I dread the day that hitting me isn’t enough for him anymore.
Arabella is sleeping again. She is sporting a bruise on her cheek. The tiny basement window lets in the light, so I can see her right now.
“Arabella?” I ask, shaking her awake.
“Mrs. O? You look like shit. Are you okay?”
“I have asked you to call me Brynn several times now, haven’t I?” She nods. “This is ridiculous. What happened to your face?” I ask, concerned.
“Javier slapped me again. I head-butted him first, though. I managed to find my phone in his pocket while he was down. I turned that bitch on, Brynn.”
“What?”
“I turned my phone on. I didn’t have much service; the walls are probably lined with lead or some other bullshit. I was about to make a call when he got up. That’s when he backhanded me. But the phone was on. Someone is looking for that, right?”
“Probably my brother, Bart. He’s the tech guy,” I say. Throughout our time here, Arabella and I have gotten close. What else is there to do between beatings? I told her all about my family. I don’t know why I did, but I did. I feel like I can trust her. She told me about her desire to be famous and to fall in love one day, which made me cry because we are probably going to die in this tiny room with drains in the floor. At some point in the past, this was probably a slaughterhouse or at least a kill room, given the presence of so many drains, plus hooks in the ceiling, but that isn’t a comforting thought.
“Do you think that was enough?” she asks expectantly.
“I hope so, Arabella. I really hope so. Good work, but I am sorry about your face.”
“Eh, it’ll heal.”
“I am really impressed with you. You could totally be an asshole teenager right now, and I wouldn’t blame you.”
“I could, but what would that accomplish? Nothing but trouble I am sure.”
In the other room, I hear more shit being thrown against the walls. We sit in silence, holding hands. Something is about to happen. I am certain Javier was telling Aaron that Arabella got ahold of her phone in the other room. He’s got to know that they are going to find us soon.
At the very least, we’ll probably be moved to a different location. Worse, he could just end this and leave our bodies to be found here. Then everything goes quiet, and it gets dark out. Arabella is shivering next to me, and I wish I had something more to cover her with. I am actually sweating, but I guess that’s the baby growing. We are both sitting with our backs against the wall, staring at the door as best we can in the dark. Waiting. Waiting for what, I don’t know, but the end is near, I can feel it. I must have fallen asleep or passed out due to the pain, but I jerk awake, remembering the dream I just had. Brendan and I were on the beach somewhere, lounging in chairs. In the sand in front of us was a little dark-haired boy, building a sandcastle. I place my hands on my belly and wish for that dream to become a reality.
One way or another, this will end, and I don’t know what will happen. I can only hope Brendan knows how much I love him and our baby.
Chapter 23
Brendan
I get into the passenger seat of Bart’s truck, and we take off. White Plains isn’t far, but it’s a pretty big town. There is nothing more I’d like than to snap my fingers and be there, but the world doesn’t work like that. The whole way I pray we aren’t too late. Aaron may have noticed that Arabella’s phone was turned on. He could have moved them, and we’d have no way of knowing where they’d go next. Any number of things could go wrong before we get there.
“Calm down. We’ll get them,” Bart says, focusing on the road.
“Fuck. This is driving me crazy. I don’t know how you guys do this.”
“This is our first kidnapping, but I get what you mean.”
We make the rest of the drive in total silence. As soon as we reach White Plains, he heads directly for the five-block radius of where the phone pinged from. It’s nothing but warehouses as far as the eye can see, but luckily only five aren’t bustling with workers and activity. There’s no way he’d chance taking them to an active work area, right?
Using this assumption, we search the buildings one at a time. It takes us all night, but just as the sun rises, we reach the last building. This is where she has to be. The first five floors have nothing going on. We are about to give up when I hear something like laughter below us. We take the stairs down to the basement, and that’s when the stench of unwashed bodies and old food hits me before we even reach the bottom. I take a deep breath and calm myself down. This isn’t a video game; it’s real life. Before I have a chance to wonder if I can even do this, we reach the landing.