Sequoia Valley: Risk (Free Preview)

3

“I’m going out of town for a few days. I have a conference to attend.”

Never had words sounded sweeter to Aileen’s ears. But she had to work not to show her relief. She didn’t want Jeremy to change his mind and stay home. A few days without his presence, demands, and cruelty would be heaven.

She lifted her eyes from the mug of coffee in front of her to look across the table at him. Unlike her, who could barely stomach anything for breakfast because of her stress and nerves, he was scarfing down the biscuits he’d requested with great speed.

“I’ll miss you,” she forced out, just as he would have wanted; but she’d stopped missing him a long time ago.

He smiled. He placed a hand on her cheek and took all her willpower not to flinch away. “I’ll bring back a present just for you.”

The best present he could give her was never to come back, but she knew there was no hope in that. He’d be back. She forced a smile to her lips. “I’ll look forward to it.”

Time passed slowly for Aileen after breakfast was over. She wanted him gone and it seemed to be taking him forever to pack his bag. Finally, at eight-thirty, he slung a duffel bag over his shoulder, kissed her goodbye, and left. She watched from the window with a lightened heart as he got into his car, started it up, and drove away.

Free. I’m free. She cradled her broken wrist gently. For now.

It wouldn’t last, but she could at least relax and enjoy herself while she had the opportunity. Staying in bed to rest her injured body would probably be the wisest decision, especially since she hadn’t had the opportunity for the whole week since she’d returned from the hospital. But she’d been trapped within the four walls for too long. She knew better than to step outside when Jeremy was around, but with him gone, she could at least get some fresh air.

An hour later, after an excruciating process of changing into a turtleneck, sweater, and jeans, she left the house. As she stepped onto the porch of the house she shared with Jeremy and breathed in the fresh air, she glimpsed a patrol car pass by and disappear from sight. Then she made her way down the steps, looked around the mostly empty streets apart from some neighborhood children playing in their front yards, and then walked away.

For just a while, away from that house, away from Jeremy, she could pretend to be happy. Even that excruciating pain in her broken wrist and the agony in her ribs could almost be imagined away with the relief of freedom.

It was the first time she’d been as daring as to leave the house. Jeremy didn’t like her to leave. She would do something stupid that would embarrass him. Then he’d have to punish her. It would be safer to stay indoors where no one would see or know about the stupid things she did. But since her visit to the hospital, she ached to escape the four walls that had kept her prisoner for so long. Hopefully Jeremy would never find out; and if she did something stupid, hopefully he wouldn’t be told about that either.

She walked until she could no longer see the house behind her and could see a park several feet ahead. It was as good a place as any to be. It wasn’t the type of place Jeremy or his cohorts hung around. The only witnesses to her presence would probably be children and maybe some parents or guardians.

When she walked through the gates, it was still mostly empty. There was a small group of children playing on the slides, but her gaze skipped past them to the main attraction, as made evident by the stares of the parents in residence. Dr. Zakarîyâ, once again dressed in those foreign clothes, was with a little boy. As if the clothing didn’t attract enough attention, he was sitting on the see-saw opposite the boy, making “whee!” sounds as it went up down, while his young companion laughed and giggled.