Page 41 of Omega’s Oath

Chapter 15

Rose made a goofy face at her son, trying to get him to smile at her. She had him in his carrier on the kitchen table as she finished loading the dishwasher and was talking to him like she did most mornings. “Are you gonna stop Mommy buying up the whole store with cute new outfits for you, my sweet boy, or are you gonna be a shopper like me?”

She was rewarded with a gurgle and quirk of his mouth and that was good enough for her. She bent over to slot the dishwasher tablet in the drawer and stood up, her back still to her son. “There you go, sweetie. We can go out now and not have to worry about that while we’re gone.”

She rinsed her hands in the sink and turned to grab a towel and jumped, her hand going to her heart. Standing over her son was none other than Harlan. “Jesus, Harlan, you scared me.” And he had. As he turned, she saw the gun in his hand and her heart stopped. Fear gripped her in a paralyzing hold, and she froze, her hand still over her racing heart.

“Hello, Rosie.”

Rose inched forward, wanting to get to her son, needing to put herself between this man who she didn’t know, this man who was threatening her baby. “Harlan, why are you holding a gun on me?”

He moved, mirroring her movements. “Stay still.”

He pointed the gun at her baby and a sob tore from her throat. “No, please don’t hurt him.” She could hear the shake in her voice, the fear, but couldn’t control the terror she felt.

“Hurt him? Why would I do that? He is my son after all.” Harlan looked at Jude, his head cocked and she could see the crazed light in his eyes. He was unhinged and yet when he looked back at her again, he was calm, composed, and in control.

“What do you want, Harlan?” Rose kept glancing at her son, her stomach cramping with nauseous fear.

“What I’ve always wanted. For us to be together. I tried to woo you and it failed, so I gave you time, thinking you’d miss what we had but you didn’t.”

Oh God, he was crazy. All this time she’d thought he’d let things go but he hadn’t. How had she missed it? “I love you, Harlan, but not like that. Never like that.”

She saw his jaw clench, his eyes growing cold. “Enough, you’re expecting company. Get rid of them or I’ll kill whoever it is you have plans with.”

She looked at her bag with her phone in it. “I’ll need my phone.”

Harlan searched her bag, tossing stuff on the floor as he went. He grabbed her phone and held it just out of reach. “If you say one thing to tip them off, I’ll kill this sweet boy.”

Her hand shook with nerves and she swallowed down the panic, trying to hold it together so Mickie didn’t get suspicious.

Harlan put the call on speaker when it was dialing and placed it on the counter so he could hear her conversation.

“Hey, Mickie,” she said when her friend answered, proud of how calm she sounded.

“Hi, Rose. I was just about to leave.”

“That’s why I’m calling. I totally forgot but I made plans with my sister today, so I need to take a rain check on shopping.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, that’s fine. Let me know when you’re free and we can rearrange. Don’t forget it’s girls’ night this weekend.”

Rose tried to laugh like she would’ve done before but to her own ears it was brittle. Who knew if she’d be alive by the weekend? “No, I won’t. I’ll be there. See you later, Mickie.”

“Have a good one.”

“You too.”

Harlan pressed to end the call and nodded. “Pack a bag, we’re going on a trip.” He lifted the carrier and followed her upstairs and watched her pack a few things for them both like it was some bizarre weekend away.

“Are you still feeding him?”

“Yes.”

“Good, that makes life easier. Now write a note for that moron you live with. Tell him you need space for a bit and are going to stay with friends out of state.”

Rose shook her head, about to say Aide would never believe that but stopped. Harlan didn’t need to know Aide wouldn’t believe it, and would immediately know something was up.

She wrote a brief note saying what he’d told her and showed him before he ushered her downstairs and outside to a different truck to the previous one he’d driven. Harlan made her get in the front while he clipped her son in the back seat. She glanced at her house, where her phone sat on the kitchen counter, meaning nobody could track it and help her. She was on her own unless someone figured out he had her and where he was going in time.