Chapter 30

Thirty

Isla

Friday night, Damon dropped me off at the ranch house and brought a couple of things for the wedding night the next day. I felt so good to have him bring stuff, even though we planned on moving into his house once we’d built a home down the street from his parents and Noah. We held each other on the front porch and kissed.

“I feel like a teenager,” I said, and I laughed. “We are getting married tomorrow.”

He squeezed me and kissed my head. “I can pretty much say this is one of the most exciting nights in my entire life. I am like a kid on Christmas Eve.”

I didn’t want to pin him down on the other exciting nights, like his other marriage and possibly his kids being born. I was pretty sure that’s what he would say. “It’s going to be great. I don’t know how your sister and mother and Ella have pulled everything together so quickly for a reception. They are just amazing ladies.”

He laughed. “I would say that all of them thrive under pressure. They love it. It was a challenge to them, and it just delights them to be rallying all the resources in this town. Plus, the whole town’s invited.” He laughed again.

We held each other and rubbed noses. “One more night. Then you’ll just come in the door with me,” I said.

He squeezed me closer to him, then let go, giving me one last kiss. “One more night, and I’d better go before I just walk in now.”

I giggled and then watched him leave.

When I walked back into the house, I instantly felt that something was different. It was almost like I could sense someone.

I sucked in a long breath and tried to calm myself. One more night. One more night.

I got ready for bed and prayed. I thanked God for all his goodness and for all the good things I’d been able to experience in my life. I slipped into bed and waited for Damon to get home and put his kids to bed and then call me. I lay there and thought about everything I was so grateful for.

And then I heard it.

Someone was breathing underneath the bed.

Adrenaline shot through me and I knew it was Kyle. He was here. He was lying beneath my bed.

I didn’t want to panic and alert him that I knew he was there. I thought about the fact that Damon and I had just walked through the house and looked underneath things. My mind raced, and I wondered how Kyle had gotten inside. Tragically, I had always known that this reckoning would happen. Kyle would show up.

Then I steeled myself. I was no longer a victim.

I moved to open the bedside table, but then I remembered the gun was beneath the pillow. I grabbed the phone instead, pretending to tap it while I reached down and felt the metal of the gun. Quickly, I switched the safety off.

I waited. I could hear him breathing. I knew what he sounded like when he was asleep. He wasn’t asleep.

I closed my eyes and prayed to the Lord. “God, please help me. My Heavenly Father, please help me know what to do.”

I distinctly heard the words in my mind. Shoot him.

I stilled and felt warmth rush through me, which was crazy, because I was about to hurt someone. Carefully, I aimed the pistol so the barrel was pointing into the mattress, and then I pulled the trigger.

A wail came out of Kyle as I jolted up and off of the bed.

“You crazy—!” He thrashed underneath, jostling the mattress.

Pausing at the door, I turned around and fired again as he started crawling out. I remembered what Damon and his father told me about shooting to kill.

Somehow, he got out from beneath the bed and grabbed my ankle.

I kicked him and shot a third time. I didn’t know where all the bullets were going. I got my footing, ran down the hallway, and barreled through the door. I ran outside, fumbled with my phone, and pressed Damon’s number.

Kyle screamed at me. “Get back here! You can’t get away from me! I’ve been waiting for you!” He came out the door, but I fired another bullet in his direction and kept running down the driveway.

Damon answered. “Hello? Hello!”

“He’s here! He’s here!”

Kyle came at me, cast in shadow from the light outside, and dragged me to the ground. I dropped the phone and then I felt metal against my own face. A pistol of his own.

“I’m going to kill you,” he snarled. “I warned you. I will kill you for this!”

He grabbed me by the hair, dragging me down the driveway and then out into the woods behind the house. He was fast. He weighed a lot more than I did, and he was stronger than me. I tried to kick my legs and grab at him, but he moved quickly. We got to a truck, and he opened it and pushed my face into the seat. He cuffed my hands behind my back and then shoved me in the back of the truck.

I went dizzy for a second and thought I might pass out. I willed myself to stay awake. I’m not a victim. I’m not a victim.

Kyle started the truck, and it began to move forward.

I wrenched my body up and kicked him in the head with my foot.

He cursed at me. “I’m going to kill you. You better just hold still. It’s going to be more painful.”

I kicked him again. He reached back and smacked me hard in the nose with his gun, making me go dizzy again.

“You just should’ve come back to me. You should’ve come back. I was waiting for you to come back, and then I realized you had left. So I began my search. Of course you would come back to this place. Clever. I couldn’t find you, and then I was at your place in Texas and found your cell phone bill. Of course you were here. It was perfect. I’ve gotten to stop around this town and see all that you’ve been up to.”

I got my wits about me, hoisted my body, and kicked him in the head again. This time, his punch slammed harder into the side of my head. For a couple seconds, I blacked out.

When I came to, he was still cursing. “You’re gonna die. I’m just going to torture you first.”