Chapter 41

(*Rosalie*)  

Quiet. This house is too damn quiet tonight. Rylan went off to a fancy art show with her god of a boyfriend, Aaron Carter, and left me here to study for my recertification to be a nurse at Mercy General. 

I was ok with it until about an hour ago. 

That was when I got antsy with the feeling that I was being watched. I went through the entire house, turning every light on as I went. I checked the locks on every window and door and drew all the curtains closed. 

Once that was done, I rushed into the kitchen and found the one small handgun that Rylan missed when she was removing them after I first moved here. I told her about it a few days ago, and she shrugged and said that knowing it was there would make me feel safe. It didn’t until tonight.  

She showed me how to pull the clip out, check the ammo, and then put it back in. I did as she taught me and then walked back to where I was sitting at the kitchen table, studying. That was when I had the brilliant idea to move to a different room. 

I packed up all my books and grabbed my phone before walking to the door that led to the basement. Rylan’s home gym is down there. It has an attached bathroom and a small sofa and a coffee table in the corner. 

I asked her once why she had the sofa down there; she told me that when she first moved in, that was the first room that she furnished other than the kitchen. Knowing my sister, I believed her. Now I think there was another reason for it.  

A reason she doesn’t want to talk about. 

Not with me, anyway. 

Why would she when until I came here, we were not that close? Not the ‘I want to confide all my secrets to you’ kind of close. Hell, I didn’t even know she moved to a new house until our mother gave me the address. I had been to California only once since she relocated here for work. 

It was a brief one-night trip. 

A trip I paid for when I got home. Grant was not pleased that I went to visit my only sibling. He hated Rylan, and I know the feeling was mutual. I should have listened to her when she told me he was not a nice person when she first met him.  

How she figured that out after only one meeting, I wish I knew. I missed so many warning signs. Signs that I wish I would have seen before I married Grant Donovan. 

Signs that I will be on the lookout for in the future.  

Future? What kind of future will that even be like? I am a scared, timid, and scarred woman. Who in their right mind would jump at the opportunity that is me? Any man smart enough would run in the opposite direction, screaming.  

I am pulled from my thoughts as I am still standing in the doorway to the stairwell to the basement when I hear a twig snapping. It sounds like it is right outside the kitchen window. freeze where I am and look towards the window.  

The dark gray curtain is pulled closed since it is the first one that I started with. I can’t see out, and I pray that whoever is out there can’t see in. My first thought instantly goes straight to my abusive husband. 

Grant.  

Would he come here? To take me back. This time, he would probably kill me in his rage. 

I’d choose death over letting him lay a hand on me again. 

With that thought in mind, my feet finally moved down the stairs. As I am closing the door, it occurs to me for the first time how heavy it is. I rap my knuckles on it after I close the door and realize that it is steel.  

That is also when I get a good look at the lock on this side of the door. 

Holy shit! Rylan made the basement her very own panic room. I have never wanted to thank my sister more than I do right now. Also, why the fuck did she have a panic room, and why didn’t she tell me about it?  

The one running from a very pissed-off, abusive husband!  

I run down the rest of the stairs and then straight to the coffee table. After dumping my books and phone on the wooden surface, I ran to the bathroom to throw up. For the second time today.  

Wait!  

I sit back on my haunches as a nasty thought shocks the ever-loving shit out of me. One that has not gone through my head since the first time Grant beat me for not doing as he commanded of me. Cue the barfing.  

When I finally felt the urge to vomit go away, I slowly stood up and went to sit on the sofa. I pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and curled up in it. Then I did some quick mental math on when I had my last period and when I last had sex with Grant.  

The result left me feeling more than sick. 

I have been sick off and on since I have been at Rylan’s. At first, I just attributed it to the stress of fleeing South Carolina. Then I thought it was adjusting to a new environment and dealing with what comes next in my life. 

Now I have a sense of dread pooling in the pit of my stomach that has nothing to do with what I heard outside the kitchen window.  

If I am pregnant, I need to go to a doctor fast. I am at least two months pregnant or so. Oh my god, I am a horrible person because right now I pray that I am not pregnant at all.  

I can’t bring that man’s child into this world. 

I won’t.  

Innocent as it is, it will tie me to Grant for the rest of my life. 

Oh, my god.  

Oh.  

My.  

God!  

I rush to the stairs and back upstairs. My goal is my bedroom. I have a drugstore pregnancy test in one of my toiletry bags. Why? I have no idea. 

Oh, yeah, I remember now. Grant always made sure I had one just in case he was careless with the condoms. He had been more times than I can count, and when the tests proved I wasn’t pregnant, he was always relieved.  

So was I. More than he ever realized. Bringing a child into that home would have been the worst possible thing to happen. Grant would have a new target. 

An innocent child, and I know that Grant would have spread his abuse to our child.  

(*Rylan*)  

In the back of the cab on the way home, I declined five of Aaron’s calls and ignored all of his texts. I know what Charlie said was not his fault, but I am just too pissed off to talk to him right now. All I want is to get home and out of this dress. 

Sleeping alone in my bed tonight seems like the greatest idea I have ever had. If I talk to Aaron right now, he will convince me to go to his place so we can talk. Space is what I need right now. 

There have been too many truths tonight, and I would love nothing more than to just sleep for a few days. Too much has happened in the last few days, and I feel like I am in a critical system overload. There is only one thing that will occur if anything more happens.  

I will erupt, and that has never been a good thing. My anger has gotten me into more trouble than I would like to admit. I don’t have a short fuse by any means, but once that fuse is lit, things can get ugly quickly.  

It was a horrible trait to have when I was still on active duty. Boot camp had been worse, and I was shocked that I didn’t get kicked out the first time I went off on my drill sergeant. I guess my sniper skills were worth it.  

Too bad I went the opposite direction that my sergeant thought I would. I wanted to save lives, not take them. So, I became a medic, and now I am running one of the most prestigious veterans’ programs in the USA. I wouldn’t change that at all.  

My phone ringing pulls me from my thoughts. I look down at it and expect it to be Aaron, but am surprised to see that it is Rosalie instead. I look at the time and frown. She must be pulling an all-night study session and wants me to bring home some snacks.  

“I am on my way home, Rosalie.”  

“Rylan, someone was outside.” My sister’s fear-filled voice comes across the line like an arrow to the heart.  

“Go downstairs...”  

“Already down here. Please hurry.” She cuts me off before I can finish my sentence. “Oh, Rylan!” She sobs.  

“I am about ten minutes out. Wait for me; don’t move. I will stay on the phone with you until then, okay?”  

Rosalie is silent for a moment, then she gives me a soft yes. My heart squeezes in pain at the thought of my sister fearing for her life. Grant Donovan did that to her. 

I hated that man after our first meeting. I wish I’d voiced my opinion earlier. Maybe my baby sister would have seen. However, knowing our mother, Rosalie probably would have listened to her advice before she listened to anything I said to her.  

It’s unfortunate that Rosalie had to endure years of abuse before deciding to run for her life. 

She ran to me, and I left her alone. 

I left her alone so that I could go to an art show for my potential half-sister. I push that thought away and ask the cab driver to drive faster after I explain what is going on at home. Part of me also wants to call Aaron and have him bring Quinn with him.  

Instead, I listened to Rosalie’s quiet sobs as the cab driver pushed the car faster. He asks if I want him to call the police, but I shake my head. She’s safe downstairs. 

Stay in the basement, Rosalie. 

Please stay where you are safe. 

Finally, the gates of my community come into view. I wave to the guard on duty as he pressed the button to let us through. I know Frank, and he is a pretty decent guy. If someone was at my kitchen window, they didn’t come through the front gate to get to my house.  

The moment the cab pulls into my driveway, I am already handing him his fare and a fat tip for speeding the few miles to get here as fast as possible. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call the police?” he asks as I get out.  

“No, but thank you for asking. It was probably nothing, and my sister just got scared. She has had a rough couple of days.”  

“Well, make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Have a safe night.”  

“Thank you,” I say as I step away from the cab and start walking up the front walkway. 

With my keys already in my hand, I rush up the stairs and unlock the front door. I close and lock it behind me and then dump my small clutch purse on the floor as I run to the basement door. I move a small, hollow picture frame off the wall to reveal the keypad.  

After entering the code, I pull the door open and call out for my sister. “Rosalie? I am coming down now.”  

I hear a soft reply, but I can’t make out what she said. Quickly, I reach the bottom of the stairs and hurry across the room to where Rosalie is curled up on the sofa. For the first time since I moved here, I am beyond happy that I had this basement turned into a panic room.  

“Are you okay?” I ask as I sit down beside her.  

“Not at all,” she says as she points at something on the coffee table.  

I frown at the pregnancy test, then my eyes fly to hers. It is a positive test. My baby sister is pregnant with that abusive monster’s baby.  

Without saying a word, I pull her into my arms. Rosalie breaks. Her sobs fill the air as her shoulders shake. I will do anything that I can to help her with whatever choice she wants to make. 

Thirty minutes later, I step out of her bedroom after we came upstairs, and I helped her to bed. She cried herself to sleep, and my heart broke for her. Tomorrow, she faces crucial decisions. 

With a sigh, I walk to my room so that I can change. I need to go outside to check out what she heard. Someone watching her that long would leave footprints or other proof.  

After getting dressed and putting my sneakers on, I grabbed the 9mm that Rosalie took downstairs with her, but I brought back up with me, and then I headed outside. My first stop is the kitchen window. I look at the ground and feel anger rise as my flashlight reveals two deep shoe impressions. 

Someone stood there for a while. Several broken branches; two cigarette butts litter the area. Those I collect with my hand wrapped in my shirt to not compromise the DNA evidence left on them. Hopefully, whoever was here will be in the system. I will give the cigarettes and pictures to the police if needed. 

I snap pictures of the impressions, then walk around the rest of the house. I stop at every window, and just like the kitchen window, there are shoe impressions outside my bedroom and Rosalie’s bedroom windows, along with both bathroom windows.  

I take pictures of everything I find and then send it all to Aaron. Like I expected, he called me right away. I wish I could be angry, but that’s immature; he wasn’t entirely to blame.  

“What the fuck? Are those shoe prints?” I hear the fear in his voice, and I know that it is for me.  

I give him a brief rundown of what happened while I was gone. “She is asleep now, but...”  

Wake her and head to the penthouse. I will call David, so he knows you are coming. The garage elevator services only the top two penthouses. Cameras monitor the elevator and entry areas. Get there and lock the door behind you.”  

“Okay. Thank you.”  

You don’t have to thank me, Rylan. I love you, and your sister is my family now, too. Now, get going while I make a few other calls.”  

My white knight was ready to charge in and save the day. 

That is Aaron Carter in a nutshell. 

My hero.