The two men hung up and Luke pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Night had fallen as it was almost nine o’clock. Tonight, the darkness of night was soothing, unlike the last three when the darkness had been torturous knowing that Dominique was out there somewhere all alone with a kidnapper.
He drove through and got himself a burger and fries and then headed home. Suddenly, he was ravenous and the added bonus was that he knew tonight he would sleep peacefully, knowing Dominique was safe and sound.
Chapter Fifteen
Dominique awakened to the scents of bacon and eggs and fresh coffee. She raised the head of the hospital bed, hoping that meant she was going to get some breakfast soon. She was definitely hungry. She really hadn’t eaten anything while she’d been held.
Burt Stanfield. She still found it hard to believe that the man who had joked with her, the man who had appeared to be hardworking and kind, had kidnapped her.
It was only a few minutes later that Daniel and Luke walked into her room. Luke looked so achingly handsome in his uniform and her heart squeezed tight in her chest at the sight of him.
“Dominique, how are you feeling?” Daniel asked.
“Amazingly well…except for the pain in my jaw,” she replied and then smiled at Luke. “And thank you for giving Burt a pain in his jaw.”
“I would have liked to give him more,” Luke replied with the boyish grin that always made her heart beat a little faster.
“If you’re up to it, we need to get an official statement from you detailing everything that happened from the moment you were taken.”
“I’m up to it,” she replied.
Daniel pulled a mini recorder from his pocket and she started talking. She began from the moment Burt had attacked her in the café parking lot.
“He talked about his dead wife and how the silence in his house since then was driving him crazy,” she said. “I was areplacement for her. He believed she’d broken her promise to be with him forever by dying. He had all her clothes for me to wear.”
She told them about trying to escape and Burt hitting her. “I knew then that he could get violent so I tried to be as quiet and compliant as possible when he was in the bedroom. But when he wasn’t in the room, I continued to look for a way to escape or some sort of weapon I could use against him. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful on both counts.”
She offered a bright smile to both men. “But all’s well that ends well, right?”
“Right,” Daniel replied. “But I have one last, very personal question for you.”
She tensed. “Okay, what is it?”
“Did Burt hurt you in any other way, assault you physically, sexually?” he asked.
“No, thank God he didn’t,” she replied. “But I’m sure that was in his plans. Only in his head it wouldn’t be an assault. He’d believe it would be a mutual decision no matter how much I kicked and screamed. He was definitely delusional in his thinking.”
“Thanks, Dominique. I think I got enough from you. Burt is going to go away for a very long time,” Daniel assured her.
“That’s good news for me,” she replied. She kept her gaze focused on Daniel. For some reason, looking at Luke hurt.
At that time an older woman Dominique didn’t know pushed in a cart with her breakfast. “Bacon and eggs, toast and orange juice for our patient,” she said as she placed the plate on a table she pulled out over Dominique’s lap.
“I hope there’s also some coffee,” Dominique said.
The woman grinned at her. “Definitely I have coffee for you.”
“We’ll just go now and let you eat your breakfast in peace,” Daniel said. “I know you’ll be available if I have further questions.”
“Of course,” she replied and then she looked at Luke. His gaze was soft and full of love. And then the two men left.
As she ate, a sadness filled her. It was the same sadness that had been with her since the moment Luke had spoken of his love for her.
She had spent a lot of time while she’d been held captive thinking about him and thinking about her mother. By the time she finished eating, Dr. Harmon came in.
“How’s my patient today?” he asked with a kindly smile.
“I’m good and ready to get home,” she replied.
