I don’t think he’s slept any since he got here. I know I haven’t. I’m exhausted, but the fear of falling asleep and leaving Kara vulnerable to him has kept my eyes wide open.
I look over at him.
“You and your friends brutally raped Julianna for weeks as you held these photos and threats of killing me over her head. How manly of you,” I say, my voice dripping with anger and sarcasm.
I can see by the expression on his face, Daniel gets some kind of perverse pleasure out of reliving the memory in his mind. I am preparing him yet another meal, I think this is his third since the first one I made yesterday. Kara remains tied up and sitting on the couch.
I want to take the knife in my hand and stab him, but I keep reminding myself he has a gun. Guns generally beat knives in a fight. I continue to take slow, deliberate breaths and temper my rage.
“Julianna told me the night of our rehearsal dinner that she was going to tell you what had been going on,” he says. “She was going to ruin everything.”
Then, in graphic and disgusting detail, he retold the story about raping her one final time before strangling her, then taking her body to his friend’s father’s farm in rural Virginia, burning her and burying the remains.
Then he had the absolute gall to return to Charlottesville and marry me, pretending to be Julianna on her phone by texting me right before the ceremony and then going radio silent.
“Julianna’s parents never had a body to bury,” I say, looking at him and trying to understand how anyone could talk so dispassionately about taking the life of another human being.
“Well,” he smiled at me. “There really wasn’t that much to bury once we got through with her.”
I cannot hold in my nausea any longer and I throw up in the sink.
My stomach continues to retch with his words. I cannot fathom how anyone can treat another human being as callously as he treated my friend.
All I can think of now is keeping Kara safe. If he is capable of doing those despicable things to Julianna, what will he do to my daughter?
“Sarah?” he calls me by my old name. “Is something wrong?”
I look to see him smirking at me. He thinks my reaction to him is funny. I rinse my face and mouth out with clear water and look at him.
“How can you look in the mirror every day and not hate yourself?” I ask. “How can you live with yourself knowing what you’ve done? How do you sleep at night?”
“Very well,” he replies. “You know, when I first saw you again, I thought I wanted you back. I really did. But you’ve changed.”
Of course I’ve changed, I think. I’m over twenty years older and I’m not the naïve teenager you married.
“I’ve grown up,” I say in response.
“So I see,” he sighs. “You’re not as much fun as you used to be.”
“You mean I’m not easily manipulated.”
He cuts his eyes at me and for a moment, I think he’s going to come across the counter and hit me. He wants to. He’s thinking about it. But just like that, I see him gain control.
“I can still manipulate you,” he purrs.
I tilt my head slightly to the side in question.
“For instance,” he gets up and walks toward Kara who has fallen asleep again. He places a hand on her shoulder. Fortunately, she doesn’t stir with the weight of his hand. My heart beats faster and I feel as though I’m going to retch again. “I could rape your daughter right in front of you at this very moment. What would you do to prevent that from happening?”
I blink back tears and swallow the bile rising in my throat.
“Anything,” I admit. “I’d do anything.”
Jake
My throat feels like sandpaper and my eyes are weighted down. I seem to be moving quickly from shivering to burning up. I struggle to open my eyelids, but the effort it takes is almost too much.
At first, I can’t remember where I am. I can barely see anything and then it hits me.
“Graham,” I manage to croak out. “Graham.”
My eyes close again. I will them to open. I need to find my brother. I need them to know that he’s out there in the cold all alone. Someone needs to save him.
With more effort than I thought I possessed, I get my eyelids open a fraction and try to focus. Where am I?
Alexis’s face comes into view. She looks worried. She shouldn’t be worried about me. I’ll be okay. I need her to find Graham.
“Graham,” I manage again.
“Graham is here,” she says and I can feel her tears dripping on my skin. “He’s going to be fine,” she says.
I don’t believe her. How is he going to be fine? How are any of us going to be fine?
“Mom. Kara.”
“What’s going on back at your house, Jake?”
I manage to turn my head toward the sound of the other voice. It’s Aunt Ava. She looks worried.
“My mother’s husband,” I say before the blackness engulfs me once more.
The darkness is comforting. I want to stay there. I just want to float in the abyss but I can’t. I need to warn them about …
What do I need to warn them about? Warn? Or tell?
Graham.
Graham is in the snow and won’t get up.
But Alexis says he’ll be okay.
Mom.
Kara.
Mom’s husband.
Dad?
No. Not Dad. Another man. A dangerous man.
My heart races as I fight to reach the surface of the blackness. Someone’s got to know. Someone’s got to save them.
I fight to raise my eyelids again. When I do, I see Aunt Ava’s face coming into focus. She looks worried.
“Has something happened to your father? Is that it?”
“No,” I manage. “My mother’s husband.”
No. That’s not right.
“My mother’s ex-husband.”
“I don’t understand, Jake. You’re not making any sense.”
I can barely give the slightest nod.
“What’s he saying?” Alexis asks.
“Are you saying your mother’s ex-husband is at your house? Is he the reason you and Graham were out in this storm without coats?” This was Aunt Ava. She doesn’t sound shocked about hearing my mother was married before. Did she already know?
I barely can move my head to acknowledge her question.
“Dear Lord,” she whispers.
“Danger,” I croak.
“Mom,” I hear Graham’s voice. “I’m so tired.” That single sentence allows me to relax somewhat. Graham is here. He’s talking. He’s going to be okay.
“Graham?” I rasp out, but it sounds more like a half screech and half cough. “Are you alright?”
“I think you’ll both be okay. At least I hope so,” Alexis’ cool hand touches my forehead. “You’re burning up though. I’ve gotten your fever down a little, but you’re still too high for my liking.”
I’m starting to think clearer now, and I make a move to sit up. Alexis pushed me back down on … where am I? It looks like a pallet of some sort.
“You need to stay down,” she says. “Your body needs to rest so it can heal. You need to heal.”
“Graham is okay?”
“It was touch and go for a little while,” she admits to me. “But we’re out of the woods now. I think he’s going to be okay.”
I nod my head.
“So this ex-husband of your mothers. He just showed up?”
“Yes. He’s got a gun. He tied all of us up and after a while, he decided Graham and I were liabilities. I think he was prepared to shoot the both of us right there in front of Kara and Mom.”