Page 83 of Catch My Fall
“Someone’s trying to break in.”
She gasps, scrambling out of bed, searching for her clothes that are strewn across the bedroom floor. “Is it him? Has he found us?”
Austin. The unspoken name hangs thick in the air, and I think deep down we both know the answer.
“I’m not sure, but if it is he’s not getting within an inch of you.” I pull out a Glock 19 from the nightstand and hand it to her. “The clip is full, it holds fifteen rounds. It’s lightweight and easy to shoot. Anyone comes into this room besides me, you don’t hesitate for a second and you shoot the son of a bitch, okay?”
Her chin trembles. “What about you?”
I cup her face. “Don’t worry about me. This is what I was trained for.” I lean in and press my lips to hers before heading for the door.
“Alec, promise you’ll come back to me.”
I look over my shoulder, and smile. “I promise, baby. Now don’t leave this room, I’ll come for you.” The last thing I see before I leave the room is the tear that trickles down her beautiful face.
31
The second Alec leaves the bedroom, I pull out my phone, my fingers shaking as I type out the numbers.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency.”
“I need the police. Someone’s trying to break in.”
“Please state your address,” the lady says on the other end and I reel off the address. “Are you alone, Ma’am?”
“No, my… uh boyfriend went downstairs to check.” The word ‘boyfriend’ seems so foreign coming from my mouth.
“A patrol car is about five minutes out, would you like me to stay on the line?”
“Um, no. Thank you, just make sure they hurry, please.”
“Of course. They’ll be there momentarily.”
“Thanks.” I hang up, pocketing my phone before crawling under the bed on my stomach, allowing me a good vantage point so that I can still see the door, but hopefully, they won’t be able to see me.
I flip off the safety so I can be ready for when that door opens. And it will, I just know it. Until then it’s just a waiting game.
All I can hear is silence, but it’s deafening.
My heartbeat pounds in my eardrums as I strain to hear even the slightest sound from downstairs, any sign of movement that would indicate that they’re in the house.
I wait for what feels like hours.
It’s then that I hear muffled shouts from downstairs, the sounds of clattering and things breaking. There’s two gunshots in quick succession and I hope to god they were from Alec’s gun.
There’s a creak from outside the bedroom door, the unmistakable sound of one of the floorboards groaning underfoot and I suck in a breath.
A second later, the door opens. The hinges let out a small squeak as it swings open and a man in huge black boots enters.
My heart is in my throat as he rounds the bed, stopping every now and again as he searches around the room.
“I can practically taste your fear, little girl,” the intruder taunts. “And when I get you, I won’t let go this time.”
My body freezes. I know that voice…
Oh my God.
He’s one of them. He’s one of the men who raped me, who hurt me over and over again and took pleasure from my pain, who revelled in my tears.