AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her face contorts into a frown. “I only use my powers for good, not evil.”
A wicked smile stretches across her features, and I burst out laughing.
My mother’s cold fingers intertwine with mine as we walk through the rose garden. My father had it planted for her on their ten-year anniversary. She calls it his guilt garden because she found out the day after that he’d been sleeping with my nanny.
“I know I should try to remember things, but I just want to forget. I told them to stop asking me questions because I just can’t relive it anymore. Your screaming was the worst part of it all.”
That part of her story is a mystery to me. I cried out when my ribs were bruised, but I know I was held at the cabin the whole time. My mother was found in an abandoned trailer house ten miles outside of town, in the other direction. It was over forty minutes from the cabin.
“It must’ve been another poor girl who was taken,” I say softly.
She shudders, shaking her head. Her auburn hair is dull and thinner than I’ve ever seen it. The color seems to have finally returned to her cheeks, and I haven’t seen her with a drink in her hand since we’ve both been living under my father’s roof again.
“Who do you think it was, Mother? Do you have any guesses?” I haven’t asked her this yet because she’s so against talking about it.
She looks around the garden and up to the back porch, where my father is sitting with his assistant, Ethan. They’re out of earshot, but she still leans in to whisper in my ear, “I know this sounds crazy, but I think it was him.”
Blood rushes through me, growing loud in my ears. My heart rate rises as Holden’s silent suggestion flashes through my memory. He believed my father was capable of kidnapping and holding both me and my mother. That was his reasoning for not bringing me back home immediately. He didn’t think it was safe.
Now, my mother is suggesting it too …
“Why? What makes you think that?”
She pulls me to a stop, her bony fingers squeezing mine tightly as her eyes search mine. “One night, while I was being held, I thought … I thought I heard his voice. That old trailer was drafty, so cold at night.” She shivers at the memory. “It was in the middle of the night, and I awoke to a filthy rat scuttering over my foot. I freaked out, started sobbing. I thought I was going to die. Then, I heard voices … men outside. They came and went occasionally, but I only saw one man’s face—that one they caught trying to cross the border into Mexico.”
I nod. The sheriff told us that one of the accomplices to the kidnapping was caught crossing the Texas-Mexico border with twenty thousand dollars in cash. My mother was able to identify his photo. His was the only face she’d seen.
“I swear, I heard your father’s voice that night,” she whispers. “For a while, I thought I was hallucinating. But now … now, I really do believe he was there.”
“What did he say?” I whisper.
She pinches the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes, like she’s trying to remember. “It was something about … cattle sales? Some supplement or something. You know he’s been trying to get into that underground bull riding ring to control the revenue and find a way to profit on the winnings. Nothing is ever enough for him. He never has enough power and control. And when Holden Redford was released early, I swear he lost his mind. That’s when he started having another affair. I’d thought we’d finally moved past it, but when he gets that gleam in his eyes, I know I’ve lost him again. He gives in to this … this bloodlust. There’s never enough power, never enough money, but more importantly, no one and nothing else matters when he feels wronged. He’ll stop at nothing to destroy the entire Redford family, only because they took his precious brother—a rapist.”
My father starts walking in our direction. My mother zips her lips shut, grasping my hand tighter.
“You need to get away from here, from him. We’re not safe,” she whispers just before he’s upon us.
I form a weak smile. “Mama, I think that’s enough fresh air. You don’t want to overdo it. Aunt June should be back with dinner any minute now.”
My father nods, reaching for her hand. She takes it with a soft, practiced smile on her lips. I marvel at how quickly she’s able to cover the suspicions she just shared with me on her face. He leads her inside the house. I walk up to the porch, my stomach clenched. Ethan is tapping away on his phone without acknowledging me.
I walk in the house just in time for my aunt to arrive with takeout. She smiles at me as she lays out the bags of food.
“Where’s your mother?”
“Dad just took her upstairs to lie down.”
She nods, serving a plate of food up. “I’ll just take this up to her.”
My hand snatches her forearm, pulling her closer to me. “Do you think you and Mom could leave for Florida sooner?”
Her eyes narrow on me. “Sooner than three days from now?”
I nod, opening my mouth to speak and closing it again when I hear the back door open. Ethan’s footsteps sound in the hall. I step away from her, releasing her arm.
“I’ll be right back down to eat dinner with you, honey. I think we should catch up on the Real Housewives tonight, hmm?”
I nod. “Sure.”
