Page 41 of Gatling
On one hand, I wanted to wring his neck for vanishing into thin air like this.
On the other hand, I just felt…heartbroken. I should have kept my feelings in check. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t tried to kiss him that night in his cabin.
By the time I arrived at the day care center, I was ten minutes late. Distracted and in a rush, I grabbed my purse, climbed out of my car, and nudged my door closed with my hip.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
I turned at the sound of a man’s voice, somewhere just behind me. Then a sharp pain pricked the side of my neck. Like a bee-sting. But there were no bees now in November, with a thin layer of snow covering everything.
I whirled around to see a man standing there. Dark blue baseball cap and a gray work uniform, with a name tag that read, Olson. With his stooped shoulders and the thin line of his mouth, he seemed…vaguely familiar.
He held up a syringe. The thin needle gleamed in the morning sunlight.
“Horse tranquilizer. You can get anything online these days.”
As soon as he finished speaking, my world tilted and spun like a carousel. My vision blurred and my knees went wobbly.
This had to be the man who’d been stalking me.
“Help,” I rasped, but my voice came out in a faint whisper.
I grabbed for my car door, but Olson clucked his tongue and took my arm, stepping closer.
“Shhh, calm down, my darling,” he murmured in my ear. “The tranquilizer is pumping through your blood faster with your racing heart.”
A foggy haze clouded my brain. But muscle memory took over. All those tips and tricks Noah and Ryker had taught me over the years. Teaching me how to hit. How to fight back.
Trust your gut,they told me.
I drove my elbow into Olson’s ribs. He grunted and doubled over. I yanked my arm away, stumbling toward the day care. It seemed as if the earth beneath my feet tilted like a boat rocked by stormy waves.
Flinging my hands out, I steadied myself against the building’s brick wall. Only a few feet to the door.
“Help!” I called. Louder this time.
“No, no, don't cause a scene now.” Olson locked an arm around my waist from behind, his sour breath at my ear. “Don’t do that. You’ll draw attention to us—”
“Get off me,” I spat.
“Kelsie?”
A woman. In the parking lot. Macy, my co-worker.
Oh, thank God.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Olson chuckled.
“She’s just a little tipsy. My girlfriend had too much to drink last night on our date. She’s still hungover.”
“No, I amnot—” I hissed.
Olson squeezed my arm so hard that the bone threatened to snap. I broke off with a whimper. Macy frowned, looking concerned.
“Kelsie hasn’t mentioned you…”
Darkness pulsed at the edges of my vision. I swayed to the side far enough that I felt like I would topple over. The only thing keeping me upright was Olson’s bruising grip on my arm, pinning me against his chest.
