Problems in Paradise

Chapter 5

The third week I'd been living with Leland, the landline got a mysterious call. We hadn't thought anything of it, probably just a teller or something. I took his car home for lunch so I didn't have to go out and buy anything. I was saving up for a car because I didn't want Beth and Dog buying me that too. When I got there, the front door was open. I called Leland, who had been out on a chase with his dad.

"Did you come home for lunch?" I asked, still in the car listening to a playlist he'd made on my phone.

"What? No, we're in Chinatown chasing a lead."

"Ah, gotcha. Anything so far?"

"Nah, just asking around now. Probably try again tomorrow. You at the house?"

"Yeah, the front door's open so I called to see if you were here. We must've just left it open when we left this morning."

Leland suddenly got silent. "Anni, are you still in the car?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I have Ellie and Rover," he stated, mentioning his rottie and pit bull.

"Okay?" I said, confused.

"Anni, do not get out of the car." He suddenly sounded really concerned.

"Leland, what's-" I saw a silver pickup truck around the corner, the same kind my ex drove. I started panicking. "Leland, he's-"

"I know. I'm on my way. Get the hell out of there and go straight to Dad's. If anyone follows you, call the cops. DO NOT hang up unless that happens." As he was talking, I peeled out of the driveway and headed to Dog and Beth's house via the backroads Leland and Duane Lee had shown me. I watched the rearview but ten minutes into the fifteen-minute drive, there was still no one behind me. I told Leland so.

"You sure?"

"No, no one," I said.

"Good. Go inside. Dad, Tim, Duane Lee, Justin and I are on our way to the house, Beth and Lyssa are inside. They know what's going on. I'll call afterwards, okay?"

"Okay," I said quietly.

"Anni?" He asked.

"I'm here, Leland," I said.

"Do you trust me?"

"I trust you, Leland."

I ran into the house sobbing and shaking after I hung up. Lyssa held the door open for me, and I ran right into Beth's arms. Cecily brought me a glass of water as she and Lyssa sat down in the living room with Beth and I.

"Am I a terrible person for not being upset about my husband and my daughter recently? I've been so focused on this and-and school, and the job, and helping Leland and-and-and-"

"Honey, it's okay. No one blames you for any of this, okay? The boys will get him. They will."

"He has guns, Beth, more than one or two, and they're-"

"Honey, they'll get him, okay?"

We sat in silence for a few minutes. A few turned into twenty. Twenty turned into thirty. After forty-five minutes, I looked up at Beth.

"What if...?" I trailed off.

"Sh, sh, shhh," she assured me as she held my hands and let me fall into her. A few minutes later, my cell phone rang. We all watched it vibrate the table until Lyssa picked it up on the fifth ring. "Dad?" She answered it and put it on speaker.

"Baby Lyssa, he's in cuffs. And he's going a long way away." Just then, the front door opened. Justin walked in followed by Leland. I got up quickly and ran past Justin. I jumped into Leland's arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. I shoved my face into his shoulder. Leland just held me and let me cry.

"Leland, what happened?" Beth asked him.

"He's done. He's going away," was all he said.

"Justin?" Lyssa asked.

"Leland called the cops on the way there, said simply his house had been broken into. They beat us there. He was spewing his plans, and Leland told them what Annilise had told him, that he broke his restraining order, threatened her, framed her. He's going away for a long time. If he has any friends, they won't be touching her. He's going to solitary at the state penitentiary."

I continued to sob into Leland's chest. "Let's go home," he said.

"No!" I yelled. "He was there, Leland, I can feel him watching me, he could've been on our couch, in our room, in our bed-" I started sobbing again.

"Did she say 'our' bed?" I heard Lyssa asked Beth quietly. "Leave it alone," she said in response.

"I promise you, everything is okay now, alright? They found him in the backyard. All he did was walk through the kitchen and living room to the yard. He was probably looking for the dogs."

"How did he know you have-"

"Leashes out front, babygirl, and their food and water's in the kitchen. He was wasted. There's no way he could make it up the stairs or anything else like that. Okay?" I didn't say anything.

Dog walked in, followed by Duane Lee and Tim.

"Take her home," Dog said to Leland. Leland carried me out to his car. As he did so, I heard mumbling between the rest of them.

"Leland, what's going on?"

"Shh, I'll tell you when we get home, okay?" He held my hand all the way back to his house in silence. When we got home, he took me to the bedroom and I fell asleep. When I woke up, he was lying next to me watching tv.

"Leland?" I called to him.

"Hey, hey, good morning sleepyhead."

"Is it morning already?"

"Nah, it's only 5 PM. How did you sleep?"

"Honestly?" I looked into his eyes, "that's the best I've slept in weeks. Months, even."

"Good," he said quietly. He didn't meet my eyes.

"What is it, Leland?"

"There's something you should know."

"I'm listening," I said.

"That driver? The one that ran into you all those years ago?"

"It was two years ago, Leland, but what about it?"

"It was him," Leland said in almost a whisper. I didn't know what to say. I pulled him closer and fell asleep silently crying into his chest.