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“I need to use the bathroom,” I say.
Daniel gives me an icy cold grin. “You still think you’re smarter than me.” He takes out a gun and leaves it on the coffee table next to me. “I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way, then.”
“No, I just need to use the bathroom. I’m stiff and cold and in pain, Daniel.”
“Piss your pants, that’ll warm you up,” he scoffs. “I’m in pain, too. I’ve been in pain since you left me.” He points to the red scar on his temple. “See this? I have to wear this for the rest of my life. This is your work of art, remember? I was only trying to reason with you.”
This man is either delusional or determined to never take responsibility for any of the horrible things he’s done to me. I cannot antagonize him, though—I need to keep him calm for as long as I can. It’s hard when every fiber in my body screams hostility, when my very soul aches to see him on the floor, drowning in a puddle of his own blood. He is the devil incarnate. A monster that has finally caught up with us. I was foolish to think I would ever be safe from him.
“What do you want from me, Daniel?” I ask.
“What I’ve always wanted,” he replies. “I want you back. I want our girls to grow up with a mother and a father. I want what I’m owed, Avery, my family.”
“And if I can’t give you that?”
“Then I’ll be a single dad, and you’ll be food for worms,” he says, eerily calm and content. “The choice is yours.”
The mere sound of his voice makes me want to vomit and hopelessness begins to creep up on me, but my girls need me to survive this. I don’t know how I can overpower him. I’m bound and defenseless, his to hurt however he pleases. He’s got my daughters locked in a bedroom where they can probably hear everything that is happening.
I’d thought hope was a dangerous thing to have, but hopelessness is worse.
26
Avery
Trying to reason with an unhinged man like Daniel is futile. I’ve tried everything I can think of. He refuses to take accountability, and the only way I’m getting out of here is if I can convince him that I am willing to be his wife again, to be a family. Deep down, however, I’m certain he knows that’s never going to happen, no matter what I say. He knows I’ll try to escape as soon as he unties me. Only death will free me.
“I was thinking Mexico,” he says, absently gazing out the window.Mexico… the same place I thought of.My face hurts on both sides, now. He keeps hitting me, even when I’m quiet. I can’t hear the girls anymore. They must’ve worn themselves out crying. I can’t imagine what they must be going through. I’m to blame. I should’ve taken them and left the minute I saw Daniel outside the café. “It’s nice and warm there all through the year. We could find a place close to the beach,” he adds. “The girls would love the sun, the sea, and the sand.”
“The police will find us,” I reply. “One way or another, they will catch up. Why don’t you just turn yourself in, Daniel? You’ll do some time, but it’ll be a shorter sentence than what you’ll be looking at if you continue with this.”
“Sometime?” he laughs. “For double homicide? Oh, honey, you’re so fucking dumb, it hurts.”
“Double homicide?” I ask, shocked.
“Whose ID do you think I used to get the girls out of school yesterday?”
I suddenly remember the sign-in sheet and what Mary had said. A Wolfhound Security agent had signed the girls out. “You posed as one of Luke’s employees. Oh, God, Daniel. You killed two security agents for this?”
“And I will do a lot worse to keep my girls,” he says.
“You’re insane!” I blurt out, and it’s all he needs to fly into another fit of rage.
“I’ll show you insane,” Daniel snarls and takes the gun, shoving the muzzle in my mouth.
I cry and gag from the cold metal pressing down on my tongue. The blood freezes in my veins as the fear cripples me, stunning my senses. I can’t move. I can’t even breathe as he turns the safety off. All he has to do is pull the trigger, and it’s over.
“How does it feel, Avery? How does it feel to know that I’m the last face you will ever see?” Daniel asks.
I’m unable to feel anything except absolute terror. I think back on the life I’ve lived, the decisions that brought me to this moment. I think about being unable to see Miley and Annie grow up. I think of Kellan. Fallon. Luke. God, I could have lived such a beautiful life with them, we would’ve had it all—love, peace, tranquility, safety. If only…
If only what?
There is only one way that this is going to end.
I’m not ready to die.
Daniel’s insidious grin sends shivers down my spine.
