This was the third night in a row he’d tailed her after she left the hospital. Her shift always ended at six, but he’d gotten there an hour early tonight to make sure he didn’t miss her. He cursed himself for losing her two nights ago when he got stopped at this hick town’s one and only traffic light.
Sylvia hadn’t returned home until after dark that night. She’d spend the evening with Jessica, he was sure of it. Wherever that was.
Last night, she went straight home from work and didn’t leave her house all evening. Patrick had finally gone to the grocery store and pretended to be a college buddy of Winters, stopping in for a surprise visit. The teenage cashier had been no match for his charm, and she’d not only told him what street the sheriff lived on, she’d described his house.
Patrick had spent hours parked in front of the sheriff’s dark house, stewing. He just knew Winters was with Jessie, and the thought infuriated him.
Jessie is mine.
No way would he let some Podunk sheriff have her.
Yesterday had been a complete waste, but Patrick refused to let today be one as well.
Actually, the entire week had been a waste. He had hard time convincing his boss to let him take some personal time off while he tried to figure out where his wife was. In the meantime, projects piled up on his desk.
Tina kept pestering him, too. She was acting possessive, and it grated on his nerves. It was time to cut her loose. But he couldn’t think about that right now.
He needed to get Jessica back. The stress he’d been under this past week was intolerable. He needed to find Jessie, get her to drop the charges against him. Then things could go back to normal.
The car between him and Sylvia turned off Main Street, so he dropped back, hoping she wouldn’t recognize Jessica’s Infiniti in her rear-view mirror. He didn’t dare bring his red Lexus back here for fear the expensive car would stand out in this hillbilly town full of rednecks and pickup trucks.
As nice as Jessica’s car was, it didn’t speak “wealth” like his Lexus did. Presence was everything. That’s why he needed his wife back by his side. Tina was pretty and all, but Jessica—despite her simple upbringing—was beauty and grace defined.
Sylvia’s aged Camry took a right and Patrick realized why he’d lost her the other night. There was nothing out this way except for a pretentious mansion on the outskirts of town and a vast ranch.
He shook his head. “How can people stand to live so far away from civilization?”
After another fifteen minutes of driving, he feared Sylvia was leading him on a wild goose chase. Then she turned off the road that circled a lake.
He slowed as he passed the driveway Sylvia turned into. There, hidden in the trees, sat a large log cabin.
Bingo.
Now all he had to do was wait for Sylvia to leave. Then he could get his wife back. It had to be tonight. He couldn’t risk the chance of running into the sheriff tomorrow.
* * *
Jessie lockedand turned the dead bolt on the door behind her mom. She hated to see her go. She’d enjoyed reconnecting with her mother, but more than that, she dreaded being left alone again.
Despite enjoying painting again, she found the solitude and quiet stifling. Anxiety ate at her, tying her stomach into a perpetual knot, often making her nauseous. She pressed a hand to her abdomen, wondering if the fear of Patrick finding her would ever go away.
It surprised her that he didn’t cause more waves after Robert ran him out of town. Jessie couldn’t hide out here forever and expect Robert to keep taking care of her. Something needed to give.
She walked back to her easel, itching to pick up her paintbrush again. But it was too dark now; she wouldn’t get the colors right. Instead, she studied her progress so far. The space and colors were good, but something was off. She focused on the texture she’d given the trees surrounding the lake and realized she’d created too strong of contrast and lost the balance and harmony she’d been aiming for.
At the crunch of gravel outside, Jessie’s lungs seized.
Please let it beMom coming back.
She peered through the glass in the door out into the twilight. The car pulling in, though blue like her mother’s, didn’t look right. This car was nicer, more silver.
A chill swept over Jessie as she recognized her Infiniti Q50. Her knees buckled. If not for her tight grip on the doorknob, she would have fallen.
Hands trembling, she made sure the door was locked and dead bolted. She spun around, searching for a hiding place. There were two bedrooms upstairs, but she’d be trapped up there with no way to escape. She turned toward the back door. If she got outside...
She couldn’t outrun Patrick, but maybe she could hide in the forest? A sharp pain shot through her chest, stealing her breath, and fear clawed at her throat. Resisting the urge to scream and curl up in a ball, she rushed out the back door, pausing long enough to lock it and pull it closed. Locking herself out was stupid, but hopefully Patrick would think she was still inside.
Jessie shivered as she stepped off the back porch. She figured it had less to do with the cool summer night and more to do with the fact that if Patrick got his hands on her, he would kill her. She darted for the cover of the shed where Robert’s family stored the canoes. It was probably locked, but she had to try.
