Page 61 of Broken Hero
He cannot be serious, no fucking way - I will find a way to escape if it kills me.
“Please no,” Dad says.
“Got to go now. There is an endless possibility of things I can do to keep busy.” He presses the ‘end call’ button while he stares at me. He doesn't say a word. Every muscle in my body goes tense. Please don't get him want to get busy with me.
“Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I just don't want your dad to know that.”
“He must be terrified.”
“That’s the plan.” He smirks. “Don't want him thinking he can get away with it, do we?”
“So, what now?”
“So, you are free to go, that’s what.”
My shoulders droop as I relax, so relieved. “You're letting me go? What about my dad?”
“Well, I’ll be in touch with him again. At least I know that he’s trying to get the funds together - I'm not a total monster, you know.”
I nod. “Thanks...so I’ll be going?”
“Like I said, not a total monster. Stuart here will see you back to the pub safe and sound. Even I wouldn't let you walk around in the middle of the night, pissed and looking like you do - who knows what weirdo could pick you up.”
Okay, so I guess that’s kind of nice.
“Thank you. I guess.”
He smiles at me. “Shame we didn't meet under different circumstances. Guess a date is out of the question?”
I nod. “Yeah, it is.”
“Yeah, I know – you have a boyfriend.”
I nod. “I do.” He doesn't need to know that he’s not my boyfriend. The last thing I want is to get the attention of some gangster.
The driver opens the door for me, and I walk out. I start to tremble on the way back to the pub. I held it together because I had to, but now I want to get as far away from there as possible. Stuart doesn't say anything to me when we pull up at the pub; he hands me my phone. I take it and get out straight away.
I have no idea how long I’ve been away - I'm thinking maybe an hour? If that. I wonder if anyone has missed me. I switch my phone on, and it starts going crazy as I walk into the pub. The first person I see is Jack. He is standing with Robyn - they both look on alert - I guess they have missed me.
Jack shouts. “Dec, she’s here.”
I look over and see Dec stood with Mia and my friends - he looks like a mad man - like he’s going out of his mind.
He sees me and starts to stride through the pub to me. “Where have you been? Where did you go? Fuck, I thought you'd been kidnapped or something, and your phone isn’t on.”
Still trembling, I hold my phone out to him unable to get the words out of my mouth - I open and close my mouth like a goldfish.
“Sophie? What’s the matter?” His concerned voice makes me lose it. I burst into tears. He draws me to him and wraps his arms around me.
“I...I did get kidnapped.”
“What the fuck?” I hear Denny say. “You gotwhat?”
“My dad...he’s in trouble.”
All I can feel is Dec surrounding me. I take in his scent and try to regulate my breathing to not fall into a fully-fledged panic attack. His scent eventually relaxes me, and I look up.
“They were gangster guys or whatever; they didn't hurt me. They want to scare Dad. I...I need to phone him – he’ll be terrified.”
