“You…want some of this?” What did she just say?
Another step toward the door. He needed to reach it before it closed.
“If you untie me, I…could do…both of you. I’m gonna die anyway, might as well go out with a bang, right?” Jaaaane. His mind practically whined. What are you saying?
The wind was keeping the door from closing quickly. There was still time. Another step…
“Yeah. I’m…like a total…skank. Untie me so I can at least…you know…I’m so…horny right now…and you guys are so…sexy. I just have to…have you both. At the same time. Untie me.”
What the…Jeezus, Jane… another step.
“Why? You guys afraid of a girl? What am I gonna do to you? You guys are huge. Come on. I wanna suck you off and you can get me from behind. Whaddya say?”
JANE! His eyes rolled to the ceiling before he pulled out his semiautomatic from his inside coat pocket and took another step.
*****
Bald guy took a step forward, pulling out a switchblade from his pocket and flicked it open quickly.
“You try anything…” he muttered.
“There’s two of you and one of me. What am I gonna do?” she whispered on a shaky breath as she watched him intently.
The plan: free the feet, kick out his knee cap. No, wait. Free the feet, free the hands, kick out knee cap, punch in the face, knee to the groin, run like hell. What about the other guy? The other guy already had his pants around his ankles, and…apparently he was getting himself…ready. Gross.
“I wanna do her ass…” she heard him grunt out in the background as the rope sprang free from her ankles. She thrust her arms in front of her and waved them. They were weak. They were really weak. I don’t know if I can do this. I…I don’t wanna be fish food… I REALLY don’t want that dude in my ass. Oh, how do I get myself into this shit?!? she thought frantically.
“We’ll just keep your hands tied up.”
“No! I can’t…balance…or…whatever. Unless you’re worried or something -”
“I’m not worried,” he ground out.
He was looking at her warily.
“I…can’t show you my boobs if my arms are tied up,” she stated before biting her lip awkwardly.
“Free her arms. Oh my god, yes, let’s see ‘em…Oh…uhhh. Hurry up, bro.”
“You try anything, I’ll shoot your pretty face off. It won’t matter to him, he’ll still do you. You hear me?”
GAK.
“Yup.” Come on… He was looking at her bound wrists, back up to her face, then back down before wedging the blade under the rope and yanking upward. If she could just get that knife.
One tug freed a few of the bindings but not all. A loud gulp sounded from her throat and her pulse was hammering in her head as he placed the knife under the remaining pieces.
A glance over at his cohort confirmed he probably wouldn’t be able to react seeing as his hands were otherwise occupied and he would surely trip if he tried to take a step. What a dumbass.
Now or never. Kick, punch and run. You can do this…
The blade flicked up and he immediately stood up and took a step back, out of range. Damn.
“Take off your pants,” he barked.
“Take it all off,” his buddy added.
“I…can’t…my fingers…they’re numb.” She tried to shake some feeling into her arms, and attempted to clench her fists at the same time. She wasn’t lying. They really were numb.
Ok…kick out knee, kick groin, elbow to head, run like hell…
“Stand up.”
“I can’t. My legs are numb too,” she responded feebly as she wiggled her toes and clenched her leg muscles in preparation.
“Fine,” he huffed out, taking a step forward.
As soon as he stepped close enough, she braced her weight on her arms and kicked out, making perfect contact with her intended target. An unnaturally high shriek sounded from his mouth as his body doubled over, giving her perfect access to kick his face. As soon as his head snapped to the side, she was scrambling on all fours to get to her feet. Grunts of pain and yelling filled the room as her limbs tried desperately to function. Get up, get up…
The other guy was yelling something. She didn’t bother to look toward him as her body pushed up and her legs held her weight, albeit quite poorly, but what the hell. She was up. She needed to run. He was so close; she could feel the air stir behind her. A couple more steps and her body was encompassed in the shadows before it slammed up against something and a firm clamp held her waist.
Oh no…No.No.No…her mind screamed as she tried desperately to free herself.
“Shhh. Don’t look.”
Her body stilled immediately. She knew that whispered voice. A strange whizzing sound erupted and a grunt accompanied a loud thud. Her head immediately turned to see one of her captors lying face down on the ground not 5 feet from them. The bald guy was standing up, pulling something from his coat pocket before the whizzing sound erupted again. His body fell backward with a thump, leaving them in complete silence.
“You OK?” she heard his soft inquiry as her body relaxed against his. Fortunately, he was holding her up; otherwise she would have surely crumbled to the floor.
“What…what are you doing here?” she whispered through chattering teeth.
“Eh, I was in the neighborhood, thought I’d stop by, see how you were doin’,” he stated in a completely casual tone. He was making jokes?
“Are they…? Did you…kill them?”
“We need to go. You’re freezing. I need to make some…arrangements. You sure you’re Ok?” he was rambling as he walked to the side door; her body was still plastered to his side, her feet weren’t touching the floor.
“I’m…fine. What are you doing here?”
“You complaining or something? Just be glad I’m here…otherwise… I don’t even want to think about what would have happened.”
“I had it under control,” she stated as he stopped next to his vehicle and set her on her feet carefully.
“You. Had it… under control, hmm?”
“Yes. I think so -”
“If I hadn’t shown up, you would’ve had one guy’s penis in your mouth and another crammed up your ass. Totally had that shit under control, Babe. Did you really think…? Never mind. I can’t believe you. ‘I’m a total skank’,” he mocked in a high voice. “What the hell was that?” He was glaring at her.
“You’re pissed at me?”
He blew out a breath before speaking.
“I’m pissed at me. Not you. Get in the car.” He opened the door and ushered her inside before running around to his side. He settled his body in the seat and immediately placed the key in the ignition.
“You gave me a heart attack,” he stated under his breath as he turned the key and shifted the car into drive.
“How did you find me? Did you kill those dudes? Where are we going? I think I’m gonna barf,” she stated in rapid succession as he turned the car and drove down a fairly empty street.
“Don’t barf. Not yet, at least. Let me just…here, I need to send something really quick. You go ahead and do your thing,” he stated as he pulled the car into an abandoned parking lot a few blocks down the street. How could he be so calm about this? Her body was shaking from a combination of arctic temps and frazzled nerves.
Deep breaths. Whatever it was that was coming up decided it wasn’t going to, and for that, she was completely relieved. She just wouldn’t think about what just happened. Joe was here, and she was safe. Joe was here. She watched his profile as he pulled a small black device from his pocket and started typing, his lips moving.
“What are you doing?”
“I thought you were going to barf? Go ahead, open the door. Have at it.”
“I think I’m Ok, so…what are you doing?”
“Asking someone for a huge favor,” he muttered as his fingers continued to move rapidly.
He stopped abruptly, watchi
ng the small screen before a snort erupted from his nose and he began typing again.
“What?”
“He says I suck the big one.”
“Who?” She craned her neck to see the screen but it was absolutely undecipherable. He ignored her question and continued. “But…he’s going to help me, which is cool. And…we just bought ourselves some time.”
“What do you mean?”
Finally, he turned toward her, his hand found its’ way to her thigh and he gave it a gentle pat.
“Well, you just disappeared, Rick’s boys disappeared, for all Rick knows, you’re toast.”
“What about Rick?”
“What about him?”
“He was there. You…didn’t get him -”
“I didn’t.”
He didn’t seem too broken up about it for some reason. Then again, he seemed rather…emotionless, actually. How he could be so damn unaffected when all she wanted to do was launch her body into his arms? Obviously he didn’t feel the same way.
“I was a little more worried about you…” he stated, which course caused her stomach to flip giddily.
“I told you -”
“Yes, yes I know. You had it under control. What do you weigh, Babe - a buck fifteen? You were not going to get away from those two. Sorry.”
“I weigh one twenty,” she offered softly before another snort interrupted her.
“Well, holy shit! Forget I said that. I take it back. That extra five pounds would have whooped their asses, sorry.” His pat became a firm squeeze before he removed his hand and concentrated on pulling the car from the parking lot back onto the main road.
Her mouth opened then shut abruptly. Her body turned in the seat as her arms folded across her chest. What was the point of even talking if he was going to be a snarky bastard?
*****
His eyes kept wandering to the side as he drove, drinking in her profile. He wanted so much to stop the car, pull her into his arms, kiss her senseless and never let her go. She was pouting. She was so damn cute.
Later. He would hold her later. All night. And every night after that.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked as he pulled the car into the office building parking lot.
“We need to get your purse. I’m assuming you didn’t have time to grab it, huh?” Was he joking?
“No. Actually, this is good. I need to clean up some stuff -”
“No.”
“Yes! I had seven more offices to go. Besides, I kind of tossed my cleaning tote at the bald guy and there’s probably Scrubby Bubbles all over the hall since I sort of sprayed him in the face. I’ll just go in, clean the rest of the offices and we can go.”
“We’ll go in, grab your purse and go.”
“No! You don’t understand! I was doing so well! This is the longest I’ve ever held a job in my adult life. I don’t want to lose this job. I can’t just leave the place a mess.”
“No,” he stated with finality.
“Well, at least let me clean up the tote and empty the garbage cans, Ok?”
“Wrong. You aren’t going to lose your job, Jane. Because you’re gone. You don’t exist. You can’t keep working there, you know that, right? I mean, they’ll figure it out eventually.”
“But I thought you said you bought us some time…”
“Geez, Jane.” He ran his fingers through his hair in agitation, “You’re Ok as long as you stay with me. Rick’ll figure something’s up when neither of his boys surfaces again, and they won’t – trust me on this. Problem is; I don’t know if anyone’s going to miss them. I know nothing about those two. This isn’t how I work…” he stated more to himself than her.
“I don’t know about the bald guy, but the other guy might be married or have a girlfriend or something. He was having some rather lustful thoughts when I read him, and you know I only see guilt or nervousness, so…I’m thinking someone might notice he’s gone.”
“Great. That’s just…perfect,” he blew out a disgusted sigh before parking the car and grabbing the door handle.
“Come on.”
*****
“Where are we?”
She stepped into the foyer, her eyes taking in the simple elegance and expensive looking furnishings before turning to him later that night. Much to his annoyance, she did clean up the tote and emptied the trash, and started working on an office before he picked her up and forcibly removed her from the premises.
“My apartment. Well, one of them.” He closed the door behind her and engaged the deadbolt before turning toward her.
“Wow. It’s…you brought me to your apartment?” she asked in obvious awe, her head turning to view the large room she was standing in.
He must trust me. This was so cool.
The complex was gorgeous, at least what she could see at night. He waved a key card near an iron gate as they drove up. Well placed spotlights shown through the landscaping shooting soft beams of light in the strategically placed trees as they drove up and then down into a parking garage situated under one of the massive buildings.
It must cost a fortune to live here.
Her eyes took in everything as she walked further into the apartment, which, for all intents and purposes, was probably bigger than most of the homes she had seen. It was stunning.
“Come on. Let’s get you in the shower. You’re shivering.” His hands had run up either of her arms and she truly wondered if it was the previous cold or his close proximity that induced the reaction.
Her back was facing him, and luckily he didn’t catch the lip she was biting or the way her eyes crossed from the contact.
Suddenly his arms dropped and he was wandering toward the right side of a huge room beyond the foyer. After a calming breath, she followed him.
*****
The scene before her was…seductive, almost.
He was seated on the couch, two glasses of white wine on a heavy coffee table situated in front of a fire. His hair was wet; apparently he took a shower also but not nearly as long as hers. She had stood under the steady stream of the hottest water she could handle, her mind wandering over the events of the evening for who knew how long. He said she didn’t exist. He said she would be safe as long as she stayed with him. For how long?
He let Rick go. How long until this was over? He almost had to find him now, if she were to ever have a life that was deemed normal. Why did Rick want her dead? So many questions and absolutely no answers. The biggest and most urgent one being: How the hell did Joe know where she was earlier? She had asked, and in true Joe fashion, he brushed off the question with his snarky remarks.
She stepped further into the room causing his eyes to wander up her stocking clad feet, up her exposed legs to the long sleeved thermal tee she was sporting like a nightgown. It hit her mid-thigh and practically swallowed her. Even the sleeves were rolled up. She was so tiny, really. So tiny and yet so tough. And…amazingly beautiful.
“Here, sit,” his voice commanded and luckily it didn’t crack. He sounded rather normal even though his pulse was racing, sending blood to one central location that decided to twitch in response. He placed a throw pillow over his lap as she wandered over and sat at the opposite end of the couch. Hopefully that wasn’t too obvious.
“So…this is your place, huh? It’s nice.”
“Yeah, thanks.” His lips moved but his tone seemed preoccupied. His eyes were so dark and intense on hers. “So, are you Ok? I mean, they didn’t hurt you, did they?
“I’m Ok. It all just sort of hit me when I was in the shower. They were going to make me fish food. That’s not a very appetizing thought,” she stated quietly as her hand reached for the glass of wine.
He silently watched her take a sip before placing the wine back down on the table.
“So…how’s your Mom?” she asked quietly, changing the topic of discussion.
He blinked in response before finally registering the question.
“She has good days and bad days. She
’s still in the hospital. Today wasn’t so great, to be honest,” he replied.
“I’m sorry,” she stated softly.
“Yeah, well…we knew going into this that is was fifty-fifty. If she didn’t get the transplant, she wasn’t going to have a chance at all. I can pay all the money in the world, but ultimately it’s up to her. She has to fight. I’m not so sure she wants to,” he replied sadly.
“And how’s Betty?” she asked after a few moments of silence. This caused his eyes to brighten somewhat.
“Betty is Betty. She’s hanging in there. You know she and Doris What’s-her-Face are buddies again. She actually called and apologized to her.”
“Really? That’s great. I…miss her.”
“She misses you too. Not a day goes by when she isn’t grilling me about you. You have no idea.” He smiled warmly before an awkward silence seemed to reign once again.
“Joe?”
“Yeah?”
“How did you find me tonight?” she asked cautiously.
His face immediately turned toward the fire.
“Umm…I…ah, wanted to…talk to you. I ah…came to see you.” Tell her the truth.
“You came to see me? Tonight of all nights? Do you know what a huge coincidence that is?” Her tone relayed a distinct air of disbelief.
“Yeah, right?” Oh, you shithead. Just…tell her.
“So…what did you want to tell me?” she asked, just as he knew she would.
“You know what? It’s late. You’ve had a rough day. We should get you to bed.”
“Not until you tell me.”
“I…tomorrow, Jane. Let’s talk tomorrow. Right now, I’m just…beat.” He hung his head, his hand massaging the back of his neck.
“Right now,” she stated in a flat voice.
‘Tomorrow. Promise.” I can’t do this. Jane was...well, she would either take it well; or…knowing Jane…maybe not so well. You are such a freaking coward. He couldn’t explain one thing without explaining the other, and the other was professing his love for her.
This was so not happening tonight.
This Guy Kills Me Page 36