Page 53 of River

Right then, I knew he would kill me when Haley was old enough to do everything for herself. “Did you kill Gavin?” That’s when the bastard slugged me, and I fell. Haley was screaming at him to leave me alone. Before I could get up, he picked her up and spanked her.

“You get your fucking hands off my daughter. Do you hear me? Put her down,” I screamed as I charged him. By now, Haley was crying uncontrollably. I grabbed Haley’s arms and pulled her away from him. “I will kill you if you ever touch her again.”

Every time we tried to escape, he beat me. I swore one day we would make it. This time, we stayed hidden for two months before they found us. We were in California, far from Chicago, how did he find us? Now, it was up to me to get my daughter.

It seemed to take forever before I was back in Chicago. I took a taxi until I was a mile from his house; I bought a red wig and oversized glasses and waited until dark before going to his house. Someone grabbed me from behind. I slammed my head into his chin and stomped on his foot.

“Stop,” a low voice growled into my ear. “I’m here to help you. Your daughter is with my friends.”

I stopped instantly and turned around. The man bent his head and took my hand. “Stay with me,” he said. His voice was low; I could barely hear him. We walked down the road for twenty minutes before he opened a truck door. “Get in.”

I didn’t know if I was making a mistake, but I had to trust someone. I was tired of being with evil people who only wanted me dead. So, I got in the truck. And there was a massive Germain Sheperd in the back seat. “Tell me where my daughter is?”

“She’s with my friends. We need to get out of here. When we get to a safe place, we’ll talk. That’s Bear. He and your daughter are close friends,” he said, ignoring me for the rest of the ride until we hit the freeway. He kept looking in the rearview mirror.

“Enough of being quiet. I want to talk to my daughter right now. Or I’m going to jump out of this truck.”

“So, you’re going to kill yourself if I don’t start talking. That’s not smart.”

“You don’t know what the fuck I’ve been through the last two years. Waiting for that bastard to kill me. Where is my daughter?”

“She’s safe with my friends. Haley got away from the man who took her, and I hid her in the store I was at. Then I took her home with me and called my friends to take her with them while I found you. She thought for sure her grandpa would kill you.”

“What did she tell you?”

“She thought the man who hit you might have killed you too. She told me about the fake names and the real names. She was worried because she said her grandpa beat you to death.”

“Call River,” I said out loud.

“Hello,”

“River, I have Haley’s mom.”

“Thank God, even I was starting to worry.”

“Where’s Haley?”

She’s playing on the beach with the dogs and Kat. Letme get her for you.” It got quiet. And then we heard River talking to Haley.

“He let her play on the beach with dogs and a cat? What if she got swept away by the tide?”

“The dogs and Kat. Kat is River’s wife.”

“Oh.”

“Hey, sweetie, your mom is on the phone.”

“Mommy,” Haley said and started crying and had to stop talking. “I thought Grandpa killed you.”

“Baby, we will never worry about Grandpa hurting us again. We will move far away from him. I will make sure he never finds us. I’ll see you soon, sweetie. Mommy loves you.” She looked over at me. “Where is she?”

“She’s in California. We will drive there. It’s too dangerous for us to fly. I haven’t slept in a few days. We have to get a room in the next town.”

“I can drive; I don’t want to stop. I need to see my daughter.”

“How long has it been since you’ve slept?”

“What does that have to do with anything? I’m not sleepy.”

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