Chapter 48
Forty Eight
Kaeli
Asplash of water jolts me awake and has me gasping to catch my breath.
“Wakey wakey, sunshine,” John Mullens waves his fingers at me as Jodi shuffles to the side with the empty bucket.
I blink the water out of my eyes and try to wipe it when I realize that my hands are bound to the chair I am sitting on. I struggle, but the ropes only tighten.
John laughs. “Don’t fret, sunshine. They will only dig deeper into your skin the more you try to get out of them.”
My eyes take stock of myself, my heart pounding. At least my clothes are in place.
Calming myself, I scan my surroundings. The place looks like an empty construction site, which means it might not be too far from the city. And the dark outside indicates it hasn’t been too late either.
I concoct a plan to escape. Begging him won’t do shit. I could appeal to Jodi, but I think it would hardly make a difference.
A slight movement of my leg makes my eyes widen. My phone’s still in my pocket. These idiots didn’t think to get rid of it, lucky for me.
Ezra might find me if my phone is still transmitting my location. I have to believe it is, or I might not survive this.
“Cat got your tongue?” John walks over to me and grabs my hair, tilting my head up. My face scrunches in pain, but I don’t let a sound escape. He will not get the satisfaction of hurting me.
“Oh, this bitch is acting strong,” he mocks me. “You looking at that, Jodi?” he turns to Jodi, and she nods, the bucket now on the floor beside her.
“Let’s teach her a lesson, shall we?”
I remember what he means by fucking lesson. Stall.
I need to stall him and buy some time for Ezra to reach me. He will find me.
I know he will.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask.
He chuckles, the sound hollow. “Why am I doing this?” He steps back and paces the concrete floor as I heave a quiet sigh of relief. “I’m doing this because you ruined my life!” He claims, pulling at his gray hair.
“You had me disgraced and fired from my job. For months, I tried to find a new job, but no one would hire me. I begged them, but no response, only cruel rejection.”
He stops pacing and glares at me. “And then you had the audacity to file a restraining order against me?” My heart jumps to my throat as he comes closer. “Oh, yeah, sunshine, I heard about all you and your boyfriend did,” he whispers.
“You live a life of fucking luxury with that player boyfriend of yours while I struggle to make ends meet? All because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut,” he hisses.
I don’t see the slap coming until it stings my cheeks and has my face jerking to the side.
Jodi covers her gasp as John laughs. Tears line my eyes as I grit my teeth. “Not so strong now, are you, sunshine?”
“Fuck you,” I spit at his face.
His eyes harden, and his lips set in a straight line. “Let’s get this over with,” he says with a clenched jaw, pulling a gun from his back.
Fuck! He truly is going to kill me.
I need more time. Damnit, Ezra, where are you!?
Frantic, I look around for something when my eyes fall on Jodi. “What did you do to Jodi? Why is she here?” He must have blackmailed her or something to get her to his bidding.
John throws his head back and laughs maniacally. Confused, I look between the two of them, waiting for one of them to explain.
“Oh, sunshine…tsk tsk tsk.” He shakes his head. “You’re not as lovable as you think.”
“What do you mean?” I look at Jodi and repeat, “What does he mean, Jodi?”
“This is gonna be good. I’ll start it for you,” John says, pressing a hand to his chest. “I was at the arena one day, stalking you, trying to scare you, you know, the usual.” He waves the gun in the air like it’s a fucking toy.
“Then I see her observing you, glaring at you, fucking envying you,” he continues. “I was like JACKPOT!” He suddenly points the gun at me, eliciting a gasp of terror, and laughs at it.
Jodi comes to stand in front of me. “You have everything. The confidence you wear so well, you’re outgoing, and everyone always loves you.
You have everyone so enamored that they can’t even look away from you.
” She scoffs, twisting a strand of my hair around her finger.
“Even my Seb can’t stop staring at you,” she says in a tone so unlike her.
My brows draw together in confusion. “Your Seb? Staring at me? What the fuck are you talking about?”
She tugs at my hair, making me hiss. “Don’t act fool. You have him eating out of the palm of your hand. He’s always fucking hovering around you, following you around like a puppy.”
“That’s not the slightest bit true. We’re just friends. We have always been friends,” I implore her, hoping maybe she’ll help me get out of here if I clear her misunderstanding.
Jodi glares at me instead, slapping my already stinging cheek.
Oh, this bitch!
“Don’t lie to me!” she screeches, but I catch movement behind John.
I sneak another glance when I feel shadows moving. Not wanting to give away a clue if that might be my help, I look at Jodi.
“Jodi, believe me, there’s nothing going on between us.”
Before Jodi can respond, John pushes her aside. “Okay, that’s enough. Let’s end this and go on our merry ways.”
John raises his gun and points it at me, my breath hitching, awaiting my impending death.
God! I don’t wanna die. Not before I tell Ezra I love him.
As if I summon him from my thoughts alone, his voice echoes in the dark night. “You’d better think about how much you value your life before you pull that trigger, fucker.”
My eyes fall shut in relief as I choke on a sob, the tears flowing down my face.
He’s here. My Ezra is here.
But then I remember that Mullens has a gun. That worry soon eases when my eyes fall on the entire team surrounding us, trapping my captors.
“You’re not supposed to be here!” John shouts as he moves around in circles, searching for an escape.
“You’re not supposed to be breathing. But we don’t all get what we want,” Ezra shrugs, twisting his hockey stick in his hand.
For a second, his eyes collide with mine.
The time around us suspends, comes to a halt as he lets me see all the emotions swimming in his eyes.
The relief of finding me alive. The fear that might not be in the next few moments.
Anger at John for putting us through this ordeal. Hope that we might get away.
And as quickly, the world resumes. He snaps his attention back to John, standing there and looking like an avenging angel.
My avenging angel.
A voice whispers in my ear, startling me, “Shhh, don’t let them look at us. I’ll get you out of these ropes.” Knowing that it’s Seb calms me, so I nod.
Making quick work of the knots, he releases me. Jodi’s eyes fall on us exactly then, causing John to look at us, too.
That’s when all hell breaks loose.
John presses the trigger with frantic eyes. Ezra’s screams ring in the silence that follows. The guys grab the gun from John’s hand and hold both him and Jodi captive.
While I succumb to gravity, pain like nothing I’ve known before flares in my abdomen. I struggle to breathe, my life flashing before my eyes like a black-and-white movie.
Ezra reaches me before my head touches the ground. Placing my head in his lap, he presses his hand into my blood-soaked wound. “Hold on, Feather. Please don’t leave me. Please, please, please, Kaeli,” he whispers like a prayer.
With a trembling and bloody hand, I wipe his tears, his skin marring in my blood. “Don’t…Don’t cry for me.” I choke on a gasp, as reality seems to slip away from me.
“Don’t close your eyes. Stay with me!” He cries out, the sirens ringing out behind him.
Fighting to keep my eyes open, I look at his distraught face, tears streaming down. I don’t want to leave him, I realize. “I don’t want to die,” I wheeze out.
Ezra’s pained expression imprints itself in my brain as he chokes on a sob. “You’re not going to die, Kaeli. Please, Feather.” He assures himself more than me, rocking me on his lap. “Look, the ambulance is here. Stay with me.”
As I feel myself slipping away, my eyes begging to just close and take a breath, I fear it might be too late. I’m tired.
“I…I love you, Ezra,” I breathe out, hoping he’ll forgive me for not saying it to him earlier.
“Don’t say that to me, Kaeli. Not now. Tell me later, you hear me?” He begs me, staring at me like I’m breaking his heart. Maybe I am, as I feel my own heart fracturing.
My lids begin to give in to exhaustion. I’ll just close my eyes for a minute.
“Don’t close your eyes, Feather,” he screams as he slaps my face.
I feel him being pulled away, but my surroundings begin to fade away.
The last thing I see is Ezra’s fear-stricken face as he tries to get to me. I love you, I think I say again.
But I wouldn’t know because utter darkness embraces me.