Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Bryce
I pull into the pub car park and find a spot, impatience burning through me.
Once I get inside the pub, I look around, frantic to find her.
I spot Joss and Sal pretty much straight away, and make a beeline for their table.
They both jump about a foot when they see me, Sal’s hands coming to her mouth.
Joss screams, then throws her arms around me. Laughing, I disentangle myself.
“Holy fuck,” Sal exclaims. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for Claire.” I’m so fucking close I can almost taste her.
“She went to the loo.” Joss is blushing. “Sorry about grabbing you like that. You just have no idea how happy we are to see you.”
“I have some idea.” I grin, but at the same time I’m scanning the room, looking for Claire. “How long ago did she go?” It would be my bad luck that she decided to slip out just as I got here.
Sal frowns. “Actually, she’s been gone a while.”
Worry blooms in me immediately. “Could she have gone home?”
“No.” Joss shakes her head. She’s starting to look worried as well. “Her bag and phone are still here.”
“Fuck. Okay, wait here. I’ll go find her.” I head towards the Ladies’ room. Maybe the door is stuck, or something. Then I happen to glance out the window.
And spot Simon in the car park, climbing into a black four-wheel drive. There’s someone in the passenger seat, huddled against the window. As the vehicle moves out, I catch a glimpse of a pale, terrified face.
Claire.
The bastard has got Claire.
Claire
Simon pulls onto the road in a spray of gravel, heading away from the pub towards Fairhaven.
Sobbing with fear, I hastily wriggle into my seat, putting the seatbelt on.
Everything seems crystal clear, like I’m in some sort of heightened reality.
I don’t think he’ll kill me. But I have no idea what the fuck he thinks he’s doing.
“We do not need to talk.” I decide to try a reasonable tone, though it’s tough when I’m crying. “Please, just let me go and we can forget about this.”
“Let you go?” He laughs, without mirth. “You think I’m fucking kidnapping you?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No! And what we need to talk about,” he spits, turning an enraged face my way, “is the fact you fucked someone else! When you were promised to me! So now we need to talk about how I get to have what I want.”
“What you want?” Cold fear pools in my stomach.
“Come on, Simon. This is crazy. You need to move on with your life.” My voice is trembling.
I wish it wasn’t. I glance around for something, anything, I can use.
My phone and bag are in the pub, but Joss and Sal will notice I’m not back.
And those guys in the car park saw me being pulled towards Simon’s car.
I cling to the slim thread of hope that someone might be coming after me.
“Oh, I’ll move on. Once we fuck.”
“I am not sleeping with you!”
“No?” He pulls the car to the side of the road, the movement sharp, skidding to a stop. He jabs his finger in my face. “I had fucking blue balls for months, being with you! Telling me you were saving your precious virginity, only to give it to the next guy who comes along!”
“Fuck you!” I scream, fumbling for the door latch. I unlock it. He clicks it locked again. “You got plenty from me!”
“I didn’t get what I wanted. You are mine, Claire. And I’m tired of waiting.” He throws the car into gear again, dirt scraping beneath the tires as we drive away again.
And I realise he isn’t kidding.
We’re heading towards Fairhaven. There are no cliffs here, but beyond there the road rises, the land dropping away beneath it.
Simon’s family have a house set back from the ocean road, hidden among gum trees.
Once he gets me there, it will be a lot harder to get away.
He could do anything to me, and there won’t be anyone to hear me scream.
He’s driving erratically, speeding up and slowing down, overtaking cars.
I swallow, my throat tight. Surely he wouldn’t do that to me, to both of us?
I need to get out of this car.
I grab the steering wheel, trying to get control.
Simon hits me, a backhander that sends my head back.
I taste blood in my mouth. Fuck him. Anger takes over my fear.
I scratch his face, lunging for the wheel again.
The car is all over the road. Simon shoves me back.
I grab the handbrake, pulling it up as hard as I can.
And everything seems to slow down.
Simon swings around, his mouth and eyes wide.
He wrestles with the wheel, trying to control the car.
I slam back against the door, hurting my shoulder.
The car shakes as we leave the road, rattle and scrape of stone as we smash through the bushes, careening down towards the beach. I’m screaming. Then I hit my head.
And it all goes black.
Bryce
I am going to kill Simon.
I don’t know or care how; I just know I’m going to do it.
It was one of the worst moments of my life when I watched him drive away with Claire. I raced back to Joss and Sal. “Call the police. Now. Simon’s taken her. I’m going to follow them.” Then I ran into the car park, jumped in my car and sped after them.
Black rage fills my heart, my focus crystal clear as I follow his four-wheel drive onto the Great Ocean Road. It feels like torture to be so close to Claire and not be able to help her. She must be fucking terrified.
Then Simon swings the car to the side of the road, pulling to a stop.
I see him yelling at her, and her screaming back.
I pull in behind them, about to open my car door and go and rip his head off.
But he speeds away again. I follow along, my fury increasing when I see Claire’s head snapping back as he hits her.
He’s driving like a maniac. I need to stop the car somehow.
Then the car spins out of control. For one heart-stopping moment I think it’s going to roll. But instead, it veers off the road, crashing through the bushes towards the beach.
Claire.
My heart feels like it’s going to break in two.
Luckily, we’re not far from the surf club, so while there’s a reasonably steep slope below the road, it evens out onto the beach. I can’t bear to think what could have happened if he’d lost control further along.
I pull to a stop, not even bothering to turn off the engine.
I just need to get to her. A couple of other cars have stopped as well.
Someone is on their phone. “Call an ambulance,” I yell, as I race to where they went off the road.
I spot Simon’s car wedged between two boulders, tilted towards the driver’s side.
I make my way towards the passenger side as fast as I can. I’m praying the entire time. I don’t even care about Simon anymore. I just want her to be fine.
Though if he could be slightly maimed, that would be okay too.
“Claire!” I call out, as I get closer. “I’m coming. It’s okay. I’m here.” I climb onto the boulder and peer inside the car.
My whole body goes cold with fear.
Claire is slumped against Simon, her dark hair tumbled across her face. Simon is bleeding heavily from a head wound, blinking. It’s clear he doesn’t know where the hell he is, or what’s happening.
Good. Fuck him.
I pray to every deity I’ve ever heard of as I open the passenger side door.
There are flashing lights up on the road now, people coming.
But my entire focus is on Claire, my world.
I touch her arm. Her skin is warm. I reach in, taking her wrist in my hand.
I’m careful not to move her, in case she’s damaged her spine.
I try not to think about that possibility.
Her pulse is beating, steady. I blow out a sigh of relief.
“Bryce?”
At the sound of her voice my head snaps up. She tries to brush the hair off her face but it’s caught in the blood on her cheek, spilling from a nasty cut on her forehead.
“Claire, honey. Yes, it’s me. I’m here. I’m here.” I bring her hand to my mouth, covering her skin with kisses, tears in my eyes.
“Don’t leave me.” The words are quiet, but they pull at my heart.
“I’m not leaving you,” I say. “No, stay where you are,” I continue. She’s trying to move, but she’s tangled in her seatbelt. “You need to wait for the paramedics.”
“You’re really here.” The words come out on a sigh, her ocean-blue eyes on mine.
“I’m really here.”
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” It hits me again how close I was to losing her. “I love you, Claire, so much.”
“That’s nice.” Her voice trails away, her eyes closing again. But there’s a smile on her face.
Then the paramedics are there, telling me to get out of the car, that they’ve got her, that they’ll make sure she’s okay. But I don’t let go of her hand, not until I have to, holding on while they carry her on the stretcher up to the waiting ambulance.
“I’m her boyfriend,” I say to the medic, a tanned guy who looks about sixteen but who I’m sure is older. “I need to go with her.”
“Sure.” Then his eyes widen. “You’re Bryce Maylands!”
“Yeah,” I say, holding out my free hand.
He shakes it. “Get in. You can ride in the back with us.”