Tempted: The Numb MC
Page 49
Perhaps it was her tone that got to him. He turned in his seat and surveyed her carefully. “What do you want me to do?”
“The binds…” she started slowly. “Can you remove them… just for a minute.”
“That’s the fourth time you’ve asked me,” he said impatiently. “And you already know my answer.”
“Just for a minute,” Kristina insisted, unwilling to give up. “Please I can’t take the pain anymore.”
She saw him roll his eyes and sigh. “Man, all you privileged little brats really have a low threshold for pain.”
“Please,” Kristina said, as she started sobbing uncontrollably, hoping that something about her tears would induce Kovic to be moved. “Please… I’m so tired… and I’m in so much pain.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Kovic said in frustration. “Stop crying, I can’t stand to hear that terrible fucking sound.”
“Just for a minute,” Kristina said again.
He turned around and stared at her for a minute. “No can do,” he said firmly.
Kristina felt her face harden in response, but she forced her expression into one of sadness. “Couldn’t you at least change the binding?” she suggested desperately, trying not to lose momentum. “Can you use cloth instead? Please… it’s really cutting into my flesh now.”
Kovic looked down at her hands and sighed deeply. “Fine then,” he said after a long silence and Kristina tried hard not to look too satisfied with herself. “Fine, I’ll change the binding,” Kovic said as he got out of the car and then entered it again through the back seat so that he was sitting beside Kristina.
“I don’t want you too far gone before we meet dear Keith,” he said as he roughly removed the binds around Kristina’s hands. “I want you nice and perky so that we can put on a show for him.”
“A show?” Kristina asked as he removed the binds. Kristina felt a wave of relief as her blood flow was restored. It was only then that she realized how badly wounded her wrists were.
“Of course,” Kovic nodded with a malicious smile. “I want him to suffer this time, and the only way to do that, is to make you suffer while he watches.”
Kristina looked at his face, wondering what went so wrong in his life that it would create such a monster. “I don’t understand,” Kristina said, shaking her head as Kovic prepared an alternate bind for her hands. “Why do you want him to suffer so much? You’re the one who won; you’re the one who got what you wanted. You killed the woman that Keith loved. So why are you acting like you’re the one who needs to get revenge?”
“Life is not a fairytale, princess,” Kovic said with condescension. “Things are not always that simple. Things don’t fall in place in a nice straight line. Yes, I killed Natalie, but the reason I killed Natalie was to send a message to Keith. That message was clear: fear me and respect me, don’t cross me or deny me, and if you abide by those rules, everything will be ok. I will never come after you the way I did with Natalie. But Keith… see Keith missed that message.
“He felt he could fight against me; he felt he could deny me when I came to him with a perfectly reasonable business offer. He didn’t fear or respect me, and I could not have that. The last time I gave Natalie a quick and painless death because I thought that would be enough to teach Keith that lesson, but apparently, it didn’t sink in. So this time, I’m going to make sure he truly understands. Unfortunately, that doesn’t pan out well for you.”
“You’re really going to kill me?” Kristina asked before she could stop herself.
Kovic took her hands and bound them well with a ripped piece of cloth. Kristina watched him bind her once more. While the cloth was gentler against her skin, it irritated her open wounds and caused more discomfort. She ignored the pain and focused on the wire on the back of the driver’s seat. She was fairly certain she would be able to tear away her binds if she worked quickly and quietly.
“I really am going to kill you,” Kovic said with the inflection of a promise in his tone. “And if you doubt that, then you’re a bigger fool than Keith.”
“I just don’t get it,” Kristina said, and she genuinely didn’t.
“What don’t you get?”
“Why do all this… why murder someone in order to get your point across? It’s… insane.”
“A girl like you will never be able to understand certain things. In my world life is… more carnal. We don’t censor ourselves, and we don’t conform. We do what we need to do when we need to do it. The problem is you’re scared and I’m not.”
“You’re not scared that one day everything you’ve done will come back to haunt you?”
“Only the strong survive in this world,” Kovic replied. “I don’t believe I’m going to be punished simply because I am strong.”
“You’re not strong,” Kristina spat as he finished tying her hands together. “You’re a savage.”
Kovic smiled as though Kristina had just complimented him. “It’s a savage world,” he said calmly. “That’s what you need to be to live in it. Case in point, you will die tonight… and I won’t.”
Kristina lay back in her seat and stared at his cold eyes. He didn’t look like a man to her at all; he was a monster with the face of a man. She wanted to tell him a great many things, but she knew it would make no difference. There was no talking to a mad man. He wouldn’t be able to understand a single word she said.
Chapter Thirty Six
Keith
“Keith?” Emma’s voice was fraught with worry.
“Sorry, Mom,” Keith said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came for something,” he said.
Emma’s eyes fell to the gun in his hand, and then she looked up at his face. “Do you know where Kristina is?”
“No,” Keith replied. “But I know where she will be, and I’m going to get her.”
Keith saw the panic written plainly on his mother’s face. In that moment, he knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling. She wanted him to stay, she wanted him to let the police handle it, but at the same time she didn’t want to make him choose. She didn’t want him to have to refuse her; she didn’t want to stop him from at least trying to save Kristina.
“Who’s going with you?” Emma asked.
Keith hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should lie to her or tell her the truth. “I’m… going alone,” he said at last, unable to lie.
“Alone?” Emma repeated, her voice rising higher. “Why are you going alone? I’m sure the boys will want to come with you.”
“They will,” Keith nodded. “If they knew.”
“But they don’t.”
“I didn’t tell them.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have the time to convince them not to come,” Keith said. “Kovic was very clear… he wants me there alone.”
“Because he wants to kill you, Keith,” Emma said in desperation.
“This is different, Mom,” Keith said quickly. “He’s going to be alone, too. When Marie tipped off the cops, they put eyes on every member of the Rusted Chains. They can’t move without the police knowing about it, which means Kovic can’t call on them for back up. He’s going to be alone tonight. It will be just him and me… like it should have been from the beginning.”
“He’s still dangerous,” Emma pleaded. “And he won’t fight fair.”
“I know that, Mom,” Keith nodded. “Which is why I’m going in prepared.”
“He’s going to anticipate that,” Emma pointed out.
“Mom,” Keith said gently, “I know you’re scared, and I’ll admit, for the first time since Natalie died, I’m scared too. But I have to do this. I’ve been living in the shadow of that memory for two years now, and it’s about time that I get out from underneath it. And the only way for me to do that is by confronting Kovic once and for all.”
“Keith…”
“I can’t lose Kristina, Mom,” Keith said before Emm
a could finish her sentence. “It’ll be worse because I’ll have lost Kristina and it’ll feel as though I’ve lost Natalie all over again, too. And I don’t think I can survive that. I’ve got to do this.”
Emma looked at him with tears standing in her eyes. She raised her hand to his face and cupped it gently. “You’ve always been brave, Keith. I’ve always admired that about you.”
“I got that from you,” Keith said softly.
“Come home safe,” Emma said at last. “And bring Kristina with you.”
Keith leaned in and kissed Emma on the forehead. “I will, Mom,” he said with conviction. “That’s a promise.”
Chapter Thirty Seven
Kristina
Kristina was panting heavily as she lay across the back seat with her hands to the tiny bit of wire, clawing at it desperately. She had been at it for almost ten minutes, and she had managed to create a tiny tear at the back of her bind so that Kovic wouldn’t notice it. She kept at it, terrified Kovic would appear suddenly and catch her in the act.
Her arms and hands were aching with fatigue, and her body was cramped in an uncomfortable position. She was using all the strength in her upper body to keep clawing her bind against the wire, hoping that it would make a difference. Twenty minutes in and still she hadn’t gotten very much further. The tear was now visible however, which meant there was the possibility of Kovic spotting it.
A sound in the distance alerted her to a human presence, and immediately she withdrew her hands from the wire and squeezed them under her head so that it looked like she was sleeping. She lay still and let her breath come in even bursts. A few seconds later, Kovic opened the door and got into the driver’s seat. He had some food with him, but he didn’t seem keen to share it with her.
Kristina didn’t care at this point. She had gone past hunger. The only hunger that remained in her was the hunger to survive. She wanted desperately to live, and now that she was on death’s doorstep, she knew she had to try everything in her power to get free. She noticed Kovic glancing at her from her barely opened left eye, but he didn’t pay her much attention. She breathed a sigh of relief, as he turned his attention back on the road and started to drive.
Kristina was sure that the next time they stopped would be the end of their journey. Kovic had promised her that Keith would be there, but a part of her hoped that he wouldn’t show up. It would hurt to think he hadn’t cared enough to come, but another part of her would just be glad that he was safe. They had been driving for ten minutes when Kristina extended her hands out and continued to try and tear at her binds with the wire at the bottom of Kovic’s seat.
She had to be silent as the night in order to avoid being found out. If she put too much pressure, there was always the possibility that Kovic would figure out what she was doing. She also had to keep her lower body still so that he didn’t suspect that her hands were hard at work. She took little breaks between the cuttings so that she could assess how long she could get away with it. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a larger tear ripped through the cloth. The sound was louder than Kristina had thought, and she froze in place.
Her mind whirred with panic, and instantly she pulled back her hands and hid them underneath her head a second before Kovic glanced back at her. Given that her face was directly behind his, he had a hard time seeing her, which Kristina was deeply grateful for.
“What was that sound?” he asked out loud.
Kristina pretended to wake up. She yawned loudly and adjusted her position in the back seat, all the while making sure her hands were covered. “I was sleeping,” she moaned, trying to fill her tone with the necessary fog of sleep. “Where are we?”
“Never you mind,” Kovic replied. “All you need to know is that we’re close.”
Kristina realized suddenly that the light was fading. They were headed into another night, which meant they had been on the road for quite some time. She could see nothing but trees. On either side of her was a line of trees that seemed to be guarding the road they were on. It was clear they were in the middle of nowhere; she hadn’t heard another car pass them in a while.
“I have to admit,” Kovic said abruptly. “I’m getting excited.”
“The thought of killing someone makes you excited?” Kristina asked in disgust.
“You know… it really does,” Kovic replied.
“You’re sick,” Kristina said.
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Kovic said. “We all have certain instincts inside of us; it’s not my fault that the rest of the world has suppressed theirs.”
“You really think everyone is like you?” Kristina asked incredulously.
“Of course I do,” Kovic replied. “People just aren’t honest with themselves. Trust me, if people weren’t sacred of the consequences, then they’d be exactly like me.”
“And by consequences you mean…?”
“I mean the law,” Kovic answered. “They’re scared of jail and so they suppress all the desires that are normal for them to have. But me… I don’t have to worry about those things.”
“Why?”
“I have connections,” he replied smugly.
“You think you’re invincible, but you’re not,” Kristina replied heatedly. “These connections you think you have will abandon you the moment you lose value to them. They’re not your friends or your family, and they will turn on you the first chance they get. And you know what… just because you don’t experience consequences directly after the fact does not mean there aren’t any.”
“Are we talking about God now… because I’d really rather avoid that subject.”
Kristina realized that he was in a good mood. He thought he was going to get the revenge he had always wanted. He thought he was going to win the fight tonight…and that was making him confident and optimistic. She wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad one.
“I don’t know about God,” Kristina replied. “But there is something greater than us out there, and I’d be scared if I were you.”
“Fear only slows you down,” Kovic said passionately. “Kill the fear inside you and you can do anything, you can be anything. That is how I got to be where I am now.”
Kristina stayed silent; there was no point talking to him. He was a lost cause, a savage with no fear and no remorse. He was going to kill her tonight if she didn’t get away first. Slowly, Kristina examined her bind. It was torn at the back of her hands, which meant if she pulled hard enough, they might actually come apart. Still, it was a risk, and she couldn’t afford to take it. She slipped back down and took advantage of Kovic’s distraction by continuing to tear apart the bind with the little bit of wire at the back of his seat.
She kept talking, hoping that his preoccupation in the conversation would keep his focus off what she was doing. “What does it feel like to kill?” Kristina asked, hoping that topic would keep him talking for long enough that she was able to make some progress.
“You’re really interested in knowing?” Kovic asked with some surprise.
“Well, I figure before the night is up I might have the chance to kill you… and I just want to be prepared for the feeling.”
Kovic laughed. “You’re a lot more fun than Natalie ever was,” he said. “She wasn’t quite so cocky, or as funny.”
“I’m not being funny,” Kristina replied heatedly. “I’m being serious.”
“That’s what makes you so funny,” Kovic said condescendingly.
“Are you going to answer me or not?” Kristina said, struggling to keep the strain from her voice as she moved her bound hands back and forth across the wire.
“It feels like… power,” Kovic replied. “There’s no power so satisfying as seeing someone die and knowing that you are the one who did it. You know that not everyone can take a life? People think it’s a matter of pointing the gun and pulling the trigger, but it’s not. It’s about possessing that special something.”
“You make it sound like a talent.”
“You really do sound like a psychopath,” Kristina said in disgust.
“To someone like you, I’m sure I do,” Kovic replied, unconcerned.
Kristina was about to retort when she heard the screech of wheels and the bright flash of headlights. She closed her eyes instinctively and gasped as the car skidded slightly off the road. “What the hell was that?” she asked in shock.
“I think Keith has found us,” Kovic replied, his tone was devoid of the earlier confidence it had possessed, and Kristina realized that he had not expected to be caught on the road and unprepared. He had expected to be at the designated meeting spot, with his gun at the ready and his plan in perfect motion.