Page 63 of Jagger

Joel:Do you really think you can run away from me with my little girl?

Joel: I will find you and when I do, you’ll be very sorry you crossed me.

Joel: I will release that video. Do not think I won’t.

Joel:You crossed the wrong person.

Me:She’s not your little girl. She’s mine.

I’d never felt so uncomfortable, the understanding that Jagger was in the seat next to me reinforcing I could never run away from my past.

Joel:I’m going to find you, my little bitch. And when I do, you will pay for trying to leave. You are my wife. And I assure you that anyone close to you is going to hate the fact they helped you.

Why did he care? Why did he act like he wanted me back?

Me:I’m not your wife any longer either. You fucked it up when you slept with her. If you touch a single one of my friends, I will make certain you go to prison for a very long time.

I started to shake. He was threatening my best friend.

Me:Esme doesn’t know where I am.

Why was I bothering?

Joel:It’s fascinating what a scalpel can do in slowly and effectively destroying nerves and tendons.

Me:Leave me alone. You got what you wanted. You touch her, you die.

I waited to see the three little dots floating across the screen, but there weren’t any. A couple of minutes passed and I knew he wasn’t going to answer. He’d played me again and won. He wasn’t outright threatening anyone, although a decent detective might be able to make a case from what he’d said. But in Baltimore, Joel Brockford was a prominent man, someone to be feared because his daddy owned everyone who had any desire to make something of themselves.

I turned my phone off at that point, refusing to fall prey to Joel’s almost perfect method of manipulation. He was the master at it, keeping me on edge even during surgery.

“Something wrong?” Jagger asked.

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

While he didn’t respond, I noticed his chest rising and falling as it did every time he was annoyed or angry. Besides, the shake of his head indicated he didn’t believe me.

We were headed into town to pick up a few things, both of us not working after the traumatic night we’d experienced. I’d been forced to admit to myself when I crawled out of bed that I was exhausted, every muscle aching.

But my condition wasn’t totally due to almost falling down a mountain slope or attending to tourists who should have listened to the weather forecast. Or even my emotional state when I’d thought my beautiful baby daughter might never be found.

It was mostly because of hot sex.

I bit my lower lip as he made a turn, slowing down as we approached the area where the road had been blocked off the evening before. One lane had been cleared so far, flagmen allowing people to go in turns.

Was it terrible of me to be thinking about my sexual escapades with a sexy man instead of continuing to try to piece my life back together? Maybe. The useful word was ‘try.’ So far, I wasn’t doing a very good job. Now that everyone knew I was a surgeon by profession, I had a feeling the townspeople wouldn’t leave me alone.

But I would remain steadfast in my decision to stay away from medicine for the time being. It was too painful all the way around.

“Mama. Can we get some toys for Xena?” Cally asked.

I very slowly looked over at Jagger. Every time my daughter spoke, I noticed a tiny crack in his armor. Very tiny, but I knew underneath the grizzly bear of a man was a heart that continued beating to his own rhythm. The conversation I’d overheard had pulled me back into my own mental reclusion.

He didn’t know if he wanted me here.

Then why offer his cabin? Or maybe his brother had made the suggestion. Whatever the case, I could tell I was already crowding his space.

We passed the flagmen and Cally had to kneel in the backseat, waving to them frantically. She had such a good heart that I was constantly reminded why all of this was worth it.

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