Page 94 of Making Home with You
Me, and everything Ryan has taught me about defending myself.
I know not to let him take me anywhere, so my first instinct is to get the hell out of this damn parking garage.He has a car, he’s bigger than me and there’s a chance he’s got a plan.
But I’m not going down without a fight and Andrew is on me before I can move.He wraps his hand around my hair and yanks me back toward him.As much as I would’ve liked to get away from him, I knew this was what was to come and I’m prepared.
I let him drag him me closer to him.The closer I get the more likely it is that I can injure him, and despite my racing heart and my shaking hands, I try to clear my clouded head and figure out how I’m going to get away from him.
But he’s predictable as fuck and he lets go of my hair and wraps his arm around my neck, and it’s almost too easy.
“Are you trying to ruin my life?”Andrew hisses in my ear.His breath is hot against my skin and it makes me shudder.It smells of stale coffee and bourbon, and it makes me want to gag.“You seemed like such an easy conquest in your interview.Fuck was I wrong.”
He turns me around so I’m now facing him, and I make direct eye contact.I won’t let him see my fear, and he thinks if he grips my arm tight enough I won’t be able to get away.His fingers dig into my skin, pressing hard, nearly cutting through my sweater.
I can hear Steve squirming around on the ground and I know he’s losing a lot of blood, so I need to act quickly.
Andrew pushes the gun into the waist of his pants, but his hand still holds me tightly, and that’s when I stomp hard onto his foot.
He lets out a loud groan, leaning down as if he’s going to clutch his foot, as if to check to see if it’s okay.It’s so by the book it’s almost comical.I wrap my hands around the back of his head forcing it down while I thrust my knee up into his nose.
I hear the crack of bone and see the rush of blood that covers my pants, but I don’t stop there.I shove him hard and he loses his balance, toppling over onto the concrete, hitting it hard.
I rush to Steve just as he’s getting to his feet, but he’s disoriented and slow, and I push him through the doorway and into the vestibule that houses the elevators.
Steve reaches for the button and then clasps his hand over his wounded shoulder.We have only a few more seconds before Andrew will be back on his feet and after me, so I can’t waste time waiting on the elevator.
I grab the TASER from Steve’s hip, and when the elevator doors open, I shove him in and turn for the stairs.
Andrew doesn’t want Steve, he wants me, and when he finally appears in the vestibule, the elevator doors closing, he fires a few shots at the metal door before he turns to chase me into the stairwell.
The parking garage is on the fourth floor and the last place I want to go is up, so I head down, hoping Steve is with it enough to have called the police or at least get outside of the building before Andrew and I reach the lobby.
The gun goes off again, Andrew firing aimlessly into the stairwell hoping he’ll hit me, but each shot misses and I keep track of each bullet he’s fired.
We’re at eight, and he’s carrying a Glock 22, which means if it’s fully loaded he has seven bullets left.I just need him to waste those before we reach the lobby, because once we’re together and he’s without a gun, it’s on.
My adrenaline is surging as I call out his name, taunting him to come after me, and I strike the metal handrail with my shoe making a loud banging noise.
And just as I suspected, Andrew is a fool, and he fires again, the bullet pinging off the metal casing around the window.
I can hear the police sirens ringing out above the noise of the busy streets of Boston, but that doesn’t stop me, because until Andrew is in handcuffs, I’m not safe.
I push the door to the third floor open, holding it until I hear Andrew’s feet pound the stairs above me, and then I let it go.Moving quickly but quietly, I make for the stairs to the second floor.
The gun goes off just as the door to the third floor closes, three quick blasts; loud and jarring, and my ears ring incessantly, nearly making me lose my footing on the stairs.
“You missed me!”I yell and he screams out a curse, slamming his hand into the metal security door on the third floor.I need him to know I didn’t go through that door, and if I’m right, he’s an idiot and will fall for the same trick on the second floor.
Again I hold the door open, waiting for his feet to pound against the concrete stairs and when I hear, I let go of the door, but this time, I don’t try to run away.
I’m poised on the landing between the first and second floor waiting, because he thinks he’s smarter than me, because he thinks he knows my plan, he fires at the door, and then rushes through it.
He’s certain I went I through the door this time, and he rushes into the hallway finding it empty, but hearing my voice call his name.
“Andrew!”I call, loud enough that he can hear me through the cinderblock walls and metal doors, and I hear him shove the door open, again screaming out a muffled swear.
“Come and get me, you stupid fucker!”
I’m taunting him, and I realize how stupid it is, but I need him to use that last bullet.He’s not counting but I am.He only has one left and I have two more floors.I need him to fire at me.I need him to waste that last one, because I can’t reach that lobby and risk him shooting at Steve or someone walking by the building or an innocent person who happens to be there.
