Page 7 of With Love

* * *

Marshall

It’s not hard granting Adrienne’s wishes. I will do anything in the world for her. Fortunately, moving Owen to a more secure location works out best for all parties involved. I need a place that will keep a close eye on him.

He was a huge help in the beginning letting me know where Adrienne was. When she had appointments with Liza, I could count on him to let me know the date and time. He was always able to tell me how she was doing physically, mentally, and emotionally. He would let me know when Lock was leaving the country and where he was going. He would take Adrienne wherever he went, so that gave us the ability to be able to track their location outside of his estate, since we were never able to find it. The closest that we ever got was figuring out that it’s east of the city.

Suspiciously, we were never able to track any of Lock’s travel plans down, inside or out of the country. Originally, I assumed it was because of all of his connections, but Travis has an impressive list of his own connections. We should have been able to locate them at least once.

We had the perfect plan laid out, but it seems Owen used that as a cover for his own devious intentions. He was supposed to get Adrienne out of there and tell her that they were going to fly far away. He talked me into giving him a set of documents for Adrienne. I didn’t feel right about it, but he swore that it would help sway Adrienne to get out of there quicker if we had a more concrete plan. I ended up giving him a copy of her documents hoping that seeing them would help her feel hope and faith that their plan to leave would be successful.

When I hadn’t heard from Owen in almost a week, I started to get worried. We had talked about him using one of my cars to make it through the city undetected, once they broke free of Lock’s estate. To help put my mind at ease, I put my car in the 43rd street garage thinking that maybe they are trying to get out, but hadn’t been able to get in contact with me.

For three more days I didn’t hear a word from Owen. The only reason I knew that they were headed to the airport was that the car’s location system went off, leading me right to them. Once I figured this out, I knew that my assumption was correct. Owen had made other plans. One that included him and Adrienne, but did not include me. I had Travis get his hacker to do some digging into Owen’s internet history. He located a search for flights to Curacao. Interesting, considering they were supposed to fly to Texas. Travis has a house down there and we were going to hide out for a couple weeks before returning.

As horrible as the plane crash was, and I thank God that she survived, it stopped him from taking her further away from me. It may make me a callous person, but I am glad it happened.

* * *

“I was able to get Mr. Branch transferred to Rockledge Rehabilitation Center out in Latrobe. We can transport him there first thing in the morning,” Dr. Hill mentions as we walk down the hallway, behind Adrienne as she is being wheeled toward the waiting ambulance.

“Thank you,” I reply. “Who will my point of contact be?”

“Adrienne’s nurse, Lucy. She will receive reports from the center and will deliver them to you. That way you only have to communicate with one person.”

“That’s great, Tim. I really appreciate it.”

I offer him my hand in thanks just as we get to the ambo bay. As Lucy and the other nurses get the stretcher securely loaded into the back of the ambulance, I look Adrienne over from head to toe. Her head wrapped in gauze, the left side of her face sporting a sickly greenish-purple bruise. Her left arm is in a sling, resting on the pillow that Dr. Hill gave her to hug. She looks pitiful and miserable. It breaks my fucking heart.

I pull my phone out and shoot a text to Travis letting him know that we’re heading home.

Home.

I’m taking my girl home.

After three long, terrifying, agonizing years, I’m finally taking my Adrienne home—for good.

* * *

Adrienne

I am getting antsy the longer I am in this ambulance. The small, crowded space has me feeling incredibly claustrophobic. Marshall reaches his hand out and places it on my forehead. His thumb brushes along my brow line. As much as I hate to admit it, my senses can’t hide the fact that his touch is soothing my anxiety.

“How much longer until we’re there?” I ask. He looks down at me with soft, tired eyes.

He moves his hand from my forehead to my hand.

“Not too much longer,” he looks at his watch. “About five more minutes.”

As he says that, I feel the ambulance start to slow down. It makes a right-hand turn and before long, turns left. All of a sudden the entire vehicle starts shaking. My IV bag starts swinging left and right, my ribs are screaming in pain. All of the tools and supplies on the shelves in the back of the ambulance start rattling around.

“What’s that? What’s happening?” I shout. If I weren’t strapped down to the stretcher, I would have flown right off of it.

“It’s okay. The house is a bit off of the beaten path. I don’t want anyone to be able to find it easily,” Marshall explains.

The thought of being out in the middle of nowhere again makes me nauseous. I can feel the bile rising up into my throat.

“Adrienne, it’s alright sweetheart. This is not the same as it was when you were with him. I know that’s what you’re thinking, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?” he pauses to look at me. As I gaze into his emerald eyes I am transported back to a moment from my past, but I just can’t place when. I don’t understand it. It’s as if I am recalling a feeling that I don’t remember having felt before. A slight feeling of calm washes through me and my nerves and anxiety begins to dissipate.

---