After Escaping From Wedding Night

Chapter 27: Fear

Carol was worriedly looking at the clock above the mantle every few minutes. It was almost midnight now and her daughter's shift ended at nine. Jessica never came home this late; and if she did, she always called her mother to let her know where she was going. Carol tried not to worry; her daughter was a grown woman now, but she felt as if she was being suffocated. She could not help but feel that something was wrong.

Carol grabbed her cell and decided to call Aaron.

"Hey, mama! How are you?" Aaron picked up the phone and spoke heartily.

She smiled; he had taken to call her mama like Jessica.

“Aaron, is Jess with you?”

“Jess? No? Why would she be with me? Did she not work today?

“She did, she was supposed to be off at nine, but she has not come home yet and she’s not picking up either. Aaron, I'm worried. I have a bad feeling in my heart…” Carol whispered in fear.

Aaron quickly comforted Cathy, “No, don't worry. Let me call the hotel and ask. I am sure everything is fine!”

Though he was not showing Cathy, Aaron was very worried. It was unlike Jessica to go anywhere this late especially without telling her mother. Aaron's mind suddenly went to Roger; he swore, “f**k!”

Aaron was willing to bet that Roger had something to do with this! Thus, he had no choice but to call Roger.

Roger did not answer on the first call, but he answered Aaron's third try.

“What is it?” said Roger, deeply cold, without even a greeting. Aaron guessed he could tell from the caller ID it was him.  

Aaron too responded in kind, “Where is Jessica?” He demanded in an equally cool tone.

Roger sneered and wondered why he thought she would be with him. “How the f**k would I know?”

“She left at nine and is still not home. Her mother called asking me where she was. Do you know where she is?” Aaron reiterated his question, demandingly.

“Why the f**k would I have anything to do with her?” Roger replied angrily even though he felt a twinge of concern run through him. It was quite late, and Jessica was not known to be a night person. With that, Roger hung up.

Roger tried to forget Aaron's words but no matter how much he tried, he could not stop thinking about Jessica. Where was she? Roger walked over to his study and opened the security system of the hotel on his laptop. He slid the time back to around nine pm and watched the screen avidly.

There! There she was! Right around nine pm, he saw Jessica exit the hotel and start walking towards the bus stop. He frowned, however, when he noticed a taxi pull up beside her. His frown deepened when he saw her getting inside the car and disappear from the screen.  

Jessica was miserable. Her feet were aching; her fashion flats were not exactly comfortable walking shoes. And the bumpy uneven dirt road was making it worse. She had been walking for what felt like ages and she had not gotten anywhere! Not a single soul was in sight. On top of that, the fear of being alone in the middle of nowhere was paralyzing. Every sound, every rustle alarmed Jessica so much that her heart would jump into her throat.

Nonetheless, she drudged forward ignoring the aching of her legs and ankles. This was not in the plan for today – especially after a twelve-hour shift! She cursed the taxi driver and she cursed Aaron! If he really were behind this, she would never forgive him!

Jessica did not even see the pothole ahead in the dark. As she stepped forward, her ankle twisted painfully, and she yelped as her leg landed awkwardly inside the large pothole. Unable to keep her balance, Jessica tumbled to the ground in a heap.

"f**k!" Jessica screamed in annoyance and pain. Her hands and knees were all scratched up and bleeding. She flinched as she felt rocks embedded into her palm. She tried moving her ankle and took in a sharp breath as she could barely move it. It was throbbing painfully.

Jessica burst into tears. What did she do to deserve this? She was already having a dreadful day; why was God putting her through so much in one day! She painfully tried to stand and hobbled over to the side of the road, sitting down on the grass. What was she going to do? Snot was tears were running down her nose and face, her hands and knees were bleeding, her ankle was probably sprained from the pain she was feeling, and she had no damn phone!

Jessica sat down on the side of the road for God knows how long. She had decided that she would sit there until the morning or at least until someone passed her; after all, she could barely walk so, she could not go anywhere anyway.

Perhaps it was a few minutes later or an hour; Jessica lost track of time when she heard a car driving towards her. With hope flaring in her chest, Jessica scooted over painfully to the side of the road, so she was in view and waved her hands erratically.

"Help! Please help me!" She screamed.

She sighed in relief as she saw the car slowing to a stop in front of her. Someone got out of the driver's seat and rushed over to her.

“Jessica?” The voice was worried.

Jessica frowned; did the driver know her? She squinted to see the face and gasped when she realized who it was.

Roger Richard!

What was he doing here? How did he find her?!

“Jessica! Are you alright?” Roger asked again in an urgent tone.

“I’m…I’m…how did you find me?” Jessica asked feeling confused and lightheaded. This day was becoming too much!

"Never mind about that! Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Roger asked as he gently grabbed her hands and examined her cuts.

“I’m alright, but my ankle…” Jessica nodded as she tried to stand up with Roger’s help. However, as soon as she stood up, Jessica swayed and felt her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Just as she fainted, she remembered she had not had anything to eat the whole day and the fact that she was about to faint in Roger’s arms.    

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Roger had not felt this kind of fear in a long time. What angered him was he did not know why he was feeling this way. He should be happy and indifferent about Jessica Brown. But he could not help but worry about her. Where had she gone? Who did she get into the car with? What if…no. Roger shook himself out of his thoughts. She was just fine!

Roger had contacted his contact at the Police who had tracked down the taxi to where it had dropped Jessica off. When he checked out the location on his phone, he had to calm himself down again. It was a rural location with no buildings in sight. Why would anyone take her there?

Roger quickly grabbed his keys and ran down to his car. He had to find her! He had to make sure she was alright!

The drive took him an hour and a half when he finally arrived at the location. There were no lights, so he had to put on his high beams. His heart thumped as he saw a figure on the side of the road waving their arms. He stopped the car right beside the figure and jumped out of the car.

When he heard Jessica's cries for help, he felt relief surge through him. She was okay! That feeling quickly diminished as he noticed the way she was sitting, her ripped clothes, and the cuts on her hands and knees.

Roger should have felt indifference when she fainted in his arms, but he felt nothing but worry and fear. He brushed the hair away from her eyes and gently kissed her cheek noticing it was red and wet as if she had been crying all night.

He gently picked her up, settled her into the back seat, and drove back to the hotel while calling the doctor and instructing him to be in his room within an hour.

______  

When Jessica came to, she was lying on a comfy bed in a familiar room with her mother and Aaron hovering over her. She felt confused; why was her family in Roger's room. She frowned as she remembered what had happened the day before and how Roger had saved her.

"Jess? Oh, Jess!" Her mother cried out and embraced her warmly. Jessica smiled and snuggled into her hug, which always made everything feel better.

“Jessica, you scared me,” her mother spoke again with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry mum. I don't know what happened…" Jessica trailed off. "That man…the taxi… he told me…"

"Don't worry about that now, Jess. The important thing is that you're safe," Aaron spoke up warmly.

Jessica nodded and looked around the room.

“Roger is in his study. He saved you, you know?” Her mother spoke up. Carol then looked around and leaned closer to Jessica's ear making sure no one was listening.

“Is he Evan's father?”

Jessica gulped and nodded, trying to avoid her mother's eyes where she knew she would see disappointment.

Carol squeezed her daughter's shoulders, "Baby, we need to talk about this."

Jessica sighed and nodded. Her mother was right. Jessica needed to talk to someone with a sane mind and listen to her and her mother was the best person for that.