Page 195 of State of Suspense

She dreamed that she was trapped inside the concrete prison, with no food or water or any way out. The fear, hopelessness and outrage were palpable. She’d had to watch the monster build the wall around her, one block at a time, realizing he was condemning her to a slow, miserable, painful death. Her body ached, as she hadn’t had food or water in days, and the cold floor only added to the misery.

Soon, she’d run out of air, and then what? She didn’t think anything could be worse than the razor wire and fire, but Stahl had managed to find a way to top his own depravity. This was worse. She thought of Nick, Scotty, Alden, Aubrey, Eli, her sisters, nieces, nephews… The only solace was that her dad would be there to greet her when she arrived in heaven, and that gave her something to look forward to as her strength ebbed.

She yearned for Nick, for one more minute with him, for the chance to breathe in the familiar scent of home while gazing into his gorgeous hazel eyes, the eyes that had never looked at her with anything other than love, admiration and full acceptance of who and what she was. He never asked her to be anything other than herself, which was such a gift.

He was such a gift.

A sob ripped from her chest.

Nick.

“Babe, wake up. Sam…”

His voice punctured the thin veil between sleep and wakefulness. She opened her eyes, expecting to see a concrete prison. Blinking, she saw the bedroom wall where she’d put a framed photo of their family from Christmas.

“Samantha.”

Relief flooded her entire system. Only a dream. Only a dream.

She turned to him and buried her face in his chest as tears leaked from tightly closed eyes.

“What is it, love?”

“Weird dream. Sorry to disturb you.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“Absolutely not.” She wouldn’t tell him about the concrete room. He had enough horrors to worry about without her adding more. She snuggled in deeper. “This is all I need.”

“I’ve got plenty of this.”

As she wallowed in his comfort, she tried to rid her mind of the images from inside the concrete prison, but that would be much easier said than done.

Sam was “off” from the second she rolled out of bed, through getting the twins up and dressed, to overseeing breakfast for all three kids and leaving them with kisses and hugs and wishes for a good day.

Since she’d be going to court, she’d worn gray dress pants, a white cowl-necked sweater and a navy blazer.

Nick walked her to the stairs. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Just tired.”

“You were restless all night.”

“I’m sorry.”

He kissed her forehead. “Don’t be. I wasn’t going to sleep much anyway.” He’d already told her there was no news this morning about Juan. “I know you don’t like to add to my burdens, especially at a time like this, but I always want to know what keeps you awake at night.”

“And I appreciate that, but I can’t remember most of it.”

“I guess that’s for the best.”

“For sure.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Keep me posted on Juan.”

“I will and let me know how the hearing goes.”

She nodded. “Will do. Love you.”

“You, too. Be careful out there. My wife is my whole world.”

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