Sorry for the long delay in getting this up. Writing these chapter tales kind of weighs on me so I decided to go ahead and finish this one before moving on to something else. I knew when I started writing this story where it would end, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. The epilogue is meant to hint at a future tale to come.
Yes, this is long at just over 70,000 words. But it's broken up into chapters so it doesn't all have to be read at once.
As always I welcome your comments and criticisms.
Chapter 13
The day Lisa arrived on their doorstep came from out of the blue. There had been no portents, warnings, harbingers, or omens of bad things to come. And it hadn't announced itself with the sounds of trumpets, the blaring of ominous music, or with a bone-chilling battle cry.
It had instead meekly presented with the cry of a baby.
The time since the arrival of Lisa's letter had passed with no further contact from Kaia's former fiance. The silence had seemed to weigh heavily on the eclectic former Marine, with Skyler doing everything that she could to distract her. Despite the auburn-haired beauty's best efforts, though, it was the passage of time and absence of anything new that finally seemed to settle Kaia most.
After some discussion, Kaia had decided not to reply to Lisa, believing that even if she said no, the contact would only encourage her former lover.
But for Skyler, out of sight, out of mind wasn't an acceptable course of action.
On her own time, the younger woman began to scan social media for information on the woman she was starting to see more and more as a threat to her life with Kaia. Seeing knowledge as power, Skyler wanted to know everything she could about Lisa and the life she lived now.
Skyler found very little about Kaia's former lover and fiance under her married name. There were a few wedding shots with a barely smiling Lisa standing next to an attractive man that appeared a few years older than her. He seemed to have an arrogant air about him, something about how he carried himself in the pictures.
Lisa herself was quite beautiful. Her dark hair and piercing eyes were enchanting, and her build was of the voluptuous type society had always found sexy. But behind Lisa's smile, Kaia could see a sadness that spoke volumes.
Every shot in their online wedding album was the same. Lisa, in the arms of her new husband or surrounded by his or her family, that same false smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. The photo's inside reminded Skyler of shots she'd once seen online of proof of life images taken by kidnappers. One taken only to show that their captives were alive and healthy. Lisa's eyes belayed the smile on her face, an almost pleading quality radiating from them.
That led Skyler to believe there was some truth to the letter that Lisa had written. Perhaps she'd found herself in an unwinnable situation, something that she hadn't been mentally or physically capable of overcoming.
Kaia had spoken of her former fiance's bouts with depression in the past, saying how Lisa had suffered debilitating attacks following both of her miscarriages. According to Kaia, it was only through visiting with a therapist that Lisa had gotten past her mental issues.
Losing Kaia to deployment had elicited a similar response from Lisa as the failed pregnancies. Skyler could hardly blame her for that, the thought of even potentially losing the woman she loved making her feel sad.
The more she heard, read, and discovered, the more sorry Skyler found herself feeling for Lisa. She'd obviously led a troubled life, and if her letter was accurate, she had found herself surrounded by controlling people. But that didn't excuse what she had done to Kaia, and it certainly didn't earn her another shot at love with Skyler's incredible, sexy, and loving girlfriend.
It was when Skyler had searched Lisa under her maiden name that she had struck gold. There, she found a plethora of pictures featuring Lisa and her new baby, a little girl named Macey. The shots were sweet and ranged from just after the little girl's birth until a month or so later. Lisa looked tired and obviously carried more weight in her face than usual, but she was still radiantly beautiful, holding on to her daughter.
There were other shots, some more of Lisa and Macey at home, and others of her mother and father proudly holding on to their new granddaughter. But interestingly enough, there were no shots of the child's father, not one.
That led Skyler to peruse Lisa's blog postings, going all the way back to when she was married until the present. She discovered that around the three-month mark of their marriage, Lisa stopped mentioning her husband or marriage. Even before then, the words she'd written about him hadn't been glowing, merely dry and factual. It made Skyler wonder if Lisa had ever had any genuine affection for the man.
Around the six-month mark, Lisa's blog postings stopped on the account under her married name and picked back up under her maiden name. It was around the seven-month mark of her pregnancy, or close to the time that she'd written Kaia, that Lisa had openly announced on her social networking blog that she'd filed for divorce. Skyler noticed that all of the responses seemed positive and supportive, but none were from her family.
Her mother had been a regular responder to her blog posts before then, but the woman's replies had stopped about a week before Lisa's announcement.
That had made things clear to Skyler, enlightening Lisa's motivations further. She had the baby she'd always wanted so desperately, and now she wanted back the one person who'd loved her most in life. Having Kaia and her baby girl would clearly make Lisa's life wholly complete.
Fuck if Skyler was going to let that happen.
Curious about Lisa's ex, Skyler had done a news search on his name and the San Diego metropolitan area. The responses she got back from her query told Skyler a story that totally illuminated the auburn-haired beauty as to what had occurred.
Lawyer Steven M. Harrington had been arrested in connection with helping launder money for a group involved in human trafficking. The ring had apparently been responsible for bringing thousands of young women from Latin America and Eastern Europe. These young women had been sold into prostitution, many becoming addicted to drugs. The story said the majority of tales for the women involved had ended tragically. The more fortunate among them had ended up living on the streets after they'd been used up, with the less fortunate overdosing at a reasonably young age.
Harrington had finally made bail after a month in prison, but by then, Lisa had apparently been gone. The lawyer had then made the biggest mistake of his life, fleeing south of the border in an attempt to escape prison.
