Page 33 of The Liar I Married
Exhaustion grips me and I lie back. Asking him about the girls now would make me appear crazy if Michael was telling the truth. I look at him. “Do you believe me about the wreck?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it but Michael said you’d mentioned it before.” He squeezes my hand. “If you ever feel that way again, tell me and I can get help for you.”
My throat is raspy and it’s difficult to talk. “He’s lying. I’ve never contemplated suicide—leaving you, yes, many times especially in the early years of our marriage. You weren’t a good husband to me, John, and you know it. The thing is I loved you and hoped you would change and then you wanted Ms. Lawson to move into the guesthouse and that was the last straw.”
“I’ve been an ass. I took you for granted and I’m sorry.” He shakes his head. “I’m glad you’re starting to remember what happened. The good and the bad.” He checks his watch. “It’s almost three. I need to go home. I have a meeting first thing that I can’t get out of and believe me I’ve tried.”
Panic grips me. He can’t possibly leave me alone with Dolly. “Stay here. You can drive home in the morning. Dolly might drug me again.”
“She’s asleep and won’t be by to see you. I told her I’d stay.” He pats my hand. “I’ll have a new nurse here as soon as I can. Itold Dolly no more drugs or restraints. Maria will tell me if she doesn’t do as I say.”
I don’t want him to leave but whispers of conversations drift around in my head. I heard Dolly talking to him on the phone and why did Michael leave me the note to warn me not to trust anyone unless he cared? Was he telling the truth after all? Is this attention just a ploy by John to lure me into a false sense of security—or is he the only person I can trust? A face drifts into my mind. He’s not the only person. There is one more who has absolutely no interest in getting their hands on my estate—Alex.
THIRTY-SIX
I’m scared and helpless. I suddenly understand how a mouse feels when it sees a cat. It’s like I’m in a huge empty cave, with monsters waiting to pounce on me. The noises in the big house sound louder than usual. I hear footsteps and no one arrives at my door. I’m sure Dolly will stick me with another needle the moment she sees me awake, but sleep keeps dragging me under and with it comes vivid dreams. I recall having fever dreams as a child but they are nothing like this. The confrontation I had with John over Rebecca Lawson moving into the guesthouse is breaking my heart. In my dreams, she is smiling at me from behind his back and he is all over her like a rash.
I’m thrown back through time and suddenly I’m pregnant and sitting at a party where John is entertaining another woman. As they turn on the dance floor, I see the woman is Rebecca. I try to stand, needing to confront him about her but I can’t seem to move. The dream moves on, and I’m like a ghost in the hospital the night Daphne had Renee. Seeing John with her in the birthing suite tears out my heart but, as I drift closer in my ethereal state, I see it’s not Daphne but Rebecca. The walls of the hospital close in around me and swirl like a sea of muddy water trying to carry me away. I’m suddenly in a flood, swimming formy life. I wake panting, all alone, as dawn washes away the darkness.
I sit up, disoriented and hold my head, trying to make out what’s real and what isn’t. Suddenly, memories slide into place. The night of the argument unfolds like a flower bud in my head but this bloom isn’t beautiful. The love I have for John turns to hate. The need to get away from an impossible situation becomes abundantly clear. He gave me no choice. Why have I remained with him all these years? I’ve been a fool but they say love makes people do crazy things. The night of the accident I’d planned to come here, to Grandma’s house. It’s always been a sanctuary until now.
Now I remember everything in vivid detail: The dash to the car the moment John disappeared with Ms. Lawson, and then Michael climbing in the car to stop me. He was the one who yelled at me. I can clearly see his hand on the wheel as I wrestle with the steering. I stare into the dim light. Michael, my loving brother, wants me dead. Somehow, he’s discovered the conditions of the will and wants to make me appear as if I’ve lost my mind. It started with planting the seed that John was having an affair, and where he took Rebecca for lunch. He knew it would cause problems between us and then he told John I was having an affair and John had me followed. No wonder I had the constant feeling of being stalked. When that didn’t send me crazy, he tried to kill me.
Has what he said about the girls been another lie? I must discover the truth before Dolly drugs me again, and this time overdoses me. She is in on this up to her eyes. Right now, I need to get away. I’ll call Alex but the phone in the kitchen might as well be a mile away. I take in my situation. It seems Dolly planned for me to be in zombie mode for a long time by the wires and tubes attached to me. Removing the tubes is okay but the drip is difficult and I can’t stop the bleeding. I rip out my hair tieand push it up my arm and over a wad of tissues to staunch the flow. Giddy, I sway in bed, and my legs turn to Jell-O as I lower them to the floor. I grip the handle of the walker and take deep breaths. I can do this.
I turn off the machines; they haven’t made a sound, but what if there’s an alarm in Dolly’s room? If she comes running, I’m toast. I take a deep breath and move off. It’s difficult for me to walk with so many drugs in my system. I’m afraid of being caught, and move slowly along the dark passageway toward the kitchen. As I go past Dolly’s room, I hear her coughing, and freeze on the spot when a light shines from beneath her door. Panic grips me as floorboards creak and I stare at the doorknob, waiting for it to turn. I wait agonizing seconds for the light to turn off. My heart races as the second I move off again the wheels on my walker squeak. I stop again and my legs tremble with fear. If she finds me out here, she will easily overpower me. I’m weak and she will stick me with a needle so fast I wouldn’t see it coming.
It’s quiet at last and I move my heavy legs as fast as possible. Perspiration drips from my brow as I finally make it into the kitchen. I turn on the lights and glance at the notepad by the phone, sagging with relief at the sight of Alex’s phone number. I make the call and wait forever until he picks up. “Alex, they’re drugging me. I remember everything. I need to get away from this place before they kill me. Please will you come? I’ll meet you in the conservatory.”
“They’re what?! Holy cow, Jessie.”Alex’s footsteps clatter on tile.“I’ll throw on some clothes and come right away.”
I hang up the phone and slowly make my way back to my room. The walk exhausts me but I must keep going. I grab a couple of spare pillows from the closet and arrange them on the bed, to make it look like I’m under the blankets. I have very few clothes and they all fit into the compartment under the seat ofmy walker. I’ve used every last ounce of strength, and dressing takes me forever. Sweat trickles down between my shoulder blades as I push the walker to the conservatory. I open the door to the garden and allow the cool breeze to wash over me as I listen for the sound of a vehicle.
Birdsong breaks the silence as the sun creeps above the horizon, sending a golden glow across the garden. The heavy scent of roses is thick on the breeze. This is a beautiful home and I’m sad to leave it, but once I’m in control of my inheritance, I’ll hire people to protect me. It seems like a lifetime before Alex arrives. “Alex, I have so much to tell you. I know who was in the car with me the night I had the accident. It was Michael…he grabbed the steering wheel and aimed my car at the tree. He tried to kill me.”
“We need to get out of here right away.” He scoops me into his arms. “I’ll come back for the walker. I want you safely in my truck. Lock all the doors until I get back.”
Safe inside his truck, I watch as he runs back to collect my walker. The lights in the house come on, and panic grips me as I see Dolly yelling at him. She is grabbing at the walker but Alex wrestles it away and he’s heading toward me at a run. He tosses the walker into the back of the truck as I lean over to unlock his door. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just hope she doesn’t call the cops. Luckily, she doesn’t know me so we should be fine.” Alex starts the engine, and we roar off down the road at high speed. He flicks me a glance. “You look dreadful. How long has this been going on?”
I tell him about Michael and what he told me. “I’m too frightened to ask John if the twins exist or if I manufactured them during my coma as a way to cope with what had happened.”
“I wish I could help you but I’ve never seen them, so if they are a figment of your imagination, I’m the wrong personto ask. I can say that you didn’t look pregnant to me and you mentioned thembeforethe accident. This means you didn’t create them during the coma.” Alex stares at the road ahead. “Who can you call that you trust implicitly?” He clears his throat. “Someone who won’t benefit from you not inheriting the estate and someone who—if you are, as you say, manufacturing them—won’t have you committed.”
I can think of only two people, my mom and dad. “The only problem is I don’t know where they are or their contact numbers. I had them on my phone and who remembers phone numbers anymore? I know mine and John’s but that’s all.”
“We might be able to find them.” Alex keeps driving. “Stay positive. You’re doing fine and there’s nothing wrong with your mind.” He glances at me. “Were the girls in the SUV with you the night of the wreck?”
I nod. “I’m afraid so. I remember putting them in the car and making sure they fastened their seat belts. It was late and they fell asleep right away.” I tap my heart. “In here I know they’re real. I recall one of them calling out after the accident.” I think for a beat and then turn in my seat to look at him. “Michael was in the vehicle; I know this for sure but he walked away and left the girls. I know at least one of them was conscious and the airbags would have deployed. One of them must have seen him. If they’re alive, why didn’t they see him and tell someone?”
“Do you recall what he was wearing?” Alex turned toward me.
I close my eyes and see him jumping into the passenger seat. The girls are asleep already. I open my eyes. “He’s wearing a hoodie and the girls are asleep. If he jumped from the SUV on impact, they wouldn’t have seen him. It was dark, he was wearing black and there was a lot of steam.”
“I’ve seen the wreck.” Alex stares straight ahead. “It was taken to the yard beside the police station. Only the front driver’sside is damaged and the window. It doesn’t make sense you having an injury to the right side of your head, and hard enough to fracture your skull.”
The dream must have been a real memory and the implications shake me to the core. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but it has to be Michael. I remember being hit in that side of the head just before the accident, not after. A pain shot through my temple just before I hit the tree. It made me bite my tongue and I tasted blood in my mouth.” I point to my temple. “It was right here. It was real hard. I figured it was a dream but since then I’ve remembered the accident, right down to the jack-o’-lantern hanging from the tree I hit. That part of it was no dream.”
