Chapter 27 – Kenzie
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kenzie
We arrived at Jada’s cabin in the predawn hours. I had no clue what time it actually was, but I knew that my mind and body were giving in to exhaustion.
I’d tried the best I could to make Jada see any sort of reason, but she was convinced that Alan just wanted to give me one last hug goodbye and send me on my way.
I’d tried to tell her about my parents and friends, even about Jensen. Tried to explain to her how much it would hurt them if I just suddenly disappeared—which was what would happen if she went through with this insane memory-drug plan.
Her response just solidified how much of fairy tale she was living in.
“No, don’t think of it that way. Think of it as the perfect solution. That we all get to have our happily ever after.”
Jada was not interested in reality.
“Here we are!” She put the car in park and clapped her hands. “I can’t believe I finally get to see Alan with no guard standing watch over us. I can touch him and hold him as much as I want. That’s not going to be hard for you, right? ”
She was talking to me like we were girlfriends. Like I was some awkward third wheel. I didn’t bother to answer.
She rushed around to open the door for me and yank me out of the car when I didn’t move fast enough. She hustled us up the stairs to the small cabin in the middle of nowhere.
The cabin Alan had found for her. I’d thought about that a lot the past few hours. Maybe Jada hadn’t been honest with Alan about what she had planned for me, but I was pretty damn certain he hadn’t been honest about what he’d planned for this place.
But I was sure it included me not leaving here alive.
“He’s just inside,” she reminded me excitedly, almost like a hyper Chihuahua.
When we walked inside, she squealed and ran to him, her arms wide open. “Alan!”
Even though he stood hugging Jada to his side, his eyes were locked on me and promising retribution.
I was definitely not leaving this place alive if he had anything to say about it.
I wasn’t going to wait around to see if my theory was true.
I turned to run, willing to take my chances in my slippers and with my hands tied, but I stopped when I spotted two men standing by the door, blocking it.
Both of them looked me over from head to toe, demented smiles finding their faces but not reaching their cold, dead eyes. I had no doubt Alan had brought these two particular men here for a reason. They both fairly oozed a hunger for violence.
Jada was too wrapped up in kissing all over Alan to have even noticed them yet.
Or to have even noticed that Alan’s attention was more on me than her.
Ignoring the pain, I continued to work on the zip tie that bound my hands, trying my best not to draw any attention to my motions. My raw skin was bloody now, but I didn’t care. If I had any hope of making it out of here alive, I was going to need my hands. And I was quite certain bloody wrists were about to become the least of my worries.
“See, baby?” Jada finally pulled back from kissing Alan. “I brought her just like I said I would.”
She turned, her bright smile fading when she saw the two men by the door. “What’s going on, Alan? Who are these guys?”
“I just wanted to make sure we were safe, so I brought a few guys with me.”
A few. I could be wrong, but that might mean there were more of his goons outside.
Jada laughed nervously. “I don’t think that was necessary. I mean, what is she going to do? Plus, I’m not comfortable with them just staring at us. Can’t you send them home?”
Alan looked down at Jada and gave her an indulgent smile. “How about if I send them outside?”
She obviously didn’t like that as much, but she nodded. “Okay.”
Alan gestured toward the door with his head, and the two men left without a word. He crossed his arms over his chest, giving me a once-over before locking his eyes on mine.
“Now you can say whatever you need to get off your chest.” Jada followed, patting him on the back in support. “You can tell her goodbye. Good riddance. Whatever has been bugging you?—”
He shook off her hand and walked forward until he got right up in my face. “We meet again, Mackenzie.”
God, in light of all the other shitty things he’d done, I’d totally forgotten his penchant for calling me by my full name, even though nobody else—not even my own parents—ever had.
So pretentious. So Alan.
What a dick.
I remained perfectly still, not that there was much I could do to ward off a blow if it was coming. But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how scared I was, despite the anger and hatred pulsing from him like a living, breathing thing.
“Do you know what I lost because of you?”
I refused to reply. I knew he didn’t really want me to. He wanted to remind me that he was the one with the power. That he was the one calling the shots.
“I’ve dreamed of this day.” Each word was more forceful than the last.
“Of course you have!” Jada rushed up to us. She was still trying to hold on to her chipper attitude, but I could see the hesitation, the worry in her eyes she tried to hide. “We’ve been counting down to your release day for so long. And now that it’s here, we can start the rest of our lives together.”
Alan didn’t acknowledge her words or reply. But he did pull out a knife and wave it in front of my face before thrusting it under my chin. I winced as the tip drew blood.
“I’ve waited a long time to give you what you deserve for putting me behind bars, you bitch.”
“Alan?” Jada’s eyes went wide at the sight of the knife in my face, and her voice shook with fear. “No. Alan, no! What are you doing?”
“Paying her back,” he bit out in a growl. His evil gaze remained locked on me as he fumed. His nostrils flared. The skin below his right eye twitched.
Jada grabbed his arm. “Sweetheart, wait. I know you’re angry, but it doesn’t need to be like this. I have a plan to get her out of your life—out of our lives—for good.”
“Yeah, you told me. You convinced her to go to Florida.”
“But it’s more than that. You know that memory-altering drug my brother talks about? I’ve got some. Once she’s in Florida, I’ll inject her with a crazy-high dose, and she won’t remember who she is or who you are or anything. ”
He lowered the knife and looked over at her. “You have some of the drug?”
Jada’s smile widened now that he was paying attention to her.
“Yep.” She pulled both the stun gun and two syringes out of her small handbag. “Stun gun helped me get her here. And this compound will help me get rid of her for good.”
He picked up one of the syringes and studied it. “So she won’t have any memory of anything once she’s injected?”
“Nope.” She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “She’ll be out of our lives for good. You can rebuild your real estate career, just like we planned.”
He took the stun gun from her other hand. “And you used this to subdue her?”
Jada beamed, watching as he flipped it on and off multiple times. “Yep. I remember how you told me weapons are our friends.”
I braced myself to get stunned again. I knew by the light in Alan’s eyes that he was looking forward to causing me pain. I couldn’t stop my breath from catching as he looked over at me and smiled.
But he turned the stun gun on Jada instead. I winced, watching her shake and jerk while he held the device on her much longer than she had on me.She fell to the floor, moaning even after he stopped.
“She’ll never understand that she means fucking nothing to me.” He pushed at her with his foot, rolling her over to the side. I had no idea if she was conscious or not, as still as she was. “She was always sighing, always dramatic. Clingy and wanting to fix things. She was a helpful means to an end.”
He smiled at me once more, stepping closer while I fought with the zip tie at my wrists. “But she bought this nice, secluded cabin just because we talked about it. Lots of space here, don’t you think? Nobody around for miles. Plenty of places to hide a body where it will never be found.”
I tried to keep my features blank and think of anything to stall while I quietly worked on the bindings.
I knew Alan was going to kill me. In his eyes, it would be perfectly justifiable revenge for ruining his life.
He set down the stun gun and syringes on the table but still wielded the knife in his hand, slicing it in the air and jabbing it toward me like he couldn’t decide where to start. I knew whatever action he took toward me was going to hurt. His eyes were lit with excitement at the thought.
“Nothing to say?” He smirked. “Not going to beg me to let you go, let you live? Apologize for ruining my life the way you did so many times?”
He’d never been able to take responsibility for his own actions. Even before the night he’d attacked me, he’d always tried to make every setback or failure my fault. He’d accused me of making him lose his job, making him get mad, and so much more.
“Always my fault, wasn’t it?” I managed to get out, my voice stronger than I’d thought it would be.
“You never thought about me? Never thought about how you ruined my damn life? Just because we had a little argument.”
“You assaulted me,” I argued. The dark look in his eyes scared me. I needed to try to talk him down, not antagonize him more. “You were done with me, Alan. Even before that night you attacked me, we were done. You’re out of jail. This can all be behind you. There’s no need for us to be here at all.”
“Except payback.” He lifted the knife again, and I took a cowardly step back before I could think about it. I didn’t want to be boxed into a corner, but it looked like that’s where Alan was directing me. I’d have no chance to try to run if he maneuvered me there.
“Just let me go. ”
He sucked in a deep breath, obviously savoring what was about to happen.
My time was up.
The knife was coming at me in a slicing motion, when out of the blue, Jada wobbled into him. I hadn’t even realized she’d gotten off the floor.
“No!” Her voice was filled with pain as she jumped on his back and tried to pull him away from me. She ripped at his hair and face.
“Don’t, Alan. You don’t need to hurt her! That wasn’t the plan. Nobody needs to get hurt!”
“I’m not going to hurt her. I’m going to fucking kill her!”
Jada fought harder, despite Alan now slicing the knife at her. The two of them fell into the table. Alan’s two men from outside ran in and rushed over to pull Jada off Alan.
“Give me a syringe, now!” Alan demanded, pointing to where one had rolled onto the floor. One of the men grabbed it and handed it to Alan. He didn’t wait a second more as he uncapped the needle and jabbed it into Jada’s skin.
She screamed, trying to pull away from the sting, but Alan pushed the plunger in all the way.
He grabbed her chin. “Now you can move on too, bitch. You can move on to not even remembering who the hell I am. And this means I don’t need to worry about a witness for what I’m about to do to Mackenzie.”
Jada crumpled to the floor. Did it kill her? Cause her to pass out? I didn’t know.
All I knew was that poor Jada’s demise was the opportunity I’d been waiting for.
I yanked again at the zip tie binding my wrists, giddy to find it finally loose enough that I could slip my hands out. I didn’t linger for a second. I turned and took off as fast as I could toward the door .
Both my slippers fell off, but I couldn’t stop for them. I would have to go barefoot.
I knew an attack had to be coming. Alan had a knife, the other two had guns. I braced for agony in my back at any moment.
“No! Don’t shoot. I will be the one to kill her, and I’m going to do it slow.”
I heard Alan’s angry shouts and heavy footfalls behind me as I dashed toward the trees. If Alan wanted to be the one to kill me, I would take it since it gave me more time.
I had never been much of a runner, and running barefoot didn’t help. I shut off my mind and pushed every ounce of strength into my legs. I weaved through the trees, going left and right, hoping to confuse the men following me. I was also hoping to prevent them from having a good target to shoot me in the back, despite Alan’s words that he’d be the only one to kill me.
There was little moonlight, so it was difficult to see exactly where I was going. I tried to stay as quiet as possible, but my heavy breaths still echoed in the silence. I was tiring fast and slowing down. When I tripped and caught myself against a tree, I knew I was in trouble.
“You’ve got five of us looking for you, Mackenzie,” Alan taunted. “You didn’t know that I had two other men keeping watch out here, did you?”
I didn’t reply to give myself away, but I was pretty sure his voice came from the left. I turned right and put on a burst of speed. I knew I had to keep running.
If I stopped, I died.
“I’m going to take my sweet time carving you up, Mackenzie. You know that?”
I fisted my hands and turned left between a cluster of trees. I was hearing sounds and voices all around now. I knew they were closing in and surrounding me .
“I spent months fantasizing about how sweetly you’ll cry and beg for me to spare your life.”
I held back a whimper at his mocking tone. A hard step down on a branch caused me to stumble and bite my tongue to keep from crying out in pain.
“But I won’t!” he yelled. “I won’t spare you a damn thing, bitch. You’re going to die screaming.”
I had to stop, the pain in my foot throbbing. I rounded a thick tree trunk and paused to catch my breath. I felt a sticky substance on the bottom of my foot and realized I had cut it. I was bleeding.
Great. Now I was leaving a trail for them to follow from that damn branch.
I heaved in a huge breath and staggered to fully standing and darted off in the opposite direction. Before I made it more than a few steps, a callused hand clapped over my mouth.
I couldn’t believe Alan had found me so quickly. A few seconds ago, he’d sounded farther away.
I strained, bucking and kicking and twisting to get free. I couldn’t let him win, couldn’t give up.
Then all of a sudden, I smelled it. Past the fear, the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, my ragged breath.
Smelled him . Clean spruce and mechanical grease.
All man. And all Jensen.
He was alive, and he was here. He’d kept his promise and had come to protect me just like he’d vowed he would.
All the fight suddenly went out of me, and I sank into his warm embrace.
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me firmly back against his chest, hugging me tight. Jensen had come for me.
He was here.