Twelve Years Of Salvation, Six Months Of Betrayal Chapter 04

Twelve Years Of Salvation, Six Months Of Betrayal Chapter 04

I couldn’t breathe. I struggled against his grip. “What Lucas…?”

James threw me aside and kicked the coffee table over, shouting, “Sophie told me everything! You attacked her this afternoon like you’d lost control!”

“She took the kid to the pharmacy to get her head bandaged, and by the time she turned around, Lucas was gone!”

“Who else would take a three-year-old, if not you?”

I coughed violently, staring at him in disbelief.

“I haven’t left this apartment! What is wrong with you?”

“I’ve lost my mind? You’re the one who’s lost it!”

James looked unhinged.

“For six months you’ve been spraying me with disinfectant every single day. You’re sick! And now you’ve gone after an innocent child!”

“Call whoever you hired and tell them to bring him back right now!”

I backed away, I steadied myself. “I told you, I haven’t seen him! If you can’t handle this, then sign the damn papers!”

I turned to grab the divorce agreement from the table.

“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me where my son is!”

James yanked me back by the collar.

The fabric ripped. Buttons scattered across the floor.

Suddenly I was half naked in the cold air.

Before I could even process it, he had my wrist in a vise grip and was dragging me toward the bathroom.

“James, stop! Let go of me!” I screamed in terror.

The hands of those men from the alley when I was sixteen and James’s hands became the same hands.

“You’re not leaving this bathroom until you tell me where the boy is!”

He kicked the bathroom door open and slammed me into the cold bathtub.

Water burst from the showerhead as he turned it on full blast. Freezing, ice-cold needles of water hammered down on me.

“Help!” I gasped for air, trying to claw my way out of the tub.

James yanked his belt from his waist, pinned my arms behind my back, and secured my wrists to the metal bar on the wall.

I thrashed, my whole body shaking uncontrollably under the ice-cold spray.

Then he turned and pulled a large jug of disinfectant from under the sink.

He unscrewed the cap and dumped the reeking liquid over my head.

“You love this stuff so much? Start talking. Where is Lucas?”

The sharp chemical smell knocked the breath out of me. My eyes burned.

James didn’t care. He shoved my head down into the tub, forcing my face into the water mixed with disinfectant.

I couldn’t even scream. Only a few strangled sounds escaped me. My stomach seized in a violent cramp.

“It hurts…”

Before I could finish, a sharp, blinding pain tore through my lower belly.

Then warmth spread down my inner thigh, bleeding into the icy water, red blooming around me.

I stared at the blood blooming in the water. I forgot to fight.

On the sink, James’s phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID, hesitated, then answered.

The voice on the other end was a police officer, sounding tired.

“Is this Mr. Harrison? Your son isn’t missing.”

“He wandered up to the rooftop playground at the mall. We found him eating ice cream.”

“You really should watch your own child before accusing someone of kidnapping and wasting our time.”

In an instant, the shower was the only sound left.

The phone and the jug of disinfectant hit the floor with a crash.

James whipped around, the color drained from his face.