Chapter 17 #2
Adam stops to scan our surroundings for a moment before moving again. “I haven’t been up here in almost a year,” he says. “So some of the rocks I left are covered up. Makes it harder to find where we’re going.”
Less than a minute later, the trees start to thin. I keep turning my head, trying to see things from a sideways angle at least, rather than upside down. So that’s how I see it—a small building in the woods, set on its side, no more than the size of a small shed.
Of course, it’s not really sideways, but right side up. It’s only me seeing it the wrong way.
“Ah, here we are,” Adam announces. “Perfect.”
He approaches the building and produces a small key from his pocket to unlock the shiny metal padlock on the door.
It’s clearly new, unlike the rest of the building, which is made of water-stained concrete.
Once the door opens, he lets out a harsh laugh before stepping through it.
“Perfect,” he repeats. “Just perfect. No one will find you in here. Not for decades, at least. Maybe never.”
Panic blossoms inside me, a raging inferno taking over my body.
“Please,” I plead. “Just let me go. I won’t tell anyone.”
“I know you won’t,” Adam chuckles. “Because you’ll be dead. That’s the most effective way of covering your tracks, you know. Making sure there’s no one alive to report you.”
“Adam. Please. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but you’re making a mistake.”
“But I’m not. None of my victims are mistakes.”
Victims? As in plural? As in, I’m not the first?
“But I have to say, I’ve been waiting to use this location for a while.
” His arm tightens around me as we head down a flight of stairs, his footsteps echoing on metal with every step.
“I wouldn’t recommend struggling,” he adds.
“Or I might drop you. And then you’ll probably end up with a broken neck.
Which, again, isn’t really what I’m going for. ”
A flare of anger makes me snap, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to ruin your plans, would I?”
He stops. And for a moment, I wonder if he’s about to fling me down the stairs, anyway. “I could be angry with your attitude,” he finally says. “But actually, I like it. It’s more fun this way. Rather than you just passively taking it like some of the others.”
Then he continues his way down the stairs, humming as he goes. And that’s actually creepier than anything he’s said so far. Just hearing this odd, off-tune melody that sounds like a messed up version of a child’s lullaby.
I think about my necklace again, wondering if it’ll still work despite the metal walls, or if the signal will be blocked. If I can somehow trigger the alert once Adam puts me down. And desperately, I wish Kane was already headed here. That he’ll come to my rescue like he always has.
We keep descending deeper and deeper, down at least five flights of stairs. The walls are dark with mold and rust, and a rotten scent grows worse the further we go.
Then Adam stops again. Bends down to set me on the ground. He straightens, stretching his arms above his head and rotating his neck. “For such a skinny girl, you weigh more than I thought you would,” he grouches. “I’m going to need to schedule a massage after this.”
Rage surges again. This asshole knocked me out, kidnapped me, tied me up and threatened to kill me. And now he’s whining about how I’m too heavy? Which I’m not, for the record. Not just complaining, but talking about getting a massage afterwards?
Wriggling into a seated position, I glare at him. “Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you.”
Adam stares at me. A few seconds go by before he says, “I wasn’t going to kill you.
Not at first. I admit, I had fun messing with you.
Breaking your birdhouses, leaving footsteps around your house—I used boots that were too big, just in case—and then moving all your furniture around.
That was probably my favorite. You looked so scared when you raced outside after that. ”
“ You did that?”
“I did.” His smile shifts to a scowl. “Not the rocks. That was that stupid bitch. She had no right. You were mine to screw with. Not hers. So… I had to punish her.”
My heart skitters in fear. “What did you do?”
“I killed her.” Adam bends down so his face is level with mine. “She made you leave your house. Made you move in with that cop. And she was just like the other ones.”
“The… other ones?”
“Yes.” Like a flipped switch, his scowl stretches into a smile again. “The others. Women who think they’re too good for a regular guy like me. Women who only care about how they look. About milking men for money so they can buy fancy clothes and jewelry.”
“I don’t?—”
“You didn’t .” Adam’s expression turns thunderous. “You didn’t act like that. Until you started whoring yourself out to that cop. Tricking him into bringing you gifts. Fixing your house. Which I’m still pissed about. I couldn’t break in anymore once he upgraded your security. He took away my fun.”
My breath catches. Panic rises. “Don’t do anything to him. Please. He’s innocent. Punish me. Not him.”
“Oh, Jessica. I’m not that stupid. Killing a cop is never a good idea.” He pauses. “Stupid women who live alone? That’s another story.”
“But… I didn’t…”
I don’t know how to talk my way out of this. Don’t know how to convince him I’m not some evil woman who deserves to die.
“So you see,” Adam continues. “Once I realized you were like the rest, I knew I had to kill you. And this is the perfect place to do it. ”
I glance around again, scanning the cavernous space we’re in. It’s round, with a narrow walkway around the circumference. A rusted railing is the only barrier between the walkway and a gaping darkness below.
What’s down there?
And why?—
Then it hits me. We’re in a missile silo. An abandoned one, like I saw in a documentary a few years ago. Apparently there are hundreds of them scattered around the country, most of them locked up and empty.
And with the first realization comes a second. This is where he plans to kill me. In this abandoned silo, where no one will venture for years.
“Aha. So now you get it.” Adam yanks a knife from his pocket and cuts the rope away from my ankles.
Then he stands and jerks me to my feet, clutching my arm hard enough to bruise.
“Isn’t it creative? Dumping you here? I always try to come up with unique ways to kill my victims. One whore, I tied up and left on a remote island off the coast of Maine.
They still haven’t found her. Although I bet the animals have.
And another; I tied her to the back of my boat and drove around until she drowned.
” He laughs. “Poor girl. She really tried to last. But eventually, she gave up. Then I let her sink to the bottom of the lake.”
Now that I’m standing, I can see over the edge of the railing and down into the pit where the missile must have been stored. It’s filled with water, but there’s a good fifteen feet between the surface and the walkway, and the lone ladder attached to the wall has all the footholds broken.
Adam follows my gaze. “I did that,” he brags. “It was tricky, let me tell you. I had to set up a harness and everything. But I couldn’t very well dump someone in there if there’s a way out, could I?”
With the same punishing grip, Adam drags me towards a gap in the railing.
I try to pull against him, but he’s too strong.
He glances back at me and says, “There’s no escaping, Jessica.
But look on the bright side. You won’t die right away.
It’ll probably take hours before you run out of energy. Unless you want to give up right away.”
He angles his chin at a blinking red light on the wall across the pit. “Camera,” he explains unnecessarily. “So I can watch. I wish I could stay, but I’m on the evening shift tonight. So I’ll have to be satisfied with watching you die on the video feed instead.”
I’m so horrified, I can’t form words.
He’s going to throw me in the pit. Into that dark, dank water, and leave me there.
I’ll never see Kane again.
Never have the life I dreamed about.
Tears spring free again. “Please,” I beg. “Just let me go. Please .”
“I think it’s a little late for that, don’t you?”
Then.
He drags me towards the edge. Foot by foot, I watch my death approaching.
And then what? He’ll do this again? To another woman he deems a whore in his screwed up mind?
No.
If I have to die, I’m taking him with me.
“Well,” Adam says, once he has me inches from the edge. “I guess this is it. I’m not sure how well you’ll do staying afloat with only your feet, but I’ve heard people can float for a long time. Hours. Maybe you should try that.”
Then he grabs both my arms and gives me a hard shove.
But I’m prepared this time.
I loop my leg around his, hooking him behind his knee.
I throw all my weight into him.
And instead of just me falling, we both plummet into the water.
I hit the surface with a breath-stealing smack.
Instinctively, I close my mouth and hold my breath as I sink into the icy water.
With my arms still bound behind me, there’s a few moments of sheer panic, when I think I’m going to keep going down to the bottom, that I’m going to die in minutes instead of hours.
But.
I used to be on the swim team in high school, back before everything went bad. And I still remember the coach making us tread water with just our legs, telling us how great of a conditioning exercise it was.
So I kick. And kick. Until my head bursts above the surface and I draw in a gasping breath.
Then I spin around, searching for Adam. Waiting for his inevitable attack. Fully expecting him to drown me for what I did.
Except I can’t see him.
But I know he went in with me.
Shivering from the cold, I take another steadying breath as I remind myself, You’re not dead yet. There’s still a chance, however slim .
On my second rotation, that’s when I spot Adam. Not swimming, but floating face down in the water.
Though I know it’s probably a terrible idea, I make my way over to him.
And that’s when I see it—the huge gash on the back of his head.
I don’t touch him, but wait with bated breath.
Minutes go by.
He doesn’t move.
And finally, he starts to sink.
Relief wars with dread.
He’s dead. But so am I, if I don’t get out of here.
I wait another few minutes to make sure Adam doesn’t pop out of the water in some sort of horrifying end-of-a-horror-movie scene. But he doesn’t.
If nothing else, he won’t kill again.
Then I look at the broken ladder, wishing. Hoping. But it’s clearly unusable.
Although. The jagged edges could cut through rope. And maybe I could free my hands. Be able to stay afloat longer. Trigger my necklace.
And maybe, even though it’s the slimmest of chances, Kane will come for me.
Please.