Chapter 6 Giselle
GISELLE
As I scrolled through the newsfeed on my phone, the snow continued to float down from the sky.
It had been a slow night at the boutique because of the weather, and I was bored.
I hated to close early, especially because Valentine’s Day was in a couple of weeks.
Guys were already coming in to check out the outfits in the window and the jewelry in the cases.
A text appeared on my screen from Gino.
Gino
How’s the snow?
Me
Cold
Gino
Go home!!
Me
Soon
Gino
Now
Me
LOL!
Gino was right. There wasn’t a single shopper in sight, and I knew no one would be going out in this weather. I tossed down my phone and went to the front door. I flipped the sign to Closed and locked the door. I switched off the light outside and turned back to the counter.
I grabbed my phone and noticed a missed call from Kason. He hadn’t left me a voicemail, but I texted him.
Me
What’s up?
Kason
I was looking for Shay – she wasn’t answering her phone. Thought she might b with u, but she just texted me back.
Me
She good?
Kason
She was studying in the library.
Me
Good girl.
Kason
Heading to the bar. Wanna meet us?
Me
Who’s us?
Kason
Me and Jesse. Thayer’s out with Masie.
My stomach turned over. And, while I knew I should’ve been happy for him, deep down I knew why I wasn’t.
Me
Thanks but I’m gonna head home. Drive safe.
Kason
u 2
I reached for my handbag from under the counter, then grabbed my coat. One of my mittens fell to the floor, so I reached down for it.
I heard a loud thud from the storage room.
I jolted up. “Shay?” I called, wondering if she’d stopped by. But there was no reply. “Shay?” I tried again, but there was only silence.
I walked through the store toward the storage room door, unsure what could’ve caused the noise. I stopped when I heard heavy footsteps. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
A large figure in a black ski mask and dark clothes stepped out of the storage room. Fear grabbed hold of my body, immediate and overpowering.
“Get down on the floor,” he demanded.
I was frozen, physically unable to move.
He lifted a gun I hadn’t seen in his hand and pointed it at me. “I said, ‘Get down on the fucking floor!’” He released the safety with an ominous click.
I dropped to my knees, hitting the ground hard. Tears welled in my eyes as my body trembled. I stared at the ground, praying he didn’t shoot me.
He rushed toward me, and I flinched away as he grabbed something off a nearby rack.
My heartbeat drummed in my ears as he tucked his gun into the back of his pants, then grabbed my wrists with black-gloved hands.
It was then I noticed what he’d taken off the rack—a woven rope belt.
He swiftly wrapped it around my wrists, binding them tightly together so I couldn’t get free.
“Why are you doing this?” I said, my voice quivering.
“You don’t know what I’m doing,” he said, knotting the belt so the coarse fibers cut into my wrists. He grabbed the gun and stood up.
Terrified to look at him, I kept my eyes down, fixating on a small smudge of gray paint splashed across the tip of his black boot.
“Where’s the money?” he demanded.
“In the register,” I said, praying he would take it and leave.
He rushed over to the counter.
I chanced a peek out the window, praying someone would walk by and see me on the ground. My eyes slowly lifted to the camera in the corner of the store. No one may have been monitoring the feed, but the cops could use the footage to ID him later. If there was a later.
The bell on the register chimed as the drawer opened. I peeked over as he grabbed all the bills and shoved them into a dark bag.
“Where’s the safe?” he asked, coming back from behind the counter.
“Safe?” I asked.
He lifted the gun and aimed it at me again. “Where’s the fucking safe?”
My eyes cast down as my body trembled. “In the back.”
He stalked toward me and grabbed my arm. I winced as he heaved me to my feet and dragged me into the small office in the back. The safe was beside the desk, and he stopped in front of it. “What’s the code?”
“Four two one two,” I said, my heartbeat pounding in my ears as he punched in the code.
Out in the store, my phone rang.
I looked to the doorway, knowing the call would go unanswered. Tears blurred my vision. Was it Kason calling me again? Maybe Shay? Could it be Thayer calling to put me in my place? There were so many things I never said to him that I should have said.
The safe beeped as it opened, and I turned my attention away from my ringing phone. The man reached inside and grabbed the stacks of cash. Gino advised me not to put everything in the bank, so most of the boutique’s revenue was in the safe. He said a safe was the safest place to keep money. Ironic.
The man shoved the money into the bag he’d filled with the money from the register. He had everything now.
“Get down on your knees.” He grasped the top of my head and shoved me down.
My knees slammed into the floor, pain tearing through them. He pressed the cold metal of the gun into the side of my head.
I closed my eyes as a whimper escaped me. “Please don’t,” I pleaded, visions of the people I loved flashing through my mind. My parents. Kason. Gino. Shay. Thayer.
He pressed the gun harder against my head.
“I know where you live, Giselle. Think about following me, and I’ll have no problem killing your entire family.
And, then I’ll come for you.” I felt the pressure of the gun leave my head.
His retreating footsteps echoed through the room.
The back door slammed shut. Then silence.
My eyes snapped open.
I was alone in the dark room.
A giant sob tore out of me as I used every bit of strength to pull free from the belt around my wrists. But it was no use. The knots were too tight. The air in the room was too thick. The banging in my head was too loud.
Lightheadedness washed over me, and darkness pulled me under.