Page 107 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“That’s not going to stop you from telling the cops about us,” he replied.
“No, and that’s not my problem. For your sake, I hope Devon doesn’t know your names, because he’ll probably sell you out in a heartbeat, but again, not my problem. I’m offering you a chance to get out of here and go as far as you can, maybe avoid the cops, maybe not; that’s your problem. Do not make me pull this trigger,” I told him, pleading for him and myself. Just this little taste of what could be lurking inside me was enough; I wanted to bury it without getting blood on my hands. “I will,” I said softly, glad the gun only shook slightly. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking the way I’m acting will keep me from doing what I need to do. I want to live, and you know what? I want the people in this house to live. And I want my parents to live. And if that means I have to kill you both to make sure that happens, I’ll hate myself every day after, but I will do it.”
“Yeah,” the masked man said softly, glancing to his left and nodding, his hands coming up. “We’re going to take you up on that offer, I think. Better a chance of getting away than dying here, right?”
“In your shoes, I’d agree,” I said. “But you’re going to leave the guns. Set them on the table, and do it slowly. One at a time.”
I inched toward the doorway, keeping the gun on them. The other man wasn’t far from the door, but backed up, his hands inthe air as the masked man stepped forward and set the rifle in the middle of the table, and then his pistol. He slowly reached for the knife he had somewhere along his stomach. His hands went up again, and he backed up, gesturing for the other man. He too stepped forward, took out his weapons to lay on the table, and spread them out before backing away. The only difference between the two was that the second one had also carefully pulled a long knife from his boot.
“Now what?” the masked man asked calmly, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had brought him to this kind of life. He was clearly comfortable with violence and attempted murder, or...outright murder.
God, don’t think about it, don’t think about it. Focus on the men in front of you and deal with that. Get everyone safe, and then…worry about Ward.
“Now you leave,” I said with a deep breath that I hoped was steadying. “You leave this place, don’t look back, and no one else needs to be hurt.”
“Will do,” he said calmly. Maybe it was stupid, but I believed him.
“Do me one last favor,” I said as I backed into the hallway.
His head tilted. “What?”
“Leave the zip ties.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners. I knew he was smiling under that mask, and he turned to set a handful of them on the corner of the table. “It wasn’t personal.”
“That makes it so much worse,” I told him softly. “Now leave.”
He nodded, and the two inched out, their eyes dropping to Devon as they walked down the hallway. I kept my attention on them even when I heard the front door open and close more forcefully than was necessary. I was aware of Devon shifting on the floor and couldn’t help but give another kick, this time to hisribs, knocking the wind out of him. God save me, I didn’t want to keep hurting the man while he was down, but I’d only got the upper hand because of the element of surprise and because I’d hurt him badly enough that he couldn’t move. It had to be this way until I felt safe to move and get the zip ties.
“Warden!” Amelia cried from her spot in the dining room, and I forced myself to breathe. “Get him, damn you! My son is dying!”
“I’m aware,” I said slowly, hearing a vehicle drive off before marching into the dining room and grabbing one of the hunting knives from the table. As quickly as possible, I walked over to my parents, cut through Matilda’s bonds, and handed her the knife. “Get everyone free, please.”
Knowing she was more than capable of the task, I turned and grabbed the zip ties off the table and walked back to the hallway, forcing myself not to look at the blood on the floor or at Ward. If I saw him, and he was bad, or he was...I wouldn’t be able to keep it together. I already felt like anchors in my mind were coming loose, and everything was trying to float to the surface. If I saw the worst of the worst right now, I would come undone and sink into my head, where I might just drown.
“Hold still,” I told Devon, not wanting to have to hurt him again, and bending down to grab his wrists.
I should have expected it when he sprang, slamming his fist into the side of my face, sending me reeling back. He leapt forward, reaching out and hitting me again as one hand closed around my throat. Spots formed before my eyes as I tried to push him off with little success. I was already weak from the night’s events, and I could only try to hit him to drive him off, but his mouth was set in a grimace of rage and hate as he clasped his other hand around my throat.
I could do nothing; my attempts to push him off were feeble and useless. The white spots turned black as I felt theoxygen leave my brain, leaving me faint, and everything sounded distant. All I had done had been pointless; he was getting the best of me, and I couldn’t defend myself. Maybe one of the others would be able to stop him before he got his hands on his gun, or perhaps they would be able to use one of the ones on the table.
A halo of light, growing brighter as the darkness I was drowning in expanded. Some part of me, the one familiar with death, knew it was just what happened when oxygen was cut off from the brain for too long. Eventually, the mind began to see things; hallucinations, and hormones flooded the body as it tried to do whatever it could to stay alive.
Except this time, it was pointless; no amount of hormones or desperation was going to save me. I had done what I could for my survival and the survival of those who meant the most to me. That had to count for something, right?
The halo disappeared, and I realized it must be the end. My arms had dropped, so the last of my strength was going. The shadow moved, and I was vaguely aware of a harsh sound before the grip around my throat relaxed. My heart raced to life as I choked, coughing on the air I was sucking into my lungs as I tried to sit up. My vision filled with light once more, and I saw Devon on his back, his head limply drooping to the side and blood matting his hair.
I peered up and blinked as I tried to get more and more air into my lungs. “H-hi, Mom.”
Matilda’s eyes widened as she hovered over me, her bottom lip trembling. “You’ve never called me that before.”
“F-first time for everything, I suppose,” I gasped out..
She dropped to her knees and yanked me to her, wrapping me in a hug so fierce I felt my watering eyes leak down my face. I hugged her back. “It’s okay, I’m...okay.”
“You almost weren’t,” she whispered fiercely in my ear. “You almost weren’t, oh, Arlo.”
“I’m…” my breath caught, and I stiffened. “Ward!”
