Forsaking All Others (From This Day Forward Book 2) (22 page)

We’re driving much faster than I would normally be comfortable with, bouncing up and down back country roads. All I can think of is getting to Beth though. Mike has me manning the app, tracking her cell phone.

The only time either one of us speaks is when he asks me for an update on her location and I give it. Otherwise, the truck is deathly quiet.

She’s about twenty-five miles from our location. It looks like she stopped somewhere north of New Home. I silently urge the truck to go faster.

Beth

Beth

Beth

Every heartbeat pounds out her name.

I’m coming, baby.

Hold on.

I’m coming for you.

I thought she was dead. Then her eyes popped open and I began screaming again as she silently watched me.

I think back to the girl I saw in the photo at Landon’s house, the girl whose face is plastered across billboards. The girl in front of me looks nothing like that.

Gone is the dark brown hair.

Her hair has been bleached until it’s as blonde as mine.

She is severely emaciated and has bruises covering her once perfect skin.

She’s wearing a replica of my wedding dress, but hers is filthy and ripped. I glance down and see blood between her thighs and I have to look away in horror.

“K-katya?” My voice shakes.

She nods slightly, never breaking eye contact with me.

Landon pulls me back to my feet, “Now, that we’re all acquainted, let’s get started. Did you see all the hard work I went to for you, Elizabeth? I tried to get her look just right, but no matter how hard I tried, she couldn’t compare to you.”

I try to focus on something else, the bile rising up in my stomach, but instead I see my wedding picture lying on a rusted metal table.

I point to it, “Is that my picture? You’re the one who broke in and stole it that night!”

He bends my finger back until it snaps, and I scream in pain. “It’s rude to point at people, Elizabeth! Davey let you get away with so much, but not me. I’m going to make you into a proper lady.”

My finger is throbbing and I know without looking that he broke it. He pushes me back until I’m sitting in a chair before going over to the metal table and looking over something. “Are we ready? Good.”

He holds up a small knife and I push myself out of my chair, “Nooo…” I stumble and fall onto my knees before I begin crawling toward the stairs.
I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to find help…for both of us.

Landon grabs me by my hair and pushes me back into the chair, “Do I need to use the handcuffs again?”

I shake my head violently, causing more pain. Katya continues to stare blankly at me.

He runs the back of the knife down my cheek, “Good girl. See—you’re learning. Now, I know you’re probably as anxious as me to consummate this relationship, but there’s one small problem—” He brings the knife down to my stomach and I stiffen immediately, “I can’t let this go unpunished.”

My blood is like ice in my veins. He gently traces designs against my stomach with the knife. I don’t move a muscle. I can’t let him hurt my baby. Katya’s eyes widen with understanding and her lip begins to tremble.

I look away from her. I will not allow this monster to break me.

“Landon, what are you doing? You don’t want to hurt me.”

He smiles sweetly at me, “Of course I don’t want to hurt you, sweet girl. I love you. I can’t allow you to have any piece of him though. You belong to me. We’re going to cut that reminder out and you’ll be mine again. Just like before.”

I feel the urge to pass out, but I can’t lose consciousness. I fight to stay awake. I take a deep breath to steady myself, and place my hands on his arms, stroking gently. I resist the urge to vomit on him. “Landon, I’ve missed you. And I know that you’re mad, but if you try to cut this baby out of me, I’ll bleed to death. We’re too far away for help to get here.” I choke up and continue talking through the tears, “Please don’t make me leave you when I just got back.”

I don’t mean a damn word of it, but I need him to think I do. He drops the knife into the dirt and pulls me into him. “I’ve waited six months to hear those words from you. Six long months.” He kisses the top of my head before stepping back to look at me, “You’re right. I can’t take a risk like that with your life.” I close my eyes in relief. Maybe if I’d kept them open, I’d have seen what was coming.

Katya screams out a warning just as Landon’s fist connects with my abdomen. The blow knocks the air out of my lungs and I sink to the dirt floor, gasping for air. My stomach contracts painfully.

He stands over me, “You are mine, Elizabeth, and you will not walk out of here pregnant with that bastard’s kid.”

His foot comes up to kick me and I roll, my ribs taking the brunt of it. His fist comes down again and he connects with my belly before I can move. The pain is excruciating and I see spots, but I refuse to pass out. I will die fighting for my little boy.

Katya’s screams pierce the air and I fight the urge to tell her to shut the fuck up as I dodge blows and kicks. I run my hand through the dirt and connect with the knife. I read the
Outlander
series a few years ago and I remember the clansmen teaching Claire how to fight with a knife. I clench it tight in my fist and try to remember how to effectively use it.

Landon grabs a fistful of my hair, dragging me up off the ground. “Stop fighting me. I don’t want to hurt you. It’ll all be over soon.”

Just as he gets me up, I reach back and stab at him. I mistakenly hit a rib and pain jolts down my arm, almost causing me to drop it.

He glances a blow off the side of my head and the room spins, but I hold that knife like it’s a lifeline. This time when I stab, the blade sinks in and Landon roars in pain, “You fucking bitch! You stabbed me!”

He lets go of my hair and I fall forward onto my hands and knees. I try to gather my bearings when he puts me in a headlock and hauls me back up, “I tried to make this easy for you, but now—I’m afraid to say—it’s going to hurt you…a lot.” He applies pressure on my throat, instantly cutting off my air supply.

My feet kick wildly in the air, black spots dancing in the corners of my eyes. I claw at his arms, his face—anything I can get within reach, but he just applies more pressure and I know this is it.

My eyes are streaming tears.

“Beth?”

I’m dying.

I can hear David’s voice, but he sounds so far away.

David

I’m so sorry

I tried to save our baby

I tried to save us both, but I’m not strong enough

Landon roars in anger and loosens his grip enough for me to suck in a breath before he tightens it again.

“Oh my God—Beth!”

I try to open my eyes, but everything goes dark.

Mike parked and the minute we opened the truck doors, we could hear screaming. I didn’t think twice, I just ran inside, yelling her name. It took us a minute to figure out that the screaming was coming from below us.

I bound down the basement stairs, gun drawn, and the sight is something that will forever be ingrained in my memory. I grew up hunting—Mike and I would even take weekend trips together every fall. I’m not one to miss my mark, but seeing my wife struggling in Landon’s arms as he slowly chokes her—I’ve never felt so helpless. I’m afraid with as much as she’s struggling, that I’ll hit her by mistake. That’s a risk I can’t take right now. I’m so focused on getting a clear shot that I miss the woman in the corner. I don’t notice her until she lunges at Landon, sinking something in between his shoulder blades. He drops Beth and turns on the woman.

I scoop Beth’s limp body up in my arms and Mike takes the shot. I lay her back down in the dirt, ready to perform CPR, when she sucks in a ragged breath.

“David… are you really here?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

I rock her in my arms and she cries out in pain, “I’ve got you, baby.” I gently lay her back and see that she’s drenched in sweat.

“Mike— we’re going to need to call an ambulance. She’s in bad shape.” I try to keep the emotion out of my voice, but her body is so battered.

She screams out in pain again, and I frantically search for what’s hurting her.

“We’re going to need an ambulance for both of them. We just found Katya Egorichev.”

I grind my teeth together.

Mother fucker.

Beth screams and tries to clench my shirt before losing consciousness again.

Mike’s face goes white and I follow his gaze to where blood is pooling between my wife’s legs.

No no no!

I don’t even see him whip out his phone, I’m so focused on stopping the bleeding.

“Beth, stay with me baby. Hold onto my voice. We’re going to get you help.”

Katya rocks back and forth, crying silently. “I tried to save her…I’m so sorry—I tried.”

Mike wraps his jacket around her shoulders, while giving someone on the phone our GPS coordinates.

“How long will it take an ambulance to get to us?”

Beth begins panting and tries to sit up, forcing another gush of blood into the dirt.

“No, dammit, I don’t have that kind of time. One of the female victims is twenty-eight weeks pregnant and in active labor due to trauma. How fast could you get a chopper in the air?”

I stare back at Beth’s ashen face. She can’t be in labor…it’s too soon.

Mike roars into the phone, “Fuck! I’m aware that we’re under a blizzard warning—I’ve got two women who need immediate medical attention!”

He paces back and forth as I cradle Beth in my arms. I try not to focus on what his actions mean for us, I refuse to let my wife and son die on the dirt floor of an abandoned farmhouse basement. I gently lift her in my arms and she moans.

“I got you, baby. We’re going to get you help.”

I nod at Mike as I lift her limp body in my arms, “Tell them I’ll meet them, but I can’t sit here and wait. She doesn’t have that kind of time!”

Mike repeats my words and lifts Katya, the phone pressed to his ear the entire time. I carry Beth up the stairs, her blood soaking through her jeans and onto my hands.

Sweet Jesus.

I need more time with her.

If that mother fucker isn’t dead yet, I’m going to be the one to personally send him straight to Hell.