Chapter 42 Nyah
NYAH
Driving toward Mount Seymour Provincial Park, I used my burner phone and messaged Alex the location.
My fingers clutched the phone as I typed.
He’d warned me not to call in case the car was bugged, and I obeyed, even though every instinct screamed to hear another human voice.
Seconds later, his reply came through—he had tracked the GPS on my car and was now following me.
Good. Stay close. Please stay close.
Half an hour later, while I was on the Trans-Canada Highway, my phone rang.
“I see you’re fifteen minutes away,” Jeremy said.
My heart dropped straight into my stomach.
Son of a bitch. How did he know? Alex had swept the car for bugs and found nothing.
I had watched him do it myself, methodical and thorough.
That meant Jeremy must have installed one recently.
The thought made my skin crawl. I silently thanked Alex for his precautionary advice.
“There is a cabin inside the park,” Jeremy continued. “I’m sending you the exact location. Follow it.”
The call ended.
I exited Main Street and kept driving. When I reached the park, I crossed Lynn Creek and passed the main picnic area, forcing myself not to look around like I was already being hunted. I drove deeper into the park, trees closing in on both sides, until a clearing appeared ahead.
A wooden cabin sat about a hundred feet away. It was rustic—a log cabin that looked almost peaceful. A quaint little cottage in the middle of nowhere, the kind of place people would call charming. The kind of place no one would hear screams from.
So this is where he’s been hiding.
I slowed the car and pulled up to the cabin cautiously.
Jeremy stood at the door with a shotgun in his hand.
“Would you look at that?” he yelled. “You made it on time!”
I got out of the car and saw him properly.
His hair was greasy, his shirt stained with sweat. He hadn’t changed much—just more grey in his hair, yellowed teeth, and an even nastier beard.
“I’m here,” I said, keeping my voice steady through sheer force of will. “And I have the money. Leave the children and let’s go wherever you want.”
I opened the trunk, pulled the bags out, and walked toward him, every step feeling like I was walking into a trap I couldn’t escape.
“Come in, love. Let me take a good look at you, Jiya,” he murmured into my ear as I passed him.
I shuddered. My stomach churned violently.
He shoved me inside the cabin.
There was still light outside, enough for me to see everything clearly.
The children were strapped into chairs, gagged, crying. Cobwebs covered the walls of the dimly lit cabin. A table sat between two armchairs, a chimney rising on one wall. In one corner was a bed with torn, filthy sheets. A small kitchen peeked out from the opposite corner.
I ran to the children immediately and wiped their tears. “I’m here now,” I whispered. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” I started to untie them.
Jeremy struck me with the shotgun—hard.
Pain exploded at the side of my head. I fell forward, my face hitting the floor, stars bursting behind my eyes.
He kicked me in the stomach. “Now, now!” he said. “Not so fast.” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me up.
White-hot pain tore through my scalp. Blood trickled down from a cut on my head, warm and sticky.
The children started crying again, louder now, terrified.
“What do I see here?” he said.
His hands were on me—everywhere.
I squirmed, nausea rising fast.
He found the gun I had hidden and threw it across the room.
“Now, what did I say?” he said calmly. “No weapons, right?” He slapped me again with the shotgun.
“Why can’t you ever listen?” He shoved me to the floor.
“You never did listen. Even when you lived with me, you never listened.” He kicked me again—harder this time.
I wriggled away, curling inward, trying to protect myself.
“You need to be punished so badly,” he said, kneeling beside me.
“And I can’t wait to do that.” His face hovered inches above mine.
He licked his lips. Sweat dripped off his face and onto my forehead.
“No one is going to save you this time,” he said softly.
“You will not get away this time. I’ve waited too long for this. ”
“Let the girls go,” I pleaded, my voice breaking. “You have me now. Just let them go.”
“Let them go?” His expression twisted. “Are you crazy?”
“You bastard,” I spat. “You lied. I won’t let you get away with this!”
His malicious, maniacal laugh filled the cabin, terrifying the children. “They’re my leverage,” he said. “For even more money. I was never actually going to let them go. Did you really believe I would?”
My eyes widened as he roared with laughter. “You can’t do that,” I said. “I won’t let you.” I tried to get up.
He kicked me back down.
I needed to distract him. Where’s Alex? What the hell is taking him so long?
Then I heard a noise.
Jeremy froze. “What was that?” He knelt beside me and slapped me hard. “You little bitch,” he screamed. “Did you trick me? Did you tell them where you were?”
“I didn’t say anything to anyone,” I lied. “I swear.”
As per his message, Alex and the policemen would leave their cars behind. They would approach quietly, on foot, surround the area, and wait for the right moment.
Jeremy paced back and forth. He looked out the window and saw nothing. Then he walked briskly toward the door with his shotgun.
That was it. That was my moment.
I got up quietly. Just as he turned back, I planted a right hook into his chin.
He reeled backward, arms flailing.
The shotgun fell to the floor.
I landed several more solid punches on his face and stomach. Years of fear and rage poured out of me.
He fell to the ground. He collapsed, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
I kicked the shotgun away. I grabbed a log of firewood from the floor and brought it down on him hard.
He groaned.
I kicked him in the stomach. Then the groin. That ought to keep you down.
I pulled the blade from my shoe and ran to the girls. I cut Michelle free first, pulling the gag from her mouth. “Run,” I told her while freeing her sister. “Run as fast as you can. The police are outside. Don’t look back.”
Her eyes went wide. She screamed.
Jeremy somehow got to his feet and shoved me back to the floor. “No one’s going anywhere!” he roared.
The girls screamed and fell beside me.
He reached for the shotgun.
With all my strength, I got up and kicked him in the back of his knee.
His leg buckled. He fell again.
I grabbed the blade, wrapped one arm around his neck, and stabbed him repeatedly in the shoulder.
“RUN!” I screamed.
The children flung the door open and ran.
I saw Alex in the distance, officers running toward us.
Jeremy tried to break free, but I kicked him in between his shoulder blades. He grabbed me and pulled me down, the blade still in his shoulder. He hovered over me, choking me. “You fucking bitch. If I can’t get you,” he snarled, “no one can. I’ll take you down with me!”
Then voices exploded around us. “LET HER GO! HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!”
Alex and the policemen burst into the room.
Jeremy’s grip didn’t loosen. My hands clawed at his. I couldn’t breathe. Even after all these years, he was still too strong. I slammed my hand down on his and twisted my body the way Tyrone had drilled into me. He let go.
The officers dragged him off.
I rolled onto my side, coughing, gasping, clutching my throat.
It’s over. It’s finally over. All the years of abuse and torture, both physical and mental, he’d subjected me to were finally finished, and he was going to face the full force of the law.
I would get the justice I deserved. I would stand in court as the judge executed his sentence.
I hoped he would be put away for life without parole. I prayed for it.
Alex knelt beside me, checking me quickly, helping me up. “The children?” I asked.
“They’re fine,” he said. “In the ambulance, being examined as we speak.”
With his help, I limped toward them.
And then I saw Caleb.
He ran to me.
He had followed me.
For me.
For his nieces.
He was here because he didn’t want me to be alone.
This changed my entire perspective on what had happened with Caroline and him.
Maybe it was just a one-night thing. I had made a mistake, and he forgave me.
I could do the same. We could work through this.
I didn't want to give up on us, not after everything we had been through together.
I leapt with joy inside my head, thrilled to have a second chance with him. Hope surged.
Then screams.
Jeremy grabbed an officer’s gun and pointed it at Caleb.
“EVERYONE DOWN!”
I ran and jumped on Caleb. “NO!!!”
I heard the gunshot.
We hit the ground—me on top of him.
Multiple shots were fired then.
Silence.
I felt the heat of the setting sun on my neck. Goosebumps prickled across my skin.
“HE’S DOWN!”
I rolled off Caleb. Scared and baffled, I saw he was conscious and blinking. I checked to make sure he was fine. Then I saw the blood on his right shoulder and realized he had been shot.
“I need help here. He’s been shot!” I yelled.
I looked up.
The children were fine.
I turned around.
Jeremy lay on the ground, riddled with bullets, completely still.
As much as I hated him, this wasn’t how I wanted him to die.
The officers looked at each other after confirming he was dead.
I was just thinking how grateful I was that he could never hurt us again, when a searing pain tore through the back of my left shoulder.
And everything went dark.