Rescued by the Navy Seal (5 page)

Six months had passed since Rita’s ordeal at the hands of
her ex. Since that time, Jared had refused to let her out of his sight. It was
making work difficult and Rita was growing frustrated, as she wanted to be able
to move forward. The two had discussed moving to the corporate office in
Atlanta, Georgia, prior to Rita’s abduction, but the recent chain of events and
the fact that Tucker may still be at large meant that they were rethinking
their next steps. Rita was understandably upset at having to leave a job that
she loved. Once again, Tucker had managed to turn her life upside down, but
this time, she had Jared’s strength to keep her going. He had been an
unbelievable rock throughout all of this and Rita loved him even more than
ever.

The affidavit given by Gretchen Hawkins after her ten-day
ordeal would have been enough to put Tucker away for many years and Rita wasn’t
sure she had told the whole story. When Rita had been discharged from the
hospital, she had stopped in to see her. The woman had suffered multiple
dislocated and cracked ribs, she had several fingers and toes broken and the
number of deep cuts and welts to her body meant that she would forever be
reminded of her ordeal at the hands of Tucker every time she looked in the
mirror. Rita could well imagine what she had gone through emotionally and
psychologically and she sympathized with the woman. Three months ago, Rita
decided to check in on her, but was informed by her law firm that she had quit
and moved with no forwarding address.

After Tucker had been declared missing and potentially
lost at sea, his yacht was sold to cover the costs for his search. The
remaining monies had been sent to Rita, as Tucker had declared her as his sole
beneficiary. Both Jared and Rita were surprised at the dollar amount and Rita
never did figure out where Tucker got the funds to pay for such an extravagant
vessel considering that they lived in relative poverty throughout their entire
marriage. In heated discussions with the District Attorney’s office, it was
decided that Rita and Jared would go into hiding. At least temporarily and it
would be far away from California. The money from the sale of the yacht was an
unexpected windfall and coupled with Jared’s military retirement, the three of
them could go anywhere.

Rather than pay for movers and storage, they decided not
to risk having any additional paper trail and sold off or gave away most of
their possessions. Between garage sales and a couple barbeques where friends
and family were invited to take whatever they wanted or needed, they managed to
get rid of everything including both their vehicles, which were donated to the
nonprofit as a final thank you. As Jared and Rita took one last look around the
now empty house, they hugged each other tightly before heading out to the RV
parked out front. In a private ceremony, they had married and had decided to
spend their honeymoon driving cross-country and enjoy some of the sights before
making a decision on where they wanted to live. Since they were starting a new
life together, in more than one way, they wanted to take their time and find a
place to live that they both loved.

Locking up the house, Jared handed the keys to his real
estate agent as they walked her to her car. Whistling for Casey, they headed to
the RV, which would be their new home for the foreseeable future. As Rita
opened the door, Jared quickly scooped her up, kissing her on the nose. “Since
this is our temporary new home, Mrs. Michaels, seems only fitting that we treat
it as such.”

As Rita cupped the side of Jared’s face, her smile
faltered, “But I won’t be Mrs. Michaels for long. So long as Tucker remains at
large, the DA wants us to change our names.”

Stepping inside, Jared slowly set Rita down, “It doesn’t
matter what our names are so long as it begins with Mister and Missus,”
responded Jared as they kissed passionately. “And we certainly don’t have to rush
the decision on our new names. At least until we decide where we want to live”

Rita hugged Jared tightly as Casey bumped up against them
wanting in on the hugs. Together, they were leaving all the drama and toxicity
of their lives behind in California and heading in a new direction. After
everything they had been through, they both knew that they could withstand
anything, so long as they did it together.