Unlovable

Chapter 30

Harold got them on the first flight home. During the drive to the airport he warned her incessantly about causing any type of scene once they got there. He warned her with a spare belt to her thighs. She still had a raw ring of pain around her wrist where the cuffs had all but cut off her circulation. Lucky her, now her thighs throbbed, too.

This is my life, she thought as she swallowed her tears along with her newly discovered pride.

She'd have been a fool to think she'd escaped him. She knew he would come for her. Why did she run in the first place?

The plane lifted for takeoff and Darcie watched as the mountains disappeared under the clouds. Harold hadn't said anything in at least an hour. She knew he was plotting their return and it scared her to death. She found the silence deafening as she clenched her eyes closed and imagined herself anywhere but on a plane, next to her worst nightmare.

*~*~*

Roger drove for ten hours strait. He had tried to catch a flight, but everything was booked until the following day. He couldn't just sit idly by and wait. He had to go to her, and he had to go now.

His eyes grew heavy and his sight blurred. Reluctantly, he pulled over to rest. What good would he be to her if he fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed?

He rented a cheap motel room and grabbed some takeout for himself and Wishbone. He tried to rest, but thinking about Darcie alone with that bastard had his mind going a million miles a minute. He told himself that he should be driving and not wasting any more time than necessary. His eyes burned as he flipped through the channels on an old black and white television set. He settled on the news, figuring it would bore him to sleep.

"Detective wife found today...," the newscaster announced. "Alive and well. Darcie Kincaid was found in Oswego, Virginia, the apparent survivor of a kidnapping. No charges have been made concerning her captor. In other news..."

Kidnapped, my ass, Roger thought with gritted teeth.

He scooped the keys off the nightstand and grabbed the dog. As far as he was concerned, he'd sleep when he was dead.