Page 4 of Bella's Dom (The Doms of Madison County)

She took most of the money and a screwdriver into the closet and knelt in the back. She pried the board up and pulled out the safe. After adding the money, she carefully laid it back in the cubbyhole and reset the board. Even though she didn’t think her brother had it in him to figure it out, she took a minute to blow any slivers of wood away from the board.

With a second look, she moved out of the closet. She groaned when she looked at the clock to find it was two in the morning, and she had to be at the diner in four hours.

God, she couldn’t take much more of this. She had to find a way to leave Randy without him knowing. She decided to start bringing a few outfits with her in her backpack to the diner. She bet the owner and cook, Donny, would let her keep a box in his office. He had commented a few times that she should leave her brother, but that was easier said than done.

After packing her things for the morning, she moved the bed in front of her bedroom door to keep out anyone who tried to get in. It had happened more than once. They couldn’t get through the windows because she rigged a pole to keep them shut so they’d have to break the glass. By the time they’d done that, she surmised she would have the police on the phone and a sharp knife she kept on her nightstand in her hand. She wouldn’t hesitate to cut someone if they were trying to hurt her.

She lay down and closed her eyes. She ignored the headache that her fall had caused and thought of all the choices she had. Her car was old but ran well, so she would be able to take it. Fortunately, her brother had a motorcycle, so he never tried to take her car. It would be too small for him, his long body into it, anyway.

Her last thought was she had to move up the time of her escape because her brother could have killed her a few times. It wasn’t deliberate, but the next time, she might not be that lucky. His violence was getting worse every day. She didn’t think he’d intentionally kill her because she was his money-maker and cleaned the house.

“God, Mama,” she whispered. “I know you wanted me to take care of him, but I can’t anymore.”

Bella knew her mother would understand and would have kicked his ass out a long time ago. She was just glad her mother wasn’t around to see her son turn into a lazy, pathetic monster.

Chapter Three

Bella woke up with a headache and stomachache. She knew her headache stemmed from hitting the table the night before, and her stomach hurt because she forgot to eat again and hadn’t had any food for the last twenty or more hours since she was at the diner.

She took her time sitting up and making sure she was steady before standing and walking into the bathroom. She cringed when she saw her forehead. It was still a bit swollen, but the dark bruise would be hard to hide. There was nothing she could do but cover it the best she could and get moving, or she’d be late to the diner. She thought about the long day ahead and couldn’t help but feel dread.

Was this what her life was going to be like? She never imagined it would get so messed up.

She stared at herself in the mirror and said to herself, “No one can change my life except myself. The first step I needed to take was getting away from my brother.” She knew she had very little time and wouldn’t be able to take any of her things, so she planned on taking what she could.

Bella quickly dressed in her waitress outfit, pushed the bed away from the door, and carefully opened it. So far, she hadn’t seen or heard anyone, but she wanted to make sure before she tried to leave.

She crept over to her brother’s bedroom door and listened. When she didn’t hear anything, she slowly and carefully cracked open the door. The air whooshed from her lungs when she saw the bed was empty.

It didn’t surprise her that he wasn’t there. He was gone a lot. Now, she had to rush to get her things packed so she’d be able to leave for good sooner then she thought.

She filled a huge duffle bag with the clothing she wanted. She pried the board up in the closet, took all the money she had saved, and stuffed some of it in the duffle and some in her purse. She grabbed her toiletries and looked around one more time. This would be the last time she ever saw this room, and she felt lighter just taking that step. She wondered why she hadn’t done this sooner.

Bella left enough clothes to make her brother think she was coming back. The last thing she did was grab a pillow and blanket from the closet. She wanted her bed to look like it had been slept in.

It took some doing, but she dragged her duffle out with one hand, and she used her other arm to hold the bedding and her purse. She stuffed everything into her trunk and locked it.

The feeling of urgency filled her. She needed to get as far away from the place as possible. She didn’t think her brother would be home for several hours, but she didn’t want to take the chance of being caught.

She decided to stop at the sheriff’s office and make a report just to have it on record. She knew she should have done it a long time ago, but she’d held off in hopes her brother would grow up. Bella had plenty of time since she had a little over an hour before work.

Pulling up in front of the building made her anxiety rise. She’d never been in trouble with the law or had anything or anyone to see there. Not even a speeding or parking ticket. So, seeing the building up close made her anxious.

Bella took a breath, got out of her car, and walked into the building. The door closed behind her with a thump, making her jump. She felt herself blush when a few people looked her way.

“May I help you?” a young, pretty woman behind a desk asked her.

“Yes. I need to talk to a policeman about an abusive situation.” She knew the woman saw the bruise on her forehead. She had tried to hide it, but it was too dark and swollen.

“I’ll call someone up. Take a seat. It shouldn’t be long.”

“Thank you,” Bella said. She walked over to one of the walls and studied all the posters of wanted people. She was curious to see if she knew any of them.

“Miss.”

Bella turned to see the sheriff. She’d never met him, but she did know him by sight. “Hi.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

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