He had to feel our connection, his words, not mine.
Even when I said no, he took what he wanted from my body.
By the end, I became numb.
Numb to his words.
Numb to his actions.
Numb to his form of love.
Piece by piece he took every good emotion from me. Leaving me empty, devoid of anything for him but pain and sadness.
Now, I want out. There is no way to fix this. I can never trust him with my mind, body, spirit, or heart. Now, my fear is he won’t let me go.
Beyond that, what if he won’t let Justice go?
What can I do? How do I move on? How do I get myself out of this when everything I have tried has failed over and over again?
“You’re afraid of me?” he repeats with a stunned tone.
“Yes,” the word comes out in a whisper as it kills me to admit.
I am afraid.
For my son, for my future, and for my peace, yes, where Brett is concerned, I am afraid. I have no other words to describe it. Fear consumes me.
There is this awkward silence. I should hang up. Why I don’t is beyond me. Obviously, there is nothing else to say between us. Yet, here I sit holding the phone with him on the line waiting for the next bomb to drop. The beep comes through making me jump. It’s my cell phone text alert.
Sara: Come to my office at your earliest convenience today.
He must have heard the noise as suddenly he begins to laugh. The laugh I know too well. The one that means he’s angry.
“Very well, Puppet. It’s best you fear me.”
The line goes dead at the same time my blood runs cold. With a trembling hand I manage to get the receiver back on its base.
Time stands still as I sit in my office chair wondering how bad it will be this time.
I know it in my gut, he’s going to kill me. It’s only a matter of time.
The next message to come through on my cell is from an unknown number.
I’ll see you soon, Puppet.
Once again, my world crashes around me.
Seven
Raff
White Horse - Chris Stapleton
My phone pings an alert from the security app at my house.
“You good, brother?” Stud asks clearly reading my face. I have been at the shop changing a taillight on my bike. When I don’t have a job site to be at, I typically will come here to work on my bikes or help Honey and Stud on the cars they have.
I throw up a finger to get him to pause as I click the audio on. The small phone screen isn’t ideal, but the system I have in my house is crystal clear in both video and audio. What I see makes my blood boil. It’s the camera on the corner of my garage. The one that faces Josie’s home. Why didn’t she use the fob? It’s obvious she is uncomfortable.
