Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Elle
I was tempted to pull the little glowing handle that would release the trunk but decided against it. Jumping from a moving car probably wouldn't end well for me. This wasn't the movies and there was no scenario where I would come out of that kind of situation without seriously being hurt.
I just had to hope that brains would beat brawn because it was clear Musclehead didn't have many brain cells to work with. The only reason he managed to get me into the car was because I hadn't wanted anyone else to get hurt at my expense.
I was in the middle of planning my escape when the car stopped. We hadn't been driving for that long, so wherever we were was still within the Boston city limits.
Knowing this was my chance to possibly get away, I braced my hands against the roof of the trunk and prepared to go down kicking and screaming.
And that was exactly what I did as soon as the trunk popped open. I kicked like a bucking bull and smiled with satisfaction when I connected with my abductor and heard him groan in pain.
"Enough." He managed to grab both of my legs and hook them under his arms. Dragging me out of the car, I hit my head on the latch and hissed in pain. "Good, now maybe you'll be a little more cooperative."
"Never," I screamed back and hoped someone––anyone––would hear me. Unfortunately I realized too late that wouldn't be the case as we were parked inside of a garage.
Before I could realize what was happening, Musclehead had a knife to my stomach and was threatening me. "Keep quiet, or I'll stab you right here, right now."
That got my attention. I didn't want to be stabbed with a knife. I certainly didn't want to die. My life with Rhett had just started, and I didn't want it to end so soon.
Besides, I knew Rhett well enough now to know he would blame himself if something happened to me. That was just the kind of man he was. So instead of continuing to fight, I relaxed my body.
"That's what I thought. Now let's go."
Like a good girl, I listened and waited for further instructions.
I figured if I continued to obey the rules, it would mean he wouldn't tie me up, since so far he hadn't.
A huge mistake on his part. I would only continue to play the damsel in distress until an opportunity presented itself, and then I would fight back.
Musclehead––whose name I should really figure out already––pushed me toward a door that I assumed led into the house.
My assumption was confirmed a few seconds later, but I didn't get a chance to look at my surroundings because there was a smell that smacked me in the face the moment we walked through the door.
It smelled like something had died in the house.
Suddenly I wasn't so confident of my chances of escape.
"Grandma, I'm home," my captor hollered, and a sinking feeling hit me square in the gut. "There's someone I would like you to meet."
Oh God. Oh no.
I've seen this episode before or at least something like it. I knew even before he pushed me farther into the house what I was going to see.
"Grandma doesn't get around much these days, but I know she'll be excited to meet you."
Sure enough, as soon as we walked into the living room, the smell made my stomach roll, and sitting there in a recliner was a very dead old woman.
"Grandma, I would like you to meet my new girlfriend."
The fact that he didn't even know my name didn't seem to phase the guy. Clearly he was living in a delusional world
"Say hello," Musclehead hissed at me as he shoved the knife against my stomach.
I could barely get past the smell enough to speak, but somehow I forced myself to open my mouth and let the words slip out. "Hello. It's nice to meet you."
"Take a seat." I wasn't given the option. Musclehead pushed me down on the couch perpendicular to where his grandmother was sitting on the recliner.
"Why am I here?" I had to force myself to look at the guy who abducted me rather than stare at the dead woman whose eyes were glossed over.
"Because you're my girlfriend, and I wanted my grandmother to meet you."
"But we don't even know each other." I could hear the wobble in my voice. The longer I was here, the more I realized just how unstable this guy was, and it was starting to worry me.
"Of course we do, sweetheart. We've known each other since we met at the bar a few weeks ago. I've been waiting for you to come back."
I wanted to smack myself upside the head for being so stupid. How the hell could I be dumb enough to go back to the same bar this guy followed me out of that night?
"Oh, right..." I froze. I didn't know his name, and I didn't want to further his delusions by calling him a cute nickname. I also figured he wouldn't appreciate me using the nickname I had come up with for him.
"Bernard." The slap that followed came out of nowhere and proved that this guy was as unstable as I feared.
Blood trickled down my chin from where my lip split from the slap. I knew in that moment if I didn't find a way to get out of here, I was going to die.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that, Grandma."
I looked around the room while he was distracted and tried to see what I could use to defend myself.
The room was exactly what I would expect an older person's house to look like with the old floral couches that wouldn’t be the least bit comfortable. Each piece of furniture looked to be about five decades old and knickknacks filled just about every empty space.
One of those said knickknacks sat on the end table just a few feet away from me.
Doing my best not to bring attention to myself, I shimmied on the couch as Bernard continued to be distracted by his dead grandmother.
"I promise it won't happen again, but she needs to understand that I brought her here to meet you, and she can't disrespect me like that by forgetting my name."
I cringed when he reached out and ran his hand down his grandmother's hair. I couldn't fathom how he could be that close and not smell her. I wanted to barf, and I was a a good five feet behind him.
When I was close enough that I could reach out and grab the heavy statue, I started to spread my arm, but of course, Bernard chose that moment to turn back around. "What are you doing?" he asked when I quickly snatched my arm back.
"Nothing." My voice shook. "Just admiring your grandmother's pretty furniture." I lied through my teeth.
Bernard didn't seem to notice though. A huge smile spread across his face as he moved closer to me. "Isn't it nice? My mother wanted to replace everything after my grandfather died, but I convinced her that Grandma wouldn't want that."
The way he hissed out the name mother made me think something bad had happened to her. I wanted so badly to ask but, instead, kept my mouth shut. This was definitely one of those times where curiosity wouldn't be appreciated.
"It's good you kept it." I played into his fantasy and kept very still. I needed him to put down the knife and turn around so I could have a shot at getting away.
My chance would come soon enough when Bernard was once again distracted by his grandmother. "Do you want to watch some TV?" I didn't have the slightest idea what he thought she said, but suddenly he was smiling and laughing at only a joke he could hear.
"Isn't Grandma the best?" Bernard shook his head as he placed the knife down on the table and grabbed the remote.
I waited until he was distracted by changing the channel to strike.
Wielding the statue like a baseball bat, I quickly stood up and lifted it over my head. With as much force as I could, I slammed it down on Bernard's head and watched as he crumbled to the floor.
I didn't bother to wait and see if he stayed down before taking off toward the front of the house at a dead run.