“I don’t understand where you are going with this,” Rachel lied, gripping her hands together to keep them from shaking.
“They flashed a picture of the guy on the screen, and he kind of resembled Justin.”
Rachel inhaled sharply, her body shaking involuntarily. Crossing her arms over her chest, she tried to keep control of the panic that was threatening to overtake her.
“Hey,” Kayley put her hands on Rachel’s arms. “It’s okay. Ben wasn’t convinced, so I don’t know why I’m even saying anything. It’s just this feeling I can’t shake, and seeing you today, you’re hiding it well, but there’s something not right. Check it out, okay? See what you think.”
Rachel walked Kayley to the door, looking around the parking lot to make sure she didn’t see Justin’s truck. What if what Kayley said was true? What if he wasn’t who he said he was? She walked back to her desk, in a fog. How was she supposed to work now?
What was the name Kay had said? She sat, her fingers over the keys, for what seemed like forever.
Mark Stevenson
. Justin’s last name was Stevens. That was rather close. She was terrified to type in this name and see what he looked like and what he was wanted for.
Bringing up Google again, she typed in Mark Stevenson this time and watched the little hourglass think before popping up the results. Right at the top was the website for the FBI’s most wanted. Hovering her mouse over the website, she hesitated. What exactly would she do if it
was
him?
The page loaded and she scrolled, looking for the name. When she spotted the name, she closed her eyes. She thought she may lose the lunch she just ate.
Just do it, Rachel. Click it.
As the picture popped up, she cried out, causing Bailey to look at her quizzically. Waving her off, she put her hand over her mouth, biting down hard on her lip to control the scream that threatened to come out. It was him. The hair was different, but the face and eyes were the same. In the picture his hair was longer and darker, but there was no mistaking. She had to get out of here. She could drive right to the police station and tell them where to find him. She could go home and have them come there and wait for him to show up after work. She could run away and never come back.
Standing up, she grabbed her purse. “Bailey, I have to go. I’m sorry. Tell Rob I wasn’t feeling good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Bailey nodded, watching her cautiously as she walked to the doorway. She had always considered herself one of the strongest people she knew, but right now it felt like a slight wind could knock her down for the count. She was terrified. She had been so stupid. Of course she had fallen for some psychotic almost-killer. Why not? Just add it to the stupid things she had done in her life.
Pushing open the back door, her stomach jumped into her throat as she saw Justin standing next to her car. She wished for a moment she could go back to the other time he had been standing out here, begging for another chance. Why hadn’t she been stronger and said hell no? She would’ve never been in the place she was in now.
Walking toward him, she steeled herself for whatever he was here for. Pulling on her mask of steel, she pushed down the feelings of panic, fear, and the overwhelming need to start screaming at the top of her lungs. She could do this. All she had to do was pacify him until she could get to the police station. Why hadn’t she just stayed inside and called them?
“Hey,” she purred, reaching him. “What are you doing here so early?”
“Where are you going?” His voice was hard, cold.
“My head is pounding,” Rachel explained. “I was just going to head home early today to rest. I’m not quite up to being here all day. Why aren’t you at work?”
“Left early.” Justin’s dark eyes bored into hers, making her want to squirm under his gaze. “Ready to go home?”
Rachel opened and closed her mouth. She couldn’t go with him. She had to get away. “Well, I was going to stop at the drug store first to get some more headache medicine. Want me to pick up something to cook for dinner?”
Justin looked around the empty parking lot, and her stomach clenched. Grabbing her by the arm and shoving her against the side of his truck, he leaned in so there was no space in between them. “Do you think I’m fucking stupid, bitch? You thought I wasn’t going to know that Kayley came to have lunch with you, huh? What did you tell her, you lying whore? Where are you really going right now?”
Her head spun. How the hell was she going to get out of this?
Think, Rachel, think.
“Justin,” she tried the soft approach. She ran her hands along his sides, then cupped his face, running her fingertips along his lips. “Kayley showed up here with sandwiches and was here about a half hour. I didn’t call her. We only talked about work and her kids, nothing more. I told you I wouldn’t say anything and I didn’t.”
Justin’s eyes flashed in anger. “You think I’m that stupid to fall for your whore routine? You think you’re going to start touching me and I’m going to fall prey to you? You are fucking
wrong
, Rachel! That sweet little Bailey sure was helpful on the phone. See, I called here looking for you, and she told me that you were in the break room having lunch with Kayley. It didn’t take long for her to be singing like a bird, telling me all I needed to know. So I headed here, knowing you were going to have to be
straightened out
once again. Why are you such a worthless piece of shit? Why do I bother with you? You were a nice lay, but I don’t need the trouble.” He stepped back away from her, looking around again.
“Get in the fucking truck.
Right now.
You aren’t going
anywhere
without me. Your car can stay here forever as far as I’m concerned. You won’t be needing it.” He opened the door, shoving her roughly into the seat, causing her ribs to hurt again. She laid on the seat, tears coursing down her cheeks as she waited for him to get into the driver seat. She wished that someone, anyone would come save her. She knew now she was as good as dead if he got her home. She wasn’t even healed from last week, much less whatever punishment he was going to dole out now.
She thought to what Kayley said. Attempted murder. Woman still in a coma. She was next. She knew it. She would be lucky to be alive at all after this, much less in a coma.
Justin got in and glanced over at her, still slumped on the seat. “Get up and put your fucking seat belt on. You try to do anything smart on the way home and I’ll kill you first, then your fucking nosey-ass friend next. You got that?” Rachel nodded. Justin looked ahead, muttering under his breath to himself. He sped through the streets, running through lights and driving erratically. She was terrified to say a word, and actually found herself wishing they would get in an accident so that she could be saved and he would be apprehended.
A few minutes from her house, Rachel looked in the side view mirror and saw something that made her heart jump with hope. A cruiser was following them very closely. She closed her eyes, praying that they would flip on their lights. If they had been behind Justin for any amount of time, they would’ve seen him break any number of traffic laws.
Right after she saw it, so did Justin. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white. “Fuck. These bastards are going to turn their lights on, I know it. You better fucking sit there and pretend that you are happy as a pig in shit, you got that? You give them any indication of anything else and I’ll kill you both right here on the spot.” He indicated the glove box and Rachel knew. He had a gun. There was no escaping.
Moments later, the officer flipped on the lights and sirens. She wracked her brain for how she could get their attention without Justin knowing. She couldn’t think of a damn thing, but she knew that if she didn’t try to do something, it was over for her.
Pulling over in the parking lot of a gas station, Rachel looked around for anyone who may be paying them attention that she could try to signal but didn’t see anyone. The officer sat behind them for several minutes, no doubt running the plates of the truck. Rachel found herself wondering just who this truck was registered to, and if Justin really had a license that said his ‘fake’ name. He had gone all out to start a new life. She hoped the officer recognized him from the picture that had been plastered all over the news.
The door swung open to the cruiser, and Rachel watched, frozen, as the officer walked up to Justin’s window. He was a young guy, and she contemplated which of them were going to survive this.
Justin smiled, putting the window down. “Can I help you, officer?” Rachel had to give it to him, he was smooth. She knew that was exactly how he had swindled her into believing him.
“License and registration, please,” the officer answered, his eyes shifting over to her. What she wanted to do was start screaming and jumping up and down that he was a wanted criminal. But instead, she smiled at the young officer.
“What am I being pulled over for?” Justin reached over and squeezed her leg. To anyone else, it would look like a loving gesture. To her, she knew it was a warning.
The officer took the license and registration from him. “Going 65 in a 45 and running a red light, at a minimum. You could be booked for reckless driving for the things I saw you doing, but I may think about forgiving that if your record is clean. Hang tight, I’ll be right back.” Glancing at Rachel again, she had a brief moment to connect with the officer, so she shook her head no. He stopped, his eyes intent on her. Justin followed his gaze to Rachel, where she smiled and put her hand across the bench onto Justin’s leg. He winked at her, and the officer looked back and forth again between them before going on to his car.
Blowing out a nervous breath, she dared to look at Justin. He was actually smiling. She had no idea what in the hell this man’s problem was, but dear god she needed to get away from him. He reached over, putting his hand on the back of her neck and pulling her towards him. Pressing his lips against hers, he roughly shoved his tongue into her mouth. Knowing she didn’t have a choice, she opened her mouth to allow him access. His hand roughly touched her breast, kneading it, while his other hand reached over and rubbed her through her pants. She had no idea what he was doing or why. He was way beyond the point of turning her on, but she allowed him to keep touching her.
“Suck me,” he demanded, pulling away. His eyes were hard, cold, and it scared her. She looked at him, her mouth dropping open. He just said
what
?
“Justin,” she tried using a calm, rational voice. “Let’s save that for home, okay, babe? The police officer will be back soon.” What in the hell was wrong with this guy? Did he really think this was a good idea?
Justin looked in the rear-view mirror, then back at her, and the look in his eyes made her stomach coil in fear. “He’s still looking up my shit on the computer, which he will be doing for a while. I want you to suck me. I’m hard, and you haven’t been able to in a week because of your—problems, so I want it. And if I want it, then you are goddamn going to give it to me. If he starts coming before
I
start coming, then I’ll tell you to stop.”
Her eyes filled with tears without warning. He was going to make her do this, in his truck, with a police officer behind them. She was no better than a hooker on the street.
He unbuckled his jeans, still watching in the rear-view mirror.
Please come back
, she begged to the officer in the car behind her.
Please, figure out who he is and rescue me from what he’s going to do to me.
Justin turned to her. “Here you go, doll. Get on it.” The grin that spread over his face made her sick, and she turned away, biting her lip to keep from losing it in his truck.
“Please,” she begged. “Don’t do this, Justin. Please.”
He grabbed her head again, this time more forcefully and shoved her towards his open pants. Practically choking on her own bile and tears, she took him in her mouth as he demanded. Detaching herself from the situation, she pretended she was somewhere else, with someone else.
Devin
. His name came into her head without warning, and she wondered if she would ever have the chance to see him again, know him, talk to him. She would’ve never been here now if it wasn’t for her stupid young self.
As she continued and he held her head so she couldn’t escape, she remembered the many tips she had been given in her self-defense classes as a young, broken woman. When you think you are down, use what you have to gain the upper hand. Just like that, she knew what she needed to do to get out of this situation and get the cop’s attention.
Maneuvering her body, Justin thought she was just trying to get more comfortable, but really, she was gearing up for the impact of what she was about to do. She put her hand on his base, pulling her mouth to the tip. He groaned, his eyes still watching the cop behind them.
Take this, you asshole bastard
, Rachel thought, as she used her hand to squeeze his balls tightly and her teeth to bite down on the sensitive head. He screamed and released her, just as she knew he would, and she scrambled from the truck, falling out on the ground in her haste. She began running for the cop car, knowing Justin wouldn’t be far behind her out of the truck.
The cop was still running the information, but he sensed the movement and looked up, jumping immediately out of the car, gun drawn, as he saw her barreling towards him. Justin had gotten out of the truck now, his pants zipped up. The officer looked at Rachel, then at Justin.
“Freeze! Put your hands up!” he demanded, using one hand to hold the gun on the two of them and the other to radio for backup. If she didn’t get to him now, she would never stand a chance.
“Officer! Please help me!” Rachel screamed, looking wildly over her shoulder at Justin. She knew he probably had grabbed the gun out of the truck. He would’ve been stupid not to. She had it say it now, before it was too late. “This man’s name is Mark Stevenson! He’s the one that’s wanted for all of those charges! He told me his name was Justin. He’s been my boyfriend! He beat the shit out of me and threatened to kill my friend if I told anyone.”