A Fresh Start (39 page)

“What’s wrong?”

She rolled her eyes before she could stop herself, then quickly added, “I’m tired. I didn’t sleep well last night, and the rashes are really irritating. And this cardigan.” She sighed, pushing her shoulders back. “It’s making the rashes worse.”

She prayed her answer was enough. His ‘what’s wrong’ tended to be a prelude to his outbursts. Outbursts that she didn’t have the strength to handle at the moment.

Watching his eyes for any sign of displeasure or derangement, she sighed quietly when he gave her a smile.

“We’ll talk about the wedding when we get back later, when you’re feeling better. Done?”

She nodded. Taking both their bowls, she went over to wash them by the sink.

“I got it.” Daniel hurried over. “Let’s try to avoid doing anything that would aggravate your rashes.”

Paige allowed him to take over the washing and returned to her seat. She had just sat down when she noticed Daniel taking a glimpse of her as he looked over his shoulder. She straightened and wanted to prepare for whatever questions he would have for her.

Thankfully, she got some reprieve as they left the house and he drove them out of the isolated world he had trapped her in.
 

As subtly as she could, she memorized the way out. It was much further than the five miles she was used to, but God made adrenaline to overcome things like these.

She watched as shops and people emerged, but Daniel continued driving along without any reaction.

“I think you’re passing where we’re supposed to go.”

“I’m driving you to a better doctor.”

All the feign smiling she’d learned from work came in handy.

Smiling sweetly, she nodded while wondering if he thought she was eight.

He didn’t want to drive her some place near so that even if she did get help, the police wouldn’t be able to locate them easily.

She didn’t dare to take a good look out at where they were driving past, but she didn’t catch the Scoops signboard she saw last night.

When they got to the clinic, Daniel told her to take a seat while he handled the registration.

She spent a moment trying to come up with an excuse to hang around and maybe take a peek at the address he was going to write. But there wasn’t really a point.

There was no way he would put their real address and he might suspect she was up to something.

So, she behaved. She didn’t protest when Daniel followed her into the doctor’s office. She answered the doctor’s question and kept a smile on her.

She behaved as they picked up the medication from the pharmacy and behaved when they went for lunch. She chatted with him and acted as casually as she could.

She still fidgeted here and there because of her sweater. She didn’t have to act out how uncomfortable she was, she genuinely wanted to tear her sweater and skin off.
 

Eventually, she got to go shopping.

Paige went to several stores. Though her eyes were on the clothes, she was paying careful attention to the sales staff. She hadn’t said much to any of them, but she was looking for someone who was smart enough to react appropriately and brave enough to help.

She ran her hand down several cardigans, pretending to judge its material before shaking her head at Daniel.
 

“Sorry I’m taking so long.”

“Don’t worry about it, I want you to get one that won’t irritate your skin.”

She smiled sweetly at him and moved on to the next clothing store. A few times while shopping, she noticed herself chewing on her inner cheeks between her teeth. Once she realized what she was doing, she made herself stop and resumed her smile.

Pushing the glass door framed with wooden panels, the bells on the door rang as she stepped into the clean and spacious store. The space relaxed her.

The racks weren’t overstuffed with clothes, and the lady in the store greeted her with a warm, affable smile instead of texting away on the phone.
 

“Hi, can I help you with anything?”

Paige scanned the place and answered, “I’m looking for a cardigan, something thin and comfortable.”

“You may want to look at this.” The lady led her over to a rack and took up a hanger with an off-white cardigan. “All our items are made of 100% cotton, so it’s soft and comfortable. And we don’t use the harsh bleaching chemicals. That’s why the cardigan isn’t completely white.”

“Aah, it is soft,” Paige said, dropping her hand from the cardigan’s sleeve and turning back to the rack. She needed to get into the changing room.

Her eyes searched the store.

Reaching over to the rack, she picked up a pastel yellow, three-quarter sleeve top.

“Would you like to try that, too? We don’t use chemical dyes. All the colored items are dyed using natural elements.”

“Can I try this?” she asked Daniel.

“Yes,” Daniel said from behind her.

Though she wasn’t in handcuffs, she was still clearly held captive. Daniel hovered close to her and held on to one of her hands at all time.

“Really?” She beamed at Daniel.

“Yeah.”

“The changing room is over there.”

With the clothes over her arms, Paige twirled the ring around her finger while she tried to keep the muscles on her face as relaxed as possible. A chill was once again invading her skin, conquering more area with each second.

She hastened her steps and closed the door behind her, remembering to flash a smile at Daniel before shutting it.
 

Once she slot the metal lock into place, she stepped back and leaned against the mirror. Burying her face in her hands, she breathed in and out heavily for a moment, then ran her hands through her hair.
 

There was no time to waste.

Slapping her cheeks lightly to get some color into her pale skin, She reached into her bra and took out the piece of paper she’d prepared that morning.

She folded the paper into the smallest piece she could manage.

Lord, please. Please let this work.

Checking the size of the top, she stretched it a little, took another few deep breaths, then opened the door and asked the lady if they had a smaller size.

As she handed the top over to the lady, Daniel’s hand stretched forward and intercepted it. He lifted up the top, checking through the front and back. When he was done, he gave the top a little shake before handing it over to the lady.

Several times, while Daniel was checking the top, the sales lady had turned to her with a frown, clearly confused with what was going on.

Paige had sneaked a peek at the sales lady, but she didn’t dare to give any reaction. She froze up and waited.

The only thing she could do was to clench her hands, her thumb pressing her ring into her index finger.
 

When Daniel finally turned to her with a smile, again behaving as if the moment before hadn’t happened, Paige could finally breathe.
 

The sales lady turned and went back to the rack, picking up a light green colored top of the same design. “Do you mind trying the size first? If it fits, I’ll get you a new piece from behind.” She handed it over to Paige, her eyes widening slightly.

 
Paige made sure she purse her lips together into a disappointed thin lip smile before she closed the door. She thanked God that she was as paranoid as he was, and thanked God for women’s intuition.

She checked the piece of paper she had stuck between her ring and her finger. “This is great,” she muttered and stepped out of the changing room. “This fits perfectly.” Paige held the clothes out toward the sales lady, but the lady only reached out for it when Daniel turned away.

He had registered her disappointment.

Taking that few seconds, she slipped the note out and handed it to the sales lady with the wildest look she could achieve.

The lady took her note and slipped it into her pocket just as Daniel turned around.

“Do you like this color? Or do you still prefer it in yellow?”

“Yellow, please.”

“All right, give me a minute.” The lady disappeared into the back.
 

Paige strolled around the shop, confident that she’d made the right choice.
 

The lady didn’t panic and reacted quickly when she received the note. But she was taking too long a time in the back.
 

“Why is she taking so long?” Daniel suddenly asked.
 

“I don’t know,” Paige answered without looking at Daniel, turning her attention to the rest of the items in the store. “She probably can’t find the top.” She paused, then swiveled around to face him. “Do you want to check up on her?”

“Here you go! I’m so sorry, my business partner is such a mess. Each time she goes back there, everything gets moved around.” She grinned brightly at them. “Would you like to check it first?”

“Nope, I’m sure it’s fine,” Paige said. Her fingers were still trembling.

“Let me check that for you.” The lady reached over to take the top she had just handed Paige.

“She said it’s fine; pack it up,” Daniel interrupted.

Please remain composed.

“Sure. I’m sorry if I seem pushy. My husband says sometimes I’m too friendly. I’m working on it. Do the two of you live around here? We’re thinking of a new membership—”

“No,” Daniel said curtly.

Paige gave Daniel a nudge, hoping to make it look as if he was being rude. “We drove a bit to get here.”

“Oh, I love chance meetings. I’m Sandra, by the way.” She stretched her hand over to Paige as the bill printed.

Taking her hand, Paige nodded with a smile. “Paige, and he’s Daniel.”

“It will be $78. If you were to sign up the membership with us, you’ll get a 10% discount on the spot,” Sandra teased.
 

Paige got what Sandra was doing. She’d probably called the cops while she was at the back of the store; that was why she took so long.

But it was getting rather obvious and Paige didn’t want Daniel to have one of his outbursts. He’d made it clear enough that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.

But he didn’t bring his gun out with him. It was still in the compartment by the car’s door.

“Just pack it up.”

She forced a smile as Daniel paid and took the paper bag that Sandra had placed the cardigan and top into.

Sandra hesitated for a moment. “All right. Have a good day ahead.”

“Thank you, Sandra.” Once out of the store, Paige quickly continued talking, “I can’t wait to get home and wash these.”

“And take your medicine.”

“Yes. If it isn’t for those pills, I don’t think I’ll have much skin left.” She scanned the streets and wondered if she should drag out the time by asking to get a cup of coffee or something.

Perhaps that way, the police could find her. Perhaps there wasn’t a need for the instructions she’d written. Perhaps she could even make a run for it right now.

She could run back to Sandra’s store and the two of them could barricade themselves inside, but she doubted the glass door was bulletproof.

Then there was the chance that he could grab her and force her back into the car.
 

She tried weighing the risks, then gave it further thoughts. She had one chance; she had to do it right.

Before she could make up her mind, she was standing in front of Daniel’s car.
 

Still holding onto her hand, he half-dragged her over to the passenger side and opened the door.
 

“Paige, get in,” Daniel moved his hand up and wrapped his finger tightly across her elbow, pushing her in.

Scanning the area again, she swallowed and entered the car. The police was nowhere in sight, and it was too late to run now.

If he hadn’t seen it himself, if anyone had told him, Justin wouldn’t believe the number of sex offenders who skip out on their parole. For one whole night, he and Andrew had been going through mug shots, flipping through pages after pages of sex offenders.

At first, Justin was confident he could recognize the fake Daniel even if there were changes to his appearance. But after a couple of pages, his eyes were getting dry and the faces were beginning to look alike.

By the time the sun was up, he was seeing double.

Mr. Seymour had dropped in on them with coffee and sandwiches and stayed to help. Justin would occasionally reach for the coffee, but he didn’t have any appetite to eat.

Stretching his back, he took another sip of coffee, only to find the cup empty.

He set the cup down and sighed.

What was the point of going through all these names? There was no way fake Daniel would buy the house under his real name.
 

He ran his hand through his hair.

God, help.
 

Andrew’s phone rang at the same moment. All their heads snapped toward Andrew as he picked up the call. “Shawn, you’re on speaker.”

“After all these years, Paige is still the smartest girl I know. Someone reported a possible kidnap of a Paige Watson. There’s a note with some directions on it, I’ll forward you the picture. I’m getting my tech to run the directions she gave and see if we can find anything.”

Justin broke into a grin.
She’s fine.

“Who reported it?”

“A shop owner. Paige dropped in with a guy beside her. The guy was behaving quite strangely, then Paige secretly handed her the note. The shop owner called the cops and tried to keep them around in the store.”

“Security footage?”

“They don’t have that. My tech is looking at traffic cameras around the area. Maybe we’ll get lucky. I’ll get back to you when he gets something.”

Andrew turned off the speaker. Almost instantly, a text message came in.

Andrew took a glance at it and grinned, shaking his head.

“What?” Justin shifted to peer over at the phone.

“I used to be obsessed with spy books; codes and all. And I used to pass notes to Paige with all the different styles of codes I learned,” Andrew said. “Look at the dots under the letters. It spells out ‘I am fine’.”