Come Back To Me (19 page)

I felt my phone vibrate in
my pocket, and pulled it out to see who might be calling. Ugh my
Mother.

"Hi mom."

"Emily where the hell are
you?"

"I took some time
off. Just needed some
me
time."

"Well you could have called
and told us about losing your job."

Shit she knew. "How did you
find out about that mom?"

"Oh Emily, I should have
told you in the first place that your father and Mr. Brewster were
old friends. I just didn't want to ruin your trying to go off on
your own."

Now I was pissed, and hurt.
"What?"

"Your father got a call from
Mr. Brewster, and he let him know why he let you go. Quite frankly
I didn't believe you would take private information and sell it to
another firm. Would you?"

"Why would I do that? And
who said I did that mom?" I was almost in tears again.

"Some other lawyer, a Mr.
Bradford maybe."

Jake did this to me. But
why? I felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest and stomped
on with cleats. All that I trusted him with and he would do this to
me? I couldn't breathe, as my world came crashing down around
me.

"Mom I need to
go."

"Okay, but if you need to
come back home you can."

I hung up instead of
answering her. I doubled over as the pain in my chest became
unbearable. Sinking to the floor of the porch, I pulled my knees to
my chest and tried to steady my breathing. I heard footsteps behind
me.

"Hey there you are." Jake
said.

"How could you!" I
shouted.

"What are you talking
about?"

"Don't play stupid with me
Jake; I'm a lot smarter than I look!"

"Well if you will tell me
what I supposedly did, maybe I can defend myself."

"You bastard! You called and
got me fired!"

The look on his face told me
everything I needed to know. My Mother was right. Jake sold me out,
but why?

"Em, I can
explain."

"Don't bother Jake! I
fucking trusted you, and you stabbed me in the heart!"

"Em...."

"Save it! I'm outta here.
And I never want to see your stupid face again!"

I was consumed with rage,
and all I could see was red. I hurried into the house and threw my
belongings in my suitcase. Jake didn't follow, and if he had I
probably would have kicked him in the family jewels and pushed him
down the stairs. I grabbed the rental car keys from the dresser and
took off back down the stairs. He was waiting at the bottom, but I
couldn't make eye contact with him, it hurt just too damn
much.

I quickly closed myself in
the car, roared the engine to life and spun my tires as I peeled
out. Watching the house disappear in the rearview mirror was
heartbreaking. But I knew I'd made a huge mistake in trusting him.
Like always, when I let my guard down I got burned. Fuck him and
his bullshit!

I made it to the airport in
record time, and managed to snag a flight back to New York that
left in fifteen minutes. I checked my luggage, and waited in the
terminal until my flight was called. My phone kept ringing, it was
Jake. After him trying to call eight times I decided it was time to
turn the damn thing off. Luckily they called my flight number; I
was ready to leave this God forsaken place and the people
here.

I settled into my seat, put
on the headphones, and drifted off to sleep.

I was jolted awake by
someone shaking me. "Miss we have arrived in New York."

I rubbed the sleep from my
eyes, and stood on shaky legs. "Thank you." I told the flight
attendant.

Once I was outside the
terminal, I waited for a vacant cab to take me home. I stood on the
curb watching, and then I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Jake?

I turned around, and Grant
was standing there with an evil grin on his face. "Hey doll, miss
me?"

"What the fuck do you want?"
I yelled.

"It would be in your best
interest to not make a scene. Now come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere with
you!"

I felt something poke the
middle of my back.

"I think you are
doll."

Holy shit this psycho had a
gun and it was pushed into my back. I was terrified, and wanted to
scream. But knowing the lengths he went to made me hold my tongue.
I had no doubt in my mind that he would shoot me right there, in
front of everyone.

"Okay." I said in a barely
audible whisper.

He led me to the underground
parking garage, and opened the passenger side door for me to climb
in. Running was not an option; he would run after me and kill
me.

"Now, we are going to take a
little drive, and you are gonna sit there like the good little slut
you are. Okay?"

I nodded my head.

"Good. Now tell me...who
have you told about our little...fun time we had?"

"No one."

I felt his hand make contact
with my cheek. It burned, and I saw stars.

"Bullshit! Don't fucking lie
to me!" he yelled.

"I told you! I didn't tell
anyone!"

"You are such a terrible
liar. Do you know what happens to liars? They get
punished."

My head hurt so badly, I
could barely see straight. I held my hand to my cheek to alleviate
some of the sting, and when I removed it, there was blood on my
fingers.

"Look what you went and made
me do. I messed up your pretty face."

I started crying.

"Shut the fuck up! “He
screamed.

Just then he pulled the car
into an abandoned warehouse. No one around but us, and I knew it
was about to get bad. He moved from the car and opened my door.
Grabbing me by the arm he jerked so hard that I heard my shoulder
pop. The pain shot through my body, and I knew that he dislocated
my shoulder. The pain was so great; I thought was going to pass
out.

"Come on!" He pulled me off
the ground, and jerked me toward the warehouse.

Once inside I smelled the
faint odor of gasoline. The place was dirty, and the only thing in
the entire place was a chair centered in the massive structure.
Grant pulled my arm and threw me into the chair. He secured my legs
to those of the chair with rope and then tied my hands behind the
chair.

"Now. That's better." He
appraised his handy work.

"So are you going to tell me
who you told, or do I have to beat it out of you?"

"Grant I didn’t tell a
soul."

He swung his hand on my
opposite cheek, and I tasted blood.

"Stop with the fucking
lying!"

My vision was blurry, and it
was hard to keep him in focus. I felt myself drifting in and out,
while my head bobbled back and forth. He came up behind me and
wrapped something around my neck. Pulling it backwards, he started
to cut off my air supply. My chest was burning, and I gasped for
any breath I could manage. He pulled tighter, and I felt everything
start to go dark.

The last image that crossed
my mind was of Jake.

Twenty-Seven

Jake stood on the front
porch of his parents’ house. He was angry at himself for what he
did to Emily. She trusted him, confided in him and possibly loved
him. That was fine because he loved her too.

"Jake, I don't mean to butt
into your business, but you are my son and I only want what's best
for you." June said.

"Yeah, and what's that
mom?"

"For you to be
happy."

"Well I did a pretty good
job of fucking that up didn't I?"

"Language Jake. I know
you're upset, but it was you who caused the problem between you
two."

"Sorry. How could I have
been so stupid? I had everything and I blew it. Em hates
me."

"Trust me, she doesn't hate
you. We women just have a way of expressing things in a different
manner than men. We like to shout, and scream, but for us to hate
someone...that takes more effort than what we are willing to
give."

"What should I do
mom?"

"Well first you have to be
honest with yourself about how you feel about her. If it's enough
feeling, then you have to make it right. And if it's not, then you
have to let go son."

It didn't take Jake long to
know how he felt, it became second nature. "I love her mom, I
always have."

"Then what are you still
doing here?"

Jake hugged his mom, and ran
into the house to grab a set of car keys. "I'm gonna borrow your
car mom, it'll be at the airport."

And with that he was off. On
the way to the airport he called Emily's phone. It went to
voicemail two times, by the third time he called she picked up. He
didn't wait for her to answer, he just began talking.

"Em, don't hang up. I know I
was stupid, and I'm sorry. I promise I will make this right." He
pleaded.

There was silence, and then
a male voice spoke. "Awe isn't that adorable. But I'm sorry; Miss
Mills is indisposed at the moment. Can I take a message, or maybe
not. She won't be able to talk for much longer."

"Who the fuck is this?!"
Jake yelled.

"That's none of your
business. Asshole!"

Jake thought for a moment,
and realized who he was talking to. The only person that would want
to hurt Emily. "Grant Billings? Is this you? Where are you? Where
is Emily?"

The line went dead, and Jake
tossed his phone in the front seat of the car. His panic level was
through the roof and he knew only one person that might be able to
help him. Sam.

"Sam here."

"Sam its Jake, I'm calling
in another favor. It's a matter of life and death."

"Lay it on me." Sam
said.

Jake explained all the
details of the conversation with Grant. He gave Sam Emily's cell
phone number, so he could track her.

"Please Sam she is in
trouble, hurry!"

"I'm on it." Sam hung
up.

The flight back to New York
would be the longest in his life. Knowing that Em was in trouble
was killing him. He shouldn't have let her go. It was his fault
that this happened. If he could have just made her stay, and let
him explain what his motives were, she wouldn't be in this mess. It
was ironic how he tried to protect her from this lunatic by lying
to her, but it all backfired on him.

Once the plane landed in New
York, Jake was the first to exit. He ran through the airport
terminal, and found where his car was parked. He sped through the
lot, and made his way onto the highway. He dialed Sam
again.

"Any news?" He asked in
panic.

"Yeah man, the police found
her in an abandoned warehouse downtown. She's not good
Jake."

"Where the fuck is she
Sam?!"

"They have her at the
hospital close to Central Park."

Jake hung up and picked up
his speed. He never considered himself a religious man, but he
found himself praying that Emily would make it through all
this.

Twenty-Eight

When they say "everything
flashes before your eyes" when the end is near, they are right. But
for me it wasn't my life that flashed, it was somehow the future
that I wouldn't be a part of.

It was strange seeing the
picket fence, and the perfect family home I had envisioned for so
many years. Everything was just the way I had planned. Perfectly
manicured lawn, and shrubs. A swing on the porch for swinging on
warm summer nights. It was all there. It was like I arrived home
from work and it was waiting on me.

I saw my feet as I walked up
the brick pathway to the house. I opened the door, and suddenly
felt home. The comfort of the place was almost alarming, I'd never
felt so comfortable anywhere, except at Jake's
apartment.

I walked through the silent
house, and realized that there were photos on the mantle of the
fireplace. Starting from left to right I glanced at all of them.
When I got to the center of the collage, I found a picture that
made my heart jump. It was a wedding photo. I was dressed in a
stunning off white gown that fell off the shoulders, and was
holding a bouquet of dark red roses. Standing next to me in a black
tuxedo with a pale silver tie was Jake. We both looked so happy. He
was staring down at me with so much love and adoration in his eyes
that I began to tear up. How could I have missed it? How could I
have let myself become so jaded, that I couldn't see what was right
in front of me the entire time?

It made me sad to think that
I would never have any of this. That what I once had, I lost. The
pain that I felt in that moment was far greater than any physical
pain. I could hear my heart cracking into a million tiny fragments,
like a vase shattered against a brick wall. It was over. I was
helpless to stop it.