Heartwood (25 page)

Turning back to me, he stared at me for what felt like an eternity. I was desperate, and I wasn’t sure what I would do if he said no. I didn’t want to risk hurting Logan, but I was prepared to attack Draven to get my child back. When I’d begun to despair that he would turn away, he gave a curt nod.

“All right.” He said, and his lips gave an imitation of a smile. I turned to grab my purse and his sharp command stopped me in my tracks. “No! No purse, no phone.”

I saw by the dark expression he wore that he was serious. Afraid that any sudden movements might cause him to bolt, I moved slowly toward him and nodded.

“Okay, Drae. Can I bring the baby’s diaper bag?” Anger marred his face again and I pleaded with my eyes. His expression melted away to a condescending smile. The transformation was absolutely terrifying, and I fought to keep my face from showing that inside I was screaming.

“Of course. We wouldn’t want the little tyke to suffer. None of this is his fault, is it?”

I shook my head and carefully picked up the diaper bag, putting the strap over my shoulder. I reached for the can of formula sitting next to it. I held it out to show him, wordlessly asking if I could bring it, and he nodded.

“Lead the way.” He instructed motioning to the front door.

Wiping my face on my sleeve, I made my way to the street. I glanced toward Penny’s house in hopes that she’d be on her front porch and I could somehow signal her that I was in trouble. Naturally, she was nowhere to be found. When I reached the sidewalk, I paused. If I screamed, God knows what he’d do to Logan. If we got into the car with him...

“You’re not backing out on me, are ya?” He hissed. He was directly behind me.

“I have to get his car seat.” I replied, over my shoulder.

“No.” There was no debating that command, but it didn’t stop me from trying anyway.

“Drae, it’s not safe.” I pleaded, turning to face him. I wanted to look at Logan, but I forced myself not to.

“Sure it is.” For a moment Drae looked and sounded normal, like he had when we first met. He pressed the keys into my hand. “You’re driving, Molly. I’ll hold the baby. Just be careful.”

I was shaking so badly as I pulled away from the curb that I was sure I would wreck the car. I hoped that at any moment Joe’s truck would appear. Instead, I drove slowly out of our neighborhood and into the mouth of hell.

Draven directed me to a secondary highway as soon as we got to a major thoroughfare. Soon we were out of town, and with each new turn the area became more rural and remote. First suburbs, then countryside, then remote countryside. We went miles and miles without seeing another car.

I spared a glance at Logan, who sat on Draven’s lap facing him He reached up and grabbed a chubby fistful of Draven’s hair and my heart leapt into my throat. Draven actually chuckled and gently removed Logan’s hand from the lock of hair.

“No no, little man.” He scolded calmly. Logan blinked up at him with innocent eyes and I felt like I might cry. I choked it back, remembering all the times Joe asked me not to get involved with Elaine’s custody battle with Draven.

Joe would never forgive me for this...not after Jack.

A shadowy blackness seeped into my heart. I had to get Logan back to Joe. I deserved whatever wrath Draven rained down on me for being idiotic, but my innocent baby had to be protected at all costs.

By the time he had me turn off onto a dirt lane, it had been ten minutes since I had seen another vehicle. Draven handed me a key and had me get out and open a chained lock on a pole fence gate. Once we were through, he ordered me to relock it and get back behind the wheel. The dirt road was little more than two ruts worn in among the rocks. It took several minutes of driving past trees and shrub to reach our destination.

As we cleared the trees, a ramshackle two story wooden house came into view. Several outbuildings were sprinkled about the property, looming in the darkness like corpses of a bygone era. The homestead looked like it had been built at the beginning of the last century. The roof sagged in a few places and there was a general air of decay about the place. The one exception was the front door which looked like it belonged on an industrial building. I pressed on the brake and put the car in park. Draven reached over and plucked the keys from the ignition. Opening his door, he took Logan and headed up on to the questionable porch. I half expected it to collapse on them both.

Faced with no viable choice, I followed along after him.

As we approached the door, I could see my initial impression was correct. The door was, in fact, heavy steel. It lacked a knob, instead housing a square panel with numbers. Draven pushed a few buttons rapidly and I heard the lock click open. Stepping forward, he disappeared into the darkness inside.

Faced with the open doorway, I felt true terror blooming inside of me. Up to this point, I’d dared to hope. Hope that a police officer would stop us. That someone I knew would see us and get help. That Joe would come rushing in to save the day. None of that was going to happen now. Instead, I was about to do something I never thought I would do again. I was choosing to place myself into the clutches Draven Cirone.

My feet felt like lead as I started though the doorway. Then the thought of Draven alone with Logan lent me strength and I hurried inside. I heard Logan’s cry from above me and clawed my way up the staircase. I saw Draven come out of a room empty handed. Pulling it shut behind him I heard an ominous click.

“Draven! Where’s Logan?” The smile that he gave me was both lecherous and evil in a way that made me tremble.

“I put him to bed, Doll. He’s sleeping like an angel. You don’t want to wake him up do you?”

I opened my mouth to say something more and his fingers came up and forcefully tapped my mouth. Lowering my eyes, I shook my head.

“Good girl. Now why don’t we go to the bedroom and you can show me exactly how much you have missed me?” He reached out and stroked my cheek and I couldn’t stop myself. I shied back and shuddered in revulsion.

His eyes flashed and his fist caught me in the wounded side of my face once more. I slammed back into the wall and everything went gray. As consciousness failed, I heard Logan wailing.

When I came to sometime later, I was locked inside a room. I was lying on the bed I was in now, so he must have put me there. I heard my baby crying somewhere close by and I lost it. I screamed for Logan and begged Draven to let me out. Pounding against the door was fruitless; all I got out of it was bloody, bruised fists. I continued to beg for what seemed like hours, but I must have passed out at some point.

I felt tears sting my eyes when I thought about Logan. I wondered if Draven had fed him, or if he’d cried himself to the point of exhaustion. I wondered if he’d changed him, and I worried he’d have a terrible rash. Then my thoughts wandered in an ugly direction and I worried that his silence meant Draven had taken him from me forever. I covered my mouth before the sob escaped me. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t true, but now that my imagination had opened that door, there was no way to stop the series of images that rushed out.

I heard the sound of buttons being pressed and my door opened. Had I not made so many mistakes the night before, I’d have been able to rush him and perhaps get away. Instead, I curled up in the fetal position, covered my battered face, and waited for the next beating to begin.

I heard a clatter on the bedside table and felt a dip on the bed next to me. I tensed, but all I felt was a gentle hand running down my back.

“Molly.” He sounded like normal Draven and I exhaled. I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath. “Sit up and let me look at your face.”

I did as I was told, aching as I pushed myself up and sat on the edge of the bed. There was dried blood and snot on both of my sleeves and the sheets, and knowing how obsessive he was about cleanliness, I wondered if he’d beat me for that too.

Draven sank onto his knees in front of me and audibly groaned when he saw my face. A sincere look of disappointment came over him. He reached over and picked up a washcloth from a steaming bowl of water and began to dab at my face delicately.

“Why do you have to make everything so difficult?” He asked, and the tenderness in his voice troubled me more than a slap would have. “Do you think I like to hurt you?”

Yes, Draven. As a matter of fact I do.

As he proceeded to clean me up, his sympathetic eyes were completely demoralizing. Rage simmered within me, and I wanted to claw those forlorn eyes right out of their sockets.

Once satisfied with his progress on my battered right side, he dunked the pink rag into the warm water and tilted my face in the other direction.

“God, you’re beautiful.” He murmured, pulling the warmth away from my face and running his thumb across the intact portion of my bottom lip. “I forgot how unbelievably gorgeous you are.”

I looked into his eyes. I knew my face was expressionless, because I felt utterly detached. He cupped my cheek and seemed to survey my face. Then he put the rag back into the bowl of water with a resounding plop.

He pushed himself between my legs so that he could wrap his arms around my waist. His forehead was pressed against mine and when he exhaled his minty breath hit me full in the face. I momentarily considered sinking my teeth into his nose as hard as I could, but figured I’d hear him out first. I knew from experience he was gearing up to wax poetic, and whatever bullshit he was about to spew was bound to be golden. Besides, the door had locked behind him when he came in. I had no idea if I would be able to break out of the room, but I doubted it was likely.

“I had a lot of time to think while I was caged up like a rabid dog. I had plenty of time to plan. When I thought I had a shot at seeing my kid, it was about being respectable. I was going to rebuild my reputation and focus on him...maybe patch things up with his mother. But she was still bitter that I’d come to see you in Austin after I’d married her. Our...
misunderstanding
made it impossible for her to believe I was over you. She said I was still in love with you. Elaine was always jealous of you, Doll. I never would have left you for her. She knew it, I knew it. If you hadn’t found out about her, you and I would still be together. Between you and me, I’m pretty sure she planted those panties in my car. I know I’m not that careless.”

He sat back a bit, gripping my face in his hands. My cheek throbbed, but I barely noticed. The adrenaline coursing through my veins made me almost impervious to the pain. The only thing keeping me from hate stomping him into the hardwood floor was the fact that I didn’t know where Logan was. I thought of my baby’s innocent blue eyes looking up into Draven’s cold reptilian ones, and that image empowered me to keep myself in check.

“I didn’t believe you’d really leave me. Certainly not over someone as meaningless as Elaine. I figured you’d run off to Dan’s and cool down and be back after a month or so. Then we’d get things back to the way they were. Then the divorce papers arrived and just like that you were gone. Elaine was pregnant-another thing I think she planned-and I was so busy trying to keep the restaurant from tanking and worrying about how to explain the Elaine situation to my family that I lost track of what I should have been focusing on. You.

Then Elaine started in about getting a different house. She said we needed a yard for Marco, but I think she couldn’t stand the thought that you and I had lived there together. While I was listing our house, I started hearing chatter about your food truck and knew you’d succeed. I realized you were moving on...starting a new life without me. It was unthinkable.

So I came to see you. I had no choice. I missed you too much. I couldn’t even look at Elaine much less touch her. My fucking family had pressured me into marrying her and you...you wouldn’t even talk to me. So I lost it. I can see that now. I understand why you were scared. But it’s because I loved you too fucking much to let you just walk away.”

He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed my forehead as if we’d had a tiny lover’s quarrel and he was trying to make up. Then he pressed on.

“When your letter was read aloud at the hearing, I wanted nothing more than to wrap my hands around that pretty throat of yours and squeeze the life out of you. At that point I’d given up on you. I told myself you were just an ungrateful hick that I’d crafted into a lady. And to repay me you’d betrayed me in the basest of ways.

First, by taking that Neanderthal into your bed when you still belonged to me. Then, by writing that damn letter, which was the final nail in my coffin. With that letter, Elaine’s lawyer was able to paint me as a horrible monster. Some foul creature that should never be allowed to see his son again. Sure, my council told me he could eventually get the decision reversed. But by then I knew it would be too late. Elaine is a manipulative little cow and she’d poison Marco against me. He would never want to know me and the person I blamed for that was you. So I decided I would show you what that kind of pain felt like.

It took a lot of planning. I had a parole officer and I had to slip away from Johnny Law. Turns out the police really aren’t that hard to fool. But I’d learned my lesson. I studied surveillance, learned the best ways to avoid being recorded. Fool me once and all that.” He gave a wan smile at the mention of Francis’ recording of his tirade that landed him in prison. As he spoke, he dabbed what felt like peroxide on my lip, followed by some ointment. He’d invested in a first aid kit before his psychotic attack, which showed a level of forethought that was just so very Draven.

“When everything was in place I started watching you. Learning your habits. Tracking your movements. There were a few close calls, like the laser tag incident, but that was so worth it. Watching you in your quaint little house with your perfect little nuclear family, I understood the best way to make you suffer.”

He leaned down and forced me to meet his eyes. “Your children. It was so simple, really. I don’t know why I didn’t see it immediately. Marco being taken from me was the worst pain I’d ever felt. And the rage you inspired in me was almost too much to contain. One day you looked so contented that I almost ran you and your stroller down in the road. I would never have gotten away with that, of course...so I changed my mind.”