Playing Heart to Get

by Kara Liane

  I would keep him talking at all costs and drag this out. I could feel the trickle of blood ooze from the corner of my lip, and I licked away the rusty tang. Screaming was not going to work because if he got another good hit in, I was afraid I’d black out. I took a deep breath, and I coughed on the dust swirling around this old, dank building. It was so stuffy and humid in here. It still had to be eighty degrees outside, so it felt even hotter in here. The night certainly hadn’t cooled anything down. I was beyond mad that I was wearing jeans now since I felt like I was baking on this board. Sweat beaded up at my hairline, and I felt woozy.

  Okay Caylan, get it together. I had to give myself a pep talk. I flexed my fingers at my sides to calm myself and keep the circulation going.

  “Why am I here, Greg?” I had to start with. He laughed. Maybe that was the wrong question to lead with.

  He made an exaggerated sigh and clarified, “For a smart girl, I swear sometimes you’re so dense. I came back for you like I said I would, Caylan. After I saw that picture, I was so angry. You really hurt me. You’re my angel, not his! I actually like the nickname for you, so I’m going to keep it. You remind me of an angel sometimes with your innocence….”

  He had trailed off, and I realized he was shooting daggers at my belly. “Well I guess you’re not so fucking innocent anymore are you?” he accused.

  God, he was so crazy. One second he was fine, and the next he was angry again. I had to change the subject and do my best not to anger him further.

  “Did the police ever contact you about the letter?” I asked, hoping to distract him.

  He laughed again. “No, you silly girl. What went on between us was small-time compared to the cases they deal with. Do you honestly think anyone cared about some fucking letter? I’m pissed that you even would turn me in for that by the way. It was a love letter to you, and you treat it like it’s wrong. See, this is what I’m talking about. I do everything out of love, and you fucking ruin everything!” he yelled.

  Jesus, I was walking a tightrope. The morbid part of me had to know, though, “Why did you bring me here, Greg? And where are we?”

  He grinned vilely. “I have been following you for over a week and realized today was my best opportunity to surprise you. I got lucky that your parents weren’t home, otherwise I would have had to take care of them. We’re at Penn’s Landing. Don’t you know they’re having their Fourth of July fireworks tonight? Can’t you hear the crowds of people in the distance? I wanted to make love to you with the celebration in the background. Now that you left that doctor, we can start our lives together tonight. I found this place the other day when I was deciding where to bring you. I quite like it. It’s far enough and remote enough, that no one will hear you scream. I will have you screaming in ecstasy, Angel.”

  I choked back the vomit that made its way up my throat. I tried to play it off, but I think he knew better. He wore the meanest scowl.

  “I’ll have to start by rinsing out that filthy mouth of yours. You’re going to make me sick if you keep fucking throwing up. You’ll ruin everything I planned!” he roared.

  God, his stalking techniques and sick ways really astounded me. I truly didn’t think he was capable of this. To add kidnapping to the long, growing list was just the tip of the iceberg. I couldn’t let him hurt the baby. He stood there staring at me with burning eyes. I couldn’t believe we were still in Philly, though. Thank God we were close to home.

  I couldn’t concentrate on the fact that no one would hear me scream and come to my rescue, and the fact that he would have hurt my parents. I couldn’t believe he thought he could make me and my baby his. This just kept getting uglier and sicker by the minute. I prayed he didn’t have a weapon. I didn’t see anything near him or see a bulge anywhere on him, but that wasn’t a comforting sign.

  He saw me eyeing him up and down, and, oh God, I think he thought I was ogling him. The most disgusting grin spread across his lips, and he came closer to me. I tried not to shake or shy away. I was hoping I was doing a good job. I was wearing a white t-shirt and white bra. I felt so exposed and on display like this. It was like a slab of meat laying on a table for a wolf to chow down on.

  He reached his hand out to me and it was hovering over my breast. I tried not to close my eyes. He used his pointer finger to outline my nipple. I was dying inside. I couldn’t believe he was violating me again like this. He then palmed my left breast and squeezed rather hard. I whimpered in pain. He thought it was in pleasure.

  “Mmm, you like that don’t you? Does he do that to you?” he teased.

  “Nnn…Nnn…Nnnnooooo. It hurts,” I finally got out.

  My teeth were chattering from fear. He narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t believe me. He stopped what he was doing and bent down to reach under the board I was tied to. I heard a rustling noise as if he was going through a plastic bag. He took out a bottle of water and what looked like a bottle of champagne.

  “Well, we were supposed to toast to us, but since you’re fucking pregnant, I guess you don’t want a drink now. Huh?” he asked.

  I shook my head no. He grunted and continued, “You need to wash your mouth out with something. So take some water, swish it around, and spit it on the floor.”

  I nodded my head yes in compliance. He put the water bottle to my mouth, and I followed his instructions.

  “I’m sure that won’t take the fucking taste or smell away, but I can live with it I guess. I want your fucking mouth everywhere on me. You better hold back your teeth, or I’ll punch you so hard in the stomach that you’ll wish you would have been a good girl!” he threatened.

  I was so scared. I nodded my acceptance. I couldn’t do this, but I had no choice. It was better to perform oral sex, than to have actual sex with him. I needed to buy as much time as I could in the hope that someone would come for me, or I could break free somehow. I didn’t want any part of him in me, but I’d keep him as far away from my baby as I could. It occurred to me that I needed to get my hands free so I could get to my phone. If he was caught up in the moment, then I might have a small window of opportunity.

  “Greg…,” I whispered. I needed to find my voice. He smiled when I said his name. I had to be strong.

  So I tried again, “I can’t fully please you if I can’t touch you. Can you free my hands?”

  I was praying he bought the act. I could tell his erection sprung to life, as there was now a definite bulge in his pants. It made me sick, but I would use whatever power I could at this point. I could see he was debating with himself whether or not to fulfill my request. His eyes darted around the room and then he focused back on me.

  “One hand. You’re an experienced little slut now, so you can make do with one hand. Don’t even fucking think about doing anything stupid. No matter what you may think, you’re mine. By the end of tonight, you’re going to love me like I love you,” he warned.

  I again nodded in acquiescence. I would have to turn off my brain for this act. I would close my heart, shield myself as much as I could, and pray. I wouldn’t think, I wouldn’t smell, and I wouldn’t taste. I would just do. I would grab my phone and do what I could while he was enjoying himself. If I died tonight, at least I’d die trying. But I’d fight until the end for the life of my baby.

  Greg pulled out a knife from his back pocket, it was a switchblade. When it flew open it made an audible click noise, and I shuddered. It was such an ominous noise. A small glint of light shone at the tip of the blade. He came near me and cut the rope at my left wrist. Damn, he didn’t free my dominant hand, and my phone was in my right side back pocket. It would be difficult to reach, but not impossible.

  I had to believe I could save myself. I let out a small breath of relief that at least one hand was free. I hated that claustrophobic feeling, even though I was in a ginormous room. It was the idea of being helpless and hopeless again at Greg’s mercy that was the most strangling sensation. I thought he’d put the knife away, but he didn’t. I tried not to react, but I flinc
hed when he put the blade to my stomach. That little movement made him nick me. I whimpered.

  “I wasn’t going to hurt you. I was just getting you more comfortable. You just did that to yourself you know. Fuck, why can’t you just trust me?” he seethed.

  A little pool of blood came through my white shirt. It was just a scratch, but the sight of the blood was enough to scare me to death. It was the reality check I needed. That was too close a call, and he was in the exact area I wanted him farthest from.

  I mustered the strength to say, “I’m sssssooorrrryyyy Greg….” I took a deep, cleansing breath to soldier on. “I’ll be good. Please don’t be angry with me?” I begged.

  I needed him to be Nice Greg, not Mean Greg. Mean Greg would hurt me and Goomer.

  “Well, okay then. That’s more like it Angel,” he responded.

  God, it was disgusting to hear him call me that. Using Alexi’s term for me was a knife to my heart. He lifted my shirt at the hem and with the blade, sliced upward. My shirt was now cut in two and since it was still attached at the arms, he just laid the pieces open like a package. My breathing was erratic again. I didn’t like him staring at my breasts like that.

  “Beautiful. And all mine,” he said to himself in a strained tone.

  He bent down and put a kiss on the swell of each breast. I shut my eyes. I hoped he thought this time it was in pleasure. A small tear leaked out the side. The nightmares that haunted me the last year and a half were coming true. I would be the most broken angel by the end of the night. All I could do was pray that it would be over fast.

  ***

  Alexi

  I looked at my watch as I was practically sprinting down the street, keeping pace with Brent. It was about 9:20 p.m now. We had actually ditched Brent’s truck blocks ago, and decided to go on foot. It was a fucking pain in the ass mess down by the water. There were barricades everywhere on most of the streets, and hordes of people. Apparently the fireworks for Fourth of July would be starting in ten minutes. It took longer than expected to even get to this part of town because of the crowds and chaos.

  It was a race against the clock to find her, and now to contend with this mess was another obstacle we hadn’t anticipated. I told Brent to stop again as I pulled out my phone to track Caylan. The blue dot hadn’t moved since I first discovered it. I prayed that she was wherever the dot was leading me to, and that Greg hadn’t just tossed the phone. In the distance up ahead, I could see that the dot was in line with a strip of warehouse buildings. They looked closed or abandoned. There were no cars around, and it seemed to be farther down from all the activity.

  “She’s got to be in one of those buildings,” I remarked to Brent.

  He nodded and we took off running again. We were still a good length away. We hadn’t heard from Fred, but we assumed he called Pike by now to tell him what we discovered. If this was a dead end, I’d call Fred right away to tell them to stand down. But if it wasn’t a false alarm, then at least I knew we’d have back up…eventually.

  As we got even closer, I pulled out my phone one last time. Sure enough, of the three warehouses the dot had landed on, the one building in the middle was it. I swallowed hard. Brent was looking at the screen with me.

  “Okay, let’s be smart. I’ll go around back. You go around front. If you surprise him, he won’t even know I’m here. Don’t fucking get yourself killed though man,” Brent griped.

  “Don’t fucking worry about me. You just make sure you shoot the bastard or something, and get Caylan to safety no matter what,” I told him.

  He nodded his understanding. We were now reduced to hand signals as we got even closer. He motioned that he was going around back, and we were both quiet and careful. There was no light inside the building, since the windows were blacked out by filth or paint. I couldn’t hear any movement from inside. These warehouses were right on the water, and I wondered if they were old fishery packing plants, or something similar. There were no entrances on the front side, so I went to the left since Brent went down the right.

  My heart was pounding. I didn’t give a shit what happened to me, I only cared about Caylan and my baby. As I snuck along the outside wall, I was sweating like a pig. It was humid tonight, and my stress level was through the roof. I prayed to all things holy that she was okay. Luckily my eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness. There was a big bay door I was coming up on, and a dim cast of light shone on the ground. Bingo!

  I peeked my head around the bay door and froze in horror. On a board, propped up by two sawhorses, was Caylan. She appeared to be strapped down. Her shirt was cut open and she was on display. I could tell even from where I was standing that she was shaking. Her eyes were closed. Greg had his back to me but from what I could gather, he was unbuckling the front of his pants. Caylan was opening her mouth.

  I lost it!

  I flew into the biggest rage of my entire life, and roared like there was no tomorrow. I charged after Greg and he turned just as I barreled into him at the waist. He grunted and groaned as we tumbled to the floor. Caylan screamed frantically, but my ears were filled with anger, as everything else was snuffed out. I couldn’t process anything except the fucking piece of shit before me. I started wailing on him, and I wouldn’t let up until he was dead.

  ***

  Caylan

  “Alexi no!” I screamed.

  I kept screaming “no” over and over, and he just kept punching Greg. The knife was beside me on the board. Greg must have put it down when he began to unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants. My left hand was free, so I cut the rope at the right wrist, and then I released my feet. I sat up from the board at the same time Brent came storming in from the back of the building. It looked like he leaped over a hole in the floor. Now that I was upright, I could see the floor was dilapidated towards the back of the building. That’s why I must have heard the water. It appeared it was a straight shot down into the murky water below.

  Brent yelled, “Caylan get out of here!” I slid off the board. He came running toward me, then aimed his gun at Alexi and Greg.

  “Brent, don’t let Alexi kill him! For God’s sake, I can’t let Alexi go to jail for this,” I cried hysterically. Brent held me at his side shielding me, and holding me back from running into the thick of it.

  Brent boomed, “Alexi, let the fucker up!”

  Alexi seemed to snap out of the trance and turned to Brent. Then something registered across Alexi’s face, as if he was seeing me for the first time. Maybe he didn’t want to do this in front of me. Whatever the reason, he got up off of Greg. His fists were covered in blood, but there wasn’t much on his grey shirt. He took off his top and came toward me. He looked so horrified as he put his shirt over my head, and adjusted it into place.

  He gently took my face in his hands and said the sweetest words, “My Angel.”

  I closed my eyes and let the tears flow to their heart’s content. After a minute, I opened my eyes and Alexi was caressing my cheek. Surely there was a bruise he was seeing. Then he ran his finger over my lip where there was probably dried blood from the hit. Lastly, he tentatively raised the shirt he just put on me and touched the small cut from the knife. He closed his eyes and tears fell down his beautiful cheeks. He knelt down before me and kissed my stomach.

  Oh my God, did he know? He gently hugged me around my middle section. How did I always bring this man to his knees? I was holding on to his shoulders for balance, and kissed the top of his head.

  Brent still had the gun trained on Greg. Greg was sputtering and gasping for breath. He managed to get up, though, into a crawl, and he started to move toward the back of the building. I gathered that he was trying to escape. We were blocking the other exit out of here, so the back was his only option. I’m sure it was one of those fight or flight responses—he was in no shape to fight.

  We could hear a faint chorus of emergency sirens in the background. I imagined the cavalry was finally showing up. Greg was in no condition to really run anywhere, but so
mehow he got to his feet. Brent was boiling with anger, but he hadn’t pulled the trigger. I’m sure it was the hardest thing my brother ever did in his life. Greg’s face was a bloodied mess but I looked at him with all the hate I could muster, and in that moment, I think he knew he’d never have me in any sense ever again. His one eye was so swollen, he probably couldn’t see out of it.

  As he stumbled to the back, he lost his footing and went right down into the hole in the floor. Alexi got up from his position, and all three of us ran to the edge where he fell. Alexi pushed me behind him to keep a safe distance.

  Just as Greg resurfaced from the black water to scream, the fireworks exploded in the sky. I never in my life would imagine I’d watch another human being die, but the three of us couldn’t bring ourselves to save him. Maybe I would have before I found out I was pregnant, but now I could never take the chance of Greg ever trying to get to me again.

  I put my hand to my stomach and closed my eyes. What a twisted ending to have the fireworks cover Greg’s screams now. I shuddered. I didn’t know if he couldn’t swim from his injuries, or he just couldn’t swim at all—either way it didn’t matter. After a few minutes, I raised my lids and Greg was face-down, floating in the water. Alexi put his arm around me and pulled me away from the scene.

  “It’s over,” is all he whispered.

  Brent holstered his weapon, but didn’t take his eyes off of the water. In between the fireworks erupting, the place also exploded with cops and other first responders. I turned to Alexi and my body and my mind gave out on me once more. I let the blackness take my body and mind to a safer place.

  Chapter 27: If the Halo Fits, Wear It

  Alexi

  Caylan was resting in her hospital room. None of her injuries had been serious or worrisome. I had assessed her before she was even loaded into the ambulance. She had passed out in my arms, and I knew it was because she was overwhelmed. It was her mind and body’s way of telling her it had enough, and needed a break.