AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What felt like forever but was only seconds later, Cade’s footsteps pounded over the deck as he rushed toward us while dogs started barking in the distance.What the hell? Dogs?
“Let her go!” Cade yelled through his clenched jaw. I could see him try to figure out how to help me get away without getting my hair ripped from my scalp or the breath squeezed from my lungs.
“Freeze, Winthrop!” It was Trevor. I almost cried with relief when I saw him coming up the deck stairs, gun drawn, with Quinn following close behind. “You’re surrounded, and you’re under arrest. Let her go.”
Winthrop couldn’t get around them and there was no other way off the deck.
“I can’t. She has to fix our story first.” He jerked me around with his hand in my hair, so we rolled into a weird half-sitting position. “You have to change it, Adaline! Fix us or I’ll have to kill him. Jaden has to go, you know that. You know it because I warned you SO MANY TIMES!” he screamed, tightening his arm around my neck again.
I could see the fear and rage in Cade’s eyes when he growled, “Let her go, Winthrop!”
Winthrop’s hand in my hair tightened and I whimpered, frozen in place.
“Trevor, move in. You too, Quinn,” Cade ordered. Trevor moved to one side, followed by Quinn on the other, while another officer took his position at the top of the stairs to ensure Winthrop couldn’t get off the deck.
I glanced down at the yard and saw other officers moving up the stairs to line the deck. Cade’s place was surrounded by police, and a few of them had dogs. They must have been searching in the woods.
Just then, a pickup truck skidded to a stop along the edge of the driveway. Three of my brothers vaulted out of the bed, two with crowbars and one with a baseball bat, just as the doors flew open and my other two brothers and dad jumped out of the cab. I could hear their yelling as officers from the yard ran over to keep them back.
Winthrop used the momentary distraction to stumble to his feet clumsily, dragging me up with him. He pulled my head against his chest then placed his chin against my neck. There was no way anyone could help me get away without risking him ripping the hair out of my head, and no clear shot that didn’t put me at risk. We were too close together.
Plus, I didn’t want him to die. I just wanted him to let go of me and leave me the hell alone.
“Let me go,” I begged. “I’ll fix it. I’ll write whatever you want me to if you let go.” My eyes watered from the pain in my scalp.
“I don’t believe you.” He sounded desperate, which scared me. “How am I supposed to believe you, Adaline? I can’t trust you anymore, not with him here, not with how he feels about you. I took the note he left you. I know he wants you back. I know everything. Tell him to leave. Tell him you want me, not him!”
“I want you, of course I do. I promise I’ll write what you want. I swear it.”Note? I knew that short note was off!
“Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar!” he chanted as tightened his grip on my hair and around my neck.
“Oh, god. Please let me go,” I gasped, flinching at the vice grip he had on me.
“Quinn, go inside and get scissors from the house, kitchen drawer by the fridge.” Cade barked. “Just in case I have to cut some of her hair free.”Could he rip my scalp off this way?
Winthrop pulled even harder on my hair, and I cried out.
Cade swooped in then, performing a move that would have made my Krav Maga instructor proud. In one motion, he slipped a hand under Winthrop’s arm, breaking me free of his chokehold, and twisting Winthrop against the deck railing in some kind of hold so tight he couldn’t move.
His firm grip in my hair meant the motion had me stumbling along with them, but fortunately, Trevor swooped in at the same moment, his hands pressed to the top of my head down over Winthrop’s to prevent anymore pulling. Winthrop still had me pulled tight to his chest, but the relief was immediate despite the still-throbbing pain. Could hair follicles get bruised? I could feel him trying to pry loose Winthrop’s grip, but every movement made me flinch.
“You’re not getting off this deck, Winthrop,” Cade growled. “I will not leave, and I will not let you go. There is no way in hell I’m giving you another chance to hurt her.”
“You don’t belong here!” Winthrop shrieked back. “You don’t belong here with her. Not like I do. I’m her Tim. We’re married!”
Winthrop screamed in frustration against the side of my face when he tried to move his body and couldn’t. My ears rang and my head pounded from the echo of his shrill voice in my head. Between that and the searing pain in my scalp, I was in real danger of fainting.
“I don’t feel so great. I think I’m going to pass out,” I informed them.
“Go ahead, baby. Catch her, Matt. Hold her up.”
My eyelids fluttered as Trevor continued trying to work my hair free, and Matt stood in front of me, holding my in a quasi-hug, helping me stay on my feet. “Oh, hey, Matt. How did you get back here?”
“I went through the house,” he grunted.
“Don’t let them cut off my hair,” I whispered loudly. I knew I wasn’t making sense anymore, but it was either space out or freak out. Somehow, spacing out felt productive and possibly even helpful, so I went with it.
The sounds of Winthrop trying to break free of Cade’s grip swirled around me. “Adaline!” he yelled. “Adaline, you’re mine!” Suddenly, I felt very woozy.
