Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
June
I’m sobbing. It’s been a long time since I last drove a car. Six years. Plus, my right arm is broken. I’m in no condition to drive, but that girl Pete is holding doesn’t deserve to die today.
It will take me over two hours to get to the house.
Thank God my cheap phone has GPS, or it would take a lot longer.
I’m not even certain where the hell I lived for three years.
My knowledge is vague. Pete drove me out there, and I never left until I walked to that diner and the kind woman drove me to Seattle.
It’s not like I was paying attention to where we were going.
I was scared out of my mind, cold, shaking, crying, and praying I could get somewhere safe.
Now I’m trying to hurry back to the last man on Earth I ever want to see again. I’m shaking this time, too.
Daddy… Blade… He’s going to be so mad when he finds me gone. Hopefully, he will be in his meeting for a few hours and I’ll be almost… I refuse to think of that house as home.
My home is with Blade.
Another sob escapes. I swipe at tears that won’t stop streaming down my face. Blade is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s shown me more kindness in two weeks than anyone I’ve ever known except my mother.
I’ve learned things about myself I didn’t know before. I’m Little. In my heart, I’m Little. And he’s the best Daddy I could ever want or need. I know this is my last day on Earth, but I will be brave. I will close my eyes and think of Blade while I die.
I don’t care as long as I save that innocent girl.
I glance over at my phone where it sits on the passenger seat.
I took it just in case Pete tries to contact me again.
I didn’t respond to him. I’m hoping he might give me more time if he’s not sure whether or not I saw the message.
I flipped back through his last six texts.
I have no doubt Blade has read all of them, but he didn’t reply.
Pete can’t know for certain anyone has seen any text on my phone.
Right? Maybe he can tell they were opened? I’m not sure how that works.
I’ve also stolen a car. Blade’s Camaro. It took me precious minutes to get it started and pull out of the parking garage. I’m lucky I didn’t hit something. I’m swerving on the highway now. I need to get a grip. The last thing I want is to get pulled over.
Blade… My mind wanders back to my Daddy. He’s going to punch a hole in the drywall. I don’t think he will care that I took his car. However, he will care that I left instead of calling him. But I know what would have happened. He would have told me to stay home while he dealt with Pete.
I couldn’t let him do that. For one, if I don’t show up, I fully believe Pete will kill that poor girl. I know how violent he is. I have to assume his anger has increased tenfold since I left. He’s pissed.
Besides that, I couldn’t let Blade and his team confront my ex. That would be too dangerous. What if something happened to the man I love because of me? No. I can’t stomach that. I won’t let him go after Pete. He could get killed or end up in jail for doing whatever he has planned for Pete.
He’ll be sad. Furious. Pissed. Mad. But he’s only had me for two weeks. He’ll move on. He’ll find another Little girl.
Another sob laced with frustration comes out of me more like a scream. The injustice of this situation is more than I can stand. I won’t have to bear it much longer, though. I have one goal. Help that girl. After that, I can let go of life. At least I’ll die knowing I saved someone else.
Think, June.
I need a plan. I took one of Blade’s knives when I left.
It’s in my purse. It’s not a steak knife, either.
It’s one of the ones he keeps in a knife box in his desk drawer.
He showed it to me once last week when he specifically told me never to touch the box for any reason.
He said the knives in there were very sharp and dangerous.
I shudder at the thought of what Daddy would do if he had the chance to punish me for not just touching the box but also taking one of the knives. I didn’t have a plan when I grabbed it, but I’m forming one now.
When I arrive, I’ll hold the knife up to my wrist and threaten to kill myself if Pete doesn’t release the girl. It will work. Pete doesn’t want her. He wants me. He’ll let her go.
But I won’t let him have me. Never. I will not willingly let that asshole get his cock anywhere near me.
He’s not putting that nasty pencil dick in my mouth or my pussy.
Never. I’m prepared to slit my wrist as soon as the girl is gone.
It’s sharp. It won’t be hard. Hopefully, my right hand is recovered enough to slit my left wrist.
The only flaw in my plan is that Daddy will eventually arrive. It will be too late to save me, but he’ll kill Pete with his bare hands. And then what? Hopefully, he won’t get arrested. He’ll be able to say he was trying to rescue me. Self-defense.
I’m doing this for that innocent girl. I wonder how old she is. She looked so scared. I suppose she could be a grown woman. That’s more likely. He probably picked her up and wooed her like he did me until he got her to the house. Then he turned on her.
I have to save her.
I’ll never know what time Daddy discovers I’m missing because I left my new phone at home. I didn’t want to risk having it ring repeatedly if he found me gone. I’m not strong enough to ignore it.
It’s only by sheer coincidence that I happened to be in Daddy’s office when that text came in. I’m surprised Daddy left my phone behind when he went downstairs to meet with his team.
I was looking for a pen. The one I was using ran out of ink. I knew he had a jar of them on his desk, but just as I reached for one, the phone buzzed. I nearly jumped out of my skin from the shock. I couldn’t resist picking up the phone to look at the screen.
I only meant to look. I had no idea whether Pete had been trying to contact me or not. Daddy never said. The moment I saw the picture of Pete’s hostage, my knees buckled. I gasped and nearly passed out.
Somehow, I managed to pull myself together and make several quick decisions. I put my phone in my pocket, yanked the drawer open, found the knives, and took one.
Come on. Come on. Come on…
I won’t risk driving more than five miles over the speed limit. If I were to get pulled over, that girl would die.
I have to get there on time. I will. I was standing next to the phone when the text came in. I got lucky.
No, I didn’t get lucky. That girl did. Would Pete really kill her in three hours? I wouldn’t put anything past him. Nothing. And I suspect I don’t know the half of it. Based on how I’ve seen Daddy rubbing his temples at least once a day lately, he knows stuff he hasn’t told me.
He will follow me, but how far ahead am I?
I follow the GPS and pull off the highway. My drive through town makes my heart race. I’m in a flashy, expensive car. No one in this town owns anything like this. It will raise eyebrows, but hopefully, it won’t hinder me.
People stop and look, but I keep driving. They’ll think I’m just passing through town. They’ll never know I turned off this main road. Two more miles and I will arrive at the house I lived in for three years with a man who’s holding someone hostage.
When I reach the street and turn in, I make the decision to pull over and leave the car.
I don’t want to park in front of the house, announcing myself so easily.
I’d rather cut through on foot and approach the house from behind.
If Pete’s watching out the front window, he won’t see me.
I want to assess the situation before I go in.
My hands are shaking badly as I pull the strap of my purse over my head so it will hang by my right side. I don’t have any other way to carry the knife. As it is, the blade will probably cut a hole in my purse. Who cares? That’s the least of my concerns.
I realize I’m still crying. My nose is running, and my face is streaked with tears. I look in the rearview mirror and gasp. I’d prefer to arrive looking brave. Pete will have a field day with my sniffling and puffy eyes. He’ll laugh at me. The thought makes me shudder.
Fuck him.
Fuck him to hell.
I get out of the car and shut it, leaving the keys in the ignition. When Blade arrives, he’ll be able to retrieve his car easily. At least I didn’t wreck it.
I take a deep breath and look around. No one is outside. Most of the people on this street are probably at work. It’s the middle of a workday.
Luckily I’m wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. I was dressed to meet with my students this afternoon. I could have been wearing a short baby-doll dress and nothing else. I’m not sure I would have had the good sense to change.
I wince at the thought of my students whose teacher will not show up today.
It’s not like me to simply ghost them with no warning.
I wonder how they will find out what happened to me?
Will Daddy go into my email and tell them?
If I die today, informing my students will be the last thing on his mind.
I hurry down the street until deciding to go between two properties to get behind the yards.
Most of these homes are on pretty good-sized pieces of land, but the land behind them is full of trees, not owned by any of them.
There aren’t many fences. I don’t think anyone is home.
I don’t see signs of life from any of the cabins or mobile homes.
Is this how Blade and his team feel when they stake out a house? Hunched down, sneaking as quietly as possible?
My heart races as I reach the back of Pete’s property. I stay out of sight, but I can’t see anything from here. I’m not in a good location to see in any of the windows. It’s quiet, but what did I expect? A woman with duct tape over her mouth certainly wouldn’t be audibly screaming.
Hunching down farther, I slowly move toward the side of the house.
Suddenly, I’m grabbed from behind. A hand covers my mouth as I’m lifted off the ground.
I panic, thinking Pete somehow saw me and snuck up on me.
A second later, lips are on my ear. “June, it’s me.”
I twist my head to see that the man holding me is Blade. Daddy. How the hell is he here already? My panic grows. He’s ruining everything. That poor girl will die without me there to make the trade for her life.
Still holding me in the air, he backs up slowly until we’re in the tree line where no one can see us. It’s not until we’re a distance away that he removes his hand from my mouth and turns me in his arms.
He hugs me so tightly, he knocks the breath out of me, his hands running up and down my body as if I might already be injured. “Fuck, Little one, you scared me to death.”
I’m crying again, harder now.
Daddy covers my mouth gently. “Shhh. I don’t want anyone to hear you. Take a breath.”
I try, but all I manage to do is hyperventilate. Finally, my brain kicks in and I shove at him, squirming in his embrace as if there’s a snowball’s chance in hell I could get out of his grip. “You have to let me go. He’s going to kill her.”
Daddy cups the back of my head. “Look at me, honey,” he demands.
I refuse, shaking my head and staring downward. Apparently, I’m capable of being defiant when it’s called for.
“June…” He sighs when I continue to struggle.
“He’s not going to kill her, Little one.
I promise. We’re watching him. We have been watching him the entire time.
Granted, you made us have to drive very fucking fast to catch up to you, but thank fuck I got here before you managed to foolishly get yourself killed. ”
I can’t hold back the tears. I’m gasping for breath with every word. “He…said… Daddy, he said he would…kill her. Time is running out. Let me go. Let me trade myself for her.”
He pulls me tighter against him and kisses my temple. “My brave girl. Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
All the breath leaves my lungs. He loves me. Of course he loves me. I know that. We haven’t said it out loud, but I know it. I love him, too.
I go slack in his arms. “But…”
“No buts.” He lowers me to my feet and squats in front of me so we’re at eye-level. Holding my shoulders, he meets my gaze. “June, you listen to me.”
I nod, sniffling.
“I need to help my team. I cannot worry about you the entire time. I need you to trust us to rescue that woman. Not you. Us. You’re not trained. I am. Cannon, Tank, Ghost… This is what we do, Little one. Not Little girls armed with a purse.”
I glance down at my purse and sniffle again. “I stole one of your knives.”
He closes his eyes for a moment and draws in a deep breath. What he doesn’t do is lose his temper. “I know. We’ll discuss that later, naughty girl. Right now, I need you to go back to the Camaro the same way you got here. Can you do that, or do I need to tie you to a tree?”
Shifting my gaze to the house, I swallow. “What if he shoots you?”
“He won’t, honey. I promise. Let me do my job. Let me do what I’m good at. Do you trust me?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“That’s my good girl. Will you go back to the car so we can go in as four instead of three men?”
I nod and throw my good arm around his neck. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“I know, Little one.” He kisses my temple again before turning me in the direction he wants me to go. “Car, June. Now. I swear, if you don’t obey me, I will stand you in the corner for a week.”
“Okay, Daddy.” When he releases me, I start jogging behind the houses, retracing the path I took to get here. I’m scared out of my mind, but I’m no longer in a position to trade my life for the other woman. Daddy is here. He’s going to handle this his way. I won’t let him down.