Chapter 13: Jessica- 3 Months Later
I looked around as I eased out the window of my bedroom. It was pitch black. I didn’t know how I’d even fit out of it. I took a deep breath before jumping toward the tree standing beside the house. It seemed so far away, but it was my only chance. If I didn’t get out of here now, I wouldn’t be leaving. I prayed as I flew through the air. The branch hit me in the chest and knocked the air out of me. I wrapped my arms around it. As I hung there and caught my breath, I prayed. God, please let me get out of here. As I scrambled down the tree, I tried to not make any sound. If they heard me, it was all over.
Reaching the road, I took off toward where I thought town was. We were out in the country outside of Denver. I knew that much from what I’d heard them say. However, I had no idea how far out. I kept putting one foot in front of the other. I kept to the side of the road, so I could hide if I needed to. I thought back over the last three months.
After leaving Tennessee that fateful night, I found myself in Denver, Colorado. I stayed for a little while in a cheap hotel, but I knew I couldn’t do that forever. I needed to get a job, though all I really wanted to do was lie in bed and cry. I missed Ajax so much and thinking about him hurt.
When I stopped wallowing in self-pity, I went looking for a job. I got lucky and found an older woman who owned a diner. She had a help wanted sign in the window when I stopped to get real food one night. We got to talking and Dolly asked if I needed a job. I told her I did, but I needed to be paid under the table. She had frowned and asked me if I was in trouble with the law. I reassured her I wasn’t.
She must have seen I wasn’t lying, because she gave me a job, paid me under the table and even let me have a small apartment over the diner for next to nothing in rent. Though I was terribly unhappy, I had found a place. I thought all I had to worry about was trying to find a way to live out the rest of my life without Ajax. How wrong I was.
Two weeks ago, I was working the lunch crowd and looked up to see my stepmom and stepsister standing in the doorway of the diner. You could have literally knocked me over with a feather. What the hell were they doing here? And how had they found me?
They sat down and acted like they were surprised to see me and happy as well. I knew they were full of shit, but I’d been stupid and agreed to meet them after work. They told me they wanted to talk to me about something important. I must have been a glutton for punishment. All I could do as I looked at Melody was picture her with Ajax and wonder if she was still seeing him.
That evening when they came to see me at my apartment, they weren’t alone. They had two men with them. They quickly overpowered me and knocked me out. When I woke up, I was locked in a room in an unfamiliar house.
Over the last two weeks, I’d heard a lot from them about what they wanted. At first, they didn’t say anything, other than I had to stay with them for a while. The men weren’t around much. When they were, I was scared to death of what they might do to me. The look they got in their eyes didn’t bode well for me.
Then, earlier tonight, I heard them talking and discovered why they had me locked up. When my dad died, he left a sizable fortune to me. My stepmom and stepsister got one too. Mine wouldn’t pay out until I was twenty-three, which happened to be in a month. They had wasted their money and wanted mine. They were going to hold me until I turned twenty-three then force me to sign over the money to them. I had no idea how they thought they would force me, but I knew I wouldn’t come out the other end okay. Then I heard them laughing about how they planned to kill me as soon as they got the money. When I heard that, I knew I had to escape. That’s what led to me squeezing out a window that should have been too small for me to get out of and jumping for a tree that I could have easily missed and fell to my death. But it was worth the risk.
I don’t know how long I walked. It seemed like forever. By pure luck, I ended up walking in the right direction. It was close to morning when I saw the town. Cars were starting to travel into town from the outlying areas. I needed to get out of view. As I came into the edge of town, I saw a couple of houses. I went to the first one. No one answered my knock. The same thing at the second one. When I came to the third, I was ready to cry. Thankfully, a woman answered. I explained I needed to use a phone. She finally let me borrow her cell. I called Dolly.
She was shocked to hear from me. I told her where I was and begged her to come get me. That I’d explain why I just up and disappeared without a word. She told me she’d be there soon. As I waited, the lady who had helped me, Meg, gave me some water and let me rest inside. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.
I must have dozed off because knocking at the door jerked me awake. Meg answered to let Dolly in. After hugging her and thanking Meg, we got on the road. Dolly insisted on taking me back to her house. When we got to her house, I filled her in on what had happened. She was mortified.
“Oh, honey, I had no idea. You just up and left. Your stepsister said you had a family emergency and needed to leave right away. I’ll admit, I was angry you didn’t at least tell me yourself. Jessica, we have to get you away from here. I’d tell you to go to the police, but you have no proof. Is there anywhere you can go? Anyone who can help protect you?”
I went to say no when the Warriors popped into my head. Could I get their help? If Ajax was still seeing my sister, it wouldn’t be safe. What if I could talk to Madisen and see if she could help me? I didn’t know anyone else to turn to. The Warriors were known for helping people. They had started a security business. Maybe I could hire a few of them to protect me until I figured out what to do.
“Maybe, but I’ll need to get back to Tennessee. I have a friend who might help. I just don’t know if she will or not.”
“Why don’t you call her and find out? You’re not out anything if you do.” Fighting my exhaustion, I took the phone she held out to me. I slowly punched in the bakery’s number. She’d be there at this time of day. It rang three times. I was about to hang up when she answered.
“Hello, Angel’s Delights. How may I help you?”
“Hi, Madisen. It’s Jessica,” I said softly. There was a pause then she shrieked.
“Jessica! Where on earth are you? You just up and ran off. Why in the hell would you do that? Do you have any idea how worried we’ve all been? Ajax has been—” I cut her off.
“Listen, Mad, I need your help. I’m in trouble and I don’t know where else to turn. I don’t want to talk about this over the phone. Can you ask Rebel if his club would be willing to help me?”
“What the hell? Why would you ask that? You know they would. You’re not making any sense, Jess. Where are you? What’s going on?” she yelled. I cringed. I could feel the exhaustion overtaking me. As I sagged on the couch, Dolly came over and took the phone.
“Let me explain to her a little. You need to get some sleep.”
I barely nodded. I laid down on the couch. Before she could explain anything to Madisen or I fell asleep, I told her, “Tell her not to tell Ajax I called. I don’t want him to know. I will pay the club for their protection.” As I said that, my body gave out and I was gone.
When I woke up, it was dark outside. I sat up and looked around frantically. Where was Dolly? I got up to look for her. I made it a couple of steps before I had to sit back down. A light flipped on, and I looked up to see her standing there.
“Good. You’re awake. Let’s get on the road.”
“On the road? To where? What time is it?”
“It’s eight at night. You slept the whole day away. You needed the rest. We don’t have a lot of time to make it to where you’re meeting. Let’s go.”
“Meeting?”