Broken Road (35 page)

Who was he talking about? Nobody hurt her. This lunatic was the one hurting her. She was frightened beyond belief. Her throat felt like sandpaper, and she desperately needed water; her hands had gone numb, and the tingling sensation in them was quickly turning painful. She sensed he was getting closer. She could feel his body heat and then he touched her cheek as he tried to wipe away a tear. She moved her head as far from him as she could.

“Stop it!” she screamed out, or at least attempted to, because what came out was, “
Hmmmmm ghh
!”

She had never been so terrified or felt more helpless in her life. What did this person have planned for her? Was he the stalker? Was she soon to become another statistic? How much time did she have left? How would he do it? Would she never see her family and friends again? Oh God, what if she never saw Jarrod again? She needed him desperately now. He would make her feel safe. Her need to see him, to feel his strong arms around her, gave birth to another surge of desperate panic.

“
Hmmm mm
!” Although her grumble sounded the same as before, this time she was yelling, “Help me!” He placed his hand on her shoulder. She struggled to shake it off, but it only made him more determined to soothe her. She grunted her disapproval and continued to struggle to release herself, but it was no use. She couldn’t do this by herself. She needed help. Perhaps if she stopped making these noises, he would take the gag off. She was so thirsty. She needed water. She couldn’t stop crying and was beginning to hyperventilate. At the same time, she was beginning to feel nauseous. Dear Lord, what if she vomited and ended up choking to death on her own spew?

Calm down, calm down
, she kept telling herself. She needed to slow her breathing down. Again and again, she took deep breaths through her nose, taking one breath every five seconds, and then released the air just as slowly. After what felt like an eternity, she was finally able to somewhat gain control of her breathing. Still feeling like a quivering mass of jelly, she tried to loosen her hands from the binding, but it was impossible. Although her hands were bound in the front rather than behind her, she still could not move, due to the binds that held her tightly to the chair. With only the tips of her fingers, she was able to feel the binding. Based on the texture and feel of it, she knew he had used duct tape to tie her wrists together.

She heard his footsteps as he walked away, then he came closer again. He did this two more times, and she realized he was pacing. Then he stopped. Turning her head slightly, she tried to hear something, anything, just to let her know where he stood. Ominous silence surrounded her like a deep, bone-chilling fog, paralyzing her with fear.

Interminable seconds passed before she heard the words, “I’m here” from across the room. “I just w-w-ant you to know I’m sorry. I didn’t w-want it to be this way.”

This was it. He was going to kill her now, and he was apologizing in advance. She began to grunt loudly again and move her body forward and backward, causing the chair to slightly tip over. He was at her side within seconds and steadied the chair for her.

“Shush…don’t be scared. You’re s-safe with me. It’s him you need to worry about. I would never hurt you the way he d-did.” Why did he keep saying someone had hurt her? That voice. She knew that voice. She was positive she’d heard it before. He was behind her now.
No, no, no, please don’t shoot me in the back of the head
, she thought as she lowered her head, waiting to hear the “boom” of the gun going off. Yet the only sound she heard was the rapid, loud thumping of her heartbeat. Anger flared in her as she raised her head defiantly and grunted with fury.

“I can’t understand you. Listen, if you’re a g-good girl, I might consider taking the gag off. Will you be a good g-girl for me?”

Angel sniffled deeply and nodded her head. He leaned forward and gently touched her hair, pulling one side behind her shoulder. Stiffening at his touch, she could feel his face close to hers as he inhaled the smell of her freshly washed hair.

“Ummm…smells like f-flowers,” he said as he took another long whiff. Her heart tumbled in her chest like wet sneakers in a dryer while a sudden wave of nausea rushed through her.

He gently began to remove the tape from her lips, and said, “If you scream, I will shoot you. D-do you understand?” She paused in fear and then nodded. He continued to remove the gag slowly. Once it was off completely, she began to lick her lips. He had to step away. Her lips were so beautiful and the licking motion was incredibly sensual. He pulled himself together and said, “R-remember what I said about screaming. I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger if I need to.” She nodded again.

He was suddenly aware and amazed by the unexpected and swift improvement in his speech. This had happened only once before. When he had finally summoned up the courage to move out of the house he had shared with his mother for over twenty-five years. Unfortunately, the reprieve didn’t last long. The stammering returned with a vengeance at the most inappropriate time: during a job interview for a position he knew he was more than qualified for but did not get. When he returned home after the interview, a message had been left on his machine by the employer informing him that his “qualifications were strong, but someone else’s were stronger.” He was no fool. He had seen how uncomfortable the man had become as Benjamin struggled to speak. The truth was that that man didn’t want to deal with someone who couldn’t put two simple words together without breaking out in a sweat.

“I’m thirsty,” she said hoarsely.

Her voice forcing him back to reality, he stepped away to get a bottle of water from one of the bags Morgan had brought. He found it, twisted the cover off, and brought the bottle over to her, raising it slowly to her lips. She flinched when she felt the hard plastic against her lips and then realized what it was. He placed his hand on the bottom of her chin to gently lift her face so she could drink. She drank until the bottle was only half full and then pulled away slowly. “I’m good.”

“Anything else I can g-get you? Are you hungry?”

She shook her head no. A few seconds of silence passed and then Angel said, “Who are you? What do you want with me?” She wasn’t quite sure where he was at the moment, but she sensed he was nearby.

“I c-can’t answer the first question for obvious reasons, but I can answer the second. I want you for many reasons. I want you because you’re b-beautiful, kind, sweet, strong, and independent, but mostly simply because I love you…I’ve loved you from the moment I first l-laid eyes on you. I instantly knew that you and I were meant to be together. Y-you are the one I’ve always dreamed of. I’ll love you always and now you can depend on me to protect you from him so he can’t h-hurt you anymore.”

When he stepped closer to her, he noticed she was listening intently for the sounds of his footsteps, because as he neared her, her body tensed in a manner reminiscent of a hunter sensing his prey within reach, except that he was the hunter and she was his prey.

“Who? Who won’t be able to hurt me anymore?” she asked, tilting her head to the side in a questioning manner.

“Y-y-your asshole of a b-b-boyfriend, that’s who.” He was irritated with the question, she could tell.

“But he doesn’t hurt me.” He’d begun to pace again, and she was having a hard time following where he was.

“That’s not true, and y-you don’t have to be ashamed to admit it to me. It’s not your f-fault that he’s the way he is. He’s too d-d-damn stupid to realize how lucky he was to have you. But I’m not stupid. I know how special you are, and I will t-treasure you forever.”

Forever? How long was he planning to keep her with him?

“I don’t know where you got your information, but my boyfriend is good to me. He would never hurt me…where the hell are we?” she demanded.

“Somewhere safe from him.” He slowly walked away from her and then returned.

“I told you that he—” she began, and then he placed the gag over her mouth again, quickly silencing her.

A cell phone rang, and Angel’s head turned abruptly toward the sound of it. It continued to ring, finally being answered on the fourth ring. She listened intently, trying to hear something that would give her a clue as to whom this man was, what reason he had for kidnapping her, and what plans he had in store for her.

“Hello?”

“It’s me,” said Morgan.

“Yes, I know,” Benjamin said.

“Do you have her?”

“Yes.”

“You haven’t hurt her, have you?” she asked nervously.

“Of course not,” he said, sounding offended.

“Good. I don’t want her hurt, do you understand?”

“I understand completely.”

“You sound different.”

“Do I really?”

“Yes, you do,” Morgan said suspiciously. “Alright, just stick to the plan and everything will turn out fine. Lay low for a few days and then release her. I’ll tell John and Nate you had some family emergency to tend to and had to go home for a few days.”

“That’s fine. Whatever.”

“Are you in the room with her right now?”

“Yes.”

“Step out of the room so she can’t hear you,” she commanded.

“Just a m-moment, please,” he said as he walked over to Angel and softly stroked her cheek. She stiffened and tried to turn away, but his hand grabbed her chin and forced it back. He held her chin hard and said with intense force, “D-don’t you ever turn away from my touch. D-do you understand? Do you?” he screamed. She nodded hesitantly, and the tears began to flow again. “Good girl. I’ll be back in a s-second. Try not to miss me too much, alright?”

He stepped away and walked out the door. “You were saying, Morgan?”

“I told you not to mention my name,” she yelled.

“Quit w-worrying. I’m already outside. She can’t hear a word.” He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, exhaling with profound relief. He hadn’t had a cigarette in months. Not that he hadn’t wanted one every minute of every day since he decided to quit; but he wanted to have control over something in his life, and he believed that by giving them up, it would be a start. Things were different now. He had more control over his life than ever before. Better yet, he had control over two lives. If that didn’t merit a cigarette, nothing would.

“Why aren’t you stuttering as much as you normally do?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“You usually stutter a lot when you speak. You’re not doing that now. Why?”

“Praise the Lord! It’s a m-miracle! Hallelujah!” Amazing what having control over one’s life, choices, and decisions will do. He had the power now. No more taking orders; now it was his time to give them. He took another deep, gratifying drag.

“Stop it,” she yelled. “Something’s up. You’re making me nervous.”

“I don’t have all day, so could you hurry this up, p-please,” he said, becoming impatient.

“I heard what you said to her before about not turning away from your touch. Did you say that just to scare her?”

“I mean everything I say, Morgan.”

“Benjamin, you can’t hurt her. Please don’t touch her again. Remember that the only reason we’re doing this is to scare her away.”

“That’s the only reason you’re d-doing it. I happen to have other reasons.”

“Benjamin, no. Please. I’m begging you. Please don’t hurt her. I mean it,” she wailed. “She’s my cousin. I lied to you. I’m sorry. I made a huge mistake. You have to let her go now. Please. She’ll never know who was involved. If you and I don’t say anything, it’ll be like it never happened. Please, Benjamin, let her go now.”

“Please don’t bother us again, Morgan. Your b-beautiful cousin and I are going to be busy for a long while.” He hung up, removed the battery and SIM card from the phone, and placed everything in his pocket. He would discard them later.

Morgan stared at the phone for a long while before hanging it up herself. What had she done? It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. A tear fell from her eye, and she wiped it away with her fingertips. She stopped to stare at the unfamiliar wetness. She hadn’t cried, really cried, heartfelt tears in years.

What was she going to do now? She had created the problem, but had lost complete control. If she went to the police, she would be arrested. But if she didn’t, God only knows what Benjamin would do to Angelise. Could she live with that? True, she never cared for her cousin, but nonetheless she was family. Never mind family, she was a human being. Could Morgan stand by and allow her to be hurt or perhaps even killed without doing something to prevent it? Oh, but she didn’t want to go to jail. She had such plans. That’s why all of this was done in the first place. What about her dreams and goals? Angel’s interference was getting in the way, so she had no choice but to make the problem disappear.

What had happened to Benjamin? Where was the tense, anxious, tiresome geek she knew and hated? It was as if the old Benjamin no longer existed and was replaced with this newly confident, self-assured, evil being. How was that even possible?

“We’re leaving,” the man said as he came back into the room. He shut the door, and she could hear him grabbing bags and placing them near the door.