her hands on the counter.
“Take the money. He has too much still.” Teah winks at me and I take a breath through my nose and squeeze Beverly’s wrist.
“If you don’t take it, Teah will just make me give it away.” I wink back at my wife and she crinkles her nose at me. She’s been making charitable donations as well as just finding people and families in need for the last two weeks. She’s barely made a dent in my net worth and watching the joy it brings her helping other people is more than worth the dollars she spends.
“Okay.” Beverly straightens her back. Her dark hair is neat as always, tied into a bun at the base of her neck. She’s wearing a peach silk shirt with black trousers and a silver cross hangs around her neck. “But you have to promise me you’ll always take my calls. The investors and other board members aren’t that happy about all this. About me. I’ve been getting some pretty nasty e-mails—”
“From who? Send them to me I’ll make sure they understand who’s in charge here. I have zero problem setting anyone straight who doesn’t like my decision. They can get the fuck out for all I care.”
“Lock.” Teah chastises me. “You don’t have to save her. Just be there for her. Right, Beverly?”
“Right.” She nods at Teah, then looks at me. “I can do this. It’s just going to take some time before I earn everyone’s respect.”
Since we left Chaplain, our lives have fallen into place with such ease. This place I bought is in the middle of nowhere. Eight hundred acres in Kentucky. We have all the privacy we need and honestly, in the closest small town to where we live, no one seems to care all that much who I am.
Teah’s parents are coming our way as well. They wouldn’t commit to a specific date, but at least they are open to visiting and giving me a chance, thanks to Teah’s help. I’m sure I’ll be suspect in their eyes for a certain amount of time, but all I can do is try to stay true to what feels right to me and hope they in time will see I am not the enemy.
Beverly sets her signature on the papers and Teah takes her out back with a bottle of wine to play with the dogs and look out at the small lake behind the house. They’ve become fast friends, almost sisters.
Little did I know, Beverly’s life was almost as segregated at Teah’s outside of dealing with me and her work. It’s been wonderful seeing them bond and finding a friendship they were both lacking.
Me? I’m still writing music. I think that’s where my heart lies. Not in the performing. It’s in the creating. I’ve written a few songs that have been picked up by other artists and that feels more natural to me than getting out in front of thousands of people screaming my name.
I hear the beep from the security system announcing someone is buzzing the gate.
I walk over to the control panel, look at the screen and see a guy in a beat up pickup, one arm hanging out the open window. He’s about my age, looking like a cowboy version of Tom Hardy.
“Can I help you?” I ask, my protective instinct on high alert.
“Uh,” He pushes up the brim of his brown cowboy hat and scratches at his head, looking down at a piece of paper in his hand. “Yeah, I have a delivery for Lock Hamilton.”
I’ve adopted an official alter-identity since we moved here, but I don’t remember ordering anything for delivery.
Just as I’m about to send him away, Teah comes rushing back through the room to rest her hands on my shoulders and speak into the microphone. “Yes. Come on up.”
She reaches over and pushes the button, opening the gate.
“What are you up to?” I reach over and grab Teah’s hand, her face exploding into a smile.
“It’s a surprise. He’s early.”
“Anything to do with your ‘secret’ project out back?”
“Maybe.”
I give Teah a lot of freedom to do things here at the new place. She’s made me promise I wouldn’t venture back onto the rear of the property as she’s been working with some contractors building something. It’s taken a lot of willpower not to go back there but I don’t want to ruin her surprise. The only thing I did, was when the contractors came I made sure they understood they better keep their eyes or anything else off of my wife and give her all the respect she deserves, otherwise they would quickly have to deal with me.
So, for three weeks I’ve kept my promise and stayed away from whatever it is she has going on back there. But I’m getting the feeling today I’m going to find out what my sweet wife has been up to.
“Come on.” She tugs at my hand as Beverly comes in the back door, chuckling.
“You in on this?” I point my finger at her as I follow Teah toward the front door.
Beverly puts her hands up. “I know nothing,” she says, but her face tells me otherwise.
Teah pulls me down the front ste
ps of the house as the pickup crunches down the drive with what looks like a horse trailer attached. Cowboy Tom Hardy slows and parks, exiting out the driver’s door as we come up to the pickup.
“Lock.” Teah looks to me, then the man. “This is Gruber. Gruber, my husband Lock.”
He reaches out and I shake his hand.
“Ah, you’re Lock. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Can’t say the same.”
He laughs. “Ah, I see. All very secretive. Well, your lovely wife has done some great work to accommodate what I’ve brought you today. It will be a pleasure working with you both.”
“Working with us?” I draw my brows together, trying to get this all straight in my mind.
“Yes, sir.” He nods, whisking his fingers along the brim of his hat. “You’ll need help, at least for a while until you feel comfortable.”
“Okay.” I look at Teah. “Time to spill, what’s all this?”
“Come here.” She grabs both of my hands, then looks toward Gruber. “Is it okay? Can we look in?”
“Sure can. They’re a little scared right now, so just be mindful.”
We walk to the back of the horse trailer and Teah climbs onto the bumper and nods for me to stand next to her.
“Look, Lock. Aren’t they so cute.”
In the back of the trailer, I see two gray furry creatures curled up in some blankets in the front corner of the trailer.
“Dogs?” I look at Teah. “We have three already, why did you make this such a big surprise? You usually just come home with them.”
“These aren’t dogs. Look closer.”
As I stare into the trailer, one of the little fur babies raises his nose and takes a long sniff of the air.
As he does, he turns to lock eyes with me, the other one lifting its nose and doing the same, then looking right at Teah. My heart leaps in my chest as they both wiggle out of the blankets and stand to look right at us.
Teah and I look at each other, then back at the pups.
“Wolves.” A voice comes from behind us. “Orphaned wolf pups. Your wife here has been kind enough to set up a rehabilitation home of sorts for my group.”