Page 39 of His Sassy Little

“Nuh-uh, Little Hurricane.” He reprimanded her as he squeezed a dollop of the shampoo into his hands, “You had your fun. Now, it’s my turn.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Where ya goin’?” Daddy’s voice halted Arabella’s attempt to quietly wiggle out of his hold.

“Just to the restroom,” She kept her voice quiet, so as not to wake him more than he already was, “Be right back, Daddy. Go back to sleep.”

“I’ll come,” Daddy started to get up but Arabella placed a hand on his shoulder.

“The bathroom door is right there, you can see it from the bed, no reason to get up, Daddy. I’ll be fine.” He grumbled but halted his attempts to accompany her. She quietly closed the door and did her business. As she was washing her hands, singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in her head, she heard a thump. She wondered if Daddy was coming to stand guard after all.

She opened the door, already scolding his over protectiveness, “I’m fine, right here…” When she glanced at the bed, she saw Daddy still exactly where she left him and thought for a moment she’d been imagining the thump.

“You’ve led me on quite the chase, Doll.” Arabella froze in her tracks at the sound of the voice she thought she’d never hear again. “You’ve got quite a bit to answer for, Little girl.”

Oh, God please, let me be imagining things.

“James, what have you done to Tanner?” She was quite proud of how cool and calm her voice sounded, despite the fact that she was shaking from head to toe.

“Nothing he won’t recover from. But that can easily change if you give me even the slightest bit of trouble.”

Arabella felt sick. She’d known from the moment she met Tanner that any association with her put him in danger, and now here she was, the cause of him being injured in some way. He had to be injured, because there was no way he would be sleeping through this.

Arabella thought about attempting to run, but put those thoughts to bed as soon as she noticed the gleam of moonlight on the barrel of a gun pointed straight at Daddy’s head. “I won’t be any trouble.” To prove her point, Arabella raised her hands and moved closer to the man she wanted nothing more than to shy away from.

“You didn’t really think I’d let you go, did you?” James’ laugh was cruel and echoed off the walls of the bedroom. “So naive.”

“What do you want from me?” She asked the question, already knowing the answer but she was desperate to turn his attention from Tanner. She needed him to be all right more than anything.

“Everything, of course.” James finally moved away from the prone form of the man she loved, grabbed her wrist in a tight hold and, much to her relief, pointed the gun at her, “Now let’s go.”

Arabella didn’t make a peep as James led her from the room and out of the house. She held in all noise as she was placed in the backseat of the car. She didn’t fight when her wrists were bound, or when the blindfold was placed on her head. She kept completely quiet as two car doors clicked shut and the car began to move, all the while praying that her Daddy would wake up and come for her soon.

This is okay. This is fine, they’ll follow the tracker in my necklace and be there to get me in no time.

She knew he was coming because he’d told her so, and if he couldn’t–and God didn’t that thought make her sick to her stomach–someone would. She kept herself in complete cooperation, with Daddy’s voice repeating in her head.

You’re not alone anymore. I’m coming. Stay safe.

Arabella kept her cool completely until someone, she didn’t know who, yanked the necklace from her neck. She heard a window’s mechanical whir as the car filled with a breeze.

“Ditched the tracker,” a voice said, “A necklace just like he said.”

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! How will they find me now?

There was a moment of silence before the voice again spoke, “Yeah, got her no problems. Everything went smooth. The code and keys he gave us worked. James got lucky. Found her in the bathroom after he took care of the guy.”

Shit, fuck, damn! There is an inside informant.

“We’re on our way. Should be there soon.”

Don’t worry, Little Hurricane. This changes nothing. I’m still coming.

Arabella felt like they’d been driving for hours, though she knew it was more likely closer to one. She couldn’t see where they'd taken her as she was still blindfolded. Wherever it was, she could hear James speaking with other men. She was tied to a chair and the place must’ve been pretty empty as the room echoed every sound.

“We’ll get her changed out of that asshole’s shirt. Should have killed the bastard for touching her. Thankfully I brought some of her clothes.” She heaved a sigh of relief at James confirming Daddy wasn’t dead.

There was the noise of shuffling around, footsteps possibly moving away, and then the sound of footsteps coming toward her. At least, she thought they were coming toward her; with the amount of echo in the space, she couldn’t be sure, until her blindfold was ripped off and a pink dress was shoved in her face.

---