Alex
Frank has been in the house for almost twenty minutes. I know that doesn’t sound like that long, but when you’re sitting in a car wondering if he has found your woman, it’s a long time. I lean between the driver and passenger seat and tell Maryann to stay in the car. I think she started to argue, but I jumped out too fast to hear her. I look back towards the car and point at her reminding her to stay in the car and I can only hope she listens. Frank told me the same thing before he got out and now I am sneaking down the street so I can peek inside this damn house. There are several bushes in front of the window so I climb in front of it so I can peek inside. I never thought I would ever be hunched down in front of someone’s window peeking inside. I bet Oliver and Thomas are getting a good laugh at this one. As I look inside, I see Frank and Garth sitting across from each other talking. I see Garth’s hand land on a woman’s leg and I switch my position to see it’s Adele sitting next to him. I close my eyes realizing that I found my Adele. I can’t leave without her and I know Frank will have one hundred different ideas on how to get her out of here, but I only have one that I am going with. I am going to break into this house and take her out of here.
I crawl out of the bushes and walk around the house hoping to find an open window. I walk around to the back of the house and find a partially open window and close my eyes thanking God for the favor. I push the window open and crawl inside making sure not to bump into anything or knocking something over. Once inside, I glance around the bedroom for a place to hide. There is a walk-in closet so I decide to wait in it until someone comes back to the bedroom. I make sure I still have my gun since I don’t know who will be the first one to enter the bedroom. If it’s Garth, things will most likely go my way because I’ll shoot him and can call Thomas and Oliver to dump his body. If Adele comes, I don’t know if she’ll accept me being here. The last time I mentioned killing Garth, she wasn’t so accepting.
A few minutes later the bedroom door opens and I hear someone move towards the window. I peek outside the closet and I see it’s her. I quietly walk towards her and put my hand over her mouth. The last thing I need is for her to scream and bring Garth or Frank to the bedroom. I whisper in her ear to be quiet and that it’s me. When I release her, she looks me in the eyes and I can see the tears forming and I pray that she’s happy to see me. All doubt is erased when she puts her hands on my face and places her lips on mine. I pull Adele closer to me as I hold her, thinking that I will never let her loose again. When she takes her hands off my face and puts them on my chest to push me away from her.
“What are you doing here, Alex?” she asks me and I should admit I am a little confused. She wanted me to come for her, didn’t she?
“You didn’t want me to come get you?” I quietly ask her as I walk towards the door to close it.
“Yes, of course, I do. I just didn’t expect you to sneak into the house and hide in the closet. What is the plan? I can’t sneak out this time, he’ll only find me again. And why is Frank here talking about Maryann faking her death?” Adele asks me and I take her hand to sit her on the bed while I sit next to her. Before I start answering her questions, I glance back at the bedroom door and notice a lock.
“Does the lock on that door work?” I ask her and she glances back at it.
“I don’t think this is the time for that, Alex. I think they would hear us,” she says and I shake my head as I walk over to lock the door.
“I am going to take that as a yes. You're also right. The next time we're together people will hear you.” I promise her as I walk back over to the bed and sit next to her. I grab her hands as I look her in the eyes to explain to her why Frank is with Garth.
“Maryann is alive, Adele,” I tell her and her eyes widen. I almost start to wonder if I should have told her more gently than just throwing it out there.
“I don’t understand? She drowned?” Adele tells me and I shake my head at her and give her hand a slight squeeze.
“No, she didn’t. She faked her death because Garth was abusive to her too. I found her picture in your bag and Frank found her. She is waiting in the car for us. She is the reason we're here now Adele. She remembered this house belonged to Garth’s brother.” Adele’s eyes widen and she looks away from me.
“Garth has a brother? He never told me that. What else don’t I know about him?”
“Did you know his name isn’t really Garth? Or that he’s wanted by the feds for bank fraud?” I ask her and she looks back at me stunned. She turns away from me and leans over the bed holding her head. I run my hands through her hair and decide to give her life altering news.
“Baby, you do realize that if Maryann is alive, it means you’re not legally married to Garth or Garrett,” I tell her and she looks up at me
“Garrett? He thinks Maryann is dead. What will happen if he finds out she is alive? He’ll track her down the way he did me. She’s my best friend,” Adele tells me and I roll my eyes. I thought she would be happy about this news, but only Adele would be thinking of someone else before she thought of herself. I think she would stay here with Garth if it meant Maryann remained free, but I won’t let it happen.
“Baby... you and Maryann will be okay,” I tell her as I hear Frank and Garth practically shouting at each other in the other room. Adele looks towards the door and nods her head at me. “What is the plan? You better make it quick because Garth will probably be throwing Frank out in a few seconds,” she tells me and I kneel in front of her on the floor.
“Do you think you can keep him out of the closet tonight?” I ask her and she closes her eyes and takes a deep fucking breath. I can tell I am not going to like anything that is about to come out of her mouth by the look on her face
“You can’t stay in the closet, Alex,” she argues.
“I’m not leaving, Adele.”
“You don’t understand. When he comes back to this room, he’ll be mad. He does things when he’s mad. He does things to me and I don’t think you’ll want to sit in the closet and hear any of it,” she tells me and I notice that I am squeezing her knees when she tries to shake my hands loose. I stand up and start to pace running my hands through my beard. I need to hit something and as I look around the room there is nothing for me to hit that will satisfy me. I want to walk out of this bedroom and beat the shit out of Garth. I want to break his fucking neck. It’s not even a matter of me shooting him, I want to make him suffer.
“Alex,” Adele softly says as she walks in front of me to stop me from pacing. I stop and put my hands on both sides of my neck. I don’t even trust myself to touch her right now.
“I’m okay, Alex. I just don’t want you to see me with him or hear anything he does to me. I will never be able to look at you again if you do.” She is visibly distraught at the thought and I close my eyes and sigh, trying to calm my anger
“Adele, you have nothing to be ashamed of. He won’t touch you again. I promise you that. Can you keep him out of the closet?” she shakes her head and takes both of my hands in hers.
“You need to climb back out the window,” she tells me and walks away to open the window for me to leave.