She answered it, putting it on speaker, but she didn’t even say any kind of greeting. She just waited to see what the caller would say.
“Addie?” the woman asked.
Even though it’d been a very long time since she had heard that voice, Addie instantly recognized it, and her heartbeat and her breathing thundered into overdrive. Because the voicebelonged to the woman who’d kidnapped her and murdered her mother.
Rowena.
Oh, the memories came. Of course, they did. Impossible not to think of, or in this case hear, Rowena and not recall the horrible things she’d done. Some Addie had only read about. Others she had experienced firsthand.
Both before and after the abduction.
For a woman who had seemingly wanted a child badly enough to kill, Rowena hadn’t known how to deal with motherhood. There had been lots of screaming at Addie. Cursing her. Belittling her.
And even more.
In those final months, Rowena had ended up pulling Addie from school and keeping her in a locked room. That had been the woman’s downfall, because the school and neighbors had spoken up about not having seen Addie, and that in turn had launched an investigation, which, in turn, uncovered Rowena’s crimes.
“How did you get my number?” Addie snapped.
Even though she felt plenty unnerved, she flat-out refused to let that show in her voice. Thankfully, she had enough anger as well, and she did let that come through.
Rowena sighed. “A friend got it for me.”
“A friend,” Addie repeated, and it came out in a snarl. “You mean someone you met in prison.”
“Yes, please don’t be mad at her,” Rowena said. “I told her I needed to speak to you and try to make peace with you before… I, uh… I’m dying, Addie. I only have a few weeks to live.”
“You can’t make peace with meever,” Addie let her know and didn’t give Rowena a chance to respond. She hit End Call and immediately blocked the number.
Now, she let out the emotions. The stormy mix of anger and the bitter memories. Suddenly, her legs felt way too shaky, and Judson must have noticed that, because he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.
She felt the instant relief go through her body. Felt his strength, too. And while this closeness might come back to haunt them, Addie gave in to it and sagged against him.
“I can get a no-contact restraining order,” Judson murmured against her ear. “Or I can have the local cops go have a word with Rowena and tell her to back the hell off.”
There was a firestorm of emotions in his voice, too, and again he was trying to protect her. That only fueled the closeness. Barriers that had always stood steady between them were coming down fast, and she wasn’t going to try to stop it. Addie just stood there, taking every bit of the comfort he was giving her.
“It’s okay,” Addie let him know. “The blocked number should take care of her trying to contact me again.”
She hoped so, anyway, and she made a mental note to find out if Rowena was well enough to attempt a visit to the Horseshoe. One thing was for certain: Addie wouldn’t be emotionally blackmailed into seeing the woman.
“I don’t need closure with Rowena,” she spelled out to Judson. “I shut her out of my life when I was six, and I’m not letting her back in.”
“Good. Because I remember all those times she’d manage to call you or sneak a letter to you when you were a kid. It always ripped you apart.”
It had, and Rowena had managed to do that three times before Mellie had made a trip to the prison and threatened the powers that be with legal action if they didn’t stop the woman from contacting Addie in any way.
There had been no more letters or calls after that.
Until now, that is. And Addie refused to let even a sliver of Rowena climb back into her life.
Addie jolted when she heard the soft buzzing of a phone. Not hers this time, but Judson’s, and it wasn’t from an unknown caller but rather Livvy. Even though Addie was still feeling plenty shaky, she welcomed it, since this could be good news.
As Addie had done with her call from Rowena, Judson answered it, put it on speaker and alerted Livvy that she was listening in. However, he kept his attention pinned to Addie, no doubt checking to make sure she was okay.
She wasn’t. Not yet.
But she was getting there. Every second that she spent being shaken up seemed like a victory for Rowena, and Addie didn’t want to let the woman win.
