So what now? He wasn’t sure what upset him more. The fact that he’d begun to trust her and she’d betrayed him, or the fear that she might remember where he lived. The safest approach would be to get out, leave and never come back.
Unless he could reclaim her. Was there any chance?
Tossing the flowers on the floor, he dashed back down the hall, checking each room he passed, including the closets. She wasn’t anywhere in the house. What had she done? Struck out on her own-walking? If so, maybe he could find her.
It was then that he spotted his computer. Why hadn’t he taken it with him? He’d been so eager to reach The Last Stand offices, so confident that Latisha would be unconscious for several hours, at least, that he hadn’t even considered what she could do on the Internet.
Jiggling his mouse, he dissolved his screen saver. She’d left nothing open on his desktop, but a quick check of his browser history revealed that she’d logged into her e-mail account. That meant she’d probably communicated with someone.
Damn it! How had she been coherent enough to do that? She should’ve been completely stoned!
Sweat trickled from his temple. Should he grab his stuff and go? Forget her? Or should he try to find her? Most of Emily’s money was gone. He didn’t want to pay for a motel, not when he’d just paid his rent and this place was so perfect.
He’d go after her, he decided. He’d find her and bring her back. Then he’d kill her and burn her body in that barrel. She’d become too much of a liability; she was more like her sister than he’d thought. He liked female companionship in bed, but the situation had changed and the price was too high. Over the next few weeks, he had to be more agile, had to be able to come and go as he pleased-at least until he’d taken care of his most recent problems.
Grabbing his keys, he tore out of the house. He was about to take care of one of them right now. If Latisha was on foot, she couldn’t have gotten very far.
Latisha could hear Wesley calling her. He wasn’t far away. He’d been driving up and down the road, stopping every few minutes to get out and stab through the brush with a flashlight. Once she saw the beam of his light pass right over where she was. She hadn’t moved since she’d curled up, was beginning to believe she’d die if she didn’t answer. The night sky swirled above her. She’d grown so dizzy she could no longer stand.
I think I’m falling in love with you, in love with you, in love with you…His voice seemed to echo in her head. You’d like to be a mother, wouldn’t you, wouldn’t you? How do you like the ring, ring, ring?
She liked the ring, all right. It represented everything she’d ever wanted.
“Latisha!”
He was drawing close again, sounding more and more frantic.
“Latisha? Where are you?”
“God help me.” Her lips moved, but she couldn’t even hear her own voice. Every time she opened her mouth, she heard Gloria yelling at her in her mind. Don’t you dare, Latisha! Keep your head down. Don’t let him find you!
“Are you trying to break my heart?” he yelled. “You know how I feel about you. I thought you loved me, too.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. The weird thing was…part of her did love him. Was that possible? She hated him and she loved him. Afraid of him though she could sometimes be, she wanted to go back and finish the movie they’d been watching, crawl into bed, talk about their plans.
“Latisha? Baby, please. I know you gotta be out here somewhere. I brought you some flowers-but you broke my heart.”
A tear slipped from her eyes. Gloria! Help me!
“You’re gonna make yourself sick if you don’t come in,” he said.
She was already sick-and so cold.
“Let me take care of you. Let me get you warm and dry. I’ll give you another massage. You liked that, didn’t you?”
In truth, she’d never felt anything so wonderful in her life. Wesley had introduced her to a lot of enjoyable activities, including drinking. Gloria had been so strict about alcohol. What was the big deal about having some fun once in a while?
“Hello?” Wes cried. “Latisha? You gonna leave me out here in the cold all by myself?”
No. She couldn’t continue to freeze. She was better off taking her chances with him, wasn’t she? She’d die for sure if she didn’t move.
Putting all the energy she had into sitting up, she concentrated on his voice and the beam of his light. He wasn’t that far away, and he was coming closer. Should she call out to him? Or just wait?
Then she spotted another pair of headlights. They were coming around the bend, like the ones before, only this car seemed to be going a lot slower than the others.
Remembering her sister’s bruised face, she clambered to her feet and stood there, swaying in the rain as she summoned the strength to walk. She’d do what Gloria told her. Gloria always had her best interests at heart. Maybe she and Marcie had resented their older sister for being so strict, but Gloria was loyal and fiercely protective. She was the one person in Latisha’s life who could be trusted.
“I’m coming, Gloria,” she muttered, and it was the thought of seeing her sister again that gave her the energy to put one foot in front of the other.
The car was drawing closer. She’d have to wave, yell-do something to attract the attention of the driver.
Suddenly, Wesley’s flashlight swept over her. It moved on, but then jerked back-and landed squarely on her.
He’d found her.
“Latisha, no!” he yelled and began to run.
Don’t fall. Don’t fall. If she crumpled now, she’d lose her one chance to go home. A heap at the side of the road wasn’t likely to get the attention of the person in that car.
Wes’s footsteps pounded the earth. She could almost hear his labored breathing. But he’d snapped off his light. He didn’t want to be seen by that car. He was hoping to get to her before she could get to whoever was coming toward them…
With one huge, final effort, she screamed, “No!” and stepped into the middle of the road. The oncoming car would either hit her-or stop.
When it began to slow, she thought she’d won. Help was only seconds away. Surely he’d back off now-run, hide.
Headlights blinded Latisha, tires squealed and the car began to hydroplane on the wet pavement. Flinching, Latisha threw up her hands to protect herself, although she knew that would do nothing.
The car didn’t hit her.
Had it stopped?