by Nancy Naigle
He wrapped the belt around her arms and tightened it to immobilize them. The leather bit into her soft flesh.
Bradley dragged her to the chair and buckled her belted arms through the chair rails at her back.
She squirmed and kicked her heels against the ground, hopping in the chair, frantic to get loose.
Bradley loosened his tie with one hand and pulled it over his head. “Do you remember buying this neck tie?” He pushed her hands through the loop of the silk tie and tugged hard worried the belt wouldn’t hold her tight enough.
She continued to kick and caught him in the back of the knee as he moved in front of her.
“Bet you didn’t know at the time that you’d be dying with it tied around your wrists.” He opened a drawer and rummaged through the contents then slammed it shut. In the next drawer he came up with a roll of duct tape. He caught one of her ankles mid-kick then wrapped the tape in a quick figure eight around it and the second rung of the chair.
“You’re pissin’ me off.” The force of his seething reply caused her to tense, as he grabbed her other ankle and did the same.
She glared at him. ”You think I care?”
He backhanded her.
She flinched against the power of the blow that made her eye feel like it had exploded. Warm blood trickled down to her lip.
He’d mastered that move, landing the blow right on top of the already bruised knot he put on her cheek before. She took a big gulp of air, fighting to stay conscious, but unsure if she still was. She blinked against the pain.
She heard his laugh as he moved through the living room.
Thank, God, she thought. Maybe he would leave now. She heard him moving through the house, his steps echoing loud on the wooden plank floors. Books crashed and glass broke as something hit the floor in the other room.
She caught his reflection in the dining room mirror.
He paced like a wild animal, back and forth through the rooms.
“Where are they? Damn it.” He climbed the stairs, clomping from room to room, then back down the stairs, growling out obscenities the whole way.
She heard a familiar sound. The flick of his pipe lighter. “Brad-ley,” she screamed.
“I’m busy,” he yelled back.
“Stop this.” Fear sliced through her. “Bradley, what are you doing?” Her voice rose in panic as she realized his intentions.
“Smoking. Want one?” He leaned back, and gave Jill one last glance. Their gazes held for what seemed like a long time.
“Please,” she mouthed to him. Her eyes pleaded. “Don’t do this to me.”
He moved out of her line of sight.
She heard the unmistakable flick of the lighter again.
Silence.
But only for a moment.
Then, a flash of orange followed a loud whoosh as the first flame lit. The heavy drapes that covered the long row of windows in the front room went up quick. Yellow and gold danced in the mirror, and dusty smoke snaked through the air.
Bradley stepped back to the doorway between the living and dining rooms. “I might just miss you a little after all, babe. What a shame.”
“Please, let me go,” she begged. “Don’t do this to me.” She struggled against the binds that held her tight to the chair. She tried to hop but with her feet up on the rungs, she wasn’t able to get any leverage.
“I won’t tell,” she pleaded, exhausted from the struggle, and trying to catch her breath. She gulped smoke and coughed uncontrollably. “I won’t tell. I promise.”
If she could just scoot the chair to the cabinets, she might be able to get her hands lose with the metal of the handles. She felt a thread of hope as she heaved herself forward and finally the chair bumped. But it landed crooked and toppled over to the right, throwing her hard against the floor on her shoulder.
Pain splintered through her body.
She fought to reconnect with the breath that had been knocked out of her in the fall.
I’m okay. I’m okay. She prayed she wouldn’t pass out. Her hands wiggled and tugged against the spindles of the chair until one finally gave way.
She heard Bradley snicker.
“You’re not going to leave me like this,” she said. “Help me.”
He knelt on one knee, only feet away.
She didn’t let go of his gaze. She wouldn’t let him off that easy.
“You lose,” he said.
A loud pop came from the living room.
“Don’t. Please help me,” she said, but she wasn’t sure the words were even audible. There was a lethal calmness in his eyes. “It was all you. How could you?”
He jumped to his feet and ran. The door slammed behind him.
She cried as the heavy black smoke rolled into the kitchen.
Trapped.
She tried to scream even though she knew it was pointless wasted breath. There were no neighbors to hear her.
As the smoke thickened, sweat dripped from her hair into her eyes. The fire in the next room popped and crackled hot.
Chapter Twenty-One
The road ahead clouded with dust. Garrett swerved his truck onto the soft shoulder as a car zoomed by from the other direction. The car’s speed was reckless, even for locals who were comfortable on these back roads. Garrett’s tires spit dust and gravel as they spun, trying to get traction back onto the pavement. Clyde barked from the passenger seat.
An uneasy feeling came over Garrett. He was about a mile from Pearl’s house. Jill was there waiting on him, but that car looked an awful lot like Kase’s Lexus. Would that jerk have the balls to come back around here again?
Garrett jammed on the brakes and turned his truck around to follow Kase, dialing the sheriff as he did.
“Calvin? Malloy here. I think I just passed Kase on Old Pond Road.” Garrett mashed the gas pedal, accelerating quickly.
“We’re on our way.” Sheriff Calvin committed to get help to intercept him.
Garrett glanced in his rear view mirror out of habit.
The dusty road blurred dark gray.
His eyes narrowed as he tried to gain perspective on the image behind him and then he slammed on his brakes.
“God. No,” he said, forgetting he still had the cell phone to his ear.
“I’ve got someone only about four miles out. If it’s him, we’ve got him this time. Do you still have the vehicle in sight?” Sheriff Calvin asked.
“Yeah.” Garrett glanced in his rear view mirror. He slammed on the brakes sending papers and tools sliding across the floor of the truck. “Shit. That’s smoke. I’ve got to check on Jill.”
“What’s going on?” Voices on the radio crackled in the background. “Garrett. That was dispatch. Jill called. Kase was there.”
“Damn him.” Garrett leaned his body forward, willing the truck to go even faster.
“We’re on our way,” Scott said. “Be careful. He’s out of control.”
“Yeah. Well I know where he isn’t.” Garrett grabbed the wheel with both hands as he pushed his truck to new limits. “I’m heading for Jill. Get that bastard this time, would ya’?” He tossed the phone in the seat.
Black smoke billowed over the trees. He prayed that it was only the woods on fire again.
His pulse raced. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. He frowned with cold fury.
Garrett gasped as he cleared the trees and saw the house in flames.
“Jill!”
Ash showered like tiny blistering snowflakes on his windshield.
He jumped from the truck, leaving Clyde barking in alert, safe in the truck. The smoke stung his nose and eyes. He imposed an iron control over himself, trying to keep a clear head.
As he neared the house, the press of the heat was almost unbearable. His skin tightened against it. A gold flame spiked high into the sky and another pushed through the front wall of the house. He raised his forearm against the blinding inferno.
A loud roar filled the air as the flames pushed through the roof.
Garrett had a hard time distinguishing between the noises he heard. Was the fire whistling or was that sirens? The sound got louder, but he didn’t have time to wait.
He sprinted around the side of the house and leaped side-saddle over the low picket fence, searching for a safe entry point. At the back door, he forced himself to stop long enough to lay a hand on the door to check for heat, although he knew in his heart it wouldn’t matter. She was supposed to be here waiting for me to pick her up. If there was any chance....
He couldn’t leave Jill inside. He had to get her out.
Thankfully, the heat wasn’t as intense back here. He twisted the knob, but the door was locked. He balled his hand in a fist and popped out the back glass panel, and reached through the shards of glass to unlock it. Blood spilled from the slice in his forearm.
Garrett squinted in the heavy smoke, desperate to find Jill. Hot flames blazed, roasting his skin. He raised an arm to shield his face so he could look for her.
He stumbled in the kitchen, barely able to see through the thickening smoke.
“Jill,” he choked out, frantic. If she was upstairs he’d never get to her. “Where are you?”
I can’t lose her now. “Jill. Can you hear me?”
But the fire was snapping up everything in its path, muffling even his own voice.
He tripped and fell to the floor.
As he clamored to get up, he realized it was Jill he’d stumbled over.
Thank you, God.
“Jill!” He shook her but she seemed lifeless.
She didn’t move.
Flames licked from the dining room into the kitchen.
Time was running out, and he knew it.
He tried to lift her but the chair jammed near the cabinet.
Garrett shook off a dizzy feeling. Give me a second chance. Please, God. I’ll never let her down again.
He lifted his shirt up over his nose and pulled his knife from his hip to cut her loose, but his eyes were tearing so badly he could barely see. He coughed, choking on the acrid fumes.
Unable to free her from the chair, Garrett heaved the chair and Jill into the air in one swift motion, and ran out the back door. He didn’t stop running until he was nearly to the woods and away from the heat.
Jill’s head hung forward, limp. Her hair, a tangled mess.
“Talk to me.” He reached for her face and tipped her chin up, but she didn’t respond.
“Come on,” he shouted, “you have to be okay. Hang in there, angel.”
Garrett dared to hope when he heard Jill trying to draw in fresh air between raspy coughs. Soot smudged her face.
I’ll kill that bastard.
The EMTs dragged Garrett away. He hadn’t heard the emergency vehicles arrive. He prayed that they were in time and could save his girl.
The emergency workers began immediate triage. Jill responded to the CPR. They quickly put her on oxygen to quiet her heavy coughing and gagging.
They transferred Jill to a stretcher and put her in the ambulance. Garrett jumped in the back of the ambulance and the medic closed the door behind them.
“Stay with me, Jill. Please. You’ve got to hang on.” He clung to her arm.
Jill’s lashes fluttered. A tear cleared a trail down the soot on her face.
The ambulance lurched forward, sirens blaring as they sped toward the hospital.
“How bad is she burned?” Garrett asked the medic.
The large man didn’t look to be out of his twenties, but he moved with confidence. “She doesn’t appear to have any severe burns.”
“Thank God,” Garrett said.
“But she’s not out of the woods.” The medic raised the IV bag to a hook, repositioned the oxygen mask and took her blood pressure.
Garrett wiped his hands on his jeans, and then put his hand on the wall of the ambulance for balance.
“Burns look worse, but more people die of smoke inhalation than from burns.” The medic stayed steady at work as he spoke.
Garrett swallowed hard. “Hang in there for me, baby.” Don’t leave me.
The medic pointed to the gash on Garrett’s arm. “That doesn’t look good. You probably need a couple of stitches.”
Garrett tugged his arm away. Blood had coagulated and stiffened against his shirt. “Concentrate on her. I’m fine.”
Jill thrashed.
Garrett reached for her arm. “She’s struggling to breathe.”
The medic talked to the ER on a two-way radio. Through the scratchy speakers, they repeated the vitals and followed the treatment plan the hospital dictated. “Do you know how long she was in there?” the medic asked.
He shook his head. “No. I don’t know.”
The medic conveyed the message and gave the hospital the update on Jill’s condition. It sounded serious. If she had to be intubated, they didn’t want to do it in transit.
The medic monitored Jill and tried to keep her comfortable, while reporting status to the hospital via the radio.
Jill flailed and appeared to struggle for air every time she floated into consciousness.
When they got to the hospital, the ER team met them at the doors, ready to move Jill directly to an individual resuscitation bay for immediate care.
The hospital team worked quickly.
“She took in a lot of smoke,” said the attending physician, a tall lanky man.
“There are burns in her throat. Even her nose hairs are burnt.” He leaned in, placing his stethoscope to her chest.
A nurse fussed with the monitors and they began to beep and spit out data. Another nurse drew blood then scurried from the area.
“Let’s start hyperbaric oxygen therapy and see if we can get her oxygen levels where they need to be,” the doctor said. The nurse moved immediately to execute the orders.
Garrett’s injuries were minor and treated quickly. The slice in his forearm took over a dozen stitches. Getting the stitches hurt far worse than the cut itself.
After he’d been patched up, he paced the length of the waiting room. He’d spent more time in this hospital this month than he had in his lifetime. If he ever had to be here again, it would be too soon. As much as he’d hated being a patient, it was far worse to have Jill behind those curtains fighting for her life.
The desk nurse called Garrett over. “The doctor will be right out to discuss her condition with you.” She pointed toward the green double doors. “There he is now.”
Garrett met the doctor in the doorway.
“We’re watching her closely. We’ve started oxygen therapy.”
“I heard them talking about intubation on the emergency radio on the way over.”
“We haven’t intubated, and we won’t do that unless we have to.”
Garrett closed his eyes, his chin quivering. “Thank you, God.”
“Depending on how she does overnight, I’d like to do a bronchoscopy in the morning. It’s a visual exam done with a fiber-optic tube. That will give us the chance to see how much damage has been done to the lungs and airways.”
“She’s going to be okay, right?”
“I’m not going to sugar coat my prognosis. Her condition is serious,” the doctor said. “We’re monitoring her respiratory rate and other vitals. We’ll take good care of her. We’re going to move her to ICU as soon as we can get a bed. You’ve been through a lot, yourself. You might want to go home. She won’t be allowed visitors.”
Garrett hesitated.
“I know it’s hard to leave. We’ve sedated her to keep her comfortable and regulate her breathing. Trust me. We’ll call if anything changes.” The doctor cuffed Garrett’s shoulder and gave him a nod. “Any other questions for me?”
Garrett couldn’t think of any. “No, sir. But please, doc, take good care of her.”
The doctor nodded, then turned and walked away.
Garrett stood there alone, not wanting to leave.
The nurse at the desk must have recognized the lost look on his face. “Sir. Can I call
a friend or a cab to give you a ride home?”
“No, thanks.” He walked toward the front of the hospital. He lifted the phone out of the clip on his belt and pushed redial.
Scott Calvin answered. “Is Jill okay?”
Garrett wiped his brow. His arm was stiff from the heavy bandage they’d wrapped from his forearm to his bicep. “She’s not out of the woods, but she’s going to recover.” He swallowed hard. “She has to.”
“I’m out here at the house. Garrett, it doesn’t look good.”
“I know. The place was engulfed in flames when I got there. I can’t believe I got her out of there, man.”
“Thank God you turned around when you did.”
“Did your guys get Kase?”
“No,” he admitted. “I’m afraid not.”
“Damn it.” Garrett pounded his fist into the air. “I thought you said you had a man right in the area.”
“We did.”
“Then what happened?”
“Kase talked his way out of it. He had fake FBI credentials. My deputy believed him when he said he was on undercover assignment and in hot pursuit of the perp. My deputy escorted him all the way to the county line, blue lights and all. Kase gave him a thumbs-up as he crossed into Carolina.”
“I bet he did. Damn Kase.” Garrett kicked a trash can over. “FBI? Could that guy stoop any lower?”
“He’s a pro.”
Garrett dropped his head into his hands. “Kase won’t get away with this.”
“Trust me. Dan is feeling pretty bad about being duped. He’s a little overzealous and an odd duck, but he has a good heart.”
“Yeah, look what that got me. That deputy of yours handcuffed Jill in her own living room, and now he escorts an an arsonist and attempted murderer across the state line. I suggest you take his bullet away, he’s a wildcard.”
“We haven’t given up, Garrett. We’ll find Kase.”
“He better hope you find him before I do.”
“Don’t go doing anything crazy that I can’t get you out of, old buddy.” They’d been friends for a long time and Scott knew it took a lot to set Garrett off, but once he lit, there was no stopping him.
Garrett picked up the trash can and righted it. “He’s going to pay for this.”