Page 73 of Singing For His Kiss

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The ringing cut through her buffeting thoughts. She’d thought it would be hard to return, but that was nothing compared to laying her heart on the line, then letting it be flayed alive.

She knew she’d never have a chance with James. Maybe, while they were stuck in a storm and protected from the world in this house. But not a real chance. Never that. It was one thing intellectualising it, another to come up front and personal with it.

She'd given it her all and come up short. Again. How could she possibly have thought it would be any different this time?

Because you gave your heart.

She should have known her heart was worthless.

She glanced at the number. David’s return call. How she wanted to let it go, but she knew there’d be repercussions if she didn’t answer. Swallowing bile, she answered the call. Her hand shook so badly, she had to hold it with both hands and hold it to her ear.

“You have thirty minutes to get ‘ere.”

“Where… where do you want me?” Her voice trembled as much as her body.

“Playground. Arthur Street.” Then the call disconnected. She listened to the dead line for moments before she could will her body to move.

This was it. She had to go. If the universe didn’t give her a not-so-subtle hint one way, it had the other. She had no place here.

She was stupid to think she ever had.

She quickly made a phone call to Steve and listened to his instructions as though she was someone else. Someone who hadn’t had their heart carved out of their chest and trampled on the ground. She’d even been able to answer.

She’d snuck out of the house using a side door, dodging anyone milling about in the hallways – staff or guests - and dashed out into the night, then she’d run. Run until the breath sawed out of her lungs, only stopping when she reached the playground. She searched the darkness, but David wasn’t here yet.

She sunk onto the beam of a treated pine fence and sat down to wait. Minutes passed, and the cold began to seep through her clothing. She saw a car pull up silently a little way down the street. She thought it might have been David until she realised no one had gotten out of the car. She belatedly realised it had to be Steve. That he’d told her he’d organise fellow police and wait for David’s appearance.

She tugged her coat tight around her, fighting the cold. Her breath condensed in the frigid air. Minutes dragged, seconds feeling like hours.

Her mind was as numb as her body. She knew she should feel something, she should hurt, she should be crying, sobbing, anything, but there seemed to be nothing inside to come out. She was wrung dry. Hollow.

She had nothing more to give.

At least when David turned up, she’d have the relative warmth of a jail cell. But where was he? She glanced at the time on the phone. An hour had passed, and he hadn’t shown. Worry clipped at her like steel teeth. Where there was money to be made, David was never late.

The phone vibrated in her hand, making her jump. James. She bit her bottom lip until she tasted blood, caught in a mental tug of war. She wanted to hear his voice so bad, it was a physical urge, yet she held back, fighting the temptation to answer the call.

She’d left. It needed a clean break.

Like death.

The ringing stopped. Loss flooded her area where her heart should be. The phone vibrated with a message. Heart thumping, she quickly tapped the screen.

Have you got Madeline? I can’t find her. Where are you? I can’t find you anywhere either.

She gasped, her stomach lurching. She brought trembling fingers to her mouth. This was wrong. So wrong. David, not here. Madeline missing.

No!

No, no, no!

She bent over, losing the contents of her stomach in a nearby bush. She wiped her mouth, and bolted to the parked car. Steve opened the car, meeting her in the middle of the street. She grabbed his arms, wrenching the material in her grip. “He’s got her. David’s taken Madeline.”

They wasted no time, jumped into his car and sped to James’ mansion. Steve meted out a string of commands on the CB. Soon, two other cars that were completely hidden raced after them. Elizabeth clung to her seat belt and door handle as the car tore up the long driveway. Dread thickened her veins with black terror.

Steve had contacted James on the way here. A quick conversation had confirmed everyone at the party had looked for Madeline.

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