Abandoning the Rules (7 page)

CHAPTER ten

BREE dropped Adam off at the village square where their journey had begun only the day before, although it seemed like a lifetime had passed since, and started the drive home.

On the way, she pondered the wisdom of their plan. She was nervous about going home and imp
lementing the plan Adam’s detective friend, Tony, had suggested. It was risky, but if they were to prove Steven’s culpability in Ben’s disappearance, she had to do it. Then she could be free at last.

Of course, it could also go horribly wrong. It was that thoug
ht that had her stomach clutching nervously.

In Adam’s arms, she was courageo
us and willing to battle her demons, but faced with Steven’s wickedness on her own, her bravado was quickly failing.

Adam had called Tony first thing the next morning and he had filled her in on all he knew. It wasn’t much, but it had provided some clues as to what she should be looking for.

Tony had rattled off a list of incriminating items, clothing, documents she had never heard of, and personal items of Ben’s. It was horrifying to realize she may have inadvertently caused him harm just by getting involved with him.

He had
also emphasized how dangerous the situation was and had tried to get her to let the police handle it. She’d refused. If Steven was the man Tony thought he was, he didn’t deserve her loyalty. She would be doing society a favor by providing the evidence the cops needed to arrest him.

Tony had also inadvertently cleared up a few questions she had
had about Adam and his knowledge of Ben. Tony and his partner had presumed Ben was deceased and had been for some time based on what they had collected so far. What she hadn’t been clear on, was why Tony had been talking to Adam about the case in the first place. Tony assured her it had been mere coincidence that brought their conversation around to Ben.

In the cour
se of casual male bonding over beer and pool, Adam had confessed his love for her and the problems they faced. He’d guiltily confided her marital status. Out of curiosity, Tony had asked the name of the woman who had captured his buddy’s heart and had been understandably shocked to find out it was the wife of a suspect he had been trying to nail for over ten years.

What she hadn’t mentioned to Adam or Tony was that she knew where Steven kept h
is secrets. Steven didn’t know of course, she had learned a long time ago not to reveal too much. But she knew where to start looking.

Chills raced down her spine.

What would she find in Steven’s safe? He didn’t know she knew about it, but years of abuse had taught her a few things. Like how to install and use a hidden camera in their bedroom. It hadn’t been easy to record him as he furtively entered the numbers; the safe was shielded by a gaudy portrait Steven insisted was an antique. She’d never once assumed she would be using it for this purpose.

The immediate issue
she faced now was explaining her overnight absence. Steven didn’t usually care where she spent her time unless he suspected she was doing something to cause him to lose face with his powerful friends. Anxiousness over the new situation caused her considerable distress over how to explain her absence without appearing guilty.

Adam had suggested she tell him she had spent a q
uiet night at a hotel and spa as she had done on previous occasions. The idea had merit. It was part of her normal routine in the summer. The problem was she normally informed Steven beforehand.

Bree worried her lower lip as she contemplated Steven’s reaction. Sometimes he could be so volatile and violent, other times he pretended to be kind and magnanimous. Which Steven would greet her today?

There was only one way to find out. She braced herself for the evening ahead.

After a few traffic snarls, she made it home to the white clapboard mons
trosity Steven had chosen for their home and that she had always hated. It mocked her with its cold façade, but she bravely pulled into the garage and parked, noting Steven’s Mercedes in its usual spot.

Damn. She had hoped for a few minutes alone to collect herself. But it wasn’t to be and putting it off wasn’t going to ease the pressure expanding through her chest.

Knowing she had to put on an Emmy award winning performance, she gathered her belongings and went inside to face him.

The house was quiet, almost unnaturally so. Steven’s keys and shoes
were carelessly dropped in their usual spot, but he wasn’t in his customary place in front of the television, where he spent most of his time when home.

Breathing a
sigh of relief, she rushed up the stairs to their bedroom to put her packages away. She hoped to freshen up. Steven hated it when she didn’t look her best and with only a quick shower before leaving Adam’s and no makeup on, she knew it wouldn’t satisfy his fussy requirements. It no longer mattered if she filled his expectations, but old habits died hard. The last thing she needed was to arouse any more suspicion than necessary tonight.

She hurried through her preparations, casting anxious glances over her shoulder the whole time. Steven had a bad habit of sneaking up on her and she had no desire to be caught off guard today of all days.

Once finished, she locked the bedroom door and approached the safe, the combination seared into her memory. With shaking fingers, she entered the electronic code.

With an audible click,
the lock released.

Bree sucked air into her lungs and stared at the contents. She had known the combination
for some time now, but hadn’t worked up the courage to use it; she had been living in deep denial. It had sheltered her when she hadn’t been able to face the truth.

She reached in and grabbed the stack of document
s haphazardly piled atop a carved wooden box. Scanning the pile, she saw it was the usual assortment of paperwork; birth certificates, house deeds, vehicle titles, Social Security cards, and stacks of bank bonds. She put them aside to look at later.

The box was what had her curious.

Hefting it in her hand-it couldn’t have weighed more than a pound-she lifted the lid and frowned.

Why would Steven save an old watch
, house keys, and a letter?

She picked up the watch and exami
ned it. Cheaply made with a frayed leather band, it wasn’t much to look at and had clearly been well worn by its owner.

Flipping it over, she squinted
at the initials etched into the tarnished silver back
.

B. M. F.

Love Always,

E. R. F.

Ben Matthew Finley and Elizabeth Rose Finley. Ben’s deceased parents. Dimly, she remembered Ben showing her the watch and commenting it was the only thing he had left of his parents.

Ben wasn’t careless. He wouldn’t have lost the only link he had left to his parents. Not willingly.

She glanced around furtively before tucking the watch into her pocket and picking up the keys.

One look and any remaining doubts she had concerning Steven’s responsibility for
Ben’s…disappearance were erased. To what degree remained to be seen.

The number nine was prominently displayed on a sticker barely hanging on t
o the metal of the largest key. The address at Ben’s small rental. Another, a black topped Chevrolet key, matched the make of Ben’s car.

Her stomach heaved. She held in the urge to vomit by sheer force of will, now was not the time to fall apart. Her first concern was to ensure Beth and Josh came out
of this as unscathed as possible and they wouldn’t if she couldn’t keep it together.

She added the keys to the watch in her pocket, grabbed th
e letter and the bank bonds, folded them into fourths and shoved them into a small pocket in her purse. Spying her cell phone in the cluttered contents, she slipped it into her other pocket.

A brief internal struggle ensued as
she questioned the advisability of removing evidence, but if she left it she ran the risk of Steven removing it, which would get her nowhere.

Closing and locking the
safe, she attempted to breathe normally, but it was a pointless endeavor. She had to make it to her car and out of the garage, then she’d call Tony and tell him what she’d found. She prayed it was enough; it had to be, she wasn’t cut out for this level of deception now that she knew what Steven was capable of.

Gathering her thoughts and her purse-she had to act as natural as
possible; just a normal evening out-she left the room, walked to the stairs and stopped.

Steven waited for her at the botto
m
.

CHAPTER eleven

“WHERE
have you been?” he demanded.

Heart hammering in he
r chest, Bree forced herself to meet his glare, her insides churning in fear.

Raising her chin, she replied coolly, “I went to Stargazer’s Spa. I told you about it last week.”

He eyed her speculatively but kept his silence.

She walked down
on trembling legs and stopped on the last tread, unable to move around his bulk. She waited for him to move.

He didn’t flinch.

“What time is dinner?”

She forced out a brittle laugh.

“Did you forget Beth and Josh are at camp? You know I don’t cook when they’re gone. Order something, I’m going out.”

She attempted to sweep past him with her head up, hoping for a quick escape.

His hand snaked out and grabbed her elbow, stopping her in her tracks.

“Where are you going?”

“Really, Steven, you’re being ridiculous. Tonight is my book club meeting; we meet at the library every week at this time.”

She tried to dislodge her arm, but he held fast.

“What if I want you to stay home and cook dinner? Are you going to put those snooty women above me and my needs?”

Bree sighed. She hated it when he was petulant. It never boded well.

“I am not putting them above you, Steven. I have commitments. I am bringing the main dish for our potluck, how would it look if I didn’t show?”

Steven wasn’t nearly as handsome as he h
ad been as a teenager. With sunny blond hair and sparkling blue-eyes, he had charmed all the girls. Now the permanently pinched scowl he wore combined with his arrogance turned him into a different person altogether, one whose looks managed to match the ugly personality inside.

He leaned in closer and adjusted his grip on her arm, tighter, of course, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

Shit.

“You cook for them, but don’t have time to cook for me?” he said, his voice low and unassuming.

She knew better than to trust his tone. Still, she refused to show the fear clawing through her veins at the implied threat in his voice and stance, but oh, how she wanted to run away from this man and every vile secret he had ever kept and by extension, had forced her to keep.

“In case you didn’t notice, I haven’t cooked at all,” she said her voice amazingly normal even though her stomach was liquid with fear. “However, I do have to pay the caterer tonight. Otherwise it will look like I didn’t show
and
didn’t pay. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be late.”

He stared at her hard.

She didn’t even blink. If her life was going to be reduced to one moment in time, this was the one moment she absolutely could not blow it. She was no longer just facing the possibility of stitches and a hospital stay-not when she knew he was a monster in hiding-no, next time he wanted to teach her a lesson could very well be her last.

He must have seen something in her eyes he found
satisfactory because he stepped back, releasing her arm in the process.

Bree’s breath whooshed out silently.

“Fine. I expect dinner to be ready tomorrow night when I get home.”

Bree looked away before nodding, “of course.”

Quaking inside, she walked to the garage. Fumbling blindly in her purse, she located her keys, hit the automatic door lock, and slid into the car. Just a few more minutes and she could make the call that could change her life forever.

Please God, let it be enough
.

CHAPTER twelve

SHE clicked the automatic garage door opener and tried to slide the key into the ignition with wobbly hands, turning an easy task into a monumental one.

With an urgency bordering on hysteria, she gave it one last try and finally succeeded. The relief was instantaneous
as the engine roared to life even if short-lived. She had a long way to go before she could claim victory.

Placing her purse and the precious evidence inside containing her ticket to freedom on the passenger seat, she put the car in reverse, checked her mirrors, and screamed…

Steven. Oh God, Steven.

He motioned for her to roll the window down.

Bree didn’t want to. In fact, there were about a million other things she could think of that she wanted to do besides roll down the window for the sadistic murderer currently passing for her husband, but she reached for the button and watched him warily as the window descended between them.

“What were you doing in my safe?” he barked.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

She searched her brain for a plausible excuse, anything that would detract him from questioning her further.

“What safe?” Bree asked, screwing her face into a puzzled frown.

Steven pierced her with a look that clearly said he knew she was lying.

“Don’t bullshit me. What were doing nosing around in my personal property?”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t even know you had a safe!”

He jerked open the door and yanked her out of the car, pulling her so close she could see the spittle on his lips. She was hyperaware of the watch and keys in her pocket.

Bree yelped before remembering who she was dealing with. Of course she had always been afraid of Steven-how could she not be afraid of a man who hit her?-but now there was layer of menace to his face she hadn’t seen before, a demon hiding under the handsome veneer.

She swallowed the rest of her protest and resisted the urge to run for all she was worth. It was only the thought of the evidence that kept her rooted to the spot, determined to see it through to the bitter end.

“Then explain to me why your footprints lead straight to the safe?”

Footprints? Bree struggled to remember if she had left tracks in the carpet. Probably. It had been foolish of her not to check the carpet. How was she supposed to know though? It’s not like she spied on her husband everyday.

“Steven,
I was in our room getting ready. I’m sure I left footprints all over the place.”

He studied her in silence for a moment, his expression inscrutable.

“I didn’t tell you the safe was in our room.”

Oh. Right. He hadn’t. She’d royally screwed up this time.

“Our room is the only room I went into, it’s only logical for me to assume that’s what you meant.”

Steven eyed her warily.

She sincerely hoped he bought the lies tumbling from her lips with such ease she marveled at her ability to deceive.

“What book is your little “club” discussing this week?”

She went blank. Her muddled thoughts were having trouble keeping up with the rapid change in topic. Steven didn’t read a lot, but she was sure if she lied he would catch her. It was just the way her luck was going tonight.

“We finished reading J.K. Rowling’s new book,
The Casual Vacancy,
and plan to discuss it tonight.”

She chose a book they had read earlier in the year, hoping he wouldn’t ask too many questions.

“Didn’t you already read that one?”

Christ
, trust Steven to start paying attention now.

“Some of us did. A few of
the other members didn’t finish in time and asked for another discussion.”

She pulled another lie out of the swirling whirlpool of thoughts in her mind.

“Sounds like you ought to jettison those losers if they can’t keep up,” he sneered.

Straining to keep her emotions in check, Bree resisted the temptation to peek at her open purse sitting on the passenger seat. What if Steven got nosey? The outcome if he did would not end well for her.

“They aren’t losers. Some people just read slower than others.”

Steven pushed her away with a snort of disgust.

She stumbled before righting herself. It always started like this. An angry word, an accusation, and then…she shuddered, not wanting to go there.

“Whatever. I don’t see why you have to go. Call the caterer and have them run your credit card.”

Fuck. What was she going to do now? She could refuse, but at what price? He would grow even more suspicious and take it out on her.

“I have commitments, but if it’s really important, I’ll stay home.”

She wanted to choke on the bitter and vile words coming out of her mouth. Bowing and scraping to his needs and ignoring her own had turned her into the sniveling woman now cowering before her man. What choice did she have though? Steven expected to get his way. If she behaved any differently, he would know the difference.

“I just said so, didn’t I?”

Holding out a hand, he waited for her to take it.

Bree swallowed hard. She did not want to take the hand of a cold-blooded murderer. Never mind what else he was guilty of.

“Hold on, let me get my purse.”

“You can get it later,” he snapped.

She looked at the pinched lines around his mouth before nodding.

“At least let me turn the car off.”

“Oh, for fucks sake,” he snarled and stomped to the car. Leaning in, he twisted the keys out of the ignition and slipped them into his pocket
.