Authors: Renee Miller
Wade shifted the truck into park, turned the key, and pulled it from the ignition. His house sat nestled among a generous covering of pine trees, dark and barely visible from the road. From the driveway, it looked like a wide bungalow, modest and homey, but walking around to the back toward the various sheds scattered throughout the property, the house spread out in a U shape.
The basement, which Wade finished a couple of years ago, included a small home theater, weight room and sauna. In the center of the U was Amy’s pride and joy: a massive hot tub ensconced in a deck that wrapped around three sides. He’d built an adjacent room connecting the house and the tub. After Amy had thrown a couple of parties where people came through the house dripping wet, ruining the expensive carpeting in the family room, Wade gave them a space to get out of their wet clothes before entering the house, although sometimes Amy’s guests were too drunk to figure this simple concept out.
He opened the door and jumped down from the truck. Amy hadn’t left the front light on. She’d probably left at noon and never returned. Her car wasn’t out front. She could have parked it out back, where it was supposed to go. Not likely.
She spent more and more time with Carl, neither of them bothering to hide their affair anymore. Wade often wondered what Bailey, Carl’s wife, thought about it all. He rarely saw her though. She didn’t come into the bar as she used to, though her absence could be due to Amy’s presence. He figured that’s where his wife had gone tonight.
He walked to the front door and turned the knob. Unlocked. Grinding his teeth he stepped inside. He’d told Amy over and over to lock the damn thing, not just against burglars, but curious folk who wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in her head should she catch them snooping around. Not that he cared, after the shit she’d caused, he’d be happy to be the curious shooter.
John had called him last week, urging him to set up a meeting with Bill and Thomas. They’d had several visits from a Brother within the police department warning them of an impending raid. The reason for the raid—they’d been told—was a little brunette with a big mouth. Normally a snitch would be dealt with swiftly. Anyone could disappear, and they’d planned to have her ‘leave’ Wade and take off somewhere sunny. They just couldn’t afford for her to go missing right now. She’d done too much talking and her disappearance would raise a lot of red flags in the law-enforcement community. His wife had covered her ass very well. Now they were stuck with her and her flapping gums.
Pausing in the kitchen, he sniffed. Thick smoke and the bittersweet smell of liquor filled the air. Amy was home after all. Peeking into the den, his gaze ran over his empty leather chair, the neat desktop he rarely used displaying an overflowing ashtray and an empty glass. She must have just gone to bed. He slipped off his boots and stepped over to the fridge for a beer. The light caught something at the table to his left and he stiffened.
“Fuck, Amy. You might want to say something next time. Jesus.” He slammed the fridge and stared at his wife.
Seated at the dining room table against the far wall, she smiled, a slow cocky grin, as cigarette smoke curled around her head. “Welcome home,” she murmured. “Anything interesting happen while you were gone?”
Wade shook his head, eyeing her intently and wondering if she’d smoked more than cigarettes. He opened his beer and shrugged his jacket off, and tossed it over the chair next to her before he turned toward the hallway leading to the family room. He wasn’t in the mood for her bullshit and wouldn’t be drawn into a fight.
“Had a nice chat with Kristina,” Amy said.
Wade stopped, alarm tensing every muscle in his body. What the hell was she up to?
She straightened and flipped the cigarette pack between her hands. “I think it’s time you and I made a deal.”
Had she gone nuts? He couldn’t make any deals and she knew it. People knew she had seen too much, talked about the wrong things, he couldn’t give her anything. If he could have she’d have been gone. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but remember who you’re talking to. Although I’d love nothing more than to never look at you again, you know I can’t make any deals.”
Amy, still smiling, butted her cigarette and leaned forward. She wore nothing under her black satin robe. The sight of her naked body, no matter how perfectly toned she kept it, did nothing for him anymore. “I know about the box, honey. Unless you figure out something, talk to your friends and give me what I want, I’ll make sure you’re not the only one who goes down for what’s inside. Your little girlfriend makes an excellent patsy. Well done.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about and neither do you.” Fire spread through Wade’s body, flaring in his chest.
Kristina couldn’t have told. He knew she’d been scared—hell so was he—but she wouldn’t have told Amy. Yet, the certainty on Amy’s face, the simple fact she knew about the box confirmed it. Kristina had panicked. Shit, he should have reassured her more, told her the story of the items in the damn box, but they’d advised him to keep her in the dark. It wasn’t as though he didn’t trust her. God, he trusted her with his life. Not telling her what was in the damn thing was the only way to protect her—or he could have left her out of it and hidden it somewhere else. Shit, he shouldn’t have let the pressure get to him. Bad shit happens when you panic. If he’d thought it through and buried the fucking thing long ago—no. If
only’s did nothing. He had to fix what he’d done.
“If you don’t cooperate, Wade, I’ll see to it little Miss Perfect sees the inside of a jail cell real fast.” Amy met his gaze, her dark eyes cold and flat.
She thought she had it all figured out but Wade had a few more aces to play. “You’re threatening me? Anything happens to her, you’ll be the one going down. Just because I’ve put up with your shit up until now doesn’t mean I don’t have limits.”
Amy’s mouth curved into a thin smirk that chilled him. “We’ll see.” She stood and, after straightening her robe, picked up her drink and tipped the contents into her mouth, her gaze never leaving his. Slamming the glass on the table, the sound echoing through the empty house, Amy then turned away and walked to the front door to turn the lock.
Wade remained silent as she walked past him and down the hallway but his fury made it difficult not to reach out and grab her. How he longed to see the life drain from her eyes, to see her fear when she realized she’d played her cards wrong and she’d never open her lying mouth again.
He stood for a moment, taking deep breaths and forcing himself to think rationally about the situation. Kristina’s face materialized in his mind, her dimpled smile and trusting eyes gazing up at him. Then it changed. Her eyes filled with tears, her chin trembled and the Kristina that haunted him only a few months ago, scared and alone, returned. Had he done that to her? Had she really betrayed him?
Wade punched the wall, his fist crumbling the drywall next to the doorframe. Pain radiated through his hand and he welcomed it. Kristina had tried to get in touch with him. Three times. He hadn’t answered, afraid someone might be eavesdropping. Amy had manipulated her. She must have. She wanted them to doubt each other. Amy would have worked on Kristina first and now she toyed with him. He wouldn’t let her drive a wedge between them. He trusted Kristina, loved her with every fiber of his being and he had to believe she felt the same. Unlike Amy, Kristina couldn’t pretend, or hide her feelings from him. She’d do the right thing. Amy was his problem, and he would take care of it.
The trip to Canada’s Wonderland exhausted Kristina, although it had been worth it to see Cadence’s eyes lit up with amazement. After Amy mentioned it, she thought it’d be a good way to clear her head. The trip only earned her a sunburn and a depleted bank account.
Once home, the reality of her situation loomed. She thought of Wade often, and the more she thought about what Amy said and how Wade had changed momentarily on the phone, the more terrified and uncertain she became.
Amy advised her to go on with her life, and that’s what she’d do. She’d stay home and lay low for a while. Soon Wade would pick up his stupid box.
For a few days she did, and only went outside to cut the grass or to let Cadence play in the early fall sunshine. Her parents came to see her when she told them she felt a little under the weather and would rather not go anywhere. To her relief they didn’t ask questions. She suspected her dad knew about her relationship with Wade. The way he eyed her warily, asking if she’d be returning to work at the bar and then offering her money, told her she hadn’t hidden things as well as she thought. She wondered how much he knew.
Now she sat alone in the darkness, the only light flickering from the television screen, while she considered her options. Kristina wanted to run, far from Laighton, far from Daniel and Amy, even Wade; but didn’t know how to do it. If she took Cadence, Daniel could have her arrested. He would. She suspected Wade would find her no matter where she ran. The knowledge sent a shiver down her back. Would he try to bring her back because he loved her, or would he punish her for betraying him? She wasn’t sure.
A sharp knock jolted her from her thoughts. Kristina stood, glancing out the window next to the couch. No vehicle, which meant Wade likely waited outside. Relieved to be able to see him but fearful of the reason for his visit, she edged toward the door taking a deep breath before turning the knob and swinging it open. Her heart skipped a beat. She froze before a man standing on her step. It wasn’t Wade.
“May I come in?” he brushed past her without waiting for an answer.
Kristina shut the door, and turned.
The stranger stood in the middle of the living room, the pale light of the television casting shadows over his face.
Bald, on his neck a tattoo disappeared down the collar of his black coat. He was large. Larger than Wade even. Kristina couldn’t shake the sensation she’d seen this man before, but the familiarity didn’t make her feel better. She stood at the door, ready to run.
“Sorry to intrude, but I’m hoping you can help me. I’m looking for a friend of mine and I was told you may have seen him. Wade Bowen?” his voice was smooth, as though issued from a velvet-lined throat.
Under different circumstances, Kristina might have considered his voice soothing, even attractive. “No, I haven’t.”
He raised a thin black brow and smiled.
Kristina pushed ahead. Now that the lie was out, she might as well make it believable. “He doesn’t come around here. I work at the bar, and I’m friends with him and Amy, sort of, but it’s not like we hang out. Do you always walk into strangers’ homes without an invitation?”
God she was such a dork. Hang out?
The man walked to the window and leaned against it. Hee ran his finger along the pane, and turned to look at her.
Kristina realized she wrung her hands in front of her, something she hadn’t done in a while and quickly separated them, forcing them to her sides.
“Good answer. Or I guess I should say that’s the right answer,” he murmured.
He walked across the room to the door.
Kristina backed away from him, stopping against the TV stand.
His hand on the knob he paused and glanced back. “And you’re not a stranger, Kristina. I know you better than you know yourself. I’ll be seeing you.”
He walked out, closing the door softly behind him. Kristina listened to his footsteps moving away from the house. Shaken from her shocked stillness, she ran to the door, turned the deadbolt and fastened the chain she rarely used. What the hell had Wade dragged her into?
***
The following morning her mother arrived early. Kristina greeted her sleepy eyed and grim.
“Honey, you look awful.” Her mother walked into the house and directly to her granddaughter who played on the floor. She picked her up and kissed her messy curls.
“Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself.” Kristina hadn’t slept much, dreaming of Wade and of the strange man. She imagined them snatching her in the middle of the night, the man murmuring sweet nothings in her ear, his satiny voice relaxing her into submission before Wade loomed over her. The dream didn’t progress. She would wake up, her heart pounding, scolding herself for harboring such thoughts. Wade would never hurt her.
Her mom bounced Cadence on her hip while masterfully dodging the baby’s grasping hands as they reached for her glasses. “Your dad and I were going to the trailer. The weather is supposed to turn cold next week, so we might as well use it while we can.”
“Oh, I don’t think I can come.”
“I know. You hate it there anyway. We wanted to take Cadence with us, as long as Daniel won’t be coming to see her this week.”
Kristina shook her head, she hadn’t heard from Daniel in a while, not since the day he’d attacked her. She hoped he stayed away forever. “No, I haven’t heard. He missed his visits last week.”
“Good, I’ll go pack a bag for her and you can gather up some bottles and whatever toys you think she might want.” Her mother walked to the stairs, carrying Cadence with her.
Kristina, numb and unsure if she wanted her only distraction gone, went to the kitchen. She opened the door to the basement, where the diaper bag hung just inside at the top of the stairs, and remembered the box. Yes, Cadence should go for a week, she’d be safer. If anything happened Kristina would know she was okay and out of danger.
***
Music shook the walls of the small house and Kristina welcomed its deafening blare. She hauled the garbage bag to the door, full of old food and items she’d pulled from her cupboards. How did one get an entire cupboard full of movies, pillowcases and margarine containers? She tended to hoard, but in one cupboard?
After opening the door she turned to pick up the bag and straightened, coming against Daniel.
He stood stone-faced, eyes cold and accusing.
Kristina let go of the bag, her body trembling. Images of his last ‘visit’ played in her mind. She backed a step.
“I was at the bar last night. On a little holiday?” He stepped forward, closing the door behind him.
“None of your business.”
“Really? None?” Daniel advanced.
Although she wanted to put up a brave front, Kristina instinctively moved away from him. “I took a leave of absence.”
“Seems Wade took a leave too. According to Sheila, neither of you have been there this week.”
“So?” Kristina knew where he was going with this. He thought she’d taken off with Wade. Well, she was still here, so he had nothing.
“Where’s my daughter?”
“With my mom. You haven’t been around so I let her go.”
Daniel grabbed her shirt and jerked her forward. “So you can fuck him all you want? Tossing your kid aside so you can screw an old man isn’t like the Kristina I knew. My money isn’t enough? You need his blood money?”
“I’m not screwing anyone. I’d like you to leave.” Kristina pushed at him, trying to extricate herself from his hands.
Daniel laughed and pushed her back, sending her stumbling against the wall. “Desiree and I are getting married. I guess you’ve been too busy whoring around to know that.”
“Congratulations.”
Daniel walked toward her.
With nowhere to go, Kristina lifted her chin, forcing herself to face him.
“I’m going to petition for custody, and I’ll get it. With you acting the slut, a judge is going to look at my home,
my two-parent
home, and decide you’re unfit. Just as I’ve told everyone from day one.”
Kristina’s throat went dry. He couldn’t take her daughter, not once they knew what he’d done. Damn it, why didn’t she go to the police? “You can’t take her. I’ll tell them everything.”
“What have I done? I’ve demanded you behave as a mother should, nothing else. You have proof of these imagined wrongs?”
“Imagined? Was I the only one here the last time you came over? I imagined that? Fuck off. I’d die before I let you lay a hand on Cadence. You never loved either of us. You can’t love anything. Do you rape Desiree too? Does she have bruises on her body from your love, or are you still wooing her?”
She expected the slap, but the force of it stunned her. She tasted blood and her ears rang.
Daniel grabbed her shoulders, shaking her so her head hit the wall. “Jealous? I knew you’d want it again. Last time just wasn’t enough? Desiree doesn’t act like a slut, but I can show you what she’d get if she did.” He reached down to her pants and yanked them open.
Kristina fought him with all she had. Biting and scratching, her hands flew at him, but Daniel only grew more aggressive.
He laughed and shoved her to the floor, the back of his hand laying into her cheek.
“Stop. I’ll call the cops. I’m not letting you do this anymore. I’ll make sure you go to jail for it.”
“I don’t think you will.”
He moved over her.
She recoiled at the feel of his body against hers.
“I can do whatever I want, and there’s not a fucking thing you can do about it,” he said.
“Please, don’t do this. I’ll make you pay for it this time.”
“Begging? Lucky for you I’m too busy today, but I’ll be back. I won’t forget you.”
Daniel released her. She stayed on the floor, terrified to move a muscle. The door slammed. She wouldn’t forget him either. One day, Daniel would pay for it all.
Kristina rose from the floor, gathering her clothes and heading for the phone. With trembling hands she punched two numbers, nine and one, before punching ‘end’. No, the police would do nothing. What did he really do this time? Threaten her? She could tell them about before. He might go to jail, but for how long? He’d just keep coming back. She wanted Daniel gone. Forever.
Wade entered her mind. He’d die before he did something like this to her. He’d make sure Daniel suffered. Punching in the cell number he’d given her ages ago, she drew the phone to her ear. It rang and rang, but no one picked up.
Shock set in. Her body shook. She had to get control over it, but nausea rose in her belly and sweat beaded her brow. Someone should help her. If Wade wouldn’t answer her calls, what choice did she have? She couldn’t tell her father and she had no one else. The silence of the house was too much to bear.
Michelle. Her warnings rushed through Kristina’s mind. She needed someone now and where was he? Not answering his phone.
Call her.
No, she should call the police. But what if they didn’t do anything to Daniel? What if he got off again?
Michelle was her only friend. She’d always been there when Kristina needed her. Maybe she could help.
Call her.
But Wade loved her, she couldn’t be wrong about that. He made a mistake with Amy and now he’s paying the price. Michelle’s warning echoed loudly in her mind; I don’t want you to get hurt. Kristina had believed Wade would protect her. Where was he now? Her mind darted all over the place, a simple thought seemed impossible. She had to talk to someone, so she wouldn’t feel so alone.
Call Michelle.
Wade didn’t care about much, beyond whatever kept him away right now. But Amy was out to bury him. He had to protect himself.
Had Amy gone to the police?
The police would have come to get the box, but they didn’t. Amy hadn’t told. Kristina punched in Michelle’s number and waited, her body shaking so badly the phone slipped from her hand.
“Hello?” Michelle answered.
“Um, I need help.” Kristina crumbled, crying great choking sobs, unable to continue.
“Kristina?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Kristina let the phone slip to the floor and then lay next to it, the carpet itchy against her cheek, dampened by her tears.