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“Are you sure she didn’t just run to town or something?”
“She wouldn’t just leave without leaving a note or letting me know. Plus, her car is still here.”
“What makes you think Conrad has her?”
“He was here a week ago, pissed, and looking for her. I wouldn’t let him see her and he wasn’t too happy with that. He has her, Bobby. I know he does.”
“Well, he was her stepfather for a couple of months. Maybe they’re just catching up?”
“No. He wants her. He wants what’s mine. She used to sneak over here at night to sleep because he would come into her room. She’s afraid of him so she wouldn’t go anywhere with him and definitely not alone.”
“He touched her?” Bobby asks and I can hear the anger start to leak into his voice at the question.
“No, but he tried to. The last few months she’s been sleeping over here every single night so he hasn’t had as much of an opportunity. We have to go get her.”
“This isn’t enough for a warrant, Aaron. I can go over there and poke around a little though. See if I can find any signs that he’s keeping her there.”
“He has her. Just find her, Bobby.” I plead before I hang up.
I pace across our room but I can’t just stand here while he has her. He could be touching her, hurting her right now. I pull on some dark clothes and make my way over to the gun safe I keep in the back of the closet. I pull out my revolver and check to make sure that it’s loaded before tucking it in the back of my jeans.
I leave out the back door and sneak through the shrubs bordering our yard. I can see the flashing lights from Bobby’s police cruiser playing out against the side of Conrad’s house in the dim light. The sun has almost set and I’m hoping that I can be in and out before Bobby is done talking to Conrad.
I wait until their backs are turned before I sneak up onto the back porch and let myself inside.
Chapter12
Annalise
Iwake up feeling groggy. I try to move my hands but I get about an inch before I get caught on something. I look up and pull again at my wrists but I see that they are tied to the posts of a bed. A bed that I vaguely recognize. It’s the same one my mom laid in when she was too sick to get up.
It comes back to me then. Conrad. The rag. Blacking out.
He kidnapped me and tied me to his bed. I’m freaking out and trying to pull at my ankles and wrists but I can barely move and I can feel the rope starting to cut into my skin. Tears slide down my cheeks as I think about what will happen when Conrad comes back.
I need to stay calm. Aaron will find me. He’ll be back soon and he’ll realize that I’m missing. He knows how I feel about Conrad and how Conrad felt about me and this will be the first place that he’ll look. I just have to stay calm and be strong. I can fight off Conrad long enough for Aaron to find me and take me away from Conrad and this miserable house.
I close my eyes and take deep breaths so that I can clear my head and save my strength for fighting off Conrad. I don’t know how long I lay there for when a noise at the door has my body tensing.
I hold my breath as the door creaks open slightly and the breath comes out in a rush when it’s Aaron’s head that peeks in and not Conrad’s. Relief floods me and I start sobbing.
“Shh, baby, shh. You have to be quiet so I can get you out of here, ok?”
I nod my head frantically as he quickly crosses the carpet over to the bed. He pulls a knife out of his back pocket and makes quick work of cutting the rope from my ankles and wrists. He pulls me into his arms and I cry into his shoulder while he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer.
“Baby, take a deep breath for me, ok? You need to calm down so we can get out of here without them finding out because technically, I’m trespassing.”
I nod my head and take several deep breaths before I’ve calmed down enough for him to let me go. He grabs my hand and pulls me after him as we sneak down the hallway and then the stairs. We make our way through the kitchen and out the back door where we run into Conrad and some man I don’t recognize. It takes me a second before I realize that he’s wearing a police uniform. Relief floods my body at the sight of him.
Both Conrad and the officer freeze with shock when they see me and Aaron coming from the house. Conrad’s face is turning an alarming shade of red and he lunges toward me, catching all of us off guard. His momentum propels me back, ripping my hand from Aarons, as he pulls my body into his. I’m caught off guard but before I can try to twist and pull away from Conrad and run to Aaron, Conrad has a knife to my throat.
I freeze and look to Aaron, not knowing what to do. I can see the fear turn to pure rage take over his face as he stares at Conrad and me. The police officer has pulled his gun and is aiming it at us. The officer is saying something, probably telling Conrad to drop the knife and let me go, but I can’t hear him. The adrenaline coursing through my body has me blocking out everything but Aaron. He’ll keep me safe. I know he will.
“Drop the knife, Conrad. Drop the knife and let her go or I will shoot you. This is your last warning.”
My body tenses when I hear the officer say that. He’s going to shoot? While I’m standing in front of Conrad? I look to Aaron again. If this is how it ends, his is the last face that I want to see.
He has a strange look on his face and I realize how powerless he must feel right now. Conrad pulls me back tighter against him and I feel the knife start to dig into my throat deeper and something warm starts to slide down my throat. Before I can start to freak out over the blood or comprehend the pain I’m starting to feel in my neck, I hear a loud bang and my body freezes.
