Claimed: A For Her Novel: A Full-Length For Her Novel Page 16

  The first is of a town house that’s in a cul-de-sac. It’s a family neighborhood, with sidewalks and a school right behind it. The second image shows an overgrowth of trees with a small cabin in the distance.

  “There,” I say, and get up from my chair.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jay

  I want to fall to my knees and pass out at the sight of Martin Stein. I close my eyes and open them again, willing what I see not to be real, that the dream of help inside the cabin didn’t just die. How do we keep going from one bad place to another? We can’t catch a break.

  “It’s one problem after another with you, isn’t it?” Stein says as he makes his way toward us. I don’t see a gun or weapon on him at this moment, but I know he could easily catch us. I suspect he has a weapon within reach.

  He doesn’t look as put together as he usually does. His hair is perfectly styled, and his cocky arrogance is still as thick as ever, even though he doesn’t look like he’s slept in a few days. His polo shirt is wrinkled, and his jeans have seen better days. It makes me wonder if he’s been hiding out in this cabin for some time, knowing everything was closing in on him.

  “Bad guy?” Summer asks.

  I can hear the defeat in her voice. I glance over at her. She looks like she’s doing a little better than I am, but if I’ve learned anything in the past twenty-four hours, it’s that our situation can change in a matter of seconds.

  “Yeah, bad guy,” I mumble.

  Stein hates me more than Spencer, but at least I don’t think he wants to rape me. His eyes roam over my sister, and I pray I didn’t see them linger. What is it with assholes?

  My whole body aches, but nothing feels worse than my wrist, not even my head. I use my shoulder to wipe some of the blood from my forehead. When I raise my arm, I see part of my blouse is ripped, exposing my light blue bra.

  Stein pulls his eyes from my sister and looks past us, shaking his head. He’s spotted the wreckage behind us down the road, and I wonder if Stein is going to go down there and check on them. I fear how mad he’ll be when he sees Michael is missing half his body. I don’t know how close the two of them were.

  Suddenly an explosion rocks the ground, and I turn to look. With my glasses long gone, I can’t make much out besides smoke and fire. A small smirk plays on my lips, knowing Spencer was down there. That’s one less person I have to worry about. I feel no pity for either man. In fact, I think their deaths were over too fast. Maybe all of this has jaded me, because more than anything I would have loved what my Jordan would have done to them. I’m sad for him that he won’t get that chance.

  “Fucking hell!” Stein yells, and some of that cockiness fades. “Asses in the cabin right now before I kill you both.” I glance back and see he’s got a gun in his hand. Although the way he’s holding it doesn’t seem natural. I’ve watched Jordan clean his guns before and he handled them like they were an extension of his arm.

  Neither I nor Summer fight it. We slowly do as he tells us, knowing there’s no use. My body still feels the blows of when we didn’t do as we were told earlier. I’m sure Summer is nearly as bad as I am. I’m not pressing my luck. I’m going to play along and not fight unless I see an opening. I’m not wasting any of the energy I have left.

  We slowly make our way up the stairs, with Summer helping me when I feel dizzy. When we get to the top, Stein pushes us, wanting us to move faster. “Move your fucking asses. We don’t have all day.”

  Summer opens the door, and once again Stein pushes both our backs, but my body doesn’t care. I bump into Summer, and she catches me from falling. I hear Stein chuckle behind me.

  “I think I’m going to pass out,” I whisper. The room starts to spin, and black spots cloud my vision. I can’t remember the last time I had a drink of water.

  I try to look around the room as Summer holds on to me. It looks like we’re in the living room. Glancing around, I see the ceiling, the walls, and the floor are all made of wood. The first spot of color I notice is a blue sofa. I want to sit down before my legs give out beneath me.

  “Keep her awake,” Stein barks, and I flinch, thinking a blow is going to come. When nothing happens, I sigh in relief. I think anything more traumatic right now and I’d pass out.

  Summer moves me toward the sofa and sits me down. A moan of relief leaves my lips.

  “I just want to sleep,” I tell her. Just for a little bit. That’s all I need. To close my eyes for a moment. Maybe my mind will drift to another memory. I can soak it in and have a moment of sweetness.

  “Jay, no,” she barks at me. I can hear the panic in her voice.

  Jerking my eyes back open, I see the room is fuzzy. “Stop yelling. It hurts my head.” I reach up and wince when I make contact with my forehead. Pulling back, I look at the blood on my fingertips.

  “Look at me.”

  I roll my head to the side and do my best to focus on her.

  “I think you have a concussion. You can’t go to sleep,” Summer tells me softly. “You’re losing a lot of blood.” I can see the fear rising on her face.

  “I once read head wounds bleed a lot,” I tell her. “I’ll be fine. I won’t leave you.” I don’t know if that part is true or not. Right now, I’m not feeling so hopeful.

  “You have a fucking call to make, so if I were you, I’d keep your ass awake. You don’t want me waking you up to make it,” I hear Stein say from somewhere in the room. I don’t bother to look for him and keep my eyes on Summer. I can’t find the will to care about his threat, and I’d rather not look at him as much as possible.

  “Are you okay?” I reach up to touch her face. She winces in pain. The place where that bastard Michael hit her is already swelling. God, I wish I could have watched him go through that window. I feel my lips pull into a little smirk thinking about it. “You got the last laugh on him, didn’t you?” I whisper the last part, not knowing if that will set Stein off.

  She shakes her head, but I see a small triumphant smile tip her lips. “I’m fine, it’s you I’m worried about.” She makes a move to stand, and I grab for her arm, not wanting her to leave my side.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Stein asks, beating me to the question. Summer stills for a moment.

  “I need to stop the bleeding from her head or nothing you did will wake her up!” she yells, and then turns to me and whispers an apology for being loud.

  “There’s a fucking towel over there.”

  Summer runs off to where he must have pointed.

  “She’s lucky I don’t let her bleed to death after everything she fucked up. Stupid bitch.” There’s so much anger in his voice, and I’m terrified of what he might do in this moment.

  He appears in front of me, glaring down at me. I want to look away from him, but I stare up into his cold eyes. They look wild, and I wonder if he’s losing it, or if maybe he’s on something. He leans down, getting into my face. He smells like he hasn’t bathed in a few days. I’m sure I’m not any better, but at least I have a reason. “I’m not going to die because some stupid bitch couldn’t keep her nose where it belonged.”

  I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying something smart back. The problem is that I had my nose exactly where it belonged.

  I swear his eyes go darker right in front of me. I can feel the evil pulsing from him. “Maybe when I’m done here I’ll pay your boyfriend a surprise visit. He’ll never see me coming.”

  I feel the cold steel of his gun pressed to my temple. I close my eyes, thinking of Jordan and Summer, and pray for help.

  “Stop it,” my sister says. Her voice is shaking, and it breaks on a sob.

  “Pop,” he says loudly, making me wince. “He’s dead.”

  A tear slides down my cheek. I hate how scared I am, and I hate that I gave him any sort of reaction. But I’m only so strong, and this is overwhelming
.

  “Look at that. The Osbourne ice queen has feelings. Who fucking knew.” He stands there, not moving the gun, still holding it to my head. I can’t bring myself to open my eyes. I know if I do, I’ll want to lunge at him and claw his eyes out for what he said about Jordan.

  “Move,” Summer says, and I feel the cold metal leave my temple as Stein steps away. I finally open my eyes, and Summer is in front of me. Looking up, I watch Stein smile at me, then walk to the other side of the room. He sits down in a chair, leaning back and resting the gun on his lap. Summer sits next to me, putting the towel to my head.

  My eyes start to close again, and I hear the worry in Summer’s voice. “We need something to drink. She’s going to pass out.” She sighs, and her hands tremble. “You need her for something, and I know she needs to be awake for whatever it is.”

  Her voice is firm, and she uses a tone I’ve never heard her use before. While I seem to be weakening, she seems to be growing stronger.

  I’m surprised when Stein stands and walks out of sight and a few moments later comes back with two bottles of water. He tosses them on the sofa next to Summer. She picks one up, opens it and hands it to me. I grab it with my free hand while she grabs the other for herself. We both start to drink but Summer tells me to slow down and not drink it too fast or it will make me sick. I want to chug it down but I know she’s right. I had no idea water could taste this good. As I slowly sip it I already start to feel better.

  “Now.” Stein sits back down in the chair and leans forward. “You’re going to make a call to your boyfriend as soon as my associate gets here.”

  “Why?” I feign ignorance. I want nothing more than to call Jordan. To hear his voice for even a moment would help me get through this, but I’m scared of what they’ll make him do. I’m even more scared they might ask him to go somewhere and then he’ll end up like me. I don’t want him to get hurt. It would be too much to take, knowing I got him mixed up in this.

  “I don’t trust him to take care of what needs to be deleted. I want him to give us access into the servers and we’ll do what needs to be done,” he tells me.

  I let out a breath, grateful that they aren’t asking him to meet up somewhere.

  “We haven’t been together long. How do you know he’ll even do it?” I ask. I still fear these people getting close to Jordan. I know he’s looking for me, but I don’t want them pulling him into this.

  “Don’t be fucking stupid, Jay.” Stein stands, and I hold my breath. He doesn’t move toward me but instead goes to a table where I see a bottle of liquor. He picks up the bottle and takes a long pull from it. After he’s done, he doesn’t put it down. He makes his way back to the chair with it and settles the gun in his lap again. “Trust me. I don’t get it. All I’ve ever seen out of you is a total fucking bitch, but you had Spencer and Jordan chasing you around the office with their dicks in their hands.”

  I don’t respond. What am I supposed to say to that?

  “Then you give Jordan a lick of your pussy and he turns into a fucking pit bull banging down my goddamn door for you.”

  Now I don’t know what he’s talking about. Confusion must cross my face.

  “You don’t even know the crazy fucker you let between your legs, do you? Maybe that’s what it is. You attract the crazy. Yeah, that makes sense.”

  Like he’s one to talk. If Jordan is crazy, then I’m crazy, too, and I’m okay with that kind of love.

  “If he never showed up at my door threatening me for that file because of you, none of this would have happened.” Stein takes another swig from his bottle, this one bigger than the last. When he pulls the bottle away, a smirk crosses his lips. “But I got even. I was so happy to hear good old Dad made it,” he says sarcastically.

  A sob leaves my throat.

  “See what you’ve done, Jay? You put that nose of yours too far where it didn’t belong.” He holds up the hand with the gun. “All of this.” He waves it around in the air. “Is your fault. Everyone could be at home and none the wiser if you had just let it go.”

  He’s right. I’m the reason hell is raining down on everyone I love. Everyone who has ever truly meant anything to me. My mom always told me I was going to get in over my head one day. I guess she was finally right.

  I look over at my sister’s face. It’s darkening with bruises. She looks at me, trying to tell me something with her eyes. Stein mumbles to himself, and I look to see his eyes slowly starting to close. I glance back to Summer, who’s now watching him, too.

  We sit in silence for what feels like forever. I want nothing more than to lean my own head back and drift off, but I fight the pull, knowing that maybe we might have a moment to escape. Summer’s gaze darts between Stein and me. She takes the towel from my head, and I think my wound has finally stopped bleeding. I can see the relief on Summer’s face as she looks me over and nods approval.

  Her eyes rush back to Stein, and then she leans in close. “He’s sleeping,” she mouths, and I look over to see Stein is passed out in the chair.

  “Go,” I tell her, looking over to the door. I feel like I’ll only slow her down. She needs to run.

  “Not going without you,” she whispers, and I can see the determination on her face.

  “Please.” I try to plead with her.

  “Get up,” she whispers, standing up. I didn’t know a whisper could sound so stern.

  I lift my good hand, and she pulls me to my feet. I cup my injured wrist to my chest, and the pain isn’t as bad as it once was, but the throb is still there.

  I glance over at Stein. I want to grab the gun from his lap, but I’m too scared. He could wake up any second, and Summer and I don’t have the power to fight him right now. Summer can read my thoughts and shakes her head.

  “Let’s run,” she says, and I nod in agreement. I want to be as far away from here as I can get.

  We walk to the entrance silently, and slowly open the door. The creak of the hinge echoes in the quiet cabin, and panic floods my body. I step out onto the deck only to be grabbed by my hair and yanked backwards. Without thinking, I scream Jordan’s name. It’s a cry for help because I want him more than anything right now.

  I’m pulled back into the cabin and thrown onto the sofa. Adrenaline pumps through me as I watch Summer throw herself at Stein. It takes him less than a second to throw her off, and then he hits her with the butt of his gun. She falls to the floor, and I scream. I don’t seen any blood, but she doesn’t move.

  “Summer!” I cry out, but she just lies there.

  Tears fall down my face, and I try to go to her, but Stein only pushes me back.

  “You little bitch. Think you’re so clever.” He sneers at me.

  He comes at me and tackles me to the ground, getting on top of me. I scream. The pain from my wrist shoots through my body as the weight of him lands on me. I try to fight, but there’s no use. He’s too big, and I’ve only got one good arm.

  I cringe and brace myself for pain when I see him pull back his arm to punch me.

  “Stop!”

  Stein stops midair, and we both turn toward the voice. I look over to see a man I don’t recognize standing in the doorway.

  “She can’t talk with a broken jaw, and we both know he won’t do what we want unless he hears it from her.”

  Stein glares down at me, clearly wanting to give me what he intended. I look up at him and pray he listens. After a moment of hesitation, he drops his fist. I can tell in his eyes that he’ll be coming for that blow. It might not be now, but he still wants it.

  I look at the man standing in the door. Unlike everyone else we’ve come across, he’s in jeans and a tight black T-shirt. He’s small, maybe only as tall as I am, but it’s clear Stein is scared of him.

  Stein gives me one more hard look before getting off me. I glance over to Summer, wanting to go to her. She rolls onto her sid
e, but her eyes don’t open. She looks as if she’s asleep.

  “Sit up,” the mystery man says, walking in and shutting the door. I do as he says, moving up on the sofa and not saying a word.

  “Here,” he says to Stein, tossing him a phone. “Make the call and be done with this. You’ll be lucky if I don’t kill you afterwards.” The man turns and walks back out the door.

  Stein hands me the phone. “Call him and tell him to open the server.”

  My hand shakes as I take the phone from him. I don’t want to make the call, but maybe if I do, Jordan can find me.

  “Now,” Stein barks, and I nearly drop the phone.

  I slide my finger across the screen and I key in Jordan’s number. I know it by heart. It barely has time to ring once before he answers.

  “Jay?” His voice is panicked, and I can hear the fear through the phone. I have no idea how he knew it was me. Maybe he was just hoping.

  “Jordan,” I whisper back. Just hearing his voice makes me want to cry. I want to be near him. I want to be back in our bed and wrapped around his body. A sob climbs up my throat, and terror crawls over me.

  “Baby. Talk to me.” There is so much anguish in his voice, it makes my heart want to break.

  But I have to be strong. I have to get through this so that Summer and I make it out of this cabin alive. I’ve got to hold it together for just a little longer.

  “I’m supposed to tell you that you have to open the servers. They...” My voice trembles. Stein grabs me by the hair at the back of my head, and pain shoots through my scalp. I scream as the still-raw cut on my head throbs angrily.

  “Jay!” Jordan yells into the phone, but his voice barely registers.

  I blink a few times and take a breath, trying to get it together. “I’m here,” I tell him through a sob. I try to stay strong, not wanting to hurt Jordan any more. But my voice gives me away. “You have to open the servers. They want to delete things,” I finally get out. God, I hope that was what I was supposed to tell him.

  “Okay, baby. I’ll do it.” His voice is tight. I can tell he’s holding back. “I love you.”