My heart sinks in my chest. He has a point; he did do everything right. “Brock, I didn’t want you to hate me. I know it sounds lame.”
He watches me intently.
“When you came to London and we had that first fight, you said you were there to take me home.” I throw my hands up in the air. “I knew that giving Simon my attention was going to be an issue for you. And I know you came around and said it wasn’t an issue at that time.” I take his hands in mine. “But if it had gone on for three, four, or even six months, you’d have become bitter. Anybody would have, Brock. Even me.”
He rolls his lips as he looks down at our entwined hands.
“I’m sorry that I left you, but I don’t regret it,” I say.
He frowns.
“I needed to be there for Simon, Brock. He’s very sick… still is very sick. I’ve already visited him three times this week.” I smile. “Did you know he’s having a baby?”
“What?”
“With Penny, that girl he was seeing.”
His face falls. “And you’re happy about it?”
“I’m thrilled about it. She’s really nice, and hopefully they’re going to try and make a go of it. He’s going to be a dad. I’m so darn happy for him. It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
He frowns, confused.
“When I tell you that my feelings for Simon are platonic now, I honestly mean it. I care about him but only as a friend.”
He drops his head.
“I love you, you big twatwaffle.”
His eyes rise to mine. “You need to come up with better nickname material than that, Princess Pussy Porridge.”
Tears instantly fill my eyes. In that moment, I know it’s going to be okay. I rise onto my tippy toes and kiss him softly. “Take me to bed,” I whisper.
He wraps his arms around me. “No. You’re in time out.”
I giggle up at him. “For how long?”
“Life.”
I smile, and we kiss. I hold him tight.
“We need to get going. Grab your things,” he sighs in defeat.
“Okay.” I run into my room and grab my overnight things, smiling at my reflection in the mirror as my heart bursts with hope. Please let us get through this.
We make our way downstairs.
“Oh, I’ll just check my mail.” I get the key and open the mailbox.
The janitor, Meredith’s friend, walks past. “Oh, Tully, hi. Can you take Meredith’s mail to her at her mother’s, please?” He hands me a big wad of mail of hers that he’s collected.
“Sure.” I stuff it into my bag. “Thank you.”
Brock’s phone rings. He digs it out and answers it. “Hey.”
He frowns as he listens for a moment. “Fuck’s sake,” he sighs. “Fine, tell her she’s a pain in my ass.” He hangs up.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as we walk out of the building.
“Meredith left her phone on charge in the safehouse. We have to swing by and pick it up.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not okay because it’s out of the fucking way,” he snaps. “She’s so annoying. How do you forget your phone?”
There he is, my impatient man. I smile goofily.
“What?” He frowns.
“I missed your cranky ass.”
He rolls his eyes, unimpressed, and we make our way out to the car, and then over to the safehouse. He wasn’t joking, it is out of the way. It’s on a private piece of land that sits on the edge of the national park. We haven’t spoken much but he held my hand on his lap the whole way here while I smiled like a two-year-old.
We pull up to the side of the house and I peer in. It’s an old house made of sandstone.
“God, this house is creepy.” I shudder.
“Wait here, I won’t be a minute. I’ll grab it and be right back.”
As he gets out of the car, his phone rings. “Stan.” He smiles. “What are you up to?” He chuckles as he disappears into the house.
I smile and put my head back to the seat, closing my eyes. I finally feel like I can relax. I think everything is going to all right. At least he is open to working on it.
Something hard and cold buts up against my neck, and I look up and find myself staring straight into the evil eyes of Cole, my boss.
And the cold, hard thing pressed against my neck happens to be a gun.
Holy fuck.
“C-Cole,” I stutter. “What… what are you doing?”
My boss?
He jams the barrel of the gun up under my jaw. “Hand it over,” he growls.
“Please, what do you want?” I whimper.
“You know what I fucking want. Hand it over.”
“Cole, please…”
He opens the car door, grabs a handful of my hair, and he drags me from the car. The gun is still firmly in place. My eyes flicker to the house. Oh no… Brock.
“Ouch!” I cry. “You’re hurting me.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you in a minute. Give me the memory stick.”
“I don’t have it,” I whisper. “I swear, I don’t.”
He hits me hard across the face with the barrel of the gun. Pain sears through my head and I become dizzy before I fall the ground. He kicks me hard in the stomach, and then he pulls me down the driveway and into the forest.
Oh my God, help me.
Brock
I answer my phone and hear Joshua’s deep voice. “Hey, fuck knuckle.”
I chuckle. “Oh, it’s you, you ugly prick.”
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Picking up a phone for a pain in the ass client. What are you doing?”
“I’m still at work. I was calling to see if you wanted to come to Kamala with us. Bring your new girl if you want.”
I walk around the back and struggle with the key. It’s sticking and won’t open the door properly. I stand and jiggle it for a few moments as I try to loosen it. Finally, it clicks and turns.
“When are you going?” I ask.
“June, I think. We’re waiting for the twins to arrive, and then we’ll head over for a month. I’ll be working from there.”
I narrow my eyes as I consider his offer. I’m not even with my new girl anymore. “I’m not sure. Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to think about it,” I reply. “Hey, how did you get on at the weekend?” I ask. Joshua played in a major polo tournament over the last few days.
“We kicked some ass,” he tells me. “Hey, Ben told me you are having some issues with your chick.”
I roll my eyes. Now we get to the real reason he’s calling. “Nothing for you to worry about, Nana.” I sigh.
“You know why I’m calling?” He laughs.
“Tell Natasha to butt the fuck out.” I sigh again. Obviously, Tash has made him call and check up on me. “Listen, I got to go. I’m working.”
“Yeah, okay. Think about Kamala. Ben and Didge can’t come this year because of the babies.”
I smile. “Sounds fucking weird, doesn’t it? Babies, as in plural.”
“Fuck, I know. They’re going to know their alive real soon. Catch you later.” He hangs up the call, and I hear the car door slam shut.
Tully must have got sick of waiting and is coming to see where I am. I go to retrieve the phone but it’s not in the kitchen like they said it should be. I go into the living area and check there. I can’t find it. I wander into the bedroom where she was sleeping. Ben said it was on charge.
I dial his number.
“Yeah, what’s up?” he answers.
“Where’s this fucking phone, man?” I ask. “It’s not where you said it was.”
“Oh, it’s in the bathroom.”
“Why the fuck is it in the bathroom charging?” I snap. “Who charges a phone in the bathroom?”
Ben chuckles. “Apparently, if it explodes, it’s less likely to start a fire.”
I roll my eyes, grab the phone and charger, and then I leave, locking the door behind me.
“How far away are you?” Ben asks as I walk down the driveway to the car.
I see the door open, and I stop dead in my tracks. I look up and down the driveway, noticing blood on the ground.
“Fuck, Tully!” I cry.
“What’s happening?” Ben asks suddenly.
“He’s got fucking, Tully. Shit, there’s blood, get over here now!”
I hang up and run down the embankment. I can see drag marks where he has pulled her. There are large drops of blood on the ground, so he’s obviously hurt her. My heart begins to hammer hard, and I run back to my car to grab my hand pistol from under the seat. I run back and slide down a muddy hill under a thick canopy of trees.
I look left and then right, trying to get my bearings. It’s just getting dark and the shadows of the trees aren’t helping. It’s eerily quiet.
What the fuck?
I pant as I try to catch my breath. I don’t want to call out and alert him to where I am, but I need to find them before they see me. I bend to the ground and put my finger through a droplet of blood. My adrenaline surges.
Not Tully. You’re not getting Tully.
“It’s time to give up!” I call out, and then I wait.
Silence.
Fuck, what do I do? My chest is rising and falling as I suck in some much-needed air. I run back to my car and flick open the glovebox, searching through it manically.
Bingo! The memory stick with photos of Hawaii on it.
I run back down the embankment. “I have the memory stick!” I call out.
“Hand her over and you can have it.” I look out into the trees as it gets darker and darker.
More silence.
Fuck.
I hold the memory stick up in the air and grip the gun tightly in my hand.
Where are you, motherfucker?
“Tully?” I call.
“Brock,” I hear her cry from somewhere farther down the hill.
I take chase and sprint down the hill, sliding and slipping on rocks as I go. All at once, I see her being rammed into a car, and my heart stops.
Cole, her boss, has her by the hair with a gun nuzzled deep against her neck. He’s pushing her into a parked car.
She has blood all over her face, clearly terrified.
“No!” I yell as I run towards the car.
He hits her hard again and knocks her unconscious. I run faster, slipping down the embankment as I go.
He shoves her in the car and takes off at an unreachable speed. I turn back and sprint back up the hill as fast as I can.
I slip and scramble as I make my way to the top. I’m out of breath, gasping for air as adrenaline beings to take over my body.
I jump in my car and tear down the driveway. A truck is passing, and I punch the steering wheel.
“Get out of my fucking way!” I scream.
I pull out around the truck and veer onto the wrong side of the road. A car screeches, twisting and turning to avoid hitting me. I dial Ben’s phone number as I tear down the road.
“What’s happening?” he shouts. I can tell he’s driving as frantically as I am.
“He’s taken her in a car. White commodore, number plate DRT745.
“I’m nearly on the road coming in now,” he says.
“There’s only one way in here, Ben. You’re going to come across him.” I’m shouting, and I don’t care. There’s no way I can keep calm through this.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Whatever it takes. He can’t get away.”
“Roger that,” he says, and then he hangs up. My foot slams down on the accelerator.
“Tully, hang on, baby,” I whisper through gritted teeth.
The road is winding around a mountain. Dusts seems to be moving in the air as if a car has just sped through here. He’s not far in front, I can feel it.