Page 29 of You’re Mine

But what is my father even doing here? He was supposed to be away for at least another week. Was that all a lie? Maybe he decided to come back early unexpectedly, in order to keep me and Irene walking on eggshells?

“Mommy, who are you talking about? Why are we going so fast?” is Jamie’s curious question. I hug him tight to me.

“It’s going to be okay, baby. We’re going to be fine because your daddy is going to make sure we’re okay.” I know focusing on my dad’s car will just wig me out more, but I can’t tear my eyes away from his vehicle. He chases us down like a mad dog. There’s no way this will end well.

Suddenly, I see it before it happens. A deer runs out from the woods and darts between the two cars, abruptly stopping in front of Herb. He swerves but given the speed he was going, his car flips, doing a spectacular somersault through the air before landing on its side with a horrific scraping sound.

“Jesus Christ,” I whisper.

Oh my god, we have to stop! Multitudes of emotions spread throughout me. This is my tormentor, but he’s also my dad. We’ve slowed down, but the miles continue to fly by.

“Jace stop the car!” I scream. “We can’t just leave him there. What if he’s dead or dying? We need to call 911 at least.”

He looks straight ahead, knuckles gripping the wheel.

“Stop the car,” I scream again. “Stop, stop!”

But Jace doesn’t say a word, and just keeps driving until the wreck disappears in the rearview mirror.

11

Jace

We’re stopped in the middle of the road, not too far from where Herb just wrecked his car. My adrenaline was so high that I hadn’t even thought to stop driving. My only thoughts were about getting Jamie and Haley out of Lenville. But Haley yelling at me to stop shook me out of my haze, and I’m calming down now.

“I have to go see if he’s okay.” She fumbles with her seatbelt in an effort to get out, but I stop her.

“Wait, I’ll go. Stay here with Jamie, okay?” There’s no way Haley’s talking to her dad right now. He’s probably in some disconnected state of mind, if he’s even still alive.

Her big brown eyes look at me, full of panic, but she nods.

“Okay, okay. Just be careful.”

“No need to worry about me, baby. I can take care of myself. Just stay here.” I take off my suit jacket, placing it on the passenger seat. Her concern makes me feel good but my mind churns on its own. I’m going to take care of her piece of shit father so that he never comes after us again.

I step out on to the road and, cautiously, approach Herb’s car. I don’t want to be doing this, but it is for the best.

Getting closer, I can hear sounds of struggling coming from inside. Great. He’s alive.

“Herb!” I call out. I don’t get any kind of intelligible response, just an aggravated scream. He sounds like an animal in distress. I look inside and see him hanging in his seat, held up only by his seatbelt.

“Go away! I don’t need your help, boy!” Okay, so he’s probably not injured if he’s able to belt out words from his seat. But clearly, Herb needs help. All the thrashing he’s doing isn’t coming close to getting him out of his predicament, and honestly, it might be making it worse.

Ignoring Herb’s protests, I open the car door and grab the seatbelt in my hand before yanking. I press the metal button to unfasten it, but clearly it’s stuck.

“I don’t need your help,” yells Herb, his face a purplish-red. I can smell the stench of his sweat, and it stinks, but I refuse to look at him. Yanking with my hand, I manage to pull the belt out of its socket entirely, and Herb falls with a thump to the floor, his rotund form a heap. He struggles a bit but then manages to crawl out of the window. The minute he’s actually out of the car and able to move on his own, Herb takes a swing at me.

“Whoa,” I say, avoiding his fists. “What’s this about? I just rescued you.”

“Where is she? Where’s my daughter? Where’s my grandson?” Déjà vu washes over me as I remember my own words from seven years ago. Barging into the Jones Estate, demanding to see Haley, but getting nowhere. The universe has given me a chance to set things right, and on my terms now.

“She doesn’t want to see you,” I calmly state.

“Like hell she doesn’t! Where do you think you’re taking her, boy?” I’m beginning to suspect Herb might have a concussion. He seems a bit out of it because his steps uneven and unsure, but I can’t muster up any real sympathy for him. He’s treated his entire family like dirt. No, worse than dirt and it disgusts me.

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