EVE
THEY BURIED me without any shoes on.
If only I had taken those few seconds to put on my sneakers before I confronted Addie in the kitchen, this journey back to the road would be much easier. Instead, I am carefully picking my way along the uneven dirt, branches stabbing the soles of my feet. On top of that, I’m freezing. I took the sheet with me, and I fashioned it into a makeshift shawl to try to keep me warm. It’s got to be below freezing though.
After I’ve been walking for about half an hour, I come to what looks like a small road. I dig my phone back out from inside my purse— hallelujah, I’ve got cell service. One bar. It’s a miracle.
I start to dial 911, but then I stop myself.
I could call the police and get my husband thrown in jail for what he did to me. But he’ll get a lawyer and be out on bail a few days later. Get a few women on the jury and—let’s face it—he would probably end up with a slap on the wrist. If it even went to trial at all. Nate has a way of weaseling out of things.
No, I have to make sure that he pays for all the things he has done.
So instead, I send a message to the only person I can think of who might be willing to come get me in the middle of the night.
Jay takes twenty minutes to respond to my Snapflash message. Twenty minutes of me shivering on the side of the road, wondering if the alert sound will be enough to wake him—I have his number but it’s too risky to call him. Just when I’m considering giving up and calling the police, his name flashes on the screen of my phone. He almost never calls me, and I imagine him hiding in the bathroom of his house so that she doesn’t hear him and he doesn’t wake the colicky baby.
“Eve?” His voice is instantly alert. “What’s going on?”
“I need you to pick me up,” I tell him. “I…I’m sorry. I know it’s early.” My watch reads almost five in the morning.
“Where are you?”
He’s coming for me. Thank God.
I wait for him on the side of the road, shivering underneath my sheet. I hope I don’t get pneumonia. When I finally spot his car pulling up along the side of the road, I burst into tears. Salt water is running down my cheeks when I climb into the car beside him. He looks startled by my appearance.
“Eve,” he says. “Where are your shoes?” That only makes me cry harder.
Jay doesn’t make me explain though. He just starts driving, and we sit together in silence while I cry quietly. When we get back to Caseham, I start to tell him not to go to my house, but then I notice he’s going in a different direction. A few minutes later, he pulls into the parking lot for Simon’s Shoes.
“Come on,” he says. “Let’s get you some shoes.”
I follow him out of the car, the parking lot pavement cold against the soles of my feet. He peels off the sheet on top of me, still wrapped around me like a shawl, and he gives me his own coat, even though it’s not far to the entrance of the store. Then he takes my hand and we walk together to the door to the shoe store. He grabs the key from his pocket and unlocks the door.
“Take whatever you want,” he tells me.
I select a pair of hideous black snow boots, different from anything else I have in my closet, but they’re on sale. I start digging around in my purse, searching for my wallet. Of course, I need to pay cash…
“Don’t worry about it,” Jay says. “But—”
“I said don’t worry about it. Really.”
I don’t argue with him further. I put on the black snow boots, and even though they’re ugly, they immediately warm up my feet. I keep Jay’s coat on, and I drop down onto one of the benches. He sits beside me, not saying a word. He’s being very patient, even though soon the sun will come up.
“Nate…he…” I choose my words carefully. I don’t want him to know Addie was involved too. No good can come of that. Anyway, this is between me and my husband. “He tried to kill me.”
Jay looks up at me, his expression frozen in horror.
“He tried to bury me in the dirt,” I say. “But I wasn’t dead. I waited for him to leave, and then I got back to the road.”
“Eve,” he breathes.
I shiver under his coat. “I want him to pay for this.”
“We’ll call the police right now.”
“No,” I say firmly. “I want to do this my way. I want to make sure that he pays for everything he has done.”
His brows knit together, below that jagged scar on his hairline. “Okay…”
“Is…is there anywhere you know that I can stay for a few days?”
“We have a tool shed,” he says thoughtfully. “It’s out in the back. Nobody ever uses it. I could stick a sleeping bag out there. It won’t be comfortable, but it’s warm enough with the door closed.”
“Perfect,” I say. “And there are a few other things I need your help with.”
He looks at me with absolute devotion in his eyes. “I will do whatever you want.”
And he does.
