Sarah scrubbed her dirty skin and watched the brown water get washed down the drain, mixed with her dried-up blood. Then she examined herself. She still had some bruises on her arms and back from when she had been dragged into that room and locked up. Her wrists were also quite bruised from the chains—but nothing too severe, nothing that wouldn’t go away over time.
Sarah stopped the water and got out of the shower, thinking about the day her kidnapper came for her, then shivered. She knew they wouldn’t stop here. They were looking for her out there, and at some point, they would realize where she was. It wasn’t the most secretive hideout, her brother’s place.
And by staying here, she had put her brother’s life in danger too.
The realization felt excruciating. But her brother’s house was the only one she could think of when trying to find a hiding place. She hoped her kidnapper wouldn’t know where he lived.
Sarah went to her brother’s closet and found some clothes that were way too big for her, but with a belt, she could keep the jeans up, and if she rolled the legs up, it didn’t look too shabby. It was better than the dirty rags she had been in for weeks in that hellhole and while staying in the streets.
She walked back to the kitchen, poured herself some coffee from the pot she just made, grabbed some cereal from the cabinet, and poured milk on top. Who knew cereal could taste like this? She thought to herself after the first spoonful. She sat in the living room while eating, trying to kill that deep hunger inside of her. Slowly, she was beginning to feel like a human again, something she had longed for.
While she ate, enjoying her freedom, she heard a car drive up the street outside and peeked out nervously between the curtains. She felt her heart rate go up rapidly as she watched a car approach. Her hand holding the curtain began to shake violently when she was suddenly reminded of the day she had been abducted from her own home.
When the car came to a stop outside, she could no longer breathe. She let go of the curtain and stormed into her brother’s bedroom, where she knew he kept a gun under the bed.
Chapter 50
THEN:
She took a deep breath, then checked her make-up before telling her secretary to let him in. Jeff stormed through the door and shut it behind him. He rushed to the couch and sat down. His hair was a mess, his shirt unusually wrinkled. His cheeks were blushing, and his eyes almost manic.
“Doc,” he said with a deep exhale. “I am so glad to see you again. I’ve missed you like crazy.”
Lynn smiled and nodded, trying to hide how much it flattered her when he said stuff like that.
“How are you today?”
He sniffled, his eyes still lingering on her. “How am I? How am I?”
She smiled. “Yes, Jeff. How has your week been?”
“Awful, that’s how. Simply awful.”
“Okay. And why is that?”
He stared at her, mouth slightly open. “Are you seriously asking me this? You know why.”
“Do I? Maybe you should explain it to me.”
He ran a hand through his hair a couple of times. “I…I can’t stop thinking about you. Ever since we… You’re all that’s on my mind, constantly, every second of the day. It’s like I’m obsessed.”
Lynn stared at him, suppressing a smile. “Really? Tell me more, please. Can you give me some examples?”
“I wake up in the middle of the night and think of you. I can’t eat; my stomach is in knots constantly. I go on Instagram many times a day, scrolling through your account, looking at your pictures. I look at them when I…pleasure myself and…”
“Okay, okay,” Lynn said. “I get the idea. Jeff, now we talked about…”
He leaned forward and grabbed her hand in his. The movement was so swift she barely had time to react.
“I can’t stand being without you, Doc. You’re everything there is. It’s maddening. Did you read any of my emails I sent this week? You didn’t answer any of them.”
“I read every word,” she said, looking down at her notepad. “And I do appreciate you taking your time to write to me. I just haven’t had the time to write back.”
His eyes eased up as he looked into hers. “I thought there was an explanation. It was driving me nuts. I kept wondering if you didn’t like me anymore. I was so scared you’d leave me.”
Lynn scoffed. “I’m not going anywhere, Jeff.”
His shoulders came down, and he leaned back on the couch. “I am so glad to hear that, Doc. I was so worried…”
“It’s those abandonment issues. We talked about those, remember?”
He nodded. “They do drive me nuts. It was just after I saw you in that restaurant and watched you, and you didn’t look at me the way you usually do, so I got scared, and I’ve been obsessing over that ever since, fearing you’d tell me you couldn’t see me again.”
She lifted her gaze and met his across the room.
“I would never do that, Jeff. Ever. You’re my favorite patient. I look forward to you coming every week.”
He smiled and sighed. “I am so glad to hear that, Doc. Do you think we can kiss again? Because I really enjoyed that. It made me so happy; you wouldn’t believe it.”
Lynn sighed and took off her glasses. She looked into his eyes, then tilted her head.
“All right. But just one kiss.”
Chapter 51
Matt agreed to take care of the kids, even though it wasn’t willingly. We fought about it all morning, and I ended up hurrying out the door, coffee in my thermos. I didn’t even say a proper goodbye to Angel and Owen. I just slammed the door shut, then hurried to my minivan and drove out to pick up Scott in Viera. I was still fuming with anger as he approached the car. His smile was charming when he got in, and I felt my anger melt away instantly.
That’s the effect he had on me.
Part of me wondered if I had just been angry all morning because of Matt or if it was really because I knew that today I would most likely lose Scott if we found Sarah, as was the mission. He would be happy and take her home with him, and I would probably never see him again. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. No part of it felt good. If it was true that I was really angry about losing Scott, then what did that mean for Matt and me? Was it silly of us to get married if I found myself so easily attracted to another man?
“You want a protein bar?” he asked and held one out for me. I had already eaten cereal, standing up while yelling at Matt, so I wasn’t exactly hungry. Still, I took one and ate it, then washed it down with my coffee.
As we made it across the two bridges and onto the mainland, I felt myself finally ease up. I was acting insane. It had to be the hormones from breastfeeding. They made me do and think stupid things—that had to be it.
I turned up the music loud and decided to leave all the anger and resentment behind me. I’d have to deal with Matt later.
After about an hour's drive, we arrived in the small neighborhood in the south end of Winter Park, not far from the Mead Botanical garden. I had been there with Matt a few months earlier and was reminded of a wonderful afternoon marveling at the hundreds of rare plant species—back when things were a little less complicated—before the two infants came into our lives. I had to admit, I thought to myself as I drove up the narrow street toward the address in my GPS, that it was a lot taking in an extra child, and I couldn’t blame Matt for being upset about it. And then there was the matter of Scott on top of it. Matt could probably sense how I was confused about my feelings and was distancing myself from him.