Limitless (Journey Series) (18 page)

Her ruby red lips curved upwards
into a cruel smile. “Well, see that’s where you come in. You’re going to help
me out with that little predicament. I finally found the perfect man for me and
that little nuisance went and tried to destroy everything. I almost had him
talked into marriage. I was this close.” She moved to crouch down in front of
me, her face just inches from mine, I felt like spitting in it.

“I will never help you in whatever
plan you came up with in that twisted head of yours. Roy believed Caleb and
that’s not going to change.” She leaned back, lacing her hands together as if
she was deep in thought. My eyes darted around the room, looking for anything
that could help me out of this situation. She was clearly delusional and I had
no idea what she was capable of. I had to get free in order to keep Caleb safe
from this crazy woman.

“Oh, are you looking for this
maybe?” She reached her small hand into her front pocket and then dangled my
phone, just inches in front of my face until she let it drop onto the floor.
“Oopsie,” she said in a singsong voice as it crashed to the floor and then she ground
her heel against it to make sure it was completely ruined. “We wouldn’t want
you getting a hold of that now would we, dear?”

“Please, just don’t hurt Caleb. He
doesn’t deserve it. He’s already gone through enough pain, thanks to you. He
didn’t ask for any of this, he’s just an innocent boy.” I sent a silent prayer,
hoping that Caleb stayed where I had told him to go even though I knew if Shelia
really wanted to get to him she would. It made me wonder why she hadn’t already
tried.

“Oh, I wouldn’t think of it,” she
gasped, holding a hand to her heart, like she even had one. Evil bitch. “No,
no, no. Who would want to hurt that sweet boy? See, that’s where you come in.
We are going to have a nice little chat with Roy in which you tearfully explain
that it, was in fact you, who took out all your frustrations out on sweet
Caleb.

“All of the stress over the past
couple of months has finally gotten to you. The wedding, the whole paternity
testing, and having Caleb’s father come back into his life unexpectedly. And of
course who could forget that baby that you unfortunately lost? What a shame
that was. In all reality, it was probably for the best. Did you really want
another brat around to have to deal with? I think the one you have is enough,
right?”

I swallowed over the lump in my
throat at the picture she was trying to paint. Roy would never believe it; at
least I didn’t think he would. Yes, I had been heartbroken over the loss of our
baby and had fallen into a deep depression, but Roy had been very
understanding. He would know that I would never lay a hand on Caleb.

“Roy wouldn’t ever believe you
anyway, so why waste your breath? He knows you’re crazy and he’s not going to
believe whatever little story you spout off to him. So why don’t we just make
this a little bit easier and let me go. You can go, I won’t call the police and
we can all try to get on with our lives.”

“Oh no, no, no sweetie,” she wagged
a finger at me and turned towards the kitchen. “You aren’t talking your way out
of this one. Roy thinks you’re such a perfect mother, a young woman stepping up
to take on the challenge of taking care of a little boy who is really her
brother.

“That whore of a mother you had
should have just stayed out of Roy’s business, instead of sending that letter,
which in my opinion, ruined his life. But unfortunately, he doesn’t see it that
way. Your mother had to go and stir the pot even beyond the grave, so I guess
I’ll just have to get used to the idea of having a stepchild around.” Her voice
became louder as she rounded the corner and came back into the room, tapping
her palm with the cordless phone we kept in the kitchen.

Chase insisted on having a home
phone, even though it was rare nowadays with cell phones. He always wanted one
in case of emergencies. This would definitely count as one and would work great
if only I could get my hands free to pry it out of the bitch’s hands.

“Now, I’m going to call Roy and
you’re going to admit to be the one abusing Caleb. See, you’ve been doing it
for years in fact. It’s just so stressful taking care of a young boy while you
have everything else on your plate. And you are going to explain it to him just
like that.”

“Oh, really?” I bit out, “and why
exactly would I do that?”

“Well, because if you don’t,” she
responded in an icy tone it sent chills down my spine. She reached around
behind her back, pulling out a gun that she must have had tucked into her pants
and I instantly stiffened, “I’ll just have to use this. Don’t worry about the
explanation dear, I have all of that planned out as well.” She took a step
closer to me, the glint of the gun reflecting off the evil glare of her eyes
that were focused intently on me.

“It will go something like this. I
came over to the house, to apologize for the misunderstanding. Caleb loves
spending time with me, but of course young children tend to make up stories,
they enjoy living in fantasies from time to time. Caleb ran towards me as soon
I stepped into the house, wrapping my legs into a tight hug, cringing away from
the woman that was his supposed mother.

“When he explained to me that was
in fact you that had inflicted the horrible pain onto his body, I knew I had to
get him out of the house. But you weren’t going to let me do that. You brought
out a gun, aiming it at Caleb, telling him that he wasn’t going anywhere. He
pulled on my hand, trying to escape and when I saw you reach for the trigger, I
tackled you. I couldn’t let anything happen to that sweet little boy.

“We struggled over the gun, and
somehow I won out, but the trigger was pulled and you, unfortunately, were at
the receiving end. It will be such a tragic story. Of course, Caleb will come
to live with us since that husband of yours legally has no claims to him and
the rest will be history.

“I will be the perfect stepmother
to Caleb, that is, unless he steps out of line again. I would assume he would
learn to behave himself, but as you can see, I can be very creative and I’m
sure Caleb could have some kind of ‘accident’ if necessary.”

I gasped when I heard the plans she
had for Caleb. The tears were streaming down my face at the thought of this
woman doing something to him. He was too young and didn’t deserve to have to
deal with this crazy woman ever again. I sucked in a deep breath, looking
straight into her deranged eyes. “Fine, I’ll cooperate. I’ll tell Roy it was
all me as long as you leave Caleb alone.”

“Good, good dear.” She gave me an
awkward pat on the head and punched in numbers on the phone. I listened to each
number as she clicked away, my mind whirring with what to do. Should I play it
safe and do as she said? Or should I take control of the situation and try to
get myself out of it?

She put the phone to my ear and I
cradled it against my shoulder, taking a deep breath when I heard Roy’s voice
come through the phone. “Leah, are you there? I’ve been worried; I haven’t been
able to get through to you on your cell phone.”

“Yes, I’m here. Roy, I need to tell
you something. I really don’t know how to say this,” I paused, looking at
Shelia who had a cruel smile pasted on her angelic looking face, but I knew the
truth, she was truly the devil. “I just need to tell you that we…we were right
about Shelia. She’s a crazy bitch and she’s here-”

 I was cut off by Shelia yanking
the phone away from me and throwing it against the wall. It shattered into a
million pieces when it made contact and my hope of getting out of this
diminished just a little. I could only pray that Roy could tell something was
wrong, especially when our call was cut off.

“You just think you’re so smart,
huh?” She hissed closely to my face, her perfect resolve slipping out of place
quickly. “But you’re not. I’m the smart one here. Didn’t you think I have a
plan b all set up? Of course, I knew there was a chance you wouldn’t cooperate,
you’re so damn stubborn, and it’s pathetic. I feel bad for that husband of
yours; lord knows he could do so much better.” She picked up the gun once
again, waving it around in the air as her heels clicked on the hardwood floors,
inching her way closer to me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, not
wanting to believe this was the end for me, but I had a feeling it was. I was
completely helpless in this moment. I pushed all of the thoughts of my impending
death out of my mind, drawing up the picture of only good thoughts.

Thoughts of Caleb and Chase and the
fun times we had together, even after everything we had been through. Chase’s
family came next, they really had become truly the only family I had ever known
and Mary was like the mother I deserved to have. Ally’s blonde head flashed
into my mind and I couldn’t help but smile. I knew she was truly happy with
Teddy and she deserved to be.

 “What exactly are you smiling
about?” Shelia’s icy voice interrupted my thoughts, but I tried to ignore her,
instead remembering everything good in my life and feeling sort of sorry for
Shelia. She obviously didn’t have as good of a life as I had, even though I had
a bit of a rough start.

“Trust me when I say you won’t be
smiling shortly.” She let out a loud cackle, but I refused to give in to her. I
knew in that twisted head of hers, she wanted to see me scared and begging for
my life, but I had to be brave, I wasn’t going to give in.

 I tensed when I heard her feet
finally come to a stop in front of me and I could feel her warm breath just
inches from me. The room was silent for just a second, only filled with my
light breathing, before my head exploded.

Chase

I had left the conference early
after sneaking out the back, excusing myself for a bathroom break. I just had a
feeling in my gut that something wasn’t right and I needed to get home. That
feeling grew even deeper when I tried calling Leah, both at home and on her
cell phone, and didn’t get an answer on either one.

I was breaking just about every
speeding and traffic law, but I didn’t care, I just needed to get home to make
sure Leah and Caleb were safe. It was probably stupid. I could imagine it now,
Leah would laugh at me about being paranoid and tease me about my hero complex.
I could only hope that’s what would happen when I got home.

My phone rang when I was about half
way back and the tension in my shoulders released just a little, thinking that
it might be Leah. When I glanced at the screen though, the tension immediately
built back up, seeing that it was Roy.

“Hey, man. What’s going on? Please
tell me you’ve talked to Leah lately.”

“Well, that’s the main reason why I
was calling, Chase. I got a strange call from Leah about ten minutes ago. She
sounded a little off. She started by saying that she had to tell me something
and by the end of the conversation she was yelling about how I needed to know
how crazy Shelia was.

“Our call got cut off before she
explained herself. I’ve been calling her back non-stop but I haven’t gotten an answer.
I tried her cell phone too and it’s off. Truthfully, I’m a little worried. Are
you on your way back from your conference yet?”

I gripped the steering wheel until
my knuckles turned white, my gut feeling being confirmed by Roy that something
definitely wasn’t right.

“Yes, I’m on my way back. I’m about
fifteen minutes away. I’m a little worried Roy, did Leah sound scared or what?
Do you think we should call the police?” I could just imagine Leah’s reaction
if the police showed up and nothing was wrong, but I wasn’t sure if I really
cared if I had to deal with the wrath of Leah right now. I just needed to know
that they were safe.

I heard a deep breath come through
the phone and it didn’t help to calm me down at all. Roy was a pretty laid back
guy and handled himself well in almost any situation. If he was worried, then I
knew I definitely should be.

“Yes, I’ve never heard Leah sound
like that before. Tell you what, I’m on my way too but you are much closer. Let
me call the police and explain the whole situation and see if they’ll go and
check things out. You’ll most likely beat them there.”

“Okay.” I tossed the phone on the
seat next to me, relieved somewhat that there was a plan in place, but my foot
pressed down a little harder on the pedal, needing to get there as quick as
possible. I didn’t know what I would do if something happened to Leah and
Caleb. My life would pretty much be over. They were the only reason for living.

I pulled into the driveway, and
immediately recognized the car that was parked in front of our house as Shelia’s.
Yup, my gut was definitely right. If that bitch was crazy enough to lay a hand
on Caleb, who knew what she was capable of? I jumped out of the truck, before
barely pulling it into park and left my door hanging wide open as I sprinted to
the front porch and crashed through the door.

At first, I didn’t notice anything
wrong, but then as I crept into the living room I saw things thrown everywhere.
I pushed open each door slowly, bracing myself for whatever I was about to see.
Caleb’s room looked like it had received the most damage; almost everything in
there had been destroyed.

 When I came to our bedroom door, it
wouldn’t budge, I pushed my shoulder against it, throwing all my weight into
it, but it wasn’t working. I tapped on the door lightly and I finally heard a
small voice come through it, I felt a rush of relief run through me. “Caleb,
buddy open up the door. It’s me.”

“But Mommy told me only to open it
up if she came to get me.” I could hear the tears in his voice and I could tell
how upset and scared he was.

“Buddy, it’s okay. You know Mommy
would want you to open the door for me too. I just got home early from my trip
to surprise you; I missed you guys so much. Can you please open the door?” I
heard a click and the doorknob slowly twisted open.