Baby, baby, baby. Do I have a surprise for you.
Two minutes later, white hot with fury, he was nearly unable to refrain from exploding. She was gone. With his kid. His life was shit because of her. Because of her and her big mouth he had no nuts. His focus had narrowed to one fact. He wanted his kid, since he could have no others. She had to be nearly done being pregnant with it and he’d find her and take it. Even if that meant cutting it from her. That kid was his seed. He’d do what it took.
He looked around once his vision cleared and began to think. Signs of a break-in would put her on alert. If she was just out of town, her landlord would let her know if someone trashed her place. He was smart. She’d never know. Never suspect, until it was too late. His daddy hadn’t raised him to be no dummy. He’d done a good job on Trevor all on his own, same as Trevor would on his kid. No mouthy bitch needed for that job.
He made himself a double-decker sandwich with extra mayo on a sub roll, the extra creamy kind he especially liked with his favorite kind of bread. Yeah, him and his bitch were a perfect match. He ate up, drank two of her sodas since she didn’t have any damn beer, and then took a shower in her bathroom, using her bodywash and her shampoo, and her bath sponge. He changed into the clothing he’d found earlier in a clothes dryer on some poor schmuck’s back porch. It’d been pure undeniable luck that the clothing was in a size that’d fit him.
He cleaned up his mess in the kitchen and the bathroom so she’d never know he was there, at least not as long as she didn’t count her slices of bread or lunch meat. Like the careful sleuth he was, he went about her apartment, delving in here and there, searching for clues to her whereabouts. He’d almost been ready to give up when he noticed the intermittent, flashing light on her desktop computer.
“Well, hello there.” With any luck there was no password and lots of bookmarks. He rubbed his hands and nudged the mouse. A minute later the unprotected desktop popped up. A picturesque scene of cedar trees dotting a hilly landscape, most likely the Texas Hill Country. And right there on the screen was an icon for e-mail.
“For making this so easy for me, maybe I won’t slit your throat, bitch,” he growled softly to himself. “Maybe I’ll find a nice secluded place and chain you again so I can watch you suffer by yourself while you give birth to my kid. I could call my brother. Brian would like you. I might not be able to breed you anymore but I bet he’d like a chance at you.” The thought gave him shivers of pleasure and even made his cock tingle.
He double clicked on the icon and waited while the online mail site loaded. With any luck, there might be travel confirmations, or an e-mail from family giving a hint at her destination.
Nothing. Just a message from a doctor’s office. His kid. Maybe it was news about his kid. Hungry for information, he clicked on it and frowned. Then understanding dawned on him.
“Well, well, well.” He was grateful to the doctor’s office for being so careful with their patients’ information. It was important to confirm records transfers when they were requested via e-mail. Looked like his bitch wasn’t going to be back to the apartment any time soon. He still wouldn’t trash it because the noise might draw attention, but he did load up the desktop, monitor, and accessories in a cardboard box. He needed to take some time and regroup. Locate her but let her think she was safe. Let her finish baking the bun he’d put in her oven. He also packed up some food for the road and went about devising a means to get transportation. Shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve masterminded all this so far.
Chapter Four
March…
Charity pulled out her vibrating cell phone as she walked down the main hallway of the medical building she worked at in Divine. She’d just returned from lunch at Rudy’s with Dr. Emma Rivers and Maya Warner.
It was thanks to Emma and Maya that she’d found a job a few years before at the medical laboratory in the same building as Emma’s medical practice. Prior to that, she’d had to commute every day to Morehead for her job as a phlebotomist.
Drawing blood specimens wasn’t the most glamorous job but she’d been told on numerous occasions that with her level of skill she was worth her weight in gold. She was proud of that, and her ability to set anxious patients at ease.
She looked at the message from Justine on the phone screen. “Mom, would you mind picking me up after school? I really don’t want to wait while Beau is at basketball practice. Not today.”
She typed a speedy reply. “Sure, honey. See you out front around four.”
The reply was just as quick and in all capital letters. “BLESS YOU!”