Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,17
pattern of teasing and torturing me first.
He was anxious for the kill.
There were a few other people in the store, all oblivious to the hostage situation taking place. I felt cornered even though Tony hadn’t noticed me. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t run and risk Tony hurting people because of me. I couldn’t fight him and risk failing and having him hurt people. I didn’t want anyone, especially Ashley, to get hurt because of me. That group of preteens looking at leggings was not going to have their lives cut short because of me. That pregnant mother and her young daughter were not going to die because of me.
Swiftly moving to the filing cabinet, trying to figure out what Ashley was telling me, I opened the first drawer and found it stuffed with envelopes. I couldn’t figure out what Ashley wanted me to find here.
My breathing got heavier and my head spun. Tony was going to kill me and I had nothing to use against him except my own two hands.
As I closed the drawer with some force, a rattling drew my attention, so I opened the drawer again and shifted around the mess of envelopes. My hand connected with something solid, and I pulled it out, feeling slightly comforted by its weight. It was an envelope opener, one of those knife-shaped ones, like older people use. It was not the sharpest, but I could use it to distract him enough to get away, maybe even aim for an eye.
I mumbled a thanks to Ashley as I stuck the opener into my combat boot, my pulse speeding up as I promised myself that I was not going to die that day.
I stood in front of the door, preparing to come face to face with the man who could end my existence the second he saw me. But before I gathered the strength to walk out the door and live my worst fear, the door swung open, taking me by surprise and making me jump backward out of the way. Ashley entered, with Tony shuffling in behind her. The door swung shut, cutting off my oxygen supply with it.
“Thea.” A smile slowly spread across his face.
He shoved Ashley at me, and that was when I noticed the gun. I froze, not knowing what to do, my previous confidence draining from my body.
“Give me your phone,” he said to Ashley, whose face paled as she handed it to him. Tony smashed it on the floor, crushing it with his foot for extra measure. Then he moved behind me and pressed the cold gun into my back.
Ashley looked at me, an apology written on her face, but it wasn’t necessary. She shouldn’t feel guilty about this. This was my mess, my fault.
“Scream, and I kill her,” he said.
Then he raised his gun and smashed my best friend over the head, and her body went limp, her head bouncing on the floor from the impact, just like he had done to me all those months ago. I covered my mouth to stop the scream from escaping my lips, somehow knowing that he’d do worse if I drew attention to us.
My best friend was bleeding all over the floor, her head at an unnatural angle, her body splayed out like the murder victim she was on her way to becoming.
My cheeks were wet from salty tears as I realized that if she wasn’t already dead from the impact, she’d probably die from the injury if it wasn’t treated as soon as possible.
Tony pressed his gun into my side, his slimy voice instructing me, “We’re going to walk through the mall and to my truck. If you draw attention to us, I’ll kill anyone who tries to help. Then when I find you again, I will take my time torturing you. Understand?”
As the tears streamed down my face, I nodded silently, still looking at my best friend, who would probably bleed out and die because of me. Prodded by the gun, I reluctantly turned away from the bloody sight on the floor and took a step toward the door to leave the break room.
“Wait,” he said.
He smothered my mouth with his repulsive hand, pulling me in closer to him. Before I could even try to maneuver myself out of his hold, my eyes widened when I felt a hard sting on my outer thigh. I didn’t process what had happened until I looked down. When I saw the blood, I felt a heat