Criminal(37)

I place the gun down as I sit, trying to collect myself. This is your only chance, I chastise myself. Be a man. Save your girl.

But I look at the gun, and I know I can't. I stand up, moving for the door to leave when I realize I can't hear the wheezing anymore. I listen intently, straining my ears as I try to catch the familiar sound of safety, but there's nothing.

And then there's only blackness.





I don't know how long Kaiden's been gone and I've been left alone in this room. I'm chilly, my tank top and skirt doing nothing to keep out the chilliness of the warehouse and the cold metal chair pressing into me.

I'm still sweating, though, fear and anxiety making me unable to calm down or relax. I don't know what to do, because there's nothing I can do. Just sit and wait, bound to this chair. I don't even know if there's anyone else in the warehouse or if I'm all alone in here.

I haven't heard from anyone, and there's not even a clock to keep me company.

I find myself struggling. Not just with being bound in this chair, not just with being held captive by a drug gang, but even with who I am and who I want to be.

I see myself in college, studying and complaining to a friend about my grades or how hard a midterm was. That kind of thing is supposed to be the most dramatic thing happening to me in my life.

Instead, I'm in love with my step-brother, and I'm tied to a chair, not knowing when or if I'll ever see him again. Tears stream from my eyes, down over my cheeks only to drop onto my thighs, sending another shiver up my spine.

He has to come back.

He's my big brother, my hero.

He protected me from bullies and mean girlfriends. He'd always looked out for me, and then he just wasn't there anymore, but I understand so well why.

At least, now I do. Now I know what he was fighting so hard to resist doing.

But it can't be stripped from us! Not now! Not when we've finally come to terms, finally accepted those long-repressed desires!

I rock myself back and forth in my chair, trying to escape, to move closer to the door. I need to find out if there's anyone else out there. I can't hear anything from in here! The scraping is like nails on a chalkboard, but I ignore it as I shuffle closer and closer to the door. There's a window above it, and if I can tilt myself just so, maybe I can hear...

Though when I get nearer to the door, there's still nothing but the aching silence and loneliness. It has to have been hours since I was left here, the door locked behind the crooked cop. I still don't know how Axel managed to buy off the cops, but they were under his thumb as good as any. I'd thought of the town as the Wild West when I first moved here, but now I know that's truer than ever.

"Help!" I cry out through the gag, though I know it's fruitless. Even if someone could hear me, they weren't going to be my savior.

There's only one person with the power to get me out of here.

"Kaiden," I whimper, not for the first time. I remember back to my time in prison, to the realization that I really, truly love him. That I'd wanted him to rescue me from the trouble I'd gotten myself into, and how he showed up, proud and eager to help.

He didn't even hold it against me, bring it up as a jab. He just accepted it for what it was and let it go.

I rock the chair towards the door, trying to get it hooked under the door knob or break out the glass or something, but I can't do anything. I'm bound too tight, the handcuffs and zip ties digging into my skin and making it turn red the more I struggle. I'm absolutely helpless.

***

I awake with a start, and I don't even remember falling asleep. My face is wet and feels gross, caked on tears tarnishing my skin. But then I hear the sound that must've woke me up in the first place. In the distance, a motorcycle is revving. It’s coming from the opposite side of the building, and one of the broken out windows must be letting in that little bit of sound.

That siren call.

But I don't know it's Kaiden. He runs with a gang of people that all ride bikes, after all. For all I know, that could be Axel returned to punish me for Kaiden's failing to do whatever he wanted.

And what did he want? Was it for Kaiden to...?

I shake my head free of the thought. No, no, Kaiden couldn't do that. I know that he pulled the trigger last night, but it's not the same thing now.

He was trying to protect me.

Just like he's trying to do now.

I can't think like that! Kaiden isn't a killer, he'd find another way.

There's silence again, and I'm left alone to wonder if it was all a mirage, just me hearing things because of how scared I am. My ears strain once more, trying to detect anything from outside, or from in the rest of the warehouse, but there's nothing.

I start rocking my chair again, banging it against the door, trying to draw the attention of whomever it is. I know it's stupid, but I don't have any options!