Chapter 23: Jenni

The restraints cut into my wrists as I wrestled against them, twisting and turning my hands around in hope that somehow, they would just magically break loose. The more I struggled, though, the more the skin burned, and I had to stop my efforts while fighting back tears that were being brought on by the pain.

The single lamp that lit the living room cast shadows across the walls and left an eerie glow against the walls. From my position on the couch, I could barely see past the door into the hallway where Heath was humming a tune to himself while fiddling around with the drawers. I had no idea what he could be looking for, but his attitude made one thing clear.

He was bored.

Use that. Find a way out.

I had no idea how, though. I knew that Alex would show up pretty soon, and I cranked my head as I tried to look out the window at the abandoned house across the street. I had no idea what Garth had in store for him, but it couldn’t be good. Garth was losing it, bit by bit, believing he was untouchable to the point where he probably thought that he could kill a man and not face the consequences of that. He wasn’t delusional, though, just given false security by a Sheriff who was as competent as a fish out of water.

To me, that meant he was reckless, and I doubted Alex knew just how much. There was no telling what would happen when the two of them collided. All I knew was one of them was not going to make it out of this alive, and right now, Garth had home advantage.

You have to warn him.

The question was how.

Heath began to whistle joyfully as he strolled back into the living room, holding what looked like a journal in his hands. He was flipping through the pages, eyes wide, his pitch going higher as he scanned the journal’s contacts.

“Hey, Jenni, you know what this is?” he asked, waving the journal at me.

I didn’t answer.

“You remember how Garth said he could remember every single contact he had, just pull out their numbers from some kind of super storage in his head?” Heath smacked the journal and smiled. “Well, that was a load of crap.”

You don’t say? There was a lot of that oozing out of Garth, that this didn’t seem like much of a surprise.

Heath opened the journal again. “Every single name and number, in alphabetical order, and Garth didn’t even code the damn thing.” He looked up at me and smiled. “You know, I could take this and make it on my own without him, if I didn’t love the guy so much. Pretty stupid to leave it lying around where anyone could find it.”

“You seemed to be looking real hard for that,” I commented.

Heath laughed and plopped down on the couch. “Gotta watch my boy’s back, you know?” He continued scanning the journal. “I mean, we got a bunch of guys coming and going through here, some that can’t be trusted. This isn’t something you’d want them to get their hands on. There’s no telling what they could do with it.”

There’s your out!

“What are you going to do with it?” I asked.

“What do ya mean?”

I gestured to the journal. “You said everything’s in there,” I said. “What’s stopping you from walking out of here with it all?”

Heath looked at me for a few seconds before he smiled and shook a finger at me. “No, no, no,” he chuckled. “Bad ex-girlfriend. I see what you’re trying to do.”

“What am I trying to do?”

“You’re trying to tempt me into backstabbing my best friend,” Heath said. “Playing your little mind games, making me think I can have it all, right?”

I shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I mean, you’re a smart guy. It’s not like you really need him.”

“Alright, you know what?” he said, waving a dismissive hand at me. “Stop it. I liked you better when you weren’t talking.”

“Seriously, Heath,” I pressed. “Come to think of it, all he really does is call people and bark orders. You do most of the heavy lifting.”

“Shut up, Jenni.” Heath’s tone took a more aggressive turn, and he glared at me angrily.

Twin lights broke through the window and briefly lit up the living room in a bright light before turning away. I looked over my shoulder and watched in horror as Alex’s car pulled up to the house across the street. I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach.

“That your lover boy?” Heath asked, getting up and rushing to the window. He clapped his hands together and smiled. “Looks like it’s all going down now.” He turned around and went back to the couch, picking up the journal again.

I tried to loosen my restraints again, wincing and clenching my teeth at the jolts of pain that shot out from where the skin had been rubbed raw. This was getting me nowhere, and I watched helplessly as Alex walked up the driveway and disappeared behind the house. He was carrying Samuel’s rifle.

“You know, now would be the perfect time,” I said, turning my attention back to Heath.

He looked up at me and frowned. “What?”

I gestured to the journal again. “Garth’s going to be a little preoccupied at the moment. I say take it and make a run for it. Drive out of town, far away from Kent. Make a few calls. Get a nice little setup going on before he even knows what hit him.”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Take me with you.”

Heath’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

“Take me with you,” I repeated. “Come on, you don’t honestly think I want to stay in this hell hole forever do you?”

Heath frowned at me, the confusion etched on his face almost making me smile.

“Alex was just a means to an end,” I said. “This is all a show. Take out Alex, and Samuel would be too heartbroken to do anything but sell. He’d need the money to take care of Kelly.”

“Bullshit,” Heath said. “You know, sometimes I get the feeling you think I’m a complete idiot.”

“Why?” I asked. “Because Garth didn’t tell you about all this? You know him better than anyone. How was this going to be believable if we continued seeing each other?”

“Okay, now you’re just blabbering a bunch of nonsense,” Heath said. “If this was some great plan, then why are you tied up over there?”

“You said it yourself, too many people,” I replied. “Garth doesn’t know who to trust anymore. We staged the whole kidnapping.”

Heath shook his head, but I could already see that he was starting to doubt his own logic. “That’s bull. He would have told me.”

“Actually, he wanted to,” I said. “I convinced him not to. For this to work, everyone had to be kept in the dark, even you.”

Heath ran a hand across his face and scratched the back of his head. He stood up and began to pace back and forth. He shook his head and waved a finger at me.

“See, there you go, playing with me again,” he said. “Garth would never agree to that.”

“It’s perfect, and you know it,” I said. “You just don’t want to believe it because you never thought he’d keep you in the dark about anything. Garth is always going to look out for number one, and that number one is him. He’ll toss anyone aside if it works in his favor.”

“And what’s going to stop him from tossing you to the curb?”

“Nothing,” I said. “That’s why I’m telling you to take me with you. You have his contacts right there in your hands. Every name and number he’s ever needed to build his little empire. All I ask is you take me with you.”

Heath eyed me for what seemed like forever, and I knew I had gotten to him. When you broke him down to his core, all Heath really wanted was power and recognition, both of which Garth was barely giving him. All I needed was a little push to get him to turn on Garth completely.

I adjusted myself on the couch, letting my feet fall to the floor, and opened my legs wide.

“What are you doing?”

“Come on, Heath,” I tried my best to smile seductively. “Don’t tell me you weren’t just a little curious about what made Garth bend over backwards for me?”

His eyes rested on my crotch, and I pushed my chest out towards him. “Take me with you,” I whispered, “and I promise you, you’ll get a lot more than just a journal.”

“Prove it.”

The request took me by surprise, and for a brief second, my composure faltered. “Excuse me?”

“Prove it,” he repeated. “You say you want out. You say you want me to take you with me, that you’d give me all of that.” He gestured with his hand at me. “Prove it.”

I tried to control the shaking in my voice, and faked a smile. “What do you want me to do?”

He walked towards me, dropped the journal on the couch, and leaned in. “Give me a preview,” he said.

He reached down with one hand and cupped me between my legs, pressing the heel of his hand against my crotch. I fought back the gag that threatened to escape my mouth and the bile that rushed up my throat. Play along, dammit! Play along.

“Whatever you need, sweetheart,” I whispered, hating myself for what I was doing.

He cupped one of my breasts and squeezed painfully, but I was quick to hide my discomfort and even pushed my hips forward against his hand. He unbuttoned my jeans and pulled the zipper down, giving himself room to slide his fingers into my panties. I shuddered with disgust as he touched me, the reflex working to my advantage as he smiled.

“You like that, huh?”

I nodded, biting my lip and trying to look as turned as I possibly could without headbutting him in the face. “Untie my hands and pull down your pants,” I said. “I think I might just know how to be a little more convincing.”

Heath hesitated for only a second before pulling a switchblade out of his pocket and reaching around me. I heard the blade snap open, and with a few tugs, my hands were finally free. Heath stood up, replaced the knife in his pocket, and quickly began unbuckling his pants. I gave him my best smile as he tugged and pulled at his pants, and even went as far as helping him pull them down.

Gunshots echoed through the night sky, startling us both. Heath’s head snapped up, his eyes squinting to see what was happening across the street, and I used the momentary distraction to my advantage. I gathered my strength, used every ounce of anger I had to fuel it, and punched him in the crotch.

Heath cried out in pain, his knees buckling as he collapsed onto the floor. I jumped up and raced past him. He curled up in a fetal position, his hands holding his crotch, and called after me. “You fucking bitch!”

I raced to the front door, skidding as I stopped and tried to pull it open. It was locked. I looked for the key on the table next to the door, my hands shaking, Heath’s cries of pain piercing through my ears like sirens.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!”

More gunshots sounded from across the street, and tears quickly welled up in my eyes. I needed to get to Alex. I had no idea what I would do once I was outside, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was racing across the street before it was too late.

Heath appeared at the doorway to the living room, naked from the waist down, cupping his crotch with one hand and brandishing his switchblade in the other. “I’m going to cut you up, you fucking bitch!”

He lunged for me, and I quickly turned and raced up the stairs. I could hear him following me, clumsily slamming against the bannister and wall as he chased me to the second floor. Something cut across the back of my arm, and I screamed at the sudden shock of pain that shot out from where his switchblade had wounded me. I kept going, high on adrenaline, knowing that if I hesitated for just one second, he’d be on top of me. And that switchblade would do a lot more than just cutting.

I ran into Garth’s room and slammed the door closed. Heath was able to get an arm in to stop it from closing completely. I leaned against it, using my body to keep him from pushing it open, but he stronger, angrier, and I felt myself losing the struggle. He swiped at me with the knife, barely missing my face, and pushed at the door with everything he had. I was hurled forward and landed with a thud on the ground.

“You bitch!” he screamed and toppled on top of me. The weight of his body knocked the breath out of me, and I was helpless as he grabbed my hair and slammed my face against the floor. I flood blood trickle into the back of my mouth, and I pushed up against him with everything I had.

Heath rolled off me, the knife falling from his hands, and I grabbed it before he could. Without thinking, I swung my arm around and watched the blade cut across his cheek. He rolled away, kicking me as he tried to distance himself from my frantic swings. Gathering what little strength I had left, I pushed to my feet and raced back out and towards the stairs. Before I could reach them, Heath had caught up with me and threw his body against me, slamming the both of us into the wall.

“I’m going to kill you!” he hissed in my ear.

Screaming, I flung my elbow back and felt it connect with his jaw, giving me enough room to turn around and push him away.

Heath’s eyes grew wide as he lost balance and fell back, landing with a sickening cracking sound on the staircase. I slid to the floor and watched as he rolled down the stairs and came to an abrupt stop at the bottom, his legs and arms twisted in impossible angles and his eyes staring up at the ceiling.