Chapter 24

Sally

 

“Oh good, you’re finally awake. I thought you were gonna sleep through the good part.”

Awake?

The good part?

Damn my head hurt. My head was groggy, and it was hard to focus. I was lying on my side in the back of a car. It was dark outside, but there was a bright light shining that had me squinting against the harsh cast. I could vaguely make out Beth’s silhouette in the front seat. Why was I in a car with Beth? I struggled to sit up and nearly rolled off the backseat. Both hands shot out, and I caught myself on the seat in front of me.

“Beth? What’s going on?” I wriggled again trying to move my hands. “Why the hell are my hands taped together?”

I finally got myself upright and realized both my hands and my feet were duct-taped together. My original panic multiplied by a hundred.

“So many questions. I think I liked it better when you were passed out.”

“Why are you doing this? I didn’t have anything to do with you getting fired. I promise.”

“Fired. I don’t give a fuck about that stupid job.”

“Why would you do this?” I asked and tried to pry my hands apart, but the duct tape wouldn’t budge.

Duct tape. I remembered the conversation I had with Nick about using tape to tie up Beth. The irony wasn’t lost on me that I was the one taped by Beth. Nick. He’d know I was missing when he got home, and I wasn’t there. Or would he? What if he thought I’d changed my mind about going to his place and went back to mine? Would he look for me?

“Remember when you woke up in the hospital and I came to visit you?” she asked.

I’d never forget the visit. I’d only just woken up from the attack when Beth had appeared at my bedside. At first, she acted like a concerned friend. Careful and cautious with me, then out of nowhere she’d turned into a cold-hearted bitch. That was the first time she’d commented on my face, and how sad it was that I was now ugly and no man would ever come near me again. Yeah, damn right I remembered.

“Yes,” I answered.

“You know what’s so funny? You have no idea how close you came to dying.”

“I think I do.”

“No. Not in the alley. In the hospital. I came in ready to finish what I’d started. I couldn’t have you running to the police and blabbing. But when you woke up and cried your eyes out to me and hugged me, I realized you had no memory of what had happened, and it wasn’t worth the risk of killing you with all the nurses in and out. Not to mention, scrubbing the hospital’s server would be too difficult, there’d be footage of my visit. I let you live Meadow. And you know what I got in return?”

What the hell was she talking about? Let me live? No. No way. Beth was a crazy bitch, but there was no way… was there?

“I’m confused, Beth.”

“I’ll tell you what I got. You talking shit about me behind my back. Every fucking day, you talked shit about Queen Bitch, douchebaggette, twat-waffle, any of those ring a bell?” she yelled.

Shit goddammit. She had my phone and was reading my messages to Veronica Venus. Fuck. She was right; there was about five years’ worth of messages. Wait. If she had my phone, Nick would find me.

“Five goddamned years.” She held a phone up shaking it, the shiny purple case reflecting the dim light in the car.

“That’s not my phone,” I lamely said.

“No shit. Do you think I’m dumb enough to bring your phone so your FBI boyfriend can track it? How stupid do you think I am? And the office security feeds have been erased for the last seven days. No one’s going to find you Meadow.”

Wait, then how was she reading my messages to Veronica Venus?

“Did you clone my phone?” I asked.

“Why the hell would I waste my time doing that? The only two people you talk to are your mother and me. You really should’ve been more careful about browsing the internet on company computers. Message boards, online shopping, plastic surgeons to try and fix your ugly-ass face. All on company time on the company computer.”

Me?

What the fuck! I’d never spoken to Beth on my cell phone.

“You? What are you talking about?”

“Do you know how nauseating it is listening to you cry and whine every day about how bad your life is? How lonely you are? How your life was stolen from you? You cannot possibly know how many times I wanted to tell you to shut the fuck up. Flirty sluts like you who think they can bat their eyelashes and steal other people’s husbands are the ones that ruin lives. No one ever thinks about the wife at home, trying to make her husband happy. Giving everything of themselves for nothing. Nothing. All it takes is some skank in a short skirt and you lose everything. Why wasn’t I good enough?”

Holy shit, she’d lost her mind. The woman was batshit crazy, obviously, I mean I was duct-taped in the back of her car, but she was completely off her rocker. I had no idea what she was talking about, and I was afraid to ask.

“They deserved it. Every one of them. Fucking whores out trolling for men not caring if they’re taken or not. You got lucky, I was sloppy the first time and impatient. I took you out back too soon, and you were still able to talk. Never made that mistake again.”

The mother of all lightning bolts hit me. Jesus fuck. It was her!

“Why are you doing this to me?” I had to find a way out of this - she was going to kill me. I had no doubt I was about to be dragged out of the car and stabbed in the face until there was nothing left. I’d read the reports; I knew what she’d done.

Please, God, Nick! I didn’t want him to see me dead in the alley with my face like that. He’d blame himself.

“Why not you?”

“You’re right. Why not me? I’m begging you not to leave me here. Drive to another city and dump my body. Don’t do it here. I won’t scream this time, I promise. Just please, I’m begging you not here.”

“You don’t get a say. You’re not in charge, I am. This is my way.”

“Please Beth,” I tried again.

“Now you want to be nice? Well, fuck you. We’re done talking - it’s time.”

I tried to struggle and stop her from getting me out of the car. I screamed and yelled and tried to bite her. Nothing worked. I was out of the backseat and on the cold, dirty asphalt of the alley.

“Stay still,” she told me as I thrashed around as much as I could with my limbs bound.

“Not here. Please, Beth!”

I kicked and knocked the knife out of her hand, but it wasn’t hard enough because it was back in her hand and headed straight for me. I twisted again, and the familiar burn of her blade sliced my leg.

“God damn, I fucking hate you. Always such a pain in the ass, stay fucking still.”

Her knife caught me again, and I cried out. I was exhausted from the exertion. Not here, please God, don’t let Nick find me. I didn’t think I could keep this up much longer. Her arm went back, and I strained to move my head, but there was no way to get out of the way.

I’m so sorry Nick.

The low menacing growl pulled Beth’s attention from me, and I rolled to my side in time to see Beth stick her knife in Sally as the dog jumped at Beth knocking her to the ground.

No! I tried to scream, but no words came out. Please don’t let that be Sally. There had to be strays running the streets, right? Not Sally. Please, not her.

“Don’t move,” a man yelled as Beth struggled to her feet. “Beth Stevens, you’re under arrest.”

There was so much commotion I didn’t know what to do. There was nothing I could do but lie there as men yelled at Beth to put her hands up and move away from me. I didn’t know where her knife went. Would she still kill me in front of the police?

“Please Beth,” I cried.

“Shut up. This is all your fault. All of it. If you would’ve kept your mouth shut, none of this would’ve happened.”

“It’s over, Beth,” a woman’s voice joined the male voices.

Beth didn’t get the chance to answer. Out of nowhere, she was tackled from behind, her head hitting the ground with a sickening thud. At the same time, I was grabbed under my armpits and pulled away from a struggling Beth. She was screaming obscenities and threatening to kill me.

My body tensed, and fight or flight set in; I fought against the hold, trying to break free.

“It’s me, Red. Relax baby; you’re safe.”

Nick.

“Where’s Sally?” I asked.

“Let me worry about you right now.”

“No! I’m fine. Please, Nick. Help her; she saved my life. Go to her.”

“Joel’s got her. Let me cut you free and check your leg.”

“Please, Nick. She saved me.”

He didn’t answer. The tape binding my wrists and ankles were cut, and Nick rubbed my arms. He called for a medic, and soon a man and a woman joined us. Neither of us spoke, but he never took his eyes from mine. I heard the man tell Nick I needed to get to a hospital. Nick nodded and held my hand while I was loaded into the ambulance. I was surprised when he climbed in after me. I thought he’d need to stay behind with the police, but he never let go.

“I’m sorry I drank the coffee. I was so stupid. I’m so sorry I killed Sally.”

Nick hung his head, and the thin leash that was holding me together snapped when the first tear fell from his eye.

It was all my fault.