Angeline wasn't surprised to find two missed calls from Nathan when she finally had the chance to check her phone after the bakery closed. From the moment she opened, customers had rolled in non-stop.
The bakery closed late, and it took another couple of hours to clean up and prep for the next morning. Fortunately for her, Veronica, her best friend and longtime employee, stayed behind to assist her.
Angeline pulled the dishwasher open and sighed. She'd spent so many nights here, ever since Nathan bought the bakery for her two years ago as a birthday present—cruelly, it was after one of his worst beatings. He knew how much Angeline had wanted her own bakery, and he'd used that to dampen the pain she'd felt—to manipulate her more into staying with him.
Angeline winced as she reached into the dishwasher. Her sides ached from the night before.
She pulled out a cup from the top rack and tried to place it back in its place in the cupboard, but a jolt of pain stopped her from going any further.
"Okay, that's it." Veronica shut the door to the commercial dishwasher with a bang.
Angeline stared back at her, confused. "What?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Angeline," she said. "I know something is going on between you and Nathan. Don't think for a second I haven't noticed the bruises. Why haven't you reported this to the authorities?"
"We shouldn't be talking about this, Veronica," Angeline mumbled.
"Yes, we should," she said matter-of-factly. "Since when do we keep secrets from each other?"
"It has nothing to do with you, so mind your own business."
"It has everything to do with me!" Veronica cried, bottom lip trembling in both anger and fear. Angeline's eyes flitted away, taking in the worn white tiles as if she had ever seen them before.
"You're my best friend. It's like I don't even recognize you anymore. You don't talk about the things that used to excite you, you don't even smile. Hell, I haven't even heard you laugh in months!"
She looked up from the floors and gave Veronica what was supposed to be a shrug of indifference, as if to tell her that she worried for no reason, but her free hand gripped the side of the marble countertop tightly, dismantling all her efforts at faux normalcy.
"This isn't the Angeline I know, it isn't—" before she had the chance to finish, Angeline slammed the cup down with more force than necessary. "Then tell me what I should do then? I can't go to the police, he is the police. They wouldn't believe a damn word I had to say, not one word."
Veronica said softly, "You run."
Angeline was shaking uncontrollably and quickly began to undo her apron. "Are you insane? I can't do that. Nathan's watching my every move. He'll kill me if I run and beat me if I don't. It's a no win situation with him." She threw her apron onto the counter and quickly turned to leave. She barely made it two steps before she felt a hand catch her own and gently but firmly turned her back to face Veronica.
Veronica yanked up her sleeve, revealing dark bruises along her arms where Nathan had grabbed her. "Look at this," she told her. "If you continue on like this, more than likely you won't live to see tomorrow. Is that what you want? Are you prepared to go home within the next hour and have Nathan beat the living crap out of you again? Because I sure as hell don't want that for you. I don't want to see my best friend buried at the age of twenty-five, not before she's had a chance to live, to be happy and have children of her own. Please, Angeline, please consider what I have to say and get the hell out of that house—of that relationship."
Angeline bit her lip, contemplating. Veronica was right; she didn't want to live the rest of her days in fear. She closed her eyes, reliving happier times, and wondered what she did wrong, what she'd said to make him hate her so much.
If she was going to leave, everything she'd worked so hard for would no longer exist, but it was a price she had to pay for freedom. There was a knot in her stomach as she mulled it over, mind working overtime to process her options.
"I don't know, Veronica. This is all too soon. Don't you think it requires a little more planning?" Angeline stumbled over her words as she spoke, fighting back the prickling in her eyes.
"I can't just leave this place behind." She was unsure now. Unsure and scared of all the blank spaces in her best friend's suggestion, despite knowing deep inside her that it was the only logical way to have her life become hers again.
"This place is not more important than your freaking life, Angeline. Do you hear me?" Veronica's voice broke towards the end of her statement, eyes boring into her friends' as it glimmered with tears in the bright orange glow of the light.
Angeline nodded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She had no more arguments on the tip of her tongue, and though her brain had found all of the obvious plot holes, like where she would even find enough money to move far enough for her husband not to find her, she let herself find hope in the soft smile that Veronica shared as she pulled her into a hug, reassuring her everything would be okay.
"Wait right here, I have something for you," Veronica said once they had disconnected, from the hug, tears still fresh on their cheeks. She pulled away from their embrace and left the room. When she came back, she was carrying her favorite thrift Coach purse, and she set it down on the counter beside the sink, pulling out a small manila envelope and handing it over to Angeline.
"I don't know why you never talked to me about it, but I've always known and I've been patiently waiting until you came around, which you technically still haven't." she rambled. There was complete silence for a full three seconds, before she spoke again.
"I started keeping this aside since I found out, for whenever you were ready. It's not much, but it'll get you where you need to go and then some."
While Veronica explained, Angeline opened the envelope and gaped. There must have been over six grand in her hand, not to mention what was left in the envelope. She shoved the money back into the envelope and tried to hand it back to Veronica. "I can't accept this," she said. "It's too much."
"I insist. There's a business card inside. He's a friend of a friend. He'll take you wherever you want to go and more."
An uneasy knot formed in Angeline's stomach. "Um..."
"You can trust him. You have my word. No one will know where he's taking you. Not even me."
"Thank you." Angeline squeezed Veronica's hand. This time, she couldn't hold back the tears that fell free down her face.
"Take this." Veronica pulled out a taser from the side pocket of her purse. "When you get the chance, you shock the living shit out of him. I guarantee you the son of a bitch will drop down to his knees."
After years of living in this hellish nightmare, a faint smile formed on the corners of Angeline's lips. "You're the best friend I've ever had."
"Me too," Veronica said.
"No, you don't understand..."Angeline's voice held a certain firmness to it before her sentence broke. She had been about to say, "You're the only friend I've ever had," but that made her seem so lame, and besides, it was still an inadequate expression of what she felt for this girl. They were, indeed, like sisters.
Veronica hugged her hard. "I know."
A tear slid down Angeline's face, and she immediately wiped it away. "I wish I didn't have to go, but I want you to know that I couldn't have made it this far without you. You've always been there when I needed you."
Veronica pulled away and held Angeline's face in her hands. "I want you to be happy, and I know you will be."
***
Later that evening, Chavez was parked in his usual spot, waiting for her. Angeline noticed Nathan's suburban pulling up behind Chavez' patrol unit. He stepped out and walked over to the parked unit. The two men turned their heads and looked over in her direction. Her fear began to rise. Nathan nodded and motioned Chavez to leave for the evening. As soon as he drove off, Nathan headed over toward the bakery.
The bell sounded throughout the small bakery as he walked in. "You had me worried," he said. "I couldn't reach you today."
Angeline gave him a weak smile. "I'm sorry, baby. We got flooded with customers this afternoon," she said, draping her purse over her shoulder. "I didn't have a chance to return your calls. It won't happen again."
Angeline started for the door, but before she could reach it, Nathan grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "You're a lying little bitch, you know that?" he snarled.
"What?" she breathed.
"Chavez said you weren't busy at all this afternoon."
"Why would you believe him over me? Your own wife?" Angeline asked in disbelief.
"Because he's my friend," he spat in her face.
"And I'm your wife," she repeated angrily and yanked her arm free of his grasp. "Why would I go and lie to you about something like that?"
"What did you tell her?" Nathan's voice was low and menacing.
"What are you talking about?" Angeline asked.
"Don't play dumb with me, sweetheart," he said. "In case you've forgotten, I have the best confession rate on the force. I can play this game better than you."
She didn't doubt it. Nathan was brilliant at his job.
Nathan reached out and she flinched, and he paused slightly before he touched her cheek, his thumb running over it. "I'll only ask you one more time, Angel," he said to her. "What did you tell Veronica?"
"Nothing," she insisted, lying through her teeth. "I was just venting to her about how I was just stressed about the upcoming bake sale going on next week— "
Nathan swung his arm back suddenly, banging his fist on the counter, startling her. "Stop lying to me!"
Nathan's face, a twisted mass of raging fury and evil, froze Angeline's blood.
"I heard everything, Angeline."
Nathan's few words confused Angeline. She paused for a moment, furrowed her brows, and asked Nathan in a trembling voice filled with anxiety: "Y-you heard?"
She turned to watch him round the corner of the front counter and reach underneath it to retrieve what looked to be a small listening device.
"You've been spying on me?" She asked, appalled. "For how long, Nathan?"
With a shake of his head, he made his way back over to Angeline. "It doesn't matter," he told her.
"It matters to me!" She exclaimed, running one hand through her hair in frustration. "I've done nothing but love you, Nathan. I've tried to forgive you for the things that you've done to me, but I can't...I can't do this anymore..."
"Do what?" he growled.
"This...us..."
He took a threatening step toward her, looming over her. "You're not leaving me, Angeline," he said in a low voice. "I told you last night, I refuse to live without you."
Angeline's chest expanded, her lips quivering as tears welled up in her eyes. "What choice have you've given me, Nathan?" her voice cracked. "It's threat after threat with you. Beating after beating! You're my husband! You're supposed to make me feel safe, not scared—"
Before Angeline could finish her sentence, Nathan's hand connected with the right side of her face.
"How dare you speak to me in that way?" Nathan's voice lowered to growl, and his hand raised was raised to deliver another slap to her face. She flinched under the sight of his heavy palm, but at the very last minute, she dodged. Her legs scrambled underneath her to run away.
It was short-lived, however, when Nathan tugged her back by the ends of her hair, pushing her against a wall so that a thud echoed through the kitchen. The impact of her head against the tiled wall knocked the air right out of her, but she barely had any time to recover before the familiar feeling of his large hands finding themselves around her throat ensued.
"Please," she grunted between clenched teeth, looking up at the man who was supposed to be her husband and seeing the sick thrill in his eyes.
Angeline tried to fight him, but her strength was nothing compared to Nathan's. Eventually, her limbs were beginning to grow heavy, the room fading, and even Nathan's constant yelling sounded like it came from a great distance.
Suddenly, she remembered the taser.
Mustering all the strength she had left, Angeline reached into her back pocket. Her hand gripped tightly around the taser. If she wanted to survive—to make it out of this nightmare—now was the time.
Before Nathan could react, Angeline pressed the stun gun against his neck. He cried out as a surge of electricity passed through his body, causing him to fall onto the floor, momentarily incapacitated.
Freed from his grasp, Angeline coughed and gasped as she filled her lungs with needed oxygen. But she couldn't stay there. She had to move quickly.
Angeline sprinted toward the door. Somewhere behind her, she knew Nathan was pulling himself up on his feet, anger etched on his face.
Confused looks were given as she blasted through civilians. She could feel the cold cement slamming into her feet through the thin canvas soles of her flats, as if she were barefoot, but she didn't care.
Her calves were coiled springs, propelling her forward with every step. In the distance behind her, Angeline could hear someone calling her name—Nathan, probably there to kill her if he caught up with her. But she wouldn't stop for anyone.
Her lungs screamed in pain as she gasped for breath. She glanced fearfully over her shoulder and noticed Nathan was quickly catching up to her. No matter how fast she moved, how cunningly she changed directions, he was always there. Suddenly, a unit wheeled around the corner, flashing his lights and siren. It was Chavez with a smug look on his face as he pounded the brakes.
"LAPD, stop that woman!" Nathan shouted behind her.
People stepped forward, trying to grab at her. She felt sorry for the poor bastard she ended up tasing in the neck, but she refused to give up. Angeline turned down an alleyway where, she was met with a nine-foot fence blocking her path.
"Angeline, stop!" Nathan shouted from somewhere distant. Angeline ignored him. She climbed over the chain link fence with determination she never thought she had. Once she landed on her feet, she made a mad dash down the dark alley. Her eyes skimmed around her surroundings, frantically trying to find a place to hide. Her eyes came to a stop at a small window leading to an abandoned warehouse, just big enough for her small frame to squeeze through.
She lifted her leg and kicked the window in, then quickly got onto her knees and threw her purse first down into the dark room. Angeline gasped as Nathan's voice resounded once again.
"Angeline!"
Swallowing her fear, she crawled through the small window as quickly as she could with no care for the cuts and scrapes. She dropped and hit the ground with a slap.
Nathan's footsteps quickly approached down the alleyway. She got to her feet and hid behind a large wooden crate, placing a hand over her mouth to cover her frantic breaths.
Sitting down, she trembled in fear as he slowed by the broken window and prayed frantically for invisibility.
He seemed to stand there for an eternity. But then he kept moving.
She removed her hand from her mouth and let out a shaky breath.
Just then, the cell phone rang.
She paled.
Shit, shit, shit!
She quickly felt around her purse until she found her phone. Nathan. She knew he was trying to track her down by it, and quickly turned off the power.
Nathan's booted feet reappeared and approached the broken window.
Oh God, he's going to find me. He's going to kill me!
He stood motionless. Listening. Watchful.
She couldn't risk crying. Not while she was in the dark room. Nathan would hear her, and she couldn't release the tears that threatened until she was safely out of there and he was gone.
But then his boots turned away from her and kept moving. He walked past the window to the middle of the alley. Whatever he'd thought he heard was no longer there.
She blinked furiously, clearing her teary vision.
He stopped and turned, studying the alleyway one last time. Angeline held her breath. His footsteps moved off the way he had come. His tread swiftly faded, cloaked by the fierce pounding of her heart.
She exhaled explosively with relief. She was still safe.
After discarding her phone in the trash, she headed straight for the nearest payphone. She needed to stay in crowded areas, blend in with the other people, then get the hell out of Los Angeles. Away from him. If all went the way she hoped, he would never see—or hit her—ever again.
Rummaging through her purse, she pulled out the business card from inside the manilla envelope and deposited two coins into the coin slot. With shaking hands, she dialed the number on the card. A man picked up after the third ring.
"Hello?"
Her lip trembled as she searched for the words to explain what had just happened. Then the tears began to fall.
"Is this Angeline?"
She suppressed a sob. "I need to get out of Los Angeles. Can you help me?"
He was silent for a moment. "Yes."