Page 71 of Lacey's Fight

Pain zapped through her body, and as she slumped sideways, she was maneuvered by her assailant and the old lady into the back of the van.

Tased.

Again.

Lacey tried to move, knew she had to fight. The chances of being found after being put in a vehicle during an abduction dropped to close to zero, but another jolt of pain slammed into her and brought with it enclosing blackness.

* * *

August 14th

2:40 P.M.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

Ben was fully prepared to both grovel and fight for the woman who had somehow opened the door to the past he had so carefully and thoroughly barricaded. Surprisingly it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be.

The powerful onslaught of emotions had brought him quite literally to his knees, but after he’d purged the bulk of those pent-up emotions, he’d actually felt a lot better.

A lot freer.

Guilt over his role in Jemima’s death was still there, always would be, but he actually felt closer to his wife than he had in a long time, not since the very early days of their marriage. Jemima would want this for him, he was sure of it, and she would love Lacey. Ben could actually see Lacey being a great influence on Jemima, helping her come out of her shell a little.

His girl was a firecracker of sass and heart, and he was falling hard and fast.

Which meant failure here was not an option.

He hadn’t come empty-handed.

Nope.

After spending the rest of the previous day reconnecting with his family, something that was way overdue, and by his mother’s tears something she had thought might never happen, he’d done some shopping.

Raspberries. Lacey was obsessed with them, so he’d gone on a spree, anything he could find that had raspberries in it, or smelled like them he’d bought. Shampoo and conditioner, body wash and hand cream, soaps in the shape of raspberries with a strong fragrance, and some sort of goop you put on your face. He’d bought her a recipe book that featured only raspberry recipes, and even though he was a terrible cook he’d baked her some white chocolate and raspberry muffins. Chocolate-covered raspberries, raspberry ice cream, raspberry sauce, and that raspberry juice she loved. He’d even found raspberry-scented lip balm he couldn’t wait to kiss off her lips. And of course, he had a whole basketful of the fruit as well.

Ben was praying it was enough to get him in the door.

If he was a betting man, he’d give himself maybe a ten percent chance of Lacey hearing him out. Not great odds.

But better than nothing.

Balancing the basket with his peace offerings in one hand, he rapped once on Lacey’s front door. His shoulder tugged a little at the movement, but he’d ditched the sling as soon as he left the hospital and the wound was healing well. With a little physical therapy, he’d be back to full strength in no time.

The hallway was quiet and he felt self-conscious standing out here where any of her neighbors could see him. Jemima had been easy to woo, she hadn’t required him to put in much effort, he had a feeling Lacey would be the opposite, she’d make him work for it.

Like she was already doing.

Another knock went unanswered.

If she thought he was giving up she was sorely mistaken. He’d already made the mistake of pushing her away once and had to live with knowing he’d hurt her and hadn’t been there for her when she needed him, he had no intention of repeating it.

“Lacey, I know I don’t deserve a chance to explain, but I’m asking for you to give me one, please.” Ben wasn’t above begging if it was what it took. Life didn’t always hand you a second chance at happiness and he had been a fool to throw it away. Throw Lacey away like she didn’t matter.

He knocked again, and again.

As each one went unanswered, he began to get an uneasy feeling.

Something felt wrong.

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