Page 128 of Hold Me Before You Go

“Where is Brandon?” I found myself asking.

“Dead.” That was Hayes.

“You sure?”

“Carrie, I fucking watched it with my own eyes,” he assured gruffly. Him addressing me, saying my name, affected me in a way I never thought it would. My throat filled with glass then, and all I could do was nod.

Hayes looked back to our kidnapper. “Give me the gun and leave,” he ordered.

His bleached hair flapped as he nodded, handing over the weapon quickly. Hayes stepped to the side, letting him go. Iwatched as the young man made a mad dash out the door, running like his life depended on it, and it truly did.

Hayes ran a hand over his hair, and that was when I noticed the blood stains on his gray sleeves. Suddenly, I was wondering if those were from him or from someone else. His green eyes met mine. They were so much different than Leo’s, even Margo’s. Darker, yet somehow warm. “You girls alright?”

I nodded. “We’re okay, Hayes,” I whispered.

He moved then, getting to work freeing the three of us. Sarah shot up from the floor, and Hayes held his hand out to me, helping me up. “Thank you,” I croaked.

Grayson’s right hand said nothing, giving me a simple nod before lowering himself down in front of Margo, talking to her softly. I watched as he tried to get her out of the state she was in just as a scream curled through the air from outside.

I was running then, the beat of my heart drumming in my ears ain the winter air, finding myself at the end of the main dock, rounding the corner of the building. I stopped short, and then a scream came from me.

Our kidnapper was standing ten feet from me, his back against the water, holding Sarah with a knife to her throat. Michael was in front of him, his gun raised. I heard footsteps behind me, then a hissed curse followed by, “Margo, stay behind me.”

“Drop the knife!” Michael bellowed, his command slicing through the air like a whip.

“Fuck you!”

“Humbly,” Hayes clipped, coming to my side. The AR-15 was in his arms, pointed to the ground. “Think about this.”

Sarah was shaking, fear controlling her now. Slowly, she looked over to me and then back to her husband. “Please. Let me go,” she begged.

“Not until he drops his gun! The man in shed said I could fucking go, and that’s what I’m going to do!” the kidnappershouted. He looked over to Hayes. “You said I could fucking go! Tell this cop to stand down, or the lady dies!”

“No!” I cried. “Please!”

Sarah carefully raised her hands from her sides, pressing on her captor’s arm, the other on her belly. “Please,” she rasped. “I’m pregnant.”

Shock slammed into me like a runaway train. “Michael, put down your gun,” I breathed out, raising my hands to him.

He didn’t look at me. “If I do that, he’ll kill her anyway.”

My eyes went to the street beyond, noticing the townspeople stopping and staring. Taking a chance, I looked back at the man. “What’s your name?”

His dead eyes sliced over to me. “W-why?”

I swallowed. “You know mine. Why can’t I know yours?”

“Carrie,” Hayes warned from behind me, but I didn’t listen.

Instead, I stepped forward. “How much do you want?”

“How much what?” he seethed.

“Money. I’ll give you all I fucking have if you let her go,” I offered, my voice cracking. “I’ll give you everything, sir, but please, let her go.”

The man looked away from us, to the road for a moment, as Sarah and Michael stared at each other. Hayes leaned in close to me. “I can take the shot.”

I looked over to him, my eyes welling with tears. “He’s just a kid.”

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