Page 52 of Bound By Redemption
“How can you be sure it was him?” I asked, my head resting on his chest.
One of Micah’s arms left me as he reached around to his back and produced a piece of paper. I stayed in his arms but gave us only a bit of space to see.
“Do you recognize this handwriting?”
My head shook. “No.” The paper read, ‘You little slut. You will come home.’ A panic attack hit me like a freight train. I couldn’t breathe. My throat was constricting. My lungs were seizing. Hands to my throat, I looked at Micah for help. How much fear could one person feel?
He grabbed me by the arms. “Look at me.” I did as instructed. “I need you to take a deep breath. I’ve got you. You are safe. Remy is safe.”
I tried to suck it in, but it came in a gasp. And it didn’t work like he wanted it to.
“Close your eyes, Ens.” I did, fighting to breathe. His voice was steady, calm. “Picture you and Remy on a beach with me. We’re playing in the ocean and watching the dolphins jump up in the water. The sand beneath your feet is slipping through your toes.” He continued with his scenario, and I felt as though I could breathe again, imagining we were there together.
Hand on my chest, I sucked in deep gulps of air and looked around the room fiercely.
“Where’s Remy?” My head moved back and forth, looking to see if she was in the room with us. She had to be with us. We would keep her safe. I’d give my life for it. If she wasn’t here, I couldn’t guarantee her safety.
“Remember, she’s playing,” he cooed, slow and smooth as if I were a wild beast and he was trying to settle me down.
My head continued to shake, and the few breaths and thoughts from only moments ago disappeared as the panic emerged once again. “I need her.” I made a move to get away from Micah because I needed to find her. Needed my little girl in my arms to know that she was okay. Now. Immediately.
“We’ll get her in a minute,” Micah said, trying to pull me into him.
Anger boiled. No one kept me from my kid. Who the hell did he think he was talking to? My child would never be kept from me. I stared Micah in the face. “Now. I need her now.” The order was clean and clear, almost as if all the emotions weren’t threatening to take me under.
He took a beat to look deep into my soul it felt like, but whatever it was he saw, he understood that I meant business.
“Let’s go.”
We made our way quickly down to the playground. Remy was just coming down from the slide when I grabbed her at the bottom, held her in my arms, and closed my eyes smelling her little girl scent. She was fine. She was safe. They wouldn’t touch her.
Her little arms came around me, squeezing tight. Her reassurance was exactly what I needed.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” Katie came storming up to us with Blaze and Austyn on her heels.
With everything inside of me I didn’t want to tell Katie this. She would worry just like I was doing now. If I was a torn up mess, she would be the same. I hated that for her, but there was no getting around it. We were in a pile of shit that I had no idea what to do about yet.
“Our place is trashed. They think it could be D-a-d.” I spelled it out, not wanting Remy to figure anything out. This conversation needed to happen without her ears, but fuck, I didn’t want to let my girl go right now. I needed to hold her and love on her.
Katie’s eyes widened as she took a step back right into Dryerson who seemed to appear out of thin air. She was in such shock she looked like a statue; not to mention her face took on a paleness that I hadn’t seen in years.
“He found us,” she whispered as tears welled in her eyes, and her lip quivered. “No, Ens. No.” The fear was all over her.
Remy and I moved to Katie, wrapping our arms around her as she started to full-out cry. A few tears left me too that I wiped up so Remy didn’t see. It was good for her to see me cry and know that sadness was an emotion, but about this… She didn’t have a clue about our past life. She had no idea that this situation was so horrible. And if I had anything to do about it, she never would.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, pulling away and staring at my beautiful sister whose eyes were now red and puffy.
“Our stuff?” Katie questioned, a new batch of tears falling down her cheeks. Katie liked her ‘stuff’. Whereas I played everything simple, she loved to have nice things around her. It was strange; we were complete opposites in that area. She’d worked hard for all of it.
“Everything that wasn’t damaged is in the back of that truck.” Micah pointed to the box truck from not moments ago. I’d hated that I was right when it came to that damn truck. I hoped like hell Remy’s things weren’t damaged. I didn’t want that for my little girl. “We grabbed as much as we could,” he concluded.
Katie and I broke apart as I spoke, “Shit, our landlord is gonna be pissed. We don’t have the money to break the lease or pay for repairs.”
“We took care of it,” Micah said. “You’re squared away and not goin’ back there. It’s not safe.”
He said ‘we’ but he meant ‘he’. I could so fall in love with this man, but he didn’t need to be doing that. Pride was just like jealousy. Each one had its limits, and this one was mine.
As much as I appreciated it, I couldn’t do it. “I can pay for the place. I’ll handle the bills.”
