Page 10 of The Beachside Cafe 5
“He will never find you in IDL,” Jennifer answered. “This place is massive and has hundreds of rooms. Thousands of rooms.”
Jaymee shook her head, giving the woman a disdainful look. “You don’t know Cameron. Even if I’m dead, he’s going to find me and he’ll come after both of you. He’ll have you in jail before your next hair appointment.”
She could tell she’d really gotten under Jennifer’s skin with that comment. The younger woman lunged at her but amazingly, Amanda put out her arm right before Jennifer could get her hands around Jaymee’s neck, effectively clotheslining her sister.
“Oh no you don’t,” Amanda said bluntly. Jennifer was knocked off her feet by the intentional blockade and she sat on her behind, giving Amanda a wounded look as she rubbed her neck.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she stated.
“You got what was coming to you. Now stop acting irrationally.”
Jaymee almost laughed at that. Amanda was preparing a concoction that would painfully take an innocent life and was talking to her sister about acting rationally. She couldn’t hold back a snort and Amanda’s eyes darted to her, sending Jaymee’s heart into overdrive.
“You think that’s funny?” Amanda asked.
“Murderers don’t have a moral compass,” Jaymee responded boldly. “Hearing you talk about acting rationally is very much a joke to me.”
“Really.” Amanda didn’t say the word as a question. She said it in a menacing tone that sent a streak of fear through Jaymee so strong she thought it might stop her heart. Amanda held up the needle and pushed the plunger slightly so a little of the liquid squirted out of the end.
Jaymee swallowed, her eyes on the needle instead of Amanda.
“Let’s see how much of a joke I am to you now.”
When Amanda stepped toward her with the needle prepped to slide into Jaymee’s vein, Jaymee began to shriek at the top of her lungs. She jerked back and forth in the chair, pulling at her restraints with all her might.
“No!” she screamed. “Get away from me! Get away from me!”
“Stop struggling,” Amanda demanded, frowning. “No one can hear you and no one will save you. Especially not here in IDL. You’ve got no one on your side.”
Jaymee pulled in another deep breath to scream with all her might when she saw an amazing sight. Cameron came flying through the door behind Jennifer attacking her and knocking her back to the ground. Jaymee heard Jennifer’s head contact the floor and when Cameron came up from on top of her, she didn’t move again.
Amanda let out a shriek of rage. She turned to Jaymee, who was stunned, and shoved the needle into her arm. A new streak of terror struck Jaymee as she felt the liquid going in her arm. It wasn’t in a vein but that didn’t do anything to calm Jaymee down.
“What are you doing?” she screamed, trying to pull away from the needle. Amanda left it hanging in Jaymee’s arm. She turned and picked up a small table, chucking it at Cameron, who put up one arm to block it from hitting him in the face. Amanda ran past Jaymee.
Jaymee heard a door open and Amanda’s running feet as she left the room.
“Jaymee!” Cameron said, desperation in his voice. He grabbed the needle and yanked it from her arm. Jaymee’s eyes were filled with tears as she gazed up at him.
“She put it in me, didn’t she?” she asked, the tears already flowing from her eyes.
Cameron gave her a sad, regretful look.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” Jaymee said through her tears. “Go get her. Go! I’ll be right here.”
Cameron looked like he didn’t want to leave her but he only hesitated another moment before taking off in the direction Amanda had gone.
“Wait!” Jaymee called out. “Free me first!”
Cameron’s face was even more regretful when he came rushing back and unstrapped one of her arms. She waved him away once her hand was free. “I’ll get the rest. Go! Don’t let her leave the building. Call the cops!”
Cameron nodded. “Already called them. They’re on the way.”
“Don’t let her get away!” Jaymee repeated.
She undid the strap of her other wrist and both her ankles, a million thoughts racing through her head. She could very well be spending the last moments of her life right then and there. She might never see Cheyenne again. She would never go back to her beloved Saltwater Café to enjoy the tubular fish tank she’d had installed when she first opened the place.
Tears streaked down her face. Whatever Amanda had given her, it hadn’t been as potent as what she’d given Doug. Jaymee was feeling a little lightheaded but that was it. Once she was freed from the chair, she began a search. There had to be something in the room that would help her. If she could figure out what exactly she’d been given, maybe she could find an antidote.
