Chapter 49
Going back to Stonington felt like a means to end my horrific nightmare. I couldn’t discern what or how it might come about, but I sensed the closure that I desperately needed.
Will of all people would understand. He would be angry with me…yes, probably. But he would also get my reasons for disobeying and forgive me.
As good as revenge sounded—revenge for my pain, revenge for Lissie’s pain—my need to see Will safe and alive was stronger. I needed to see him with my own eyes, to feel his warm skin, to hear him say he was okay.
Will was the reason for me to go back.
I’d rather die myself than live without him.
My chest tightened. Fear knotted in the pit of my stomach.
Breathe. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
I had to get out of the house without anyone seeing me, and I needed to be on a plane before Thomas realized I was gone. He would never let me leave.
I dug through my bag for my credit card and booked the first flight to Hartford and a car to get me to the airport. If everything went to plan, I would arrive in Stonington just after sunrise.
But before leaving the house, I wanted to leave a note for Thomas to say sorry.
I grabbed paper and a pen from Will’s desk, scribbled down my apology, and then tiptoed along the corridor, through the shadows. I slipped the envelope under his bedroom door, but just as I turned to go, his feet thumped against the floor. I froze and shut my eyes.
An interior door inside his room creaked open.
I held my breath.
There were no other sounds, so I ran back down the corridor to my room. I waited there for a minute, listening, and praying that Thomas had gone back to bed without stumbling onto my note.
He didn’t pursue me, and the house stayed quiet, so I grabbed my things and headed for the staircase…the driver I’d arranged would be waiting at the bottom of the ridge on the public road for me.
As I hit the last stairs, someone from the security team sat near the front door inside the foyer. He shifted his weight, making his chair groan. I couldn’t tell which guy it was, but when he turned his back, I slipped off my shoes and crept through the dark hall. Staying close to the walls, I made it to the kitchen.
I would leave through the kitchen’s service entrance…Ben had shown me how to disarm that door in the event of an emergency.
A dim light switched on.
Damn it, it was Mrs. Bates. Why was she up?
I pressed my back against the wall.
The long hem of her housecoat disappeared into the pantry, and the light inside came on. One minute later, the light went out, and her slippers shuffled across the wood and up the rear staircase.
I exhaled heavily, relieved she hadn’t sensed my presence, and disarmed the door.
Outside, I ducked quickly into the shadows and avoided lit areas, crawling on my hands and knees behind the flowering shrubs and thick hedges.
The cool night air covered everything with a blanket of dew.
As I moved along, keeping low, a sharp branch whipped against my thigh, slashing through my jeans, tearing into my flesh. I smashed my hand over my mouth and bit down to keep quiet.
When the house’s lights were no longer clear, I stumbled upright and jogged across the lawn to the trees.
Nocturnal creatures scurried, and tree leaves rustled.
An owl shrieked, startling me, and I lost my footing, sliding down through the wet soil. I grabbed the giant root of an old tree to catch myself.
My leg muscles burned.
My heart alternated between hesitation and wild fluttering.
But finally…finally, the dark landscape ended.
I slept through the flight from London to Hartford after heavily medicating myself.
The airplane was huge, making it a little easier for me, and a really sweet flight attendant had offered to help me get through the journey in one piece.
Her soft fingers now gripped my arm.
“Mademoiselle, c’est l’heure.” —It’s time to go.
She waited with a warm smile, kneeling beside my seat with a bottle of water for me.
“Nous avons atterri…euh…we’ve landed. You’re well?”
“Oui, merci beaucoup.”
That was about the extent of my own French.
“Thank you for helping me,” I added.
She nodded, and I pulled myself up on my feet, ducking beneath the overhead bin.
My head spun. My legs were weak.
I took in a deep breath while gripping the seat in front of me.
As I pulled my phone out, notifications began popping up on the screen. Missed calls. Text messages. From Thomas. From Jess. Ben. A blocked number—Will.
I tapped on Jess’s first, hoping she would answer right away, and she did.
“Thank God, Ells. Where are you? Have you landed?”
“We just landed. Are you close to the airport?”
“I’m already here waiting at the gate for you. And girl, I’m warning you right now, they’re all looking for you, including Will.”
“You spoke to him?”
“No, I haven’t taken their calls. I promised you.”
“Thanks, Jess. I owe you big. What about Detective Parker…did you learn anything else about what he’s doing?”
“First, Ben said in his message to tell you he’s with Will, you’re not to do anything else stupid, and you’re to go directly to my house and stay inside. As far as Parker goes, he showed up at your house this morning, snooping around outside. I didn’t see him go inside, but he legit could have.”
“We’re deplaning, so I’ll see you in a minute,” I said.
I had made a mess of things, and I had no idea how to clean it up. Next, I called Thomas. I also owed him so much. Calling him right away was the least of it.
He picked up and right away shouted at me.
“Ellie, where the fuck are you?”
“Thomas, just…everything’s okay. Did you find my note?”
“Fuck your note. Do you understand what you’ve done? You’ve put yourself in danger with no protection, and you’ve put me in quite a terrible position with my brother. He’ll kill me over this, for letting this happen, and he bloody well should. If anything happens to you?—”
“—I’m sorry, okay? I’m really sorry.”
“I don’t want to hear it. Just give me your location, and I’ll come to you.”
“Don’t come here for me. Do it for Will. Help him fight.”
“Christ, you did find him. You should have told me, Ellie. I would have taken you.”
“You mean you truly didn’t know he was in Connecticut?”
“Quite right. I did not have that information.”
“That’s my fault. Call him, Thomas, and talk to him. Let him know I tricked you. Tell him I’ll be at Jess’s house as he said. I have to go, but I’ll call you again soon.”
I hung up before he could say anything else.
Jess waited for me at the security entrance, waving her arms as I worked my way through the crowd. I stumbled as soon as I got to her. She caught me, shouldering my weight and dragging my bag as we left the terminal.
She packed me into the passenger seat of her car with a water bottle and an empty bucket, and as she merged onto the southbound highway, my delayed sickness hit me with the force of a hurricane.
Jess rubbed my back as she drove.
“We’ll figure this out…we’ll find him. But first, we must get you to bed.”
She reached across the car to open the glove compartment. The car swerved and she jerked the wheel back as she dropped a pill bottle onto my lap.
“Here, take two tablets. If you throw them up right away, take another…it’s Valium…it’ll help a little with the nausea but mostly it’ll sedate you.”
I leaned back against the seat and swallowed the tablets.
She put on her music playlist, and I shut my eyes, taking comfort in the familiar sound of her voice as she drove us to Stonington.
Drowsiness set in.
I tried focusing on the words she sang.
I tried focusing on my plan to find Will.
“Jess, you still have your guns, right?” I slurred.
But then, before hearing her answer, I faded into nothingness.