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Chapter Seventy-Eight
I'll be the one to cut the umbilical cord," Nadia ran a finger across the blade of the scissors, "Just think of yourself as my surrogate. There's no need for me to blow up like a blimp when I have you to do all the work for me." Devious bursts of giggles fractured her words. She sounded like a modern-day Ursula. Only it wasn't Jade's voice she wanted to steal, but her baby.The blood drained from her face. This was the type of thing that people watched on crime shows or the evening news—headlines about women disappearing without a trace or fetuses being cut out of wombs. The thought of it was so repulsive that you felt for the women and their families, even said a small prayer for them, but you didn't ever envision it happening to yourself.At that moment, Jade felt completely helpless, wondering if she would be one of those women you heard about on the evening news, a young mother murdered
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Rendezvous Chapter Seventy-Nine
Asthenia. (as-THEE-nee-uh) Weakness; lack of energy and strength.That had been one of the words she'd learned while helping Marissa study for a medical terminology exam one evening. It also perfectly described her situation.This is such bullshit. There was a pregnant woman shackled in their basement, and neither one of them has bothered to come down here and check on her. She had heard them stomping around upstairs, along with the sound of their voices on the other side of the door. It had been over forty-eight hours without food or water— the third daylight since she'd arrived here. How long could she go without eating? A week or two? She tried not to think about the time dragging by because she knew it was far less time that a person could survive without water. Her muscles felt too weak to move a
Rendezvous Chapter Eighty
The day Jade met Eduardo, she knew one thing for certain: He was the only way to freedom. He had a conscience, and somehow she was determined to persuade him to do the right thing.She learned very quickly that this would be easier said than done. She wasn't sure if she'd ever get another chance to speak with him again, not like that first day. Eduardo avoided her like she had the plague, even moving the water bottles where she could reach them, so he didn't have to come down to the basement as often. He treated her like a chore. Jade saw him three times a day when he dropped off my meals and emptied her bucket, and each time they had minimum communication. Then one morning, a few weeks after she'd arrived, he came barreling down the basement stairs like a lunatic. His eyes were wide with panic as he announced that he had company over. He gritted through his teeth for her to
Rendezvous Chapter Eighty-One
Sometimes it was nice to be able to hear what's going on upstairs, and then there were days where Jade would rather shove sharpened pencils through her eardrums than listen to one more second of Nadia's neurotic voice. The lunatic had woken up bright and early that morning and had been raging ever since. Their voices carried through the walls depending on where they were standing, giving Jade little bits of their conversation. She surmised that Nadia doesn't like his cat. "Well, at least it's not me that she's going all schizo on."Their conversation waded in and out like a tide, "I'm not getting rid of her!" Eduardo declared as the keys jangled in the door. "Ahh! Breakfast, at last." Things never seemed to operate smoothly while Nadia was here. Jade liked that he had a routine. It made captivity easier, not having to question what was going to come next constantly.
Rendezvous Chapter Eighty-Two
Jade already knew that he'd allow her upstairs after Nadia had left. They always fell back into their old routine, and as predicted, after breakfast, he unchained her. It made her feel twenty pounds lighter. She'd nearly forgotten about the scissors wedged against her breast and had to stop herself from reaching up and touching them to make sure they were still there. She glanced back at the mattress as they walked towards the stairs, him in front of her. The scissors hadn't fallen out. She thought about pulling the scissors out right then and there and stabbing him but then decided against it. Knowing her luck, he'd probably fall backward on top of her and she'd die under his weight.That's not why she couldn't do it, though; it was because fear had a way of paralyzing you. She'd been here for months and never screamed out to his family for help, never attempted to escape. Why? Because females tended to l
Rendezvous Chapter Eighty-Three
Jade was startled awake by a thud. Lying on the tiny bathroom rug, she didn't dare move. She was frozen in fear, not exactly sure what or who was out there. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but it had been the first time in months she'd been without the lock around her ankle. It was so relieving to know that she free from her chains, even if she was stuck in the bathroom. She wondered if Marianna was there. The woman didn't usually come back for several weeks at a time, but Jade thought that perhaps she'd called Eduardo, and when he didn't answer, she'd rushed back.She listened carefully to the surrounding silence, only hearing the vibration of her trembling breath. The house was silent; there was nothing. No footsteps or voices. Just her and the ghost of Eduardo. "Hello?" She finally called out. If it were Marianna, perhaps she would open the door, and then Jade could overpower her.
Rendezvous Chapter Eighty-Four
The sounds of the hospital were unmistakable, and Jade recognized them before she even came to. Machines continuously beeped around her, footsteps paraded in front of the doorway, and an elastic band that was tightly wrapped around her abdomen monitored the baby's heartbeat— swish, swish, swish.She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, glancing around the small room. The walls were painted a flat pale blue, and the miniblinds on the windows let in a beautiful stream of afternoon sunlight. The tables and windowsill were lined with dozens of flowers, cards, balloons, and teddy bears. They'd been pouring in, all sent to her from strangers.The doctors had transferred her from triage to a private suite earlier in the day. From the moment she'd uttered the word 'kidnapped,' it was like she'd set off an alarm throughout the building. It felt like a million p
Rendezvous Chapter Eighty-Five
Lieutenant Lyle Davidson leaned forward in his chair, rubbing over the scruff around his chin. He was heading into his second double shift, and the week had only started. He flipped the page, scanning over the investigative report one last time. It was unfathomable that this woman was good for it. Her demeanor definitely had him fooled. When one of his detectives had first sent over the file to him, he thought, for sure, the boyfriend had something to do with it. Shit, wasn't it always the boyfriend in cases like these? At the time, it had seemed cut and dry. Some arrogant rich guy gets a chick pregnant, and then she suddenly turns up missing? Babies born out of wedlock could bleed a man dry, and money was one hell of a motive. Hell, it wouldn't be the first time he'd had a case like this come across his desk.A smile crossed his face as he snapped the folder shut. Between the physical and forensic evidence collected at the crime scene and Jade Meadows' affidavit, he had
Rendezvous Chapter Eighty-Six
Their reunion had been long-awaited, but as Miguel sat diagonally from her in an armchair in the corner of the room, sorting through the emails on his cellphone, she couldn't help but feel like there was a rift between them. She turned the television on to watch the five o'clock news. Lieutenant Davidson had mentioned that he would be giving a statement to the press that evening, and he'd even stopped by to ask her if there was anything she would or wouldn't prefer him to mention. She'd decided to give him her own brief statement to read.The top of the screen read 'LIVE' in big, bold red letters. "Are they really outside right now?" Jade questioned, seeing the camera was angled at the front doors of the hospital. Her room was positioned somewhere in the north wing. She wondered how many people had driven all the way to Pittsburg just to film this.She turned the volume up as
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