Page 153 of I Know Your Secret
“See, you might like it. Doesn’t this feel good?”
I mewl behind my gag, nodding.
I can no longer feel Charlotte’s foot because of the bent position of my leg, but I shift my eyes slightly over, seeing her trying to toe the gun up toward me.
As Helms doubles down his efforts, his fingers pressing into me harder, causing nausea to crawl up my throat, my mouth waters at the intrusion.
But in his preoccupation, Helms isn’t paying close enough attention to my every move, which I use to my advantage as I shift my arms to the right to try to get the gun from Charlotte.
She looks to Helms as I do so, disgust plastering on her features as she lifts the gun on her big toe toward me, her body stretched the best she can do, her own hands purple as her cuffs tug and cut off her circulation.
I get the gun awkwardly, but Helms notices the shift and looks down between us, where his forehead is pressed against mine, his sick fucking breath fanning down over me in the split-second it takes me to get a finger on the trigger.
He moves as quickly as he can, but it’s not fast enough.
The shot rips through the room, bouncing off walls as Charlotte’s screams bleed into those of Helms, who holds his shoulder.
Fuck, I didn’t hit anything vital.
I try to shoot again and miss.
I scream as I pull the trigger over and over, praying to hit anything that’ll drop him to the ground, but he makes it out of the room by the time I’m out of bullets.
“Is he dead?” Charlotte asks, sitting up and shaking blood back into her hands.
“I don’t know, honey.” Tears roll down my cheeks, and I wipe at them.
“Are you alright?” I ask.
She nods, fright in her eyes, her body shaking.
“You did so well. I had no way to get that gun by myself, and he kept up… he would’ve found it.”
“There was a lot of blood. You had to have hit something.”
“I hope so.”
“How will we get out of here if he’s dead?” Charlotte asks.
“Because I have a stalker who will tear the world apart until he finds me.”
“You have a crazy life for a librarian, you know that?”
I laugh because it’s all I can do. “Yeah, I do.”
38
Koen
A week later
Begrudgingly, my eyes open.
My body feels much like when Greer ran me over with her fucking car.
Thoughts of Greer have me stirring violently, pulling at tubes and IVs, and machines around me go off wildly as I fight.
“Hey, big fella! Hold still, let them get you something to calm you down.”
