Hold Me (15 page)

"Oh I think there's a simple solution to that, John. You and your sleazy friends get the hell out of my house and never come back." I faked some courage, but I was pretty sure he could tell it was all an act. I might be able to fool the other two morons, but John wasn't so easily fooled.

"I'm sure there is a better solution than that, duckling."

"I doubt it." My fingers were gripped around the knife so hard the blood completely drained from my hand, leaving my fingers pale white and tingling with numbness.

"Well, you know, I could just have Ben bring your boyfriend in here and then we could see how brave you are. Do you think you will be so brave while I'm carving him up like a thanksgiving turkey?"

My stomach dropped like a brick and I nearly choked on the lump in my throat. It was worst-case scenario and he knew he had me. There was no way I would be able to watch him hurt Dan or Will, knowing I could do something to stop it. On the other hand, if they were going to kill all of us anyway, what difference did it make? I tried to think about what Janet's advice might be in such a situation. I didn't think that for a moment, she would give up her weapon, no matter what. She would probably tell me to keep it and fight to the end.

I adjusted the knife in my hand and challenged him. "Go ahead. It was time for me to break up with him anyway." I glared at him and slowed my breathing, trying to give off some semblance of self-control. I doubted it would fool him, but at the very least, it might buy me some time.

He narrowed his eyes and looked over me, likely trying to decide how serious I was. He could of course, just shoot me, but I got the feeling he wasn't going to.

"Okay. Have it your way. Ben?" He called out behind him.

A moment later ole crushed-nuts peered into the room. "Yeah?"

"How's our friend doing?"

He shrugged. "He's conscious. For now. What's going on in here?" He nodded his head in my direction and raised an eyebrow.

"She needs a little incentive to play nice. Bring her boyfriend in here so I can help her see the importance of compliance."

"Sure thing." He shot me a smug smile before leaving the room.

My plan wasn't going so well. Apparently, he was willing to call me on it and Dan was going to pay the price. I wondered how Will was making out and immediately pushed the thought from my mind. I couldn't worry about that. I had enough to focus on at that moment. Anymore and I would surely lose it.

Ben pushed Dan through the door and into the room. His wrists were bound in front of him and he stumbled in with a limp. They'd shot him. That much was clear, but from the looks of him, they had done a lot more.

Dan's eyes met mine as soon as he was inside the room and he closed them for a long moment, then looked down at the floor. Ben kicked him in the back of the legs and he fell to his knees. It was enough to cause a shooting pain through my chest and I didn't know how I would hold out when they did worse.

"You want to rethink giving me that knife yet, ducking? Or should we see how your boyfriend here enjoys his intestines on the outside of his body?" John snickered and looked over Dan on the floor near his feet.

Dan straightened the best he could and looked me right in the eyes. "Don't give it to him, Andi. No matter what he does to me."

John turned and kicked Dan in the face with his filthy boot. He fell to the side and spit blood onto the floor beside him.

"Your boyfriend is brave, but we'll see if he can keep that up when I'm peeling his skin off, strip by strip. Though I do believe you will give in first, duckling. Watching your boyfriend fall apart, literally, does tend to be a little more difficult than you might anticipate.

John turned to me and raised an eyebrow. "Last chance." He held out a hand in my direction, being careful to stay just far enough back so that I couldn't swipe at him with the knife. I thought about doing just that. I could probably have lunged at him and cut his hand, but he would likely have grabbed my wrist and yanked me from my hiding place. It wasn't like I would be safe there for long, but I wasn't ready to give up and every second I held onto that knife, was one more second I was alive.

John shrugged and turned to face Dan. "Suit yourself."

Dan glared at him, defiant. "Do your best asshole." He spat a bloody glob at John's feet.

John laughed and pulled a knife from his belt holster. "Oh, I intend to."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I held onto my knife, because really, at that point, it was all I could do. Sure, I could have given it up and maybe saved Dan some torture, but in the end, I knew, they were going to do horrible things to each of us. Nothing I did would stop that. All I could hope for, was to stay alive just a little bit longer.

John kicked Dan over onto his side facing me and slid his knife up the back of his shirt to expose his back. Dan's eyes met mine and a tear fell down his cheek. My heart shattered into a million pieces as his eyes fell closed, his thick lashes soft against his face.

As John bent with the knife, I sprang forward. My own survival no longer first on my mind. I couldn't let it happen. It all occurred so fast. I was out of the corner and on top of him in an instant. My knife made contact, slashing across his cheek. Blood dripped down into my face as he flipped me over onto my back, pried the weapon from my hand and sent it flying across the room.

He shoved me to the floor, his whole body covered mine and pressed so hard it was difficult to take a breath. Stunned by the action, Ben froze just long enough for Dan to get to his feet and grab the knife that was in my hand seconds before. He pounced on Ben and slit his throat, dropping him into a heap on the floor.

One asshole down
.

John had a knife pressed into my ribs, which he pushed against me a little harder each time I struggled. He flipped the two of us over and positioned me in front of him, the knife still against my side.

"That's too bad. That idiot was my brother-in-law. Oh well." He shrugged. "Now you better drop that knife before your girlfriend loses her spleen."

"Don't, Dan." I pleaded with him. "He'll kill us both anyway."

John laughed. It was the sort of sound you'd expect to hear from an evil villain in a super hero movie. "Now it's her turn to be self-sacrificing. You are both adorable. Now drop the fucking knife, or this gets messy."

Dan took a step forward and smiled. "This is already messy." He let his eyes drop down to Ben on the floor.

"Oh, you think I give a shit about him? Or even the other one out there? I'd have killed them myself when I grew tired of them. Just as I will both of you. Right now, it's just a matter of how quickly."

Our options were few, but I knew that Dan and Will had a chance to get out alive, if it wasn't for me. If Dan could take John out, I knew he'd be able to handle Tim and get Will out. My last thought was of Janet. She sacrificed herself to try to save us. She died, saving me.

I looked up at Dan. His eyes were focused on the knife pressed up against me. His eyes came up and met mine. I knew I had to act before he decided to drop the knife and give in to save me.

"I love you. Tell Will I love him."

I slipped one arm out from under John's grasp and slammed the butt of my palm into his nose with all my strength. Hot, thick blood spilled over my hand and he made a sound that was something like a deep gurgle with a crunch. Dan lunged forward, but it was too late.

The knife slid into me with a searing ache that radiated out in a spiral and scorched my flesh, inside and out. The room swirled red and black, with star bursts that covered my whole field of vision. Nausea flooded me and I fell against John, our blood mixed together before everything went black.

***

My eyes fluttered open and the pain hit me like a brick, forcing them closed once again. My body was being pulled, squeezed, pressed. I wanted to fight, push whatever hands were on me off, but I couldn't move or speak, or even keep my eyes open.

I could make out my name, but it sounded so far away. Arms were around me and I was being carried. Where to, I didn't know, but at that point, it didn't even matter. I was tired, so tired and the relentless pain spread over me in waves. I just wanted it to stop. I squeezed my eyes and tensed, thinking if I tried, I could will consciousness away. I wouldn't get my wish.

I tried to pull my eyelids open, but bright lights pierced my vision and I squeezed them shut again. I was no longer in the bedroom.

Ripping of fabric, cold metal, warm liquid, the smell of alcohol.

I tried to take a breath and coughed. Droplets of warm blood splattered up and landed on my face. There was a sharp stab in my side close to the searing, and then relief. A numbness washed over the area and I was able to open my eyes. Breathing was still difficult, but after a moment, my eyes adjusted and I could see that I was in the back room. Derek stood over me and I thought for sure I had to be dead, because that made no sense at all.

"What is…" I tried to speak, but it was too much effort to get the words out.

Dan leaned over and rubbed his hand over my cheek. "Don't try to talk."

So maybe I was alive
.

And Dan was alive.

Where was Will?

My eyes closed and sleep took over.

When I opened my eyes again, the bright light was off and Derek was calling my name.

"Andi? You need to open your eyes. Yeah, that's it. No, don't close them. Stay with me, hon."

Dan squeezed my hand and smiled over me. He was a mess. One of his eyes was dark purple and swollen shut, his lip was busted open, and he looked like he was target practice for a professional boxer.

"There you are, love. Open those beautiful blue eyes." Dan smiled and winced. It had to hurt to move any part of his face in that condition.

"Sit. It's your turn." Derek turned to Dan and held up one of Mom's suture kits.

I tried to prop myself up to look around the room. "Where's Will?" I whispered, because really, a whisper was all I was capable of. Each breath took all the energy I had and it felt like there was fifty pounds of bricks sitting on my chest. Derek took my hand and helped me to sit. The room spun around me and I wasn't quite sure I was going to be able to pull off sitting upright. After a moment, it passed and Derek lifted me into a chair.

"Don't try to move." He held a finger up in warning then tugged at Dan to sit on the exam table. "We need to get you stitched up and we don't have all day."

Dan nodded and complied. He pulled off what remained of his shirt and hopped up on the small table. His face was bad, but the rest of him was worse. He was shot in the arm, had various stab wounds, and was nearly covered in bruises. I'd never seen anyone alive in that bad of shape and couldn't imagine why Derek didn't take care of him first.

I tried to take a deep breath, but was rewarded with a sharp stab in the chest that nearly knocked me over out of the chair. Once the pain passed, I took a shallow breath and made an attempt to speak again. "Will?" was all I could manage to get out.

"He's in the bedroom. You have some broken ribs and I'm not completely sure he didn't nick your spleen. Don't try to breathe too deep." Derek went about stitching and bandaging Dan up. I still didn't know how he got there, but I was glad to have him. As a medic, Derek had the knowledge to fix things that we might ordinarily be shit out of luck with. I wanted to ask, but I settled for leaning back in the chair and watching him sew Dan back up.

No longer oozing blood, Dan stood and ran his hand over the bandage on his arm. "Getting shot frigging hurts." He half-laughed, then doubled over in pain.

"Yeah, it does. So do broken ribs. You might wanna lay off the comedy for a bit." Derek rolled his eyes and tossed the surgical gloves he had on in the trash, then walked over to me. "How ya feeling?"

"Alive." My throat was dry and scratchy making the words sound like more of a croak.

He sighed and squatted down to my level. "I'm glad for that. I wish I'd gotten here sooner."

"Is Will okay?" I needed confirmation, proof, that he was actually alive.

Derek nodded. "Yeah, he's going to be fine. Maybe a little concussion, but he's in better shape than you two."

"And those guys?" Ben was dead. I knew that much. I'd watched Dan slit his throat, but the other two I wasn't sure about.

"They're both dead, Andi. You don't have to worry about them anymore."

I took a small breath and felt something close to relief when I realized what he said. "Wait, both?"

"Yes. They were both in the bedroom, dead. I checked."

I looked at Dan, hoping he would tell me the other one was dead too, or that Derek just missed one, but he had the same confused look as me.

"But, there were three of them."

"Three?" Derek's eyes went straight to Dan for confirmation as he stood back up.

Dan nodded.

Derek felt the gun on his waist, and glanced around the room. "Okay. Three. So there's one unaccounted for." He disappeared from the room and left Dan and me there, broken and confused.