Page 85 of Reclaiming Adelaide

“Fuck off, Charity.”

I ran my hand over the back of his leg until I hit the jackpot. Bright red viscous blood covered my fingers, sending my vision on a tilt-a-whirl.

My chest constricted, and my lungs collapsed as I stared at my crimson hand.

Where did all the oxygen go?

Jake grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at him as though he could sense my impending panic attack. “Adelaide. I’m fine. Why don’t you sit down and take a few deep breaths?”

Guilt stabbed at me like a vengeful lover. I should be the one to comfort him. Instead, I sat like a useless bimbo, trying to see straight and shake my swirling vision back to normal.

“They’re trying to say something in the camera,” Charity said, breaking into my dread and morphing it into something else entirely.

“Turn it up,” Vito said, standing from the bed.

“I’ll only say this once.” The deep accented voice slithered through the speakers like a poisonous gas. “Come out, or there will be more bloodshed. Do you want the death of your new friends to be on your hands as well?”

How were we supposed to respond to that? I stood from Jake’s arms and froze as my gaze landed on the man who’d been in my hospital room just a couple of hours previously.

“How about a little motivation?”

The man placed his phone screen up to the camera just outside those safe room doors and turned the volume up.

A man and a woman sat in chairs, their eyes and mouths covered at a kitchen table—the same kitchen table I’d dined at my entire life.

Muffled protests numbed my body from the inside out as I watched my mother struggle against her binds.

“Mom!” I stepped back and covered my mouth, my heart thudding in my chest.

“Fuuuuck,” someone muttered.

“Send her out now, and we won’t kill them.”

A man on the tiny phone screen stepped into view, his pistol pointing at my mother’s skull.

I rushed forward, my hands pounding against the door. “I’m in here. Don’t kill them. Please.”

Tattooed arms wrapped around me as I reached for the spinning handle to give them exactly what they wanted. A sacrifice, someone they could pin their woes on.

I’d willingly offer myself and my unborn child to save them. My parents. The only people in this world who had always supported and loved me unconditionally. Who held me when I cried and encouraged me when I felt like giving up. Who taught me to do the right thing and be a good person.

“Open this fucking door,” I said, tugging on the handle again.

My mother’s cries burrowed into my soul as Max’s tattooed arms pulled me from the door, my legs kicking in protest.

“Let me go! They’re going to kill them.”

Charity stood in front of me and pointed to the security panel on the side. “You can only open it with a code.”

“Adelaide, you can’t go out there,” Jake said from the floor, his breaths labored.

“You have thirty seconds, or I’ll kill them.”

“Let me out of this room now, or I swear to God I’ll murder you all in your sleep.”

Jake shook his head. “No, Adelaide. I promised to protect you.” He slid his back up the wall until he stood, pulling his pants up along with him, the blood leaving his face in a white rushing wave.

“You’re not protecting me.” I jabbed my fingers into my chest and pulled at my shirt. “You’re killing me. You’re killing me. I’ll never survive this.”

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