Chapter 11
11
S heer terror clawed at Clara’s chest. Every instinct in her body told her to scream, to run, to get the hell away from Mitch.
But she couldn’t move.
Not when her babies lay asleep in the bed.
As if sensing her thoughts, Mitch turned his focus to the two pieces of her heart. “They’re not so bad when they’re not crying. But even when they’re a pain in my ass, they’re still mine. And you thought you could just keep them from me? Could tell me I had to stay away from them—from you? I don’t think so.”
A million responses came to mind, but she held them back. She tried to stay logical. To keep her focus on how to get out of this mess. “How did you get in here?”
“It’s not safe to have a tree right outside a bedroom window. Especially when you’re stupid enough to leave it unlocked.”
She thought back to that morning when she and Avery had opened the window to feel the snow fluttering from the gray sky. They’d been in such a hurry to go outside she must have forgotten to lock it. The familiar sense of incompetence crushed down on her, but she refused to let it linger.
“I saw that dumb picture you brought,” he continued, his voice low and menacing. He hiked a thumb in the direction of the frame she’d grabbed from home. “Knew I was in the right place even before I heard that damn kid snoring in the bed. Then I just had to wait.” He stalked toward her, the moonlight bright enough to highlight the hard glint of anger in his eyes.
She stood tall but shifted to put her body between him and the kids. His large frame blocked her exit, but it didn’t matter. Not when she couldn’t scoop up the children and flee without him stopping her. “What do you want from us? Why are you here?”
“You have something of mine, and I want it back.”
Her mind raced and heart thumped like a hammer against her chest. Heath was right. Mitch had seen her with his computer and now he wanted to get his hands on it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I gave your stuff to your parents.”
He clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists at his side. He took another step forward. “You’ve always been a shitty liar.”
“I don’t have anything of yours here.” It wasn’t a lie. Owen had kept the computer at the sheriff’s station.
Mitch snorted. “I know you have my laptop. I saw it with my own damn eyes. Give it to me. Now.”
She swallowed the bile creeping up the back of her throat. How could she make it out of this mess without endangering her kids? “You can search the whole room. It’s not here.”
“Then where is it?” he growled.
Terror lodged in her throat, threatening to steal her words. She wasn’t sure what the right move was but had to act. Had to listen to her instincts to get him to leave. Anger dislodged the terror, and she refused to hold back. Refused to let him think he had any hold over her. “At the sheriff’s station.”
“What?” he roared, pressing forward another step until his hot breath touched her cheeks.
Avery stirred, her soft moans spiking Clara’s fear, but she kept her focus straight ahead. “They saw what was on there. You’re going back to jail. Not only have you violated the restraining order and broken into a home, but now there’s evidence of what a sick piece of shit you really are. You can stand here and do whatever you want to me, but the sheriff will find you. Will lock you up for the rest of your miserable life.”
Her body shook as she spoke, but her confidence grew as she stood up to her bully.
Unexpected humor curled his lips. “And who’s going to testify against me? Who can say for certain it was me who did whatever you’re claiming?”
Her stomach dipped, but she wouldn’t let him manipulate her with his bullshit. She lifted her chin and refused to let him see her fear. “Me.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Erasing the distance between them in two quick steps, he raised his arm and smacked the back of his hand across her mouth.
Pain sliced through her lips. Tears stung her eyes, and she fought not to let them fall. “You need to leave.” She hated the quiver of her voice, but she stood her ground.
His rough laugh slid down her skin like sandpaper. “You gonna make me?”
A vibration inside the back of her pocket grabbed her attention. If she could hurry and answer the call, she could alert whoever was on the other end that Mitch was in her room without waking the kids. They’d lived through enough trauma, endured enough humiliation and horror at the hands of their father, maybe she could spare them one more bad memory.
In one quick movement, she snatched her phone from her pocket and swiped her finger across the screen. “Mitch is in my room. Please help. Please ca?—”
Mitch circled her wrist with his hand and shook her arm with so much force she feared he’d snap her elbow in two. The phone clattered on the floor. Mitch smashed his boot on the device, but not before she glimpsed Heath’s image on her screen.
Hope surged inside her. She let a smile lift her mouth.
“What are you smiling about,” he demanded, pressing his face inches from hers.
The sickening scent of cigarettes and alcohol assaulted her senses, bringing with them a kaleidoscope of memories.
But she didn’t care. Not when she was certain Heath was on his way. He’d storm the gates, arrest Mitch, and she’d no longer live in fear of this man.
“That was Deputy Sterling. You have two choices. You can stay here and hurt me like we both know you want to, but you’ll risk getting caught. Risk having those cold, metal handcuffs slapped on your wrists again. Or you can run and pray he’s not here to see which way you went.”
He released her wrist, latching his meaty palm onto her throat before she had a chance to defend herself. “I could do both. I could finish you off here and now then be gone before that asshole even pulls in the drive.”
She didn’t move, didn’t struggle, didn’t fight or plead for her life the way he wanted. She stared him in the eyes and prayed she’d made the right move.
Pressing his mouth to her ear, he whispered, “This isn’t over.”
He shoved her aside, the force of his hand against her throat stealing her breath, then sprinted out the door.
Coughing, she rolled onto her stomach and greedily pulled in one breath after another. Mitch’s threat rang in her ears, but for the first time in a long time, fear wasn’t the only thing he’d left behind. Because for as long as she lived, she’d relish the moment her words had made him turn and run.
* * *
The eerie calmness of Clara’s voice grabbed hold of Heath’s heart and refused to let go. “Hit the lights and get to the shelter as fast as possible.” He spat the words at Owen as they flew down the country road.
“What’s going on?” Owen flipped the switch to activate the screaming siren while blue and red lights slashed across the dark sky.
“Mitch is at the shelter. In Clara’s room.” His finger shook as he dialed the shelter’s number. The line rang in his ear, each second sending his anxiety to a whole new level.
“Safe Haven Women’s Shelter.” Mrs. Collins’ voice was soft and gentle but there was no hiding the sleepiness that weighed down each word.
“It’s Deputy Sterling. Clara called. Are you aware Mitch is in the house?”
“What? No, that can’t be right. I made sure to set the alarm before bed and the house has been locked up tight all evening.”
As if to accentuate her point, the shrill blast of an alarm erupted in the background.
“Owen and I are en route and should be there soon.”
“I have to see to Clara. I have to make sure she’s okay.”
He opened his mouth to tell her to stay put, to not put herself in harm’s way, but the line went dead. “Shit.”
“Don’t go to the worst-case scenario,” Owen said as he sped toward Pine Valley. “Clara’s smart. She told you what was happening. If Mitch knows we’re on the way, he won’t stick around.”
Heath rubbed his palms up and down his thighs and tapped his toe against the footwell. Time crawled by, the landscape outside his window nothing but a blur as his mind focused on Clara and the kids. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? We’ll get there to find Clara upset, terrified, or worse and Mitch will be long gone?”
“Dude, I told you, don’t think like that. I just meant he won’t want to be arrested so hopefully he’ll bolt before he goes too far.”
Heath held onto the sentiment, praying it was true. If Mitch had laid a hand on Clara or the kids, he’d lose his shit.
His breath sat trapped at the base of his throat until the shelter came into view. As Owen parked, Heath released his seatbelt and readied himself to fly out of the car.
“We treat this like any other threatening situation,” Owen warned. “Don’t jump in and get yourself or anyone else hurt.”
The implications he’d put anyone in harm’s way raised his hackles, but he held back a smart-ass retort that wouldn’t help anyway. He secured his weapon, the weight familiar and grounding in his hands, and as soon as Owen shut off the engine, jumped onto the hard ground.
Owen’s footsteps sounded behind him.
Heath hurried up the porch steps, his weapon trained at the ground. “Deputy Sterling and Deputy Wells. We’re coming inside.”
“We’re in the library,” Mrs. Collins called out. “Mitch is gone.”
The weight on his chest didn’t lift until he ran across the foyer and saw Clara on the sofa. Davey and Avery were curled into little balls on the opposite ends of the sofa, blankets pulled up to their chins and fast asleep.
Clara glanced up. Her eyes were red and puffy. A bruise on her neck made his pulse thunder in his veins, and blood on her split lip had him hesitating for a beat in the doorway. A wave of rage crashed over him like he’d never known before. He had to get a grip, push his own emotions aside so not to scare her more.
Mrs. Collins stood and met him with a hug. “You made it quick. I’ll let Clara tell you what happened, but Mitch ran out of the house.”
Owen stood beside him. “You speak with Clara, I’ll place a call to city police about getting men out to search for him right away. If all goes well, we’ll find him in no time, and this will all be over.”
An unknown force drew him to Clara. He walked slowly as if approaching a spooked horse, but he had to know for sure she was okay. The fire in the fireplace didn’t do a damn thing to thaw the fear still clinging to his bones. “Is it okay to talk now?”
She kept her wide eyes latched on him and nodded.
“Are the kids all right? Did he touch them? Hurt them?” He could see Mitch had used his hands on Clara, but if he touched those kids, he’d tear through the town himself to find the bastard.
Clearing her throat, tears filled her eyes before leaking down her face. She dropped her gaze to her hands folded on her lap. “They didn’t wake up until I brought them downstairs. I didn’t want to be away from them.” Her voice cracked, and she covered her mouth with her hand as sobs shook her shoulders.
He couldn’t stay away. Couldn’t not touch her, hold her, comfort her any way he could. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he hovered his palms in the air, seeking permission before covering her hand with his. “He hit you.”
There was no need to ask, the proof was written in blood on her face.
Again, she nodded.
He squeezed her hands. “I’m sorry. This should have never happened. You never should have been in this situation.”
She lifted her shoulders and sniffled. “I left the window unlocked. He climbed a tree and snuck right inside. He was waiting for me.”
“Did he say what he wanted?”
“The computer. I told him I didn’t have it and that I found out the truth. He said we couldn’t prove it. He said he’d make me pay. That this isn’t over.” A tortured expression twisted her facial features. “Will this ever really be over? Will I ever be free of him?”
“I won’t rest until you are,” Heath said, meaning it in his very core.
“I’m sorry I didn’t lock the window. I should have known better. I always make a mess of things.”
He tucked his thumb under her chin, making sure she really saw him. Really heard him. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
Mrs. Collins wrapped her arms around her middle. “Listen to him, sweetheart. Mitch is a bad man who is doing bad things. None of that is on you. Ever.”
“I can’t stay here anymore,” Clara said, her voice filled with regret. “He won’t stop until he’s caught. He’ll come back again and again, and next time he could do a lot more damage. I can’t put anyone else who’s come here looking for help at risk. It’s not fair to them.”
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Collins scoffed. “I’ve dealt with worse than him over the years. We won’t let him run you off.”
“It’s not safe here anymore. I’ll find somewhere to lay low. Somewhere he won’t find us. I’ll make it work. I have to.” Clara started to tremble, and the tears came faster.
Claiming the spot beside her, Heath hooked an arm around her shoulders and held her close. Screw professionalism. He’d leapt over that line long before tonight.
Clara melted against him.
“We’ll find you a place to stay,” he said, knowing she was right about the shelter. “Mitch has been here twice. He’s more desperate now than he was before. There’s no telling how far he’ll push things. Or who he’ll destroy in the process.”
Clara pulled back. Her pinched brow asked a dozen unspoken questions. “You’ll help me?”
He pressed his lips together in a firm line so he wouldn’t place a kiss on her scared and battered face. “Always, and I think I already know the perfect place to go.”