His true love only cried more. He hated seeing her in pain.
He punched the steering wheel. Damn it! He needed to get rid of his ex-bride, who was causing his new bride so much pain. He turned on the radio for the fourth time in as many minutes, but there was no news to report. He tried to relax, but the slightest movement only caused the screaming in the trunk to increase.
He turned the radio off.
Relax,he told himself. So, his old spot was no good. But it wasn't like he didn't have a backup plan. What was he, a fool? Of course not. He would get rid of his filthy ex-bride and he would do it quickly.
A smile curled at his lips.
This was going to be easy.
Turning up the music, he sang along to his favorite song, and tried to clear his mind of everything except the music. He was going to be a good husband to his wife, they would be a good couple, not like his parents. Not like Mother.
The song was the one he had sung at his last wedding, and though it had seemed forever, it was only four minutes. The song ended and the announcer came on. "That one, that one is for the beautiful bride and groom."
"Oh, shut up!" he muttered bashfully. “You’re too kind. We’re technically not married yet!”
He changed the station to classical music, because it reminded him of Mother.
He remembered the way Mother would keep him in the basement for hours, all the windows shut, never letting him leave. And she would whisper to him through the door, telling him how much she loved him. How much he meant to her. How much she would never hurt him. How much he was the only one she could ever truly love.
She was so lonely after Father was no longer around. But Mother made it clear that he, he could never leave her. He was hers.
But he had escaped Mother, and now he was free to live his own life, to choose his own love. He was no longer the little boy who had listened to the classical music she played in the basement of their home. He was a man. He had a new love, a new wife. He did not need to listen to the soft songs that reminded him of his mother’s voice.
He changed to an old country song he used to sing with his father on the old acoustic guitar.
The song was about love, but it was about love lost. A man sang the song to the woman who had destroyed his love, and though she stood in front of him, she was no longer the beautiful bride he had married. He had no more use for her, because he had found love again with his new wife-to-be. Only this time, she was completely different.
He wiped his eyes. He was being foolish. A good man should forget such things and focus on what was important.
And right now, the only important thing was getting rid of his ex-bride.
And he knew just the place.
A home away from home...
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Nicky's heart fell to the floor.
The old warehouse was demolished. All of it. The remains of the building were spread out in front of her, under the night sky. The bricks and mortar lay in shattered pieces on the ground. The wooden beams and support posts had been torn down, leaving nothing but splinters and rubble in their wake. The once-solid structure now looked like a skeleton, stretched out on the ground in front of her.
Beside her, Ken let out a whistle. "Something tells me this isn't where he's going."
Nicky's hands shook. "Grace said it was here, but the internet probably hadn't updated yet. This demolition was recent." Nicky could tell by the way the track marks from the machinery were still embedded in the earth.
Nicky paused. Took a moment to breathe, collect herself. The air was cool, as if it had just rained. The crickets sang all around them, their high-pitched notes weaving in and out of each other, as if they were trying to create a melody. The road stretched out before them, a narrow, pitted path that disappeared into the darkness. They were way off the highway, and the only light came from the stars and the moon.
Okay, so this was the wrong spot. And they were running out of time. But Nicky couldn’t let this defeat her.
The only way forward was up.
"We don't have time to waste." Nicky hurried back over to the car and hopped behind the wheel. Ken followed, buckling into the passenger side.
With that, Nicky floored it. Destination: the next location, Sunrise Homes, the old apartment building.
They screeched over the bridge and onto the interstate again, heading toward the first leg of their trip.