15. Emmy
EMMY
M y head was hurting so bad. It felt as if someone had knocked me in the back of my head but I was almost sure I was in pain because of how I’d collapsed. I went to move and realized that my hands were bound to the chair.
Not again, I thought my heart immediately wanting to beat fast. Ryan Lavery had tied me to a chair once upon a time…
Everything came rushing back then.
The woman at dinner. She was the reporter I’d met that day asking me about Ryan.
Frantically, I began to look around trying to see if she was nearby.
"I'm Gayle Storms you dumb bitch. And my sweet prince was Ryan Lavery. You took my son away from me..."
Her words had started to come back to me and I knew now that it was her. Gayle Storms had been stalking me. I heard footsteps to my left as someone approached. The fireplace was still crackling to my right.
“Don’t you just love a rainy day,” Gayle’s voice came out of nowhere and finally she was in front of me.
Crazy bitch!
I wanted to scream but my mouth had of course been taped.
She smiled. “You know…I thought you were going to save my boy. You got him out of prison. He was coming home to me where he belonged.”
My eyes widened and I really took her in. The resemblance to her and her crazy son was so apparent now that I was pissed, I hadn’t seen it before.
“Now he’s gone. Worms are eating his body in some forgotten prison grave…because of you.”
A violent scowl twisted onto Gayles face and with a ferocious and swift strike, she lashed out. My head whipped to the side from the force of her hand, leaving my face stinging. She came over and pulled my face to meet her. I struggled against her hands, tears rising up from behind my eyes.
“It’s okay though, because I’m going to destroy you too,” she whispered. “I see what my son saw, though. You’re kind of pretty. Smart. When I would lay in your bed, I would replay and imagine this part…I didn’t see that biker coming though. You like the way he fucks you don’t you…”
I kept still. This woman was a violent psychopathic viper who was looking for any excuse. I just continued to glare at her. We were still in the dining room and I could see the silverware decorating most of the tables.
Fine dining equaled steak knives.
I just needed to get in position to get one without her seeing.
Part of me wondered where the innkeeper was, but I knew I needed to focus on getting out of this alive. The woman in front of me was insane with twisted anger. She was distracted and perhaps she would make a mistake sooner rather than later.
Zane, I thought.
He was probably taking care of his club and he’d be back soon.
He’ll save you, if you can stay alive long enough, I thought as my eyes drifted back to the nearest table. The silverware was so close.
Easing my eyes away, I decided to see if I could reason with her. I started moving my mouth and that was when she ripped the tape from my lips and I bit back an anguished cry.
“Gayle…”
She snapped out of her ranting and came in close, gripping my chin. Her fingers biting into my flesh, her hot breath wafted over me.
Oh, she’s been eating ass, I thought, my nose wrinkling in distaste.
“Shut your mouth you dumb whore,” she snipped. “You have ruined my life. My son’s life.”
I swallowed hard and tried again. “Gayle, can I tell you about me and Ryan’s last days together. Before you kill me, don’t you want to know about how we spent our time.”
She stepped back, and I worked my mouth around trying to alleviate the discomfort from her grip.
“You took Ryan away from me,” she laughed and it echoed sounding demonic and terrifying.
“Gayle, untie me. Please, let's talk about this,” I begged her. “There’s still time for you to just go. To leave!”
“You stupid girl, no one is going to leave here alive…”
Suddenly blue and white lights began to flood the room. I had never been so relieved to see a police presence in my life.
Realization covered Gayle’s face that she was caught. Real help was on the way.
“Help!” I started screaming. “Help!!!!”
Her eyes turned sharp as if they were razor blades and she backhanded me. “Shut the fuck up!”
She placed a fresh piece of gray duct tape back over my mouth and clapped her hands in glee.
“Remember, I’m an unsuspecting older white female, dearie,” she stalked off.
Hope had been on the horizon and just as quickly it’d been fucking dashed. Gayle disappeared out of my view and I knew I had to get loose. The moment I knew she was out of the dining room, I rocked the chair, maneuvering my weight to get me as close to a table as possible.
You can free yourself, I thought.
Inch by inch, I got closer and closer to the table until it was finally in reach. My wrist stung where the duct tape was tightly biting into my wrist. Not wasting another second, I wiggled my fingers to grab hold of the white linen table cloth, slowly dragging it closer…
And closer until finally the silverware was balancing ever so delicately before tipping into my fingertips.
The fork and spoons slipped into a small heap with the napkin but I didn’t care.
I just needed the steak knife with the serrated edges.
Bap!
Bap!
Bap!
Even over the sound of the rain I knew exactly what I’d just heard. Gunshots had just filled the room. I sawed faster, like my life depended on it because it did. My palms were so sweaty because I had a sick feeling twisting in the pit of my stomach that Gayle had been the one doing the shooting.
When my wrist finally swung free, I made quick work of the rest of the tape on my other arm and ripped the tape from my mouth.
“Fuuuck!” I whispered as tiny facial hair got ripped away from my flesh, and sprung from the chair.
Holding the knife as if my life depended on it, the second Gayle was back inside I knew. It was almost as if I could smell her hot ass breath a mile away. Clutching the steak knife tight against my chest, I hid under one of the other dining tables.
Trying to calm my breathing, I waited and listened.
“Come out!” She laughed. “Come on Sweetie. I’m ready to talk now…”
A loud crash on the other end of the room alerted me, one of the wooden dining tables had been flipped over. Glass had shattered while plates and silverware clattered in all directions.
More and more tables began to get flipped until she’d made her way back towards me. My stomach was knotted in sheer terror. It was either I was going to wait for her to kill me or make a move.
Taking a deep breath, I lunged from under the table with the knife poised high. Her face turned into one of shock and surprise as she drew the gun and pulled the trigger.
At that moment, I was no longer afraid.
I wouldn’t die scared.
Gayle nor her crazy ass son could have that part of me. I simply wouldn’t allow it.
A bullet whizzed past my head, barely missing me as Gayle pulled the trigger. With my heart pounding I lunged with the steak knife driving it home with all my might and throwing my weight into her.
The knife had landed dead in the center of her chest, with me on top of her. The gun had slid out of reach. She started grinning, her features returning to a demonic state.
“I’ll finally be with my son again…”
Blood began to slip out of her mouth and down the sides of her face. Flipping over onto my side, I tried to catch my breath. I could have slipped into a full-blown panic attack but hadn’t.
“Stank! Stank, are you in here?”
Zane, a brief smile crossed my lips.
“I’m here!”
Slowly, I got to my feet as he jogged over to me, his hair slickened by the rain and gun in his hand. He had never looked so good. Scrambling, I got to my feet and ran into his arms.
“Holy shit!” He kissed me deep and then surveyed the room, panic filling his features. “There was a dead cop outside too.”
“The man who kidnapped me…it's his mother…”
An audible gasp filled the room as Gayle sat up and reached for her gun that lay nearby. Not even wasting a moment, I snatched Zane’s gun from him and shot Gayle dead between her eyes. Her body slumped to the ground like a dirty sack of potatoes.
This time, I knew she was dead.
“Holy shit!” He repeated as I handed the gun back to him. “How’d know?”
Taking a deep breath, letting the adrenaline rush over me.
“Nobody that crazy could die just once…”
“Let’s get you out of here…the cops are going to have a shit ton of questions for you. I knew something was wrong, so I called them and asked them to come check on you when you didn’t answer my calls.”
Slowly, the two of us walked out of the dining room and into the rain. I’d never been so happy to get my hair wet in my life. I made a note to myself that I would call and set up an appointment with my therapist.
Ryan Lavery wouldn’t occupy one more corner of my mind.
Zane never left my side, even hours later after the cops questioned the hell out of me.
On our way back into NOLA, wrapped in his old Saints hoodie, I glanced over at him as he focused on the road.
“Zane Bishop?”
He looked over that stupid smirk on his face that I’d grown accustomed to. “Yeah, Stank?”
“I think you should know…”
“Know what?”
“I actually kind of love you and that stupid name now.”