Sin of Fury (6 page)

“
Mother?” she’d asked, hand
turning numb from how hard she was clutching the phone. Before,
when Chris had let her have a cellphone, she had been able to call
and text her mother, despite the fear that he would find
out.

She never got a reply.

“
He’s gone,” she remembered
her mother saying into the line tremulously. “You can come back to
me, he’s gone.” The utter joy that statement brought, despite the
flash of old betrayal, had kindled a hope into Jamie’s heart that
she hadn’t felt in forever.

The call ended shortly after that, her
mother pleading with her to come home. She hadn’t mentioned Chris
at all, something that Jamie was grateful for. She would have
broken down right then. Taking a breath, Jamie used the sound of
her mother’s voice to push her forward, to seal the zipper
closed.

Jamie stared at the closet, eyes
haunted. She had only grabbed the things that she had brought with
her. There were no family heirlooms within the house—when her
father had thrown her out, he hadn’t let her take anything except
what she had bought with her own money.

Staring down at the packed suitcase,
she felt frozen. Was she actually going to do this? She thought.
After so long, she was actually going to leave Chris. Would he know
to look for her with her mother? She highly doubted it—he had made
sure that she cut all ties with her family, and he would probably
think that she was too much of a coward to face her father
again.

She could only agree with that. If her
mother hadn’t called, hadn’t asked her to come back, she wouldn’t
have. The shame of knowing that her parents had been right when she
had been wrong was too much to bear, and even now it made her heart
hurt.

At least her mother still wanted
her.

Jamie grabbed the suitcase and started
moving towards the door, looking around her. The entire room was
spotless. The light from the glass windows glazing over the room,
covering it in a shining brightness, would forever be imprinted in
her mind. But not as something to remember, instead as something
she would force herself to never be put through again. She made a
quick trip to the bathroom to grab her shampoos and
make-up.

Chris had left his keys on the
counter. A rush of relief ran through her, and she sent a brief
prayer to whoever decided to give her this luck. First her mother
calling her, then Chris leaving the keys to his truck on the
counter. Now, if only she could find a credit card…

She walked outside barefooted, into
the brisk afternoon air. Her mind was racing, trying to place what
she would have to do. Airport…the airport was only a couple of
miles away. It was silly of her, but the fear of Chris seeing her
in his truck as she drove there flashed through her
mind.

He couldn’t charge her with theft, she
assured herself. Everything that he owned, everything that he
bought, was all in her name. The money from her bank account that
her mother had secretly set aside for her as a child had kept them
going for a good three years. There was still plenty of money in
there, she knew, so maybe she wouldn’t have to rely on a credit
card.

She walked back into the house after
setting her suitcase in the cab of the truck. Her heart was racing,
almost enough to make her lightheaded. With trembling hands
wringing in front of her, she stared around the kitchen. The
stainless steel counters, the small island table in the center of
the room, the stove, the cooking knives… It was where she had spent
most of her time. As much as she loved creating things that would
make your mouth burst with pleasure, she was thankful she was
leaving.

She flipped the switch next to the
door, slipping on her soft loafers. Lips tight, she gazed around
the room. She straightened her shoulders and yanked open the drawer
next to the door, resolved.

An Android that Chris used
for business, and several of their—no,
her—
credit cards lay in the very
back. She couldn’t help but smile as she looked at them; it was the
ultimate payback. Chris had been foolish to leave everything
here.

Taking the cards and the phone, she
walked through the back door. It slammed shut behind her, just as
her heart did to anymore pain he would try to cause her.

The simple act of taking his money
made Jamie feel powerful, something that was now rare for her. She
could remember looking in the mirror one morning, devastated by
what she saw. The once young, vibrant, darkly beautiful woman had
turned into a shell. Her skin had become disgustingly pale, losing
the healthy glow that it had once held.

Her hair had lost its bounce, the
black waves turning into strips that hung down her back dully. Her
eyes had been equally as dull. The only time that Chris had let her
dress up and become beautiful was when they had company—which, as
of late, hadn’t been that much.

Jamie’s throat tightened as she got
into the truck, but she held up her chin and turned it on. She
couldn’t remember the last time that she had actually driven
somewhere. If she wanted to cook, she had a delivery boy bring her
things. Chris had been friends with the store manager, and they
hadn’t minded bringing her things as long as she paid in full, plus
a tip.

She backed out of the driveway,
worried that she would get into a wreck and be forced to stay there
longer. Her mother was waiting for her—Jamie knew it. Fear of Chris
had held her frozen for years, with any thoughts of trying to
escape sedated. No more.

The truck’s large wheels slid against
the layer of snow that had fallen last night. It was barely an
inch, but it had added to the previous falls. Heart stopping in her
chest, she almost screamed when she felt the back end swerve on a
turn. Jamie knew that if it weren’t for her frayed nerves, she
wouldn’t be so jittery.

Besides the terrifying ride to the
airport and missing her exit, Jamie got there safely. She almost
kissed the ground when her feet touched the smooth patch of
pavement. The airport was fairly new; it had been put up when she
and Chris had moved to Omaha, and this was the first time she had
had the pleasure to actually see it.

It was grand. Her eyes widened as she
walked into the vast space. Model airplanes hung from the walls,
bright lights shining on the gambling slots. Old women dressed in
frilly dresses sat grouped together around a roulette table,
tittering over the young man that was sitting next to them.
Waitresses in fishnet stockings and black, lacy corsets walked
around, carrying trays full of colored drinks.

Averting her gaze, she hurried through
the room and almost got lost before she found the front desk. She
would have taken Chris’s laptop to schedule a flight to Orlando,
but she didn’t know the password and the history, which she had no
clue how to delete, would tell him exactly where she was
going.

The woman at the counter
was dressed in a fitting top, a small hat placed on top of her
head. Her name tag read
Ashley
, pinned neatly against her
chest. Jamie gave a polite smile, watching as the woman took in her
white slacks and pale blue button up top, the white unlined fur
coat open. She had left her suitcase in the car, choosing not to
lug the thing around until she knew for sure that she would be able
to leave.

“
Hi, what do you need
today?” the woman asked, eyes cooling considerably as they landed
on her diamond necklace. Jamie swallowed, wishing she had
remembered to throw the thing away. It was a constant reminder of
the days that had made her smile, of the days she would never have
again.

She pushed her bangs out of her eyes,
taking a breath. “When is your next possible flight to Orlando,
Florida?”

Ashely gave her a look over then
dropped her eyes to the computer, popping a bubble. The blonde’s
hair was in a bun neatly tucked under the cap, and her brown eyes
were dull. Jamie could have felt the distaste from a mile
away.

Bags were milling slowly behind her,
disappearing into black folds that she knew would lead to a plane.
A plane that she wished she could be on right now, she thought with
a mental sigh. The desk worker looked up, clucking her
tongue.

Hiding a cool look, brown eyes met her
as she gave a forced polite smile. “Our earliest flight for Orlando
is tomorrow at eight in the morning.”

Jamie ignored the condescension and
pulled out her black master card. “Here,” she said, holding it out.
The woman took it and looked at her. Jamie hated telling people
what to do, but nodded toward the computer. “I’ll be taking that
flight.”

Ashley nodded, then rung it up in
silence. It took close to ten minutes to get all of the
credentials. After printing the ticket out, Ashely handed the
papers to Jamie with another fake smile and said brightly, “Have a
good day!”

Jamie turned on her heel, eyes
lowering as she looked covertly around her, scanning. Chris wasn’t
anywhere, she told herself. He wasn’t watching her, coming after
her, or going to hurt her—he didn’t even know she had
left.

She walked into the cold air, the slap
of the wind making her head turn. The truck was still in its normal
place, no suspicious men lurking around. Jamie held in a sigh,
unlocking the car door and getting in quickly. She decided that she
would have to stay in a hotel—there was no way in hell she was
going back to that house and risk not being able to
leave.

Jamie tried to remember where the
farthest ATM was at. Although they were her credit cards, Chris
still had access to them and could find her through them.
Remembering that there was an ATM on the south side, several miles
away from the airport, she started the truck and began
driving.

The truck was chilly, her mind was
racing, and she couldn’t hold still. Halfway to the ATM, Jamie
started to feel something burning into her back. Not physically,
but it might as well have been. Turning her head, she looked behind
her then turned forward, eyes flickering to the overhead mirror.
Her heart stopped in her chest, hands turning white on the
wheel.

Jamie felt as if the eyes were burning
into her, searing her. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, and it caused
her mind to run off track. It reminded her much of the way that
Chris had stared at her in one of his drunken rages, with such hate
and repulsion. She could still feel the harshness of his words, his
hands, as those eyes held hers. Green, sharp, and piercing, she
thought for a horrifying moment that Chris was following her,
staring at her.

She shook her head, knowing that
wasn’t it. They were too malicious, too...deadly. Even without
knowing who was watching her, the sick feeling in her stomach
alerted her that whatever was watching her, hated her more than
anything ever had before.

Jamie forced herself to ignore it,
tried to focus on getting enough money to get a decent hotel room
to last her the night. She only took one hundred out of the
account, figuring it would be enough for room service and a nice
enough place to sleep.

The Marina Inn. Pressing the gas pedal
with a trembling leg, the eyes getting worse, she drove slowly, and
struggled to stay calm. It was a nice hotel, had a pool and hot
tub, and was close to the airport. Her stomach growled, yet as she
drove, hands shaking and face pale, she knew that if she tried to
eat anything it would come right back up.

In only thirty minutes, she had a
room, her clothes for later spread out on the bed, and the shower
running with room service on the way. Her heart was turning in her
chest, matching the actions of her stomach, as she looked out of
the shaded window. The room was adorned with creamy curtains to
match the walls, a thick green bedspread with vector swirls rimming
the bottom.

The kitchen was not as grand as it had
been at Chris’s house, yet she doubted she was going to use it on
her one night stay. She started taking off her clothes, trying not
to look at the bruises covering her body, and entered the bathroom.
Steam was rising from the large tub as hot water sprinkled from
above.

A sigh of pleasure escaped her lips as
she stepped inside. Before, at Chris’s house, she had taken less
than five minute showers, afraid that he would try to take
advantage of her. Now, though, she had a whole room to herself with
a hot bath to top it off.

The water level had risen enough that
it filled half the tub. Jamie sat down slowly, hating the
tenderness in her back and shoulder. Refusing to look anywhere but
the water, she settled on closing her eyes and relaxing. It felt so
good, she thought, to be as free as she felt. She grabbed her
shampoo from the side, the conditioner already set out from when
she had started the water along with her favorite scented
soap.

Jamie knew she wouldn’t be able to
take her shampoo and conditioner with her, so she was going to
relish her use of it right then. With the biggest smile she had
given in a long time, she started lathering her hair. The hot water
flowed around her slim legs, her long black hair washed in ten
minutes. The conditioning took just as long, and she could have
cared less.

Feeling rejuvenated, fresh, and
finally like a woman, she stepped from the shower and began blow
drying her hair. She might not have anyone to dress up for, Jamie
thought as the brush slid through her long tresses, but she didn’t
care. For once, it was just about her.