37. Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Nellie
“ I don’t know what to do, Spice,” I sighed, pulling a can of cat food from the cabinet. He jumped up on the counter, bumping my arm with his head and meowing. “What do you mean about what? About the whole Ronan is basically Tony Soprano thing!”
Spice meowed again, climbing up my arm with his front paws. When I dumped the can in his dish, he leapt off the counter, leading the way for me to set it in his normal feeding spot. “You don’t even care that he’s in the mob, do you?” He ignored me, diving into the pureed tuna he seemed to favor.
“Maybe it’s not that big of a deal. I mean, he said I was safe.” I sighed when Spice looked up at me from the food dish. He narrowed his eyes, taking another large bite.
“Okay, fine,” I whined. “I’ll let you eat.”
When my phone vibrated on the counter, I picked it up. There was a text from Ava.
AVA:Something happened at the shop.
ME:What do you mean?
AVA:You should just get here.
AVA:And hurry!
My stomach flipped, and my throat started to burn with bile. “Not again!” I blinked several times to see through the veil of tears and the nervous fog, frantically turning. “Spice, I need to go. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
ME:I’m on my way.
I grabbed my purse and hurried for the door, slipping on the first pair of shoes I could find. “Where are my keys?” I panicked when I reached into my purse and didn’t feel them there. They weren’t on the table by the door either. Where had I set them when I came in last night?
I rushed back into the kitchen, checking the counters and snatching them from the shelf in the living room when they caught my eye. I slammed the door behind me, locking it and skipping stairs two at a time to get to my car quicker.
“Come on, come on!” I smacked my hand against the steering wheel when I turned the key in the ignition, hoping it would start faster. The engine flipped, and the radio flashed to life. The volume was loud, and I smacked the button to turn it off. Yesterday Nellie was not the same person as Today Nellie.
Before my seatbelt clicked, I was pulling out and rushing to the bakery. I could’ve walked, but Ava told me to hurry. I should’ve slowed down more when I turned, the tires squealing when I whipped the car onto the street that housed my bakery. I parked, jumping out and rushing to the back door. It was locked.
“Ava?” I shouted, knocking before I arranged the keys on my ring to get to the one to the bakery. When I unlocked the door and pulled it open, the light was off. “Ava, are you in here?”
She didn’t respond, and a nervous feeling caused my stomach to cramp. I reached into my pocket for my phone, pulling it out to call her, when I saw a light flashing in the front of the bakery. It was slow, flashing brightly every second or second and a half, like it was on a steady timer. My mouth dried out when my call went to her voicemail.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked, pulling up my call log to call Ronan instead. Something was wrong.
The phone only rang once before he answered. “Hey, sugar. I was hoping I’d hear from you today.” He started, not pausing for a breath. “How are you feeling?”
“I think something is wrong,” I said. Then, the bakery went black, and rough fabric covered my face. It was damp, and when it was tightened around my neck, I screamed. My phone made a thud when it hit the floor, but I couldn’t hear over the panic.
Everything smelled like ether, with a slight sweetness to it, and I screamed again. I tugged at the ties on the bag, but my arms felt heavy, and no matter how hard I tried to calm my fear, I couldn’t get my fingers to function the way I wanted them to. They wouldn’t grab the string and pull.
I tried to scream again, but someone grabbed onto me, holding the fabric to my face and covering my mouth. The next was muffled, and my throat burned when I inhaled. I couldn’t scream again. When I tried, nothing came out. I couldn’t lift my arms. And when my eyes felt heavy, I tried and failed to fight them.
You’re untouchable.
Then, everything went black.