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Chapter Seventy-Four
Jade didn't look back as the car pulled away from the house. She leaned against the headrest and closed her eyes, ignoring the ache in her temples. They felt sore and heavy, just as they had when she'd mourned her father all those years ago.
She only hoped that Miguel's family understood that she wasn't leaving because she was upset with them. Jade just needed time to digest this new information and heal all over again. There was no way they could've known that her mother hadn't been honest about the circumstances behind her father's death. Nineteen years of living with this tale had all come unraveled in a matter of seconds. Why did her mother fabricate the story? Jade could only assume it's because she didn't have the heart to tell her child the awful truth. Her father chose, like a coward, to end his own life. The lawyer explained that he was undergoing an investigation. The bank had become suspicious that he'd taken undocumented loans out for himself, and he kneRelated chapters
Rendezvous Chapter Seventy-Five
Jade pulled off of the freeway, turning into a busy corner store. There was still half a tank of gas left in the car, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to fill up anyway. At this point, she wasn't even sure where she planned on heading from here. Getting her car from Miguel's apartment was out of the question unless she wanted the security guard to alert him the moment she had arrived. Her eyes gazed down at the sparkling ring on her hand, trying not to let the guilt eat at her. There was nothing she could have said or done to convince Miguel otherwise; he would have never agreed to this. She sighed. She had to at least call him, if not to tell him this won't be forever. She loved him, but leaving was the best thing for her and their child right now.Jade made her way inside the store, pausing to survey the man sitting behind the counter who was scratching off lottery tickets. He glanced
Rendezvous Chapter Seventy-Six
Jade's eyes fluttered open an hour before the alarm went off. Birds were chirping outside the window, not the sound she wanted to be woken up to. She let out a groan and tucked her head under the blanket.The smell of coffee was seeping from the lobby next door, enticing her to get out of bed and request a cup. After all, there wasn't a coffee maker in the room, and she wondered if it was intentional. Jade slid her feet into the houseshoes before making her way to the office. A wall of morning dew hovered above the sidewalk, dampening her skin."Oh good, you're awake," the receptionist greeted Jade as if she'd been expecting her sooner."I could smell the coffee from my room," she chuckled, wrapping her arms around herself."Help your
Rendezvous Chapter Seventy-Seven
A metal groan stirred Jade awake, followed by a car door banging shut. Her eyelashes fluttered open to darkness. She slowly blinked, allowing her eyes to focus on the vast night sky looming above her. The dome of stars was hedged by the shadows of soaring pine trees, which rustled as the breeze swept through their branches. Where was she?Her mind swirled in a stale fog as she tried to recall her last memory. She'd been at the motel. Cassandra had come to visit her. Snow crunched beneath a set of footsteps as they approached her. For a brief moment, she could only hope it was Jean stumbling upon her vulnerable body. "Help," she attempted to whisper, but her mouth felt so dry that her lips were pasted together, muffling the words.A feminine silhouette towered above her, its form thin and dainty. It wasn't Jean. Cassandra? The silhouette raised its foot, planting the bot
Rendezvous 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
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
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