CHAPTER 19

Do You Feel Lucky

I stood on the edge of the bed with my back against the wall, heart hammering in my chest, hoping any minute he'd walk through the door. With my right hand, I gripped the chain dangling from the cuff still attached to my wrist. Since my collar was still connected to the tether, I couldn't get as close to the door as I'd like, but if I stretched my neck, keeping it at an awkward angle, I was sure the shackle would reach him. My plan was to knock him unconscious as soon as he entered the room, giving me time to get the keys and get out. Everything hinged on the element of surprise.

It was essential that I remain as quiet as possible so as not to give away my position, which meant coughing had to be kept to a minimum. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, the need hit me again. I tried to hold it back, but it was impossible. I tucked my chin against my neck and kept my mouth closed, only coughing enough to keep me from strangling on the mucus and congestion breaking up in my chest. Between the coughing and throbbing in my hand I was a miserable mess. My left hand was swollen to twice its normal size and the only way to tolerate the unbearable pain was to keep it safely cradled against my chest, guarding against any unnecessary movement.

I'd been waiting so long, my legs were shaking, and sweat dotted my forehead and palms, making it difficult to maintain my grip on the chain. Occasionally, I glanced down at the bed, wanting nothing more than to collapse on it. But every time I thought my legs would buckle from the strain, I heard Ranger's voice whisper, Babe, I'm right here with you. We're going to do this together.

When clinking sounds came from the other side of the door, an icy calm washed over me. The door swung open, and as soon as he stepped through, I let my mind go blank, silently chanting, please, please, please, let this work, before swinging the chain as hard as I could.

The shackle made a cracking sound as it hit him in the center of his forehead. For a second, he was stunned, and then he fell to his knees, lurching sideways, landing further away than I'd anticipated. I stood frozen until the shackle swung back around, hitting me in the leg, startling me into motion. It hurt like a bitch, but I didn't have time to cry over a minor wound when my life was at stake.

I stepped down from the bed as quickly as I could while trying not to bend my midsection. I winced as my broken ribs shifted against each other sending a fiery pain slicing through my side. I had no choice but to stop and try to breathe through the pain. When it receded enough for me to move, I dropped to my knees, crawling, one handed, to his motionless body lying face down on the floor a few feet away. The cold concrete dug into my knees, but I was able to pull and tug on his pant leg, until inch by inch, most of his body was within reach.

I sat back on my haunches, skin damp with sweat and breathing hard, but I didn't dare take my eyes off his face as I felt around in his coat pocket for the keys. I had no idea if he was faking or if he was unconscious. For all I knew he could open his eyes any minute and grab me. I'd seen too many horror movies to know how this goes.

I groaned in frustration when his pockets yielded no keys. I knew he'd had them, but where? Then a glint of metal on the other side of his head caught my eyes. He must have dropped them when I hit him. I stretched my right arm as far as I could, but I couldn't reach. When I drew my arm back, the loose shackle caught on his flannel shirt. It occurred to me that I could use the shackle to drag the keys to me as if casting a fishing line.

I gathered all the chain links in my right hand and threw the shackle on the other side of the keys. It banged loudly on the concrete, but I hadn't gotten it far enough.

Shit! Did he just move? I jerked my hand away, watching him warily.

I waited and watched, sighing when he didn't move again. I shook my head feeling stupid for scaring myself. I was letting my imagination run away with me and I was wasting valuable time. I threw the shackle twice more before I got it on the other side of the keys and gently started pulling them toward me. They slid along easily until his lifeless arm blocked the path. This was as far as I could get them with the shackle. I reached with my good hand again, but they were still too far away.

The left side of my body was closer. Maybe if I used my injured hand, I could reach them, but even if I could, it would hurt like hell and I wasn't sure I could maintain my grip long enough to pull them to me. But I had to try. I moaned and whimpered as I stretched out with my left hand. My system flooded with joy when my middle finger caught on the key ring. My focus was solely on the keys, willing my fingers to hold on and not drop them. It was working. I almost had the keys over his arm when I saw a sudden flash of movement.

I didn't even have time to scream before he was squeezing my broken hand. "You didn't think you were leaving, did you?" His eyes looked crazed as his punishing grip got harder. I howled in agony as my vision turned into a dark haze. This couldn't be how it ended. I wouldn't let it.

I fumbled around on the floor with my right hand, frantically searching for the only weapon I had. I was getting desperate…. one more minute and I'd probably pass out from the pain and then it would all be over. I found the chain and grabbed it, pulling the links closer until I had the empty cuff firmly in my hand. It was my version of brass knuckles.

I was only going to get this one chance to finish this. I had to do as much damage as possible. I drew back and hit him with everything I had in me. His eyes bulged and his mouth hung open when he saw the cuff coming straight for him, but there was nothing he could do, my hand was already in motion.

The metal cuff plowed into his head and he fell over, landing on his back. He lay there dazed for a minute but recovered much too quickly. Before I could bring my arm back for another hit, he was on top of me with his hands around my neck. Blood was starting to trickle down his face, landing on me. For a minute, my mind went blank and I didn't know what to do.

I was on the cusp of passing out and my body went completely lax. The cuff fell from my hand and I thought—this is it—this is how I die. His face split into a slow smile as he loosened his hold around my neck. While I was concentrating on finally getting breath back into my lungs, he leaned back and began unbuttoning his pants. "I told you we would be joined together when you left this world." I could see the outline of his hardness and knew he was going to rape me. This was what he'd been waiting for. He finally considered me ready.

Desperate to get away, I felt around on the floor with my right hand until I touched the abandoned cuff. I grabbed hold of it and just as he was pulling his penis out, I hit him in the head again. His eyes widened as he lunged for my throat. A wildness came over me and I began hitting his back, his head, his ribs… anywhere and everywhere I could. It didn't matter where my hits landed as long as I was hitting something. I gave him one final blow to the head and to my astonishment, he fell on top of me, unmoving.

I was breathing heavily; his weight too much to bear. I was afraid to put the shackle down, but I needed my hand free to push him off me. I decided I had to do it, or I was going to die from lack of oxygen. I laid the shackle on the floor beside my hip so I could reach it easily and started struggling to get out from under him. When I was free, I grabbed the shackle again and sat up, poised to attack if need be.

I got up on my knees, breathing hard and watching him for any signs of movement. He wasn't going to trick me again. I was pretty sure I'd severely injured him, but I'd been wrong before. Just to be safe, I let go of the cuff and let it dangle before grabbing the chain links close to my wrist and swinging the cuff at him like he'd swung his belt at me. It hit him on his face, then his stomach, and then his groin. It felt good—too good—so I kept going. Chaos swirled inside me as I hit him for each time he ripped my skin open with his belt. For each time he put his filthy hands on me. And for what he did to the women in the cases. Nothing else mattered but making him hurt.

I didn't stop until I was physically unable to raise my arm again.

Then I passed out.

The burning sensation in my hands finally broke through my unconsciousness. My eyes fluttered open and I found myself lying on the floor, face to face with Durant. His eyes were shut, and blood was running freely from his mangled face, dropping onto the concrete.

Was he dead?

I ignored the pain in my hands while I watched to see if he was breathing. When I saw his chest rise and fall, I was instantly on guard, but the pain in my hands was getting more persistent, reminding me something was wrong. I slowly lifted them for inspection. I already knew the left one was broken and swollen, but the swelling had increased to an alarming size. Just moving it caused me to see stars. The right one had a deep cut across the palm, from the shackle digging into my skin, and blood was running down my forearm. The shackle itself was dangling on the concrete, waiting to be of further service.

"The keys!" The women screamed in unison. "Get the keys!" I jerked my head in their direction to find them pointing behind me.

When I turned around, I saw the keys lying centimeters from Durant's hand. My heart raced as I gauged the likelihood of him pretending to be unconscious. I was afraid as soon as I reached for them, he'd grab me again. I watched him carefully while I inched my hand closer. When I had them clenched in my trembling hand, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I shifted through them, one by one, bypassing the key fob and mini flashlight. My hands were covered in both our blood, making them slippery as I tried fitting each one in the locks at my ankles and then my wrists, all the while keeping my eyes on Durant to make sure he was still knocked out. Every scary movie I'd ever seen played out in my mind, ratcheting up my fear that any minute he was going to wake up and overpower me.

I finally got my legs free and began working on my right wrist, unlocking it as quickly as my broken hand would allow. As soon as I slipped it off, his leg twitched. I dropped the keys down and grabbed the cuff I'd just taken off. I held it in my hand and let the other cuff dangle from the chain, getting ready to swing it at him if he lunged.

His finger moved. I think.

Maybe, I imagined it.

I waited.

Shit! I was wasting time. Some of my earlier adrenaline had left me and I was in danger of crashing. I didn't want to do it. I wasn't a brutal person, but I couldn't let him wake up, I still had the collar around my neck, and I needed to get it off and get out of here before he woke up. I swung the shackle at his head… once… twice… and waited.

It seemed like I waited forever, but he didn't move.

The open door beckoned to me, but I still had to find the key that fit my collar. My hand trembled and was slick with blood, but after a couple tries, I was able to release it from around my neck. Relief like nothing I'd ever felt before flooded through me. I was completely free, and I was going home. I got to my feet and took a step toward the door, forgetting my naked state, and slipped in the blood, almost going down. What was I thinking? I couldn't go out there naked. It was the middle of winter in the Pine Barren's and I wasn't sure how far I'd have to walk until I found help. I considered grabbing the blanket, but it wasn't enough protection and what about my feet?

I needed clothes. I had no choice. I was going to have to undress him.

My energy was fading, and both hands were hurting badly, but I plowed forward. I used my right hand to unbuckle his belt and slide it out of the loops. I held it in my hand, thinking it was ironic that I was the one with the power now. I through it across the room, out of his reach and unbuttoned his pants. As I tugged them down, his underwear came with them, and because of my position, his penis rubbed against the side of my face. I wanted to gag, but there was no time to give in to my feelings. I had to get the shackles transferred onto him and get the hell out of here.

Next, I tugged his coat off and ripped his flannel shirt down the center, unwilling to take the time undoing all those buttons. Once he was completely naked, I shackled his wrists and ankles and put the collar around his neck. Immediately, I felt better knowing he was secured.

I spread his clothes out on the floor, checking the pockets for a phone or weapons. I found nothing.

I tossed the underwear to the side, unwilling to put them on. His socks, however, were going to feel marvelous on my cold feet. I quickly pulled them on, getting blood all over the white cotton, and slipped my legs into his jeans, carefully rolling up the legs with only one hand. His boots were next. They were several sizes too big, so I had to tie the laces tight, adding my broken hand to help only when necessary. I worked frantically while keeping my eye on him even though he hadn't moved since the last time I hit him.

Since I'd ripped the buttons off his flannel shirt, I was forced to wrap one side over the other before hastily tucking it into the jeans and then rolling the waist band down to help them stay up. By the time I pulled on his coat and grabbed the keys, I was panting and so damn tired I wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a year.

I surveyed his naked form, laying lifeless on the concrete and smiled before lifting my chin and giving him a parting wave. "Goodbye, Princess."

With one final nod to the women, I shut the door behind me and was instantly plunged into darkness.