The Absence of Fear

Ch. 3

When Scott woke up in the morning, the car was still sitting on the road. It appeared to be empty, but still made him uneasy. He peeked in Chelsea's room before going into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. After breakfast he called the hospital and told them to tell Shelby he'd be over in a couple hours to get her. He kept looking out the window at the car. It really made him nervous, and he wasn't sure why. It wasn't like there had never been a car parked out there before. He tried to shrug it off, but the feeling that something horrible would happen loomed over him.

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The nurse came in the hospital room to tell Shelby that Scott had called a little while ago and would be coming for her soon. She was happy to get to go home and rest. While she was packing her bags there was a knock on the door. She was sure it was Scott since the call had come quite a while ago now.

"Come in" she called. The door opened and a figure came in. It wasn't Scott. Her breath caught in her lungs at the sight of Brad. He looked the same.

"Well, well. Hello gorgeous, miss me?" he said with a sinister smile.

"What are you doing here?" she said and backed towards the wall.

"I was a good boy. They let me out early since my record was clean."

"I didnt ask you about that. What are you doing HERE right now?"

"Well, I've come to take you with me, of course. You're my wife."

"I'm not your wife, Brad. Not anymore." She said and reached for the button to call for help. He obviously had mental problems and Shelby was terrified of the glazed over look in his eyes.

"Yeah, you've got that Scott kid now, right? Don't touch that." He said when he saw her hand reaching for the call button. "Take your hand away from that button, now."

She slowly lowered her hand away, she normally wouldn't let people tell her what to do, but she knew what he was capable of and she didn't want to risk her babies.

"Good girl. Now come with me." He said and tried to grab her. She jerked back.

"What if I don't want to." She said.

"Well, I'd say you really don't have much choice. Not if you care about that jerk off husband and kid of yours."

"Is that a threat." She asked.

"No, it's a promise. I've got a couple friends over there. If you give me any trouble, I press this button." He said holding up a pager. "They'll be dead faster than you'll ever know."

"You're lying." She said reaching for the call button again.

"Maybe. But do you really want to find out? Go ahead. Push it. I hope you told them you loved them, because you'll never see them again." He said with a laugh

"You're sick, Brad. You're really sick." She said. He reached out and grabbed her by the arm and jerked her towards him.

"I don't want any mouth from you. Get your bag, we're blowing this joint....and don't you act up downstairs, I have my hand on this button...." he said for her last warning. She picked up her bag and he dragged her down to the elevator. Once they had gotten into the lobby he shoved her towards the front desk.

"Um.....I'm uh..leaving now." She said her voice shaking.

"Ok, Shelby....remember to come back for your follow up".: the receptionist said and smiled. Brad walked behind Shelby with a firm grip on her wrist.

Once in the car, Brad got on a cell phone, and dialed a number. "Hey, it's me. You can leave now before they see you. Yeah I got her. Good job, I'll pay you well if you get outta there without tipping off this Scott guy. I heard he's a football player, couldn't be too hard." Brad said and laughed. Then he hung up.

"You're really gonna get it for this one, Javenson." Shelby said.

"Oh, am I? From who? Last I checked your night in shining armor was at home, not suspecting a thing." He said. She opened her mouth to say something. "You keep your mouth shut, I've heard enough from you." He snarled.

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Scott took Chelsea with him to the hospital. The black car was leaving when he was getting into his car. It relieved him.

He got to the hospital and went up to Shelby's room. Her bag was gone, and so was she, but she had left a lot of stuff. Her wedding ring, which had to be taken off when they thought she was in labor and all her jewelry. He began to panic. She knew he was coming, she wouldn't just up and leave like that and leave all her stuff there, too. Chelsea could tell Scott was worried and began to scream and cry as he rushed down to the lobby. He tried to yell over her at the receptionist

"Where is my wife? Shelby Barringer. Her bag in gone, and so is she, but a lot of her stuff is left...I was supposed to come pick her up....."

The receptionist looked down at her paper. "She left...about 20 minutes ago."

"Well...was she by herself? She didn't have our car...."

"No, she was with a man...I assumed he was her husband...a little shorter than you...dark hair..."

And everything around Scott seemed to disappear..his worst nightmare wasn't a nightmare anymore.

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Can I get 15?? Thanks