I hear movement, then I feel him hovering over me. “What’s wrong, Cassie? Are you afraid of how you’ll feel is I touch you? Afraid it will bring back memories you’re trying to forget?” He runs his hand up my spine and I shiver, but not the good time. I shift, uncomfortable with him touching me and how close he is to me.
“Definitely not, Zack. I told you I don’t feel like that about you anymore.”
He laughs gruffly in my ear. “Keep telling yourself that, Cassie. I bet if I remind you of how it used to be you’d change your mind. I remember every detail from our nights together. They’re my most favorite memories of us.”
Zack moves his hand from my spine to my arm, gliding it down to my wrist. I feel the cool metal of the handcuffs snap around my wrist.
I gasp in shock. “W-WHat are you doing?” I stutter the words, my mind fumbling.
“Making sure you don’t try and run,” he states as I hear the sound of the other cuff snapping together.
Tears well in my eyes. Zack is always a step ahead. If I can just get a moment alone to be able to call 911 or send a text to J or Bo, I’ll be as content as possible until someone comes to save me from this nightmare.
I send up a silent prayer that all of this will be over soon and my life with J and his family will return to normal.
I wait until I hear Zack snoring before I close my eyes.
Chapter Forty- Four
Cassie
I feel someone roughly shaking me.
“Cassie, wake up. We have to go.”
“What?” I ask groggily.
More shaking and murmurs. “Cassie, we have to go, now,” the voice, my brain registers as Zack, whispers harshly.
It takes a second before it clicks and my eyes fly open. I look around the darkened room, noticing it is pitch black outside as well. We couldn’t have slept more than a couple hours. Surely, we aren’t leaving now?
I glance at Zack, barely able to make out his features. “Cassie, get your ass up and do not make a sound.”
I open my mouth to ask him what is going on, but he silences me with his finger.
Zack moves and I realize our wrists are still cuffed together when the metal pinches my skin. He doesn’t even give me time to slip on some shoes. He walks hastily to the elevator. As we wait for the elevator to arrive, I almost jump out of my skin when I hear loud yelling and banging coming from somewhere. Freedom. My heart spikes up in hope that the people shouting are here to rescue me.
Zack curses under his breath and bangs on the button.
When the doors glide open, Zack grabs my hand, tugging me with him.
The doors close as I hear the sound of wood splintering. “When we reach the ground floor, we run, understand? They’ve found us. I’m not sure how, but they are going to take you away from me, and I can’t have that, Cassie.”
Sighing, I try to plead with him one last time. “Zack, you need to stop all of this. Please, understand I don’t want this life and I don’t want to be with you.”
He ignores my plea, gripping my hand tighter.
“Zack, please let me go. I’m not worth it.”
He backs me in the corner, his eyes hardening. I lower my gaze to his arm which is currently lifting up his shirt.
My eyes widen when they land on the sleek black metal of a gun poking out of his waistband.
“W-When…h-how?” Fear clenches me, stealing my breath.
“It turns out you’re a heavy sleeper.” He lowers his shirt, covering the weapon. “Now, are you going to cooperate or will you continue to spout nonsense about how you don’t want to be with me?”
“C-Cooperate.”
A wicked grin slinks across his face. “Thought you’d see it my way. Remember to run.” My frantically beating heart thumps hard against my rib cage. This is so much worse than I feared. His obsession is taking a turn for the worse.
A moment later the elevator doors open and Zack takes off, leaving me no choice but to run. My feet slap against the cool tile, his grip crippling my poor hand.
“Freeze!” I hear yelled for somewhere around me.
Zack skids to a stop when an officer steps in, blocking our path so he sets off in another direction. Thank goodness I run often or otherwise he’d be dragging me along behind him.
Every direction Zack runs there is an officer with his gun drawn. We are surrounded and I want to feel relieved, but I can’t yet. I’m still linked to Zack, literally.
All the officers are shouting for him to release me, but instead of listening, Zack yanks me against him and draws his own weapon. I clench my eyes shut when I see the gun aiming at my face. The bitter cold metal pressing against my temple.
One of the officers motions for everyone to cease fire so the lower their weapons.
Zack side-steps toward the exit, dragging me with him. “No one move or I’ll kill us both!” he shouts as he continues to move us away from them. I see my freedom slowly slipping away with every step he takes backwards.
“Relax, babe. I’ll get us out of here,” Zack murmurs, and I want to cry. I can’t relax, not until this cuff is free from my wrist and he is not holding a gun to my head.
“Zack, please, let me go,” I whimper as we step outside. The building is surrounded by police and cop cars. Just like inside all of their guns are drawn until they notice he has one aimed at me. I get they want to be cautious, but someone needs to do something!
“Shit,” Zack utters when he notices it too. “This way. Let’s go.” His arm falls around me and he grabs my hand, taking off down the sidewalk.
“CASSIE!”
I whip my head around, swearing I heard J calling for me.
“CASS!”
I did hear him. My J is here. I can’t see him, but he is here. I just know it.
I slow my pace and grab on to Zack trying to get him to slow down.
“J!” I holler back.
“Cassie!”
Zack’s hand clamps around my mouth and his arm with the wrist that’s linked to mine comes around my waist. He draws me back into the darkness.
“You’re ruining everything, Cassie!” Zack growls in my ear.
Good, that is my plan. I stomp on his foot, trying to get him to release me. I elbow him in his gut causing him to grunt. The hand clamped over my mouth falls away and I scream as loud as I can.
Zack slams me against the brick wall, knocking the wind out of me. I feel a tug on my wrist then I’m lifted into the air, over Zack’s shoulder. My head and back are throbbing so bad. All of my fight has left me.
I see light’s shining and shouts, lots of them. Zack picks up his pace down the alley. Hopefully there is a dead end somewhere.
“Give it up, son! We have you surrounded!”
“She doesn’t want to leave me,” Zack yells back. He slows to a stop then I’m back on my feet. He turns me towards him and brings my head to his chest. I try to push him away, but I’m weak from being slammed against the brick.
“Well then let her go and if she wants you she won’t run to us!” the officer replies and I have to give him credit for coming up with a smart plan, but Zack probably won’t fall for it.
“No! It’s a setup! If I let her go you will take her from me!”
“Zack,” the officer says calmly. He takes a few tentative steps closer. “I promise not to touch her unless she comes my way. If she wants to be with you then I’ll call this whole thing off.”
He’s obviously lying to him. Zack will have to go to jail regardless for killing my parents.
I try one last attempt to plead with him. “Zack, listen to them.”
“No, because you will run to them and I’ll lose you forever,” he cries.
“This is how it has to be, Zack. I’m sorry.” Not really, but he doesn’t need to know that. I don’t feel sorry for him anymore.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“You can do it, Zack. I have faith in you. Let me go. Take some time to get yourself some help.”
�
��Cassie, don’t go.” He sounds so pitiful, but I have no remorse for him anymore.
“I have to.”
I grab his wrists which are wrapped around my waist and slowly pry them off of me.
“You can do this, Zack. Just let go.”
His arms latch back around me. “You are supposed to be mine.”
“No, I’m not. I haven’t been yours in three years. I’m sorry my parents ruined what we had, but I’ve moved on from it and found happiness and you should too. Letting go of me is your first step to happiness.”
I grab his wrists again, and this time they leave my waist easy.
“Fresh start, Zack,” I remind him as I inch his hands farther away from me. Once his hands are at his sides, I slowly take a step back, then another. His eyes are pleading with me to stay, but I won’t. I haven’t felt anything for him in over a year.
I take two more steps and when I notice he isn’t moving to stop me, I turn and break out into a full run. A couple female officers grab me and wrap a blanket around me. In the safety of their arms, they walk me farther away from Zack. I take one last look over my shoulder at him. He is lying on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.
The EMT is cleaning the wound on the back of my head when J comes running up to me. “Cassie,” he breathes in relief. I open my arms, wrapping him in the blanket with me.
The floodgates open and I sob on his shoulder.
J starts to pull away, but I tighten my arms around him, not wanting to leave his safe embrace just yet.
“God, I missed you so much, Cass.”
Another round of sobs wrack my body as I cling to him.
I finally drop my arms from his waist, releasing him. J wipes the wetness from my cheeks then presses his lips to mine. I’ve waited close to two days to feel the love of his lips brush mine.
The EMT clears his throat. “Excuse me, Miss.” J and I break apart and look at him. “You’re going to need stitches and I’m sure the doctor will want to do a CT scan to see if you have a concussion.”
“Okay, are we going now?”
He nods once. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’ll ride with you,” J says.
Just as we are about to get me settled in the ambulance, Dan walks up and hugs me. “I’m glad you’re okay, Cassie. We’ve all been out of our minds worried about you.”
“Thank you for everything you did to help save me.” I will be forever grateful to Dan and his family.
He pulls away and half smiles. “I just did my job. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go call Jane and tell her the good news. Meet you at the hospital?”
“See ya, Dad.”
“Bye, Dan.”
Two hours later and I’m finally leaving the hospital. I did end up with a concussion from being thrown against the brick with such force. I ended up having to tell J how I ended up needing stitches. Yeah, that was fun. He was so pissed and I can’t say I blame him. It took both me and Dan to calm him down.
“I’m hungry,” I announce to J. Our flight doesn’t leave for another two hours and I want food before we get on the plane.
“What do you want, babe?”
“I want an actual sit down meal. I haven’t had one of those lately.”
“When was the last time you ate, Cassie?” J growls beside me.
“Oh like eight hours ago.”
He blows out a breath. “Much better than I was thinking.”
“Zack stopped anytime I said I was hungry or I had to pee. He cared, but just a bit too much.”
J arches a brow. “A bit?”
“Okay, fine way too much.”
J turns to me, wrapping me in his arms, a place I will never get tired of.
“I swear I’m never letting you out of my sight again. These past couple days have been the hardest and scariest of my life.”
I’d be a fool to say I wasn’t scared, especially when Zack went to the extreme with the gun.
“I’m so glad to be going home with you.”
J kisses my forehead. “Tell me about it. I’ve only been in this city for a few hours and I hate it.”
I laugh and shove him lightly. “Such a country boy.”
“Damn straight, Cass. Now, let’s go find you something to eat. I bet you a million dollars it doesn’t taste as good as mom’s.”
Chapter Forty- Five
J
This has been the longest two days of my darn life. I was serious when I said I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight. I don’t want to feel like that again. It felt like my whole world just stopped, like it ended. Thank God we had inside info or otherwise she wouldn’t be in my arms, with her head against my chest. When she was gone all of these horrific ideas of what was happening to her were playing over and over through my mind. I felt helpless.
When we finally arrived in New York, which took ages it seemed, and the police had the building surrounded, it took every ounce of willpower in me to not run in there. I could hear a little bit of what was going on from the radios the police had. I could barely see them when they finally came out of the building, but when I got a good look, my blood ran cold. Cassie looked so scared and there was nothing I could do.
After Zack took off with her I hollered for her. She tried she tried to break free despite the douche-bag having her cuffed to him. My heart rate spiked tremendously when they disappeared into the shadows. And her scream. By God, her scream would haunt me for the rest of my life if she would have died. My resolve broke when I heard her blood curling scream. It took four officers, including Dad to keep me from running over there and saving her myself. Mom and Dad didn’t think I should have gone to New York in the first place, but I wasn’t about to sit at home and wait who knows how long before they brought her home to me. Bo, was on my side, which helped.
Dad, Cassie, and I are sitting at one of these darn expensive restaurants and I am right, the food is nowhere as good as Mom’s. I’m ready to get back to Brilliant. Big cities be damned.
The flight was long, too long. Cassie cuddled up next to me and both of us got some much-needed rest. I want to ask her if Zack did anything…inappropriate. I don’t even know how to bring it up. What if he did? How will I be able to sit and listen to it?
We are in Dad’s truck on our way out of Birmingham. We are an hour away from home, an hour away from holding Cassie close and sleeping for the next ten hours.
My arm is resting across her shoulders with her head laying on my shoulder.
“J, where am I staying now?” she asks softly.
“With us, of course. You think I’d let you stay anywhere else?”
“Are your parents okay with it?”
“Yes, they suggested it before I did.” At first, her sleeping arrangements were the last thing on my mind. The only way Cassie could live with us is if she slept separately from me. My parents are having to go before a judge and ask if they can have custody of Cassie until we graduate high school.
“What about my parents? I know they are dead, but what do I do now?” she murmurs so low I almost didn’t hear her.
“I don’t know, Cassie. We’ll figure it out tomorrow. We all need some rest first, okay?”
“Okay,” she replies softly.
Cassie is quiet the rest of the ride home. A couple times I catch her staring off into space. I’m not sure what she is thinking about, and I’m kind of afraid to ask her.
I almost kiss the ground when I climb out of the truck. It’s been too long and I’m definitely ready to crash.
We only take one step toward the house before Mom and Bo come flying out of the house. I am seriously prepared to step in front of Cassie if they don’t slow down. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that.
Mom holds Cassie tightly against her. She is hugging Cassie so hard I think she is gonna squeeze the life out of her.
“All right, Mom, that’s enough.” When she doesn’t let her go I add, “Mom, you have to be careful with her, she’s sore, remember?”
For a minute, I think I’m gonna have to pry Mom off of Cassie, but she finally lets her go.
“Oh, I’m so sorry dear. I just got so caught up in seeing you.”
“It’s okay,” Cassie tells her.
Mom backs away so Bo can get a hug in. “Glad to have you back, darlin’. Ouch!” Bo exclaims and backs away from Cassie.
“You know I hate that word.”
“Man, you haven’t even been back five minutes and you are being mean to me. You haven’t changed a bit.”
We all laugh at Bo’s teasing.
“You’d think you’d learn by now not to mess with me,” Cassie smirks.
Cassie steps closer to me so I drape my arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer. I lead her inside the house and we scarf down some of the food Mom had prepared for us before curling up together and falling fast asleep.
I wake up to Cassie’s legs tangled with mine, her arm draped across my middle, and her head resting on my chest. Her lips are parted slightly and the soft sound of her breathing filters the room. The moonlight streaming through the curtains reflects off her, showcasing her beauty. I love this beautiful, selfless girl so much. She is snarky at times, but her sweetness makes up for it.
Starting tonight, she will have to sleep separately from me so I want to soak as much of this in as humanly possible before morning.
I press my lips to her forehead, grateful to have her back with me. She stirs and after a moment, her eyes flutter open. She smiles and my heart swells, overjoyed.
“Hey there, sleepyhead.”
“Hey,” she murmurs.
She groans and snuggles closer. “I’m still so tired.”
I grab my cell off the nightstand to check the time. We have been asleep at least seven hours now. “It’s almost midnight, baby. Go back to sleep.”
She yawns, then asks. “Do we have to go to school tomorrow—today—whatever day it is?”
“Cassie, it’s about to be Saturday.”
“Oh, I knew that,” she replies with a laugh.
“Sure you did,” I tease.
Safe with You Page 26
