InSight

don’t know what it is, but there’s something.”
    Tears rimmed Abby’s eyes. She felt them being gently wiped away. Why did she feel this ache in her heart?
    “You’ve succeeded in spite of what I took from you. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been. I’m so sorry,” he said, with a guttural catch. He got up and walked the room. “This cop, is he good to you?”
    How could she talk about the man she loved now with the man she once loved? “I can’t talk about this, Stewart.”
    He didn’t say anything for a few minutes. “You deserve someone good. I only wish…”
    She felt like a child of divorce pulled in two different directions, without knowing what each side had in store.
    He took her hand and led her to another room. “I have everything you need. You can’t see the things I bought for you, but they’re beautiful. You always looked beautiful in everything you wore.”
    The chilly cabin turned scalding hot, generating a fine mist of perspiration over the surface of her skin. She threw off the blanket, feeling dizzy and faint, waffling and almost falling as her legs buckled. Stewart put his hand around her back and guided her to a chair before she collapsed.
    “Are you all right?”
    “No, I’m not all right. You promised to take me home after we talked. We talked, and now you’re showing me to a room for the night. How long do you intend to keep me?”
    His voice rose again, as if he lacked control over it, and she wondered if that signaled a needed dose of medication or medication wearing off. “I told you I’d take you home tomorrow, and I will. Trust me.”
    Do I have a choice? Have I ever had a choice? She lowered her head between her knees, hoping to ward off the dizziness that left her weak.
    Stewart knelt in front of her. “Do you want a glass of water?”
    “Yes, thank you.”
    He left the room and returned with a glass of cold water. She sipped slowly. When she felt better, he walked her around the small bedroom. The aroma of freshly washed laundry wafted in the air. Folded towels sat on the bathroom vanity, along with a toothbrush, toothpaste and shampoo. He put her hand on a nightgown and robe that lay folded on the quilted bed cover, and she felt the soft, silky, lace-trimmed fabric. Slippers sat by the side of the bed.
    She couldn’t stay there, waiting for what, she didn’t know. What did Stewart really have planned for her? Maybe even he didn’t know. Would he come into her bed in the early morning hours, and if she fell asleep, would she ever wake up? She had to get out of there. But how?

Chapter Eighteen
    A Matter of No Choice

    T o most people, night was a silent, shadowy netherworld where all nature’s creatures slept soundlessly. Not to Abby. She lay awake listening to the sounds through the open window. The flutter of a bird’s wing, the track of a nocturnal animal, or even an insect’s path crinkling on beds of dried leaves were as distinguishable to her as if she could see them in action. She heard Stewart’s soft snore through the open door over Daisy’s familiar snuffles.
    Could she believe anything Stewart said? Would he take her home, or would he wake a different Stewart once the medication wore off? Was he even taking medication? All those unanswered questions forced her decision to escape. Was she foolish to try? Probably, she admitted, but felt she had no choice. She flipped the crystal on her watch. Four thirty. Still dark. Still the middle of the night for everyone else.
    Was it a full moon? Were there lights on the road that would render her an easy target should Stewart wake and search for her? Would she even get out the door? She contemplated climbing out the window, but six stairs leading up to the front door meant a jump she’d rather not navigate. Not with Daisy. No, she’d go out the way she came in.
    Tossing back the blanket, she crawled out of bed, thankful he hadn’t watched whether she changed into the nightgown. He’d been tired. She heard it in his voice, sensed it in words that faded into incoherence. He touched her face before saying good night, promising again to take her home in the morning. She wondered if he’d remember those words come daylight. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be there to find out.
    She felt her way to Daisy, tense that waking her might elicit a low growl. Neither man nor dog liked to be awakened in the middle of the night. But Daisy woke with a few gentle pats on her back. Abby let her stretch and shake, then