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“Then I’ll give you the same options I gave the last owner. Pay the debt, sign over the property, or end up like he did.”
I swing to hit him in the face with all my strength, but he easily dodges and grabs my arm. He squeezes and twists it hard in his grip.
I’ll never make a deal with him. Not with the man who killed my uncle. I’ve got to find some way out of this.
He twists my arm so hard it feels like it could snap. I grit my teeth as he leans his face close to mine. His hot breath blows over my face. “What’s your decision?”
I won’t choose any of his options. There must be another way. I need to delay him as long as possible. Someone has to show up soon. I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything.
His face is still close to mine. Almost instinctively, I pull my head back away from him. Then I smash my forehead into his nose as hard as I can.
The impact dazes me. I don’t black out, but I barely stay on my feet. He releases my arm and staggers backward, grabbing at his nose. I grab a large baking sheet off the table behind me and swing it at his head.
He deflects the sheet with one arm while his other fist swings toward my face.
I’m still reeling from the first hit when pain more intense than I’ve never known explodes like a firework in my skull. I feel like I’m in a car accident. Like I’m being tossed around inside my own body. I realize he’s hit me hard in the head just before I fully black out.
* * *
A sharp scent stings my nose. Is someone giving me smelling salts? I know I passed out. I try to move my arms to wave the smell away, but they’re stuck behind me.
I hear liquid splashing. As I come to, I recognize the smell. Gasoline. The pieces fall together, and suddenly I know where I am again. My hands are locked behind me, binding me to the desk chair in the bakery’s office. Nevan Kelly walks across the doorway and I see him dumping gasoline all around the backroom. This can’t be real.
“STOP! LET ME GO!”
He pauses to look at me. “Ah, you’re awake. Just in time.” He holds the can out and tips it upside down letting the last bit of gasoline drain to the floor. He tosses the can to the corner.
“LET ME GO!”
“You made your choice.” He walks back the way he came in. He turns and looks at me as he puts a cigarette in his mouth. He takes out a match, strikes it, and lights the cigarette, still staring at me. He holds the match out in front of him. He looks at the match. Then he flicks it back into the room.
I watch the match arc through the air, praying that it extinguishes in flight. That the wind of its movement blows it out.
Flames seem to erupt before it even hits the floor, covering the room instantaneously.
I kick the office door closed. It stops the fire rushing into the office, but the blaze roars all around it. It’s already so hot I can barely face it. I search around on the desk, trying to find something I can use to break me free from this chair. If I can get loose, maybe I can find a way out of the building.
My hands are tied so tight, that I can’t even reach any scissors if I did find them.
Smoke begins to seep into the office through the cracks around the door, thick and black. My eyes sting and I start coughing. If I don’t find some way out of this soon, nothing will have mattered at all.
16
RAF
I speedacross town as fast I can, dodging traffic and intersections. I don’t care if the cops try to pull me over. I’m not stopping until I see Caroline and make sure everything is okay.
Half a block before I get there, I see Jake’s car parked in his usual spot. I slam on the brakes and jump out, running over to look inside. Before I even get to his car, I can see what’s happened. I rip open the driver’s side door to see that his throat has been slashed. The killer left him there.
They took out Jake so they could get to Caroline. I hope to god it’s not too late. I run across the street, seeing the front door smashed in again.
My heart pounds hard in my chest as I sprint, pulling my gun from its holster. I’m fifteen feet from the door when I see a burst of flames erupt behind the counter.
I see Nevan Kelly coming out, and I tackle him before he realizes I’m even there, knocking him back to the ground inside. I put my gun to his head. “WHERE IS SHE?!”
He looks stunned from the hit. Then he smiles at me. “You’re too late, Motherfu—“
BANG!
