The Trophy Wife by Evie Baxter

Thirty-One

“We will find her, Tori,” I told her, seeing her tear stained face, deathly white in my rear view mirror. “We’re bringing her home safely, baby. I promise.” How could I promise her this? Isla was with a madman. Who knew what he planned? But I refused to contemplate anything but a scenario where Isla came home safe and sound to us.

“There he is!” David pointed ahead of us, where we could see Robert’s vehicle careering down the back road at a breakneck speed. “What the fuck are you doing, Dad?” He muttered to himself.

The Mercedes hire car bounced through potholes as I pushed down on the accelerator. If I wrecked this car then it would be a small price to pay to get Isla back safely.

“We’re gaining on him,” David informed me of something I already knew.

Tori sat in the back and sobbed, whispering Isla’s name between beaths.

“Fuck! He’s gone off the road.” I watched the dust cloud rise as the car ahead skidded trying to take a corner too fast and came to a stop with the front end buried in a hedgerow.

“My baby,” Tori cried. “She’s not buckled in. She’s going to be hurt.”

“She’ll be okay.” I tried to reassure her, and myself. “She’s a tough one, Tori. She’ll be okay.”

I came to a halt at the side of the road, behind Robert’s car. He was throwing his door open as we came to a stop, red faced and the very picture of fury. He opened the back door and dragged a sobbing Isla out by one arm, not bothered that she literally fell out the car, her legs dragging in the gravel before she got her feet under her.

“Mummy,” she sobbed pitifully. “Mummy.”

“I told you to stop wailing for her. I’m your father. You don’t need her.”

Isla’s huge tear stained eyes turned up to the man who gripped her arm, startled by his proclamation. She hiccupped, her sobs stopping briefly, then she said, “You’re not my daddy. Bastian is.”

Robert shook her like a ragdoll, roaring, “I’m your father, you ungrateful little bitch.”

Anger like I had never felt before flooded me. As soon as we got Isla out of his grasp, I was going to pulverise him. He was hurting my baby girl. I didn’t need to be her sperm donor to be her father. In every way that counted, that child was mine. I was stepping towards Robert, menace in every step when Tori pushed past me.

“Baby!” Tori ran towards her little girl but jerked to a stop when Robert wrenched Isla up in his arms, one beefy forearm around her neck.

“Stay back or I’ll hurt her. For fuck’s sake, does this child ever shut the fuck up?” he roared. “All she’s done is scream since she got in the car.”

“She’s scared, Robert,” Tori whispered. “Let her go. Please!”

“Dad!” Peter barked out at the older man. “Let her go. You’re only making things worse for yourself.”

“Look at you,” Robert sneered at his only son. “Trying to be the hero. What a waste of space you’ve proved to be.”

“She’s my baby sister. Let her go,” David implored, inured to his father’s insults.

“She’s a noisy little bitch. As much a waste of space as you are. I should have killed her like I did the first one.” Robert tightened his hold on Isla and gave her another shake. Her little hands scrabbled at his forearm, desperately trying to get more air.

Tori let out a strangled cry and fell to her knees, her eyes fixed on Isla.

Should have killed her like he did the first one?What was he talking about? What else had he done to Tori that she had never told me about? I was rooted to the spot, incapable of doing anything without endangering Isla further.

“Robert,” Tori pled with her ex-husband, “Take me. It’s not Isla you want, it’s me. Take me. You can punish me for leaving. Just let Isla go. She hasn’t done anything to you.”

“No!” David and I spoke at the same time.

Tori looked over her shoulder at me, despair in her eyes. “Take care of Isla, please, Bastian. I have to do this. I have to save her.”

Before I could stop her, she had risen to her feet and was moving closer to Robert. I stepped forward as well, but as soon as Robert saw me move, he cut off more of Isla’s air supply and I couldn’t risk getting any closer. The little girl I adored was looking at me with terror as she gasped for air.

I put my hands up to indicate to Robert that I was stepping back. “Let her breathe, man. For god’s sake, let her breathe.”

He loosened his grip just enough that we could hear Isla dragging much needed oxygen into her lungs.

“Come over to me, you little bitch,” Robert barked at Tori.

“Only if you let Isla go. You have to let Isla go,” Tori remained resolute in her determination to see Isla freed.

“Fine!” Robert dropped Isla to the ground with brutal disregard, grasping a handful of her hair so she couldn’t run to her mother. “When I have hold of you, I’ll let go of this one.”

Tori didn’t hesitate when she rose and strode forward. She placed herself at Robert’s side and allowed him to grasp her bicep in a vicious grip and didn’t flinch when he touched her. She just looked down at Isla with every last bit of love in her eyes, like this might be the last time she ever saw her. “Go to Bastian, baby. Now! Run to Bastian, okay. Mummy loves you and I’ll be home soon.”

Isla stood there, sobbing sadly at her mum, shaking her head. “Run, Isla, run for Mummy. Now. Go, baby. You have to do this for me, please!” Tori closed her eyes then summoned up a smile that almost broke me. “Everything is okay. Bastian is waiting. Off you go, lovely.”

Isla turned her huge eyes on me, and I nodded my head. Once she was clear of danger David and I could take on Robert no problem. I relished the chance to pummel the bastard into the ground. I itched to hurt him the way he had spent years hurting the woman I loved.

Isla started moving, slowly at first, looking between me and her mother, then her little legs gathered speed and she crossed the space between us, throwing herself into my arms in a desperate panic. My arms held her secure while I glared across at the man who held Tori close to his side. I was ready to do battle, until I recognised the fact that he now held a gun in his hand and was pressing it into Tori’s torso.

“Jesus, Dad! What are you doing? You’ve lost your mind. Let Tori go!” David was panicking, as aware as I was that getting Tori free wasn’t going to be as easy as we had planned.

“You all stay over there, or I’ll kill her. I swear I will. This wife of mine needs to come back to where she belongs. I’m getting in the car and I’m driving away. If you follow, I’ll shoot her. It’s that simple.”

Isla whimpered in my arms, clinging ever more tightly as the cruel words reached her ears. I attempted to stroke her soothingly, even as I boiled with rage, standing there helplessly watching while Robert shoved Tori into the car through the driver’s door, forcing her over the centre console in a rough manner, keeping the gun trained on her at all times. He turned to sneer at us, before he slid behind the wheel, reversed out the hedge and drove away.

“Fuck!” I roared to the sky, unfortunately unable to contain myself despite holding Isla in my arms.

David was on his phone, speaking to the police. They were already on their way to the village, a child kidnapping of the highest level of alert. Now we had the registration, make and model of the vehicle, as well as the colour. David told them which direction Robert had been headed, listened for a while, then cut the line.

“They are mobilising the helicopter and all cameras for number plate recognition. All officers are being alerted and on the lookout for him. They are going to do everything they can, Bastian.”

“But what can I do? I need to do something. I need to. God!” I buried my face in Isla’s hair and rocked her back and forth in my arms. She was in shock. I could feel her shaking and whispering mummy over and over again.

“Let’s get Isla home. Colette and Greg can take care of her. We can… I don’t know… I’ll try to think where my father might take her. Come on, I’ll drive. You sit in the back with Isla. She needs you.”