Chapter 1

Annie Golden was the only child born to Kathleen and Tom Golden. Kathleen was only 17 when Annie was born. She and Tom had just graduated from high school and had moved in with Kathleen’s parents until they could get settled. On Annie’s six-month birthday, her Grandma Sophie planned a special dinner. She, Kathleen and Tom went into town to pick up some groceries. Annie was sleeping and Papa Walt said he would watch her. Her grandma and parents never made it back for that special dinner. A drunk driver ran a stop sign and had killed them all. Tom’s family had not wanted Annie and Papa Walt did, so the court gave him permanent custody and he raised her. He did the best that he could and thanked God every day for leaving her, for him to love. She was his girl! He had raised her, cherished and encouraged her to succeed at life and not to depend on anyone but now he needed her.

Annie’s heart was pounding, her throat was dry, and she knew she must stay still. Maybe this time the monster would not find her. Nevertheless, he was getting closer, she could hear him. There was another voice calling to her, but she couldn’t answer. If she did, the monster would hear her too. She could hear him searching for her and growling her name and he was so close. But the other voice was close too, “Annie, where are you, Sweetheart answer me, are you all right?” She wanted to open the laundry room cabinet door where she was hiding but it could be a trick and then the monster would hurt her again. Just then, the cabinet door came open and the monster was pulling her out. Terrified she couldn’t even scream, but when the monster hit her, she let out a loud moan and the monster dropped her. No wait, someone else was there, the other voice, someone had come to save her. She couldn’t see a face on this man, but he had on a white shirt, blue jeans and boots and the tips of his boots had a gold point on each one. He hit the monster again and again and with the last punch, all the air screeched out of the monster and he shot around the room like a balloon. The man in the boots came over and picked her up and gently kissed her forehead. Annie woke up! The nightmare was over again. She had that monster dream so many times before, but this was the first time anyone had ever saved her. Annie looked at the clock, 4:45 a.m.; she hadn’t gone to bed till 2:00 a.m. Another night gone, she headed for the kitchen to start the coffee. She went with caution, checking all the doorways and turning on lights as she went. Always afraid she wasn’t alone and always afraid that she would be.

The light of a new dawn found Annie in the same old window seat that she had been sitting on for three weeks now. She held a fresh hot cup of coffee and continued to stare out the window at the bay. The tide came in, it went out and the dolphins played, hour after hour, day after day. Her new house sat on a beach where the ocean had created a bay. The view was serine and just sitting there was all she could handle these days. The house was larger than she needed but it had been available immediately and she needed a place to hide quickly. She had very few personal items to move, but what she did have was still packed away in boxes, and the boxes were still stacked downstairs. She had ordered some furniture, had it delivered, and had her bed set up before she left the halfway house. She had used the manager’s name so it would be hard to trace back to her. Helen was the Manager at The Inn and had become close to Annie. Helen was just a wonderful person and nice to all the other women but for some reason she and Annie had just clicked. Helen let all the ladies use her name for things like orders and having furniture delivered to their new homes. Annie’s house had three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, but Annie had her bed put in the attic and used only the kitchen, rarely. The attic was like a crow’s nest and had windows all around it. The windows that faced the bay were big and had a lovely cushioned window seat built in, the other three walls had high rectangular windows that no one could see in. The room was big and bright with a small bathroom in one corner. Annie had been sitting in that window every day since the day she arrived. The bed behind her still had the covers thrown back and she thought for a moment about getting back in but then dismissed the thought because she didn’t sleep much when she was in it anyway.

The beach was washed new every day by the tide and few people were ever there to disturb it. On the rare occasion that someone did walk the beach, Annie would watch them from a distance.

Although it was early April, South Carolina was warm, so she opened the window more to enjoy the breeze. The birds outside were loud but in the short time she had been there, she had gotten used to their calls and didn’t notice it much anymore. Nearly an hour had passed, her coffee was gone, and she decided to get up. Maybe she would shower and get dressed, maybe just make the bed, or maybe she would go downstairs and get more coffee and a muffin. Making the bed won and then she would get more coffee and that muffin, but the shower could wait. Smoothing the coverlet on her bed and admiring what a good job she had done was yet another daily routine for her.

Annie had been counseled at the halfway house about her fears, but nothing could cover the fear of herself. What if she forgot something and messed up her made-up story about her past? People would soon catch on and she knew she could never trust anyone again. The more people who knew the truth about who she really was, the greater the possibility that Ron would find her. His last words to her rang in her ears even now, “You can’t get away Annie, you can’t go far enough or hide well enough, I will find you and I will kill you!” Ron had always been a man of his word and she believed his threat, so much so that no one at the halfway house even knew where she had gone or what she had changed her name to. She had pleaded with the Judge to seal her records. Ron was smart, very wealthy and motivated to find her. He would never rest, until he was finished with her.

Just then the phone rang, Annie jumped. “Don’t answer it, don’t answer it, don’t answer it,” she muttered. The phone rang seven times and then stopped. Annie moved slowly toward the phone as if she knew it would ring again and it did.

“Hello” Annie said almost in a whisper.

“Annie, this is Detective Clay, are you, all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but why are you calling me?”

“Annie, I hate to give you any more bad news or cause you any pain, but I got a call about Walt Geyer. He said you gave him my number to reach you till you get settled.” His voice sounded surprised that she hadn’t already contacted her grandfather.

“I just wasn’t ready to talk to him about all this yet.” She explained.

“Well get ready. He needs you. Walt is in the hospital. I didn’t get any details other than he’s ok, or he will be ok. He needs you to go home and help for a while.” He could hear her breathing, so he knew she had heard him. “Annie, you know I’m against it, he might look for you there. I can’t guarantee your safety. You know we are going to put him away, but I just don’t have enough evidence yet. Isn’t there someone else who can help Walt? You need to stay put.”

Annie knew that she needed to go but her fear was so strong.

“I’m going! I know the risk, but this is just something I have to do. Now tell me what happened. You said he was hurt.”

“I didn’t get any details; all I know is that he’s been taken to St. Paul’s Memorial Hospital. I was told to call you and ask you to come home as soon as possible. I take it that you haven’t even contacted him, to let him know where you are staying?”

“No.” she answered quietly. “Papa Walt is not going to take any of this well. I just told him that I would not be living in LA or with Ron anymore and that I would call him when I could explain. I’m still not ready to explain!”

“Ready or not, if you go home, there will be questions. Why don’t you let me send someone, I’ve made a few calls and I could hire someone to help out, then you wouldn’t have to go at all?”

“He’s my Papa. I have to go. I will call Papa’s best friend Boyd and see what he can tell me. Maybe it isn’t bad, and I won’t be gone long.” She said hopefully.

“I know I don’t have to remind you to be very, very careful. Don’t talk to strangers, make sure you’re not being followed home and when you call this Boyd, don’t call from your phone. God, I wish I could talk you out of this. I can’t protect you out there!”

“I know and I really appreciate that you are so caring, but I have to do this. I will be careful, and I’ll call you later. Thanks.”

Caring? How could he not be, when he got her case, it upset him so, that he vowed to put the bastard away that did this to her. She was a sweet young thing, good hearted, innocent and so full of fear. She was like a child, an abused, broken, shattered child. How had she ever gotten involved with this animal? His department had many charges that they could bring Ron up on, but Detective Clay was holding out for a premeditated murder and not Annie’s. Ron had managed to eliminate many obstacles in his path and avoid prosecution and Detective Clay was positive that in this case eliminate meant murder. Annie would never be free until that man was put away, for life. He was glad he had made some calls before talking to Annie and now had Spencer headed her way. Maybe one of Spencer’s brothers could fly him in to Wilmington. Spencer was a good man and would take care of Annie since he couldn’t. If Spencer had left right after the call, he might even beat her there and then she wouldn’t be alone at all. Clay had thought about telling her that Spencer was on his way, but he just didn’t want to fight with her about it. This was the way it had to be. He had hoped to stop her and to let Spencer handle it, but he knew she would risk everything for Walt.

Annie quickly took that shower and packed a suitcase. In less than an hour, she was backing her car out of the garage. She still felt funny driving this car. Detective Clay had helped her pick it out because this was the first item, she had purchased using her new name. It was a dark blue Chevy Cavalier, not too big and not too small. It was not a car that would be picked out in a crowd, but it was nice and even luxurious. Annie had gotten a nice settlement from the divorce and Detective Clay had even advised her how to spend part and deposit the rest so the large sum could not easily be traced. She had taken his advice, deposited the money in several different accounts, and used some of it for the house and new car. She knew well that Ron had connections that could trace large amounts of cash so it would be easy for him to follow her cash trail, unless she was careful. At first, she fought against taking any money but as Detective Clay, Helen and many of the ladies at The Inn had reminded her, she would need money to live on and she deserved to be compensated for the abuse she suffered. Helen felt that if she took every dime Ron had, it would still never dent what he owed her. Annie had taken the money and tried to stop thinking about it. Her drive from Edisto to Whiteville, North Carolina would be quick, she had moved here because she wanted to be close to Papa Walt without putting him in any danger. She had never lived here before or even vacationed here, so this was one place Ron would not think to look for her. But now she was heading home and although she had never taken him there, he knew where she was from; finding her there would be so easy. Annie knew the risk, but she was still going home anyway.

When she reached Wilmington, Annie felt like she was home. Only about 45 more minutes and she would be at the farm, Buttercup Farm; home. No amount of danger could stop her, she felt better than she had in a long time, and maybe coming home was just what she needed to do. Just a short time later she turned onto Buttercup Lane, as her Grandma Sophie had named it when they started the farm. The lane was lined with old oak trees that were sharing the lane with wild wisteria that were in full bloom, the ground beneath them was covered with wild buttercup flowers. The lane was dry and dusty but as she pulled up to the house the yard looked green and lush. She would have to put that on her to do list after seeing Papa Walt, mow. The house was so well maintained that it almost looked new. The porch had recently been painted and the windows had all been replaced. Annie grabbed her bag from the back seat and headed in, in to her safe little world. However, her feeling of safety left when she entered the living room. It was obvious that someone had been here and that someone had trashed the place. They had gone through every drawer and cabinet. Papers were thrown everywhere, cushions tossed around, and tables turned over. Why would someone do this? She slowly moved through the house and discovered that the intruders had been thorough, they had searched everywhere. What in the world, were they looking for? Her! Of course, they were looking for something to tell them where she was. She moved slowly back to the kitchen, things in here seem different, a new microwave, a big dent in the refrigerator and one of the chairs was missing to the kitchen table. What in the world was going on here? Annie would tackle this mess later, she needed to see Papa Walt and get some answers. She would file a report with the police after she talked to Papa too; no one was getting away with this.

She was just stepping out on the porch when a big black truck turned in the lane and drove right up to the front door. It parked next to her car, but no one got out, the windows were tinted and the whole truck was dusty, like it had been on the road for a while. When the door finally opened a man got out. He was wearing a cowboy hat that shielded his face so she couldn’t really see what he looked like. He took a couple steps toward her and then looked at her with some concern, she was pointing a gun at him. She had carried it in her purse whenever she left her house and was glad, she had it now. She knew it was illegal to carry a concealed weapon, but she would rather be arrested than killed. He smiled at her and then said, “Hello, you must be Annie.”

“Yes, I am, and who are you?” she asked.

“I was hired to help Walt out on his farm but have been working down in Texas and this was the soonest I could get here.” He took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair; gorgeous, thick, wavy black hair. He smiled again showing her his dimples, but she just stood there staring at him. So, he asked, “Are you going to shoot me or invite me in?”

Her hand was trembling, but she really didn’t feel that he was a threat. He could have been someone that Ron had sent to deal with her, but she really wasn’t afraid of him. He had a kind spirit, she could feel it, she knew that was crazy, but her instincts told her he was ok. He needed to be, because she really couldn’t run this place alone and if Papa Walt was really hurt, she would need all the help she could get. Not wanting to give away any information to this stranger she finally said, “Before we get you settled in, I’m on my way to see Walt at the hospital, I would like to check with him before you start work.” Lowering the gun, she added, “Could you come back in a few hours, say around 3:00?”