Come Back for Me (Arrowood Brothers #1)(19)

A snore tears through the silence, and it’s now or never.

I creep out of the bed, grab the dress I hid between the bed and the nightstand, and tug it over my head. When we were getting ready for bed, I stashed a bag in the tub and cracked the window in the bathroom so I could at least take a few things.

Once I’m inside the bathroom, I toss the bag outside and pray I can get out of the room without being heard. That’ll be half the battle.

Ever so slowly, I creep out of the room. He shifts, and I freeze, praying he won’t open his eyes.

Another second passes, and he doesn’t, so I keep going.

That’s all that keeps going through my mind. I have to keep moving.

Hadley’s door is ajar, which was my doing because it makes the most noise.

I softly shake her, and my voice is barely audible as I urge, “Hadley, baby, wake up for Momma.”

Her little eyes open, and she darts up. “Momma?”

“Shh,” I say quickly, needing her to be as quiet as possible. “We have to go, sweetheart. I need you to make no noise, can you do that?”

She nods, and I smile softly. “Okay, get dressed and grab your blanket and bear.”

Hadley moves slowly, and I rush to get a few things of hers for us to take. My heart is racing, only the sounds of our breathing filling the air. After a few seconds, I take her hand in mine.

“What about Daddy?” Her voice is low, but I can hear the ache.

“We have to go, baby. No matter what, we have to get out of here, and we can’t wake Daddy. Do you trust me?”

Hadley’s eyes fill with tears, but she bobs her head.

Here is, once again, where I feel like the worst mother in the world. No child should have to sneak out of their home in the middle of the night like this. A house should be a safe place that makes everything bad in the world disappear when you enter the door. Instead, it’s been a place of yelling and bruises. But no more.

Never again will he hurt me, and he’ll have to kill me to get to Hadley.

“Okay, we need to be super quiet,” I whisper. “No matter what, we have to keep going once we’re out of the door, all right?”

Hadley wipes a tear and nods.

“That’s my big girl. If Daddy wakes up, I want you to run back to your room and close the door. Lock it if you can or put things in front of it. Just do not let anyone in but me, okay?”

I know I’m scaring her, but I don’t have time to debate and I don’t want her to hesitate. “I’m scared.”

“I’m sorry, but we have to go.”

“Will we come back?”

I shake my head and then place my fingers to her lips. It’s now or never.

I still don’t know if going out the back is the best way, but it’s really the only option. The front door is too close to where he sleeps, and I’m not going to have Hadley climb out the window alone. If we can get around the house undetected, we have a much better chance.

I pull her with me, watching each creak and noise that seems to be amplified in the total silence. We get to the door, and I pull slowly, there is no noise other than the sound of our breathing. We get outside, and I pull Hadley’s sweatshirt around her, zipping it up as I look in her face.

“Okay, we have to go.”

“Mommy?” Her big eyes are filled with so much fear.

“It’s okay. We have to go. I’m so sorry, Hadley. I know you love your daddy and this is hard, but we . . . we have to go.”

I wish I could tell her everything, but I can’t. It’s too much for this sweet girl with a huge heart to comprehend. One day, she’ll look back and see that I was doing what I felt was best—or maybe she’ll hate me forever. Either way, she’ll be alive to do it.

That’s all that matters.

I grab her hand and lead her to where I dropped my own bag out of the window. Once I have it securely next to hers over my shoulder, we walk quickly around the corner of the house. I can’t slow down, at least not until we’re away from the house.

Hadley practically runs beside me as we make our way past the car and farther down the drive.

And that’s when I hear it.

The sound of the wooden screen door slam against the side of the house.

He’s awake.

He’s here.

He’s going to kill me.

I feel it in my body, the awareness of everything around me. The way the air tastes of dew and moonlight. How the scent of cows and fresh-cut wood fill my nose. If he catches me, it’ll be the last time I ever breathe and smell.

I look down at my beautiful girl, fighting back any tears over the fact that I might never see her again. My sweet, bright light in my life. The only thing I’ve fought to live for.

“Run, Hadley,” I say breathlessly. “Run as far and as fast as you can. Run to someone who will protect you. Run and don’t look back at me. Don’t stop. Don’t listen to anything else, just run.”

“Mommy?”

I can feel Kevin bearing down on us. Hear his rapid footfalls getting closer. The only chance I have is to let him take me so she can run. He can’t go after both of us.

“Run!”

My heart feels as though it’s leaving my body as she does what I say.

“Hadley!” Kevin bellows.

“Run, Hadley! Run and don’t come back!” I scream as loudly as I can, needing my girl to get away from here.