Into the Storm (33 page)

Because I was trapped here.

We were both trapped in our own living hell.

A few hours later, I stared at the three people sitting with me at the table. Cecilia and Trevor had arrived with Frank. I had heard the helicopter approaching and was surprised but grateful to see Frank with them when the door opened. I was calmer and resolute. Rabbit needed to come home. With Frank here we could figure out how.

“
The car is Elizabeth’s?” I repeated what Frank just told me.

Frank shook his head. “Ms. Allen, or Tracy, refuses to call her that. She knew her as Lizzy when they were young and they kept in contact after she moved here. I think she is probably one of the only people Elizabeth knew outside her marriage. She says the Lizzy she knew and the Elizabeth James she became are two different people.”

I nodded in understanding.

Rabbit.

Lizzy.

Lizzy suited her far more than the formal Elizabeth.

Frank continued. “When she moved to Toronto, Lizzy got in contact with her again and they saw each other quite a bit. Until she started dating Brian. Lizzy came to her not long after she was married and asked if she would accept ownership of the car. Apparently, the car didn’t fit the image she was supposed to project and Brian insisted she get rid of it. But it had been her mother’s and it held sentimental value to her. Tracy suspected there were other reasons as well for Lizzy wanting to know where the car was and agreed to the transfer. She drove the car occasionally to make sure it ran well and kept it full of gas. She also gave Lizzy the passcode to the garage where it was parked and left a spare set of keys in it at all times.

“
Why?”

“
She had a bad feeling. She said she met Brian James once and disliked him intensely. ‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing’ she called him. She was hardly surprised when she wasn’t invited to the wedding. She was shocked at the difference in Lizzy’s appearance and demeanor when she saw her shortly after her marriage.” Frank paused, his fingers drumming on the file in front of him.

“
She never seemed to be able to get together with Lizzy anymore. There was always an excuse. Lizzy insisted she was just very busy with her new life, but Tracy didn’t buy it. She was sure Brian had forbidden Lizzy to see her any longer.” He looked at me. “The last time she saw Lizzy, she didn’t like the explanation for the cast on her arm, and she called her on it. After that, their only communication was the occasional email. But Tracy never stopped letting her know her car was there, waiting, if she needed it. That she was there if she ever needed her.”

I stood up so abruptly my chair flew back, hitting the floor loudly. I strode over to the sink, trying to remain calm. I could feel the clenching of my chest as the implications of what he said sank in. The first picture in the book was of her arm in a cast. Now I knew how long it had been going on. I looked down trying to concentrate on keeping my breathing even and I saw my hands were clenched so tightly on the edge of the sink that my knuckles were white.

Cecilia came up behind me. “Joshua?” Her hand squeezed my shoulder. “What is it?”

I spun around. “She’s been abused for almost two years. She’s been frightened for
two years,
Cecilia. And, I sent her back there. I sent her back to that.” Angrily, I pushed the small journal over to Cecilia.

She opened it and gasped. Trevor came to her side instantly, and I heard their murmured words of disbelief at what they were seeing. Cecilia set the book back down on the counter. When she spoke, her voice was shaking.

“
You did what you thought was right, Joshua. You didn’t know. None of us did.” She drew in a quivering breath. “We were all wrong, Joshua.”

I exploded.

“
But it was my decision! It wasn’t right! It was never
right
! In my gut, I knew that! I did it for all the wrong reasons. Because I was stupid! I actually
let
myself believe his story. I actually assumed that because I love her like I do, that someone else must as well.” I paused, looking at Cecilia, my voice dropping.

“
I sent her away because I was trying to protect myself.”

“
What are you talking about?”

“
I thought it would be easier for her to leave on my terms rather than have her wake up three months from now and remember her other life and have to let her go then. I always assumed I would have to give her up eventually. I never had the faith in us that she did.”

“
But it wasn’t easier, was it?” Cecilia asked softly. “Because you love her.”

I sighed. “So much, Cecilia.” I looked at her and shook my head. “And no, it wasn’t any fucking easier. And, now I’ve put her in danger. I’m terrified it will be too late to get her out of there.”

I lowered my head. “This is
all
on me, Cecilia.”

Frank stood up. “Stop thinking like that. Get your ass back over here, Joshua. We need to figure out how to get her out of danger. How to get her back here where she belongs.”

I looked over at Frank and straightened my shoulders.

He was right.

I needed to do this.

The house was quiet. Everyone had crashed for the night. I sat gazing into the fire, Bear beside me; his huge head nestled against my leg. I didn’t even bother trying to go to bed. My mind was too chaotic.

My desire to simply go in and take her was vetoed. So many things could happen. Rabbit could get hurt or even worse. If we failed, we’d never get another chance. Trevor calmly pointed out that even though we had photos, none of them showed Rabbit’s face. Going to the police might start an investigation, but we needed Rabbit to be able to verify the claims. If Brian found out what was happening, Rabbit would be in a vulnerable position. Even more so than she was now. I couldn’t allow that. I couldn’t put her in more danger.

But Trevor and Frank’s idea of getting Rabbit out of Brian’s hands should work.

I knew the plan would work if everything was handled properly. If everyone played their part and we took it slowly and made sure that we covered all the bases.

Then Rabbit would come home and then we could go after James. But not until she was safe.

I had to believe that was what she wanted. Even if she didn’t remember now, I knew it was only a matter of time before she did. But she was still in danger. Something she did or said would push him over the edge and he would go after her. Of that fact I was certain.

Remembering the broken, battered woman I had found, I shuddered.

I had to make her safe. I needed her back with me. I prayed she would forgive me.

I stared into the flames, remembering the words Rabbit had spoken as she stood in front of me, defiant and angry by the truck.

‘
You will beat this someday, I know you will. Something will finally be reason enough for you to overcome what those bastards did to you.’

She was the reason. For her I had to beat this.

Monday night I was unable to sleep again and paced around the house feeling unsettled and restless. Suddenly, breaking the quiet of the night, the computer speakers upstairs started up with a droning sound indicating a call had come through on the automated, private line I had installed.

The one I had encrypted on Rabbit’s card.

I stood listening, my hands gripping the back of the sofa.

She’d figured it out. She needed me. I could hear it from the little sharp intakes of air in the silence of the dark night. I didn’t need to hear her voice to know it was her. Her frightened gasps told me she was scared. I wished I could pick up the phone and comfort her. But there was no way to answer the line, only leave messages.

My head fell into my hands. “I’m coming, Rabbit,” I promised into the dark.

The days passed agonizingly slowly. Eating and sleeping were next to impossible. Especially after hearing the messages Rabbit left on the line the following days. Her frightened voice broke my heart and I wanted to go and get her right away. But Frank and Trevor convinced me we had to do this right. We now had people following Rabbit’s watchdogs and had even hacked into their email accounts and schedules so we already knew where she was going to be and when. Because of this information, we had the right day, the right time and the right location. She wasn’t as closely watched at the hospital. The layout made it impossible for her to walk out without being seen, so her watchdog would be sitting downstairs waiting for her. But we weren’t going out through the doors. We were going up. The helipad at the hospital would provide us with a quick way in and out.