Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(174)
My hands were trembling, knowing I’d never see his smile again.
“End it,” she mouthed. “Now.”
Would this be the last conversation we would ever have before I died? I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him. To anyone. He was my sunshine. My lover. My heart. And yet I knew, one false move, one wrong word from my lips, and this crazy person waving a gun at me would pull the trigger. “I can’t do this.”
“Why? You scheduled to work?”
Work was the last thing on my mind when faced with having to say goodbye forever to the man I loved. “I can’t do this…”
He drew in an exasperated breath, probably growing tired of my indecisions. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
The tear felt cold against my cheek. “Everything.”
“Are you okay?”
I bit my thumbnail, at a complete loss for how to answer. “No,” quaked out of me.
Psycho girl slammed her hand against the wall.
“Babe, what’s wrong?”
I flinched while thousands of answers barraged my brain all at once, adding mayhem to my terror-addled confusion. How do I tell him goodbye?
“I can’t…”
I love you so much.
Life is so unfair.
“You can’t what, Erin? I’m not following.”
She stepped closer, jabbing the gun in my direction, making me jump.
I can’t… meet you in ten or in fifteen.”
“Sweetheart, what are you talking about? Was I supposed to be someplace? Are you crying?”
I wiped my face and sniffed. “I said I can’t meet you in ten or in fifteen. You’ll just have to go without me.”
“Okay, Marcus and I are leaving the courthouse now. I’m confused. Where am I supposed to be going?”
I cleared my throat of fear and doom, needing him to understand. “Do you remember the story you told me about that kid, Casper?”
My captor’s eyes scrunched.
“Casper? Yeah but—”
“I’m in the same situation.”
“Situation?”
“You’re a smart detective. I would have thought you’d see that by now. You belong to someone else.”
“Excuse me? Baby, what the f*ck—”
“Stop!” I interrupted, panicking. “Just listen. Don’t come home because I won’t be here. Just like Casper the ghost.”
“Wait. Casper put a gun to my head,” Adam said roughly. “Baby, please tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I was. I can’t meet you in fifteen.”
“Ten fifteen?”
“Yes.”
“Are you…?”
I tried to mask my relief. “Yes.”
“Oh f*ck. Okay, stay calm. Is someone there now?”
“Yes.”
She shook the gun harder, getting impatient, but I couldn’t see any other way out of this.
“But… but I can’t stay with you anymore. You belong to someone else.” It killed me to say that. The words physically pained me beyond all reason.
Adam was frantic. I could hear the rustle of fabric, the sound of doors opening and closing. “I’m on my way. Where are you?” Adam spoke to someone around him, mentioning hostage situation.
“I can’t live with a liar,” I bit out, trying to sell it for all it was worth.
“House? You’re in the house? Where? Where in the house?”
I glanced around quickly, feeling pressured and terrified. A rustic picture dominated his wall. “Don’t call me ‘deer.’ I’m not a furry animal.”
“Don’t call you dear. Deer. Living room. You’re in the living room?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a gun in the kitchen above the microwave. Can you get it?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Stay on the line with me. I am on my way. I swear to Christ.” I heard a car door slam, the crackle of his radio, calls to dispatch. Orders for Marcus to f*cking drive. “How many in the house?”
I stared at my captor, trying to understand the mania that drove her to this point. Desperation, mental psychosis, all without control, or fear of the repercussions of her actions. To allow your psyche to snap to the point of drawing a gun on someone and considering cold-blooded murder…
“I thought I was your only woman. You want more than that? Isn’t one woman enough?”
“One armed,” Adam repeated aloud. “Armed. Female. Yes, armed and dangerous. Has my girlfriend at gunpoint.”
The stress was getting to this girl, making her pace and ramble to herself, as though several people inside her mind were having arguments.
“It is Nikki?”
“No.”
“Stay calm, baby. You’re doing great. You said female. Do you know her?”
The female in question was leaning and snarling at me, ready to lunge.
“Sort of? I’m sorry I didn’t make time for you. I can’t be texting you all the time like your other women.”
“Texting?” he questioned.
I heard their siren echo through my cell. So did my captor. Her gun lifted to pointblank range. I flattened the phone as close to my ear as possible.