Page 12 of Saving Salem
Jack walked into the room and did what she’d said, then looked around the space. Hoped he’d see that though the space wasn’t huge, and the walls had to be painted white because it was a rental, she’d done her best to inject some color and personality here. The bright red bedspread had been a splurge at the discount store that she’d picked up on clearance, and she’d added some red and white floral print accent pillows. A couple of pictures of Chloe stood on the matching nightstands along with the navy glass lamps. A few of her paintings decorated the walls, ones she’d done on her trip through Europe with Gabi. All of them were pre-Tarik. She hadn’t wanted to see any of her artwork from after she met him, because it reminded her of a time she’d sooner forget.
“Are you okay, Salem? You’re looking a little—spooked.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. I mean, everything’s kind of sinking in, you know? A little over a week ago I was running to Texas to get away from Tarik’s family. Now I’m back again with a new lawyer and a new husband. I feel like I’ve been on a rollercoaster climbing up and up and it’s suddenly swooping down, and I can’t catch my breath.”
“I get it. I’m kind of in the same boat. I quit my job, took a new one here in Louisiana, packed up my apartment and got married. I have a wife, a daughter, and a brand-new life.” He patted the edge of the bed, and she sat, suddenly feeling like a marionette whose strings had been cut. When he sat beside her, she leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Do you think we made a mistake?”
“Absolutely not. We are protecting an innocent child. That’s worth any cost.” His instant response warmed Salem’s heart. He hadn’t hesitated to step up when he’d heard about the Amirs’ plans to take Chloe away. Made sacrifices most other men wouldn’t have dreamed of, personal sacrifices for a woman he barely knew.
“When do you meet with Samuel?”
“He’s giving me a couple of days to get situated and moved in. I’ll head to Carpenter Security on Monday.”
“Have I said thank you, Jack? I’ll never be able to repay your kindness, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to make sure you don’t regret helping me and Chloe.”
Before Jack could say anything, Chloe’s loud screech filled the air, with a running refrain of “Mama, Mama, Mama” coming from her nursery. Within seconds, Jack was on his feet, racing down the hall, Salem on his heels. She plowed into him when he stopped so abruptly, she couldn’t put on the brakes fast enough.
“Chloe, sweetie, what have you got there?” Jack’s soft singsong words sent a chill down Salem’s spine, as she tried to see around his broad shoulders. He moved into the room slowly, and she pushed around him, freezing when she saw her daughter in her crib, blood dripping from her tiny hand.
“Jack!”
He ignored her, instead moving closer to Chloe and squatting down beside the crib. Salem’s hand went to her stomach when she saw what lay across her baby’s lap.
A knife.
A huge knife, almost as big as she was, the edge coated with wet, sticky redness. Her baby’s blood painted the edge of the knife crimson.
“Mama!” Chloe’s screams interspersed with tears broke Salem’s heart. Her baby was hurt, bleeding, and it was all her fault. Jack reached forward and oh-so-carefully lifted the knife out of her baby’s bed, the handle wrapped in the edge of Chloe’s blanket. Yet all Salem saw was her child’s blood, bright red staining her tiny fingers.
Bumping Jack to the side with her hip, she lifted Chloe from her crib and cuddled her against her chest before taking her small hand in hers, looking for the source of the blood. A cut across her ring and little finger bled sluggishly and Salem finally let out the breath she hadn’t realized she held.
“Where’s your first aid kit?”
“What?”
Jack touched her lightly on the shoulder and nodded toward Chloe. “Where’s your first aid kit? Let’s get the little one cleaned up and bandaged, then I’ll call the police.”
Police. Right. They had to call the police because someone had been in her apartment. Had left a knife—a knife—in her child’s crib.
“Under the sink in the bathroom.” Jack left and she carried Chloe into her bedroom, and perched on the edge of the bed, waiting for Jack. Big gulping sobs wracked Chloe’s body, and Salem rubbed her back, cooing nonsense words to her.
How had this happened? Her two-bedroom apartment wasn’t in a bad section of town, which explained the higher rent she paid. There wasn’t full-time security for the building, but she’d never been afraid living here—until now.
Jack came back, the plastic red box in his hand. Gabi had given the first aid kit to her when she’d moved into the apartment, along with a bunch of household goods. Salem had still been a bit shellshocked at the time, having been through the whole ordeal of Tarik trying to kidnap her and her unborn daughter and take them back to the U.A.E., and then seeing him killed in front of her. If it hadn’t been for Gabi and her husband, she’d have been an utter wreck. Her mom and dad had tried, she’d give them that, but they didn’t understand that she’d changed. Grown up and apart from them, because they still wanted their little girl, and she wasn’t that person anymore. How could she be after everything she’d lived through, everything she’d endured at the hands of the man she thought she loved?
Going to his knees in front of her, Jack handed her a damp washcloth. Shifting Chloe in her arms, she gently wiped the blood from her fingers and hand, letting out a deep sigh as she realized the cuts weren’t too deep.
“Should we take her to the emergency room? It doesn’t look too bad, but what if she cut tendons or muscles or…”
Jack’s gaze met hers, steady and unrelenting, and she read his understanding and compassion and something else she couldn’t put a name to. Picking up Chloe’s hand, he played a tickle game with her, walking his fingertips across her palm and watching her curl her fingers around his, catching at them, like it was a game. Her precious giggle was the sweetest thing Salem had ever heard.
“It looks like the bleeding has pretty much stopped and she’s bending her fingers okay. Let’s get her bandaged up and see how she does. I don’t think it’s too serious. We got lucky. That blade is sharp.”
She’d almost forgotten about the knife. How had she not noticed that knife in Chloe’s crib when she’d laid her down when they’d gotten here from Shiloh Springs? She’d been distracted, who wouldn’t be when she’d just gotten married, but that wasn’t a good excuse. She was a bad mother.
“You’re not a bad mother, Salem. You are an amazing mother who loves her daughter. You couldn’t have anticipated something like this.”
