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Nowhere to Turn "There's Evil in this house," the deep voice thundered.
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for If you've one of the half million people who've read my true story Betrayed by Her Guardian Angel, and have wondered what happened during the seven years alluded to, but not covered in Betrayed, this is that story.
When Eve Tarlton and her young son
Kevin combined families with Nick Morrison and his son Michael of
almost the same age, Eve thought she had achieved the American
Dream: two kids, a man who loved her, a home in the country, and a
family dog. The Central California weather report was calling for snow above 3000 feet. Terrific. Eve had never driven in snow. She didn't know the first thing about it. They had rented a large U-Haul, and still both the Datsun and Nick's Chevy wagon were packed to capacity. Nick and Michael would be towing the U-Haul, with Eve and Kevin bringing up the rear. At Nick's request, his parents had decided to join the mini caravan. It had been iffy at first, with Anna and Jason on the verge of separation, but they'd set aside their differences long enough to drive to Sacramento and help with the move. "I'm not a long distance driver," Eve reminded Nick. "I'll need to stop to rest along the way." Even if she were normally a long distance driver, Eve wouldn't have trusted her stamina this morning. The U-Haul had been packed in plenty of time, but they'd been up till three, cleaning in preparation for her tenants to move in. "We'll stop at Denny's in Modesto for lunch," Nick promised. "If you take some Pepsis to drink on the way, you'll be fine." Judging from the dark circles beneath Nick's eyes, Eve figured he'd need the soft drinks as badly as she would. For the first forty-five minutes, despite the flat terrain, Eve managed to stay more or less alert by listening to the radio and talking to Kevin. A red station wagon had managed to squeeze between her car and the U-Haul ahead, so she couldn't really see Nick and Michael. In the rear view mirror, she could see Anna and Jason riding on opposite sides of the seat in their gray compact sedan. Eve was glad Nick's parents had come to help with the move. She liked Anna, and empathized with her pain over Jason's drinking problem. But for today he was sober, and his presence was welcome. Thank Heaven they were almost to Modesto. Eve had drunk one Pepsi, but was afraid to drink another. She could hardly keep her eyes open as it was. She didn't need the added problem of having to go to the bathroom. If it weren't for the station wagon between them, she could signal to Nick that she wanted to turn off. But she couldn't just stop without signaling. If he kept driving and didn't notice she'd stopped, he wouldn't know what had happened to her. Modesto, 12 miles. If she could just keep her eyes open for 12 more miles, they'd be stopping for lunch and she could get a second wind. Lulled by the vibration and hypnotic effect of the freeway, Kevin had fallen asleep in the back. Pinching herself to stay awake, Eve shook her head in an effort to clear her vision. Modesto, 1 mile. Muttering a silent prayer of thanks that she'd managed to stay awake this far, Eve drew a deep breath and hunched forward over the wheel. Oh good. There was Denny's. But the U-Haul now three cars ahead did not slow down. Her eyelids were getting heavy...so heavy ... The shriek of a train whistle pierced the air. Jerking awake, Eve swerved toward the center divider then toward the track to the right, then back again. Her heart was thudding so hard against the wall of her chest it felt as if it would break through at any moment. Her breath was coming in shallow gasps. She felt as if she were going to be sick. "What's wrong, Mommy?" Kevin's sleepy voice from the back seat brought home the horror of what had nearly happened. "What's wrong, Mom? Why are you crying?" Eve popped the top on another Pepsi, then rolled down the driver's side window and tilted her face to the wind. "It's nothing, Sweetheart," she said shakily. "The train whistle just scared me. That's all." Several cars ahead, she saw the U-Haul turn off. Awake now, Eve turned on the right blinker and took the exit over the over-pass to the corner Chevron station. Now that the danger was past, she felt drained, and very angry. For a long moment she sat behind the wheel watching as Nick stepped out of the Chevy wagon and gave the attendant his credit card. Behind her, she heard the opening and closing of a car door as Nick's mother stepped out of the gray sedan and approached the Datsun's open window. She was a small woman with short gray hair and wire-framed glasses. Her cheeks were full like Michael's, and she smelled of Chanel cologne. "Are you and Kevin alright?" she asked. "What happened back there?" "We're okay," Eve said tightly. "No thanks to Nick. He was supposed to stop when we got to Modesto. I fell asleep at the wheel." Anna stepped out of the way as Eve opened the car door. "We saw you swerve," she said with a worried frown. "We didn't know what had happened." Brushing past the older woman, Eve drew a deep breath and squared her slender shoulders. "Excuse me, Anna. I need to talk to Nick." He was standing with his back to her, pumping gas. "Why didn't you stop in Modesto?" Eve demanded. Startled, Nick clicked the hose lock and stepped away from the Chevy, turning at the same time toward the sound of her voice. "We were running behind schedule. I figured we could pick up a little time if we waited to eat when we stopped for gas." "You figured – " Nearly choking on her words, Eve strove to get a grip on her anger. "You promised we'd stop for lunch in Modesto!" Anger flashed in the depth of Nick's eyes and his hand shot out to clutch the neck of Eve's shirt, nearly lifting her off the pavement. "Don't you – ever – raise your voice to me in front of anyone again." Eve hadn't intended to raise her voice. She'd been frantic over what had nearly happened. Tears stung her eyes and a lump rose in her throat. "Kevin and I could have been killed back there," she said thickly. "I fell asleep at the wheel!” Just for a moment, Nick tightened his grip on her shirt. "Then you talk to me about it in private," he grated. "Don't – ever – get in my face again." Releasing her collar, he spat at the ground by her feet. "Fill up your tank. We'll eat in Merced." Eve couldn’t believe this was the same Nick who only two weeks ago had expressed the burning need to protect her and her son by getting them away from their house in Sacramento. Blinded by tears, Eve turned toward her Datsun, but Anna stood in her way. The older woman's kindly face mirrored the empathy she was feeling. Reaching out, she grasped Eve's hand. "I want to apologize for my son Eve. He has the Morrison temper, just like his father. I was hoping he'd learned to control it by now." Eve made no move to release her hand from Anna's or to refuse the embrace the older woman offered. "Nick was just embarrassed when you criticized him in front of the station attendant," Anna said lamely. "He shouldn't have acted the way he did. There's no excuse except that he's exhausted."
Seeing the kindly faced woman scrabble for
words to excuse her son's behavior, Eve felt sorry for her, but not
sorry enough to pretend she understood. "We're all
exhausted, Anna. That's why we should have stopped for lunch in
Modesto. That's why I fell asleep at the wheel." Though she didn't
give voice to the venomous thought, it occurred to Eve that if she
hadn't already quit her job and put her house in Sacramento up for
rent she would turn around right now and go back.
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