Her Only Salvation (12 page)

“How did he know where you worked?” Luke asked suspiciously.

Terri looked at him for a minute, seeing that same critical look in his eye that she saw in Randy’s. “That’s the thing. You think faster, know all the right questions to ask. I was a kid. Young and naïve. I was just having fun, breaking the chains of being suppressed all my life, and Randy stomped in trampling everything in his path, and swept me off my feet. By the time I finally thought to ask him all those questions, how he knew where I worked, lived, my phone number, he told me flat out that he had hacked into the police database, but I was flattered. The idea that a man like him would go through all that trouble just to see me again…”

She turned to Luke, desperate for him to understand where she was coming from. “I’d never had someone pay so much attention to me before. To want to be around
me
, who seemed to really enjoy my company. It was heady, and I grabbed onto it with both hands, determined to keep that slice of happiness for as long as I could.”

Reaching out, Luke took her hand in his, his thumb stroking small circles across her knuckles. “So when did it all go south?”

Terri sighed, her mood deflated. She remembered that day exactly. How excited she was. How happy she expected him to be. Nothing had turned out the way she expected it to. “We had been married barely six months when I found out I was pregnant.” Luke’s finger stilled. She should have stopped then, but the gates had opened and she couldn’t stop herself. “He was so angry,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Randy had come home early that day, upset over something that had happened at work. She thought she could shine a little light by telling him her news. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Randy lashed out, slapping her across the face. He accused her of sleeping with another man, then of trying to ruin his life. He never wanted kids, but he had never told her that, so how was she to know? He threw things, ruined furniture and eventually turned his fury on her. The beating she’d suffered that day had been the first, but not the last. She’d called the police a few times early on, but learned quickly that Randy was above the law as long as he was a part of it. There was nowhere to turn.

“I lost the baby a couple days later.” She’d never had the courage to say that aloud before. From that horrible day on, it had become a dirty little secret that only she and Randy shared. The confession was humbling, the truth of it crippling. At that moment, something inside Terri broke, and she began to cry, hard, wrenching sobs that only grew stronger when Luke knelt in front of her and pulled her into his arms.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but after a long while Terri’s cries idled down to small hiccupping fits and a few sniffles. Luke sat back on his haunches, used his thumbs to wipe away the moisture under her eyes, and regarded her with sad, sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry for what he did to you,” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s okay,” Terri sniffed. “It was a long time ago.”

Luke stood, pulling Terri to her feet along with him. As he led her inside, he said, “Judging by what just happened, not long enough.”

“It’s nothing a warm bath and a cup of hot chocolate can’t fix,” Terri said resolutely, already tucking her painful past back into the black box in the back of her mind. While she had been telling Luke her story, she had made a promise to herself. Never again would she allow Randy to rule her. Her future was her own, and she would make of it everything she had ever wanted and dreamed of and he had denied her.

Wrapping her arm around Luke’s waist, she allowed him to steer her to her room, feeling the warmth of his comforting embrace all the way to her soul.

Chapter Thirteen

Randy threaded the truck in and out of traffic. Horns of angry drivers blared after him, but he didn’t give a damn. The excitement of finally going home was an impenetrable armor against anything that might want to spark his temper today. He finally decided that his days of staying at the Motel 6 had come to an end. Why suffer in filth and decay when you could put yourself up in luxury accommodations? Terri’s home sure wasn’t a five star hotel, not without her there to cook and clean and meet all his needs, but for now, it was far better than anything he’d had for the last year.

Dark thoughts seeped into his head, bleeding past that barrier he had erected and slicing into his happy mood like a needle through cotton. Terri wouldn’t be there to greet him. She was too busy gallivanting around town like a cheap whore on a Saturday night. He was so tired of her games, tired of her running from him, tired of her making him chase her. And he was sick and damn tired of not knowing where she was. Usually she would make things easy for him. After a fight, she would hang out at her usual haunts and he would give her an hour before showing up and dragging her home. Now she was making him dig, and Randy didn’t like getting his hands dirty.

Thankfully, his old pal, Jerry, came through with the money, making Randy six grand richer than he was yesterday. Now he could afford to take care of some things, like buy food, clothing, and most importantly, the supplies he would need for the day he and Terri finally reunited.

The tires jumped over the bump at the end of the drive and Randy pulled forward, parking just outside the garage doors. He’d never been this blatant about his arrival before and a part of it struck him as strange, but he forced himself to feel what he knew to be true: that he belonged there. Shoving open the door, he grabbed his duffle and stepped down, planting his booted feet on the hard concrete like he owned the place, and immediately met the curious gaze of his new neighbor.

“Afternoon, Ma’am,” Randy greeted her politely, flashing a large, disarming smile that crippled most women’s fragile minds.

Like he expected, the woman blushed deeply and looked down at her hands, smiling demurely. Randy approached the row of low bushes that acted as a barrier between yards and offered his hand. “We haven’t met before. I’m Randy,” he introduced himself.

“Sandra.” She shook his hand with a soft, feminine grip. “Are you visiting someone?”

“Nope, I live here.” At her questioning look, Randy explained. “My wife purchased the place while I was away, so you could say this is a surprise homecoming.”

“A soldier then,” Sandra said, smiling knowingly. She didn’t know a thing, but he let her believe what she wanted. “I don’t see much of your wife. She keeps to herself a lot, but I can imagine why now.” Her eyes traveled from his head to his toes and back up again. “She must have been waiting for you.”

Randy nodded and stepped away.  Hefting the duffle over his shoulder, he excused himself and made his way up the path to the door, where he crowded the entry to mask the fact that his only key was a metal nail file. Thankfully, the entry was small and fairly enclosed, an alcove recessed into the house and surrounded by shrubbery.

When the locks finally gave way, Randy stepped inside. Admittedly, he was a little miffed to find the house still empty, the air stale and the silence deafening. He recalled a time when Terri would greet him at the door, throw herself into his arms and kiss him silly. Whatever happened to those days? Terri got lazy, that’s what.

Honestly, he didn’t know why he was allowing himself to get so bothered. It wasn’t like he expected her to be there anyway, but it didn’t change the fact that he was annoyed. Playing the avoidance game, Randy decided to get settled in his new home. He began with washing his clothes. It took a while, but eventually he managed to wash and dry everything without shrinking anything. After that, he took the fresh stack of clothes into the bedroom and hung each piece up alongside Terri’s, just like they used to be. Well, almost. Terri was much better at these things than he would ever be. After clearing himself a couple of drawers and putting the remainder of the clothes in them, Randy fixed himself something to eat.

She didn’t have much in the way of groceries, so he settled for a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup and a glass of water, which was unacceptable, but unavoidable at this point. At least it would fill his empty stomach, but he would have to stop by the store soon and pick up some meals.

When he was finished eating, he didn’t feel much like watching television, so he went through the house, taking a closer stock of the things he had only enough time to skim over before. She’d kept a lot of things from their old place, namely furniture, but he noticed most of the photos she used to keep hanging on every available wall and surface were missing. Not a single picture of the two of them sat out, and that ticked him the hell off. Not only was she pretending to be single in public, but she was living that way too.

Wading through the organized mess of a guest room, Randy was determined to find those damn pictures. He knew she had them somewhere. Terri had always been very particular about those sorts of things, believing them to be a record of the past, of their existence so they would never be forgotten. There was no way she would have tossed them in the trash.

After pushing a path through bulky pieces of furniture and nearly shattering a lamp in the process, Randy located the closet, where he found their photo album. He pulled it down and dusted off the cover. This was the record he was looking for. Satisfied with his find, he took the album into the living room and plopped down on the couch, then began flipping through it.

All the evidence of their happiness that he would ever need was in those pages. Pictures of them on their first date, first anniversary of the day they met, their wedding day, all stared back at him. In all of them was a common theme: happiness and love. It shined in Terri’s eyes, in her bright, wide smile. The pictures grew fewer after that, thinning out into a few memorable moments, but one thing remained constant, and that was the look of pure devotion shining in Terri’s eyes in each and every one. 

For Randy, this was further proof of how much he and Terri belonged together. A love like theirs could never die, and should never be allowed to. Like a flower on a hot summer day, it had begun to wilt, but with a little attention, it would blossom again, more beautiful than ever.

Renewed determination made Randy feel energized and ready to take on the world. They would be together soon, he was certain of it.

The ringing of his cell phone shocked him out of his reverie, and Randy yanked it off the table where he had left it earlier. He barked a hello.

“Mr. Cunningham,” said the male voice on the other end.

“Yeah,” Randy growled. “Who’s this?”

“Your friend, Jerry, contacted me, said you needed help tracking someone?”

That was fast, Randy thought appreciatively. He liked that. “Yeah, my wife.”

“I see.” Randy heard the click of what he assumed to be a pen in the background. “To get started, why don’t you tell me a bit about your wife.”

Randy started with the basics, her height, weight, color of her hair and eyes, before getting into the more embarrassing details. “I think she’s staying with another man, maybe her boss, or someone she works with. I’m not sure. All I know is he drives a black Mercedes.” Randy relayed the description of the man he had seen walking up to the house with her that night from her bedroom window. “Do you think you can find her?”

He could hear the smile in the man’s voice. “Given enough time, I can find anyone.”

After the call was finished, Randy decided it was time to try out his new bed, which turned out to be his old one, just a little lumpier than he remembered. Resting his head on one of the pillows that still held a trace of Terri’s perfume, he let himself imagine the day when he would once again share the bed with his wife. 

Good thing that day wasn’t too far away.

***

The house hadn’t been that hard to find, not for a man like him. He’d skipped right over the well-hidden drive that carved a winding path through the dense forest a couple of times, narrowing down the location with each pass.

Now he stood there, squatting behind an evergreen bush. In the daylight, he’d be able to identify it, but out in the countryside night was so black you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Right now, the only source of light came from a square window on the west side of the two-story cottage where he could see the woman in question sitting on a couch, her feet folded on the cushion beside her and her head resting in the crook of the shoulder belonging to the man who had his arm around her. He presumed this man to be the troublesome bump in the road that needed to be carved out.

They were watching television, the very picture of a wholesome, happy couple—real family material there. Too bad the woman was an adulteress and the man a home wrecker. There weren’t many things that bothered him, but after his last stint in the pen, he’d found God, and if there was anything he’d learned well, it was that God hated sinners. These two were the worst of their kind, as far as he was concerned, and he felt it would be a job well done once he carried it out, something he would have been happy to take care of for free if he wasn’t already getting paid for it.

Leaving his hiding spot, he jogged across the open lawn and around the house for a closer look. Tonight was a fact-finding mission. The husband he’d spoken with earlier wanted to be the one to carry out the job. All he needed to know was his surroundings, map out the floor plan wherever possible, and assess the level of security. Peeking in windows, he noted the first floor was standard with living room, dining room, kitchen and what appeared to be a small bath. That meant that all the bedrooms, probably three judging by the size of the house, were on the second story.

Around back, there were two fairly new, large metal doors set into the ground. This would be an old cellar entrance. He touched his fingers to the thick chain looped through the handles, gauging its strength, and finding it to be one of the strongest of its kind. Nothing he couldn’t get past with a little persistence and the right tools, though.

Finished with his inspection, he crept back around front, stopping for a moment to peer inside at the couple one last time. He was just in time for the show. Gazing into each other’s eyes, the man made the first move, dipping his head to capture the woman’s mouth. The connection was so strong, it sent a heat wave right through the glass, and he backed away before he could be noticed.

They certainly didn’t look like “just friends.” Definitely something to take back to the husband, he thought, sprinting across the lawn to his car where he’d left it hidden at the opening of the drive about a quarter mile back.

***

After Terri took a long soak in the tub, Luke managed to talk her into sitting down to watch a movie with him. He even made her hot chocolate topped with a mound of tiny marshmallows to entice her. He wasn’t ready for bed just yet, and maybe he wanted to spend a little more time with her, he thought guiltily.

He could tell she was tired, and about halfway into the movie, her eyes began to glaze over and her lids started to droop. He took the opportunity to pull her closer, meeting a little resistance at first, but eventually she relaxed enough to rest her head on his shoulder. They’d been sitting that way ever since, well past the end of the movie and two episodes of Law & Order.

Terri let out a yawn, and Luke, looking down at her, tilted her head back, studying her delicate features while he pushed her hair back from her face to clear the view. He was just thinking how beautiful she looked, how good she felt in his arms, when her eyes lifted to his. Something moved between them then, warmth that overpowered the connection that had spurred their first kiss. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew that he felt it.

Her head already tilted back, Luke met her halfway, pressing his lips firmly against hers. The thought that he could see spending the rest of his life this way, with this woman, was just being realized when his ears picked up the low beeping of his security beacon, snatching his attention away.

Jumping to his feet, Luke rushed to where he had his alarm system installed on the wall opposite the couch, and checked the data. Terri, alarmed at his sudden change of mood, was right behind him, peering over his shoulder.

“What’s going on?”

He didn’t hesitate to fill her in. “The alarm picked up movement outside. Something tripped the sensors.”

Her shoulders visibly relaxed, no longer overly concerned. “It could just be an animal, then, right?”

Luke simply shook his head. “The system wasn’t put in place with rodents in mind. It was intended for human bulk.”

“Well, maybe it was a bear,” Terri said, clearly agitated. “There are more than just rodents wandering in the woods, you know.”

Luke turned to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I understand that you might be a little upset right now, but I am just trying to tell you the truth so you know what we’re dealing with.” His kissed her forehead and steered her back to the couch, pushing her down onto the cushions and resuming his seat beside her. He took up her hand as he worked to assure her. “I didn’t see anything on the cameras, but I assure you, someone was out there just now. But I don’t want you to worry—”