At first, she thought he was being overly dramatic, but now realized he was holding her prisoner in her own home. He’d thrown her keys into the woods, but she had a spare for her car in one of the kitchen drawers. She decided to make a break for it the first chance she got.
“It’s been forty-eight hours, Wayne. You’ve made me miss a day of work and a coffee date with a friend. Eventually, someone will worry enough to come check on me. How long do you think you can keep me here?” Annie asked, exasperated. She was hungry and tired and couldn’t take much more.
“As long as it takes, woman. I need cash.”
“What’d you do with the money I left you? You couldn’t have spent all that already.” She’d hesitated bringing that up because it implied that if she was willing to give him money then, she might be willing to do it again now. And she was adamant that wasn’t happening.
His head snapped around. “What money? You left me money? How much?”
He didn’t know about the money? Damn it.
“My attorney was supposed to let you know that all your stuff, clothes and junk, are in a storage unit in Hayward. I left it all there and prepaid the storage fees until the end of August. That’s when I thought you were getting out. I also left an envelope with a thousand dollars cash. Didn’t you read the letter?”
“I quit opening anything from your attorney after he kept pestering me with divorce papers. I put the envelopes straight in the trash.”
“Speaking of the divorce, why didn’t you just sign the papers? Why turn this into a big deal?”
“I thought we could work things out.”
“Oh, bullshit. You mean, you wanted to come back to mooching off me and not having to work for a living.” She was tired of tiptoeing around his mood swings and worrying about how he would react to things she said or did.
“God, Annie. What’s gotten into you? You’re such a bitch now.”
“No. I just refuse to be treated like a doormat. Also, I’m done sitting around waiting for you to figure out your life. You need to go.”
“Fine. I’ll leave, but can we order a pizza first? I’m starving. I’ll leave after I eat. I promise.”
God, he was whining like a petulant teenager. How did she put up with this shit for so long? She didn’t trust him to go after eating, but maybe feeding him would at least put him in a better mood. He was an asshole before, but prison had turned him into a supercilious dick.
“Whatever. As long as you leave afterward.” She hated giving in to Wayne, but had to admit she was also starving and even in her kidnapped condition, hot pizza sounded good. Plus, she’d need some energy if she got a chance to make a run for it.
He called the number on a magnet stuck to her refrigerator, ordered a large combo for delivery, and told them they would pay with cash at the door. As he was talking to the pizza shop, he held up a hand and rubbed his thumb against two fingers at Annie. Assuming that meant she needed to come up with the cash, she rolled her eyes but gave a curt nod. What a loser.
Maybe she could slip the pizza guy a note while paying him. Or whisper to him she was being held against her will and ask him to call the police. Or just leave with him! She didn’t think Wayne would get into a wrestling match over her at the front door.
Of course, that was assuming the pizza “guy” would be a man. The way Annie’s luck was running, it would be a five-foot, hundred-pound, teenage girl.
Without asking, Wayne grabbed her purse and dug around until he found her wallet. He helped himself to all of the cash, way more than what the pizza would cost, and tossed the wallet onto the counter. He shoved the money in his front pocket.
“I’ll pay for the pizza. You stay here and keep your mouth shut.”
So much for that grand plan. The pizza guy came and left without her even seeing him. But, while Wayne was dealing with him, Annie had the chance to get the spare car key out of the kitchen drawer and put it in her pocket. Now she just had to get out of the house.
She ate a slice not only because she was starving, but because she needed fuel to keep her brain moving. If Wayne didn’t leave after eating, she’d have to start thinking seriously about an escape plan.
Wayne scarfed down three pieces right away with the manners of a baboon. He opened the refrigerator and took out a beer.
“Help yourself,” she muttered as he guzzled it.
She turned at the sound of the floor creaking in the foyer but saw nothing. Must be the new floor settling.
“You’ve eaten. Time to go.”
“Gimme a second, will ya? I’m not done with my beer yet.”
“Since you’ll be in California next week, will you go by Avery’s grave and lay some flowers for me? I’ll even give you money for the flowers.”
“What? Avery?”
“Our daughter? Do not tell me you forgot about our baby? The anniversary of her death is next week.”
“Oh, yeah. No, of course, I remembered.”
But it was plain as day he’d forgotten. Her fingers curled into fists. What a douchebag.
“It’s next Wednesday. Can you take some flowers or not?” Tired from hardly any sleep, she was irritable and impatient.
“God, Annie, give it a rest. It’s just like when she was alive, and all you did was think about her and pay attention to her.” The wicked sneer in his voice made her pause.
“She was a baby. Who else was going to take care of her?”
He ignored her
