“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know, but Zack, I’m frightened.”

“I know you are, Clove, but you’re so strong and brave, and I will always be there for you. If at any time you feel threatened, you call me and I will be there to put his ass behind bars where he belongs.”

“You can’t arrest him or we will never find Turner!”

“Turner would put your life before his own, Clove. You know he would want you safe.”

Hearing those words suddenly gives me strength. I know I will need a lot more of it by the time I get back home. Somehow, some way, I have to try and push all of this to the back of my mind.

“I don’t want to talk about me anymore. I want to talk about how you’re going to find Turner and bring him home.”

He turns away from me as if he can’t bear to look me in the eyes.

“We have a private investigator at the hotel where he was staying.”

“Zack,” I say apprehensively.

Sighing, he finally looks back at me.

“Look, Clove. I am not going to lie to you about this. It’s going to be very hard to find him for the simple reason that those two look so much alike, and between the time that Turner left here and the time that he returned, we have no clue when he was abducted.”

I feel like someone is stabbing me repeatedly with needles in my chest as I start to hyperventilate. It’s suddenly too warm in my brother’s air-conditioned truck. I suck in air as I try to breathe. Opening the door and climbing out, I bend over and try to catch my breath as my mind goes in a tortuous scramble of visions of my husband being bound and gagged and beaten, or worse, lying dead somewhere and never to be found.

“Breathe, Clove,” Zack says soothingly in my ear.

“I- I don’t know what to do Zack! I’m just so scared.”

“I know you are. Come here, sis.”

I stand up and my brother puts his arms around me.

“There is one more thing I need to tell you and then you have got to dig deep inside and pull all of your love for Turner to the surface. Can you do that?” he implores.

“I have to,” I whimper. “I just don’t know how.”

“Love. Love for Turner will show you how.”

And hearing the word ‘love,’ it feels like I can hear Turner’s soothing voice calling out to me. I straighten my spine and dry my tears with the back of my hand as I listen to my brother tell me the plan that he has to find Turner. For the first time in more than twenty-four hours, I manage a smile. It’s a small one, but then again I haven’t smiled at any time whatsoever in days.

“I had to tell Krista about this. I hope you don’t mind?” Zack tells me after we dump our empty coffee cups in the garbage on our way out the door from the coffee shop.

“Not at all. I suspected you would. I just don’t want her worrying so much after just having a baby. It’s bad enough that you have to be dragged away from the two of them like this.”

“I’m only going to be gone for the day while I drive over to Turner’s mother’s house. I don’t want you worrying about Krista or me. If anything at all happens while I am gone, you pick up the phone and call Martinez, you hear me?” he says sternly.

“I will,” I reply back meekly.

Zack kisses the top of my head. I climb into my car and pull out with him directly behind me. I take a deep breath and let it back out as I head to the store, praying that the information we are so desperately looking for begins with Melody’s answer as to why in the hell she has kept Trent’s existence a secret for all of these years.

Chapter Seven

I’ve managed to get through the grocery store without breaking down or running into anyone I know. I remember to call Trent to let him know I am on my way home and even muddle through a big fat lie by telling him I would prefer to stay home and watch movies and just chill after our hectic workweek. There is no way I am prepared to face anyone in a public setting with him. I just don’t have the confidence in myself to do it.

“Shit!” I scream in my car as I am driving down the road toward my house.

God, how could you be so dumb, Clove? I need to outsmart him and act like nothing is wrong. Turner and I have never stayed in two nights in a row, especially on the weekend, and if he’s been studying us as closely as I think, he knows that. He has to. No, I am just going to say I missed being with him last night. He’s a schemer and a very good liar . . . I just have to remind myself of this and play his game. I can do this. Well, me and the bottles of wine I bought can do this.

I reach across into the passenger seat and pat the bag holding the wine. Smart thinking, buying three bottles of my favorite wine. I hope like hell I get drunk and pass out in order to avoid any type of sexual activities taking place with him. I know that it has to happen sooner or later; it’s just that I am choosing later. At least for tonight.

My palms are sweaty and my entire body is in turmoil as I pull into the drive and hit the button for the garage door. When I see Trent step out the back door and into the garage, I swallow the knot in my throat and pretend that it’s Turner coming toward me. Love. That’s what I keep telling myself as I step out of my car and he brings me into his arms.

“I missed you and I’m starving.” He presses himself into me.

“Starving for what?” Bile rises up from my stomach as he presses his hard erection firmly against my stomach.

“Starving for you,” he replies in a sex-tinged voice.

“Oh.”

Before I can say anything further, he backs me up against the car, pinning me with his rock solid body.

“When was the last time I told you that you have the most beautiful eyes?” He leans in and kisses right beside my left eye gently. “The perfect nose?” He kisses the tip of my nose. “A mouth that was made for kissing?” He nips at my bottom lip. “And tits that were made for sucking?”

He bends down and bites my nipple through my shirt.

“A pussy that is so tight and hot and fits my cock just perfectly?” he finishes, reaching down and cupping my core through my shorts.

He sounds just like Turner when he talks that way. For a brief moment I can pretend it really is him, but when I look deep into his eyes as he brings them to mine, the illusion is shattered. Those are not Turner’s eyes staring back at me; those eyes are of a man who is possessed by some unknown demon, eyes that are eating me alive as he gazes into mine.

He must have been snooping while I was gone and read the birthday card that Turner gave me last year saying those exact same words. Knowing he is waiting for an answer, I tell him the truth as I skate my arms up his torso and clasp them behind his neck.

“Last year for my birthday, I do believe.”

I focus on his lips instead of looking him in the eye. I am so petrified right now that my insides are shaking. I just want to scream for him to get off of me, but I can’t.

“I am going to put these groceries away. You go upstairs and get naked and wait on our bed for me, because I have been dying to fuck you deep, hard, and fast ever since you walked out that door this morning.”

Oh shit, oh no. I’m not ready for this. But I pull up on my tiptoes and bite hard on his bottom lip as if to tell him I can’t wait. Ducking underneath his strong arms and making my way into the house, I run for the stairs only stopping when I reach my bedroom, and stare at my bed.

I pace back and forth, chewing my fingernails nervously. I feel weak and helpless but I have to persevere. I have no sense of direction here. What the hell am I going to do? I am so weak. Why? Why is this happening? I do not want to give myself to him. I’m in hell, absolute fucking hell, and I have no way of getting back to my piece of heaven.

I take a deep breath and slowly pull my shirt over my head, tossing it on the leather chair in the corner, then reach behind me and unclasp my bra slowly, dragging it down my arms as if I am stilling time. Tossing that along with my shorts and panties, I place one leg and then the other onto the bed. Before I can even turn myself around, I hear a low growl coming from the doorway.