Code 3: Finding Safety Read Online Free

starting the truck.  The bruises have darkened since this morning and, he can no longer hold back from touching her.  He reaches out with his right hand and traces the darkened area on her left cheek.  “I promise you, this will never happen to you again,” he whispers before heading toward home.  And he means it.  He has never had the desire to protect someone as much as he does Leanna. 

Seven
    Mark’s anger is inhibiting his ability to think straight.  “Where the fuck could she have gone?” he screams into the receiver at the person on the other end of the line.  He knows he shouldn’t yell as his Pa like that, but he’s so irritated he can’t control himself.  He grabs their wedding photo from the bookshelf in the living room and chucks it against the wall. 
    “Son, you need to calm down.  You aren’t going to find her if you’re not thinking clear.  Have you checked the bus station?” Pa asks.  His Pa was always good at thinking on his feet.  Marks Ma tried leaving his Pa on several occasions.  She was a stubborn bitch and his Pa had to do what was necessary to prevent her from leaving the family again.
    “No, I haven’t, Pa.  Thank you!” Mark shouts before disconnecting the call.  Why didn’t he think of the bus station?  That’s the only place that Leanna could have gone if she thought about leaving him.  He grabs his car keys and heads out the rickety old screen door.  One way—one way or another, he will find her and he will make her pay for her stupid decisions.  No one leaves Mark Dickson and gets away with it.  Caroline learned that lesson the hard way.
    Mark reminisces back to his high school sweetheart.  She was a gorgeous girl who was dealt a bad hand in life.  She was abused from an early age and ended up in foster care at fifteen years old.  She was the perfect girl for Mark.  She was beaten down to nothing and no one would notice if she went missing.  Yeah, she was the perfect girl for Mark but he underestimated her hard headedness.  He miss calculated her sense of self-worth. 
    Mark shakes Caroline’s thought from his head and focuses on the mission before him; finding and bringing Leanna home.  It won’t be long, Bitch, and I’ll find you and teach you a fucking lesson, he thinks as his car slips and slides along the old dirt road.

Eight
    James pulls into the driveway of his home.  This house has been in his family for more than a hundred years.  His grandfather was born here, grandparents were married here, father was born here, parents were married here and, eventually, he was born here.  Rebecca wanted an over-the-top wedding on a golf course, so he didn’t get the pleasure of marrying his wife here.  He should’ve known that the marriage wouldn’t last.  This house is good luck for his family.  By not marrying in the house his marriage was cursed from the start.  If his mother could see how his marriage turned out, she’d surely be rolling in her grave.
    “This is where I call home,” James announces as he put the truck in park and looks toward Leanna.  His breath hitches as he sees her profile in the moonlight.  Her eyes are closed and her breathing slow and steady.  She looks like an angel when she sleeps and the moonlight gently touches her face.  His lips turn up as he is content watching her.
    He reaches over and gently strokes Leanna’s face.  He hates having to wake her.  “Leanna,” he sing-songs her name.  “We’re here.”
    Leanna squirms a bit and a groan escapes her.  James removes his hands from her face.  Her groan tugs on his heart strings.  He knows that she’s in pain and she’s been through a lot in her short life.  He never wants her to hurt again, especially by his hands.  No woman should ever go through the hell that she has and he’s determined to right all the wrongs that she’s been forced to endure. 
    He exits his truck and circles around to her side.  He gently eases the door open as not