Chapter 41
As soon as Shane felt he was safely far away he pulled the car over to the side of the road. He looked over to Jessica. Oblivious to the fact that she was hovering against the door and shaking in fear, he stared at her in awe. She had chosen him, he had actually done it. Sure, he knew it was under extreme duress but that didn't matter to him. Given time, she would come to love him as much as he loved her. He reached over and stroked her cheek but she flinched and pressed herself further against the door.
"It will be okay" He said trying to put her at ease. "You don't have to be so scared of me. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Wait till you see the surprise I put together for you. I've been working on it for years. You're going to love it."
When she didn't respond Shane pulled the car back on the road. He had to keep them moving anyway. He too had heard the sirens when they pulled away and now he had no clue just how much the police knew. He had remembered to take anything that would clue them in on his who he was, but there was still a matter of Hardy. When they had left him, Shane knew he was in bad shape but he wondered if he had done enough.
His plan all along was that Jeff never made it out alive and he was fairly sure by the blood that he had seen trickling out, that he had achieved that. He had hoped to get in a little more damage but Jessica gave in quickly and with her frame of mind he didn't want to push her too far. He glanced at her again and saw the far off stare in her eyes. She was doing her typical shut down. Trying to block out what she knew to be true. He had won.
Shane switched the radio on. He thought maybe the music would distract her thoughts, and make it harder for her to hide away in her mind. As much as Shane knew about her, whenever she did freak out he always had a hard time dealing with it. He could never really calm her down. He always relied on Stephanie or his father to do that, but now she was his responsibility.
The music coming from the radio broke through her concentration. Jessica had been trying to calm herself down so that she could come up with some way out of this. She closed her eyes again and tried to focus and clear her head again. There had to be a way. She had hoped that once help had arrived for Jeff that there would be an all out search for her and Shane, but so far she hadn't seen anything. Shane had seemed to plan the perfect route for their escape sticking to rural roads alongside field after field. Even if she could come up with an escape plan there was no way for her to go. Jessica tried to think of another alternative when again she was distracted by a voice on the radio.
"We have more information on the brutal attack of WWE wrestler, Jeff Hardy. As we had reported, Hardy was found unconscious in an abandoned property in Chesapeake Virginia a few hours ago. His assault is believed to be connected to the abduction of his girlfriend, Jessica Murdoch. Police are asking anyone with any information to contact their local authorities. Hardy is currently being treated at an undisclosed hospital where he is said to be listed in critical but stable condition. Police have stated that as of now Hardy has been unable to provide them with any details. We'll update this story as more information becomes available."
Shane angrily turned off the radio and slammed his fist on the steering wheel. He couldn't believe his misfortune, Jeff Hardy was still alive. Critical but stable, they had said. That meant that there was still a good chance that Hardy would pull through. He needed to find out more, he thought to himself then pulled the car over again.
"Not a word from you." He said looking at Jess before pulling out his cell phone and dialing his sister.
"Shane, where are you? We've been trying to reach you for hours." Stephanie said into the phone.
"Sorry, I didn't have service. I was looking for Jeff. I just turned on the radio and heard the news. Steph, what the hell is going on?" At the mention of her friend's name Jessica tried to call out put Shane quickly pulled her over to him and covered her mouth.
"Don't make me hurt you." He whispered softly so Stephanie wouldn't hear but Jessica continued to struggle. "Steph, I'm losing you. Let me call you right back." He hung up the phone and glared at her.
"I told you to be quiet." He said and flung his hand across hitting her face. Jessica went for the door to try to escape but Shane grabbed her by the hair. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a roll of tape. "I didn't want to do this but you give me no choice."
"No please." She said but Shane ignored her. He grabbed her wrists and wrapped the tape around them. When he had finished he pulled another piece and placed it over her mouth muffling her screams.
"That's better." He said patting her on the head. "Now let's try this again." He picked back up his phone and redialed Stephanie.
"Sorry," He said when she picked up the phone. "I'm not getting good service out here. Now what's going on?" Jessica struggled to get out of her bonds as Shane continued to talk to his sister. He spoke intermittently listening to what Stephanie had to say. Jessica was disgusted as she watched Shane pretend to be concerned.
"And he can't talk?" Shane asked smiling listening at her response. "Steph, I can't. She's out there. I got to find her. Tell dad, I'm going to keep looking. I'll call you in a little bit. Don't worry, I'll be safe." He hung up the phone and looked to Jessica. She was staring at him in complete contempt.
"Don't look at me like that." He said and pulled the tape off her mouth.
"You're crazy." She said to him. "How could you do this?"
"I know you're upset, but I had to." He reached out to touch her and even though her hands were bound she tried to fight him off swinging both arms at him and catching him on the chin. "That's it." He said and got out of the car. Shane ran to her side and tried to pull her out. Jessica raised her leg to kick him but Shane caught it. "Not this time honey." He taunted her and pulled her leg dragging her out of the car. She fell to the ground with a thump. He picked her back up and pushed her against the car. Placed his hand against her throat, he held her there as they stood face to face.
"Is this what you want?" He yelled at her. "Is this what you want me to do? Don't make me!" He squeezed her throat tighter filled with rage. Jessica knew she had to do something. She swung her arms with all her might knocking his and forcing him to lose his grip. Not wasting a second, she took off running as fast as she could.
"Get back here!" He yelled and started to chase after her but after a few feet he stopped. "He'll be dead in a few hours." He yelled after her. "If you don't get back in the car, I'll drive straight to the hospital and finish him off! They have no clue; I can just walk right in." She stopped and turned to face him. He walked toward her slowly.
"I'll kill him and it will be your fault." He glared at her. "The choice is yours." Jessica looked at him and knew even from the distance between them that he meant it. The feeling of hopelessness came back to her, as she realized she didn't have a choice. She walked back to him in defeat.
"I hate you." She told him when she was standing in front of his smiling face. His face changed and he smacked her across the face.
"Never say that again." He warned her. He reached back into the car and pulled the tape out again, this time binding her legs. He then picked her up and threw her onto the floor of the backseat. After gagging her with tape again he leaned forward and put his lips to her ear.
"Bad news babe, Stephanie said he's not going to make it. No one's ever going to figure out you're with me. You did all this for nothing." He whispered taunting her. He kissed her cheek. Jessica looked up at him as he pulled away. His face had softened again and he was smiling at her.
"Don't worry." He told her. "We didn't lose too much time. We can make it up if we drive all night. Time to hit the road." He shut the back door and returned to the driver seat. As he started up the car, Jessica laid motionless on the floor. With no hope there was nothing left for her to do but cry. She sobbed uncontrollably as Shane pulled back on the road and drove off.
