by Maya Hughes
“Okay, sir. If you can pull over and tell us where you are, an officer will be there shortly to help you.”
“Fuck that. If I stop driving, they’ll be out of range and I’ll have no idea where she is.”
“I’m going to need you to pull over.”
“I’ll call you when I find her,” he said, ending the call and holding his phone up. Then he lost the dot. His heart was beating a mile a minute. It reappeared for a second and he floored it, weaving in and out of cars, leaning on the accelerator the whole way as he raced to where he last saw the dot. Then it was back, moving slower now. If her phone battery died before he found her, he wouldn’t be able to track her anymore. The dot stopped moving.
He got to the location where it was, but there was no Rox. No Jon, nothing. It was an empty lot. Her battery must have died when they were here. He tried to think of other things he could do. He’d have to call someone he’d said he wouldn’t.
“Luc!” he shouted, running his hands through his hair while he stood in the middle of the lot turning and pacing.
“Liam? What the fuck man? It’s late.”
“Luc, I need your help. Something’s happened to Rox and I think her ex took her. I found her bike ditched outside my gate and blood on the keypad. Were you serious before when you said you had friends who could track my phone and you’d send me male strippers?”
“You want to send her ex male strippers?” he said, groggily.
“No, moron! I want you to track down his phone. Rox’s phone died while I was following them and now I have no idea where they might be.”
“Yeah, I have a couple of people I can call.”
“Good, I need the tracking info on his phone yesterday. He’s got her, man.” His throat tightened and he barely got the words out.
“Okay, tell me what you need and I’ll get it done. Did you call the cops?”
“Yes, but they know just as much as me. I have no idea what kind of car he was driving or where he would go. And I’m sure it will take them longer to get his phone tracked through legit sources. So I need this now.” His world was spinning out of control and it was getting harder to breathe.
“Right, I’m on it.”
He rattled off all the information he had about Jon and Luc told him he’d call him back as soon as he had anything. Getting back in his car, Liam started to drive around the area looking for anything or anywhere someone might take someone they were trying to hide. The odds were against him and he knew it. He thought back to that first encounter with Jon and what could have happened if he hadn’t been there. The knowledge that he could be hurting her right now had him letting out a primal scream and pounding on the dashboard.
He shouldn’t have let her leave. He should have tied her to a fucking chair. She might have hated him for it, but she would have been safe. Heart racing, he tried to keep his cool and drove down every side street he came across. He would find them and when he did, Jon was going to wish he’d never been born. He’d drive around as long as it took. He only hoped he wouldn’t be too late.
26
Chapter
Rox woke up slowly, groggy, her eyes unfocused. Her head was swimming and her hearing was going in and out as she came to. Her mouth felt like it was caked in sawdust. It wasn’t until she tried to rub her eyes and she couldn’tthat she realized she couldn’t move her hands. A shock ripped through her body as she tugged on her arms. Grimacing at the pain from the cuts on her arm, she saw that her shirt had been cut and the wounds had been bandaged.
Glancing to the side, she saw why she couldn’t move her arms and it wasn’t because of her injury. They were tied to the metal poles of a headboard. She was sitting up in the middle of a bed, arms tied to the sides. Something tied around her mouth. A bandana as she glanced down to see what the hell was going on. At least she still had her clothes on.
She was sitting on top of an old quilt and the room didn’t look familiar at all. It was dark outside, there were sheer curtains drawn and she could see outside. A light in the room flicked on and she jumped when she saw Jon sitting in a chair across from the bed.
“You’re up!” Jon said with a bright smile plastered on his face. A smile she wanted to wipe off with her fist or the bottom of her boot. “I’d hoped I hadn’t hit you too hard.”
She gulped down the scream that threatened to claw its way out of her throat. Hyperventilation started to set in and the room swam in front of her. Her eyes fluttered from lack of oxygen. Jon got up from his chair and approached the bed. He sat down beside her and she turned her whole body away, trying to get as far as possible as she could as she started to nod out. He snapped something and waved it under her nose—smelling salts. The acrid smell of ammonia shot through her, searing her nose and eyes as she went rigid. Her eyes snapped open and she was wide awake now. Wishing this was all a bad dream, tears started to gather in her eyes as she willed them not to fall.
“I am so glad we’re here together with no interruptions—finally. I feel like we’ve had so much time apart and I’ve really missed you,” he grabbed her hair, pulling her head forward to rest his head against hers. The touch of his sweaty skin against hers made her stomach lurch, trying to revolt once again. A pained cry escaped her, muffled by the gag in her mouth, as he bent her neck and held onto her head.
“Don’t worry about your hair, sweetheart. It will grow back,” he said, running his hands through her hair, pushing the long top out of her eyes. A sob broke through and the tears started to fall. How would anyone even know where she was or that she was even gone? She’d run out on Liam. Who knew if he noticed her bike by now? She didn’t know how long it had been since Jon had taken her.
“I want you to know that I forgive you,” he said, rubbing his hands along her legs. “I know we can work on things together. We can still be together. There’s no one to keep us apart now. I’m going to take the gag off now, so I need you to behave. Can you behave for me?”
She nodded her head and he pulled the fabric down and out of her mouth. As soon as she closed her jaw, she opened it back up and let out the most ear-piercing scream imaginable.
“HELP ME!” she shouted. “HE” — Her scream was cut off by a backhand to the face. Her already fuzzy vision got even more cloudy as the ringing in her ears picked up and her heart pounded in her chest like it was trying to escape. She tasted blood in her mouth from where she bit her tongue. He shoved the gag back into her mouth.
“You always have to push, Juliette. You can never just be happy and listen to me!” He grabbed the sides of her face in a punishing grip, squeezing until she knew there would be fingerprints all over her face. “But I’ll be sure to teach you just how to be the most obedient woman on the planet,” he said, spittle flying into her face as he glanced down at her body. She twisted and turned, not wanting him anywhere near her.
“I’m going to take the gag out and this time, if you scream I’ll make sure that you never scream again. Do you understand?”
She nodded this time and he removed the gag from her mouth. Sucking in a deep breath, she held her lips tight together, fighting against the urge to defy him.
“Good girl,” he said, smoothing his hand down the side of her face. The urge to retch was ever-present as she pushed down the fear coursing through her veins.
He’d been driving for hours and was slowly going insane waiting for Luc to get back to him with something—anything. He didn’t know where he was going, but sitting still made him want to destroy something. Rox was out there somewhere with that psycho ex of hers and she was hurt. This was his fault. If he hadn’t lied to her and hadn’t tried to cover it up, she wouldn’t have stormed out and run right into the clutches of Jon.
His phone vibrated on the dashboard where he’d stashed it once it had become useless in searching for Rox. His heart thudded. It was Luc!
“Luc, please tell me you have good news!” he said, pulling off to the side of the road.
“I do. I’m sending the tracking pr
ogram to your phone right now. It was registered to his parents, so it took us a little bit longer to run it down. You should have the information now and can coordinate the location. Are you sure he has Rox?”
“I’m sure.”
“I’m sorry, man. Any word from the cops?”
“I called them earlier, but with the information I have, there’s no way for me to give them anything to search for her with.”
“Well call them now and get them to that location. I don’t want you taking on a psycho all by yourself. I’ll call them, but I’m not waiting for them, if I get there first. I love her, Luc, and if anything happened to her...” He had to stop. His throat closed just thinking about the possibility that he might not be able to save her. He couldn’t finish that out loud. He didn’t know what he’d do if anything happened to her. If he was too late.
Opening the information Luc sent over, he hung a wide U-turn and raced back down the road, gunning the engine, once the location popped up. The tracking data was showing exactly where the phone was now. Making a hasty call to the cops, he sped ahead, trying to get to Rox as quickly as possible.
Checking on his current position, the location wasn’t far from where he was now. He might have even driven by the cabin hotel. He’d stop in and ask at the front desk, but without a good description of Jon, he was sure the person behind the desk wasn’t going to give him any information. And he doubted that this was the type of place known for their crack record-keeping and surveillance. The gravel crunched under the tires as he pulled past the main cabin and rolled around to one of the farthest from the main road.
His heart beating a mile a minute, he turned off his headlights and slowed to a crawl, not wanting to spook Jon. As soon as he slammed the shifter into park, Liam leapt out and crouched low, rushing toward the cabin door. Not wanting to have Jon do anything crazy, he got down and peeked in the window to see if he could see Rox.
What he saw made him want to break through the glass and destroy Jon with his bare hands. Rox was sitting up in the bed with her arms wide across the headboard. He could see fingerprints on her face, which meant Jon had already put his hands on her. She pulled on the ties on her arms, trying to frantically pull them loose, but he couldn’t see Jon. He’d found her, against all odds, he’d made it to her while she was still relatively unharmed. He needed to get her out of there and he needed to make sure that Jon never came anywhere near her again.
From the side of the bed, Jon appeared, covered in blood. That was all he needed to see. It was now or never. Moving to the door, he backed up and dug his feet in to get a running start. Pumping his legs as hard as he could, he slammed his shoulder into it with everything he had.
27
Chapter
Jon spent an inordinate amount of time checking over her cuts. The bleeding had seeped through the bandage on her leg and the pain made it pulse in time with her heartbeat. He was almost gentle as he removed the old bandage and cleaned it, shhhing her when she cried out as he poured peroxide on it and reapplied a new bandage. Her nostrils flared as she sucked in her breath against the sharp, deep pain that ripped through her wounds. His attention to her cuts belied the evil lurking beneath.
“I don’t know why you ride that silly bike, Juliette!” he said, putting the last bit of tape on the edge of the gauze. She nearly bit her tongue to stop him calling her Juliette. It would only bring his wrath down on her. He ran his hands along her jean-clad legs and she shuddered. At least he’d only cut out a small portion to dress her cut and not taken them off completely. But his touch on that small bit of her skin was enough to turn her stomach even more. The revulsion threatened to make her throw up as he sat in front of her, a smile plastered on his face.
“Once we’re back home, I’ll be sure to keep a close eye on you, so you don’t get into any more nasty accidents.”
“Jon, please let me go. If you just let me go, I won’t tell anyone what happened. I won’t go to the cops. Just let me go.” She couldn’t reason with him, but she had to try. Try to give herself more time. Time for what, she didn’t know, but just more of it.
“I think you know that’s not going to happen.”
“I thought you were arrested. How did you get out?”
He stared at her like she was a little idiot child. He ran his fingers through her hair and she flinched away. He gripped it tighter in his fist and she held back a whimper. Don’t give him the satisfaction. Try to keep him talking.
“Fake IDs are very easy to come by. All I had to do was dangle the right financial incentive in front of the right person and they were willing to do whatever I needed them do to,” he said, so proud of himself.
“You set a trap for me,” she said, kicking herself. And she’d fallen right into it.
“While you were shacked up with your little friend and knew I was still there, I knew you wouldn’t be stupid enough to run. But I knew once you thought I was locked up, you’d run like you always tried to do. Always leaving the minute someone’s back was turned. I knew you’d run out on your little fling, just like you ran out on me,” he sneered. She shook her head. She’d done exactly what he thought she would. He’d played on her insecurities to get her right where he wanted her.
“And I wasn’t ready to let you go because I say when things are over and they’re not over,” he said, leveling a malevolent glare at her. Stomach curdling, she pushed forward. What the hell was she going to do?
“Tomorrow, we’ll go find a nice, quiet place where we can spend time together and get to know one another again.”
“I’m nothing you want, Jon. I’m not obedient like a dog. You can’t just tell me to fetch and expect me to run along. I’m never going to be that woman for you. Why can’t you find someone else? Why does it have to be me?”
“It has to be you because I’ve decided I love you and I want you, it’s as simple as that, Juliette. As for it never being you, I’m sure with some persuading I can ensure you’ll be the perfect wife I’ve always known you could be.”
“I’m not marrying you, Jon,” she said, struggling against the ties on her arms.
“You say that now, but I can change your mind. Stop struggling, you’ll hurt yourself!” he snapped. “I know what will calm you down. How about a kiss?”
He leaned into the bed and Rox knew she wasn’t going to be able to go through with it. Maybe if she could knock him out, she’d have a chance to get these freaking ties off her arms. Or at least scream for help. Crawling toward her, she braced herself as he got closer. The smell of alcohol filled her nose as he was face-to-face with her, then, pulling her head back against the wall to get as much leverage as possible, she whipped her head forward with as much force as she could, slamming it into his nose. Then she brought up her knee to hit him straight in the groin.
Screaming, he held his hand over his nose that was gushing blood through his fingers and fell to the floor next to the bed. She started pulling frantically at the ties on her arms. That hadn’t worked out as planned as he was still very much conscious and sure to be really pissed off. He stood next to the bed, blood dripping from his face. His hand whipped back and Rox braced herself for a blow when a crash diverted both of their attention to the door.
Her heart soared as Liam rushed through the doorway and lunged at Jon, flying over the bed and slamming him into the wall. The plaster splintered as Liam smashed him into it over and over. Jon attempted to fight back. Grabbing for the lamp that was on the bedside table, he slammed in into Liam’s head, dazing him as he stood and Jon took the cord from the lamp and wrapped it around her neck.
The stiff cord dug into her skin as Jon tightened it around her neck. Swallowing was impossible as she struggled against the ties on her arms and her feet kicked and flailed as she gasped for breath. He loosened it slightly, keeping his eyes on Liam who looked ready to pounce.
“I would stop right there. I could yank this cord and crush her windpipe.” Jon gurgled through his blood covered nose.
&nbs
p; “Don’t hurt her! Just put the cord down and we can all walk out of here,” Liam shouted, a cut on his head from where the lamp had hit him.
“You weren’t invited. This is between me and Juliette. You’re the one that needs to leave.”
“I think you know I can’t do that, Jon.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I love her and I can’t let you hurt her.”
“She belongs to me!” he said, tightening the cord around her neck. Black spots danced in her vision as she started to lose consciousness.
“Do you know why she left you?” Liam said, his eyes locked on Jon.
“Because she thought she could find someone with more money. Someone like you,” he sneered, lunging at Liam, but loosening the cord. She took a gasping breath and Liam’s eyes darted to hers.
“No, she left you because you were an abusive asshole. And she knew she deserved better.”
“I wouldn't have done all of those things if she hadn’t put up so much resistance to my suggestions. She was always so willful, headstrong. I knew I needed to break her of that and then we could be together forever,” he said as the cord came loose from around her neck and Liam took his opening, tackling Jon into the nightstand and the wall behind them. Rox moved her head out of the way as bits of the wall exploded around her face.
She could hear the pulpy, wet sound as Liam punched Jon over and over again, finally getting him to the floor. She could see his fists raising in the air and landing just out of her line of sight, but she saw them getting bloodier and bloodier with each punch. Whose blood it was, Liam’s or Jon’s, she wasn’t completely sure. The adrenaline rush that had sustained her throughout the whole ordeal was slipping away as she finally felt safe. Liam was here, he’d come after her. He’d saved her.
