5. Heather
5
HEATHER
“ H elp!” I try to call out, but the sound is all muffled and I can’t get past the ball of material tied around my head and clumsily stuffed into my mouth. I won’t be able to make anyone hear me, which is a nightmare. It’s hell. “Help, someone.”
The stupid thing is, my father has constantly told me that going off to interview people alone is dangerous, and I’ve ignored him. I maybe should’ve taken it on board when interviewing criminals, but still, I thought I knew better. I thought it would be enough for people to know where I am. That was my safety method. But now, I realize how goddamn dumb that was. Now that I’m tied up in a fucking cupboard and I don’t know what the hell is going to happen to me. I could die here.
And all because I wanted to know what was going on with Landon. My goddamn curiosity about the past has come to snatch me up and kill me. This is what happens to the fucking cat, isn’t it? She dies because she can’t keep her nose out of other people’s business. I got a bad feeling from Bill Ross as soon as I saw him once more, and I should have gone along with that feeling. Then again, I never would have thought that the man who lived next door to me as I grew up would do this to me, whoever he has become. I just didn’t think that a single soul would ever do this to me. I don’t deserve this at all.
Where the hell is Roger? My God, I thought I was nice to him. It seemed like we had a connection. But he must realize that something has happened. I was crying and then I vanished. Doesn’t he care about me? What the hell?
“Help, someone!” Tears stream down my face, and I can’t even wipe them away because my arms are tied up too, as are my ankles. Even if I managed to unlock this goddamn cupboard, I don’t think that I would stand a chance of getting out. I definitely should have taken those self-defense classes that Dad signed me up for. I might have been able to do something . I was pretty much overpowered right away by Bill, which was partly due to shock and also because I don’t know how to look after myself.
Maybe when I get out of here, if I manage to get out of here, then I’ll make some changes to my life. But oh, my God, the idea that I might not get out of here alive is killer. It’s tearing me up from the inside out. I’ve never thought of death before, certainly not when it comes to myself, but now it’s all I can think of. Bill Ross isn’t the man I once knew. He’s clearly leaned right into the life of crime, and now I don’t know what he intends to do to me. I don’t know what he’s capable of.
“Will you shut the fuck up?” The cupboard door swings open and Bill glares at me. “How the hell am I supposed to hear myself think while you’re in here making so much noise? My God, I’m trying to work out what to do with myself. I don’t know if you know, but I wasn’t exactly planning on this happening today… but when the opportunity comes, I got to take it.”
He rakes his fingers through his sweaty, sticky hair, staring at me with wide, manic eyes. This man is wild, his life has gone terribly down hill, and I don’t know if I have a chance to save myself. A desperate man is a dangerous man. That’s another little ditty from my father that I now understand more than ever before. He’s a man who will do anything to survive, and I might be his next meal ticket. I scramble backward as if there is a back to this cupboard which I can escape through, but there’s nothing.
“Please,” I beg through teary eyes. He might not be able to hear me properly, but there has to be something getting through. “Please, don’t do this to me. Bill, you know me. Don’t do this to me. Let me go. I won’t tell anyone about it. I won’t talk to my father if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll just walk away like nothing happened, like I just did my interview.”
“Stop talking.” Bill presses his hands over his ears trying to block me out like a child would. “My brain is going fucking crazy as it is. I don’t need you on top of it. I’m overwhelmed, I can’t hack any of this. I don’t need you talking.”
“You can solve this.” I can see my bag on the bed beside him. How the hell can I grab it without setting him off? “You can solve all of your problems by just letting me go. I won’t be in your way anymore. I’ll be gone.”
“You don’t have any fucking idea what my problems are,” he yells, but I don’t suppose it’ll get any attention because the more that I listen in, the more I can hear screams and shouting coming from everywhere. “You have no goddamn idea, you little princess bitch. My fucking wife, the whore, is in jail. I’m stuck in this shithole, and the cost of what I need to survive is growing by the minute. Sticks is an asshole dealer who I just want to tear to shreds. He would rather die than just give me a fucking taste of what I need, and you… you might be the key to my solution somehow. You can help me, but I don’t know how.”
“Money?” I don’t want to give a junkie any cash, but I also don’t want to die here. “I can help you with money.”
“You might look like a rich, prissy bitch, but you don’t have enough to help me, I can assure you. No, I need to use you for something. I need to… to work out a way to find the goddamn silver lining on this cloud. It’s there… it’s there.”
“I’ll help you,” I weep harder, my voice becoming increasingly muffled with every single word. “I’ll help.”
“I don’t need you to do anything other than shut the hell up, okay? You walked into this. You let this happen.”
“No, no.” I shake my head hard even though I know this is the horrid truth. “No, I didn’t know this was going to happen.”
“I saw it on your face ever since I mentioned my son’s name.” His lips twist up into a nasty looking smile. “You can’t resist finding out about him, can you? Even though it was over with the pair of you years ago. I just knew it. You bitches are all the same. You’re just like my slut wife. You can’t let shit go. Just fuck off and let me deal with my own shit, okay?”
I don’t know how much that actually has to do with me, so I shake it off. “Just let me out of here, please.”
“Oh, fuck off.” Bill’s nose screws up in disgust. “You and your asshole father always thought you were better than us.”
“No, not me.” Dad, maybe, but he isn’t the one fighting for his life right now. “I never think that about you.”
“Fuck off.” He leans down now, getting so close to my face that his hot breath tickles over my skin. The spittle flying out of his mouth combined with his horrible breath makes for a traumatic experience, but I do my best not to break eye contact. I think Bill might want to break me even more than he already has, and I don’t want him to have that satisfaction. “Fuck you, Heather.”
He slams the door closed again, shrouding me in darkness and helplessness once more. What could he possibly want to use me for? I don’t understand. What I do understand now is what my dad was trying to protect me from all that time ago. I can see now where his worries lay. I don’t know if Landon followed the same path as his parents since I’ve never been able to find him, but there is a big chance that he’s in the same line of work. Seeing what happened to Roger, it’s possible.
Fucking hell, I finally understand my father and find a way to forgive him internally, just as I’m going to die. What the hell can I do? Any noise I make won’t be heard in a meaningful way in this hellhole, and it will only lead Bill to kill me faster. Think . I need to work out a plan. There has to be a way out of this. I can’t just lie back and wait to die. No way.
“Hey, buddy.” I hold on to my breath as I hear Bill talking to someone else. His tone has changed now. He sounds all friendly, so this can’t be for me. “Yeah, I’ve got some good news. I have some… shall we say, baggage in my room.”
Oh, God . My heart stops beating and I can’t force any more air out of my lungs however hard I try. I’m stuck, frozen in this terrifying moment, waiting to see what horrible fate might come next. This is dreadful, the absolute worst.
“No, what I mean is I have a girl,” he continues, exasperated with whoever he’s talking to. “Cop’s daughter. Yep, Buchan. I know her, so I managed to get her in my room easily. I think she wanted me, if you know what I mean.”
Urgh, oh, my God, does he want me to throw up all over this cupboard? Christ, at no point did I give him any indication that I ‘wanted him’. He knows for a fact that I only followed him to find out what’s going on with Landon, and I didn’t even get that.
“So, I’m trying to work out the best course of action. Do I sell this bitch to the traffickers? Do I get some cash outta her father for her ‘safe’ return? Do I risk handing her over directly as payment, you know? I’m in a fucking pickle here, mate. I finally have something, something tangible to do something with. I could do some serious shit here, but what? What should I do? There are pros and cons to every idea, you know what I mean? It’s all about coming up with the most cash quick.”
Holy fuck, now I’m starting to see how I can help. Now I can see why he rejected my offer of assistance because from the small bit I know about human traffickers, they will pay a fucking fortune for someone. They also know how to make someone disappear completely, never to be seen again. My dad has already lost my mother. He doesn’t need to lose me too. Not like this. It will kill him. Instantly, my brain whirs trying to find a way I can leave him a clue about what happened to me.
DNA. That will be my best chance. I’ll have to try and leave my fingerprints everywhere, and maybe some blood too. I would prefer to leave a note so he knows exactly what happened, but this might have to be enough. I don’t even care if Bill gets in trouble for this. I honestly don’t give a shit as long as he doesn’t do it to anyone else. I just want my dad to know.
I’m going to have to try and cut myself somewhere, just so they can identify that I was here. Just so the answers can be found. This is no longer about me and trying to survive. It’s all about trying to leave a set of clues behind.