Page 4 of Gideon

I was in shock, devastated that someone had killed Gavin for no reason. It was hard explaining to Haley that her daddy was never coming home because he was now in heaven. It broke my heart as I watched her crying. I packed our things and moved back to Oklahoma, closer to where I grew up. Gavin had left us money—more than I ever imagined. He never touched it; we’d lived paycheck to paycheck for years. Now I understood why.

When that man showed up at our house, I knew why Gavin had told me to hide. His father came into our home and demanded that we live with him. When I said no, he slapped me so hard it knocked me down, and my ear and mouth were bleeding. Haley started crying. I was scared that he would hit her.

“You will be beaten if you don’t listen to what I say. I’m nothing like that wimpy son of mine. If my granddaughter didn’t need her mother, I would kill you right now.”

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 in the face, 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,” I screamed charging him. “Put her down,” Haley was sobbing uncontrollably. I grabbed her and pulled her away from him. “I swear, if you ever touch her again, I’ll kill you.”

Every escape attempt ended the same way—with me beaten. But I vowed we’d get away one day. This time, we stayed hidden for two months before they found us. We were inOregon, far from Chicago. Yet somehow, he found us? Now, it was up to me to get Haley back.

It felt like forever before I made it back to Chicago. I took a taxi and got out a mile from Jonah’s house. Disguised in a red wig and oversized glasses, I waited until dark to approach. As I crept toward the house, someone grabbed me from behind.

I slammedmy head into their chin and stomped on their foot.

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

I stopped instantly and turned around. The man bent his head and took my hand. “Stay with me,” he said softly. 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,” he instructed.

I hesitated but climbed inside. I couldn’t keep dealing with evil people—I had to trust someone. So I got into his truck.In the back seat was a massive German Shepherd. “I want my daughter,” I demanded.

“She’s safe with my friends. We need to get out of here first. Once we are somewhere secure, I’ll explain everything. That’s Bear, by the way. He and your daughter are close friends,” he said, ignoring me for the rest of the ride until we hit the freeway.

As we drove, he kept looking in the rearview mirror.

“Enough of being quiet. I want to talk to Haley now,” I said. “Or I’m going to jump out of this truck.”

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

I nodded, tears welling up.

“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?”

“Haley got away from the man who took her, and I hid her in a store. 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. Let me 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.”

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