Safety

Chapter 8

        I tapped on the steering wheel nervously and waited for the light to turn green. I looked over at Nina and she was gazing out of the window. I didn’t want to say anything to her because I was still very embarrassed about the dream that I had had the night before. The light turned green and I anxiously pressed on the gas making us jerk forward. I eased off the gas and drove smoothly. We only had about four more hours to drive before we were in Topeka. I had asked her about her nightmare but she just told me that it was about Adam. I left it at that knowing that he was either beating her or Aria in the dream and I didn’t want to bring up painful memories. We woke up fairly early today but we didn’t say much to each other. I felt weird about my dream and she felt scared about hers so I wasn’t about to press conversation on her. 

I turned on the radio, not wanting to listen to silence anymore, and bobbed my head to the music. I could feel her eyes on me but didn’t want to look back so I ignored it. But then she reached over and turned the music down. I looked over at her questioningly and watched as her mouth tried to form words. “Did I do something wrong? You haven’t said two words to me today.” She turned towards the windshield and waited for me to say something. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Nina, I’m just really focused today. I just want to get Aria and you back home and safe where you belong.” I lied, offering her a reassuring smile but she still didn’t look at me. She just nodded her head slowly and turned to the window. I sighed, “did I do something wrong? I mean you won’t even look at me.” I asked her pointedly. She shook her head no and that was the last I heard of it. 

We drove in silence for hours until we finally came up to the “Welcome to Topeka” sign. We both let out an unexpected sigh like we had been holding our breath for hours. “So where do we go from here? Like I said, I have never been to this cabin. I don’t know where it is.” She told me as I saw the worry grow on her face. “Well we already set out an APB in this county for Adam and Aria. We can get the footage from all the street cameras to see if we can get a matching description of Adam or a matching license plate number. We will find her, Nina.” I assured her again. I decided to drive to the police station to check in and to get any information that they might have on the whereabouts of Adams. We pulled up to the old building and I told Nina to stay in the car while I went in. She simply nodded her head and leaned back in her seat. 

I walked into the station and showed them my badge and asked to talk to the sheriff. They pointed me to the far office and I walked back to the office they directed me to. I knocked on the glass and the sheriff gestured for me to come in as if he were expecting me. I walked in and sat down across from him. “Deputy Linden, I presume?” he asked, already knowing the answer. I nodded and he slid a folder across the desk at me. “That is the last picture that we got of him in town, he used a credit card at a gas station near the outskirts of town. The gas attendants said that they saw him drive east from there. So far that is all we have. But I am sure that it will be helpful in your search.” He told me peering at me from under his eyeglasses. I nodded and told him thank you before I stood up and left. I walked out the front doors and walked back to my vehicle where Nina was fidgeting with the radio. I handed her the folder. “He’s a little bit further out but we will get him and Aria.” I told her as I pulled out of the parking lot. 

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        I sat silently in the passenger’s seat thinking to myself. I thought about the terrible images in my dream last night. The terror as I watched Adam lift Aria up by her neck and throw her into a wall. There was blood on the floor and on her head as if he hit her with a thick, dense object. She reached for me and gasped as if trying to breathe through broken ribs and collapsing lungs and I ran to her but she kept getting farther and farther away from me and suddenly the doors slammed shut in between us as Adam grabbed a gun that was tucked into his pants and he pointed it at her small chest and pulled the trigger. I watched the life flow out of her and watched as he turned towards me and smiled sadistically. And all of a sudden it felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore and I gasped and I could hear myself crying. I sat up and opened my eyes as reality washed over me and the nightmarish world I was in disappeared from my vision. But the memory of seeing my little girl tortured at the hands of her father would always be embedded in my mind. 

        I leaned over and started messing with the radio and looked up in time to see Paul come out of the police station. He was carrying a folder and he handed it to me as he got into the vehicle. “He’s a little bit further out but we will get him and Aria.” He told me as he pulled out. I nodded as I could feel myself losing hope. I rested my head against the cool window and closed my eyes as I secretly made a wish that I would have never thought I would make. Just one wish that I wanted more than anything in the whole world and that was to find Adam and get my daughter back into my arms safe and unharmed. 

        We pulled into a gas station and Paul got out of the car and went into the store taking in a picture of both Adam and Aria. I watched as a young man in brown overalls came out leading Paul and pointed down the road. Paul shook his hand and waved goodbye and made his way back to me. I watched as he got back in the car and pulled onto the road, driving in the direction that the young man pointed. I watched him and I felt those strange feelings come back, the ones that I was fighting because my daughters safety was so much more important than my crush. But I wondered why he was being so distant from me. What had I said? What had I done? Why is he acting this way toward me? I got lost in these questions and I didn’t realize when he asked me a question. “Nina? Nina? Are you okay?” he asked me as he looked down at me. I could see the worry in his expression and I nodded because I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to make him angrier at me if that was the case. I just couldn’t put a finger on the vibes that I was getting from him. 

        Suddenly we pulled into a driveway and in front of us sat Adams car. I could feel the tension as he called for backup on his radio and we got out of the car. Paul walked over to me and secretly put a small pocket knife in my hand. “Just in case” he whispered in my ear and his hot breath felt good against my cool skin. I nodded and he motioned for me to stay back. I did and I watched as he slowly made his way up to the front of the cabin. He peered into the front window and then motioned for me to come closer. He stood next to the front door and knocked on it hard. “Police! Open up!” He yelled through the door. Nobody answered and he reached for the door knob. Suddenly the door flung open to reveal Adam standing there. “Well hello officer, what can I do you for?” he asked nonchalantly. His eyes shifted to me then and I saw his demeanor stiffen. And then, out of nowhere he swung at Paul. I heard the impact as his fist connected with Paul’s jaw and he fell to floor. I gasped and started running forward but Paul help up a hand to me as if to say “no, stay back.” I stopped in my tracks and looked past Paul ad Adam remembering that Aria was somewhere in the Cabin and then I saw her. She lay motionless on the floor only inches away from the door. I gasped again and put my hand over my mouth. Paul saw me and followed my gaze into the front room. Anger formed in his eyes and then everything happened so fast as I watched Paul stand up and punch Adam in the stomach in one movement. Adam bent over in pain and Paul took this opportunity to knee him in the face. Adam fell against the side of the cabin and I watched as he bent down to grab a large stone from the rock garden that lay on the porch. He swung it, trying to hit Paul but Paul dodged it quickly, ducking to one side. I watched as Adams hand flew inches away from Paul’s face as he grabbed Adam’s arm and twisted it behind his back forcing him to drop the rock and the he shoved Adam against the side of the house. I heard Paul reading Adam his Miranda rights as I ran past them to Aria. I grabbed her and leaned in close trying to listen for breathing. 

        I watched as her chest moved up and down and I sighed in relief. She had a red mark on her face but that was all of the physical wounds I could see. I lifted her up and carried her unconscious body out of the cabin just as two more cop cars pulled up behind our vehicle. Paul had Adam in hand cuffs and was walking him toward the first car. I got to the car and gently slid Aria in. I shut the door and walked over to Paul. He wrapped his arm around me and I watched the fury grow in Adam’s face from the backseat of the police car. Then I heard muffled screams through the closed door and he yelled profanities at me. “Let’s go home” Paul said to me as he smiled down at me. We both got in the car and drove home as I could feel a sense of relief and safety that I had never felt before. Suddenly I felt his skin against mine as he reached across the middle glove compartment and grabbed my hand. I looked at him and he squeezed my hand in. I smiled looked back at Aria and I felt a feeling in my chest so warm and I realized that my wish had come true. I got my baby girl back and I was going to close the book on this chapter of my life and hopefully start a new one with that sweet little girl and the wonderful man sitting next to me. I couldn’t hold back my smile as we drove on into the sunset. 

        The End.