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Chapter 25
Maxi’s hands were shaking as she rinsed off the dinner dishes in an attempt to distract herself from what she’d just done. She’d told Billy the secret that she’d kept for so long. Finally saying it out loud to someone, other than a lawyer that didn’t know her from Adam, was scarier and more liberating than she ever could have imagined. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of her and at the same time she was pretty sure she was going to throw up.
Thankfully, she had a few minutes to compose herself. When Billy needed to step outside to take the call, she could see that he felt bad about it, but she was happy that he’d gone to the patio. What she’d just done was a lot to process and she appreciated not having an audience.
Her phone buzzed and her heart sped as she reached for it. This was the first night that her dad was home after being in the hospital and he was alone. She’d given him strict instructions to call if he needed anything, or if he felt any pain or nausea or a headache, just anything. Her brain immediately filled in several dire scenarios all ending with her racing her dad back to the hospital.
When she saw the message her shoulders dropped in relief but her heart sank at the same time. It was Jana asking if she was home. She really didn’t want company but since her friend lived across the hall it’s not like she could really lie to her. She typed back a quick yes. Her phone instantly lit up again with an emoji of clapping hands and then a message that said Jana was coming up the elevator now with a ton of groceries and she just realized she didn’t have her keys so she was wondering if Maxi could unlock her door for her.
Maxi breathed a sigh of relief. She loved her and had missed her this week, but tonight was full enough without adding someone else to the mix. On her way out she grabbed the spare key that she kept for her friend’s apartment and paused for a moment. She thought about telling Billy that she was going to run across the hall, but the call he was on seemed important. Also the guy that had broken in was in custody and she remembered that he’d told her that she was safe here because there were cameras at all the entry points.
Note to self: Stop being so paranoid.
Shaking off the paranoia that she’d developed over the past two weeks she stepped out into the hall and made quick work of unlocking her friend’s door. She debated waiting in the hall for Jana to help her with the groceries, but decided that she’d check to see if Billy was still on the call to let him know what she was doing.
When she started to turn to go back to her apartment a hand covered her mouth and something hard jammed into her back. She started to scream and struggle but was restrained by a large arm wrapping around her, pinning her own arms at her sides. The man moved down the hall, dragging her with him and there was nothing she could do about it. Panic and fear gripped her and she fought as hard as she could as she was pulled into the elevator.
Once the doors closed she could see the reflection of her abductor in them. He was over six foot. Dark hair and very dark, beady eyes. He released the arm he’d wrapped around her and that’s when she saw the gun he was holding before she once again felt it being jammed into her lower back. His hand still remained covering her mouth.
He stared at her through the reflection. He spoke quietly. Calmly. “This is what’s going to happen. When the doors open you and I are going to walk to across the foyer to the side exit of the building. Do not draw any attention to us. There’s a car in the alley, we have Jana. No one has to get hurt if you do everything I say. Do you understand?”
Maxi couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. Her mind was racing.
“Do you understand?” His fingers tightened over her mouth.
Not knowing what else to do she nodded.
“I’m going to take my hand off your mouth. If you scream, Jana is not going to have a good day. Do you understand?”
She nodded again and as promised he removed his hand just as the doors slid open. Everything felt like it was simultaneously moving in slow motion and on fast forward. It was like she was outside of herself looking in.
Her legs shook as she forced herself to walk out of the elevator. She stared straight ahead as she crossed the foyer that led to the small hallway where the side entrance of the building was. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the lobby to her left. There were several people there.
She knew that she had to do something, but she didn’t know what. If she signaled someone, would they know to call Billy? Would they try to step in? Would they see the gun at her back?
She could make a run for it and hope for the best but even if she somehow got away from the man, would Jana be safe?
There were no good answers to any of her questions and the isolated hallway to the door he’d instructed her to exit was getting closer and closer. Every television procedural that she watched had taught her that you should never let yourself be taken to a second location. But they had Jana.
“Good girl. Keep moving.” The man whispered behind her in a menacing voice.
Just as she reached the far side of the foyer she heard the ding of the elevator moments before she noticed a blur of black in her peripheral vision.
“No! Down!” A male voice yelled.
The next thing she knew she was being knocked down on the floor and Bonnie and Clyde were hopping over her and around her. Lifting her head she tried to sit up and she saw that her kidnapper was down too. He was crawling towards the lobby. Innocent people were in the lobby.
“Gun!” She yelled. “He has a gun!”
There were screams and several people running. The dogs started going crazy barking. She lost sight of the man that had grabbed her. Then she remembered the side door. The alley. She had to help Jana. She kept trying to get up and get to the exit to help Jana but with the dogs jumping all over her, she wasn’t making any progress.
As she twisted to move towards the exit a loud, familiar crack of a jaw breaking sounded. She pushed herself up to see Carter standing between her and the man who’d tried to abduct her. The man was flat on his back, knocked out and Carter was rubbing his knuckles.
“Gun!” She yelled again. They needed to get it away from him while he was unconscious. “He has a gun.”
Carter bent down, lifting the abductors arm as he searched around him. “I don’t see it.”
“It’s here! I’ve got it!” Mr. 7G, who was standing in front of the elevators retrieved the weapon just as the elevator doors opened and Billy stepped out.
