Chapter 38
Ashley-present
I’m still lost in the memory of that fateful night when I finally hear Rush yelling at me. He’s trying to yank me towards the fence, but my body won’t move.
“Ashley. Come on." Rush tries again.
I finally snap out of it and search around. There’s a guy running towards us, a rifle strapped across his chest, pointing right at us. I recognize him as one thug that was with Shaun when they tried to kidnap me.
“Oh fuck." I yell. My body unfreezes and I'm running with Rush.
We arrive at the fence when I realize we’re too late. Shaun’s waiting on the other side, a hateful expression in his brown eyes. He aims the barrel of a gun, pointing it right at Rush’s head.
“Look,” Shaun sneers to the man behind us. “Two for one, my lucky day.”
“I got them, Reiser. We’ll meet you at the gates.” The guy says behind us. He digs the rifle into Rush’s back, forcing us to walk.
“Thanks, Benson. I’ll stay with you, keeping an eye on this hot little body. Make sure she doesn’t try anything.” Shaun says. There’s an edge to his voice, and it makes me shudder.
The sun is burning bright, causing me to squint as we walk silently. The only noises are the crunching of gravel under our feet and the harsh breathing of our captors. No one says a word as we make our way to the gates. Shaun takes a key out of his jeans pocket and unlocks the gates, pushing them open with a heavy clank. He points his pistol at me while he steps closer.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Shaun says with lust in his voice. I need a shower from the way he’s looking at me.
Rush’s shoulders tense at Shaun’s remarks. I shake my head at Rush, silently ordering him to not do anything. If he decides to fight them, they will shoot him dead. I can’t let that happen. Shaun watches our little exchange, and a smirk appears on his twisted face.
“Good to see you’re still Ashley’s little lap dog. Tell me Rush, is she just as good as I remember?” Shaun asks.
“Rush, don’t he’s trying to bait you...” My sentence is cut off when Shaun slaps me across the face, sending me into the dirt.
I compose myself and spit blood out at Shaun’s feet. I glare at him with revenge and hate flowing through my body. I wipe the blood from my split lip with the back of my hand. I peek at Rush and Benson has him on his knees, the barrel of his rifle flush against Rush’s head.
“Is that all you got?” I cut my eyes back to Shaun.
“Oh, there’s more where that came from babe. Keep running your mouth and I’ll make you use it for something else.” Shaun replies grabbing his crotch. “Now get the fuck up and start walking.”
I get up on unsteady feet, a wave of dizziness passes across my vision. I shake my head, clearing it. I spot my car still idling off to the side of the gate. What was I thinking not telling Nolan where we were going? I’m such an idiot, he could have prevented this, but I didn’t think, I just acted.
Once we’re outside the gate, Shaun closes it and locks it back up. There’s a white van heading straight for us, kicking up dirt behind it. Once it reaches us, the driver slams on the brakes, creating dust to swirl up around us, making Rush and I choke.
When the dust settles, Shaun is standing next to me. His hand is wrapped around my bicep tightly, creating a bruise under his fingers. He leans in so his breath is fanning across my face.
“Behave and I won’t have to kill him.” Shaun whispers in my ear.
The driver of the van has the back door open and rope in his hands. Fuck me, this isn’t good. He strolls over to us and ties Rush’s hands behind his back first and leads him to the back of the van. Rush hesitates to get in and Benson hits him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle. Rush stumbles before climbing into the back of the van. The driver ties Rush’s feet together, making it so he can’t move.
Shaun yanks on my arm once Rush is secure and drags me toward the van. His fingers biting into my skin. The driver ties my hands behind my back then Shaun pushes me into the van. I stumble but get my footing back. I twist my body and kick the driver as hard as I can in the groin. He drops like a pile of bricks in pain.
“Fucking bitch." The driver shouts, holding his groin.
Benson whacks me in the head with his rifle, stunning me for a minute. Long enough for them to regain control. Shaun has me on my stomach and Benson takes the rope from the driver still on the ground. He ties my feet together and picks me up. Shaun approaches me and places his pistol at my head.
“One more move like that babe and Rush is dead.” He states, fury in his voice.
“Fuck you.” I growl. Shaun points his pistol at Rush and fear paralyzes me.
“Ok, Ok.” I concede. “I’ll stop fighting.”
“Good, now get the fuck in the van.” Shaun sneers.
I carefully make my way into the van with my feet tied. Benson takes two black hoods and places them over our heads, plunging us into darkness. I can feel Rush’s body heat next to mine and I scoot closer to him.
“Awe, how cute.” Shaun’s voice penetrates my ears. “Too, bad you won’t be awake for this ride.”
I feel the rear of the van sink down as someone makes their way over to us. There's a big hand on my arm, followed by a sharp pinch in my skin. Whatever they injected me with starts flowing in my system. My eyes become heavy along with my body.
I hear Shaun’s voice in my ear. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. The world fades away as I plunge into a black void.