Her head sank into the pillow. She thought about Ben and how he would snuggle behind her, always making her feel safe and protected. She felt so empty without his big body there beside her. She had a glimpse of her future. Was she destined to keep running? Would she ever be allowed to find love and the happiness it brought with it?
More tears slid down her cheeks as she came to the realization she would not get that future. One wrong choice five years ago had led her down this path. One wrong choice was going to ruin her life forever. If only someone would have warned her about Tim. If only there had been some way of knowing the type of man he was before she ever went out on that second date with him. A man like him should have to wear a badge, identifying him as a soul-sucking, abusive son of a bitch, she thought, her sadness turning to anger. If she ever got the chance, she was going to tell the entire world what kind of man Tim Marshall really was.
Chapter Twelve
Ben
HE WAS GOING OUT OF his mind with worry. He wanted to believe Katherine up and left in the middle of the night of her own free will, but there was a part of him that was terrified Tim had dragged her out, kicking and screaming, and was now holding her hostage somewhere. The possibilities were endless.
His phone started ringing and he nearly jumped across the coffee table in his living room lunging for it. He kept expecting her to call and tell him she was okay. It hadn’t happened yet. He looked at the screen and saw it was Rachel calling.
“What?” he groused.
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that. Am I clearing your schedule for the day?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Is there anything I can do to help? I can call in a temp or we can just say we both have the stomach flu and operations must cease until Monday,” she offered.
He ran a hand through his hair. “No, it’s fine. I need you there holding down the fort. Feel free to cut out early. Clear my schedule for Monday as well. If I don’t find her by then, I’m not going to work.”
“Okay. Ben, please try and take care of yourself. I already know you didn’t sleep last night,” she said in a soft voice.
He sighed. “No, I didn’t. What if he has her?” he said the words that had been running through his mind since he’d seen the apartment.
“You said she had a suitcase packed. You knew she was thinking about running before she ever f
iled for divorce. This is her M.O., it’s what she does. Don’t blame yourself. Maybe something happened and she got scared. She’ll call you if she wants to be found,” Rachel said.
He was shaking his head. He didn’t want to believe she would leave him hanging without so much as a screw you or a see you later. It didn’t make sense.
“I’ve got to go. Meredith is going to be calling soon.”
“What is Meredith going to do?” Rachel asked.
“She has a couple private detectives she works with. She offered to let me hire them to find Katherine.”
“Oh, is that a good idea?”
Ben clenched his jaw. “I’m not going to drag her back here kicking and screaming. I just want to get a message to her. I won’t force her to do anything.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll talk to you later,” Rachel said and hung up the phone.
He hadn’t meant to snap at her. He was cranky, frustrated and terrified that Katherine was in a bad situation. He only wanted to find her and let her know he was willing to stand by her no matter what was happening.
Meredith called, and he quickly got the information from her. She had already made the first call to the investigators who would be calling him shortly.
“Can you hang on a second,” he mumbled, hearing a knock at the door.
It wasn’t like his security detail not to announce a visitor, but they could have tried, and he ignored the intercom. He’d been so focused on doing everything he could to find Katherine, he’d not thought of much else or even been able to pay attention to anything else.
He pulled open the door to see a sheriff’s deputy standing on the other side looking entirely uncomfortable.
“Hold on Meredith, the cops are here,” he said into the phone.
“Don’t hang up. Put me on speaker phone,” she demanded.
Ben did as she asked. “What can I do for you, officer?” he asked the man who had removed his hat and was holding it in his hand.