Love You to Death (30 page)

“It’s a long story, but the short version is
he’s a bad cop that uses his authority to do whatever he wants. He
kidnapped Stewie and used him for a lab rat.” Stewie was nodding
furiously in agreement. He got up from his chair to sit at my feet.
I took his hand and squeezed it.

“So you might be running from the law, of a
sort,” JD pointed out. I nodded.

“Stewie banged him up pretty good,” I said
worriedly. “He’ll be looking for me. He won’t give up until he
finds me.”

“I’ll protect you, Cherry.” Stewie squeezed
my hand.

“If he’s dirty, he’ll have to do it on the
sly,” Cort said.

All the wheels in the room were turning,
everyone was thinking. Sheriff Packer was taking notes and nodding
his head.

Then Gideon murmured, “Why you?”

“What do you mean?” Cort asked.

“I mean,” Gideon said as he cocked his head,
eyeing me with curiosity, “why is this guy so bent on getting to
you and not Stewie?”

I guess later came sooner than I thought. I
struggled to keep eye contact.
No more lies,
I reminded
myself. I took a long deep breath, held it a second or two then
exhaled slowly.

“I’m his wife.”

Their collective gasps went up at the same
time. Gideon’s eyebrows shot up in shock. Whatever he’d been
expecting it wasn’t that. Cort whistled through his teeth. Stewie
started moaning and rocking back and forth. I thought Maggie was
going to pass out. Her mouth gaped open in a perfect ‘o’.

“Wife?” Sissy breathed raggedly. “So that’s
why you had to say no to Gideon.”

“We were married a few weeks before I came
here.” I ran a shaky hand through my hair, licking my lips. I
wanted to look at Gideon, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t brave enough to
see the look of accusation and hatred I was sure I’d find in those
liquid brown depths.

“Married.” Maggie sighed. “Why didn’t you
tell me?”

“It wasn’t a happy event, Mags,” I reminded
her. “I never wanted to marry him. He didn’t give me a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” Gideon said. I
heard the shock and the anger in his voice. He didn’t bother
looking at me as he stormed from the room. I hung my head. My heart
was torn in two, the jagged halves beating out of sync. It was
exactly what I feared would happen. It hurt much worse seeing him
leave than imagining it.

“Gideon...” Sissy called after him.

“It’s okay, Sissy. Let him go,” I told her. I
was struggling to follow my own advice.

“He’s just shocked, sugar. Let him have a
little time to think it over. He’ll be back,” Aurora said. JD
nodded his agreement.

“Ya know,” I began. “The funny thing is I
thought I saw Cass. Last week when we were in town,” I said as I
looked at Maggie, “buying shoes—”

“Oh yeah, I remember. You looked like you
were going to pass out.”

“I can’t stay here,” I said, turning to
leave. “He’ll find me here.” Stewie moaned louder.

“It’s okay, you’ll be fine,” I told him.

“And so will you.” JD stood, looking at me as
he crossed the room to Stewie and put his arms around him. Stewie
leaned into JD, his moaning stopped.

“Cass has a gun,” I said with weary
resignation.

“So do I,” Sissy said. I smiled at her. The
infamous twelve gauge in the feed barn. I watched as they all stood
up, moving as a unit to surround me. So this was what it was like
to have a family.

Chapter
Twenty-Six

Sheriff Packer took my story to heart. He
assigned a deputy to park outside the front gate of the Northern
Star. He made a few phone calls and found out Cass had talked to
the police in Winchester, giving them the same cock-and-bull story
about a missing wife who was kidnapped.

It was only a matter of time before Cass
found someone who recognized me. Sissy, Maggie, and Aurora
commandeered me into the kitchen for a piece of cherry pie and a
cup of hot tea. Between bites of pie they convinced me it was best
to stay. They argued it would be easier to fight him on our own
turf than spend the rest of my life running.

“Ya gotta take a stand. You aren’t alone,
sugar. You got us now.” Aurora’s motherly hand tucked my hair
behind my ear.

I agreed, mostly because I didn’t want to go.
This was my home, my life. I wanted to live here with Gideon and
raise a family. I wanted to sip tea in our rockers on the front
porch when we were eighty and surrounded by
great-grandchildren.

The baby squirmed, issuing a knee or elbow
into my bladder. For the millionth time that day I had to pee.

“I’ll be right back,” I told them.

I pushed the swinging door open to find
Gideon standing on the other side. His eyes were red rimmed. He’d
been crying. Something sharp tore at my insides. It was all my
fault.

“Gideon, I’m so sorry—” I lifted my hand to
my chest.

“No, Arden.
I’m
the one who’s sorry,”
he said, not moving any closer, I noticed. Nor would he look me in
the eye. I could actually feel my heart shriveling up like a dried
prune. I opened my mouth to object and take the blame again, but he
held up a hand.

“I knew there was somethin’...somethin’ real
serious you were hidin’ from me. I didn’t know if you were scared
to tell me or if you thought I couldn’t handle it...I thought I
could. I figured I’d be patient and you’d come to me one day, tell
me everything...” He shoved his hand through his already messy
hair, leaving a wake of uneven spikes.

“And what did I do the minute you told me? I
ran off. I ran out on you like a stupid selfish jerk...” Hesitantly
he lifted his head, meeting my gaze. “I love you, Arden. I don’t
care if you married Charles Manson. I love you and I want to spend
the rest of my life proving it to you...if you’ll still have
me.”

A whimper escaped from my trembling lips. I
vaulted myself into his arms, burying my face into his neck.

“I love you so much,” I sniffled. “I was so
afraid you wouldn’t want me anymore. I didn’t want to tell you how
dumb I was. How I let myself get caught up in that kind of trouble.
I’m an idiot.”

“Hey,” he said pulling back. “That’s my
fiancé you’re talkin’ about. She’s brave and smart and funny...and
the mother of my child.”

I collapsed against him, my arms tightly
secured around his neck. I was probably choking him. He didn’t
complain. After a few more I love you’s and declarations of undying
devotion Gideon got down to business.

“He’ll never get close enough to touch you
again. I promise. You’re safe here. I don’t want you leaving the
farm without me or JD or Cort. Got it?”

I nodded vigorously. He didn’t have to tell
me twice. He squeezed me a little too hard and I had to waddle as
fast as I could into the bathroom.

That night, while I lay in the protection of
Gideon’s arms, I thanked God. I thanked Him for giving me a new
family who loved me more than I ever thought possible. I thanked
Him for showing me that life was a constant motion of good and bad
and that the good always conquered the bad. Maybe not in the way
you thought it would or should, but if you fought for it, the good
was there for the taking.

Rolling onto my side, slinging an arm over
Gideon’s slow rising chest, I fell asleep.

* * * *

Days passed. There was no sign of Cass or his
little black Porsche. I was relaxed enough to not jump every time I
heard a sound, but I wasn’t letting my guard down. I even went to
the feed barn to make sure that Sissy’s twelve gauge really
existed. Gideon told me they kept it there for easy access if a
wolf or bear happened by.

The rest of the rifles and handguns were
locked up in a safe in the house.

I decided to take a walk around the stables,
stopping to give Sampson a sweet treat. Maggie and Cort were on
their usual Friday night date at the movies. JD and Aurora took
Stewie for pizza. Sissy was in the house, watching some old black
and white show.

Gideon was studying for an upcoming final. I
saw the light burning in the window of his office. I went through
the stable, making sure all the stalls were locked. Then I turned
off the lights, shut the outer doors, and went back to the
house.

I joined Sissy in the family room but must’ve
fallen asleep because when I woke up, the room was dark and she was
gone. I sat up, which wasn’t easy with a full bladder. After a trip
to the bathroom I was thirsty and went into the kitchen for a drink
of water. It was a vicious pregnancy cycle.

Looking past the back patio I saw Gideon’s
office light still burning. The old grandfather clock in the hall
chimed once.

I pushed my feet into a pair of boots, and
grabbed my coat off the wall hook, struggling with the arms as I
went through the back door. Halfway to the hospital I noticed the
door to the stable was inched open.

I know I shut it earlier. Was Gideon in
there? I switched direction to investigate. The lights were off,
but the moon was high and bright, giving me enough light to see my
way inside the stable. The door shut behind me. I gave a start,
looking to my left then to the right.

Sampson snorted, tapping his foot. He did
that when something bothered him. I went to him, rubbing his nose
with my fingers.

“What is it boy?” I whispered.

He perked his ears and that’s when I heard
the faint sound of hurried footsteps. Not Gideon. I knew the sound
of his approach. Instinct told me to run, hide. There was a huge
mountain of hay that had been delivered earlier. Cort and a few
hands were supposed to take care of it in the morning. I barely
made it behind the stack when I heard the squeak of the door open
and the muted clap of it shutting.

* * * *

Cass was to my right. If he kept coming
around that way I might have a shot at making it to the door. I
inched my way around the piles of hay, slowly so I wouldn’t make
any noise.

“What do I spy with my little eye?” He was
behind me. The hay still separated us. I knew he couldn’t see me in
the darkness of the barn. Who did he see?

“Ah!” he cried out. I heard hissing and then
his cursing. “Stupid cat! Get it off!” Good girl, Esmerelda! The
cat was good for something, finally. I took the opportunity and ran
full out for the door.

Running wasn’t as easy as I thought. With all
my extra belly weight slowing me down I was panting in fear as I
cleared the door, finding myself in the middle of the yard. My
first thought was for Gideon. I ran for the hospital.

I heard the stable door swing open and crash
against the barn wall. He was coming. I couldn’t run any faster. My
legs were already sluggish. I pushed myself harder. I reached out
for the door knob only to half it slip from my grasp as Cass pulled
me back by my hair.

I screamed, a blood curdling shout.

Cass whipped me around, his hands moving to
my shoulders, digging into my flesh despite the thick woolen coat.
His eyes were flashing with an unearthly glow.

“Arden. Calm down, it’s me. It’s Cass. I’ve
come to rescue you.” He hugged me tight, pressing the length of my
body to his as he rubbed my back. It only took him seconds to
recognize something was off.

“They’ve been feeding you good.” He laughed
bitterly. “Here I was...worried sick about you, and you’ve been
living high on the hog here in Mayberry.”

In a stroke of extremely bad timing the baby
gave a hard kick. Cass jumped away from me, gasping. The buttons on
my coat popped off as he ripped it open, revealing my
condition.

“What the—what’s wrong with you?” He
bellowed. I guess he wasn’t worried about anyone hearing him. This
made me frantic to find Gideon.

“It’s a baby,” I said dryly, trying my best
to sound unaffected by his presence.

“I can see that, smart mouth,” he snarled. “I
guess I don’t have to ask if you’d been taken advantage of.”

“I wasn’t raped, if that’s what you’re
asking.” I rolled my eyes. He hated that. But I needed time to
formulate a plan. Whether it would work, only time would tell.

I saw the storm clouds gathering in his eyes.
“You little slut! I searched high and low for you for over a year!
And here you are, carrying some other man’s child!” He was
screeching like a berserk owl.

I jerked free of his hold, surprising him.
But he quickly snatched me back, and with more force than I can
remember him having, he backhanded me across the face.

He released my arm, letting me fall to the
hard ground. I scraped the palms of my hands, bracing my body so I
wouldn’t fall on my stomach.

“How?” I gasped. “How did you find me?”

“You’re stupid!” he yelled. “That’s how. You
should have known better than to have that old man hock your
wedding rings.”

Old man? Hock my rings? “What are you talking
about?” I heaved myself up to stand, my hands wrapped protectively
over my belly.

“A Mr. Les Houghton pawned your rings, back
in January. It took about a month for me to get the heads up
because this Podunk town is so slow with their APB’s. I almost
didn’t come. I never thought you’d have made it this far. I bet
that’s an interesting story. You’ll have to tell me all about it on
the way home.”

That’s what Les was doing in my room that
night. He was stealing. I should have hidden those cursed rings
better.

Cass grasped my arm, shoving me in front of
him.

“How’d you get in?” I asked, slowing my walk,
stalling for time.

“You mean, how’d I get past Barney Fife?
Please. I’m a seasoned pro in one of the most crime-ridden cities
in America. I’m nothing if not resourceful.”

I didn’t doubt it.

“Oh quit looking at me like that. He’s still
breathing. I drugged his coffee. Poor slob had a routine. Never
came out here without stopping at that bakery—the one with those
fantastic brownie bars—I slipped a little goodnight mickey into his
coffee.” We were walking toward the driveway as if we were taking a
leisurely moonlight stroll.