Installment 22 of our featured novel “Relentless” is (finally) here! So sorry for the delay! If you’ve missed the earlier installments and would like to join our readership, be sure to check out the novel’s home page HERE.
We are publishing the novel in small installments, so it takes only minutes to keep up with the story. Many years ago, we were fans of Stephen King’s installment-based publishing of “The Green Mile” over many months, so we are following in that vein as a feature on Moteventure.
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RELENTLESS – D.S. FACTOR
ABI
Filtered light streamed through gauze-like curtains, sending soft beams of late afternoon sunshine across Abi’s face as she jerked awake, momentarily confused as to exactly where she was. The events of the past hours came back to her in pieces as she slipped the light throw off and dropped her feet to the floor.
“Winn?” she ventured as she navigated the staircase to the ground floor, not ignorant to the fact that the simple query “Brad?” earlier in the day was exactly what started her current nightmare.
“Ah, you’re finally up!”, Winn replied, meeting Abi at the base of the stairs with an iced coffee from Smokie Row. “This should clear your head a bit. You’ve been sleeping for hours!”
“Seriously? What time is it?”, Abi inquired. She’d been exhausted following the initial conversation with Winn explaining what had happened and why she was visiting unexpectedly.
“Girl, it’s 4:45 and I still am trying to figure out if what you told me is serious shit.”, Winn stated, a quizzical look spreading across her face.
“I wish it weren’t, but yes, I had to literally kill this woman, or I’d have been killed myself.”, Abi replied, hearing the words as if they were coming from someone else’s experience. “Surely the police are looking for me by now?”
I’ve been scanning CNN, Fox, even our local KCCI and haven’t seen anything coming up referencing any mysterious death at a lighthouse on the east coast. Nada.”
Winn took the coffee from Abi’s hands and moved to the great room, settling into a comfortable mocha-hued sofa, patting the adjacent cushion to encourage Abi to have a seat.
Abi complied with a stretch and yawn once seated. “I’ve been wracking my brain to figure out why they would be after me, and the only thing I could come up with is they initially weren’t.”
“What makes you say that? Seems like you’ve been running for your life since before sunrise.” Winn stated unequivocally.
“First, I was left in bed and Brad was nowhere to be found. It was only when I ventured out to find him that I was suddenly a target…an additional one.”
Winn nodded her head. “So, you think they were after Brad? Why would they be after him? It’s not like he’s a drug dealer or a human trafficker. He’s just a regular guy with a regular job. Ooh, maybe he’s living a secret double life with another family in a nearby city!”
“We sound crazy, right? I mean, is it just me thinking I’m insane? People were chasing me down and trying to kill me at one point. I killed someone Winn. Do I go to the police?”
“Hell, no. Based upon what you told me, it was a total case of self-defense. What if they think you were trying to kill your own husband? It’s like a Lifetime movie. Sweet suburban housewife Abi discovers her seemingly upstanding hubby Brad is having a torrid affair with the lonely but seductive next-door neighbor, whose own husband was killed by an IED in the Middle East? That shit happens all the time girlfriend.” Winn replied.
“Damn Winn, what am I gonna do?”
“Honey, you seriously must do something with your hair. Oh my God, it looks like you cut it with a hedge trimmer!”
CAROLINE
“Suicide? Me? You obviously have me confused with some other patient. Now, unless you’d like to have this hospital sued into utter oblivion, I’d remove these restraints and get me some coffee. ASAP!”
The orderly looked a bit shell-shocked at Caroline, sliding his hand tentatively into the pocket of his white coat and closing his hand around a set of keys.
“Well? Don’t just stand there. Do I sound suicidal to you?” Caroline opined, seething at the very idea itself.
“Uh…no, not really ma’am. But I really don’t have the authority…”
“Those are a set of keys in your hand? I assume one of them unlocks these restraints, correct? Then I believe you DO have the authority, and I’m demanding you use it!”
Hesitancy crossed the young man’s face as he sorted through the key ring, landing on one of the smaller keys, fumbling it between his thumb and index fingers.
“I could get in a lot of trouble doing this…” he sheepishly admitted.
“For correcting an obvious mistake? I don’t think so. You seem like an upstanding, conscientious young man who wants to do the right thing,” Caroline opined with an obvious change in demeanor. “You can certainly tell I’m neither suicidal nor crazy.”
“True,” he stated, moving closer to her bedside.
“Then please?”, she lifted her hands off the railings with a jingle. “I hope you have good coffee here.”
“I can grab Starbuck’s if you like,” the orderly stated as he moved closer and inserted the key into the lock and turned it, repeating the same thing with the other restraint.
“Thank you so much…uh…Robert. I’d so love a Caramel Brulée Latte if they have one.” Caroline stated. reading the nametag attached to his coat and turning on a high wattage smile. I will make sure your supervisors know what great attentiveness you provide to your patients.”
“No thanks necessary.” Robert replied. “I’ll just be a minute running down to grab you that coffee.” He then slid the keys back into his pocket and with his own high voltage smile, he left Caroline Kramer alone and unrestrained in her hospital room.
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daily prompt
DO YOU NEED TIME?
For me, time is more precious than money or any other type of riches. It gives you the opportunity to make amends, to say hello, to say goodbye, to say I’m sorry, to be amazed and to be loved. In the words of The Alan Parsons Project, “Time…keeps flowing like a river…until it’s gone forever.” Don’t be the foolish one who wastes it.
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