Page 51 of Mac

Kate

It was pitch-black outside, and my hopes of finding a way to escape were quickly diminishing. Jonathan had left the room a few minutes ago, and I’d already looked around for anything I could use to help my escape. There was nothing in the room, and I knew I didn’t have the strength to fight Jonathan if he caught me. The lights above me kept making this eerie sizzling and buzzing noise that was grating on my nerves.

I prayed that someone had come upon the accident scene and helped Finn and Gunnar. The guilt of not keeping them safe was too much to bear. I couldn’t believe I’d brought these problems to Viking’s life. What kind of daughter was I?

“What are you thinking about, love?” I heard Jonathan’s voice come from the doorway. The use of the word “love” made my skin crawl. His calm, quiet voice scared me even more than his sinister one from earlier.

“I’m not your love,” I seethed. There was only one man I would ever belong to, and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to see him again.

I probably shouldn’t have argued with Jonathan, but I figured he was going to do whatever he wanted with me anyway, and I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking I was his.

“C’mon, don’t be like that. We had one little fight. Once we spend some time together again, you’ll forget all about this place and realize we’re meant to be.”

He had to be insane. That was the only explanation for his delusional behavior.

“You’re crazy!” I yelled.

I saw the flash of anger in his eyes as he made his way over to the bed where I was still sitting. I moved back as far as my body would allow.

“You’re obviously still not thinking clearly,” he said as he gripped my jaw tightly, forcing me to look at him. “I’ve spent too many years waiting for you. I’m done waiting.”

“What are you talking about? I told you we could only ever be friends.”

“Well, I don’t accept that. I’m going to make some dinner, and you can sit in here and think about how being with that criminal hurt me, and how you’re going to make it up to me.”

Nausea returned with a vengeance, and I was grateful when he walked out of the room. I decided I wasn’t going to wait any longer to see what he was going to do. I sat up, taking a moment to let the dizziness fade. I didn’t have any weapons, but I was going to do whatever it took to get away from him.

I heard movement in the kitchen and decided to wait by the bedroom door. If I could surprise him, maybe I could hit him hard enough to get a few seconds of lead time and run out of here. It was a risky move, but it was better than lying around here doing nothing.

His footsteps were getting closer, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I crouched down a bit to try to get a little extra leverage and waited to pounce. As soon as I saw his shadow cross over the threshold, I got ready, and when I saw the first hint of his body, I went into attack mode.

I pushed the tray he was carrying into his body, the soup on it spilling all over him. Unfortunately, some of the scalding liquid landed on me as well, but I wasn’t going to let the pain slow me down.

“You fucking bitch!” Jonathan yelled as I grabbed the tray. I swung it as hard as I could at his face, then dropped it and ran.

I was almost to the door when I was suddenly pulled backward. The stinging of my scalp where my hair was being ripped out hurt like hell, but I kept fighting. Unfortunately, Jonathan was stronger than I was, and he was able to pull me back down the hallway, even while I was kicking and screaming.

“You really are stupid,” he said as he dragged me back up to my feet, then stopped suddenly. “What the hell was that?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about. My head was pounding. Then I heard the front door crash open, making me scream.

Before I knew it, Jonathan jerked my body in front of his like a shield and pointed a gun at my head. I had no idea where the gun had come from. When I looked to my left, I saw Mac and Viking standing at the entryway with guns pointed at Jonathan.

My knees went weak, and it took every bit of strength I had to remain upright.

“Put the fucking gun down,” Mac instructed. His deep voice scared me, but I could also hear a hint of fear laced in his words.

“This is a bit unexpected.” Jonathan chuckled, still not removing the gun from my right temple.

“Let her go!” Viking roared.

“The two of us are meant to be together, and there’s nothing either of you can do about it.” Jonathan was starting to rant like a lunatic. He was losing control, as was evident by him flailing the gun around to emphasize his words.

“You’re going to put the gun down and let her go,” Mac repeated. His whole body was tight with anger. “You’ve got a chance of getting out of this alive, but you need to let her go.”

Jonathan started laughing hysterically. “Do you think I’m stupid? You’re not going to let me live.” Suddenly his voice changed, and I’d never heard anyone look so evil. “But if I can’t have her, no one else can either.”

Everything from there happened in slow motion, but my eyes stayed on Mac. I heard several shots go off at the same time, and once again, I was thrust into darkness.