It was late in the morning when Caleb arose from a peaceful sleep, dreaming about the mysterious property previously owned by Gail's Grandfather. His dream had been strange, Peter Emory was there and a younger girl who did not appear comfortable stood beside him. There was a familiarity between them both and Caleb was intrigued by the pair, watching them discreetly from within the confines of the property and following them closer to the main house.
As he began to walk around the house to the back of the property, the girl turned suddenly towards him and let out a deafening scream. The girls vacant eyes bore into his brain more than the scream had and that was when Caleb had woken up abruptly.
Caleb lay comfortably in his bed as the details of his dream started to fade away, then turned towards the clock on his beside table and stared at it confused. 'Huh' he said aloud when his vision fully cleared and he saw that it was 10:42am.
'Huh indeed' Abe mirrored, stood at his open door and watching him suspiciously.
'I didn't do nothin'' Caleb stated defensively, as he sat up and attempted to smooth down his hair.
Abe could not contain his laughter at the instinctive remark, very befitting of his friend when he was just a boy. 'I ain't accused you of nothin' boy, I'm just confused as to how you can sleep through all the racket' he sighed, then headed down the stairs with Stacie and covered her ears in an attempt to shield her.
Caleb narrowed his eyes at the empty doorway, firstly confused as to why his Mother had allowed him to sleep in so late and secondly due to Abe not having his Sister, who he had been lumped with in the mornings recently as his Mother did not trust her with anyone else after what had happened last week.
Caleb had come to realise that he did not like it when things were not running as he had come to expect. Even when his Mother was being hostile, there were certain routines that were adhered to and something was off this morning. He got out of bed, pulled on a loose pair of sweatpants and decided to exit his bedroom to see what was going on.
A loud bang caught his attention as he was walking towards Luke's bedroom to check on his Brother and Caleb gave off a small jump. He opened up his senses in an attempt to locate his Siblings and felt himself being blocked; however, another loud bang came from the opposite end of the landing leading towards his parents bedroom. He was aware of his Mother sleeping in a spare bedroom deeper within the property as an avoidance tactic, therefore, the loud noises coming from the Master bedroom where even more curious.
Caleb allowed his feet to guide him, ignoring his better judgement and stopped outside of the Master bedroom when he heard a loud crash. He took a deep breath and summoned all of his strength, then opened the door quietly and peered his head around into the room curiously.
Lucas had been cut off from his Wife for almost a week due to her belief that they had all deceived her and now that he had her back with him, he was not about to let her leave without a suitable punishment. Gail was also still very anger with them all and even more so as she had been forced out of her hiding hole, making her even more challenging at this present time.
Both Gail Jr and Luke were silent in his Daughters large crib, cuddling together. They were asleep when Lucas had woken up to warn Abe about disturbing his Daughter earlier and he assumed due to their stillness now that they were still out cold. Both children had been up until the early hours, finding it hard to settle after their abrupt awakening in the middle of the night and they clearly needed their rest. Although he was not impressed that Luke had gone wandering and his Daughter had not awoken him sooner to get him, he was happy that his youngest had tempted Gail out and that was the only opening that Lucas had required.
Gail slapped Lucas hard across the face as he pinned her against the wall roughly, knocking a glass over as he picked her up forcefully. It was taking all of her strength to fight him off; however, the darkness inside of her was screaming for him to enter her and scolding her for trying to push him away for so long.
Gail was furious at herself for being tempted back into her Husbands bed so easily, she knew better than this and was starting to realise that her children were being impacted by her complete lack of morals of late. She understood that she had told Lucas that she would not change him; however, he had changed her and in her eyes, she was the one ultimately to blame for what their children got up to.
Lucas shook his head in amusement at the strike, surprised at how hard she could hit, then pinned her hands above her head securely and held her wrists together tight with one hand, while the other trailed under her short night dress. 'Careful now Love, you don't want the neighbours to see any marks' he smirked, revelling in her irritation at how securely he had her.
'Everybody's going to talk anyway, so why not give them something interesting to comment on?' Gail asked in agitation, unimpressed with her current position.
'Alright, if you say so' Lucas responded devilishly, then reached up to her neck and began to squeeze it tight.
Gail let out a small laugh, knowing that she only had herself to blame for allowing him to get the upper hand and felt her breath become strained. 'You know, I bet this is how you'd do it. Take away all of my control and dignity, then watch as my life just slipped away' she said through hoarse breaths, starting to feel the pain in her throat.
Lucas sensed her deep desire for him even though she was trying so hard to mask it and he applauded her efforts to this point. She had managed to push off all of his other attempts and even in this position, she was still not asking him to stop.
'Do it, I dare you' Gail challenged, feeling her darkness come alive inside of her and not allowing herself to beg to be released.
Lucas stared deep into her eyes, searching them for the truth of her request; however, she was still managing to keep her guard up and her thoughts were blocked from him.
'Come on Soulmate, surely I've gone too far with pulling away from the whole family this time. I know you, I know how curious you are, so just do it and see what happens' Gail whispered through strained breaths, then smiled wickedly when his hand began to squeeze tighter.
'You really wanna be punished Gail?' Lucas asked, intrigued by the desire he sensed within her for him to continue on his present course.
The air was getting cut off from her lungs and she was running on fumes; however, Gail still forced herself to hold his intense stare and did not fight. 'My children are murders, we taught them that and you think that's not deserving of a fatal punishment?' she whispered, barely audible.
'Stop it!' Caleb yelled, unable to prevent himself from stepping in when he witnessed his Father seemingly strangling is Mother.
Both Gail Jr and Luke sat up at the sound of their Brother, after feigning sleep so not to aggravate their parent's and stared wide eyed at their parent's current position.
'Are you being told what to do by a child now?' Gail goaded sarcastically when she felt his grip loosen.
Lucas continued to stare deep into her eyes, sensing that part of her would accept this end. He was unsure about how he felt about her willingness to allow him to have the ultimate domination over her; however, part of him did not want to release his control over her.
'Daddy?' Gail Jr asked worried, confused over why the game her parents had been playing had turned so serious.
Gail willed him to make a move in front of the children, just so she could break their unwavering loyalty to him, then let out a long sigh as he released her and threw her back down on the bed, cursing herself for inhaling deeply and openly showing that he had affected her.
'It's alright, me and your Momma were just playin' a grownup game...All's perfect, I promise' Lucas reassured his children as he turned towards them and saw their concerned looks.
Gail rolled her eyes at how quickly the children's concern disappeared and reached for her robe as she got up from the bed. 'Take them for breakfast, I'm heading straight to the office' she said bluntly, resenting their strong bond and left them all to look after each other while she headed back to the spare bedroom.
Ben sat opposite the beautiful blonde woman and shook his head at the dark circles strongly visible around her eyes. He looked over the report and could not believe that Lucas had given this case to Floyd of all people. 'Look Mrs Evans'- he started politely.
'-Karen, call me Karen' she advised, sensing a genuine kindness radiating off of the Deputy before her, not like to other imbecile who was in charge of the case and just sat on his behind all day while her Husband was still missing.
'Alright Karen-' Ben sighed and regarded her frankly. '-This ain't my case, but I'm sure we're doin' everythin' we can to find your Husband...Has he ever run off or anythin' before?'
Karen smiled wearily, a simple question that had not been asked by the Officer in charge of the case, a question that could help rule out a runaway from a potential abduction. 'No he hasn't, he's a devoted family man who loves both me and his Son. There's no reason for him to run off and he came here just to be with me!' she exclaimed, feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes at someone actually listening to her.
Ben felt sorry for Karen, she was an outsider with no support system here and her Husband had just upped and vanished. Ben was curious, of course he was; however, he was not the Sheriff and Lucas would have his hide if he stepped on Floyd's toes.
'That'd just be for starters' Gail advised casually, as she walked into the Sheriffs Station and the bell above the door alerted the occupants to her presence.
Karen tensed at the sound of Gail's voice and sat up tall in her chair. 'You're following me' she snapped accusingly, staring at the woman suspiciously.
'Or I'm meeting one of my best friends for our morning coffee' Gail responded sarcastically, disregarding Karen's clear distrust of her and smiled warmly at Ben. 'Sorry I'm late, are you ready?' she asked him pleasantly.
'Well I was just finishin' up here-' Ben started, picking up a pen to add to the notes in the file.
'Finishing up Floyds case? A case you have no idea where he's up to and what you might screw up by scribbling all over his notes?' Gail interrupted before Ben could concentrate, not wanting him involved in any of this.
Ben stared at Gail confused by her blocking tactic, then relaxed when his common sense came back to him and he realised that Floyd may be looking at this woman as a person of interest for all he knew. Ben had been close with Gail since they both found out that Lucas was Caleb's Father, she had not protected Lucas then and she always had Ben's back since. He trusted that she would not lead him wrong and suspected that she would not want the hassle of stepping in should Lucas think Ben had gone against him.
'Perfect, we got there in the end. Now can we go please?' Gail asked impatiently, not wanting to be around Karen any longer than she had to until she figured out what was really going on.
Ben turned back towards Karen and gave her an apologetic look. 'You really need to let Floyd complete his investigation, I'm sure he'll have results in no time' he forced a smile, then got up and signalled towards the door.
Karen could not believe that the one genuine Officer on this force was closely tied to Gail Buck and cursed herself for thinking that she could convince him to take the case. She remembered how her Mother used to talk about the people in this Town and she was starting to see how entangled people were. 'You're all damned, I'm ending this now!' she snapped viciously, then stormed out of the Sheriff's Station angrily.
'You have a lovely day too' Gail called sweetly after her as she left, then shrugged at Ben feigning ignorance when he stared at her suspiciously.
'It is mighty strange' Ben pondered out loud, as he headed out from behind the counter when Deputy Earl returned from his break and opened the door for Gail courteously.
'What is?' she asked, forcing her demeanour to remain calm and smiled pleasantly at Ben, nodding appreciatively at his chivalry and linking his arm as he led her towards the Coffee Shop across the street.
'Are we talkin' on the record or as friends?' Ben responded, knowing better than to assume around her.
Gail rolled her eyes at the question and laughed. 'I have no time to take on a story myself Ben, plus I'm so damn competitive that I wouldn't help my colleagues along by giving them an inside scoop' she answered honestly, not willing to make it easy for any other Reporter when she was stuck in the position that she was.
Ben relaxed a little and pulled out a chair for Gail. 'Floyd, of all people he chose to put Floyd on this case...Don't you find that weird?' he asked, needing to get his thoughts out.
Gail bit her bottom lip in agitation, not believing herself that Lucas had taken such an overt action. Anyone with a brain knew that Floyd was a follower, he required instruction for every little thing and he did not have an investigative bone in his body. By appointing Floyd as the primary on this case was an insult and anyone remotely close to her Husband could see that. 'Maybe he just wants to give Floyd a chance to progress, there's not much opportunity for that in Trinity you know?' she responded and smiled at the Waitress who instinctively brought over their usual drinks.
Ben nodded his thanks to the Waitress and settled back into his chair. 'Yeah but a missin' persons case which involves a vocal Wife? That seems pretty damn high profile for Floyd don't you think?' he countered, attempting to find any logic in Lucas' decision.
'Jealous Deputy?' Lucas asked flatly as he appeared behind Gail, then smiled when he felt his Wife tense and pulled up a chair close beside her.
'He's got nothing to be jealous about, he's the best you've got and completely underrated' Gail answered frankly for Ben, not wanting him to get caught in the cross fire of all of this. 'Besides, he's right. Floyd couldn't find a neon billboard if it hit him in the face, yet you put him on a missing persons case? That seems mighty sloppy to me Sheriff'
Lucas stared deep into Gail's eyes and sensed her strong desire to challenge him. They had not had the chance to complete their morning fun and release their pent up frustrations; therefore, they were both more brazen and less reserved around company as they would usually be. 'My choice as Sheriff is no-ones business Darlin; however, if someone does wish to take issue with my authority on the matter, let him do so now' he responded, aiming the challenge at Ben but not taking his eyes off of his Wife.
Gail sat tall and did not cave under her Husbands domineering stance. She willed Ben to stand up to him, challenge his authority openly and cause Lucas to lose control; however, Ben clearly knew better and just sat drinking his coffee, not allowing himself to get involved in their games.
'Ain't no issues Lucas, I just don't like gettin' my ear chewed off while my hands are tied is all' Ben answered finally, noticing neither of them where standing down.
Lucas inhaled deeply, trying to push down the strong urge to put his Wife over his knee and spank her for challenging him so openly. 'Next time just walk away, then you won't have to listen to the ramblings of a desperate woman' he advised, still staring at his Wife.
A smile crossed over Gail's lip and she shook her head in mock scorn. 'That's not so easy for people with a conscience Sheriff' she said sweetly, expecting more effort from him to cover up his bad decision.
'There ain't no need for anyone's conscience to be rearin' it's head when a stranger disappears after catchin' his Wife frolickin' in the open with another man' Lucas retorted, smiling smugly at her clear disapproval at how he was steering this.
'He did hit Matt, he was clearly pissed with the whole thing' Ben shrugged, contemplating the comment.
Gail let out a small laugh and sighed. 'Seriously?' she asked her Husband, expecting more originality from him.
'See Love, Floyd won't be overburdened with such an unoriginal case' Lucas responded, reading her thoughts.
Ben nodded his understanding of Lucas' decision and took a long sip of his coffee. When you thought about it, the signs did point to the man just leaving his Wife and so far there was no indication of any foul play that he had heard of.
Gail sensed Ben's initial curiosity disappear and rolled her eyes at how easily her Husband could spin things.
'Now that all that's out in the open, why don't I leave you two good people to your mornin' chat. God forbid I interrupt your carefully planned routine' Lucas advised sarcastically, then cupped Gail's chin in his hand and kissed her passionately.
Gail allowed him to control her, more than happy to give the gossiping biddies something to talk about, then nodded her appreciation at his decision to return to the Sheriff's Station and leave her alone.
'I don't know how you two are still that way after all these years together' Ben said after Lucas was completely out of sight.
'When you've been cut off from your usual fun, you take whatever small mercies you can' Gail laughed and took a sip of her coffee.
Ben stared at her wide eyed for a moment, then laughed at the comment and relaxed fully in his friends company.
-To be continued-