I stood atop the commode aware that he knew I was inside, but I continued hiding to buy myself a few extra seconds. My phone connected, the bright screen alerting me while the faint sound of Lady A’s voice traveled along the thick silence in the bathroom and made its way to my ears. I picked up the phone and slid it into my pocket before untucking my shirt and letting the tail hang to shield it from his view.
“I’m coming out. I’m not armed,” I informed him loud enough for Lady A to hear me. Sliding the lock open on the stall, I pulled the door in my direction, letting it crack open at a slow pace. The man stood at the counter, his hands at his back, no doubt holding his weapon in a firm grip. The light over the sink mirrors flickered, giving this scene the horror-movie effect.
“Who are you? What do you want with me?”
“Ms. Davis, we are going to take a little ride. If you cooperate, you won’t be harmed,” he stated with little hope of convincing me that what he’d said was true.
The request sounded easy enough, but fell on deaf ears. Taking a ride with a man who was armed and had no problem threatening kids didn’t add up to trusting a word that rolled off his devilish tongue.
“Why? What can be so important to talk about that you followed me around the mall and threatened me into this bathroom? Is it something I can fix? Straighten out?”
He tilted his head at the door. “Let’s go and whatever you do, don’t cause a scene because I can assure you there are more of us out there that will not hesitate to turn this place into a fucking tragedy.”
His statement was what I was most afraid of. I had been right in my assessment of his nature. He didn’t care one bit about endangering the lives of the innocent to get what he wanted. My problem was I had no idea what that was. I had no idea what I was to anyone, friend or foe.
However, I cared about protecting innocent lives and wasn’t willing to allow others to get hurt because of the double life I led outside of work or for something from my past that may have crawled its way into my present. I took cautious steps to the door and when I reached for the knob he was right there crowding me.
“Hand me your phone, Ms. Davis. Slowly,” he urged in a stern voice laced with pure venom. His request caused his breath to hit hot against the side of my face. I handed him my phone, and he noticed right away I had the line open. My stunt hadn’t worked, but I prayed Lady A had caught enough of our conversation to piece together my situation and where I was.
“Fucking bitch,” he spit. He snatched the phone from my tight grip and clicked it off with a hard swipe before tossing it to the floor and smashing it repeatedly with his boot heel. The hard stomps caused pieces to fly into the air. The loud banging and his barely contained raged caused me to cringe while witnessing him destroy my one method of getting help.
“You try anything other than watching where you’re going while walking beside me, I will not hesitate to hurt you,” he threatened, whispering through gritted teeth before sticking his hand into the hole where the door knob once was and snatching it open.
He shoved me into the hall when I didn’t move fast enough for him. Of all the people rolling through the mall, it was my luck that no one was lingering in the hall near the ladies’ room.
As soon as he joined me, he allowed a calm demeanor to fall over his features and soften his tense body and tight face. He even managed a passable smile. He was the kind of person who did what he said he would do. I sensed the devil in him and wasn’t eager to test him while I fought to think of a way to get away without endangering others.
How the hell was I going to get myself out of this shit? Was this all happening because Tywin had inquired about my tattoo or had this been a long time coming?