Learning to Be Little Again(54)

I was still in shock, so I just stood there, not able to move a single muscle. I could feel my heart rate speeding up and that dreadful fear leak down my spine as I wondered what he was going to do to me.

“What? Did you lose the ability to speak since I last saw you? That doesn’t matter! Let’s go!” he said, taking my arm and pulling me towards the door.

I couldn’t believe he was there. He’s here and I’m going with him, I thought as he dragged me past the other frightened women.

None of them said anything. Then I remembered the gun in Boyle’s other hand and realized that if I’d been them, I wouldn’t have said anything either.

Once he dragged me out of the bathroom, my brain started to work and I frantically scanned the crowd for Robert. I knew he would protect me. He’d said that he would fight Boyle if he ever tried to hurt me again.

Boyle noticed and said, “Looking for your new daddy? He won’t find you. If you didn’t notice, there were two entrances to that bathroom. By the time your daddy realizes you’re gone, it’ll be too late,” he said, pushing me through the crowds.

What… two doors… how hadn’t I realized that before? I’m stupid, I should have realized that when I walked in.

As we were approaching the exit, I finally had the sense to call for help. I was about to open my mouth and scream, but then I felt something hard and cold press against my back.

“Say one word, and you’re dead,” Boyle whispered into my ear as I realized the hard object was a gun.

So I silently walked towards the exit, tears streaming down my face, praying that somehow my daddy would save me.



* * *



I was starting to get worried about Juliana. She had been in the bathroom for a long time. Just as I was about to go in there myself and check on her, the bathroom door burst open and a few women came running outside. I knew instantly that something was wrong.

“What happened?” I asked, trying to get one of the women’s attention when I didn’t see Juliana come out with them.

“A man just came in there with a gun and kidnapped a woman!” she cried, then ran off into the crowds.

Juliana! I ran into the bathroom and she wasn’t there. That was when I saw the second door. Crap!

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Mark as I ran out the second door and headed towards the exit.

“Hey, Robert. What’s up, man?”

“Boyle’s got Juliana!” I shouted, as I pushed past the crowd. I had to get to Juliana, I had to!

“What? How?”

“We’re at the city aquarium. We were just about to leave when she said she needed to go to the bathroom. So, she went and ten minutes later, some women came out crying that Juliana had been kidnapped by Boyle. He took her and I have no idea where!” I shouted into the phone again. I was beginning to panic. I had no idea where Boyle was taking her, and if I lost her, it would be all my fault.

“Okay. I’ll call my boss at the police station right away. We’ll set up a perimeter block twenty miles around the aquarium and we’ll issue a missing person report on the news. Don’t worry, Robert. We’re going to get this prick once and for all.”

“Great,” I said, getting angrier as I pictured that creep with my Juliana. If Boyle harmed one hair on her, I would kill him with my bare hands.

“Listen, man, I know that you want to be part of the action, but you can’t be. I need you to go down to the police station and tell my boss what happened so he can issue the missing person report right away.”

“No way in hell, man. I’m going to be with you. I’m not staying in the police station while you do all the work,” I said as I finally reached the parking lot.

“Robert…” Mark growled.

“If it were your girl, what would you do? Wait around at the police station or go looking for her yourself?”

He was quiet for a few seconds before he said, “Fine, but if you get in our way, I’ll arrest you myself.”

“Alright then. Call me if you find anything else out,” I said, reaching my car and getting inside. I ended the call and tossed my cell phone on the passenger seat. My head fell against the steering wheel. I had finally found the perfect person for me and there was a chance I might lose her. I can’t lose her.

Then something else dawned on me. I’d never told her that I loved her.





Chapter Twenty-Three





“We’re going somewhere far, far away, little girl, where I can teach you what it really means to be my little girl.”

I closed my eyes as another wave of fear washed over me. How am I going to get out of this? I have to be brave. That’s what Mark and Robert would want from me. They would want me to tell him that I wasn’t his little girl. “I’m not your little girl,” I said in the bravest voice I had. It still came out sounding shaky.