Pressure - By Jeff Strand Page 0,56

Don’t you think it would be fun? Her skin parting. She’d scream and scream but we’d be the only ones to hear and appreciate it. She’s a crack whore; nobody will miss her.”

The woman whimpered and cried softly.

“I’m not doing it,” I said. “You might as well just let her go.”

Darren shook his head. “I’m not gonna let her go. We both know that. But I’m also not going to make you slice her up at gunpoint. Instead, we’re going to do this as a game. See the dresser next to the bed? Open the top drawer.”

“No.”

“Goddamn it, Alex, don’t get all resistant on me! Open the drawer!”

Avoiding the woman’s eyes, I stepped over to the dresser and opened the top drawer.

Inside was a brand-new, shiny hatchet.

“It’s yours,” Darren said. “Take it.”

I picked up the hatchet and clenched it in my fist, wanting nothing more than to hurl it at him, to embed it in his throat.

“Here’s the game,” he said. “We’re going to let her loose in the yard. You have ten minutes to bring me back her head. Nothing else; just her head. If you don’t do it, I’ll find you, shoot you, and leave you to bleed to death while I laugh in your face. Then I’ll cut her into pieces so thin they’ll be invisible to the human eye. How does that sound?”

“I’m not doing it.”

“Then how about we add another little twist to the rules? Follow me.”

Darren backed out of the bedroom, keeping the gun pointed at me. I wondered if there was any possibility of flinging the hatchet at him before he squeezed off a shot. Pretty damn unlikely. But if he really did aim for my arm or leg, and I managed to get him in the face…

It wasn’t going to happen. He’d shoot me before the hatchet even left my hand.

I walked back into the main part of the cabin. Darren used the gun to gesture to the other door. “Open it,” he said. “Same key.”

I did so. It led to another bedroom. And another person tied to a bed. A little girl, probably not more than six.

“Oh my God…” I whispered.

“Her mommy and daddy are probably frantic,” said Darren. “She’s been missing for two weeks now. Don’t worry; I haven’t done anything to her. But here’s the deal: you have ten minutes to bring me the woman’s head. After ten minutes, I start hurting this little girl. I start hurting her bad. She has tiny little arms and I bet they come off real easy. I will hurt her until you finish the game, or until I decide that it’s game over. Now, is there any confusion whatsoever about how this is going to work, Alex?”

I shook my head, feeling as if I might pass out at any second. Or throw up. Or both.

“Close the door.”

I closed the door, trying but failing to avoid looking at the little girl’s frightened, pleading expression.

“Remember, Alex, I’m doing this for you. This is what you want. You just need a little nudge, that’s all.”

“You’re completely sick in the head.”

“But I embrace it. Think of it like escargot. Escar-got is delicious once you try it, but first you have to get over the whole idea of eating snails.”

“You’re comparing murdering a woman to eating some fucking snails?”

“Maybe not a great metaphor, but yeah, I am. You’ll see. Go sit on the couch.”

“Darren, you don’t have to do this.”

“I know! That’s the whole point! I don’t have to do this, I want to do this! And you’ll realize that you want to do it, too. I promise. Sit down.”

I sat down on the couch, which was a good idea because my knees were about to give way beneath me anyway.

“Don’t get up,” Darren said. “I’ll be back.”

He went into the woman’s bedroom. Ten seconds later he poked his head out. “Good boy,” he said. “Keep doing that.”

He disappeared again. I stayed where I was. Getting shot was not going to help my situation. I had to stretch this out as long as I could, figure out a way to get out of this. I was a smart guy…there had to be a solution.

The question was, could I come up with one in ten minutes?

A moment later, Darren poked his head out a second time. “You shifted,” he said.

“No, I didn’t.”

“I know. Just messing with you.”

As Darren left again, I glanced around the cabin, looking for anything that might be helpful. Nothing looked remotely beneficial to my