A loud banging noise followed by a commotion had her sitting up straighter.Her extremities were numb from holding the same position for so long with two children asleep in her arms.
She couldn’t tell what was happening on the other side of the wall, but she heard muffled voices, a struggle, more screaming and then… silence.
Her phone lit up with a text from Mrs.V.Isla realized she’d missed several frantic messages from her over the past two hours.Where are you?The police arrested Gabriel.
Isla rearranged the children so she could type.Hiding with the kids in the crawl space behind my bedroom closet.
A few minutes later, she heard a voice.“Isla, this is Officer Samuelson with the LAPD.We have your husband in custody.It’s safe to come out.”
She put the kids on pads on the floor that she’d gotten to serve as beds, if necessary, and pushed open the panel.
A young, handsome police officer with brown skin and caring brown eyes was there to greet her.“I’m Officer Samuelson.Are you all right?”
“Y-yes, I think so.”
“And your children?Are they with you?”
She nodded.“They’re asleep.”
“Let’s get you guys out of there and settle you somewhere safe.”
“What’ll happen to Gabriel?”
“He’s being taken to Central Booking on domestic violence charges.”
“He’s not well.Something is wrong.”
“He’ll be fully evaluated.Are you able to get your children?”
“Yes.”She crawled back into the hiding place that had possibly saved their lives and handed Mila and then Theo to the officer.Thankfully, they never stirred as they were relocated.
Isla collected the bags of essential items as well as her phone, computer and chargers and left the space behind while saying a silent prayer of thanks for the protection it had provided them.
As she blinked at the sudden onslaught of bright lighting, she was unprepared to face the absolute wreckage of their home.Everything that could be smashed was in pieces on the floor.Gabriel had destroyed every lamp, dish, glass, bowl, vase and even some of the kids’ toys, using Theo’s baseball bat, which had been abandoned on the living room floor.
“Is there somewhere you and the kids could go for the night?”
“We can’t stay here?The bedroom… I can clean it up.”
“No, I’m sorry.This is a crime scene.You’ll need to relocate.”
She thought of Mrs.V, who’d been unable to have children with her late husband and was sad to not have grandchildren like her friends did.Isla had told her about her parents dying when she was in middle school and that Gabriel didn’t see his family, so she was sad that her kids didn’t have grandparents.
They’d become close friends, filling a void for each other.Before things got really bad with Gabriel, they’d taken the kids to lunch and the park and on walks through the neighborhood.More than once, Mrs.V had pleaded with her to leave, but Isla couldn’t make that happen financially, and Mrs.V lived on a tight budget that prevented her from helping.
Mrs.V had said more than once that she was afraid of losing them to one of Gabriel’s rages.Isla didn’t blame her for that.She’d had a front-row seat to the disintegration of their marriage, and her fear for Isla and the kids had put distance between them over the last few months.
All these thoughts went through Isla’s mind in a matter of seconds as she tried to decide whether she and the kids would still be welcome with Mrs.V.She really hoped so.“I… I could ask my neighbor.”
“Would he think to look for you there?”
“Maybe, but I don’t have anyone else I can ask.”She wasn’t about to call her brother to tell him what Gabriel had done when Denny had told her not to marry him in the first place.He knew nothing about how bad things had gotten.
“Do you want me to ask her for you?”
“I’ll text her.”When Isla picked up her phone, she noticed her hands were shaking as the last few hours caught up with her in a surge of adrenaline and terror.She took a deep breath and typed the message to Mrs.V.
The kids and I need a place to stay tonight.Could we borrow your sofa?
