Page 20 of Touch Her and Die
It brought me a little entertainment to think of what was to come. I was sure that I’d pay for what I’d done, but she would have paid with her life. She was too fucking stubborn, and I was far too protective.
I’d spend every second of every day not only trying to figure her out, but to make her understand everything. I’d bought myself time with her and that was worth the cost.
Dust and pebbles spit out behind me as I sped down the dirt road, making my way out of this depressing place. Things had shifted whether I was ready or not. Hell, whether I wanted it too. I’d never meant to fall in love with her, but I was pulled to her and there was no stopping it. No one could erase the history between us and there was no getting rid of the way I craved her.
I gripped the throttle harder as the next thought invaded my spiraling memories. She’d fucking left me. Except, regardless of what she’d meant, leaving me a present meant she was invested. She’d wanted me to think of her. But next time, the heads that would be rolling would be by my hand.
The road came to a sharp turn as it narrowed and led back out to the main gate. I planted my foot and pivoted the bike around. I was able to make it down the road, through the gate, and over the hill before the cops sped in. No doubt they’d gotten reports of gunshots. Nosey ass people lived too close to a bunch of corpses.
Only my Halle would find that place calming, wouldn’t she? Fuck. I needed to order a new headstone for that girl. I needed to find out why she was so worried about it. I needed to unravel her and the problem was, I couldn’t find the end of her string. She was all frayed edges and yet it all wound tightly together, giving her the appearance that she was fine.
Well, not right now. She wasn’t going to be fine if my uncle could get his shit together. Soon, very soon, his time was going to run out and I might be the one to dump that hourglass out on the ground and trample the sand into the fucking dirt.
NINE
halle
This was a big day.When in the ever-loving hell had I ever had to think to myself, where the fuck am I? My eyelids felt heavy and cumbersome rather than the small little bits of flesh that they were.
Well, crap on a cracker. Had someone sewn them shut?
Oh. Wait. Was this how it felt to be caught?
I’d never been caught before. I’d faltered though. Why? All because some guy had said that damn nickname. He knew the damn nickname that Parks had once called me and what were the odds of it being a coincidence?
“I am so tired of being kidnapped,” I said, although the words came out more like a garbled drunken mess. I hadn’t been drinking. Yup. This must have been what it felt like to be one of my toys.
This was going to be a long day.Or was it night? My eyelids still weren’t cooperating. The lights were too damn bright.
Hell.
I did what I could and mustered every last reserve of energy I could find in my drugged-up body to rock myself side to side. It took more effort to try to get my arms to cooperate. They were not being team players.
I growled in frustration, and I felt like any moment I should hear someone say something stupid and cliche about tides turning.
Instead, I heard a conversation, or rather one side of a conversation. Probably someone on a phone.
“She’s here. Yes. Of course she fought me. You said she would. Okay, see you in five.”
Finally, after more minutes of fighting my eyes, they popped open. And then I closed them again. So bright.
I sniffed the air, hoping I’d developed some kind of odd K-9 talent, but no. So, I made another attempt at opening my eyes and keeping them that way. I narrowed my gaze and aside from imaging this must be what it was like to be a corpse, I tried to make my thoughts coherent.
“Who will be here in five?” I asked. I liked to poke the bear most of the time and since I couldn’t see said bear, I had to start somewhere.
The footsteps thudded over a wooden floor. My head didn’t move, so I tried to move my eyes in the direction of the thuds. From my crappy vantage point this looked just like an apartment. Not one as sterile and posh as Parks’, but an apartment.
“My brother will be here in five. I’m not sure I’m thrilled you’re already awake.”
I snorted.
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to ruin your plans of a good old kidnapping.”
I could practically hear the eye roll he gave me.
“I wasn’t trying to fucking kidnap you. I was supposed to save you and you just couldn’t let me.”
I got my finger to wiggle, but there was no chance I’d be able to get my hands to work. Not yet. A few more minutes and I could grab the knife between my girls.
