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When I look at Jeff, I’m staring up the barrel of his revolver.
Chapter 36
Capitalist Whore
Iimmediately put my hands in the air in surrender. I’m on my knees.
“I’m sorry,” I whimper. I can taste the blood in my mouth. “I’m so sorry. I panicked. It won’t happen again.”
Jeff’s expression is one of complete shock. I’d never fought back. His eyes are red slits, his skin pink and blotchy. I know then that he’s going to kill me.
I keep my hands up, bowing in supplication. I want him to know that he has all the power. He doesn’t need to hurt me to prove it. But he’s so angry, he thinks he needs to show me. He kicks me in the stomach. I hunch forward in blazing pain, wrapping my arms around my waist, battling to draw breath. Hot blood and saliva trickle from my mouth.
I want to apologize again, to say anything that will stop the pain, but my mouth isn’t working, or perhaps it’s my brain. That blow to the head was really hard.
“You disgust me,” Jeff says. “You’re a fake. A liar. Gold-digger. You’re a capitalist whore.”
Fuck you, I think. I’d rather be a whore than a fucking psychopath.
“You bring out the worst in me,” he says.
No fucking kidding.
It’s probably good that I can’t talk, because he wouldn’t like what I have to say.
“Look what you’ve done. We could’ve had a life together.”
Dizzy, I look from his angry face to the revolver and back. When I don’t answer, he pushes me down on the floor and I think he’ll straddle me again, but instead I hear ripping, and then he’s wrapping black duct tape around my mouth, then my wrists and ankles.
When he’s finished, he sits on the sofa and looks at me, tapping his foot. Probably wondering how he’s going to get me into his car without the neighbors seeing. He’d have to do it fast, or risk Jamie finding us like this. He starts pacing, gun in hand. His agitation terrifies me. We’re a hair trigger away from catastrophe, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.
Chapter 37
Knife
There’s a sound from upstairs. His eyes widen.
Lorna! She must be alive. Relief rushes through me, followed by renewed terror. It’s not like he’ll let her live. Not now.
Jeff casts a glance at me, making sure I’m completely neutralized by the bindings. Happy with what he sees, he runs upstairs with his gun in his hand.
I completely freak out. Struggling, screaming, fighting the tape that’s making me useless and vulnerable. All I manage to do is exhaust myself.
There’s some kind of trick to snapping duct tape on your wrists. A viral video I saw on one of the socials. But that’s when your wrists are taped in front of you, not behind. I need a knife, but the kitchen may as well be in another country when my ankles are so tightly bound.
I try anyway. I know I’m risking more anger from Jeff, but if I can get free in time, it’ll be worth it. It’s not like I have any other option. I lever myself up onto my knees, thanking the yoga gods for strong core muscles, and start inching my way forward. It’s painstaking, clumsy work, and every sound I hear startles me. I’m just waiting to be wrenched back by my hair again. It’s one of Jeff’s favorite tricks.
Going at a snail’s pace is excruciating. I’m never going to make it. Then it gets worse. Despite my slow progress, I catch a speed wobble and fall on my side with a thud. I hold my breath, sure that Jeff must have heard it. I’ve only made a couple of feet, but he’ll know that I tried to escape. I lie there on my side for a second, catching my breath, when I see it. My phone. It’s under the couch. It must have fallen to the floor when we were struggling.
I scream inside. This is my only chance.
All need to do is switch it on, and Alistair will be able to track my location. But how? I try another chaotic round of struggling against the tape, and again end up defeated. I still need to get to the kitchen. I force myself up onto my knees again and start inching forward.
I can do it, I tell myself. I can do it. Not too fast or I’ll fall again. Not too slow or Jeff will catch me.
My stomach sinks when I hear footsteps from the studio.
“Ivy!” Jamie shouts in alarm. “What’s happening?”
