Nothing Ordinary, M J Marlow [ebook and pdf reader .TXT] 📗

she recovers or we’ll have to put her in a sanitarium.” “NO!” Annie cried out in horror. “Walter, please don’t do this to me!” She looked at her cousin. “Eliza, please help me!” “I’m sorry, Anneke,” Eliza said to her, looking uneasily at Guthrie. “I can’t help you.” She left the room and closed the door behind her. “We have to do what’s best for you, darling,” Guthrie tormented her. “You are suffering from violent mood swings and I’m afraid you’ll hurt someone, even yourself.” He stroked her cheek and his eyes were kind, for Ilsa’s benefit. “Tell me who you called, darling, so I can explain this to them.” “Mrs. Taylor,” Annie sobbed, so terrified of what he would do to keep her under his control she could not think straight. “Please don’t hurt her, Walter.” “Why would I hurt her, Anneke?” Guthrie said as he sat down next to her. His hand moved to cup her chin so that she had to look at him. “You won’t do it again, baby, will you?” “No,” Annie shook her head. She could feel her confidence dying and knew she was close to becoming his helpless victim. “You won’t throw things at me anymore?” Guthrie asked as he made her look at the shattered window. “No,” Annie shook her head, sobbing as if her heart was breaking. “I didn’t…” “I know you didn’t mean to, darling,” Guthrie said to her gently. “You’re just confused right now. All the hormonal changes on top of your grieving; it is too much for you.” He heard a knock on the door and looked up to see his sister. “Here’s Gillian. She’ll give you something to calm you down and then we’ll put you in your room until the window can be fixed.” “I’m calm now,” Annie whimpered as she watched Gillian take out a vial of pills and shake one out. “I don’t need any pills.” She watched Guthrie leave. “Please don’t drug me! I won’t do it again!” “Hush now, Anneke,” Gillian said as she sent Ilsa to get a glass of water. “You’ll work yourself up into another attack. You have to stay calm.” She took the cup of water and put the pill in Annie’s mouth. “Swallow that down now, Anneke. You’ll feel much better once you have.” She helped Annie drink some water and smiled. “That’s a good girl.” Gillian untied her and helped Annie walk to her bedroom. She and Ilsa helped her undress and get into a nightgown. Then she was put to bed and given her meal. Once she had finished eating, she was left to sleep. She heard Gillian and Guthrie speaking as they headed out of the room. “You were right to worry about her, Walter,” Gillian was saying as she drifted off. “The sedative should help keep her calm.” “She’s a lot more fragile than I thought,” Guthrie said with concern in his voice. “I shouldn’t have pushed so fast.” “Don’t worry, brother,” Gillian’s cold voice grew fainter as the door opened. “Your pretty friend will be all right. Once the baby comes…” The door closed and whatever else they said was lost to her. Annie realized that she was lost. They were never going to take their eyes off her now. She had lost her one chance for freedom. Guthrie would convince Molly that ‘Anneke’ was suffering from mood swings and confusion and the older woman would accept his story at face value. It was up to her to get herself out of this mess before the baby was born or she was lost. 12 Annie woke up to the sound of hammering and got up. It was someone knocking on the door She watched from the bed as Ilsa brought her breakfast. She had to catch herself on the nightstand as her body remained weak from the sedative. She went to take a shower and she was still far too tired. She came out to find an outfit lying at the foot of the bed with the necessary underwear. Guthrie was nowhere to be seen. It was Gillian who was waiting for her. “Captain Ryan wants to talk to you about the call you made to Mrs. Taylor.” She saw her expression. “You will let me do all the talking, Anneke.” “Why bother taking me?” Annie snapped at her weakly. She ate her breakfast feeling more and more like a thing instead of her self. “Because the man insisted,” Gillian told her. “Get dressed now. We’re going to be late.” Annie did as she was told and she was exhausted by the time she finished. Gillian helped her out to the car and she leaned back and closed her eyes as Gillian drove to the police station. She was feeling a bit stronger after being out in the fresh air. But it didn’t matter; she was a prisoner no matter where she was now. Her uncle and Guthrie were never going to let her go. “Hello, Annie,” Ryan smiled as he opened the door to his office when he saw them coming. “Please sit down. Doctor, thank you for bringing her in on such short notice.” Gillian was nervous when she saw Doc Ryan and the Taylors sitting there. But she held her tongue and took a seat near Annie, holding her hand as Ryan leaned against his desk and looked at Annie kindly. “It’s been too long, Annie,” he started. “How are you feeling?” “I don’t know anymore,” Annie cried. She pulled her hand out of Gillian’s hold and moved away from her. “Why am I here?” “We don’t mean to distress you, Annie,” Ryan said to her. He looked at the woman next to Annie and disliked her immediately. She was just like her brother he decided, a manipulative and unfeeling monster. He had to do whatever he could to get Annie away from them. He could only hope she would forgive him for what he was about to pull. “You made a call to Molly Taylor yesterday. She was very concerned.” “Anneke is having violent mood swings due to the stress she’s been under,” Gillian spoke up. “I know the medical basis for what she did, Doctor Guthrie,” Ryan snapped at her. “I asked my father to confirm that claim.” Gillian bit her lip on what she wanted to say. He looked at Annie again kindly. “Your uncle is afraid you will hurt yourself or someone else, Annie, if you are not kept on a sedative. Do you agree with that?” “No!” Annie screamed and looked at Gillian. The woman came to her side as Annie burst into tears. “Don’t touch me!” “Why did Doctor Guthrie restrain you?” “Because I told him I didn’t want to stay in that house any more,” Annie said honestly. She looked at Gillian. “He thinks he can convince me to leave my husband for him.” “So you threw a statue at him?” Ryan asked her. Annie could see he was offering her a way out but she was too frightened to take it. “No, I…” “Doctor Guthrie and your cousin told us you did,” Ryan broke in. “You don’t have to be afraid to admit it. You’re not in any trouble.” “But I didn’t!” Annie sobbed and put her head in her hands. “Why won’t anyone believe me?” She saw Gillian’s lips tighten in anger. “I couldn’t have thrown it, Captain Ryan. He restrained me before the statue went out the window.” “Anneke!” Gillian snapped. She looked at Ryan. “You see how confused she is?” She patted Annie on the hand. “Admit you did it, darling. No one is going to think any less of you.” “Leave me alone!” Annie sobbed and backed away from them. “I can’t take any more of this!” Her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out. Doc picked her up and carried her away as Molly followed. Taylor stepped in front of Gillian as she started to go. “Oh no, Doctor Guthrie,” Ryan said coldly as he went to sit behind his desk. “Agent Taylor and I have some questions for you. You’re not leaving this office until we are satisfied that you were not aware that her uncle and your brother were guilty of false imprisonment.” Annie woke up as she was being put to bed and she looked around the hospital room in confusion. What was she doing here? She had been in the police station talking to Captain Ryan. Molly came over and sat down next to her and her expression of concern made Annie cry again. “You poor darling,” Molly said gently as she patted her hand. “That monster has hurt you badly, hasn’t he?” “He raped me and said I belonged to him, Molly,” Annie said to her. “He said he would kill my husband if I didn’t marry him.” She shook her head. “I have to go to James. I can’t stay here any longer.” “You’re not going anywhere,” Doc said as he came into the room with another doctor, a woman whose looks declared her to be related to Doc Ryan. “Annie,” he said gently, “this is my niece, Doctor Gail Harvey. She’s a very good obstetrician. She’s going to make certain your baby is all right and then we are going to give you something to bring your blood pressure down.” “I want James,” Annie protested as Gail examined her. She looked at Doc and Molly in mounting distress. “Please let me go to my husband.” “Only when we’re certain you’re well enough,” Doc told her kindly. “Now calm down, Annie. We’re here to help you.” “I want to go to my husband,” Annie said softly as she leaned back against the pillows. But they were not listening. They kept her in the hospital for three days while they made certain she and her baby were all right. They let her talk to James and he told her to let them help her. He assured her he was as eager as she was for them to be together again and that he was sending someone to get her. That calmed her down. When the door opened and a tall Hispanic man with thick dark-hair and wise eyes walked in on the fourth day, she was more than ready to go. “Uncle Marty!” Annie cried as he fixed his eyes on her. She burst into tears as he embraced her and held her firmly. “You are coming home with me for a while, Anneke,” he said gruffly. “You need time to straighten out your thinking.” Annie started to argue and he shook his head. “This is not a negotiation, ahijada. Your husband will be joining you there and you will be able to recuperate together.” He waited for Gail to remove the IV and then he helped her into the wheelchair. “She is never going to testify against me,” Guthrie hissed as he turned to glare at Ryan where they stood at the nurses’ station together. He saw Annie’s fear and knew she was nearly his. He couldn’t let them undo his programming now. “What jury is going to believe her? She has proven to be mentally unstable.” “That’s why Annie needs some alone time,” Ryan said to him stiffly. “You took advantage of her at a low point in her life without any thought for her welfare, Doctor Guthrie. Her godfather will keep her for the weeks or months she requires to get her head together and then she will testify against you and confirm that her uncle and you conspired to keep her a prisoner and that you raped her.” His eyes were cold as he looked at the man. “You had no right to do what you did to that girl!” 13 Annie spent two days in bed when she arrived at her godfather’s compound on Isla de la Juventud south of Cuba. She called her husband every day and the sound of his voice