Twenty
Frank was pretty sure that he hadn't heard Ella correctly. There was no way in hell that what she said could be true. There was no way in hell that Wesley could have seriously raped Nancy.
But when he thought about it, was he really surprised? He knew how the killer felt about Nancy and doing that to her would have been worse than anything he could have done to her. He knew that and Nancy would know that as well. While killing her would have been the easiest thing to do, he'd gone and done something that would haunt her for the rest of her life—however long that may be.
In that moment, Frank would have preferred that Wesley had killed her outright. How in the hell was he supposed to put Nancy together again once he found her? From what he knew about rape cases, the women usually had a hard time trusting men, even ones they were in love with. It wasn't something they eventually got over and no matter how hard they tried not to relive the violent act with other men, it was still in the forefront of their minds.
It really would have been so much better if Wesley had just killed her.
And Frank felt like a real bastard for even thinking that.
"Frank?" Ella's soft voice cut into his thoughts.
When Frank blinked, he saw that she was staring back at him with fear and concern in her green eyes. It wasn't until then that he noticed his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides.
"I never should have told you," Ella went on. "Nancy told me you would be angry."
"Are you sure he did that to her?" Frank asked, flinching at the coldness of his tone. He could see Ella was just as frightened and it made him feel like an ass once again. It wasn't her that he was angry at—she'd admitted the truth, even when she didn't want to.
"Nancy didn't come right out and say it, but she didn't have to," Ella admitted, wringing her hands together. "It was obvious something horrible had happened to her when he brought her upstairs. When I suggested it, she didn't deny it."
"Son of a bitch!" Frank roared, kicking the chair across the room.
Ella let out a startled yelp, but Frank didn't bother to apologize as the door to the room opened and the nurse rushed in, an orderly at her heels.
"What's going on in here?" The nurse fixed Frank with a stern look as she rushed over to Ella's bedside to take her vitals. "I told you that you could stay in here as long as you didn't do anything to upset her."
Ignoring them, Frank stormed out of the room. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he needed to get out of the hospital before he did something he'd regret. He seriously needed to refrain from doing anything that would get him thrown in jail, because that's exactly where he was headed if anymore shit piled up on him.
If it wasn't a sure thing before, it definitely was one now.
Frank Hardy was going to kill Wesley Levine.
Nancy couldn't stop the moan escaping from her lips as she tried to move her stiff limbs. Her arms felt as if they were about to be pulled out of their sockets they way they were tied off at her ankles. Even the tiniest of movements caused a shooting pain to rip through her limbs.
She'd been left that way for what had to be hours and had maybe accomplished a combined hour of sleep during that time. While that was bad in itself, what made it worse was the fact that Wesley had laid by her the entire time, his soft snores filling the silence. He really wasn't about to let her out of his sight, which made any future escape attempt that much trickier.
Nancy absolutely hated Wesley Levine.
Letting out a soft whimper, she tried to angle her body so she could get a little more comfortable. Part of her wished that Wesley would just wake up so he could inflict whatever horror he had in store for her already. He promised that it was going to be a big day and coming from him, that could mean any multitude of possibilities—kicking a puppy, stealing money from an old lady, carjacking a bus full of children.
Really, there was no end to his depravity and she didn't put a single thing past him at this point.
As she lay there listening to Wesley snore, she couldn't stop her thoughts from straying to Frank. She couldn't help but feel impressed and proud of the fact that Frank had managed to land some hits on Wesley. But it also frightened her, especially since Wesley had said he'd returned some of those hits back to him.
Was Frank okay?
And while she was on that line of questioning, what reason did Wesley have to go see Frank, other than the obvious—to taunt him? But he could have easily just done that on the phone; it would have been a lot less risky. So there had to be a reason Wesley felt the need to risk everything to see Frank.
"You seem to be thinking awfully hard over there," Wesley said softly, brushing her hair back from her face. Nancy jerked back from his touch, but his blue eyes never wavered from hers. It made her wonder how long he'd lied there, staring at her like that.
"Why did you go to Frank last night?"
Wesley let out a sigh as he turned over on his back, putting his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. "I thought he could use a friend. I would imagine this was a stressful time for him, considering he has no idea where you are."
"I would hardly call you a friend," Nancy muttered. "And he wouldn't be so stressed out if you would just let me go home."
"Well, that's not likely to happen anytime soon."
"How long do you plan on keeping this up, Wesley?"
"At least until I grow bored," he admitted, flashing her a charming smile.
"Is that all it will take?" Nancy asked. "You just need to get bored with me? I'll keep that in mind."
Wesley chuckled and reached for something on the nightstand. When he turned around, Nancy saw that it was a small knife. "That's the thing about you, my love. I could never grow bored by you."
Propping himself up on his knees, he turned Nancy around so he could cut the ropes attaching her wrists to her ankles. Nancy couldn't help but cry out at the release of pressure, the blood rushing back to her limbs in a tidal wave. Wesley didn't say anything as he continued to cut the ropes, releasing her from all of her bonds.
"I'm putting a lot of trust in you for you not to run away, Nancy," Wesley said softly, helping her to sit up. "Don't make me regret my decision or I'll continue to keep you tied up like a little pet."
Nancy sat on the edge of the bed, not trusting her unsteady legs to hold her weight. While every instinct told her that she needed to run, she also knew that she needed to bide her time. She had no doubt that Wesley would keep his word, but if she could get him to drop his guard around her and trust her, then she would have a better shot at getting away.
She just needed to play this smart and cautiously.
Those were two things that she knew she could do without fail. After all, she didn't become a successful private detective by making rash decisions—at least, most of the time. There were times when a rash decision happened to save her ass.
"Would you like some breakfast?" Wesley asked, peering down at her.
Nancy's stomach answered for her as her stomach grumbled loudly.
"I'll take that as a yes," Wesley said, smiling as he helped her to her feet.
Nancy had to work hard not to pull her arm free from his grasp. While she was happy not to be tied up for once, that didn't mean she wanted him touching her. She still couldn't get what he'd done to her out of her mind. And she wasn't about to take his pleasant attitude at face value—she knew that could change at any moment.
Which only meant that he was up to something.
Wesley led her into the kitchen and sat her down at the table. "Place your hands flat on the table and leave them there while I cook us something." He stared at her until she reluctantly put her hands on the wooden surface before beaming a bright smile at her. "Very good. Are bacon and eggs okay?"
"That's fine."
"Excellent." Wesley gathered all of the items and in a matter of minutes, the kitchen was filled with the savory aromas of breakfast. While everything was cooking, he put on a pot of coffee and pulled two mugs from the cabinet. Even with his mind focused on everything going on in the spacious kitchen, he still managed to keep an eye on Nancy.
Forcing her to keep her hands still on the table was almost—if not worse—than keeping her tied up. It took every bit of concentration not to move her hands, especially when instinct and the little voice in her head was telling her to find a weapon to use. It was like putting a kid in a candy store and telling them not to touch any of the sweet treats.
Insane.
As soon as everything was finished, Wesley scooped the food onto two plates and brought them over to the table, placing one of them in front of Nancy and the other across from her. "How do you take your coffee?"
"Cream and sugar," Nancy said, trying not to lick her lips as the smell of the food wafted into her face. Her hands were practically twitching on the table as she waited for him to give his approval to move them.
Wesley fixed the coffee and brought them over to the table. As soon as he took a seat, he nodded his head at Nancy. "Keep one hand on the table, but you can eat."
Nancy looked around for her silverware, but didn't see anything. "I need a fork or a spoon so I can eat."
"You can use your fingers." Wesley flashed her a smile as he picked up his fork and took a bite of the eggs. "I'm afraid I can't trust you with anything you can potentially use as a weapon."
"That pretty much rules out everything then, doesn't it?" Nancy couldn't help but smirk at him. "I'm a detective. I improvise all the time."
Wesley didn't find it amusing as he slowly lowered his fork. "Then, perhaps, I should lock you back in your cage."
Nancy didn't bother to point out that she had escaped from that earlier. Instead, she picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled at it, fixing Wesley with a pointed glare. Satisfied with her behavior, Wesley returned to eating his own meal. Soon, Nancy found herself eating ravenously, as if she hadn't eaten in days.
"What did you do to Frank?" Nancy asked as she pushed her plate away.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to ask about that," Wesley said with a smile. He picked up his coffee and took a sip before answering her. "I only defended myself when he decided to attack me."
"I'm sure he had a good reason to attack you."
Wesley nodded. "I'm sure he would agree with you."
"What did you do to him?"
"Left him with a bloody face and a couple of cracked—if not broken—ribs." At Nancy's horrified look, he got up from his seat and moved around the table so he could sit on the corner beside her. "I told you, I was only defending myself. And would you like to know what I told him before I left him moaning and groaning on the ground?"
Nancy stared up at him, saying nothing.
Wesley leaned down until his lips were next to her ear. "I told him I would make sure you paid for every single blow he landed on me."
Letting out a gasp, Nancy tried to push back from her chair, but Wesley stopped her as he grabbed the back of her neck and held her in place. Nancy couldn't bite back her cry of pain as he tightened his grip. "Let go of me."
"Relax, Nancy," Wesley said softly. "I had all night to think about what I would do to you, and I finally figured it out."
Nancy couldn't stop the tremor that worked its way through her body. She would be stupid if she wasn't afraid of Wesley. She could only imagine what new hell he thought up for her. One thing she knew for sure was that she would take anything he would dole out, as long as he didn't rape her again. "What are you going to do?"
Wesley chuckled as he traced his other hand along her bare arm, bringing it down to squeeze her thigh. "If I didn't know any better, I would say there was true terror in your eyes, Nancy. What are you afraid of happening?"
"Don't touch me!" Nancy tried to push down the sob in her throat, but it came out nonetheless, betraying her. She hated that she sounded so weak in front of him. It made her hate for him climb up to new levels.
"You don't have anything to worry about, my love," Wesley said softly as he kissed her forehead. "It will be a while before we do that again."
Nancy let out a small whimper at his words. He planned for it to happen again and if that didn't instill fear into her, she didn't know what else would.
"Would you like to know what I planned for us to do today?"
She shook her head.
"I want to show you everything, Nancy. I want to share it all with you," he said, ignoring her. "You'll get to watch everything from start to finish. Today, you're going to join me for my next kill."
I know what you're thinking…what's going on with Wesley? He keeps going from hot to cold, which I think makes him that much more unpredictable and fun to write! He certainly creeps me out when he's like that…
I want to thank everyone who has reviewed: misslady92 (Things could certainly get worse for Frank…I'll see what I can do about that!), Caranath (Yay, evil crown! I love the evil crown!), max2013 (I know I'm pushing Nancy pretty hard, but I never wanted to make it easy for her in this story), kpopluver (Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it!), Alicia Hardy (Poor Frank, indeed…I think he needs a hug), dolphingirl7 (I'm happy you're enjoying it and please, feel better soon. Concussions are never something to play around with!), Michelle Gallichio (I absolutely love cliffhangers…as long as it's me who is writing them and not reading them!), Guest 1 (Updating as quickly as I am able!), Cupcake (I don't know what I would do if Wesley was real…lots and lots of therapy!), Angelvie S (Thank you so much!), SC15 (Scoot back on that seat of yours! I don't want you to fall off!), Guest 2 (Thank you so much…that means so much to me!), catlover1033 (Your reviews crack me up! I actually have the same reaction when my favorite stories are updated though! And I am still curious about your idea!), Lady Emily (You know I love my cliffhangers!), FreshKicks (Don't you just hate when life gets in the way of doing what you really want to do? Happens to me all the time!), and MinecraftDanny (You're not horrible…I still love you!)
I apologize for any mistakes and let me know what you think!
