I would disappear somewhere Thaddeus could never find me, and from there, I'd plan my next move.
As for calling the police, I didn't even consider it. The moment cops got involved, all Thaddeus had to do was tell them it was a prank, and no one could touch him. He could even distance himself entirely, have some lackey claim responsibility for the phone call, and walk away clean.
So running was the only real option.
Once I'd confirmed that everything valuable and portable was packed, I opened the door.
And froze.
Thaddeus James stood on the other side, his gaze glacial.
"Mrs. James, you didn't follow the instructions from the call. Where exactly do you think you're going?"
His voice came through a voice changer. A nightmare made flesh, standing right in front of me.
Before I could speak, his foot slammed into me.
The kick was brutal, dead-center in my lower abdomen. Pain ripped through me.
Was I really going to relive the same despair, the same death?
I didn't know where the strength came from, but I screamed and lunged at him.
My resistance was met with a beating twice as savage.
Within seconds I was on the floor again, bleeding again.
Thaddeus loomed over me, disgust carved into every line of his face.
"You think you can play games with me? This entire house is wired with cameras. Every single thing you do is under my control."
"Libby Fletcher, when I decide you die, you die."
"Why?" I stared up at him. "If you really love Geraldine, I'll agree to a divorce."
"Why?" Thaddeus erupted, his voice cracking with fury. "You actually have the nerve to ask me why?"
He grabbed whatever was within reach and hurled it at me, one thing after another, blind with rage.
"Thaddeus, stop!" Geraldine Simmons rushed in and threw herself between us. "Stop hitting her. You'll kill her if you keep going."
"Letting her die that easily would be too kind."
That was the last thing I heard before the darkness took me.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed. My wrists and ankles were strapped down.
The room was familiar. Sickeningly familiar.
I'd stayed in this private ICU suite before. This was the James family's private hospital.
There was no escaping from here. And the news broadcast playing on the television above me made the despair complete.