Chapter 49
I hoppedinto bed beside Bailey. Being close to them was my best option. I needed to know they were safe.
I couldn’t believe Ethan playing hero, wanting to go out there to see what the noise was. Opening the door to let a maniac in was not going to happen. Did he really think he could protect us from that?
The gentle sea breeze was amplified as darkness enveloped me. The leaves rustled. I shivered. Every sound could be Max.
This was ridiculous. We hadn’t seen Max in weeks. That meant one of two things. He’d given up. Unlikely. Or his anger was brewing. More likely. But it didn’t mean the sounds Bailey heard were him. Ethan telling me to stay put had got my back up. And the way he said nothing was out there was as dismissive as Max had always been. OK. Maybe not. Ethan wasn’t Max.
Bailey’s breathing evened out. The lights Ethan had turned on crept in around the blinds, so we weren’t in complete darkness. My eyelids drooped.
Where was Ethan now? I drifted in and out of sleep.
I awoke to soft talking. “Jasmine, wake up.”
I peeled my eyes open. Ethan was standing beside the bed. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains.
“Come into the hallway,” he said almost in a whisper.
I followed him.
“Max’s car is out front. I’ve called the police.” He paused, as if waiting for me to catch up. “I can see him in the car, just staring at the house.”
I went to make for the hallway. Ethan took hold of my arm. “He doesn’t know that I’ve seen him. I don’t want to tip him off.”
We were sitting ducks.
“How long ago did you call the police?”
He showed me his watch. The stopwatch said seven minutes. They’d be at least another twenty-five. Would Max wait that long before making his move?
Bailey and Rose were both sitting up in bed, listening. Rose clutched her trauma bear.
“The way I see it, we have two choices,” Ethan said. “We wait here and hope the police arrive before Max blows.” He grimaced. “Or you take the kids out the back door and head into the bush. I’ll give you a few minutes to get free. Then I’ll go out into the kitchen and pretend it’s like any other day, giving you more time. He won’t find you before the police arrive.”
Bailey got out of bed and got dressed. Rose didn’t move.
“Rose, honey, Bailey is going to help you get dressed.”
“Put on your sneakers or hiking boots,” Ethan added.
Had he already chosen for us?
He pulled me down the hallway. “You will be able to get away before he knows you are gone. Once he’s out of the car, it’s too late.”
“Why can’t we all escape?”
Ethan pointed to the living area. “If one of us doesn’t go out there soon he’ll get suspicious. This may not be the first time he’s watched us. He might know our normal movements, what time we wake and get going.”
He was right. We needed to keep Max distracted. Out there in the bush, we’d have a chance. But we’d be sacrificing Ethan to Max and his erratic behaviour. My hands shook. I clutched them together. Rose and Bailey stood in their doorway.
“I need to get dressed.” I strode to my room and got dressed quickly, my sweaty, shaky hands making an ordinary task difficult.
A car door closed. Fuck, we were too late. I gulped in air. Ethan was next to me before I’d even called his name. Rose and Bailey were right behind him.
“We need to get the kids to safety,” I said.
“Go,” Ethan said.
“It’s too late.”
I needed to stay now. I needed to distract Max, so the kids had time to escape. If I went with them, he might figure out more quickly that we were gone and hunt us down. If I pretended they were still here, they could get away.
I’d planned for this. Planned it until there was nothing left to plan. Their escape was what was important here. I grabbed Ethan’s wrist. Seventeen minutes to go. In seventeen minutes, Max could have the children. He could take them by boat seeing that car wasn’t an option—one road in, one road out. In seventeen minutes, we could all be dead.
I took hold of Bailey’s shoulders. “Bailey, you need to take Rose. Go to Jack and Lily’s. Take the long way so no one can see you.”
“No, Mummy. I want to stay with you,” Rose begged.
I crouched down in front of her. “I can’t protect you.”
“But Ethan can.” She latched onto him. He smoothed her hair and picked her up. Outside, Max was yelling incoherently. Rose clutched onto Ethan. He pushed her back gently.
“I need to keep your mom safe. The only way I can do that is if you and Bailey are not here.”
Tears ran down her face.
We were running out of time.
“Go out the back. Run into the bush,” I said.
Bailey nodded. “Make our way to the shop.”
“Like all those games we played,” Rose said, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
“Exactly like that.”
Ethan put her down.
She hugged him. “I love you, Ethan.”
He hugged her back. “I love you too.”
Didn’t he understand the urgency? He looked at me over the top of her head. He knew. And then it registered—he was going slow for them, being as calm as possible for them. But also playing with time. Time for the cops to arrive.
He cupped the back of Bailey’s head. “You can do this. No matter what you hear, do not look back. Do not come back. Got it?”
Bailey swallowed. He nodded and took Rose’s hand. I hugged them both with all the strength I had.
“When I open the front blinds, sneak out the back,” I said.
I wiped my sweaty palms on my shorts and walked out into the living room. Ethan led the children to the laundry. With all of Max’s yelling, he wouldn’t have heard the back door unlock. I snuck one last look at them and then pulled on the cord.
Max’s attention came to me in an instant. The back door opened and closed. Ethan locked it. Max didn’t approach the house. Good. More time for the children. More time before he realised they weren’t here.
“Give me my fucking children,” Max bellowed. “Rose! Bailey!”
Max was so tense he looked bigger than his size. His t-shirt was wrinkled and hanging askew. His attention was on me, but his eyes were unfocused. I wasn’t sure if he was taking drugs the last time I saw him, but I didn’t doubt it at all now.
In essence, only panes of glass and a door separated us. It was nothing. Even if the children’s sandcastle were real, all of its defences would be nothing. I looked around for Ethan.
“If he sees me he might lose it,” Ethan said from the other end of the living area. I nodded. He always knew the right things to do and say.
“I want my fucking family, you stupid lying slut.” His eyes were usually cunning, thinking of his next step, but now they were almost bulging from his face. His face twisted as he bared his teeth. I gasped as he stormed towards the house.
“Two minutes,” Ethan said.
Two minutes had passed since the kids escaped. The kids would be safe in the bush now, heading to Lily and Jack’s.
“You fucking whore. I want my children.”
Do I just stand here? Do I say something? Would anything calm him down?
All my plans shrivelled to nothing as I watched a demented Max. He threw the furniture on the deck aside and smashed his fist against the window. The glass rattled.
“Jasmine, come here,” Ethan said.
I moved backwards. Max caught sight of Ethan.
“You fucking homewrecker. You stole my family.” Max stormed towards the door and then disappeared. But his voice rose high and angry. “Rose! Bailey!”
“Shit.” Ethan’s voice was full of urgency. “Jasmine, get out of?—”
Max crashed into the door. The door shook. Ethan strode towards me. Another almighty bang and the door crashed down. Like a feral animal, Max jumped to his feet and honed in on his target—me.