Page 55 of Sheltering Lawson
I bit my stinging lip to get a grip. I was going to need all my energy—physical and mental—to get out of this alive. I couldn’t overpower them, but I could outwit them.
I didn’t know how much time passed, there was nothing but silence. I had no illusions, so when the sound of his daddy’s footsteps headed toward me, I knew he couldn’t leave me alone. He was as sick as his son. It was suffocating in the trunk. Cold sweat slicked my body, sour with the stench of fear.
Swiveling my body, I grasped the tire iron in my sweaty palm and pulled my knees to my chest. I would only get one chance at this, but I was going to fight with everything I had. The fact they hadn’t tied me up spoke to their arrogance and sadly to how much they underestimated me. It would be one of their biggest mistakes.
I heard him pop the trunk lock and every muscle in my body tightened. As soon as the trunk lid opened, I kicked out with all the force of my body weight. I hit Brad’s daddy square in the groin and heard his intake of air and a whimper as he clutched himself and doubled over. Then I scrambled out of the trunk and brought the tire iron hard across his temple. He dropped like a rock.
I crouched down and frantically searched his pockets, but came up empty. Brad must have taken the keys or he’d had them all along. I had no idea who had been driving what car. I continued to search and almost cried when I found his cell phone. I pressed in Ethan’s number.
He answered on the first ring. “Haley, where are you?”
“Brad took me. They’re going to kill me, Ethan. I was so wrong. I should have never sent you away.”
“Don’t worry about that now, sugar. Tell me where you are.”
I looked around, but there was nothing but brush and trees. “On a dirt road in the bayou. No, wait. It’s not far from a metal salvage. Brad took my car there to get rid of it. It can’t be far because he has to walk back here.”
“Newcomb’s. Gotta be,” I heard a deep voice say.
“Haley. We’re on our way. Stay strong, babe!”
“Please hurry, Ethan.” I heard a shout and my head whipped around to see Brad pelting down the road, his face contorted in rage. “Oh, God, he’s coming. I’ve got to run.”
“Haley!”
I couldn’t respond as I tucked the phone into my jeans’ pocket leaving it on. I rose still clutching the tire iron and ran into the brush, it would slow me down, but it would also slow him down. He would easily catch me on the road.
Branches slapped at me, making me feel as if I was slogging through quicksand. Heedless of the scrapes and the scratches, I pushed my way through, fueled by my panic and fear. The growth was so thick, I couldn’t see anything in front of me. Everything seemed distorted in my terror as I heard Brad, his breath laboring in the almost liquid-saturated air, crashing through the brush after me. He was big enough to leave a trail for Ethan to follow. I just had to hold on until he got here.
In the near distance, thunder rolled and lightning flashed behind a bank of clouds. East, I thought automatically, as sweat stung my eyes. I stumbled on the rough and uneven ground, my only saving grace was that Brad was impeded, too.
I burst out in to a clearing, there was a house in the distance, but it was much too far for me to get help there. He would catch up to me.
The storm was almost over us, the sky rumbling and crackling. The first flurry of fat raindrops hitting me as I ran toward a rickety dock in front of me. The boards groaned and dipped, elastic with rot, but they held as I turned and saw Brad break from the trees. He was bathed in sweat, running in rivulets down his face, his shirt soaked.
The rain came harder. Lightning shattered the darkened sky, and the clouds ripped open, drenching me. Gasping, I raised the tire iron as he came toward me.
“There’s nowhere for you to go, Haley, and I’m not letting you get away from me this time.”
“Don’t come near me, Brad. I swear I won’t hold back.” Behind me, the downpour pounded like nails on the tin roof of the crumbling shack.
“What happened to my little kitten? She’s grown some claws since she’s been gone.”
“I’m not your anything, Brad, except the woman who’s going to divorce you and take back her life.” I shouted over the rain.
“You don’t have a life anymore. You’re a talking dead woman.”
I straightened, my eyes narrowed. He stepped on the dock and the wood groaned, then one of the boards snapped. I heard several splashes and looked around. Gators. Big ones had been alerted by the wood hitting the water. They glided nearby only their scaly eye sockets and ridged backs visible.
“You’re still afraid of me,” he taunted.
“No. I was coming home to fight you,” I growled, seizing my anger and hate, using them as shields to beat back the fear. “You’re nothing but a pathetic addict and you made me miss my flight, you son of a bitch.”
He laughed without any amusement. In fact, he was getting angrier by the minute.Good, come and underestimate me some more, Brad.“Wow, Haley. You’ve developed a dirty mouth since you’ve been away.”
“How much ofmymoney do you have on you. Oh, nevermind. After I beat you senseless with this tire iron, I’ll find out myself.”
He roared and charged toward me, like a bull aiming for a red cape just as four figures broke out of the trees. But my full attention was on Brad. I was ready for him, goading him on purpose. As he barreled toward me, I stood my ground, and at the very last minute, I threw myself to the side. His hand glanced off my shoulder, but Brad couldn’t check his forward momentum, his anger making him reckless. I was no longer that woman who he’d bullied into submission.
