Turmoil | Spruceworth 5.1 (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Shaw

       I stared at my phone, seeing the voicemail from Holden. I was about to answer it so I could hear what it was, but I heard some stirring so I placed my phone back into my pocket and walked over to the person I hated the most in the world right now.

       When he finally wakes up, he looks at his surroundings, his eyebrows furrowed so I crouch down beside him. "You look confused," I said. "Waking up in a forest tied to a tree. Not the best way to wake up. By the way, you have a mark on your head. You might want to get it checked out. You know, once you get out of here."

       "What am I doing here?" he asked.

       "I'll tell you what," I said. "If there's one thing I take very seriously, it's my family. I'll do anything I can to protect them. So when someone, namely you, tried killing my husband, imagine how furious that makes me."

       "I don't know what you're talking about."

       "Oh, don't play dumb with me," I said. "If you want to not get caught harming someone, I suggest you do it in a place where there's no cameras. Like this forest. Now, I could have easily gotten you arrested. My sister is a police officer and even saw the footage from the nightclub. You're just lucky she didn't know who you were. Actually, I would say you're not lucky because what I'm going to do is a lot worse than being arrested."

       "You know what I don't get?" Hugh asked. "How the court deemed you a worthy enough parent to have majority of custody. You're a dangerous person. You get into fights. You killed someone. You tied me to a tree. If only Kendra wouldn't only see the good side of you."

       "And you know what I don't get?" I asked. "Why you tried killing my husband."

       "I didn't try killing him," Hugh said. "You're being delusional."

       "I saw the security footage," I said. "I saw you wait until Holden wasn't near his drink for you to place something in his drink. And whatever you used was high enough to overdose and kill him. I'm sure you didn't choose a random amount. Now I really need you to tell me why you did it if you want me to go easy on you."

       "You took three kids away from their mother," Hugh said.

       "No, I didn't," I said. "Kendra can still see the kids. I'm not stopping her from seeing them. But you... You actually want to take my husband away from me? Forever? Do you not understand how sick that sounds?"

       "Sick like you tying me to a tree?" Hugh asked.

       "Well, if you actually knew me, you'd know that this is probably the most sane thing I've done to someone who just doesn't get that I shouldn't be messed with," I said. "So there are a few options I could do. I can either leave you here for a couple of hours or I can finish off what you tried doing to Holden. In other words, I can kill you. Your choice."

       "You really want to go to prison?" Hugh asked, sounding only a tiny bit scared. "Leave behind you kids, your husband? And you really think Holden will still want to be with someone like you after you're released from prison?"

       I gave Hugh a smile. "I've been to prison before when I was with Holden and funny thing, he stayed with me the whole time. He waited for me to get out. He'll wait for me again."

       My cell phone started buzzing in my pocket. "Aren't you going to answer that?" Hugh asked. "Maybe it's someone calling to talk some sense into you because right now, you're going to through your life away."