Page 76 of Singing For His Kiss

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“I’m a criminal, James. That’s what I tried to tell you before. David Logan…he ran an online betting scam, broke into bank accounts, stole a lot of money. We ripped off thousands of dollars off hardworking people. They lost everything. I knew what he was doing, and I did nothing to stop him.”

She was a coward, plain and simple. She could have warned those people. She should have. Yet, she didn’t. She’d let it go on. The lid from the black hole inside of her burst off and flew away into the nothingness. Dark ooze erupted from the hole, devouring warmth, leaving empty blackness in its wake. All the dark feelings she’d shoved inside had festered and coalesced. She shivered as she turned to ice on the inside.

“Why did you go along with it?”

She wrapped her arms about her chest. “You think I didn’t try to get away? I did. Numerous times. But each time…” She didn’t want to tell him about the beating that had put her in the hospital for a week. She’d nearly died that last time. She idly wondered when he caught up with her, if he’d succeed next time. “That’s what I was doing here. I’d gotten away. On my way to Melbourne. I thought I could lose myself in a big city. That he wouldn’t find me amongst millions of people. I hoped he thought I wouldn’t be worth it. I came here on the way. Wanted to see the beach for the first time in my life. So stupid. And this is the mess I bring with me.”

“You are worth it.”

She gasped, spun around. “Don’t say that.”

James narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen the scars over your body. The way the one rib sticks out on your right side. The way you favour your left arm sometimes.”

Heat engulfed her face. She didn’t want this…this understanding from him. Madeline’s life was at risk, and it was her fault. “It doesn’t matter.” She pointed to the guest house, where the police charged through the door. “Look what’s happening! I brought this to you! I’m the criminal! Don’t try and understand me. I don’t deserve it. I will bring you nothing but pain and misery, and I have.”

“It’s not your fault he hit you. If you liked what he was doing, you’d have stayed by his side. Instead, you tried to leave him,” James said.

Anger made her limbs shake. “I’m not worth it, James! Don’t…don’t do this!” Angry tears ripped from her eyes.

Police wandered from the guest house. Something was wrong. They were too defeated, too slow. Where was Madeline?

He came over to her, wrapped his fingers around her biceps. Instinctively, she stiffened and turned her head to the side, wrapped her arms around her chest. “I’m not David Logan, Elizabeth. I’m not going to hit you. You can trust me.”

Her breath came out in staccato gasps. There was no fist. No backhand. Nothing but his firm yet gentle grip on her arms. She cracked open her eyes, staring into the back yard. Floodlights lit the back yard. She barely saw it against the fence. Not the guest house.

“The garden shed,” she whispered.

She shrugged from his grip. She ignored the rawness on his face, the pain, the stark terror. “I’m going to make this right.”

No matter what he said, she wasn’t going to believe him. She wouldn’t ask him to take her back. Not after this. But she could try and make it better.

She dashed past him and through the patio door. The garden shed. It was perfect. Small and distanced from the house enough to be invisible and forgotten. The type of place that would appeal to David Logan.

She ignored James’ yell behind her, streaking towards the shed, her head filled with Madeline. Her skin crawled at the thought of that monster even being close to that perfect, innocent little girl.

She spied the padlock, broken and tossed to the side. An anger buried so deep exploded within her, and she knew with all certainty that bastard was in here. More yells sounded behind her, but they barely registered through the bright, burning fury that drove her. He wasn't going to do this to anyone, not anymore. He lost that right the moment he’d decided to kidnap the little girl she thought of as her daughter.

She kicked the door open. There was a scuffle in the corner. A whimper that sliced through her with a pain she’d never known before. The hint of an outline from a hefty arm and broad shoulder from the filtered window light. A blinding rage hit. She barreled into the shadow, shoving her shoulder into its centre with all her strength.

She’d run into a wall. Dull pain shot from her shoulder, down her arm. Iron cuffed her arms and lifted her arms at an odd angle, and they felt like they were going to snap in two.

“You led them straight here, you stupid bitch!”

Stunned, she realised it wasn’t a wall. It was David.

The light inside the shed flicked on. James crowded inside, along with the force of the police behind him. Another whimper led her to Madeline, scrunched up in a ball, sitting on bags of potting mix in the corner. There was a dirty smudge on her face, but otherwise she looked unmolested.

“Madeline, are you all right, honey?” she asked.

Madeline looked up at her, blue eyes shining and wide in her perfect little face. Her bottom lip quivered. A relief so great made her legs weak. Fresh pain ripped from her arms as her legs sagged.

“I’d worry about yourself more, sweetheart.” David’s calculating gaze peered down at her.

She tipped her head back to look up at him. He was just so big. Strong and solid, and she knew with just that look in his eyes, he was going to kill her.

Well, he could, but only when Madeline and James were safe.

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