Forever Taken

Chapter Ten

The next day we lazed around the room, flipping through the television channels. We were in no hurry to do anything, not like we had anything to do anyway. Ezra had handled his business and could do it over his phone until he was able to go back.

Sometime after breakfast his phone rang and he picked up, only to make a face and put it on speakerphone.

"I need to speak to Asher," came Mirabelle's strained, but familiar voice.

"Who are you?" Ezra asked, staring at me.

"He will know who I am," she responded, barely holding in her anger.

"I'm sorry, he's not here," Ezra quickly responded.

That made her flip her lid.

"GIVE HIM THE PHONE! I NEED HIM BACK AND I KNOW HE'S WITH YOU!"

"I'm sorry," Ezra said, seeming at a loss for words. "Please don't call this number again."

Ezra hung up the phone and gave me a look. Before he could put the phone away it started ringing again. Without even checking the ID, he answered and put it on speakerphone.

"Please," Mirabelle had changed her tone to quiet, almost begging. My heart actually ached. "Please let me talk to him. I don't have much time. I need him back."

Ezra shook his head and hung up again. We sat in silence for a minute and the phone started ringing again. I didn't know how she got his number and I wasn't sure what to do. Ezra sent the call to voicemail.

This pattern happened too many times to count during the day. By the end of the night Mirabelle had left too many voicemails for the machine to hold and even more calls.

When Ezra went to sleep I took his phone and listened to each of the voicemails. They started out being very pushy and angry. Then they morphed into very quiet and pleading. The last ones pulled on my heart more than I had expected.

It was hard for me to keep my mind straight and not call her. I opened the last voicemail.

"Asher," she whispered. "Please, please come home. I'll do anything you ask me to if you'll just come home. I thought things were going so well. I don't even know what to think. Please just talk to me. If you felt nothing for me I'll understand if you don't come back. But if there was even the least little bit of feeling for me, or even a curiosity, please come home. We won't get another chance at this."

I lay down after that, my mind full. I could hear Ez breathing lightly beside me, asleep. I didn't get any sleep, I just lay there and go over Mirabelle's last message in my mind again and again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Through the next few days there were no phone calls and I started to feel better about leaving. Since she wasn't calling Ezra I decided that she was focusing on moving on. My heart was still being pulled in almost every direction and I felt like the biggest butthole on the planet for all that I had done, but I looked forward to going home and starting new somewhere else where the Chief wouldn't be corrupt.

I had a lot riding on me to do well. I had left Greer and come to Blanton County with the hopes of settling and getting my life together with Ezra's help. Things were going okay until I got taken. After that my life got turned upside down and I got off track. I wasn't even sure how to start getting my life back on track but I needed to, and I needed to hurry.

Ezra seemed to be waiting on me to ask him to take us home. I had to wait, though. I had to know that it was really over.

Ezra suddenly muted the show that we were pretending to watch. "What are you going to tell Sara?"