Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
I snapped my shoulder away from her touch, stormed over to my phone, and picked it up off the ground. “She’s not a fucking stray! She’s my goddamn wife, and you allowed her to leave with monsters!” I pointed to my door and then dialed the detective in charge of the case. “Get out while I deal with this. Get out before I say something I’ll regret.”
“Christopher—”
“Get out!” I shout. “Now.”
“You’ll see soon enough why I made the decision I did. Someday, you’ll understand.”
“Get. The. Fuck. Out.”
3
Christopher
Agent Martinez looks as annoyed as I feel. “So, let me get this straight,” he begins. “A serial killer and his possible accomplice enters your house, and you don’t call the police?”
“What do you think we’re doing right now?” My mother counters his question with the cool demeanor only she can pull off.
“And you allowed Ember to walk out the door with him?”
“She chose to go with him,” my mother says, darting her eyes at me. “I’ve always felt from the beginning that Amber wasn’t completely innocent in all this. She showed me today that she isn’t afraid of Richard one bit.”
“Because she’s brainwashed,” I cut in. “She grew up believing he was her father. She loves him, no matter what he did. She can’t help it. Just because she left with him, doesn’t mean she’s guilty of any crime.”
“I think that’s left to be decided,” Agent Martinez says as he nods to another man standing next to him, who is taking down all the notes in a black leather pad. “Christopher, did Ember have any phone calls or contact with Richard since returning?”
“Absolutely not,” I snap. “She was terrified that he was going to be able to find her. All the media and attention really scared her for that reason. She believed he was coming for her, and that is exactly what he did. He came and took her.”
Agent Martinez looks at my mother. “But your mother just said she went with him willingly.”
“She’s wrong,” I say. “It might have appeared that way on the surface. But I know Ember. She wouldn’t want to go back to a life with that man. There’s some other reason why that we don’t know.”
“Mrs. Davenport,” Agent Martinez says, acting as if my words aren’t even heard, “do you have any idea where they were headed? Did they give any clue or say anything?”
My mother shakes her head and gives a slight shrug. “No. Richard simply told Ember to hurry up and that they had to get out of here quickly. Ember rushed upstairs, packed a bag, and was out the door before I could do anything. I wasn’t exactly going to try to fight with a serial killer. Frankly”—she looks at me—“I was scared. But this wasn’t the first time I’ve been scared in my own home since that woman entered our lives.”
“Why did you wait to call us until after Christopher got home? Why didn’t you call 911 the minute they left?” Agent Martinez asks.
Yes, Mother, why?
“For Ember,” she answers with a deep sigh. “I knew how this would look for her. And regardless if she’s innocent or guilty, I wanted my son to hear it from me first. I wanted him to handle this and make the decision. She’s his… wife. And, well… maybe I should have called right away, but like I just said, I was scared.”
My mother’s lying. I know why she didn’t call right away. She wanted to give them a head start. She wanted Ember gone, and here was her chance to have her desires granted. If she called right away, they could have been caught. She’s hoping that Ember, Richard, and Scarecrow get as far away as possible. She doesn’t ever want to see Ember found. I know this.
My own fucking mother….
Ultimate betrayal.
I can’t stand to be in this living room another second. I stand up and say, “Unless you have any more questions for me, I’m leaving.”
Ms. Evans finally steps from the farthest corner of the room, where she’s been the entire time, standing quietly. “Is there anything I can get you for dinner?” she asks. I can tell she’s distraught, and out of everyone in this house, the housekeeper treated Ember the nicest.
“No thank you. I just need to be alone.”
Not waiting for Agent Martinez or my mother to speak, I charge upstairs as a million thoughts swirl in my head.
I enter my room… our room… and feel my knees weaken.
She’s gone. My wife’s gone.
Something inside me tells me she’s never coming back here.
I sit on the edge of the bed and inhale deeply. I close my eyes and try to focus on her smell that still lingers in the room. Strawberries and flowers—her delicate fragrance since the first day I met her.
I have no idea what to do now. If the police haven’t found Richard up until now, what’ll make that change now? Is Ember truly gone forever? Would she leave me like this?