Convict

The dog stared at him, but Ryker was sure in some weird way, they were both on the same page.

Scarlett’s protection.

Letting himself out of her house, he found the car that he’d first taken her. In his bag was also the gun that he’d stored in the basement.

Climbing behind the wheel, he stared back at the cabin.

“Keep on moving, Ryker. You can’t stay here. You’ve got to try and fix this.”

His heart pounded as he turned over the ignition. With the car running, he pulled out of the garden and headed down toward the town. Once he was there, he moved toward the beaten roads and started the long trek toward the city.

With each mile he took and the gap between him and Scarlett increased, he felt sick to his stomach.

All of his life he’d used women, tossing them aside when he was done.

“She’s yours now, Ryker. No one can take her away from you. No one.”

Even as he thought it, he couldn’t stop the sick feeling that consumed him. If he was anyone else, he’d have just stayed with her, waiting for the day that the cops came to take him away, or he got too comfortable and lost his touch.

Either way, he refused to live with that darkness hanging over his head. Even though he didn’t want to leave her, right now, it was for the best.

One day, he’d make it back to her though.

He didn’t have a choice.

She was his home, and there’s no way he’d settle for anything less.

****

Heavy snowfall was forecast over two weeks later, and with it, Scarlett had no choice but to take her mother’s old car and make her way into town. Her dog wouldn’t let her leave, so she took him with her. Grabbing her keys and bag, she stopped near the fridge and stared at the letter that she’d woken up next to.

Tears filled her eyes, and she pressed a hand to her stomach as a wave of sickness washed through her.

He’s promised to come back, that he loved her more than anything, and yet, it had been nearly a month.

She could just check the internet or turn on the television, but she was afraid of what she’d see. Whenever she watched the television now, she used it to watch movies and nothing else.

“I love you,” she said.

At the bottom of the page, he’d penned three I love yous back at her.

Forcing herself away from the fridge, she made her way into the car and started the engine.

She’d not been into town since that day he’d pointed a gun at her.

“You see, that’s what makes me weird,” she said, looking at her dog. “Every other woman would have screamed, but not me. No. What did I do? I took it, didn’t I, like a loser. I didn’t scream, and he didn’t even force me, not really. Ryker’s many things, but a killer isn’t one of them.”

She pulled away from her house and made her way down toward town. All of her supplies were nearly gone. She’d declined an offer to spend the winter with her father. He tended to spend most of their time together asking if she was all right, which then always made her angry.

Of course she was all right.

Right now, though, she wasn’t all right. Feeling sick in the morning, and the scent of coffee making her want to throw up, gave her a bad feeling. So not only would she be stocking up for the first snowfall, she also intended to get a pregnancy test.

If that stick came back positive, she was going to have to do some serious planning, and even consider her father’s offer.

Pregnancy came with risks, which were great even when the partner was present.

What if Ryker had been caught before he proved his innocence?

She didn’t know what happened, and there was nothing she could do to help. She’d hoped to wear him down, so he’d take her with him. The last thing she wanted was to wake up with her arms wrapped around a pillow that he’d covered in his shirt. Ryker gone, and a letter that made her sick with wanting.

“I’m a loser. L.O.S.E.R!”

The dog barked at her, and she smiled. “I bet he told you to take care of me.”

She reached out, stroking his head, and sighed. “We’ll be okay. I’m always okay.”

Parking in her usual spot, she climbed out of the car, leaving enough of the window down for her dog.

Humming to herself, she came to a stop when Billy, the town’s sheriff, stopped her.

“It’s been a long time since we saw you, Scarlett,” he said.

“I’ve not needed to come down for a long time.”

It wasn’t unusual for the sheriff to stop her. He always had guilt over not believing her story.

She’d tried to tell him long before her father took matters into his own hands.