I would love nothing more than to wrap my hands around her throat and strangle every ounce of oxygen she has in her. He wouldn’t be facing this alone, if she would have put the needs of the three of us before her own.
“Dad.” He doesn’t move, doesn’t blink for the longest time. He just stares at the picture.
“She hated your sister, Zack.”
“What?” My loud voice shocks him.
“I don’t know why. She never would tell me.”
He positions the photo in the exact spot he found it, running his index finger down the frame.
“I’ll never forget the look on your sister’s face the day she married Turner. My God, how happy she was. My baby girl.”
Bowing his head, he sighs.
“Yesterday, just like every day since she has been gone, I . . . I’ve looked through every photo of her life, and do you know what keeps haunting me? Taunting me something fierce? There’s not one single picture of your mother holding Clove. Not one. The day that bitch left, I had never felt so relieved in my entire life. She is a cunning, scheming bitch with an unreachable heart. I have no way of explaining it to you son, except to call it a parent’s intuition.”
He finally turns his head toward me. His eyes reflect something I don’t recognize, but his body language gives it all away; the tightness of his lips, flared nostrils, clenching of his jaw.
“Find your mother.”
Chapter Four
Clove
It’s been three days now since I have seen or heard from either Trent or my mother. I am running out of bottled water and food. They have never gone this long without making sure I have everything I need. One of them has always brought in three freshly made meals a day.
This is her way of punishing me. Nice move, Tina. You won’t win though. Fucking bitch.
Journey sleeps peacefully in the bed while I stare out the window. Nothing but woods as far as I can see. I know this room is located in the back of the house. There’s nothing out there. No driveway, no signs of life anywhere.
Even though my memory is coming back, the one thing I cannot remember is how they got me here. I mean, I stabbed myself for God’s sake. There had to be a doctor, someone, who treated me medically. There is no way in hell those two treated me. No damn way. Tina’s too much of a selfish bitch.
I love that word ‘bitch.’ It fits her perfectly . . . a female dog. Or, a word to describe excess whining. Blech. How Trent can even look at her, let alone touch her, shows me the type of man he really is. Douchebag.
I’m running on a few hours of sleep a night now. Every time the baby moves or stirs, I am panicking, shooting straight up in bed to make sure she is still safe by my side.
I would give anything to be able to take her outside. To see her facial expressions as she takes in even the simplest of things like the sound of a bird chirping, the warmth of the sun on her skin, her eyes blinking to adjust to its brightness.
I know she’s too young to remember anything. It’s me who deserves to be able to enjoy all of her firsts. Every day I’m stuck in here, I miss more. This is the time that Turner and I should be enjoying watching our daughter grow, together, and it’s all being stripped away by two hateful, vindictive people.
The sun is shining so brightly outside. I adore the feeling of the sun warming my skin. My fingers graze my lips as I recall the feeling of the first kiss Turner and I shared when he dropped me off outside my apartment door after our second date. There was not a cloud in the sky, just like today.
“Oh my gosh, did you feel that?” I asked breathlessly.
“Feel what?”
His arms were still around my waist, holding me tightly against him. I pulled away to search his face, but his eyes stayed glued to my lips.
“That rush.”
He reached down and grabbed my hand.
“Yeah, beautiful. I felt it,” he murmured before pulling me in for a body-hugging, soul- searching, kiss. His mouth coaxed mine to open, sliding his tongue in, threading it perfectly with mine.
For the longest time after that kiss, we stood there with the hot sun beating down our backs, our foreheads pressed together. I knew then and there, he’d stolen my