Sugar, Spice and a pinch of Fantasy

Chapter 46

----------- Chapter 46 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Haden’s POV)

I take a moment to close my eyes and take a deep breath. I have to stay calm. If I panic, it won’t help Jessica in the least.

               “Matt, do me a favour and check on Jess please,” I whisper. Matt nods his head jerkily and dashes off.

In the pit of my stomach, I know she isn’t going to be upstairs. Carter wouldn’t give me warning before he attempted something. He wasn’t one to play fair, not even when we were kids. Winning is everything to him. And I should have realized that he wouldn’t ever get over Jess leaving him for me.

               “What’s going on?” Alex asks cautiously, taking a step closer.

               “Carter called. To wish me. And to tell me how lucky I am to have Jessica. Commended me for getting her all dirty. He says she looks sexier than usual,” I murmur emotionlessly.

               “How would he know?” Alex muses, pacing. “You think he’s watching us?”

               “No. I think he has Jessica,” I murmur, feeling my heart shatter a little.

No! I have to keep it together. I must be at the top of my game, and breaking down would just make things worse.

Just then, Matt runs back into the room, his face pale. “She isn’t there,” he pants.

               “I know,” I mumble. Despite knowing she wouldn’t be there, there was a part of me that wished she would be there.

               “Haden, why would Jess run away?” Matt asks, perplexed.

               “She didn’t run away. Carter took her,” I respond evenly.

               “Are you sure? It seems like she left. She took her phone with her,” Matt informs me.

Would she leave? Why?

               “Haden, I don’t think she ran away. I think Carter took her phone along too. Maybe he wants you to call her to make sure? Maybe that’s his idea of torturing you even more,” Alex murmurs, as he grits his teeth.

He could be right. It’s sadistic enough to be something Carter would have thought up.

I punch Jess’ number into my phone and wait with bated breath to hear her voice.

               “Hay?” she asks unsteadily, finally picking up the phone after ten rings.

               “Babe,” I whisper, letting out the breath I didn’t even know I was holding.

               “I’m afraid,” she whispers, her voice trembling. I can feel her fear. What sort of guardian am I? I should have protected her!

               “It’s okay, baby. I’ll find you. I’ll come,” I promise earnestly. “Are you alright?”

I hear a muffled sob before she even attempts to answer me. “No. I think something is wrong,” she breaths after a moment.

               “What?!” I demand, running my fingers through my hair in agitation. If he so much as touched a strand of her hair, I will kill him!

               “I’m bleeding,” she stutters. She’s obviously hysterical, I can hear it in the way she’s trying to sound as normal as possible. “I think something happened to the baby.”