We reached her street, and she pulled up outside of the house. She shut off the engine, and I reached across her to yank the keys out of the ignition.
It was late, no one else around, which was a good thing as I climbed out of the car and went around to the driver’s side. I pulled open the door and reached inside and dragged Jolie out by her arm.
I held her against me and twisted to face the house. Then I leaned in and growled against her ear.
“Welcome home, Jolie.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Being back in this house made me weak and shaky. The place was in darkness and stank of mold. The furniture remained in the same places, sunken and half eaten by moths and mice.
Everywhere I looked, memories jumped out at me from dark corners and hidden crannies. There was the place we’d eaten our family meals. There was the mark on the walls where Reece and I had measured how much we’d grown. There was the corner where my mother had tucked herself up to read every evening. It was bad enough that I was being followed by a man with a gun, but now I had to deal with the emotional onslaught of my family home as well.
Hayden nodded at the floor. “Sit. We need to make a little video.”
We were in the hallway, and I lowered myself to the floor, my back pressed up against the wall.
Hayden took out his phone. “How will your father know where you are? I want one line. Nothing that will give it away to anyone else.”
My mind spun, empty. I shook my head. “I can’t think of anything.”
“Try harder.”
I looked around and spotted something. “I won’t need to say anything,” I said. “Just get a little bit of the wallpaper behind me into the shot.”
I must have looked a mess. My face was tear-streaked, and I pushed back my hair to reveal the cut I’d received from walking into the wall a couple of days ago. The dim light meant the bruising beneath my eyes was further darkened.
“What are you talking about?”
“The moment he sees this, he’ll recognize the wallpaper. My mother hated this wallpaper. She nagged him every weekend to strip it and redecorate, and he never did it. As long as you get some of it in the shot, he’ll know where I am.”
Hayden pointed the gun at me. “You’d better be telling the truth.”
“I am, I swear.”
“Fine.”
“Don’t make me use this,” he warned, lifting the weapon. “Put on a good show, or you’ll force me to hurt you for real.”
I nodded, believing him. I’d kidded myself for too long that there was a part of Hayden’s soul that could be saved. If he was willing to shoot me, whatever kindness he’d shown me before meant nothing.
He held up his phone, ready to take a video. “Go.”
I didn’t need to put on a show. I looked into the camera, tears pooling in my eyes and spilling down my face. “Dad, a man has me. He’s hurting me. He says you’re the only person who can save me. I need you. Please come. Come quickly.”
Hayden lowered the phone. “Good.”
He ducked his head, swiping at the screen, no doubt sending the video clip to whoever would get it to my father.
“Now what?” I dared to ask.
He lifted his cool, green gaze to mine. “Now we wait.”
Hayden paced the house, while I dozed, sitting on the floor. The noise of the city made me realize how quiet it had been both in Hayden’s house and then on the boat. I’d never noticed it being loud here when I’d been a child, but now it almost felt deafening.
The hours passed. Hayden brought me some water, and I made my excuses and used the bathroom, though he didn’t let me go without me leaving the door open a crack, and with the barrel of the gun pointing through the gap. When I’d finished, I came back out and took up my place back on the floor.
The shrill ring of a phone made me jump, and Hayden pulled his cell from his pocket and answered. He listened and then said, “Yes, right. Got it.”
He hung up.
I stared at him, wide-eyed. “What is it?”
“It worked, Jolie. Your father has escaped. Now we just have to see if he ever loved you enough to want to save you.”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t know how this was going to go, but one thing was a definite possibility.
I was going to see my father again.
THE END
TO BE CONTINUED! PRE-order ‘Tattered Souls’, the thrilling climax of this sexy, heart-wrenching, dark romance series now from Amazon and have it magically drop onto your kindle on the 17th of December!
About the Author
The author of more than thirty novels, she has been a full time author for the last six years. She predominantly writes paranormal romance and fantasy, but has branched into contemporary fiction as well.
If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk. To stay updated on all new releases and sales, just sign up to her newsletter! https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/g0x9r0
Also by the Author
The Monster Trilogy: A Dark Romance Series
DEFACED
DENIED
DELIVERED
Dark Codes: A Reverse Harem Series
Hacking Darkness
Unraveling Darkness
Decoding Darkness
Merging Darkness
The Mercenary Series:
The Choice She Made
The Lie She Told
The Trust She Gave
The Trap She Faced
A Vampire’s Thirst
Nikolai
Ivan
The Blood Courtesans Vampire Romance:
Stolen
The Serenity Series:
Alone (free first novel of the series!)
Buried
Captured
Dominion
Endless
THE COMPLETE SERIES BOXED SET
The Dhampyre Chronicles:
Twisted Dreams
Twisted Magic
The Spirit Shifters Series:
Autumn’s Blood (free first novel)
Saving Autumn
Autumn Rising
Avenging Autumn
Autumn’s End
THE COMPLETE SERIES BOXED SET
Contemporary Fiction Novels
NO SECOND CHANCES
DIRTY SHOTS
CUT TOO DEEP
SURVIVOR
THE SOUND OF CRICKETS
Dark Fantasy/horror novels:
UNDERLIFE
THE DARK ROAD
Broken Minds
Bad Blood: Book Two
Copyright © 2018 Marissa Farrar
Warwick House Press
Edited by Lori Whitwam
Cover art by Marissa Farrar
Typography by Covers by Combs
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Publisher’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Als
o by Marissa Farrar
A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance
Stolen
Bad Blood
Broken Minds
The Dark Ridge Wolves
Wolf Snatched
Wolf Torn
Wolf Betrayed
The Dhampyre Chronicles
Twisted Dreams
Twisted Magic
The Mercenary Series
The Choice She Made
The Lie She Told
The Trust She Gave
The Trap She Faced
The Monster Trilogy
Defaced (A Dark Romance Novel)
Denied
Delivered
Caged Bird: The Monster Trilogy
The Serenity Series
Alone
Buried
Captured
Dominion
Endless
The Complete Serenity Series
The Spirit Shifters
Autumn's Blood
Saving Autumn
Autumn Rising
Autumn's War
Avenging Autumn
Autumn's End
Standalone
Where the Dead Live
Underlife
The Sound of Crickets
Cut Too Deep
Of Blood & Moon
Survivor
Three (An Alpha Male Boxed Set)
The Spirit Shifters: The Complete Series
The Monster Trilogy: The Complete Series
The Dark Ridge Wolves: Books 1-3