Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY
TARYN
The blade of Andy’s knife has been resting against my collarbone this entire time. I haven’t forgotten about it, but it’s been so long it’s not even cold against my skin anymore.
“So…” his tone changes. He sounds almost playful.
“I’m wondering how we should end this, Taryn.
” He moves my hoodie to bare my shoulder, sliding the knife under the spaghetti strap of my tank top.
“It’s quite obvious that you’re all gonna die.
Although you have a chance to live if you play your cards right.
I have to be in D.C. next week to start my new job, and I have a room for you in my new house.
That’s if you agree to be a good girl and come with me of your own free will. ”
It’s my turn to laugh hysterically until my stomach hurts and there are tears at the corner of my eyes. “Yeah, Andy. I’ll come with you. When hell freezes over and gets its own NHL expansion team.”
“Fucking slut!” He slices the strap of my tank, bringing the knife down the middle to cut a vertical line, baring my stomach and my bra clad chest. “Fine. Have it your way. You get a front seat to your best friend and your boyfriend’s death.
Too bad you and that stupid bitch got rid of my machete.
I had to go with something a little more practical this time, but there’s no way I can cut off any heads with this.
Not to worry, though. I’m gonna make it extra painful. ”
Panic begins to truly descend on me. I have to keep Andy talking. The more time passes, the bigger the chance that Tucker and Colsen will start looking for me and Nash.
It’s our only hope to get out of here alive.
“I don’t get it, Andy. You could have any woman you want. You’re hot and rich. Why me?”
He drags his knife under the center of my bra. “Because you didn’t want me. No one gets to say no to me. And even when I almost had you, you slipped through my fingers. You’re the one who got away, Taryn.”
“Let’s talk about it.” I’m grasping at straws at this point. Maybe this is the end. “I—”
“No, darlin’,” he smiles. “The time for talking has run out. Look, I still really like you. There’s something about you, Taryn. Some might say I’m obsessed with you. Nash gets it. I like you so much that I’ll let you choose. Who do you want to die first? Nash or Jodie?”
I lose my battle with my tears. “You can’t ask me to make that choice.”
His smile disappears like an ice cube in a cup of hot coffee. “Suit yourself. Then I have to decide. Do I kill them first so you can watch them die, or do I start with you?”
“Don’t you fucking dare touch Taryn!” Nash roars. “Come here and take on someone your own size.”
The corners of Andy’s lips lift again in an unnerving smile.
“You know, I think I’ve made my decision.
I should start with Taryn. It would be kind of fun to have you and my ex as an audience while I fuck her and then slit her throat.
I have something a little more painful planned for the two of you, though.
I hear stomach wounds are the most painful. ”
No, I would rather die than let this psychopath touch me. “If you think I’m gonna let you do what you want without fighting you, you’re even more delusional than I thought.”
His tone becomes suddenly soft, almost sweet. “Oh, you’re cute. How are you going to fight me? You’re tied in a neat little package for my entertainment.”
I glare at him. He can’t fuck me tied to a chair. He’s going to have to move me so he can get to the part of my anatomy he’s after. I’ll have to use that split second to try and inflict some damage. The only things I can do are bite him or headbutt him.
Andy steps behind my chair. “If you’re thinking about trying to run, just know that I wasn’t born yesterday. I tied your hands and feet and then I tied you to the chair. I can get you out of the chair with your hands and feet still securely tied.”
I inhale to steady myself, ready to take advantage of any opportunity to strike. I doubt any hit will pack as much power as I hope, but I won’t go down without a fight.
The pressure on my wrists eases, telling me that he’s cut the first tether to the chair.
I’ll have to wait for Andy to step in front of me to strike.
He cuts my bound feet free from the chair too, and I begin counting in my head.
Three, two, one…
A beeping sound comes from the room’s door.
Everything happens in the blink of an eye. The door slams open and police in SWAT gear swarm the utility room. “Police! Drop your weapon!”
Ok. Maybe not exactly swarm, but two cops take Andy by surprise and pin him to the ground.
Another one stops me from falling face first to the ground now that I’m not tied to the chair anymore.
Two more cops are checking the room for any further threats with their weapons drawn. That action doesn’t take long, since the room isn’t very big.
I’m vaguely aware of one of the first two cops reading Andy his Miranda rights.
“Are you alright, ma’am?” The cop asks me.
“I’m fine. But my friends are tied in a very painful position. Please free them.”
The cop nods to his colleagues while he frees me. As Andy is dragged out of the room by two cops, I insist on checking on Jodie and Nash.
“Ma’am, we have ambulances outside for you and your friends. You’ll be reunited with your friends shortly.”
His tone is firm, and I relent, but I’m worried sick.
As soon as the summer night’s air hits my face, I see them.
“Baby!” Tucker runs to me with Colsen and Mack hot on his heels.
The cop tries to stop him from wrapping me into his arms, but I tell them it’s ok. There’s no other place I’d rather be.
TUCKER
“Baby!” She melts into my arms.
Feeling her weight against me is the only thing that finally allows me to breathe again.
I hold her tight for a few intense moments, then I pull back just enough to check her for any obvious signs of injury. “Are you hurt?”
Taryn shakes her head, but her eyes fill with tears. “I’m fine. My clothes are in way worse shape than the rest of me.” When she cups my jaw, her hand is shaking. “You came. I knew you would.”
As Colsen comes to wrap our girl into his own embrace, I go check on my buddy and Jodie.
Taryn’s bestie is strapped to a gurney right outside one of the three ambulances with a paramedic checking her vitals.
Nash is an entirely different matter. “I don’t need to go to the hospital.” He’s sitting up on another gurney and he’s fighting with the unlucky paramedics who are trying to do their jobs. “I’m just sore. Give me a second and I can walk. I don’t need—”
“Sir, your arms and shoulders were under extreme stress. We need to check you for any permanent damage—”
“The team’s medical staff can do that tomorrow. I swear this is nothing compared to some of the hits I’ve taken on the ice. A good night's sleep, a couple of painkillers and a massage by one of our PTs and I’ll be brand spanking new.”
The paramedic is at the end of her rope when Taryn approaches us, flanked by Colsen and Mack.
“Nash, I’d feel better if you got checked. Both you and Jo-Jo.”
“Trouble.” His gravelly voice trembles ever so slightly. “Are you ok?”
She cups his jaw. “Physically I’m totally unharmed. Mentally… it’ll take me a while to process what just happened.”
Nash nods and chokes in a futile attempt to fight the tears that well in his eyes. “I thought he was gonna kill you. I thought…”
Taryn rests her forehead against his. “I knew Tucker and Colsen would come for us. I’m just glad that they did before it was too late.”
“You did?” He sounds disoriented. “How?”
Taryn explains how she got a message from Jodie.
“It said that Carole and Lexi wanted to see me and Jodie in the locker room. So I ran, thinking we were probably being cut. But as I walked to the arena, I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that something wasn’t right.
So I called Tucker just as I entered the locker room. ”
“You did?” Nash’s eyes move from Taryn to me.
“Yeah. And she called me through this app I had just installed on her new phone just in case.”
Nash begins to figure out what happened. “Something like Find My Phone?”
I smile. “Yeah. It’s designed with extra safety features. It allows you to share your location, but if you make a phone call through it, it also records everything on both phones.”
Colsen claps me on the shoulder. “When Tucker realized what was happening, he came to me and Mack for help. I had to threaten bodily harm and to call Coach and his mom to convince him to call the sheriff rather than storming the arena. All it took was getting the deputy on duty to listen in, and they sent a squad straight away.”
“It didn’t feel very straight away to me,” Nash grumbles.
I can’t blame him. “It didn’t feel fast enough to me either, bro, believe me.”
Mack backs Colsen on this. “Trust me, waiting for the police was the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do. But if we had made any mistakes that could have caused one of you to get hurt, we would have never forgiven ourselves.”
“Yeah, I know.” I roll my eyes, but deep down, I know my friends are right. “So now, stop being a gigantic pain in our asses and go to the hospital like Taryn wants. Or I am going to call Coach.”
Before Nash can argue any more, Taryn promises to go with him. “I want to make sure you and Jodie are ok. Then I need a hot shower and a change of clothes.” She says, pointing to her hoodie. “That bastard cut my favorite tank top.”
Someone clears their throat behind us. “After you get checked, ma’am, we need to take your statement. From all the parties involved. We have Deputy Sheriff Moss from Hemlock Beach, South Carolina, on standby to join us on a conference call, and he’s going to be on the first flight here tomorrow.”
I’ve known Sheriff Hartman, Kirk Pullin’s successor, since I was in diapers. He used to play high school hockey with my dad. “Phil, can that wait until tomorrow? My girl and my friends have been through a lot.”