The void inside of me shrank as Nox’s love rushed through my veins and swirled with my own regret. I opened my eyes, wishing I could go back in time. Wishing I could undo my decision to get in this car.
Suddenly, I stiffened my neck, straightened my shoulders, and held my breath. It was the involuntary response to the simple movement of Alton’s arm.
The corner of his lips rose. His gray gaze momentarily met mine as he dramatically lifted his wrist and pulled back the cuff of his suit coat. “We should be to the manor in less than ten minutes,” he spoke into his phone. “Have everyone assembled in my office. I’m done with this farce.”
I exhaled as he disconnected his call, mad at my own show of weakness. My flinch had shown vulnerability. I needed to be strong if I held a chance of saving my mother.
With a thin grin, wide enough to expose his stained teeth, Alton reached out and patted my knee. “Patience, as soon as we get back to the manor, Father will explain everything.”
I fought back the rebuttal and concentrated on the reason I’d gotten into the car. I zeroed in on my mother. Alton could say whatever he wanted about my future. It wasn’t his to decide. However, what he’d said about my mother’s fate was accurate. As her husband, her future was in his hands. No doubt he had the legal documentation to back his power.
He already had power over her shares of Montague. How difficult would it be for him to obtain more, the power to make all of her decisions, especially if she’d been deemed legally ill?
There was so much I needed to know.
Who admitted her to Magnolia Woods?
From some of my reading, I knew that the legalities changed if someone admitted him- or herself to a facility as opposed to being committed by another.
“My mother?” I asked again.
“You see, she has a problem.”
I waited.
“As time passed and your mother requested your return, she became more and more distraught.” It was the same word my mother had used when I questioned her about Bryce’s accusations that she was ill. “None of us realized the extent to which she’d fallen, the state of depression that she was in. Perhaps it was because your mother never complained. We didn’t see it until it was too late.”
“What do you mean too late?”
“Her behavior became…” He paused. “…odd. Very unlike the Laide we all knew. She drank more than usual, but not only that. It wasn’t just the constant wine—that wasn’t out of character. It was that she suffered more and more headaches and asked Dr. Beck for stronger and stronger painkillers.”
My lips pressed together as he doled out small bits of information.
“She stopped taking the medicine the doctor prescribed, the one that kept her migraines away. We can only suspect it was because she wanted the stronger drugs.”
I shook my head. “She’s always drank, but she’s always handled it well.”
“There were a few incidents.” He laid his head against the seat. “I almost hate to tell you.”
My mouth dried. “What? What incidents?”
“Laide began hallucinating. She’d drive somewhere, refusing to be driven, and then not know where she was. She started to forget, well, everything and fabricated tales that made no sense at all. This hospitalization is for her own good.”
“Did she agree to Magnolia Woods herself? Was this her idea?”
Alton scoffed. “It’s obvious that the simplest of decisions are now beyond her ability. Dressing, showering, eating…”
My chest ached. It was clear that she hadn’t admitted herself. “Please, I want to see her.”
He shook his head. “She wouldn’t know you.”
“What do you mean she wouldn’t know me? I’m her daughter.”
“The doctors say that it’ll take time. The combination of drugs and alcohol can’t be stopped suddenly; the withdrawals could be life-threatening. She’s lost weight and cutting off what her body craves would be dangerous for her heart.”
“Her heart? She’s never had heart problems.”
His eyes narrowed. “Alexandria, how well do you really know what’s going on with your mother? Maybe if you’d done as she requested, if you’d come home, gone to Savannah Law, or been here, you might have seen the signs. You might have seen them earlier than we did. But you didn’t. You were selfish and now… now the narcotics have damaged her heart and mind.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I tried to remember recent conversations. I sought anything that could refute what he said, but I couldn’t think of one rebuttal. In the recent past, my mother had seemed scattered. She’d said things about duty and information, about changes… none of it made sense. That didn’t mean I’d thought she was losing touch with reality. I’d thought she was desperate. Maybe she was. Maybe she needed me and I didn’t hear the reality behind her pleas.
“Thank you.”
His brows rose. “Yes?”
“For telling me.” I knew how to play this damn game. “Please let me see her. I don’t care if she doesn’t know me. I want to be there for her now.”
“New York?”
I wanted to say that it wouldn’t go away.
I prayed that if I spoke to Dr. Renaud, my opportunities would remain at Columbia. I wanted to believe that Nox would support my decision to help my mother, but I didn’t know if any of that were true. “I’ll contact Columbia. They offer teleconferencing of lectures. I only have another month of this semester before finals.” The accommodating words tasted vile on my tongue. “And then if I have to, I can look into transferring to Savannah.”
“There’s more,” Alton said, “things that you’ll soon understand, but for now, that’s a start.”
Just as I began to believe I’d done what I needed to do, said what I’d needed to say, if only to buy me some time until I could get to my mother, Alton’s tone changed.
“I expect to be obeyed.”
The dreadful taste left behind by my vile acceptance of my near future bubbled from my stomach to my throat. I shivered at the finality of Alton’s decree.
“I may not be your father,” he went on, “but you will, from this point on, show me the respect that comes with that title. No one sees Adelaide, except through me. There have been decisions made in the past that affect your future as well as your mother’s and Montague’s. It’s not within your ability to argue these decisions. They’re done.”
The car slowed as the large iron gate moved to the side. I fought the urge to look through the back window to see if Clayton and Deloris were still behind the limousine. I feared that if I did, I’d alert Alton.
“They won’t be allowed in,” he said with more than a hint of disdain. “Ever.”
My heart sank as I turned to the back window and watched the gate close. The limousine’s tires bounced against the long driveway as we moved beneath the giant oak trees.
“When we enter the manor,” he continued, “go directly to my office. Suzy and Bryce will be there. I have a few things to discuss with the front guards. Remember what I said. Your refusals and disrespectful tone are done. Don’t make me refocus your attention again.”
I fought the nausea twisting in my gut as the car came to a stop on the circular cobblestone driveway.
Before the door opened, Alton leaned closer, his hand once again on my knee. “In each directive, Alexandria, I want you to ask yourself two questions.”
His words were heavy chains, securing my obedience as well as my captivity. I didn’t dare speak for if I did, I’d surely say something I’d regret, something to cause him to refocus me.
“Ask yourself,” he went on, “do I want to see my mother? And do I want her to get better?”
The door opposite me opened, flooding the interior with light. Though it came with a blast of warm Georgia autumn air, my flesh prickled with a familiar chill.
Before I could move or speak, Alton squeezed my knee. “I’m waiting.”
Swallowing the bile, I replied, “I want to see her
and I want her better.”
“Very well. Remember that.” He motioned for me to get out first.
Lowering my sunglasses over my eyes, I accepted Brantley’s hand.
“Welcome home, Miss Alexandria.”
Not acknowledging his words, I looked up and up toward the tall walls filled with windows. There was no need to correct the name Brantley had used to address me. Instead, I forced myself forward, step by step, as my flat shoes moved over the cobblestone toward the opening front door.
DETONATIONS OF RED.
Flashes of white.
Explosions—visible to only me—momentarily hindered my vision. Blinking, I tried to make sense of Deloris’s text message.
“ALEX GOT INTO A CAR WITH ALTON FITZGERALD. WE ARE FOLLOWING.”
Though the plane ascended higher and higher, my heart fell to an abyss, the place where my stomach used to be.
I read it again.
The words refused to change.
Emotions boiled within me, creating a turbulent concoction capable of destruction. I looked toward the small window, expecting to see swirling clouds, but saw only the deceiving blueness of a complacent sky. Despite the misleading calm, disbelief, hurt, and rage swirled through my body, rushing through my blood, tightening my chest, and weakening my knees. Unconsciously, my fingers balled, creating fists that needed to connect with something—with anything—as I increased the pressure on the phone. Surely it would crack and shatter.
I read the words again and again.
They didn’t make sense.
Charli wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t willingly get into her stepfather’s car.
Something terrible had happened.
I’d witnessed her apprehension and disgust when it came to Alton Fitzgerald. She’d shared her fears and some of her stories. He was the other devil, the one she spoke of. No matter what he’d done to her or not done to her in the past, being with him was dangerous. She knew that and so did I.
Charli wouldn’t willingly go with him, not after she’d promised me she’d stay safe.
I clenched my teeth, hearing her words in my mind, her promises… her lies.
When she refused to wait for me for this trip to Savannah, Charli had promised she’d stay with Deloris.
According to this text message, she hadn’t.
That’s what the words on my screen were telling me. Deloris’s message confirmed that Charli had done the one thing I forbade her from doing. She’d put the one person whom I’d entrusted to her care in danger.
She’d willingly sacrificed herself.
I needed to understand why.
I needed to speak to her, but I couldn’t.
Since the plane had just left the ground, I couldn’t make a call until we were high enough for the Wi-Fi to be activated; however, that didn’t stop my rant. Pounding the tabletop before me with the butt of my fist, a tirade of words spewed forth. The outburst, infused with obscenities, echoed uselessly through the cabin.
Wisely, Isaac remained quiet, rightfully assuming I’d share more when I was ready. The flight attendant, though, was new. She didn’t know me.
“Mr. Demetri, is everything all right?” she asked, her eyes bigger than dinner plates as she hurried around a wall and moved toward me. With each step she teetered one way and then the next, her body thrown off balance as the plane continued its ascent.
“No! Nothing is all right. Go sit down before you fall. There’s nothing you can do.”
“Sir,” she said, looking down at the phone still in my hand. “If we’re not yet out of the range of cell towers, we will be soon, but once we have Wi-Fi you’ll be able to Face Time.”
I reined in what little self-control still remained. This wasn’t my first flight. “I’m aware.”
“However, if you don’t want to wait, the plane has a satellite phone. Would you like to use that?”
What? Why didn’t I think of that?
Because I’m too stunned to process.
“Yes. Get it right away.”
Her knees buckled as she maneuvered toward the cockpit, her hands supporting her one way and then the other.
“I’M CALLING ON THE SATELLITE PHONE. I WANT DETAILS!”
I sent the text to Deloris, not caring if it would send or if she would get it. Just pushing the letters gave me something to do.
As soon as the flight attendant placed the satellite phone in my hand, I began dialing the longer-than-normal string of numbers. With each second that I waited for the connection, my blood pressure rose another notch. The rush coursing through my veins filled my ears with an internal roar, muting the engine’s drone.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
“You have reached—”
Though the plane continued its climb, at the sound of her voice, my stomach took another nosedive. Hitting the disconnect button, I called Mrs. Witt. She probably should have been my first call, but I needed to try to reach Charli. I wanted to know that I could.
Now, I knew that I couldn’t.
As the satellite phone again waited to connect, I reached for my own phone and pushed the app on Charli’s tracker.
Nothing.
My mind reasoned that it wasn’t because she was unreachable. She may have gotten into a car, but she wouldn’t take off the necklace. There was nothing on the app, because we didn’t yet have Wi-Fi access and the cellular service was unavailable.
As soon as the satellite phone began to ring, Deloris answered, “Lennox we’re following her…”
“What the hell happened? Where is she? Where is that bastard taking her? Why the fuck did she get in his car? Why didn’t you stop her? Did he threaten her?”
“She’s a few hundred yards ahead of us on the street. We’re making our way out of the city. According to her tracker, her heart rate is elevated, but otherwise, we believe she’s safe. According to the GPS it seems as though we’re headed toward her home.”
“Her home?” I asked incredulously. “No, Deloris, her home is in New York.”
“Her family home,” she corrected. “I told her not to go to him. I called after her. I’ve told you before that Alex has a mind of her own.”
“Did he force her? Where the fuck was Clayton?”
“He was here. He still is—with me. We were merely a few feet away. She insisted on talking to Mr. Fitzgerald. I couldn’t hear their conversation, but I imagine it was about her mother.” Deloris spoke fast, barely taking a breath between each statement. “She’s a patient at a facility called Magnolia Woods. They said she is stable, but I couldn’t get any further information. I’m working on accessing their database. The staff refused to allow Alex access to her mother.
“Alex was right to assume it was Mr. Fitzgerald’s doing. He was there. I spoke with him briefly. He refused to do more than that. He made it clear that Alex wouldn’t be allowed in unless through him. I was about to explain that all to her when he came out of the facility. She didn’t listen—”
“And you…?” I interrupted.
“We observed her conversation from a safe distance, but as soon as she stepped toward the open car door, we both went after her. Lennox, it happened quickly. By the time we reached the car, the doors were closed and it was moving. We hurried back to our car and followed. We are following.”
“Have you called her?”
“Of course. I called immediately. She didn’t answer. I’ve tried several more times and it goes straight to voicemail.”
“I tried, too. I can’t even see her tracker app.”
“I can,” Deloris reassured me. “Like I said, other than elevated heart rate, her vitals appear normal.”
I leaned back and closed my eyes. Behind my lids I saw her—my Charli. A collage of images bombarded my thoughts. As if we were still together, I saw her, still sleeping this morning in our bed. The image helped me breathe. My chest rose and fell as I recalled her scent, flowers and perfume, the perfect mixture. I hadn’t awakened her. Instea
d, I’d slipped from the warmth of the covers to let her sleep. She didn’t need to wake as early and I had things to do.
Even after my workout, she was still asleep. She’d been working diligently this last week on something for class, something that took most of her time. I’d never questioned or demanded more of her. Law school was too important to her. That made it important to me.
The rock forming in the pit of my stomach hardened. What would happen? What would this mean for her classes? What did that asshole of a stepfather have planned?
“Deloris,” I said when her end of the line went silent, “get her. I don’t give a damn what you have to do. Run their fucking car off the road. I don’t care. Just get her.”
“Do you have any idea of the repercussions of something like that? The Fitzgeralds are powerful. I’m not saying more so than the Demetris. I’m saying it’s different.”
“I don’t give a fuck!”
The flight attendant peered around a wall near the front of the plane and just as quickly disappeared.
“We’re in Savannah. This is their world. Let us follow. We’ll try to get in, but I’ve seen pictures of her home. It’s very well protected.”
“From the outside,” I said.
“What does that mean?”
“It means, she doesn’t want to be there. It means she’s safer outside of that prison. That’s what she calls it. Deloris, we can’t leave her there.”
“I’ll do all I can.”
“Do more. And have a car waiting for me. If you’re not allowed in, I’ll get in. I won’t stop until she’s in my arms.”
And then, after I’ve held her tight and reassured her that everything will be okay, I’ll redden her perfect ass for putting herself in danger and frightening everyone.
“Do it!” I yelled, interrupting something Deloris had been saying.
Disconnecting the signal from the satellite phone, I checked my cell phone. The Wi-Fi was now working. With only a sweep of my finger, I opened her tracker app and found her blue dot.
Fuck! It was moving. The GPS zeroed in, allowing a map to materialize around the dot. I sat helplessly as the blue dot moved along Georgia roads.
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