Page 48 of Capturing Hearts

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Annie

Head: throbbing. Body: heavy. Where the hell am I?

Waking from a dreamless sleep, I become aware of the ropes around my ankles and my arms tied behind me, before I open my eyes. Doing a quick mental inventory with my head still hung low, I feel the chair I’m sitting on, that my body aches, that the drug I was given still has an effect on my brain as it’s hard to think. I don’t feel any exceptional pain around my stomach and I’m not wet anywhere, so I think my baby’s okay. Blinking, I look at my belly, unable to not look.

“Well, look who’s up,” an unfamiliar voice bellows.

I struggle to raise my head, which is harder to do than I would have imagined, and in a drugged haze, I struggle to focus on the man standing above me. Squinting to understand why he looks familiar, I recognize pieces first. The angry tilt of his jaw. The tone of his voice. The brown eyes similar to…

“You’re Tommy’s father,” I croak, fear setting in. The manhunt has been out for this man ever since Tommy testified against him. He went on the run then, and everything that’s come out about him says he’s a horrible person; abusive and full of rage. My heart starts to race as I glance around the room to ascertain where we are.

“This is my old house,” he hisses, watching me. “You see that? That bureau is the only thing they left in here. I had to bring that chair you’re sitting on. Can you fuckin’ believe that?”

Glancing to the window, bright sunlight disturbs me. What time is it? What day is it?

“That’s terrible,” I carefully offer. “You must have lost a lot.”

“I LOST EVERYTHING!” he yells in my face, the spittle from his tight lips hitting my eyelids.

Suddenly I realize, and ask him, horrified. “You blame me?”

He laughs like a lunatic, all his sense of right and wrong, gone. “Damn right I blame you, BITCH!”

“It was you following me last night!” When he doesn’t say anything, I whisper, “What are you going to do with me?”

The smile that spreads across his face is terrifying. “What aren’t I going do with you? We’re going to have a little fun.” He opens up the bureau and I see a knife, two guns and a hammer.

“Oh God,” I croak in terror, pulling at my ropes.

“Ain’t no use pulling at those, Mrs. Clark. Man, you should have seen my son’s face when he heard you got married while he was locked up for the rest of his damn life. That was the last time I visited the traitor, before he gave us up. He did that because of you. Because of this.” He holds up his pinky and to my horror, my wedding ring is on it. My mouth falls open. “Like it? It’s not really my size, but I can have that fixed,” he giggles, staring at it and turning it around.

The rebel in me rises up. “It’s just girly enough for you,” I hiss.

He cocks his head my way and loses the smile, walking two steps to punch me across the jaw. My head flies to the right and I moan in pain.

Turning my head to meet his eyes again, I scream in his face, “DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!” Jacob kicks inside of me and I gasp, wanting desperately to touch my stomach.

He narrows his wrinkly eyes, bends his knees and stares two inches from my face. “Got some fire in there, huh? Good. This is gonna be fun.” He chuckles. “You just wait for my nephew to get here. I’ve decided you’re going to be the one to take his virginity.” He brings up the pinky that’s got my ring on it and goes to touch my skin.

I slam my head hard into his, knocking him off balance and onto the floor. “Fucking Bitch!” He grabs his forehead and glares at me, rising to punch me again in the face. His knuckles crack into my lip, splitting it open.

“Uncle Walter!” a voice calls from downstairs. I spit out the saliva and blood as he eyes me like he wants to hit me again. He takes a step backwards.

“Brucie? Up here!”

I’m glaring at him like I’m strong and I can take anything he’s got, but tears betray me falling down my cheeks. The bastard smirks and he looks so much like an older version of Tommy that I feel sick inside. Bruce appears in the doorframe, another recognizable face from the news, but one I’ve never met in person. Definitely a family resemblance, but he’s slighter and effeminate, obviously homosexual. He eyes me, takes in my bruised face and bondage. “Hey,” he says, as if I’m his buddy.

“Is that how you greet your first time, Brucie?” his uncle chides him, flouncing his arms like fairy-wings.

“So...you really did it. You took her,” Bruce says, as he locks eyes with me again.

I feel another kick from my son, and close my eyes, licking the blood off my lips, tasting the salt of tears mingled in. When I open my eyes again, Tommy is in the doorway. Ice pours down my spine as he looks at me.

The air has suddenly become thicker as Tommy and his father lock eyes. “Dad.”

Confusion and happiness cross over Walter’s face, and I see my life passing before my eyes. But then his expression changes to rage. “You traitorous piece of shit!”

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