Shadows in the Dark

Chapter 22

When he heard her cry his name over the phone, he froze.

Adrenaline surge through him as he began to comprehend her words. Before he could, a calmer voice was on the line explaining.

She needs me was all he could think about. Time had never passed so slowly
He felt like the wheels were spinning but the car wasn't moving forward. He was sweating and finding it hard to breathe. Over and over he kept repeating, "She needs me..."

Harry had been living on the edge all summer and he finally felt like he was getting his wife back. If something happened to her or their baby, he would blame himself. He should have dragged her back home immediately, but he knew she needed time and space. She had never felt like she deserved him from the moment they met. Ironically, he felt the same about her. She was different from the girls he had grown up with. She was smart and funny and so blasted sexy. She was not a shag and a wave like he had been doing with the other Uni girls who caught his fancy. Wendy was different.

Wendy had no idea just how special she was, and it was a full-time job convincing her she deserved his love and their life together. After she lost the babies, she spiraled and blamed herself for failing him. His heart bled more for her pain than the dreams they lost. He never wanted another woman. She just didn't believe it.

For the eight weeks, she lived by the sea, but he was never far away. He was at her door at least three times a week. He kept her guessing by not having a pattern. Sometimes it would be two nights in a row or he would leave her alone for two days. He often chose to give her space after his visit went well. If she was angry and kicked him out as she did plenty especially at first, he would appear the next day. Meanwhile, he wandered around the empty apartment like a lost puppy or invited Mark in to listen to him tell him what a fucking fool he was for letting her go.

The only thing he feared was her leaving and going home to England, but he had control over it when he took her passport and put it in a box at the bank. During her visits back to their apartment, he knew that she had been searching for it. They never spoke of her visits, but he loved to come home and smell a trace of her. He had thought she was safe, but he was wrong and whatever happened, it was his fault.

Arriving at the place where she had been staying he ignored the police cars and ran up the stairs taking two at a time to find her being held by a woman. The minute she saw him, she cried and reached out to him. He gathered her and willed all his strength into her. He felt a sense of déjà vu the moment was very much like when she had suffered her first miscarriage.

With the arrival of a policewoman, the story unfolded.  His jaw became rigid. If he wasn't holding Wendy and keeping her safe he would have been looking for the bastard. Although he was never one of those physical mates, even when he and his brother, Charlie rowed they never scuffled, Harry wanted to harm that bloke who touched his wife.

It seemed forever before he could help her down the stairs. He was concerned for her in so many ways. After she promised to return to him, she confided to him about the rumors people were spreading about her. It made him angry, but eventually, even he laughed, knowing it was his erratic visits fueling most of the rumors. The only one he didn't laugh about was when she told him about the lawyer's visit.

He had pleaded with her. "Baby, please stay with me. I know you miss your mum. I'll talk to the bank to see if I can get sent back home. Please." She answered him by kissing him and he added, "I will never let you divorce me, so don't even try."

He held her hand all the way to the hospital. The officer promised she would meet them, because Wendy's injuries were evidence. He didn't relax until the doctor showed them their baby on the black and white screen. He even pointed to its heartbeat. Based on the dates, Harry suspected it happened the first time she let him love her after she took that bloody apartment.

When he finally took her home, she cried, "It was all my fault. I thought he was a friend."

Harry hushed her. "The fault was all mine. I should have dragged you home where you belong weeks ago. Don't ever leave me again. I can't live without you."

She buried her swollen face into his chest and sobbed.