Page 58 of Bittersweet Redemption

“Is your son Jake home?”

She doesn’t answer the question. “What’s this about?”

“No need to panic, ma’am. We just need to ask him a few questions.”

“Well, you’re going to have to come back with a warrant, then.” My hands clench into fists at my sides. I’ll bust into this house if I have to.

I go to take a step forward, but River grabs my arm. When I look at him, he shakes his head as if to say, “Don’t.”

My jaw clenches, and I take a step back.

One of the officers says, “We’ve called in a warrant, but since this is an emergency situation, we don’t have to wait for a warrant. We have reason to believe someone is being held here against their will and is likely hurt.”

The woman’s eyes widen. “What? You think my son is holding someone hostage?”

“Yes. Please step aside and direct us to his bedroom.” She looks between them and then over their shoulder at the rest of the officers in her yard and makes the right decision. She slowly steps aside and lets them in. She leaves the door open and points to somewhere in the house. The officers move strategically through the house, and I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest while we wait.

The moments pass unbearably slowly while we wait. All I want is to see my girl walk out that door safely.

The silence is killing me, and I’m about to walk to the front door when I hear it.

Someone is yelling. Then there’s the unmistakable sound of a gunshot, which is my cue to book it.

Something is happening. I don’t know what it is, but my gut tells me Willa needs me, and that’s all I need to know.

Chapter 29

Willa

Everything happens so fast.

One minute I’m tied to a chair dozing off; the next minute, Jake is frantically cutting my legs loose and re-tying my arms behind my back. My knees crack when he stands me up. I feel like I’ve been sitting here for hours, but it’s hard to tell how long it’s really been.

“We’ve got to go,” Jake tells me. I can only nod because there’s still tape covering my mouth. Dizziness floats through my head, and I almost fall back on the chair, but Jake catches me. “Come on. We don’t have time for this.”

I don’t know what’s happening. Everything feels rushed. Something is wrong, and he’s unprepared for whatever it is.

He turns to grab a backpack and shoves a few bottles of water and several boxes of bullets into it. Bullets! What exactly is he planning on doing with all of those?

While he’s distracted, I reach for the pocketknife on his desk. It’s difficult with my hands tied, but I awkwardly slide the knife to me. For how well he must have planned this kidnapping, it was pretty stupid to leave a knife out in clear view. It doesn’t matter that it’s small. If I can cut through this rope, I can get away. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice me moving. When he turns back around with his backpack full of ammunition strapped on, I’m standing exactly where I was but with a knife in my palm.

“Let’s go!” he whisper shouts. He opens his door and starts to push me forward, but he stops and leans into my ear, close enough for me to smell his stale breath. “I swear to God, if you try to run, I will kill everyone that’s ever meant anything to you. Got it?”

My eyes sting with the threat of tears, but I swallow them down and nod my head. He pushes me forward until we’re at the back door of the basement, which he uses as his private entrance.

His hand grips my arm tightly, making me squeeze the pocket knife even harder. He looks out the door, and whatever is out there sets him on edge. He rocks back and forth on his feet for a minute contemplating something. Then he tilts his head back, closes his eyes, and lets out a deep breath.

“Alright.” He turns to look at me. “I’m about to do something I’m not proud of, but I have no other choice. I have to do this for us, ok?” He looks into my eyes and must ignore the look of pure terror on my face because he smiles like this is all normal and we’re just going out for an evening stroll.

He turns back to the door and cracks it open slightly. My entire body stiffens with worry when he grabs a gun from his waistband. Is he going to use that on someone? Who’s out there? Oh my god. Oh my god. As he pushes the door with his foot, I flick the pocket knife open. He sticks the gun out and pulls the trigger.

I scream from behind my duct tape. I don’t know who he shot until he pulls me out the door, and I see a police officer on the ground. The shouts of other people yelling echo around the backyard.

Jake pulls me toward the woods behind their house. The sun is setting, making the woods look even more ominous. I’ve been to this house with Nick a thousand times. We wandered through the woods several times, but I never had to navigate them in the dark while also trying to free myself from restraints.

I frantically try to cut the rope around my wrists as we run but miss more than once and cut into my own skin. I’m grateful that my mouth is taped so Jake can’t hear me hiss when the blade cuts into my wrist or pricks my finger. I can feel the drops of blood trickle down my hand.

I stumble over a rock and almost drop the knife but recover as Jake pulls me up. He still hasn’t noticed what I’m doing because he’s so busy figuring out which way to go. I can tell he doesn’t have a plan. He’s running all over the place, his head whipping in every direction, looking for someone chasing us. I have to try to slow him down to give the police a chance to find us. Someone has to get to us, right?