Page 90 of Forever and Other Lies

Sonny stepped closer and crouched down. His face was mere inches from hers. She could feel his breath, hot and rancid against her skin.

“You think I haven’t heard that before? You think I don’t know your type? You play the innocent, but you’re nothing but a heartless bitch.”

Jayna flinched at the hatred in his voice, her sobs growing more desperate. “I swear, Sonny, I’ll do anything. I’ll talk to him. I’ll beg him to take me back. I’ll make it right. Just let me go. Please.”

“You sound just like Greta. She said all the same things,” Sonny’s eyes narrowed as his lips curled into a cruel smile.

“It’s too late for that, Jayna. Way too late,” he whispered calmly. Far too calmly.

He stood, towering over her once more. Jayna’s mind raced. She needed to find a way to connect with him. “What about your grandson? You showed me his pictures. You’re a kind man, Sonny. You save lives. You don’t have to do this.”

For a moment, Sonny’s expression faltered, a flicker of something almost human crossing his face. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared. “This isn’t about me. It’s about you. I have seen who you really are. Lance deserves better.”

“Sonny,” she said softly. She needed to try a different tactic. “You have a family. Think about what this would do to them if they knew.”

A flicker of something—guilt, regret—crossed Sonny’s face. For a moment, she thought she might have reached him. But it was fleeting; his expression hardened again.

“They’ll understand,” he said, though his voice lacked the conviction it had before. “They’ll understand that sometimes you have to do bad things for the right reasons.”

A suffocating wave of desperation surged through Jayna, stealing her breath. “This is wrong, Sonny. Deep down, you know it is.”

Silence stretched between them, heavy and tense. Sonny moved to a small table set up in the corner of the cellar. Various medical supplies were laid out neatly. He pulled a glass vial from his pocket and picked up a syringe, his movements methodical and precise.

“Lucky for me, they were setting up for MAID at the hospital yesterday.” He held up a vial of Midazolam. “The charge nurse was absolutely losing her shit trying to find it.”

Jayna’s eyes widened as she watched Sonny draw the clear liquid into the syringe. The man had killed Greta, and he was going to do the same to her.

“It’ll be painless. You’ll just drift off to sleep. I don’t need to explain the process. You know.”

She did know. She had assisted in the last medically aided death at the hospital. The patient, an 80-year-old man, was suffering from incurable cancer and tired of the constant pain. Once injected, she’d have less than 10 minutes before her heart stopped beating.

“Help me,” she screamed, her lungs burning with the effort.

“Jayna!” a voice shouted, muffled but unmistakable. Derek.

Sonny cursed under his breath, his eyes darting between Jayna and the door. “Stay quiet,” he hissed.

Summoning every ounce of strength, she screamed again, “Down here! I’m down here!”

Sonny moved towards her, but his eyes were trained on the stone staircase that led to the door. While Sonny had strapped her hands down, he hadn’t bothered with her feet. Big mistake.

Knees. Balls. Nose. Throat. The self-defence course came back to her. Hit a joint. Disable him.

With Sonny’s attention solely focused on the staircase, she lifted her foot and connected with his elbow, kicking hard. The syringe flew out of his grasp, skittering across the dirt floor.

“Son of a bitch,” Sonny howled, holding his arm.

Nose. She could still hear the self-defence coach in her mind. She raised her foot higher and kicked with all her might.

Crunch.

Sonny crumbled to the ground, blood pouring from his broken nose. He used his sleeve to swipe away the blood and reached behind him, grabbing the syringe.

“It’s over, Sonny.” Derek appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

Sonny laughed, a dark and twisted sound. “You’re just as pathetic as Lance. Running after a woman who doesn’t care about you.”

Derek’s jaw tightened. He moved closer, his eyes moving from Sonny to her. “I’m not letting you hurt her.”

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