Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
It is almost too intense. I need to go slow, so I do not scare her away.
“Is there anything I can get you? Pickles? Pizza? Orange soda pop?”
“Well, I would really love some tea, something to settle my stomach. Today has not been good for the baby and me.” She frowns.
I jump to my feet and pull out my keys, grinning like a schoolboy on a snow day.
“What kind?”
“Anything but chamomile. Maybe some mint?”
I lean forward and kiss her full on the mouth as I hold her head.
“I’m the luckiest bastard in the world, to have you, to have that baby growing inside you. My everything, my world.”
With that, I’m out the door. Headed to get my girl whatever she wants.
With three bags full of different flavors of tea, I pull onto my street and feel relieved when I find that the white SUV is gone.
I park in the driveway, and as I walk up to the door, I’m rummaging my mind for lullabies. I realize I do not know nearly enough of them and will need to learn more so I can sing them to my soon to be son or daughter. I’m still grinning, unable to control my joy, until I walk in.
My heart stops beating in my chest and is replaced by a dull, empty ache when I take in the space. A lamp is knocked over, and the coffee table is askew.
“Jude!” I call out, but there is no response.
Dropping the bags where I stand, I run through the house like a madman, desperate to find her even though deep down, I know she is not here.
By the time I make it back to the living room, I can barely breathe. Anger, worry, and guilt weighing so heavy on my chest, it feels like I cannot breathe. Then I see the worst possible thing ever. Jude’s shoes, by the door, telling me she didn’t leave, she was taken.
22
Jude
I’m thrown into an empty, windowless room. The concrete floor is cold on my bare feet, and the smell of mildew and urine invades my senses. Bracing my hands, I’m barely able to stop myself from falling face first. Shivering, my teeth clatter together.
My heart races in terror as the door locks behind me, and I’m thrust into complete darkness. Putting my arms out in front of me, I search, trying to find the nearest wall and then scoot my way along it to get back to the door and to the light switch.
When I reach it, I flip it up, but nothing. No light. No hope.
My mind races back to the series of events, and I try to make sense of them.
The knock at the door. Me, eagerly swinging it open without a second’s thought, assuming Lex had his hands full and needed help.
The two men in hoods, black jackets, and jeans, rushing in and grabbing my hands and feet to hold me down on the floor before I could comprehend anything more than fear.
I screamed before my mouth was forced shut and duct-taped, and a pillowcase was pulled over my head.
Then the sound of something crashing in the room. Rough hands carrying my body as I fought, worried that too much resistance would cost me the safety of the baby.
They placed me inside the back of a big van or SUV without rear seats of some sort, and then came a gruff, oddly familiar voice, warning me to stay still or I would be hurt.
I recall the long ride over train tracks and highways and side roads. The sounds of church bells and wind and other vehicles whizzing by. The bumps and jolts as we crossed road humps and made sudden turns. I tried to mentally remember the way, how many turns, and how many minutes, but honestly, fear had my mind too jumbled.
After they dragged me out of the car, they silently walked me barefoot through the cold night air, across a gravel lot into something large and ominous and abandoned, that echoed with the sounds of wind like an old steel mill or manufacturing plant.
Then, they ripped off the hood and tape, a second before tossing me in here. No time to look around at their faces either.
Nothing. Not one detail to clasp onto that would help me understand why I’m here, what they want, or how I could possibly get out.
I slide to the floor in the corner and hug my arms to my chest to help ward off the chill, but if there is anything I know about pain or suffering, it’s that it never really ends. The cold will not disappear. I will simply become more accustomed to it.
Sitting there in complete darkness, I think of Lex. He’ll come for me. I know it. He’ll arrive at the house and know that something happened, and then he’ll save me. I hold onto that thought, knowing it’s the only hope I truly have.