Haunted(46)

I ran outside and noticed that it started to rain. Great. I jumped into my vehicle, immediately locking my doors. I might have had to leave without a bodyguard, but I wasn’t stupid. I would be careful. I drove down the driveway and hit the remote for the gate where it could open; I drove through and closed it behind me.

After making sure it was closed, I turned onto the highway and drove toward Joey’s school. After one mile, I noticed that the red light on my gas tank was on. I would have to stop. I had never been one to take a chance on running out of gas. There was a gas station half a mile up the road. I should be safe in a public place.

I turned into the station and pumped my gas. Once I finished, I waited for my receipt to come out. It didn’t.

Crap.

I was going to have to run in to get my receipt. I kept a budget on my computer of all my expenses. I got used to it when I was a single mom and old habits were difficult to change. Oh well, I was thirsty anyways, so might as well grab a Coke. I ran inside and grabbed a drink and my receipt. I unlocked the vehicle, jumped in, and immediately locked the doors and ran my hands over my rain-soaked face. Okay, off to the school. I opened my Coke and took a big sip of it, and screwed back on the cap. I started the vehicle and drove out of the station. I had three miles to go until I reached Joey’s school.

I grabbed my phone out of my purse to see if Roman had texted me back. He hadn’t, which was fine. I put the phone between my thighs and when I glanced in my rear-view mirror, I saw a man, wearing a mask, sit up in the backseat. I screamed. Even though the man was wearing a mask, I knew who it was. Andrew. He was wearing one of the white plastic masks from Jason’s collection.

I wasn't scared. I was pissed. I figured out that I wasn't scared because Joey or Roman weren’t here. They were safe. Andrew couldn’t hurt them, only me, and for some reason, that made me feel brave.

“Hello, Beth, nice to see you again.” Andrew purred at me.

“Wish I could say the same thing, f*cker! What the hell do you want?” I had venom in my voice as I looked in the rear-view mirror at him.

“Money, of course. I seem to remember some stupid bitch interfering with my pay out. I want my f*cking money.”


While Andrew was whining like a bitch, I slowly reached for my cell phone between my legs. I hit Roman’s number and turned my volume all the way off, that way Roman could hear me, but we couldn’t hear him. I knew he probably wouldn't pick up the phone, but his voicemail would capture some of the conversation. Then I slowly slid the phone and it dropped to the floor of the car. Andrew didn’t seem to notice.

“I need you to pull over on this dirt road on the right. Then you and I are going to have a little talk.”

I needed to talk loudly so Roman’s voicemail would hear me. “You want me to pull over on this dirt road on the right of Highway 61? Why, Andrew? What are you going to do to me?”

“I am going to slit your f*cking throat if you don’t help me get my money!” Andrew yelled.

Good! Surely Roman’s voicemail caught that. Now, what could I use in the vehicle to fight back with? I felt empowered. I could never fight back before for the fear of someone hurting Roman, but here I was alone. I wasn’t afraid to die; I was afraid of someone whom I loved dying and Andrew was a threat. A threat to Joey. A threat to Roman. The bastard tried to make me think I was going crazy. I was ready to f*ck up his world and see how he liked it.

I always remembered reading in books where a damsel would be beat up by the aggressor and then the hero would come to her rescue. Not me; I wanted to save myself. Don’t get me wrong…if someone came by and saved me, I wouldn’t turn down the help but I was not going to wait for a man to save me. I always hated that. Like Phoebe said, I could write my own story and this heroine was going to kick her aggressor’s ass! I might go down, but he would be worse for wear after all was said and done.

I casually pushed the cigarette lighter in without him noticing. I was so glad that the previous owner was a smoker and had one installed. I had to think quickly. What did I have to work with? Cigarette lighter, check. There was a Maglite under the passenger seat, check. Maybe I had a pen in my purse, but that would be difficult to reach. I knew he would hurt me, but I couldn’t think about that right now. This was for Joey and Roman, to make them safe from this one last threat. I slowly pulled over as he directed.

“I bet Roman will pay a pretty penny for you. Maybe I can actually get a bigger payout this time.”

I undid my seatbelt so I could move to fight him.

“I doubt it, you piece a shit. I will not be taken again. I am not afraid of you! Your stupid mask doesn’t intimate me.” I glared into the rear-view mirror. I didn’t feel as brave as I sounded, but I was stalling, waiting for the cigarette lighter to pop out. Apparently, I pissed him off because he grabbed me around my neck and started pulling me into the backseat. I wasn’t afraid, but I had adrenaline galore in my system, and I was going to use it to my advantage.

As I was being pulled into the back, I grabbed the cigarette lighter out of the holder. He didn’t even notice since I was screaming and hitting him with my other hand. When he had me pulled all the way into the backseat, I fell on top of him. I burnt him on the hand with the lighter, and he let me go. I quickly turned over and went for the Maglite. He tried to grab my hair, but all he came away with was my hair clip. Shit! It’s difficult to do anything with my long hair in my face, but what could I do?