Interested in the emotional exchange between the two friends, Matt made his way closer to watch the scene play out.
“Justin, calm down.”
Now more concerned with Justin’s well-being than his own, Zack pulled out a chair from the table and offered it to his friend.
“You don’t think I’m pissed, too? We’re all pissed! She’s my sister, my baby sister! I saw what that asshole did to her before. Fuck, I was the one that cleaned her up before she went back to him.”
His eyes glazed over as thunderous voices continued to boom throughout the house.
“He’s gonna kill her if we don’t find them first.”
“I know! But you losing it all the time is wasting what little time we have. Get your fucking shit together so we can find her, arrest him, and move on with our lives! Fuck!”
Shoving the chair across the room, Justin pushed past Matt as he left the house. He clearly needed the fresh air to calm down.
“I didn’t mean to do anything to upset him. I just want her here with me. I can’t function without her.”
“I can see that, but you need to get your shit together somehow so we can find them.”
How the tables had turned. Matt was usually the one that went off at the drop of a hat, but now with so much at stake, he remained calm as a cucumber.
“I need to get out of this room.”
With that, Zack headed in the opposite direction of Justin, going to his bedroom instead.
“Okay, everyone, keep up what you’re doing. We’re taking a break for a little while to regroup,” Matt announced to the crowd of onlookers.
Headed toward his brother and some fresh air himself, Matt abandoned his coffee on the counter.
***
“She’s not dead, you know.”
Hearing the door open, unaware of who it might be coming inside, Justin just started talking.
“I know, but she’s bound to be in a world of hurt right now.”
Matt walked up to stand beside his brother as they gazed into the yard, not really looking at anything in particular, just staring off as their thoughts turned ugly.
With his hand on Justin’s shoulder for support, Matt choked back tears as he thought of what Katie might be enduring while there stood out here.
“She’s a survivor. We’ll get her back.”
“Yeah, but in what condition? I was there to bandage her up the last time that monster laid his hands on her, and you don’t even know half of the things he did to her. How she survived the first time is beyond me.”
“She’s strong and determined. We all are. That’s how I know we’ll get her back and arrest him in the process.”
“I don’t know, Matty.”
“Justin, we will get her back.”
“Do you think he’s going to kill her?”
Justin couldn’t or wouldn’t think like that, but having Matt vocalize what kept him awake all night sent chills down his spine.
Staring at the flower bed that edged the patio, Matt was struck by the unique arrangement and how well it suited his sister.
“She planted those last week,” Zack called from the doorway.
Both men turned around to find a look of despair on his face.
“We’ll get her back, Zack. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
He nodded, but the look he gave them said he wasn’t so sure she would be alive when they finally got her back.
“She’s survived before Zack, and she can do it again.”
Shaking his head, Zack just stared at the flowers Katie had planted and smiled sadly.
“You know it took her almost five days to decide on these flowers? It was driving me nuts watching her, but she insisted that they had to fit both our personalities.”
Matt looked down at the flowers. He hadn’t noticed before, but they actually did fit the two of them.
“No matter what, though, she had to have those Johnny Jumping Jacks flowers.”
“Christ, she loves those.”
Justin reflected on his sister’s ability to love such an easy-to-grow flower.
“I insisted on the daisies and lilies, but she had to have the Jumping Jacks.”
“Why did you insist on the daisies and lilies?” Justin asked.
“I gave her those when we…”
Trailing off, he couldn’t tell her brothers that he’d given her those after they’d first made love. He’d told her the daisies reminded him of the sun shining through the window the next morning, and the lilies reminded him of how much he loved her for being her.
“We don’t want to know this, do we?”
“I’m assuming no, otherwise we may have to kick his ass.”
Laughing at the look on Zack’s face, the two men punched him in the shoulder before heading back inside.
“Ready to do this?” Justin asked.
Zack was reluctant to proceed.
“No, but we need to.”
With that they rejoined the search party, taking a few moments to look over the information the officer had brought earlier.
After about an hour, Annie joined them with news of her own.
“Zack, Justin, and Matt, I need to talk to you in the office alone please.”
Thinking they were about to witness her melting down, all three men followed her into the office cringing at what might happen after the doors closed.
“I found her.”
“What?!” they all said in unison.
“She’s at the docks. He’s getting ready to take her by boat to some remote island his family owns on international waters.”
“Christ, if he gets her there, we may never get her back.”
International rules differed from the ones in the States, and it would be a legal nightmare to get her back.
“We don’t have much time, and I need to be sure you guys are ready for whatever we find when we get to her.”
They knew what that meant. Zack didn’t want to think about her condition when they finally got her back. He just wanted her back, no matter what. So long as she was alive, they could figure out the rest together.
“Zack, I don’t think you should come with us to retrieve her.”
The detached way Annie spoke about getting her daughter back brought tears to his eyes, but he knew she was just distancing herself, preparing for whatever they found when they got to her.
“Fuck that. I’m going.”
Normally Annie would have reprimanded him for his outburst, but under the circumstances, she let it slide.
“Fine, Zack, but you need to prepare yourself mentally for the condition she may be in when we find her.”
She wanted him to realize they might find the worst possible outcome without saying it aloud.
“Justin, make sure your bag is fully stocked, not just like last time, though. This time I think it may be worse.”
Worse. Dear God, please don’t let it be worse.
Her condition when they had decided to run the first time was pretty bad, with her internal bleeding causing them to stop numerous times on the way out of the state. She had nearly died several times—not that he had ever told her that. The internal bleeding had caused those wounds to heal rather slowly. He had watched her like a hawk for days without sleeping, just to make sure she would survive. Now, however, the thought of her in a worse condition than that scared the living daylights out of him.
“Let’s go! We have to get her back!”
Surprising everyone, Justin yelled as the security personal approached, awaiting orders.
Chapter Twelve
“Oh, Katie, Katie, Katie, you know how to make me so happy.”
Randall inhaled as he watched her sag against the chair she was strapped to.
“Fuck you, Randall.”
She spat at him as he came close to see her wounds. She realized he would probably retaliate, but at this point, she didn’t much care. It wasn’t that she was giving up; it was just that after so much pain, he
r body had just become numb to it.
“Oh, baby, in due time. Right now, though, I need to break you before we go on our way.” Looking at his watch, his expression became grim as his mouth shifted back and forth, considering his options. “We don’t have that much time left, so we may need to go to plan B sooner than I expected.”
“Whatever your plan may be, I won’t give in, and I won’t break.”
“So brave, so strong. That’s the girl I know and love.”
“Love? You know nothing about love, you sick bastard.”
Trying to free herself from the bindings holding her to the chair, Katie bounced with all her might to get the chair to break.
“Ha-ha. Nice try, sweetheart.”
“Stop calling me that. I stopped being your anything the first time you smacked me.”
“Oh, yes, that was so amazing, wasn’t it? The look on your face when I hit you.” Sucking in air between his teeth, fondly remembering the moment, Randall ran his hand down her swollen face as she tried to suppress the urge to cry out in pain. “I will never forget that for as long as I live.”
She pulled away from his touch, trying to move her head, but the pain held her in place.
“Struggle as much as you like, you’ll never get away from me again.”
“Why now? Why did you come after me now?”
Trying to stall for time so she could figure a way out, Katie decided now was the perfect time to get him to ‘fess up to everything he had been planning.
“When you left me, without warning, I may add…”
“It’s not like you would have given me the chance to leave if I had warned you, asshole.”
“Ah, baby, you and your pet names. Anyway, after you left, I was so pissed off I could barely contain my anger. Thankfully, I had plenty of women to take it out on. They thought I was such a catch! I had anyone I wanted, and then some. It was fantastic to not have to deal with the constant whining. You have no idea how great it felt to let go of all that rage.”
Well, that explained a few years at least, since he had found some woman to fill in for her.
“But it wasn’t enough. It just wasn’t the same. It only took a few months to realize that all those women weren’t you. Luckily, I’d always had tabs on you, so finding you wasn’t a problem. For a while there, I just watched and enjoyed seeing your pain whenever you thought you saw me. It was fun to mess with your head. Poor little Katie, so many demons from her past causing her to have setbacks all the time. I gotta say, I don’t see why this putz likes you so much, especially with all the annoying triggers you have now, but hey! You’ve picked up some tricks from me that I’m sure he appreciates.”
Backhanding her so hard she nearly blacked out, Katie felt his hand long after the slap ended. She decided the smart thing to do was to pretend she was out cold, but Randall pulled her hair and lifted her head to see her face better.
“Ah, go ahead, bitch. Pretend you can’t hear me. I’ve got some calls to make anyway.”
Stepping away from her and crossing the large room to the other side, he exited the building as he shut the door behind him.
She lifted her head, blinking several times to try and clear away some of the blood so she could see. She scanned the room, looking for a way out. Not knowing how long he would take before he came back to work on plan B, Katie tried to wiggle her hand out of the restraints.
“Katie.”
A voice coming from an open window echoed throughout the room.
“Shush. He’ll hear you.”
“Thank God, honey! Are you okay?”
Was that Zack? She was at the point of hallucinating, or worse Randall was messing with her, and this was somehow part of plan B.
“Katie, can you free yourself?”
Oh no! What should she do?
If it was Randall, she was about to tell him that she was almost able to free one hand. Then he’d come in and make her regret it. Then again, if it was Zack and she was rescued, he’d definitely want to know.
When the door suddenly opened from behind her, she realized too late that it was indeed Zack who had been trying to get her attention from the window.
Without saying another word, Randall crossed the room to stand directly in front of her, blocking her view of the window where she’d heard Zack’s voice coming from. Eyeing her and the area around her, he pulled at the chair, using the arms to position her better. For what, she had no idea.
“There, that’s better. Now, where was I?”
Rubbing his chin with his forefinger and thumb, Randall smirked at her discomfort, obviously enjoying her pain, and making it as evident as possible.
“Ah yes…”
This time he smacked her on the other side of her face.
She hissed out in pain as his smile grew into a satisfying grin.
“I’ll never break, Randall, so you might as well kill me now.”
She hoped the voice she’d heard wasn’t an illusion, and that Zack, along with the cavalry, were actually here to save her from this monster.
“Oh, please. I have no desire to kill you. I plan on making you live through all the things I have in store for you.”
“Continue on with your story, Randall. You were messing with my head, making me have flashbacks all these years.”
“Oh, yes, that was so much fun. The best part was that isolated encounter I had with your boyfriend.”
“Why? Why didn’t you just find someone else to torment, and leave me alone?”
“Why? Why! I’ll tell you why! You, my dear Katie, had the strongest will I’ve ever seen. No one else compared to your determination to resist me.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“You see? Even now that I have beat you, rather well, I might say, you are still determined to go against me.”
You’re damn right, she thought as he circled her, increasing the intensity of his presence by stalling between blows.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zack appear in the window. He was probably getting an idea of the situation and where best to enter the room without Randall finding out until it was too late.
“Oh, Katie, it will be so sweet to have you break for me. We need to get you out of this chair so we can move onto plan B.”
Oh, no! Zack needed to act now if she had any chance left to survive this. With her ribs most certainly broken and a lung that seemed to be wheezing more than breathing, Katie tried to keep her eyes on Randall so he didn’t see beyond her to the rescue party outside the front doors.
“When I sink my cock into you, you’ll know who owns you, and it won’t be that prick boyfriend of yours. You freakin’ slut! How could you be with that weak bastard instead of coming back to me?”
“What are you talking about? I won’t go back to you, ever! Get that through your thick head right now. You are a sick bastard who just wanted to hurt me. You don’t love, you cause pain. I am glad to be rid of you and be with Zack! I love him and he loves me, like nothing I have ever witnessed. I never knew a love like that existed until he showed me, and he continues to show me every single day.”
“We’ll see how he feels after I destroy you, body and soul.”
Just as she’d suspected—he intended to inflict a lot more on her than the pain he had already caused. Thank God Zack was outside; otherwise, she wouldn’t have had the nerve to keep going.
Removing her restraints so he could pull her from the chair, Randall grabbed Katie’s arm, dragging her away toward the back room. Her one eye was so swollen closed she could barely open it, and her other eye was covered in blood from the wound on her head, but she was so desperate to be free that she wiped her head across the sleeve of her shirt and blinked several times to try and clear her vision. Seeing the exact moment she could remove his grip on her arm gave her the courage she needed to not fall into a heap on the floor.
***
Zack saw her from the window, and by God, she was a sight, even in this condition. Her hair was pract
ically red as the blood smeared into the strands. Even from this distance he could see her face swollen to almost double its normal size. How she was conscious, he had no idea. The pain must have been surreal. It took every ounce of his restraint to not run in there and kill the man when he hit her again. She’d seen him, he knew, because she was stalling the best she could as his team got into position, surrounding the building and immediate area.
Randall kept pulling Katie, and if Zack was going to get her out, now was the time. Screaming for Zack at the top of her lungs, Randall didn’t see it coming when the windows smashed as the security personnel made their way inside. Zack rushed through the door, anxious to get to Katie and away from that monster.
Katie pushed at Randall, trying to break free, but his grip just tightened.
“Get off me! Get off me!”
She kept saying it over and over as he continued to drag her toward the rear door that led to the boat launch.
“Time to go!” was all he said as he kept on with his relentless pull.
“No! Zack!”
Zack ran with everything he had to reach her, knowing that if they reached the boat, she would be lost to him forever. There was no way he could let that happen.
Randall turned just as Zack caught up to them. Pulling on his shirt, Zack was able to get a better hold of the man as he fell back, causing him to release Katie’s arm in the process.
Just as she turned to run in the opposite direction, Justin was there to pick her up instead. Not knowing the extent of her injuries, he was sure that after several hours alone with Randall, they would be more severe than he could imagine.
As she and Justin met Matt outside, police officers made their way in to detain Randall. Zack came out through the door the police entered. He looked so relieved to see her that he nearly collapsed on the spot, at her feet.
“You okay, Katie?”
Ignoring Zack, Matt touched Katie’s cheek so she could feel him next to her.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
His brave survivor was stronger than any monster she came across.
“Katie, I…”
What? Was he sorry he’d poked Randall, provoking him to take her hostage?
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