“Abigail, I got this. Mike, you need to get the hell out of here.”
“Abigail, what’s the matter with you?” Justin’s sickly sweet voice made her dry heave.
Tears stung her eyes as she stood frozen, disbelieving the fate slapping her right in the face. “You…you bastard!” The words were all she could blurt out as her legs did what her brain couldn’t seem to comprehend. She rushed around Ron and tried to hit Justin, but the son of a bitch caught her wrist and squeezed. She felt Ron’s arms tug on her waist, and Justin let go. The rush of bravery was fading. The sight of the man who’d almost killed her was too much. She did the only thing her frantic brain could think of. She tore out of Ron’s arms and ran.
* * * *
Sean racked the dumbbells and stretched his biceps before pulling the heavier set for the next set of reps. As he curled the weights close to his chest, he waited for the mind-numbing release that always came when he lifted. No go. The only thing going through his brain as he lifted was the image of a curvy ass swaying from side to side to the radio as its owner swept the floor.
The trap bar was free, so he sat on the bench to catch his breath. After setting the pin, he got into position and pulled on the bar. Breathe in. Perfect lips smiling up at me. Breathe out. Pull. Full tits stretching a white tank top. Breathe in. Soft thighs curled up on the couch. Breathe out. Pull. Soft fingertips wiping pizza sauce from my lip. Breathe in. Breathe out. Pull.
He knew when all the blood in his body rushed to his dick. The front of his shorts tented with the thought of his feisty, auburn-haired vixen. The images were turning his mind-numbing workout into a virtual porn session.
His phone rang. He let the bar snap back into place and grabbed the cell in his pocket. The number scrolling across the screen didn’t look familiar. “Hello?”
“S-S-Sean? P-P-Please come and g-g-get me!” Abigail’s sobbing voice made him shoot off the bench and run for the locker room. Something was wrong. Very fucking wrong.
“I’m coming,” he said while grabbing his bag from the locker. “Where are you?”
She snorted and sniffled, then coughed. “I-I’m in a b-bathroom.”
He flung the bag over his shoulder and jogged to the front door of the gym. “Calm down, baby. Calm down. It’s okay. Tell me where you are so I can come get you.”
“Th-The d-d-diner. They let me u-use the phone. I-I-I’m hiding.”
Hiding? “Is it the diner by the warehouse, the one with the big coffee cup on the sign?”
“Yes, the coffee place. Please hurry. Oh, Sean, p-please hurry. He’s g-g-going to find me.”
Sean unlocked the truck door, tossed the bag in the extended cab, and jumped inside. “I’m on my way. Abigail? Abigail!”
“Y-Yes?” she whispered.
“Stay on the phone with me, baby. Don’t hang up.” He could hear women talking in the background. “Where’s Ron?”
“In the office. Oh, Sean, I hope he’s okay.” Another crying spell erupted, and he waited for her to get under control. “We have to check on him,” she finally said. “Oh God, he has to be okay!”
Sean fought the urge to ask her what in the hell was going on. Another crying jag bubbled out from her, and his foot slammed on the gas. “I’m almost there, baby. Stay with me. Talk to me, Abigail. Tell me something, anything.”
“I-I really like my n-new wall.”
He wanted to laugh from relief. She liked the work he’d done for her, but more importantly, she was making sense. The quiver in her voice made his grip almost crack the wheel. “I’m pulling in. Stay right where you are. I’m coming in to get you.”
“Is he…is he out there?”
“That bastard better not be there.” He slid the truck into a parking spot. “I’ll kick is goddamn ass.”
“Pl-Please hurry, Sean. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”
“You’re not going to die. I’m here. Are you in the girl’s bathroom?” As he raced past the booths lining the wall by the windows, the old men sipping their coffees shot him a wave of curious looks. “Which stall, baby?”
“H-Here.”
Sean flung the door open and stalked into the small bathroom. Three closed doors lined the west wall. “Baby? It’s me.” One of the stall doors opened, and a woman walked out. She gave Sean a disapproving frown and started to wash her hands. A faint sniffle came from the far stall. He pressed his hand to the door. It was locked. “Baby?” he said to the chipped pink door.
“Is it you?” she whispered back.