This can’t be happening!
I struggled hard against the restraints holding me tightly to the chair. My eyes darted around the room and I recognized it as Cane’s office. The glow from his computer screen and the light from the security lamp outside were the only light. My eyes were swollen and hazy and I had trouble making out much detail.
I fought to breathe around a bandana that was wrapped around my mouth. With it, I couldn’t make much sound.
I tried to figure out what was happening. Trying to see through my swollen eyes made the pain pulsing in my temple worse by the minute.
I scanned the office, too scared to even cry. I worked my hands back and forth as I tried to yell for help.
This isn’t fucking happening to me!
“You should sit still. You are only making things worse, bonita.”
I struggled to breathe as my entire body began to shake, fear and panic mixing together in one volatile concoction. I choked back the vomit that was rising quickly as I scanned the room for the source of the voice.
A large figure stepped from the shadows dressed all in black. As he approached, I could make out a bit of silver coming towards my face.
A gun.
It took every ounce of energy I could dig up to not pass out.
CANE
At the word “bonita”, my first instinct was to race up stairs, burst into the room, and rip his heart out with my bare hands. I wanted to watch his heart beat as I held it, while his blood dripped onto the floor.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and forced air into my lungs, knowing I had to stay calm. I had to think fast.
I had to get to her.
The floor creaked above me again and I moved a few steps to the right, directly beneath the sound.
“Ah, bonita. How are you feeling? Frustrated, yes?”
I clenched my hands at my side as I listened for some sign from Jada.
Please, baby. Where are you?
The man chuckled and the floor creaked as he moved across the room, towards the back of the house. I stepped in time with him and stopped as the sound stopped. He stopped what I figured was right in front of my bookshelf.
I heard my desk chair roll a few feet and stop directly above me.
“It’s okay. I’m just waiting on your boyfriend to come home and then things will be better for you. I will release your bonds to that chair. I know it hurts, bonita. And I am sorry. It wasn’t you I was after. It was him.”
He began to laugh maniacally.
My nostrils flared, my heart almost leaping out of my chest. I forced myself to stay calm.
Breathe, Alexander. Figure a way out of this.
“I was paid ten grand to deal with Cane. You are just going to be a little bonus.”
My entire body raged with fury and I had to clap a hand over my mouth before I yelled out in frustration. I paced a circle, pulling on my hair, trying to release some of the energy that was threatening to bound up the stairs.
The joists creaked again as he made his way to the other side of my office and away from Jada.
I was still standing beneath where I thought she was and I heard a small whimper.
My throat closed tight, nearly suffocating me.
Think, Alexander! Fucking think!
I pulled my phone from my pocket and set it to silent. I found Max’s name in my text box.
Me: Call the police and send them to my house. Can’t answer questions. Do it now!
JADA
Tears were flowing down my cheeks, getting caught in the bandana in my mouth. My hair had escaped my ponytail and was now stuck to the sides of my face, glued to my skin by the tears.
My head was so heavy, the pain so bad that I had to force myself to stay awake. I had to be present.
I had to find a way out of this.
Cane will be home soon.
The thought made me cry harder. I had no way to warn him.
I felt beyond helpless, completely and utterly useless. I couldn’t do anything but be tied to this chair and pray that somehow Cane would not walk in to this unknowingly.
The man in front of me was leaning against a wall in the shadows, watching out the window. He was watching the wrong way for traffic to be coming in, but maybe that would benefit Cane somehow.
I gave up trying to openly struggle, I could barely concentrate. The pain was so bad, my energy so sapped, that I could barely move anyway. I did work my hands back and forth, side to side, against the restraint. It was sharp, thin, and really hard. It felt like the zip ties my dad used to hold ‘For Sale’ signs to posts. It probably hurt, but everything hurt, so it was hard to tell.
“Bonita, you may as well stop. You won’t be getting away.” His voice was placating. His shadow moved against the floor as he changed positions, staying encased in the shadows.
I tried to move the bandana in my mouth with my tongue, but it was useless. My tongue was swollen and dry somehow, despite the soaked fabric of the gag.