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Adele had been stunned when she'd walked into Kelly's room and found her held at gunpoint. Now she was driving out her driveway with the bastard and Kelly sitting in the back seat, her mind was moving from stunned to flat out pissed. How dare this bastard break into their home and lie in wait for them! She took a deep breath. She needed to calm down and think of something. He was obviously taking them somewhere, and no doubt it would be secluded. Kelly hadn't spoken much about where he'd held her, just that it was in Strahan and that he'd killed her mother; before he nearly killed her. Adele vowed to herself she would not allow that to happen. She'd promised Kelly she would be safe. This bastard was making her break her promise. That just wasn't going to fly with her, not at all.
She needed to let Dominic know what was going on. He'd be able to help them get out of this. As quietly as she could, she slipped her phone out of her pocket then put the phone on silent. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she held the phone low in her lap. Worried that he would catch her, she gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. If he took her phone, she had no way of contacting anyone. She said a quick prayer of thanks that she had put Dominic's number into her speed dial. She quickly dialed then muted the call and put it on speaker. She slipped it into the front pocket of her hoodie and hoped the thin fleecy material wouldn't muffle their voices too much and that Dominic would work out what was going on. She nervously checked the mirror to see if he had caught her. Phew, he was still focused on Kelly, talking in low tones to her. Kelly began sobbing at whatever it was he said, and he looked up and caught her eye in the mirror. She shot daggers at him. He chuckled.
"Where to now?" She had to get him talking, had to somehow let Dominic know where they were heading. He sat forward and she could feel his warm breath on her ear. She couldn't fully suppress the shudder of repulsion that ran through her. He chuckled at her again, a horrible evil sound.
"Just keep heading south, toward Strahan. When we get closer, I'll give you more directions."
He sat back and began talking to Kelly again. She was kind of glad she couldn't make out what he was saying, but her heart was breaking for Kelly as she heard her cry.
After about forty-five minutes of driving, he sat forward again and directed her to pull into the driveway of a brick house on the outskirts of town. As she killed the engine, she took in her surroundings. She could probably make a run for the trees behind the building. She glanced back to Kelly in the mirror. She didn't want to leave her behind, but if he got both of them inside she wouldn't be any help to her. If she could get away, she could come back and save Kelly.
"Now, this is what is going to happen. You are going to slowly get out of the car. You are going to open my door. Then we're all going to walk inside that house. Don't even think of running. I will shoot you. Now move it."
Adele's emotions were going nuts inside her head. She was angry, scared, nervous and hopeful Dominic would get here in time to save them. She inched out of the car slowly and reached back to open the rear door as he'd requested. She caught Kelly's gaze. She was pleading for her to run. It was written clear as day in her big grey eyes, along with a heavy dose of fear and sorrow. She opened the door, keeping her hand on the handle. He inched his way out. With one hand gripping the gun aimed at her and the other dragging Kelly by her hair after him, it was a slow process. When he started to lift himself out of the car, his gun arm dropped down and his head was in the perfect position; before she could fully think it through, she pushed the door hard and fast with both hands before she spun around and ran like hell toward the trees behind the house. She could hear him curse a blue streak as she ran away.
She didn't know how far she would get before he caught her, so she took out her phone while she ran. She needed to check if Dominic was listening. She un-muted the call and took it off speaker. Holding it up to her face, she called out to Dominic.
"Please, please be there Dominic."
"Adele? Can you hear me? I'm right here beautiful." Damn, his smooth voice had never sounded so good.
"Dominic, help. He's got us--" A loud bang cut her off and she felt pain shoot through her hip. She stumbled but regrouped quickly and made it to the tree line. She paused behind a thick trunk to look at her side and put the phone back to her ear.
"--answer me, damn it! Adele? What the hell is going on?" Dominic's voice was frantic now.
"I'm okay. He shot me. The bastard shot me! It's just a graze, over my right hip. I'm okay." She pushed the pain down and started walking through the bush to get further from the house. No matter what, she had to stay focused. She had to get back and save Kelly.