Page 58 of Clara's Secure Hideaway

He had to get to Clara before it was too late.

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Mitch shovedClara into the house she’d toiled over. She’d used all her energy to create a safe place with her children then tried her hardest to fill it with love and happy memories.

Now a chill slid down her spine at the sight of the cream-colored walls and neatly displayed photos. These walls caged her in, reminded her of the months she’d wasted at the hands of a monster.

“Sit on the couch.” Mitch aimed the gun at her. The hard glint in his eye broadcasted his desire to pull the trigger.

She swallowed her fear and did as he demanded. She’d make him think she’d blindly obey, just the way she always had. But the gears in her mind shifted as she tried to think of a way out of this mess. She still had the mace in her pocket. If she could get to the mace without him noticing, she could use it on him and run.

Mitch plopped down in the recliner he always used and placed the gun on his lap. He sat on the edge of the chair, leaning toward her. He drew in a deep breath and shook his head as if about to explain the world’s hardest math problem to a child. “Why did you have to get us into this mess? I was good to you. Provided a nice place to live. Kept food on the table. Even gave you two brats to fawn over. But you were never grateful. Always whining and wanting more.”

She kept her mouth firmly shut. Nothing she said would erase his fury, would make him see the delusion he’d created.

“Then you got me arrested. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I get out of jail and find you with another man? Were you whoring around before you forced me to sign those divorce papers while sitting in a jail cell?”

Working her jaw back and forth, she kept her gaze fixed on a framed picture of Davey and Avery from a hiking trip they’d taken a few months before. A waterfall ran down a cliffside behind her laughing children.

She’d keep herself there, in that moment in time. Wrapped in those memories. If she didn’t make it out of here, would Heath take them to do fun things like that? Would their brief time together keep him in Davey and Avery’s lives?

Her gut said yes, fueling her desire to get back to them. To make those memories together.

“Why so quiet?” Mitch persisted. “Not so brave anymore, huh? You’re still the same stupid girl you’ve always been.”

Her patience snapped. She’d fight like hell to escape him one last time, but in case she didn’t survive, she wouldn’t go down allowing him to think he’d beaten the strength and grit from her soul. “You don’t know a thing about me.”

Leaning back in the chair, he rolled his eyes. “You’re talking nonsense. Of course I know you. You’re my wife.”

“Ex-wife,” she said through gritted teeth. “And you’ve never known the real me. You’re too selfish and mean and straight up crazy to understand anything about me or my children. But I know you, and I’ve seen sides of you that make me want to vomit. You’ll do whatever you want with me, nothing I say will change that, but just know you’ll never win.”

He shot out of his chair and stormed in front of her, yanking her to her feet by her hair. “I’ve already won.” His hot, moist breath slid across her cheek. “You’re here, with me, and you’ll die knowing you’ll never see those kids again. You’ll fall to your knees and with your last breath hear me laughing. Imagine me taking back my kids and ending them the same way I’ll end you.”

He plunged his hand in his pocket and pulled out her wedding band. “But first you’ll wear this so everyone knows you’re mine.” He grabbed her hand and dug his fingers against hers, uncurling her fist and slamming the ring on her finger.

Anger rushed through her, heating her from the inside out. The gun hung in Mitch’s hand at his side, but his tyrannical speech and focus on putting the stupid ring back on her hand took his finger off the trigger. If she could distract him long enough to get her hands in her pocket, she could catch him off guard.

She buried her desire to smash her fist against his face. Her fury would only ignite his more and probably leave her with a bullet in her head. The only way to keep him on his heels was to stroke his ego. To make him think he still held power over her, and she was willing to do whatever it took to appease him.

“Please don’t do this.” She didn’t have to fake the tears clogging her throat, making her words choppy and breathless. “We can figure something—anything—out.”

The tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth told her she’d hooked his interest a little. “And how can we fix this mess you got us into? You were right. The police are after me. They won’t stop. I won’t go back to jail, and I won’t let anyone else have my family.”

“You don’t have to. I won’t press charges, and we’ll say someone used your computer. Maybe someone planted that flash drive. They can’t prove it’s yours.” Words tumbled out of her mouth and her fingers itched to grab her mace. But it wasn’t time. Not yet.

He scratched his chin, a clear sign he was considering what she said. Buying her bullshit. “What about that asshole?”

She swallowed the truth before it showed on her face. “He means nothing. He was hanging around, trying to talk me into giving him a chance. I just didn’t know how to tell him no. He couldn’t take a hint.”

The tiny twitch morphed into a menacing grin.

Taking a chance, she molded her palm against his hard chest.

He stilled and narrowed his eyes before glancing down at her hand. “You never could stay away. You always come back.” He closed his eyes and inched his face closer to hers.

Her heart thudded a hundred miles a minute, and she took a tiny step forward. His nearness set her nerve endings on high alert, but she had to be brave. Had to act. Now.

Plunging her free hand in her pocket, she grabbed the mace and yanked it out. She aimed it at his face seconds before his eyes flew open. She squeezed the trigger, sending a flood of pungent liquid into his eyes.

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