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I glanced out the window. I was on the second floor of whatever this place was. I could see guards patrolling with mean looking dogs, though they didn’t look like security guards. They looked like random bikers who would rather be anywhere else right now. A few of them sat smoking near a big gate. The whole building looked like it was surrounded by a poorly made concrete wall.
The sky was dark but that didn’t really clue me in on how long it had been. It was late afternoon when I left Liam’s house anyway.
I was starting to panic when the door flew open, slamming against the wall. I yelped, squeezing myself into the corner of the room farthest away. The man from the photo stormed in, a phone pressed to his ear. He went straight for me, grabbing me by the hair and jerking me towards him. I screamed, clawing at his hands but it didn’t seem to even register with him.
“Say goodbye to your boyfriend,” he snarled, shoving me to my knees. I sobbed but said nothing, crying out when he kicked me. It wasn’t hard enough to do serious damage, it felt more like he was trying to get me to make noise. I could hear shouting on the other end of the phone but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“I’ve had enough of your shit, Kelly. You fucked with us, now we’re returning the favor. Who knows, she’s a pretty little thing. Maybe I’ll keep her.”
He reached for me again and I shrank away, covering my head with my hands. He didn’t touch me again though. He was listening to the phone, his face blank.
“Not a chance in hell. I don’t trust you.” Harrington straightened, not even bothering to look at me, like I wasn’t worth his time to even worry about. And why would he? I was a coward on a good day, too anxious to even call to make my own doctor’s appointments without writing down a script first.
“Fine. You’ve got twenty four hours or I’ll start sending your girlfriend back in pieces.” He held the phone out to me, not close enough for me to take it, just close enough for me to hear the voice on the other end.
“James?”
It was muffled, too quiet, but I heard him shouting. “Baby, it’s going to be okay! I’m going to–”
Harrington hung up, not bothering to let him finish. I stayed as close to the floor as possible, worried he would try and grab me again and follow through on his threat to James but he just walked away, slamming the door behind him.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
I sobbed,cowering on the floor for who knows how long, running through the list of what ifs, like it would help any. What if I hadn’t helped Jo and Gabi? What if I hadn’t let James stay the night? What if I hadn’t stormed out of the house and away from Jo and Jaime when I knew there were people after me?
When my thoughts turned to Jo, panic threatened to overwhelm me. I pushed her out of the way but I lost sight of her after a minute. Did she get away or was she in another room in this house being kicked and threatened too? I felt like my chest was too tight and I couldn’t take a deep breath.
Every sound in the hallway made me jump and flinch but no one came back to my room again. Tremors wracked my body and I wrapped my arms around my body to try and stop them. This wasn’t helping. I wasn’t going to get out of here if I didn’t figure out a way to calm down. I closed my eyes, remembering when James talked me through the first panic attack in the hotel. I thought of his hand holding mine, his steady breathing and the look in his eyes as he helped me.
It took significantly longer than before to finally calm down enough to be able to think. I couldn’t wait around for James. Twenty four hours wasn’t a long time and I had no idea what he promised them in order to get Harrington to agree not to kill me. I needed to do something. But what?
The only way I could cope with my reality was by pretending I was in a video game. I’ve played escape games before, though they always made me anxious so not often. I crept closer to the door, trying to listen for voices, anything that could help me. I didn’t hear anything so I tried to turn the knob. Locked, of course. And I didn’t know anything about picking locks. Video games don’t teach you everything.
I moved to the window instead. Jumping down would probably end up with broken bones so it wasn’t my first choice. Besides, there was still the issue with the guards and the dogs. Maybe I could make my way over the concrete wall, it wasn’t well put together and it looked like it had enough flaws in it that I could use them to climb, but I’d have to get out there first and I didn’t have a clue how.
I tested the window, pushing it open easily. Wow, they really didn’t see me as a threat because it wasn’t even locked. I waited for the guards to do their rounds before poking my head out and looking down. There were some bushes right below my window, it’s possible if I lowered myself down as far as I could that if I dropped into them I could be fine. It’s also possible if I dropped onto them, I could be impaled on a stick or something.
I paced the room, trying to figure out what to do next. It might just be better to sit it out and wait. James could be on his way and if I pissed off the bad guys, it might make them more likely to kill me. I was exhausted, my head still throbbed and my stomach twisted uncomfortably. I was pacing by the door, about to finally sit on the bed and take a short rest when I heard voices.
“Can’t believe they didn’t grab O’Connor’s wife instead of this bitch. She’d be worth way more. And have you seen her? She’s hot.”
Well, that answered my question on whether Jo got away or not. It made me a little nauseous, the way they were talking about her though.
“She was armed. Killed two of our guys before her guard got to her and dragged her away,” the second voice growled. “At least the one we have now won’t do shit. She cowered on the floor when Harrington went in there. Pretty sure O’Connor’s wife would’ve tried to escape by now. Did you hear what she did to Bianchi when he took her?”
Their voices moved away from the door and it got harder to hear them. I dropped to the ground, trying to listen under the gap.
“Think Harrington will give us all a turn with her?”
Someone snorted. “No idea. It’s not like she’s going anywhere. He’s not going to actually go through with the deal with Kelly. He’s not that soft. He’s probably just going to kill him and keep the girl for himself.”
Their voices were too far away now, I couldn’t hear them. I wouldn’t be able to even if they were right outside. My heart was pounding loud in my ears and I was starting to hyperventilate. I shoved away from the door, walking backwards until my back hit the wall. I thought I would panic, but instead my mind focused on one fact. Unless I wanted to end up a sex slave to a motorcycle gang, I needed to figure out how to get out of here. I spun back to the window, racing over to it.
The guards who had been smoking by the gate before were gone. There were only the ones with the dogs to contend with. I didn’t look much past the concrete wall earlier and it was harder to see now. If I had to guess, it was probably in the very early hours of the morning after I was taken. I did remember that there was a forest off to the left. If I managed to make it in there, I might be able to disappear. That is, unless they released the dogs after me.
There were too many possibilities in this escape for me to really have a plan and that terrified me. But I knew if I didn’t try, I’d never get out of here. I watched the guards, trying to time how often they passed by but it was all random. Some were closer together than others. I was going to try and figure out a way to go through the door instead when the skies opened up and it began to pour.
I watched as guards ran for cover, disappearing around the corners of the house. I only waited a little longer before hoisting myself up on the windowsill and turning around. Slowly, I lowered myself as far down as I could. This would’ve been easier if the bed had sheets or something. I was starting to second guess myself, dangling from that window when a huge bolt of lightning lit up the sky. I was so surprised that I let go of the windowsill, falling on my back into the bush.
