Authors: Kelly Abell
She put the picture down, moved over to the small couch in the living room, and sat down, pulling her feet up, tucking them under her. She realized as soon as she sat down, that she hadn’t gone back into the bedroom to get one of the guns Jack wanted her to keep with her. She sighed. She would go get it in a minute. She was exhausted from worry. She didn’t want to think about what she would do if he didn’t come back, but she better prepare herself.
When, she wouldn’t even think the word “if”, he came back how was she going to tell him that she was in love with him? What would his reaction be? She was smart enough to know that Jack Weaver was not a man to fall in love. He was a one-night stand man. She couldn’t possibly hope that he felt for her what she felt for him. Could she?
She wasn’t imagining the sparks that flew between them when they made love. She literally felt her soul take flight when they went over the edge together and she was sure Jack felt the same way. When his dark brown eyes captured hers, she was certain he could see into her very soul and she felt she knew him on a level deeper than she had known any man. What do you call that? Lust? No, not lust, it’s much more powerful than that, but was it love? Over the last few weeks, she had come to learn what a restless spirit Jack was. He may not want to settle down with a woman that had the kind of baggage she did. Even if she got out of this alive, she would still be married to the next Vice President of the United States. How do you get rid of baggage like that? She knew the answer to that question. You didn’t. Being married to Warren Walters would haunt her the rest of her life. She would never be free of him. Not until he was dead and buried. May he rot in hell.
She rested her head on the back of the couch and before she knew it, she was dozing. It felt good to just relax and let her mind drift imagining what it could be like with Jack if they weren’t in this predicament. She saw him coming up the driveway of this little house after a hard mission and she was waiting in the kitchen. The doorknob rattling as he tried to get in. Suddenly her head popped up. What was that? She heard something, but the fog of her daydream hadn’t yet cleared. Was it the front door? She listened hard. Was Jack home? Surely he hadn’t had time to return from the Keys. She heard it again, the rasp of metal rattling against wood. It was the front door. She hadn’t dreamed it after all. She relaxed. Jack didn’t have his key and couldn’t get in.
She rose from the couch and crossed the living room to the front door. It had no peephole but she felt sure it was Jack. No one else knew she was here. She opened the door “I wondered when you were going to get…” Her voice caught in her throat, and her heart stopped, the blood freezing in her veins. Warren. Oh God, it was Warren.
“
Hello Caroline. I bet you were expecting your lover, Jack Weaver weren’t you?”
She patted the pocket of her jeans and realized she didn’t have the gun. It was in the bedroom. Panic rose and she fought to control it. She just knew he could hear her heart hammering like a percussion band. She had to maintain control. If he saw the panic in her eyes she would be done for. She could handle this. She just needed to get herself under control until she could get to that gun.
“
What do want Warren?” She was surprised at how steady her voice sounded to her own ears.
“
Why, you, of course. I bet you thought I wouldn’t find you in your little love nest in this hell hole they call the Sunshine State.” He pushed her hard, and she stumbled backward into the living room. She glanced back at the bedroom trying to calculate if she could make it to there and get the gun before he caught up with her.
“
Oh, don’t try to pretend like someone’s here Caroline. I know you are alone. Do you think I would be stupid enough to waltz right up to the front door if Weaver was here? I happen to know for a fact he went to the Keys to meet his so-called friend, Hutch Armstrong. I also happen to know that by now Jack Weaver is dead.”
Caroline’s eyes went wide with shock. What? Dead? Jack? Warren was lying. She would know it if something terrible had happened. She knew it in her heart that she would know it if Jack were…No, she wouldn’t let herself think that way. She watched him closely, her green eyes pinned to his icy blue ones.
“
You don’t know shit, Warren.” She wished her knees were as steady as her voice. She moved to the couch and put it between herself and Warren. It provided her some barrier and a support to keep her from collapsing to the floor. If only she had that gun. How could she have been so stupid?
“
Oh yes, I do. I happen to know that Cortez sent his men down there hours ago with orders to blow Jack and Hutch to hell. They rigged Hutch’s cabin with enough explosives to blow that place to Cuba. I expect your precious Jack is fish food by now.”
Caroline shook her head. She wouldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe it. Jack was okay he had to be. She willed her body to stay upright. She had to think. She had to get out of this house. For some bizarre reason the picture of Jack and Lucy with their grandparents popped into her head. Now why of all times…the barn, she thought suddenly. She pictured it bright and red in her mind. If she could get to the barn she could at least find a weapon. She would never make it to the bedroom without Warren catching up to her, but she could make it down the short hallway and out the back door.
She pushed the couch forward with all her might and bolted. She was down the hall and out the back door before he even got around the couch. The oppressive humidity that was Florida hit her face as she leapt from the porch to the ground. She was barefooted and the small pebbles littered throughout the yard dug into her feet, but she felt no pain as she ran toward the barn. She heard the back door slam knowing he was right behind her.
“
You can run but you can’t hide Caroline.” He shouted after her.
She reached the barn door and dragged it open. It was heavy and it creaked and groaned as she pulled the handle toward her. She slipped in and pulled the door shut. Throwing the bolt she turned and wildly looked around her. A tight squeak of alarm slipped out of her throat when Warren began to pull at the door handle behind her. This door was stout, but the back of the barn stood wide open. It would only be a matter of seconds before he ran around and came in the other side. She searched frantically for a weapon. Relief flooded through her when she spotted a pitchfork in one of the stalls. It hung on the wall and she ran to it. She grabbed for it with her fingers and it was just about two inches beyond her reach. She jumped, trying to knock it out off the pegs that supported it on the wall. It didn’t move. She could hear Warren running around the side of the barn. He would be in the door in seconds. She jumped up and tried again. It wouldn’t budge. She was not tall enough to get any leverage and knock it off its pegs. She whirled frantically looking for something else when she saw Warren appear at the open doorway.
“
There you are you stupid bitch.” He advanced toward her. She had no weapon; no gun, no pitchfork, nothing but her bare hands, and she wasn’t going down without a fight. Jack told her that the element of surprise always gave one the advantage. Do something your opponent would not expect.
Lowering her head she ran at Warren. She rammed into his midsection, hearing his breath come out in a whoosh. He fell over backwards and she fell over the top of him and tried to scramble away. He grabbed her ankle and yanked hard. She grabbed at the dirty wooden floorboards and tried to hang on. She cried out as one of her fingernails was ripped from her finger. She rolled onto her back and kicked her heel against his wrist with all her might, but he held fast. He yanked her toward him and grabbed her forearms. He stood hauling her up with him.
“
Thought that was clever, did you bitch?” He released one arm and brought his hand across her cheek, hard. Pain exploded in her head and her vision temporarily went black. She shook her head to clear it but another blow came back across the other cheek, and at the same time he released her arm, sending her sprawling into the dirty hay. Shaking her head again she found her hands and feet and scooted back to brace her back against the wall. She pulled herself into a crouch. Every muscle bunched in anticipation of his advance. He moved toward her more slowly this time. He wasn’t going to let her surprise him again.
“
What are you going to do now, Caroline? You think you’re going to win this fight. I’m twice your size and three times stronger. Do you honestly think you can hurt me? Just give it up. You’re going to lose and I’m going to enjoy myself for a little while before I drag you home.” He began to unbuckle the belt on his pants.
She cringed at the sound of the leather slithering through the fabric belt loops. She knew what he was thinking, but she was ready. She braced as the expected blow came from the leather belt. She winced but didn’t cry out as it landed across the arm she had placed in front of her face. He raised the belt for another blow and this time she surprised him again. When the leather hit her arm she reached out, grabbed it and pulled it with all her strength. He was caught off balance by the unexpected yank and tumbled face first into the stall. She stood quickly, picked up her foot, and stomped hard on the back of his head. She heard bone crunch and a muffled scream. She grunted with satisfaction but didn’t linger. She ran. She ran as if the devil himself were after her. She headed out the barn door and toward the woods. She needed to circle back around and get to one of the guns in the house. She hid behind a large old Grandfather Oak tree to see if Warren would get up and follow her.
She peered around the massive oak tree and saw Warren standing at the wide-open mouth of the barn, blood gushing from his nose and staining the front of his shirt. His eyes were already starting to swell and turn black as he scanned the back yard for her whereabouts. He looked straight at the tree she was hiding behind and she pulled back praying he hadn’t seen her. He began to walk in her direction.
“
I see you Caroline. It really is useless for you to try to get away. You’re mine and you always will be mine. Why not just give up and accept your fate? I have given you so much but you never appreciated it did you? You had to run off with that idiot Jack Weaver and put us all to a lot of trouble. I’m going to be President in less than two months and you, Caroline, were going to be First Lady. It is what we always dreamed of, but I can’t let that happen now. You’ve shamed us both with your little stunt. I’m afraid I can’t let that go unpunished.” He spit blood out his mouth and continued to move toward the tree.
Caroline backed away from the trunk and deeper into the woods. She had nowhere to go. If she ran he would hear her and be on her in a flash. He was getting closer and she was sure he could hear the breath rasping in and out of her lungs. She glanced madly around her for something to hit him with. He was only a few feet away when she saw it, a rock the size of a grapefruit. It wasn’t big enough to kill him, but it would slow him down long enough for her to get past him and back to the gun in the house.
He was squinting now through his swollen eyes but he saw her behind the tree. “Give it up, Caroline. You could never win against me so what makes you think you will now? You are trapped just like the pathetic little animal you have always been.” He was goading her.
He must not be able to see her clearly with his swollen eyes or he would have rushed her. He wasn’t positive she was behind that tree. She would use that to her advantage. She began to inch her way around the other side of the huge tree trunk. It was as big in diameter as one of the columns on the White House. Funny, wasn’t it, how that comparison was the one that popped into her mind at that moment. She could move almost all the way around without him seeing her if she was quiet. She gripped the rock tightly in her hand. Not watching where she was stepping, she pressed down on a dry twig and the snap sounded like a gunshot to her.
Warren’s head whipped around in the direction of the sound. He spotted her and moved quickly. Caroline made her move. She rushed him with the rock, but he was too fast for her. He pulled up his right arm and fired the pistol he held in his right hand.
Pain exploded in her upper left shoulder. Her disbelief was frozen on her face. He’d just shot her at point blank range. Where did the gun come from? The rock dropped from her hand and landed with a thump in the sandy dirt. She backed away from him holding her bleeding shoulder.
“
Where are you going, Caroline? I’ve already shot you once and even with swollen eyes I can shoot a bug off a leaf 100 yards away.” He waved the pistol at the tree leaves as if to prove his point. “I had hoped we would be able to have some more fun before I killed you outright, but your little feat in the barn took care of that. I’m not sure how I’m going to explain this broken nose to the American people when I take the oath of office, but if I spin the tale properly I could come out of this looking like a hero.
“
I can see the headlines now, ‘Grief stricken President, bravely takes the oath of office after losing his wife in tragic kidnapping’. You know, Caroline,” he waved the pistol at her this time. “It didn’t have to be this way. You could have escaped from Weaver and come home to me, but no,” his voice dripped with sarcasm, “You had to run away with your new lover. Runaway Hostage, that’s what you are, aren’t you? What are the odds that a woman would actually fight off her rescuers to stay with her captor?”