Chapter Thirty-Three

Isaac

 

My feet were finally on Portland soil, one step closer to finding Maddie. Elijah hadn’t contacted me yet, so I assumed he was still in the air, on his way. I knew he didn’t understand why I did what I did, because no one did. I didn’t. I only knew I loved Maddie, and even though she probably hated me, I had to save her.

I stood at the car rental place, shifting my weight from left to right while in line. It was moving slowly, too slowly, and I was growing impatient.

Finally, the large man in front of me was called to the counter, leaving me to be next. I stared at the woman with long black hair and a tiny waist with contentment as she asked one ridiculous question after another. I looked back to the large man who was being helped by the other clerk, shifting back and forth between them, wondering which would be first to leave and open up my spot as next.

Finally, the black-haired woman quit asking questions and took her keys. The woman at the counter waved me towards her with little enthusiasm and I handed her my credit card. She punched the keyboard in front of her computer with her long red nails until finally stopping to look up at me.

“Is a sedan okay?” she asked. I nodded. I couldn’t give a fuck what type of car she gave me. I just needed to get to Maddie before it was too late.

After what felt like an eternity, the woman finally entered everything she needed into the system and left the counter to retrieve keys. Her lips pursed together as she handed them to me, then her eyes narrowed as she told me the location of the car.

“Great, thank you,” I said quickly, taking the keys and rushing from the counter to the lot to find the car.

I walked the length of the parking lot twice, and then finally found the little black car that my credit card had paid for. I climbed inside, pulled Maddie’s wallet from my bag, and entered her address into the GPS system. Ten minutes and I’d be at her front door.

My phone rang as I pulled onto the highway. I slid my thumb across to answer and turned up the stereo for the Bluetooth to work its magic. “Hey, Beth,” I greeted.

“Isaac, where are you?” she asked with a panic in her voice.

“I’m in Portland,” I answered.

“Is everything okay? You never called me to let me know how things had gone,” she lectured.

I forgot in all the commotion to check in with her. She worried, I knew that, and under the circumstances, I couldn’t blame her. “I’m really sorry; things took a different turn than expected,” I explained.

“What does that mean?” she questioned.

“Well, we had a delay, Maddie found her phone, talked to Rob and took off,” I sighed, feeling the impact of the situation as I spoke.

“Oh, Isaac, is she okay? Are you with her now?” she probed.

“I’m on my way to her place now. I have no idea if she’s okay,” I admitted with a defeat in my tone.

“Isaac, you need to be careful; he could be dangerous,” she warned. There was no doubt in my mind that he was dangerous; that’s why I was going seventy in a fifty-five to get to her as fast as I could.

“Shouldn’t you call the cops, have some backup?” she asked.

I chuckled half-heartedly. “And tell them what?” I snorted. “Elijah is on his way,” I informed her.

Knowing Elijah was on his way seemed to satisfy her, but she still tried to convince me to wait for him to arrive. That wasn’t happening, not if I found her and knew she was in danger. I couldn’t call the cops; there was no way they’d understand. What would I tell them? “Yes, officer, I lied to this woman about her identity, kept her for weeks at my place in Florida, and made her fall in love with me…this man, the one that she knows, the one whose she is wearing his ring, he’s the bad guy.” Yeah, right. I was fucked. I had to do this on my own if Elijah didn’t make it in time. I knew that.

I promised Beth I’d be careful and hung up so I could follow the directions from the GPS. The woman’s voice told me to take a right, then a left, and then told me the destination was on my right. I slowed, watching for addresses and found a large brick apartment building with the numbers matching my GPS and parked behind a black car, similar to the one I was in. Her apartment was on the third floor, number twelve. I looked up, checking the windows, finding one that had a light on three floors up. I didn’t know if it was her apartment or not, and I couldn’t see anyone inside.

My phone rang again. I unplugged it from the Bluetooth and slid my thumb to answer it. “Hey, Elijah,” I greeted my friend.

“I’m here; where are you?” he asked, his voice winded.

“I’m in front of her apartment. I don’t know if she’s here yet or not, or if she’s with him,” I explained.

His voice was still winded as he grumbled in the phone. “I’m walking as fast as I can to find my car,” he explained.

I talked to him while he looked for the car. Once he found it, I gave him the address and told him it was only about ten minutes away, seven if he drove like I had. “I’ll be right there. Don’t do anything stupid,” he warned.

I assured him I wouldn’t and hung up.

Suddenly a shadow walked past the window on the third floor. I stretched my neck to the passenger side window to get a better look. Another shadow walked by, but I couldn’t make out the people. I knew there were two up there. If that was Maddie’s apartment, Rob was with her. Fuck, I am too late!

I wanted to go up, to bust through the door and slam Rob to the ground, wrap my arms around Maddie, and save the day. I knew there were a couple problems with that plan. One, I wasn’t sure that was her apartment. Two, Maddie may not be happy to see me. Rob may be filling her with lies, pretending to be the sweet fiancé that is only concerned with her safety. If she still believed his story, and he hadn’t shown his true colors yet, she would surely call the cops and have me arrested.

I picked up my phone and stared at her name on my contact page. My thumb lingered over her number. Something inside of me made me call. I had to hear her voice, to know she was okay, and to warn her about Rob.

The shadows moved past the window again as the phone rang, and then Maddie’s angelic voice sounded in my ear. “Hello.” It sounded a bit shaky, but it instantly calmed me to hear. She hadn’t answered my calls before so something must be wrong.

“Maddie, please don’t hang up; just listen,” I pleaded. “You’re in danger. You came to Miami to get away from Rob, from his abuse. I lied to you; I’m so sorry. I was only trying to protect you. I didn’t want the police or the hospital to know who you were in case he looked for you. I didn’t know your memory was gone, and when you woke up, and you didn’t even know me, and I didn’t know what to do,” I explained quickly.

I watched the shadow in the window. Someone came up from behind and then his voice sounded in my ear, irritated, angry, and filled with hate. “Is that him?”

Maddie mumbled, “Yes.”

“You need to get away from him,” I insisted.

“Hang the fuck up,” I heard Rob yell, and then the Maddie’s cries were muffled, far away, no longer in the phone. A loud slap sounded, the kind of slap flesh against flesh makes, and I knew he had hit her. My heart raced as the phone hung up and silence filled my car. The shadows were no longer in the window, and I could no longer see Maddie or Rob. I had to go to her, to help, even though I promised Elijah and Beth I wouldn’t go alone, that I wouldn’t do anything stupid.

The only stupid move I could imagine right now was doing nothing.