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“Chad, please,” I pleaded, but he only laughed. I completely forgot how much he loved it when I begged. The gesture only spurred him on more.
“Please, what? These are very simple instructions you’re disobeying. I would think a smart girl like you—one who started her own company—would understand what I’m asking and, well, do it. But I guess not. I guess you’re going to need a little bit of incentive.”
Chad pulled a small piece of metal from the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. He held it up so that I could see. I whimpered when I saw it. I had no idea what he was planning on doing with it, but I knew it was going to hurt. I whimpered again, but he only laughed.
“I think it’s time I taught you a lesson. Take away something from you so that you can understand what has been taken from me.”
He held the metal up with a gleam in his eye. It all happened so fast, I barely registered the cool metal on my ankle. But I felt the sharp pain that radiated all over my foot afterward. I cried out in pain and sunk into the brick wall behind me. I wanted to cry out for help, but no words would leave my lips.
Terry came into the alley. I wasn’t sure how long it took him to find me or how he even found me, but I was glad he did.
“Terry,” I breathed out through the pain.
“Oh, baby, what happened?” I heard him ask.
I closed my eyes and grabbed my throbbing ankle, praying that something would stop the pain.
“Chad,” I finally managed to tell him.
Terry adjusted my position so I was no longer sitting on the ground. He cradled me in his lap, resting on his legs.
“I’m getting help. I’m getting help,” he told me as he pressed a phone to his ear.
I heard him speaking to the 911 operator, but I barely registered what was being said. The next thing I knew, Terry was telling me that help would be here soon. I rested my head against his chest and waited, hoping that something would stop the pain.
“They’re on the way. Don’t worry.” My eyes filled with tears—from the pain and anger I felt bubbling up inside me. I would never be safe. I would never be free of him. He could get to me no matter where they put me. No matter where someone thought they were hiding me, he would be there.
A noise I’d never heard before filled the alley. It took me a second to realize that the growl had come from me. It sounded like a wounded animal crying out for help. Terry was surprised as well. His head snapped toward me. He must have thought it was from the pain because he kept repeating the same words he had been saying since he found me.
“Catherine,” I managed to say. “I need you to call Catherine and tell her to meet me at my place, please.”
“Mia, we’re taking you to the hospital. You need to have your ankle looked at. Okay?”
I nodded, leaning my head back up against him. “When we get back from the hospital, then,” I said into his shirt. I wasn’t even sure that he had heard me. But from the corner of my eye, I saw him nod his head.
It was then that the quiet of the alley was disrupted by a flurry of activity. I turned my head and saw police officers and EMTs heading toward us. The sirens were so loud, they made me cringe.
“We’re going to need to you lay her down,” the EMT told Terry. My hand reached out and grabbed his shirt. I didn’t want him to let me go. What if he put me down and Chad returned?
Terry’s fingers closed around my hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to say right here.”
Slowly and gently, he lowered me to the ground. I kept my wild eyes on his, searching for safety and security. “Chad,” I mumbled.
Terry leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “He’s not getting away with this. He’s not. I promise you that much, darlin’. I will not let him hurt you anymore.”
The officer turned toward Terry, but he said nothing.
Meanwhile, the EMT was examining my ankle. I was wincing and crying out in pain every time he touched it.
“It’s definitely broken. I’m going to go get my stretcher, and we’ll get her loaded up. Will you be riding?”
“Yes,” Terry and I both said at the same time.
“I’m not leaving you,” he promised.
“Thank you,” I managed to reply.
Once I was loaded onto the stretcher, the EMTs wheeled me back onto the main road where I had just been running. My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for his face. I thought he might have hung around to see what his handiwork had caused. But I was wrong; he was nowhere to be found. Or at least, nowhere that I could see. Hopefully, he crawled back into the hole where he had come from. But I knew I wasn’t that lucky. As soon as I got out of the hospital, I was going to take Catherine up on her offer. I would need Jackson’s help to make this son of a bitch pay.
“Terry,” I called out. Terry was climbing into the ambulance behind me.
“Yeah, Mia. What do you need?”
“Ally. Call Ally and tell her what happened.”
“I’m a step ahead of you. Called her and Catherine. They’ll meet us at your place around lunchtime.”
“Thank you.” I breathed out a sigh of relief and lay back, trying to get comfortable. But it was useless. The pain radiating throughout my ankle was too much to take.
