Gabriel didn’t know it, but he’d just reinforced everything I’d felt from the first moment I woke up after the doctors put my body back together. I constantly felt a predator stalking me, waiting for the right moment to pounce and rip me to shreds. Christian couldn’t force me to kill, but in the nightmares, the knife was always in my hands. The satisfied smirk was on my lips. That was why I had to end the nightmares before they became reality.
He held out his hand. “You need some rest, and so do I. We need to be ready to change our plans when Christian calls.”
The phone woke me, and I reached for it before it woke Gabriel. “Hello.”
“Conditions, my love. You’re in no position to request conditions.”
“I know.” Licking my dry lips, I slipped out of bed. “I’ve had some time to think since I wrote the note.”
“And?” He laughed. “Why should I trust you or anything you say?”
“Because you have Emma.”
He was silent, and I held my breath, hoping he wouldn’t hang up.
“I’d like to meet before the exchange. Just the two of us for dinner, the way you always wanted. I want to talk.”
“That would be rather difficult now. My loving father killed himself, leaving a note of my guilt. In a few hours, there’ll be a nationwide search.”
The news that Wagner had killed himself didn’t come as a complete surprise. He wouldn’t have left a confession without a way out. “The plantation. No one would think you’d come back there.”
“You’ll come alone?”
I glanced at where Gabriel was still sleeping peacefully. “Yes, I’ll come alone.”
“Tonight, eight o’clock.”
He hung up, and I rushed to the bathroom to throw up. What I was doing was crazy, but if Gabriel was right, Christian still had something good inside, some part of him that cared about me and Emma.
I rinsed my mouth and splashed cold water on my face before glancing in the mirror. I can do this for Emma.
Gabriel was stirring when I reentered the bedroom. I had no idea what Max and Karen thought was going on between us, but the truth was we were both too damaged to even think of a normal relationship. Lying next to him, hearing him breathe, had been enough for me, and I hoped my warmth and presence had been enough for him. I glanced at the bedside clock and gasped. Christian had said eight, and it was almost seven. We’d slept the entire day. I slipped out the door and closed it softly behind me.
Karen was coming out of her room as I rushed for mine. “Hey, sleepyhead. About time you two woke up.”
“Gabriel’s still asleep.” I grabbed her arm and opened my door. “I don’t have much time, and I need to talk to you.” I pulled her in then closed and locked the door. After ripping off my dirty clothes, I grabbed clean underwear, a fresh pair of jeans, and a V-neck sweater. “I have to go out, and I need you to distract Max until I’m gone.”
Karen flopped onto my bed. “I’ll help you but only if you tell me where you’re going and why.”
“I’m meeting Christian for dinner.”
Karen’s mouth gaped open, and she shook her head. “You can’t do that, Dakota. He’ll kill you or take you prisoner again.”
I slipped on my shoes. “We don’t know who Joshua is, and we don’t have time to find out. Christian is my only chance of making sure Emma is safe.” I picked up the picture of Emma from the nightstand. “Nothing matters but saving my daughter. We’re meeting at eight. I’ll take my phone and call you at nine. If I don’t call, you’ll know it didn’t go right.”
“Where are you meeting him?”
“The plantation.”
Karen rose, wrapped her arms around my neck, and squeezed. “If you get yourself killed, Max is going to hate me.”
I pulled away. “Max loves you. He doesn’t have to know you knew.”
“No, I would have to tell him. We can’t start a relationship with secrets between us.”
Secrets create darkness, and darkness creates monsters. Maybe if my father had told me that and forced my mother to get the help she needed, I wouldn’t be in the situation I was in. “Take care of Max and Gabriel for me.”
She nodded and gulped. “I will.”
A light breeze was blowing as I sprinted for the van. Gabriel kept the gas tank full in case we had to leave in a rush. I sat for a moment, staring at the window to Gabriel’s bedroom. Before Salyer, I could have loved him.
I jerked the car into gear and backed out. “There is no before Salyer for me.”
39
I made it to the house at a quarter till eight. The sun was setting, and darkness was approaching quickly. I was early, but that didn’t really matter. Christian was there. I could feel him.
My heart thudded loudly as I opened the van door and stepped out. A single light shone from the hallway. “That was then, this is now. I can do this.”
As I climbed the steps, the front door opened. “Welcome home, Dakota.”
I smiled, or at least I hoped it was a smile. My vocal chords felt paralyzed.
He swung the door open and stepped to the side. “I hope you like what I’ve prepared. Come in.”
I flinched when he touched my arm, but I didn’t pull away. “It smells delicious.”
Christian led me through the living room, down the hall, and past the formal dining room. “I’d thought we’d eat in the kitchen—a small, more intimate setting.” He pulled out a chair for me at the small dinette set.
“What are we having?”
“Spaghetti and garlic bread. I couldn’t go shopping, of course, and there wasn’t a lot of time for anything fancy.” He loaded a plate and placed it in front of me. “I have a bottle of wine if you’d care for a glass.”
“Wine sounds great.” I clasped my hands in my lap, afraid to look at the silverware next to my plate. The knife he’d placed there was probably deliberate. He wanted to see if I could fight the temptation to grab it and shove it through his evil heart.
He filled his own plate, poured two glasses of wine, and took a seat across from me. “Relax.”
I picked up my fork and rolled spaghetti around the tines, then I took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “It’s good.”
“Thank you. I actually wanted to be a chef.” He sipped his wine. “I’m surprised you came alone. Or are Gabriel and Max slowly sneaking up on us?”
“They don’t know I’m here.”
“Secrets from your partner. That’s a bad road to start down.”
I picked up the wine glass and downed half the contents. “I told Karen what I was doing and where I was. If I don’t call her at nine, she’ll call out the cavalry.”
“I see. And if you call her at nine?”
“She trusts me. She’ll do whatever I ask her to.”