When Twilight Comes - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,14
seen before.
She frowned, wondering where it had come from. It must have been in Lorenzo’s car, but it didn’t look familiar.
She stepped toward it, feeling a sense of panic as she slowly unzipped the bag and peeled back the top.
The duffel was filled with stacks of used hundred-dollar bills! There had to be thousands of dollars in the bag.
She stumbled back from it. No. Oh no. Her body began to quake with the realization of what she’d done.
She hadn’t just taken Lorenzo’s daughter or his SUV. She’d taken his money.
Chapter Four
“Mommy, you didn’t tuck me in, the way you always do,” Lexi said behind her.
Jenna jumped, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. She fought back the tears of fear and frustration that burned her eyes as she turned to face her daughter, and tried to smile.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Lexi asked, her lower lip protruding as she studied her face.
“Nothing. You just startled me, that’s all.”
Lexi looked as if she might cry.
“Everything’s fine, sweetie,” Jenna said, leading her back to the other room.
It was so late all she wanted to do was go to bed, but she was determined to try to keep to their usual routine for Lexi’s sake.
But she knew she had to get the money back to Lorenzo somehow, and quickly. Maybe if she gave it back…
She shook her head at even the thought that it would appease her ex-husband. Nothing would placate him but revenge. Still, she had to try. For Lexi’s sake.
The question was how to get it to him. She couldn’t just box it up and send it by UPS.
Lexi scrambled up onto the bed and began to jump up and down. “Three little monkeys jumping on the bed—” She broke off in a fit of giggles. The words were from their favorite book.
“No jumping on the bed! I don’t want you falling off and busting your head,” Jenna said, playing along.
Lexi plopped down, still giggling. “I like it here. I want to live here.”
No chance of that, even if Jenna had shared her daughter’s enthusiasm for the place. They had to keep moving. As much as Jenna hated it, they would have to leave the country. Even with the safeguards she’d taken, she feared Lorenzo would find them, though, because in her heart she believed she would never be free of him.
Unless she was dead.
Or he was.
“I want to live here with you and Clarice and Fred and—” Lexi’s lower lip came out and tears filled her eyes “—a new daddy who’s nice.”
Jenna felt her heart break for her daughter. She’d stayed with Lorenzo as long as she had only because she’d wanted Lexi to have a father. She realized now that she’d been hoping that maybe Lexi’s love could change her father. Jenna had been such a fool.
“You have sweet dreams, okay?”
Lexi nodded.
Jenna tucked her daughter into bed and kissed her warm forehead, brushing back a lock of her hair. Lexi had her coloring, the light skin, the dark brown eyes and hair, although Lexi’s hair was darker than Jenna’s, more like her father’s, thick and straight.
Lexi had taken after Jenna in personality as well, and fortunately didn’t have any of Lorenzo’s traits, including his need for perfection or his bad disposition. Jenna was thankful for that.
“Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” Jenna murmured, after Lexi had said her prayers.
The little girl laughed. “There aren’t any bedbugs.”
“No,” Jenna agreed. Not in this hotel. She was feeling better about staying here. Even Fred had come out from under the bed.
The suite, she had to admit, was beautiful, from the rich woods to the soft carpet and elegant furnishings.
Lexi snuggled down in bed, with Clarice tucked on one side and Fred on the other.
Jenna padded to the door and looked back at her daughter. She could hear Lexi carrying on a one-sided, whispered conversation with the rag doll. Her daughter had such an active imagination. She could entertain herself for hours. Lorenzo used to say it wasn’t normal. That they should have another child for Lexi to play with. He’d tricked Jenna the first time. But she’d been too smart for him after that.
Studying her daughter from the doorway, she was just thankful that Lexi hadn’t seemed to suffer, not through the divorce or her abduction by either parent. Since she’d never known “normal,” Lexi didn’t seem to realize that her parents had divorced. Or that she and her mother were running for their lives.
To the comforting