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“Please. Gerald, please. We’ll be letting go of her soon.” I said, playing to his fantasies. “I need to pay attention to her these last few days.”
He was quiet, his eyes focused on the TV. “I’ll take you to see her.”
I sat quietly, watching him. My heart was pounding loudly, but I had to do whatever to keep myself and my baby safe. The episode ofAmerica’s Got Talentended, and he stood up, picking the scissors up.
He approached me and cut the ropes that were holding my legs in place. His hands tightly held onto my arm and dragged me up. My toes were tingling at the rush of blood flow and it hurt. I paused and groaned again.
“I’m sorry.” He said. It sounded sincere. I almost believed it. A few seconds passed before he asked, “Better?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
He walked beside me with his hand holding me tightly. I didn’t realize how tall and built he was until I was standing beside him. He led me into a hallway with two doors to the left and two to the right. Using his legs, he pushed the first door on the right open and Ava sat up from the bed. She looked very afraid, my poor baby.
The room smelt of wet clothes and a mix of air freshener. “Here she is.” He said and let me go. I ran to Ava and wrapped my hands around her. She was trembling. Tears fell from my eyes as I felt her little body shake.
“That’s enough.” Gerald’s voice filled with so much irritation.
I kissed her forehead and withdrew from her. He held me and returned me to the sitting room. I sat on the couch where he was sitting to cover my phone and hoped he didn’t remember it. The pair of scissors were on the chair I was strapped to.
“Gerald, you promised dinner after the show.” I reminded him.
He went to the chair and picked the scissors up. “What would you like?” I could see that he was tense, and cautious about me. His eyes monitored my every move and it took everything in me not to look to the door, so as not to raise his suspicions about me.
“I don’t know. I like burgers and french fries.”
“The little one?”
“She likes french fries and chicken.”
“I hope this is not all we’ll be eating. When we move to Texas, I want homemade meals.”
“I can cook a little,” I said and he smiled. He walked over to me and rubbed his palms on my cheeks.
“We’ll be so happy together.” I nodded shakily. “I’ll get my wallet.” He said and disappeared into the corridor. I quickly pressed my phone's power button and it came to life. I put the phone in silent mode and sat back down quietly. When he didn’t return, I brought the phone out, opened it and dialed Leon’s number, then sat back on it.
Gerald returned and went to the door, “Sit tight. I’ll be back.”
I took out the phone and put it to my ear. Leon’s panicked voice kept asking, “Where are you? Are you safe?”
I responded. “I don’t know where I am but I’m sharing my location right now.” I shared my location and just then, the front door opened. Gerald walked in and caught me with the phone in my hand. His face turned dark with anger really quick.
He ran towards me, dragged the phone from my hand and smashed it on the floor. Then he grabbed my arm and threw me on the chair I was strapped to. The impact of the wooden structure against my body hurt. The chair toppled over and I fell down, almost hitting my head on the heavy wooden table in the middle of the sitting room.
Pain soared through my body and I shut my eyes not knowing what would come next. The sound of the chair being thrown into the corner of the room shook me and I held my eyes shut tighter. I felt the force of his arms lift me and slap me across the cheek. The pain was instant but I refused to show fear or cowardice even though hot tears trickled down my eyes.
He dragged me by the shirt, threw me in the same room with Ava, then locked the door. I held Ava tightly and cried until we both fell asleep.
Chapter34
Leon
I had just managed to take something light for dinner when the call came in. Vivian was lying on the couch, recovering from a crying session and Paula was comforting her. I looked at her and couldn’t imagine what Valentina must be going through.
Some policemen were with us in the house in case a ransom call came through. I was getting up from the dining table when my phone started ringing. I ran to it and saw the name Valentina on the screen.
“It’s Valentina!” I screamed and everyone gathered around me, the police officers being in the front. The call was on speaker phone and we heard a male voice say, “Sit tight, I’ll be right back.” After that, the sounds from the phone became muffled, like she had hidden the phone.
The policemen called their tech team to be on standby and a squad too. I spoke into the phone. “Valentina, where are you?”
