Annabelle Meets The Highlander (Scottish Highlander I Never Knew #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

A nnabelle stared at her phone, her jaw ticking. There was a tension in her shoulders that only he could cause her. She glanced around the San Francisco Police Department’s detective pool, wondering how she’d gotten here. She was a decorated police detective and yet, she had found herself stuck in a dead-end engagement to a bastard of a man who did nothing but manipulate and abuse her.

Where are you? You were supposed to be home an hour ago!

She read the text again, wishing she could just escape him. Wishing she could get away and leave him. She loved her job, but at this point, she would even leave it to get away from him. She’d tried leaving Edward before, but he always found her and manipulated her back into his clutches. Logically, she knew she should end things, get a restraining order, and block him on all social media. The problem was she knew the reality of doing all of that. She saw it weekly in her line of work. Women who’d tried to escape, who did everything right, and still ended up dead because the men they were with weren’t capable of acting like human beings.

She set the phone aside and didn’t bother answering. She refocused on the cold case she was working on, taking notes on the case, looking for something that would give her a new direction to go on it.

As she sat at her desk, surrounded by stacks of case files, Devon Blake, another detective approached with a lighthearted smile. "You're burning the midnight oil again, Annabelle?" he quipped, his tone playful.

Annabelle glanced up, offering a tired yet warm smile in return. “I don’t know about midnight oil, but yeah, trying to find a lead on this cold case. I don’t want to go home while I’m in the middle of it, you know?”

Devon chuckled, nodding in understanding. “I get it. It’s like a puzzle and you’ve got a piece you are determined to make fit.” He nodded. “Good luck, I hope you find it.”

“Me too,” Annabelle said before she returned to her work.

Annabelle continued to work, ignoring every chime of her phone that she knew was another message from Edward. She knew he was getting angrier the faster the chimes happened. Eventually he’d come looking for her. She definitely didn’t want that. Didn’t want her colleagues hearing him berate her in front of them because she wasn’t home to fix him dinner. Her job was the only thing that kept her sane and she didn’t want him ruining that.

He'd ruined everything else in her life. He’d driven her friends away when they’d first started dating, claiming they took up too much of her time and she never had time for him. So she’d stopped seeing them and eventually they dropped away from her life. She had no family, so he hadn’t needed to isolate her from them. The only thing left was her job, and he’d been trying for years now to get her to quit that.

Edward wanted to know where she was twenty-four-seven. He wanted to know who she was talking to, what she was saying, and if she was doing something he wouldn’t approve of, which was pretty much everything. He didn’t like her wearing clothes that were too tight, not that she did that, but he always claimed her blouses were showing too much, or her pants showed off her curves too much.

She was a half-Latina woman, the curves were natural, but he constantly tried to tell her she needed to diet and slim down. He didn’t want her eating anything but salad and vegetables, and that just wasn’t what she liked. He was always picking at her, manipulating her, whining at her about his needs and how she wasn’t meeting them. It was exhausting.

Five more texts came through in quick succession and she knew if she didn’t get out of there, he’d show up. Without reading the texts, she shoved the phone in her purse, stacked up her files and locked them in her desk, then headed out to her car.

Minutes later, Annabelle left the precinct and drove to the grocery store. The looming aisles of canned goods and various essentials greeted her with their fluorescent glow, as the bustle of other shoppers hurriedly attempted to get last minute things for their own dinners.

As she loaded her cart with provisions for the evening meal, she couldn't shake the gnawing frustration that had been building within her for far too long. She wanted out. She wanted to escape and move far, far away where he couldn’t find her and bring her back. It was an impossible thought though. She had nowhere to go and no way to get there. Edward controlled everything, including her bank account which she had naively added him to when they first moved in together.

Finally, with her grocery bags packed and her mind still mired in contemplation, Annabelle returned to her car. She was tired and frustrated with her life. She didn’t want to go home to Edward, but she didn’t seem to have a choice. If she didn’t return, he’d come looking for her. He was probably already on his way, tracking her via her phone.

Putting the key in the ignition, Annabelle tried to turn the car on, but all it did was click. Frowning, she looked at the panel. All the lights were on, the gas tank was more than half-full, but it wouldn’t start. She twisted the key again, but nothing happened.

Uttering a string of annoyed words, Annabelle fumbled for her phone. She had no choice but to call Edward for help, a decision that filled her with trepidation.

“Where the fuck are you, Annabelle? I swear to fuck you can’t do shit right! I am starving to death, and you aren’t here!”

Annabelle pulled the phone from her ear and waited for his shouts to end before she said, “I had to stop at the store, and now my car won’t start.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You stupid bitch, you didn’t put gas in it, did you. Just like you to forget doing something so basic! And now I’m going to go hungry because you are so useless you can’t even do something so easy as put gas in your car!” he ranted.

“There is gas in it, Edward. It just won’t start.”

“You probably did something else that was stupid then. I can’t believe you’re making me get out of the house. Do you know how hard my day was? Do you even care? No. All you care about is yourself! But whatever. Fucking bitch, can’t do anything. Just stay there. So fucking useless!” he muttered as he ended the call.

Frustration gripped her as tossed the phone in the passenger seat. She sat behind the wheel, pondering her predicament. She’d give anything to get away from here, but it seemed even her car had other plans for her. Angry tears spilled down her cheeks as she sat there wishing for the impossible.

A loud tap on her window startled her and she rolled it down. She quickly wiped her cheeks. “Yes?” she questioned.

Before her stood a man in a security guard uniform. He was dark skinned and had a large scar on his bearded face. “Havin’ car trouble, lass?” he asked, his accent was a rich Scottish brogue.

He seemed so out of place in San Francisco, but she nodded. "Yes, the blasted thing won't start."

“Seems more than the car is giving you fits, lass, judging by the tears. Seems you might be in need of some help, and perhaps not just with your car?”

Annabelle snorted. “Got all that from me sitting here crying?” She grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose and cheeks. “Maybe you should be the detective.”

He smiled and bent down to look at her through the car window. "I can offer you a way out, a chance to escape this world for another, if you’re interested."

Annabelle chuckled, thinking it was all a joke. "Oh really?" She raised an eyebrow. "And how would you do that?"

The man’s unique eyes glimmered mysteriously and Annabelle would have sworn they changed colors. "I can take you to another time, to a place entirely different from here, where you can start anew. But," he added with a note of gravity, "there's a catch, you cannae ever return here."

Annabelle's laughter faded as she considered his words. She stared into his eyes, searching for any hint of deceit, but saw only sincerity. "You can’t be serious?"

The security guard nodded solemnly. "Aye, lass. I can do what I say, shall I give you proof?”

Annabelle's mind raced with disbelief and intrigue. Could this mysterious man truly offer her an escape from her suffocating life? Was he the miracle she was looking for? "Alright, show me," she said, her voice trembling with excitement and fear. "Who are you? A performance artist or something?"

He stepped back and gave her a slight bow. “You may call me Dub Sith.” With that he instantly vanished before her eyes. A heart-beat later, he reappeared. “Do you believe me now?” He grinned mischievously.

As she gaped in astonishment at the surreal display, her thoughts raced. Could this really be her way out? An escape from the monotonous, frustrating life she had come to despise? The answer seemed to shimmer before her, as if fate itself were extending a hand, offering her an opportunity she'd never dared to dream of.

Then, a glimmer of dread pierced the excitement. Edward's car rumbled into the parking lot, breaking the enchantment of the moment. "Oh no, that's Edward."

Panic welled up within her as she realized the magnitude of the choice before her.

"Tis now or never, lass," Dub Sith replied. He opened her door and held out his hand.

Annabelle had a moment of inner reflection as her future flashed before her with Edward and how it made her feel sick. Then she thought about this strange adventure Dub Sith was offering and what it could bring. As Edward's headlights beamed in her direction, she knew she had to make a hasty and probably reckless decision. With hurried determination, Annabelle took Dub Sith's offered hand, her heart pounding in her chest. Time seemed to hang in the balance, as she made the decision that would forever alter the course of her life.