Page 72 of Sanctuary at MacLeod's Cove
She shook her head. She refused to be the woman she’d once been. She’d changed in these few short weeks. She knew she had. Even while the thoughts entered her head, she realised how alone she and Liam were. She couldn’t do anything that might antagonise Alistair. He’d gone past the point of reason. She had to play along with him, even if it killed her to do so.
‘It’s just…’ She forced a smile on her face. She suspected it was more like a grimace. ‘Just that you’re unexpected.’
‘Unexpected?’ he said, backing away, distracted by her refusal to rise to the bait. ‘Expected?’ He shrugged. ‘What does it matter? You’re coming with me now. ‘Get your coat and we’ll leave.’
She shook her head.
‘You surely can’t have forgotten where your home is now, can you, Jennifer?’
‘It’s here, in this house, in New Zealand, with my family.’
‘Family!’ He spat the word out. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You left them behind when you married me. You don’t want anything to do with them. And neither does Liam. I’m your family now.’
Jen hated to hear Liam’s name on Alistair’s lips.
‘Liam’s not here,’ she said. She had to make sure Alistair didn’t go upstairs and get him. She hoped he’d remain asleep and wouldn’t come downstairs. She’d have no hope of defending both of them. ‘He’s staying at a friend’s house.’
He snorted and shook his head. ‘It’s you I want, and it’s you I’m going to take. I’ll only take him to make sure you come with me.’
‘Well, he’s not here to help you in your plan, and I’m not coming with you.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ His voice rose in a rapid crescendo. ‘Will you stop mucking about! You’re coming! Like it or not! And you will have to come because otherwise you’ll never see Liam again.’
She froze, her eyes wide open. ‘What —’
He wound her hair around his fist and tugged her towards him. ‘Don’t you get it? I’m going to take Liam whether you like it, or not. You’ll have no choice but to come if you want to see him again.’
‘No!’
‘Too late, because —’
Before he could finish the sentence, a couple of loud raps sounded on the front door.
Alistair moved suddenly, jerking Jen.
‘Who’s that?’ asked Alistair, glaring accusingly at Jen as if she’d conjured someone up out of thin air.
His vice-like grip on her hair meant she couldn’t move. Her mouth was dry, and all she could do was endure the pain and give a brief shake of her head. It infuriated him.
She tried to move into the hall, but Alistair pinned her so she couldn’t move.
‘I asked you, who’s out there?’
‘How should I —’
He stopped any further talk by clamping a hand over her mouth and dragging her further inside the kitchen.
‘How?’ he whispered. ‘Because someone is knocking at your front door in the middle of the night. It won’t be a stranger now, will it?’
The knock came again, louder this time and for longer. Whoever was on the other side of the door was becoming agitated.
He tugged her as she tried to speak. ‘Quiet!’
‘Jen,’ called Sam’s voice from the other side of the front door. ‘Are you OK? Jen?’
Jen had never been so happy to hear someone’s voice in all her life. She drew in a breath to reply, but Alistair pushed her against the wall, swearing under his breath, while keeping his hand firmly over her mouth.
‘Who the hell’s that?’ asked Alistair. He peered out into the hall towards the front door, dragging Jen with him. A beam of light from Sam’s torch penetrated the shadowy hallway.
