Chapter 1 Prolouge
Prologue
Paige - Eight years of age
Song Choice - Asleep - Sleeping At Last
“HEHEHE!!! Stop, Mommy, that tickles!!”
“Really? You mean this?”
Mommy’s delicate fingers wiggle down the side of my rib cage while I break into another fit of joyous laughter. Her smile is so gorgeous as she giggles with me. I’m entranced with her stunning blue eyes and wavy blonde hair, just like mine.
She tells me I’m her little mini-me.
My tiny arms encircle her slender neck, and my lips peck her warm cheek. “I love you, Mommy!!” She gives me the coziest hug in return. “I love you too, my sweet girl.”
“Hurry, Casie,” my dad’s voice urges from the crack in the bedroom door, “they’ll be here at any moment.”
“Give me a minute, Dale, I’ll be right down.”
The look on Daddy’s face is tense. He’s frowning, and his eyes don’t hold the usual carefree sparkle they normally would.
He’s been in a sour mood since he returned from his last business trip. Mommy kisses my forehead, tucking me under the blankets, distracting me from my concern for Daddy.
“Alright, my little flutterby,” she taps the end of my nose with the tip of her index finger. “It’s bedtime. Shut your eyes and go to sleep.”
When she stands to leave, I cry out to her. “Wait, Mommy!!”
She huffs in exasperation, “Now what, Abby?”
That’s right. I remember Mom calling me by the shortened version of my middle name, Abby.
I whine, “You know I can’t go to sleep without Ollie.”
Ollie is my puppy dog, which Daddy gave me for Christmas. He’s brown with white spots and floppy ears. Daddy bought Ollie to keep the bad dreams away when he’s on business trips and can’t be here to chase them away.
After a few minutes of intense searching, Mom finds him in the bottom of my toy box.“Thanks heavens, another bedtime crisis averted.” She mumbles.
Her elegant hand with slender fingers holds out the stuffed animal for me to take. “Now. Go. To. Sleep.” She enunciates with raised brows as each word drives her message home.
I do exactly that, nestling into the warm blankets, closing my tired eyes, and inhaling deeply. The scent on the crisp linen sheets is like a garden of roses in springtime.
Like my mommy.
Like home.
I’ve barely drifted to sleep when the revving growl of motorcycle engines startles me awake. My tiny fingers wipe the sleep from my eyes as I dash to the window to peek through the slats in the mini blinds.
I see my uncle Darin. Mommy’s brother and some of his hoodlum friends. That’s what Daddy calls them. Mommy and Daddy dislikes it when they visit us.
They must be the reason for Daddy’s bad mood. He doesn’t like Uncle Darin coming to our house, much less bringing his dirty friends. I don’t like it either. They remind me of the monsters from my bedtime stories and smell like dirt and motor oil.
A loud boom and the cracking of wood echo from downstairs, making me flinch. My eyes grow wide as I clutch Ollie to my chest in fright. Wondering what made the whole house shake. I want to go downstairs and see what’s happening, but I’m scared out of my mind, my feet frozen in place by fear.
Then I hear Daddy, Mommy and Uncle Darin screaming and cussing. I try to block it out by covering my ears. I’m so scared.
I silently pray, 'Please, if someone in heaven can hear me, make it stop.'
The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs makes my heart lurch in my chest. I can hear men talking, but their words are hard to understand. They’re opening doors, going from room to room, searching them for something. Then, the shadows of their feet appear under the crack of my door, and I can finally make out their chatter.
“Raven said to find the girl. He’s going to use her as a hostage until Dale and Casie give him the information he want’s.”
“I don’t like this!!” the other man grumbles.
“Neither do I, Doc, but are you brave enough to go against Raven on this?”
“Nah, I may be crazy, but ain’t fuckin' stupid. I know our prez has no problem with killing anyone who stands in his way. We are all disposal in his book.”
“Enough talk!! You two should be searching instead of gossiping.” A third man’s curt voice joins the other two. “Find the girl. Raven sent me to find what the hell is taking so long.”
Oh, no! They’re coming for me. My uncle’s monsters are here to do something bad. I need to hide. But mommy says never hide under the bed. The monsters always check there first and not in the closet, either. They’ll look there, too.
In my panicked state, my eyes scan the darkened room, the only light coming from a small nightlight beside my bed. Then I see the little red toy box illuminated by its dingy glow. It’s the perfect hiding place. The monsters will never think of looking in there. Tiptoeing to the toy box, I slip inside with Ollie tucked safely under my arm.
The door slams open as the lid shuts on the toy box. Through the slats, I see the three men. They tear the blankets off my bed and toss the mattress over to look under the bed. Mommy was right. The monsters do look under the bed first.
The third man is throwing all my pretty dresses on the floor and stepping on them with filthy boots. Mommy will be angry when she sees the mess he’s made. She will give him a timeout for doing that.
“She’s not here.” someone snarls.
“Then where the hell is she, Doc? The girl is eight years old. It’s not like she’s out at the bar getting drunk or on a fucking date. She should be in her bed asleep.”
The man named Doc shouts back at the other guy. “She probably would be Scooter if it weren’t for your grand fucking entrance, using the shotgun to blow the door off the damned house, you foolish jackass.”
The sounds of a woman screaming catch the men’s attention, and they all take off running.
Once the monsters leave, I climb out of the toy box with Ollie and sneak down the stairs.
My eyes spring wide at another agonizing scream, making my heart tremble. It’s my mommy’s voice. Daddy and the other strange men are yelling, too. Then, there's a crashing noise and the sound of flesh being slapped. My mommy screams again.
While everyone’s distracted, I run from the stairs and hide behind the couch.
Daddy shouts at my uncle, “DARIN!! NO…!!!”
Everything moves in slow motion as I watch Uncle Darin from behind the sofa. He pulls a pistol, points it at Daddy's head and squeezes the trigger. I hear the thunderous sound of a gunshot and smoke rolling from the barrel. The blast is so loud that it hurts my ears and makes them ring.
It’s scary. My cheeks dampen with silent tears as I clutch my stuffed animal doggy to my chest. I can’t make out the conversations from the pain in my head. I need to move closer.
My mommy is covered in red and crying while she rocks Daddy in her arms. The house smells like fireworks on the Fourth of July, and I can taste the tang of salt and iron in the air. The flavor makes my tummy hurt, and I want to be sick.
“WHY?!” Mommy wails at my uncle, who stands over her with a gun pointed at her face.
He's calm and not shouting, but I can see his furious expression as he demands her to do something, and she shakes her head no.
God, everyone looks so young. I avert my eyes from the surreal scene and stare at my tiny fingers. Then I'm startled, losing my grip on Ollie. Someone's grabbing me from behind, and a strange lady is dragging me away.
No… wait… Patty, it’s not a stranger.
It’s Darin’s wife, Aunt Patty.
“It’s alright, baby girl, you’re safe…” she whispers. Her hands slowly cover my eyes so I can’t see what’s coming next. But it’s too late. I have already seen too much. Then, another round of gunfire erupts, shaking dust from the rafters.
“BANG!”
The only thing that remains is deafening silence.
Paige - Present Day
That’s the last tangible memory of my family from my childhood. Before the shouting, loud noises and gunshots on the night my parents died. Once the fog of the flashback clears from my brain. I notice we’re back where we started earlier.
My parent’s mausoleum.
The only light in the ornate crypt comes through the stained glass windows in watercolor streams. Shining in an array of rainbow colors over my parent’s marble tombs.
Being here is surreal. I never believed I would get an opportunity to visit their graves or pay my respects. Darin did everything in his power to deny me from knowing where they were buried.
He also did his best to keep me hidden from the world. Now, I want to know why. What is it that Darin’s plotting, and how am I involved in it?
My uncle is a manipulative bastard and always has a motive for doing what he does. No action he takes is ever random. There is always a calculated reason before Darin makes his move to take whatever he thinks is his.
Most of his schemes revolve around drugs or money. Anything that will profit him and benefit his criminal enterprise.
What was it about my parents that drove Darin to go to such extreme lengths as to murder them? Why is he so interested in keeping me a prisoner? What value do I hold for him? These are the questions that haunt me.
Interestingly, In recent weeks, I keep having glimpses of my past resurface. The memories of my first eight years of life are non-existent, except in my nightmares.
When I was little, a doctor once explained to my aunt Patty that traumatic events, like losing a parent, can cause temporary amnesia. It’s the brain’s way of protecting a person from emotional distress. He said one day, the memories would come back to me when I was ready to face them.
'But I’m not ready to face them!'
I wish they wouldn’t return. Even now, the pain of my parent’s loss is more than my broken heart can bear.
My fingers trace the name on the lid of my mother's marble tomb. I miss her so much.
I look over at the place where my dad is laid to rest, and my chest constricts painfully at the last time I saw him. Tears stream down my cheeks, and I wish I could have told him that night, I love you.
Mason and Luke hold and comfort me as I grieve for my parent's loss.
Luke - POV
Song Choice - Heal, Sleeping At Last
After visiting her parent’s grave, Paige cried her heart out until she collapsed unconscious into Mason’s arms. As I had already known, this day would be a challenge for her. Of course, it would be for anyone who has endured what Paige has gone through.
But the real mystery of this day is who was the man who paid for her parent’s graves, and what connection does he have to Paige? How does Beau Morgan fit into all of this? Mason already has Gage and his men looking into it.
Mason and I are both concerned about Paige. No matter how much we coerced, she was too emotionally drained and refused to eat when we checked into the hotel and ordered room service.
Once Mason and I have finished our meal of steaks and fries, I leave the hotel, needing fresh air to get my head straight.
Watching Paige grieve her parent’s death has reminded me of my father’s passing. His death has affected me, and I’m struggling to come to terms with it. Even though I didn’t think it would since we were never close.
'Paige and I both need time to heal our broken souls.'
