obviously getting to the point where it was too much. This was a young girl, barely seventeen, and who knows what the hell she’s seen and heard and felt over the past couple of weeks.
Who knows what kind of damage that’s done?
I knew I had to keep my head straight. I couldn’t break down right now. I couldn’t stop fighting because I needed to get the both of us out of here.
“I got it,” she murmured.
“Good girl. This is going to be hard, and it might hurt a little, but if you focus, we can do it.”
She was silent for a few moments, no doubt fear absolutely destroying her from the inside out. Her mental thoughts probably debating whether she could trust me. Whether she should do what she’s been told because up until this point, Garrett had mentally abused her, but the physical—not so much. Maybe going against him would push him over that edge.
“Okay, what should I do?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Thank God.
“Okay, I want you to try and thread your shoelace underneath one of the zip ties around your hands.” I explained slowly, trying to keep calm, make it feel like the pressure wasn’t there despite every time I breathed, thinking that it was another second Garrett could be taking stepping up the stairs.
Her soft whimpers were like claws at my heart.
“Thayleah…”
“I’ll get it. I can do it.” Her voice shook, but there was also a new determination in her tone. “I got it!”
“Amazing,” I praised, wishing I could hug her, pat her on the back, or something to support her. “You’ve got this. I just need you to now try and tie the end around the bar you’re tied to.”
A light tinkling sound alerted me to her movements. Maybe it was the zip ties or maybe her nails against the cold metal bed frame.
“Make sure it’s tight. It needs to be.”
Her breathing was growing heavier, I knew the maneuver was probably extremely awkward, not only with your hands bound, but with the angle of how she was having to work. And to top it off, this beautiful young girl had barely moved off this bed for nearly two weeks. If her muscles weren’t ready to pack it in and give up, they would be soon.
Thud.
The floor shook.
Voices came from below.
Laughter.
We needed to hurry.
“I tied it!”
“Okay, pull it so it’s tight between the bar and your feet. Tight and straight. And what you need to do is pull against it and move your hands up and down the shoelace. The friction will cut through the plastic ties. But pull hard.” I sucked in a deep breath, hearing another bang from downstairs and more voices. “And be quick.”
I swear, those moments as I heard her sawing away at her restraints, I imagined every damn scenario. It felt like forever as I processed what we would do next.
How I could hurt someone if they came in.
What the hell I would be willing to do to get us out of here alive.
Though, I already knew the answer.
Kill.
And if we were going to make it out of here alive, I knew I was going to have to be okay with that, because if it came to it, and I hesitated…
No. I refused to let another asshole get away. I wouldn’t let him use me to hurt Shotgun again. I wouldn’t let him use me to hurt Gage. He wasn’t going to win.
Micah, please.
If you’re up there.
Snap.
“I did it.” The sheets on Thayleah’s bed rustled, and there was a light tap as she placed her feet on the floor. “Hold on.” More rubbing, sawing back and forth while my body was beginning to jump at every damn sound.
Snap.
“Here,” she whispered, a soft shuffling sound moving toward me until I felt hands on my wrists, working quickly.
This time she was quick, probably able to pull a lot harder now she could use her hands. They snapped, and I held my breath, knowing I was about to feel like I was fucking dying. “Don’t scream, don’t scream, don’t scream,” I whispered repeatedly, tears already settling on my lashes as I quickly swung my legs over the side of the bed, letting out a low groan in the bottom of my throat. I wanted to sob, my ribs from the car accident still very bruised and feeling as though someone was stabbing a knife through them and twisting it as I forced my body