Love Lies Dying (28 page)

“We should let the police handle it all. They’re experts in situations like this!”

She shook her head, “All you’re doing is proving to me that I’m right to leave you here tied up like this. I can’t take you with me and I can’t take the risk that you’ll follow me. I’m sorry, Johnny.”

She stood up and walked past him towards the two beds.

She was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a navy top that hugged her sides. Her hair was tightly balled, wrapped in a bun at the top of her head.

She means business
, John thought as he watched her walking away from him.

“Is that your final decision?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied as she walked past the wooden railings. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, I’m sorry too,” he added. “I want to help you, I really do. And I think we could beat this guy together, you and me. But I’m hardly in a position to argue the point.”

She reached one of the beds and bent down. Lifting the mattress slightly, she pulled the gun out from under it.

So that’s where it is!
John thought.
How – and when – did she put it there? Not that it matters, it can’t help me now.

“If this is the way you want to play it, then I accept your decision.”

Zoe turned and walked back to him. As she did so, she tucked the gun into the back of her jeans.

“Thanks, Johnny. I’m glad you’re going to let me handle this my way.”

John let out a crooked smile, “I can hardly do anything about it.”

Zoe smiled a sad smile back.

“I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t have to leave you like this.”

John saw his chance.

“Then don’t.”

“I
have
to.”

“I promise if you untie me I won’t follow you. I’ll wait here until you return.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true. I mean, where am I going to go? You’re taking the Jeep, aren’t you?”

Zoe nodded.

“Then I can’t follow you!”

Zoe stared into his eyes and tilted her head, as if she was considering his idea. Then she shook her head.

“Sorry, Johnny. I can’t. I just can’t risk it.”

John sighed deeply and nodded, “I understand.”

“Good. Please realise, if there were any other way…”

“I know, I know. But I want you to realise that I would have stood by you and got you out of the situation you’re in.”

She nodded, “I do. But I need to handle this my way. Only I know the games that will be played. I can’t risk both you and Helen.”

John let the silence settle between them again. He stared at her. The sunlight shone against her right side, casting half her body in golden light and the other half in shadow.

Split in two,
he thought.
And there’s nothing I can do to stop you going.

“What did Fox tell you to do?” he asked.

Zoe turned her head and stared through the windows out into the sunlight.

“There’s a small town about ten miles further on from here called Redlingford. There’s really nothing there, just a couple of farms and a river that runs through the centre. Ricky has a farmhouse there. He used it for business deals and stuff before he bought this place. It’s half fallen down and in disrepair now, in fact the barn is in better condition than the house.”

“You have to meet him there?”

“Yes,” she turned back to face him. “And he made it clear he wants me to come alone, in the Jeep, without anyone else. Okay?”

John nodded, “Okay. I understand.”

“He said he’d let Helen go if I was a good girl and followed his orders exactly. He would have one of his men bring Helen back here after I arrive. I told him I didn’t trust him and he said that he understood and that I could give Helen the Jeep when I arrive and she could drive herself back here if that makes me feel easier about the whole thing.”

“And do you?”

Zoe shook her head and looked to the ground, “No, but I think she has a better chance that way. I can meet her on the driveway and make sure she’s clear from the house before I let myself go anywhere near Ricky.”

“Does he know you’re taking the gun?”

“No, but I’m sure he suspects. He must know it’s missing.”

John leaned forward to get her attention. Her eyes sprung back onto his face.

“This is suicide, you know,” he said.

“I know,” she closed her eyes and shook her head. Her forehead creased as she held back tears. “I know.”

“If I come with you, you’ll have a chance.”

“No, Johnny,” she continued as she opened her eyes and stared back at him. “If you come it
will be
suicide for
all three
of us. With you here and Helen on the way back to you, Ricky will have to play the game fairly. It’s the best chance you have.”

This is crazy!

“And you?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

John looked to the floor. “But I do.”

“Oh Johnny,” she dropped to her knees in front of him and placed his head in her hands. “Do you mean that?”

“You know I do.”

The sadness in her face flashed to joy, but then crumpled back to sorrow just as quickly.

“That means so much to me,” she whispered to him.

“I wish you didn’t have to go.”

“But I do, I have to do this for all of us! I have to see this through.”

He nodded, “I understand.”

She smiled and kissed the tip of his nose, “I’m glad you finally do.”

“Will I ever see you again?” he asked her.

“I hope so, Johnny.”

“I’ll never forget you, you know.”

He was trying to get her to change her mind. But he also knew that he meant what he was saying. Even though she’d knocked him out and tied him up, Zoe was someone he didn’t want to see get into any more trouble. And he
knew
she couldn’t overcome her problems by herself.

She nodded, “And I’ll never forget you.”

She ran her hand along the side of his face as her eyes pooled with tears.

“Don’t cry.”

“I won’t,” she replied as the tears spilled.

John went to hold her, but the handcuffs bit into his wrists and the metal rattled behind him.

Her hand traced down his cheek and along his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Johnny” she said, the tears running down her cheeks. “But I have to do this my way.”

“I understand. I really do.”

He said it, but he didn’t mean it.

She ran her fingers down along his arm and then his side, travelling across his stomach and finally resting on his groin.

“What I have to do is important for all of us,” she whispered. “I started this. I got you in to it, and I have to get us all out.”

She wiped the tears away, pulled down the zip of his jeans and popped the button.

“Zoe,” John shook his head. “Don’t…”

“I want to,” she replied as her hand pulled his underwear to one side. “As a thank you. Please let me…”

John found himself hard and pulsing as she pulled his cock free from his pants.

He went to pull her away, but the handcuffs bit further into his wrists, sending pain up his arms to his shoulders.

“Just relax,” she whispered as she lowered her mouth. “Just let me,
please.
”

He could do nothing. He was tied and couldn’t move. It was like watching a movie of someone else’s life and being unable to change the events.

He was helpless.

And her hot wet mouth surrounded him.

He looked down at her head, as it rose and fell, and he stared hard at the tight bun of hair wound on top. And then his eyes landed on the gun tucked behind her back, sticking out of the top of her jeans. His arms tensed uselessly.

If only I could reach it,
he thought.
If only I could stop her.

Then he looked away, looked around him, trying to find anything he could use to stop her from leaving, anything to help his escape while he had the chance.

But there was nothing in reach, he couldn’t even reach Zoe.

And he wanted to.

Her tongue licked him, its soft wet surface running up and down his shaft.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. His headache had subsided slightly, but now his heart was working overtime, pumping blood through his veins, reawakening the pain in his head.

His mind thought back to the images of her naked on the sofa, the diamond in her belly button shining invitingly at him. And lower down, the shaved beauty of her vagina; pink, hot and inviting.

He remembered her holding out the towel to him when he was having a shower. And there he was erect in front of her. She’d caught him at a most intimate time.

If he had known how the events of yesterday would play out, maybe he would’ve acted differently.

If
only
he’d known…

Maybe he should’ve invited her into the shower. Maybe he should’ve turned on the hot water and grabbed her and lifted her into the shower with him. Wet and slick and soapy they could have ignited the passion that was between them.

Stop denying it,
he thought to himself.
You knew all along there was something between you two. Some spark. Something deep inside…

And that’s where he wished he was now.

Deep inside.

Deep inside
Zoe.

He thought about that.

Thought about her and what he would like to do with her.

And he exploded in her mouth.

It was fast and reflexive and wonderful.

Zoe pumped more and more, faster now. Drawing out of him every last drop he had to give.

He shuddered as she lifted her mouth along his shaft one more time, licking the tip of his cock as she withdrew him from her.

He sat for a long time with his eyes closed and head thrown back.

It had felt so good, so real.

And I want more.

He wanted to remember this feeling forever, for it never to leave him.

He laid back and just let the feelings flood over him.

He didn’t open his eyes until he heard a sound from behind him. He looked down and was surprised to find Zoe no longer in front of him and his quickly deflating cock back in his pants.

The sound came from the kitchenette and sounded like glasses clinking.

“Zoe?”

He heard the tap run for a few seconds and then could hear her gulping down the water.

“You okay?” he called over his shoulder.

“I’m perfect now,” she said. “And so are you.”

John smiled.
We could be perfect together,
he thought.

Then the weight of the events to follow caught up with him again.

“Let me come with you?” he asked one final time.

“Sorry, Johnny,” she said from behind him. “My mind is made up.”

He nodded.

The sound of footsteps moved from his left to his right.

“Be careful,” he called.

“I will,” she replied. “See you soon.”

“I hope so.”

“So do I…”

He heard the jangle of car keys and then the church door closing.

Shutting his eyes to focus on the sounds outside, he heard Zoe’s footsteps on the gravel driveway, then the sound of the Jeep door opening and closing.

There was silence for what seemed like forever.

Maybe she’s changing her mind.

But then finally the Jeep’s engine roared to life.

John tried one last supreme effort to break the handcuffs through the chair, but it was useless. He only succeeded in making the cuffs bite harder, sending more pain flowing up his arms and neck and into his brain.

Zoe, come back!

The sound of the tyres on gravel disappeared and the sound of the engine slowly became fainter as the Jeep drove away.

John squeezed his eyes shut harder, causing stars to appear in his mind, hoping that would help sharpen his hearing.

He continued to hear the engine even as it became fainter. He hung onto the sound with his very being, holding his breath and willing the Jeep to return.

The thudding in his head matched that of his heartbeat, and his chest started to ache from the lack of oxygen.

And then, suddenly, it was gone.

All was silent again.