Page 78 of Crash and Burn

They would head to Sanders’ family cabin. It was a shot in the dark based on scant evidence. But their only options were that they were right or Maggie was dead.

Chapter Sixty-One

The door opened behind her, the soft squeak of the knob an ominous sound.

Maggie knew it was Merrit Geller and she'd read the reports of his victims. She was not going to become the next.

He didn't say anything, just opened the door and presumably stood behind her. The room was too small for him to be more than a few feet away. She waited for his hand to touch her shoulder.

Maggie found it hard to keep her breathing slow and her head low, as though she were still drugged. But she forced herself to stay still.

She was sitting on her shoe and realized only now that was a mistake. She should have kept it in her hand, ready to make a move.

Making a small moan to cover her movement, she slipped her hand between her legs and grasped the shoe firmly.

Three.

Two.

One.

She popped up and turned to face him, screaming for all she was worth. Though whether that was because the noise simply came out of her with her fear or if she remembered from watching stupid online videos that noise was startling, she didn’t know.

It was hard to tell if the scream accomplished anything other than him raising his hands in defense. Though he thwarted her blow a little, he didn't raise them up quite fast enough. She swung the heel for all it was worth, the sharp point aimed outward.

Even as she watched it arc through the air toward him, she realized the rubber tip on the end of the heel would reduce its effectiveness as a weapon. She should have pulled it off, made the heel sharper. Her stomach clenched as she both heard and felt the heel sink into the side of his neck.

Just as abruptly as she started screaming, she stopped. What if Sanders was still here? What if he was out front, and she had just alerted him?

Geller stumbled backward, the pale blue shoe sticking out of his neck where the heel was buried an inch, or maybe two, deep. Maggie let go and stepped back.

Once again, she saw her mistake too late. She should have pulled it out, let the blood flow from the wound. Instead, he screamed, “You bitch!”

And she watched his blood trickle down his hands as he reached up and felt the shoe stuck in his neck. Though he was occupied with undoing her damage, he was still watching her and still positioned between her and the door. The window was her only option.

But he wasn't disabled enough.

So she turned around, picked up the chair, and swung it at him from the other side. The old wood cracked against him, splintering into shards as the remains of the chair twisted in her hands.

It took only one step to reach the window, and she thought she might have made it before the chair clattered to the floor. Pushing upward on the window, her heart pounded and her mouth went dry when it didn't give.

But, in her fear and anger, adrenaline made her strong, and with a second massive shove, she managed to move it up far enough to climb out. As she slipped out and thought she was getting away, Maggie felt his hand wrap around her bare ankle.

Though she shook her foot violently, he didn't let go. Tumbling downward, she let her body weight pull them both forward, her head aimed toward the ground. Luckily, there were no sharp bushes beneath the window. She was merely falling to the forest floor, her hands out to break her fall, his hand on her ankle stopping her from hitting hard.

The window ledge cut into her leg, but he didn't let go.

Her hands were touching the dirt and she was halfway to the ground, but Merrit Geller was coming through the window too, his hand still tight on her foot.

Maggie braced her hands into the dirt, almost fully upside down, and shoved her foot backwards with all her might. When she succeeded in banging him into the edge of the window and making him groan, she did it again.

Only then did he let go enough for her to yank her foot away.

Tumbling into the dirt, Maggie scrambled upright and ran.

She had no idea where she was going. Her feet were bare, but she couldn't feel the forest floor other than to know that it pushed up against her, sending her bolting forward.

She had to look ridiculous in her once beautiful pale blue business suit racing through the woods in terror. But the only thing that mattered was getting away. Getting safe. Getting back to Sebastian.

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