Saving Us (Mitchell Family #6)(44)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Please stop! Why are you doing this? Why not just move on? Why risk your freedom?” I may have been bound. This may have even been my last hour of life, but I was tired of being his victim. If he was planning on killing me, he deserved to give me answers.

He took the back of his knife and hit me right between the eyes with it. I dropped down flat on my back and let the pain overwhelm me. “You say one more thing without me asking and I will cut out your damn tongue.”

I kept my mouth shut, preferring being quiet over what it would be like to have my tongue cut out of my mouth.

“This is what’s going to happen. I am going to give you one minute to tell me where the safe is and don’t you dare tell me there isn’t one. I’m guessing this little housekeeper here knows exactly where it is.”

Lucy began to shake her head. She wanted no part of this. The poor woman had spent her whole life with the Mitchell family. I knew she didn’t want to betray them, but when your life is on the line, you will take drastic measures to save it.

I took the chance of losing my own tongue. “Lucy, just show him where it is. No money is worth your life.”

Rick cocked his eyebrow and looked down at me. He pointed his knife at me and then pointed it at Lucy. When she shook her head again, he brought the knife over to my stomach. I felt it pressing into my skin. All I could think of was my poor baby. Lucy stood up and tried to free her own mouth. Finally Rick took the knife off of me and freed her gag. “I’ll tell you, just please don’t hurt that innocent child. Please, sir.”

He started to laugh. “You think that child is innocent? That child was conceived in a dirty ass hotel room. It wasn’t made out of love. No man would ever love this little tramp. I found her roaming the streets and that’s exactly where her body is going to be found once I’m done with her. Mark my word, little lady, she won’t be missed.”

I went to back away from Rick, but as I did, I heard the gun drop from out of the back of my pants. As it hit the floor, Rick was quick to reach behind me and grab it.

“Looky here. What, did you think you could get free and save everyone from me?” He pointed the pistol at my stomach. I tried to free my hands that were behind my back. They were getting looser, but not enough to get free. He pressed the gun harder into my skin. “How bad did you want to be a mother, Amy?”

I shook my head. “Please don’t do this. I will give you whatever you want. I have money. You can have all of it, just please don’t hurt my baby.”

He started laughing. “You don’t get it do you? I don’t give a shit about you or your baby. I want you dead and after I get what I want, that’s how it’s going to be.”

I backed myself up as far as I could go. If this really was my last moments on this earth, I needed to at least figure out how to save those women. I didn’t want to have to die in vain. Conner needed to know that I was brave. He needed to know that my death had purpose.

Chapter 28

Conner

Colt stayed with my mother, Van and the kids, while John and I headed to the main house. I understood how he couldn’t deal with leaving his wife vulnerable when there was a crazy person out there. That man had come too close to Noah for Colt to be calm.

John and I had a plan. We knew what we had to do. As soon as we found that Lucy was fine, we were going to head out into the woods and start looking there.

I was getting desperate. I had no idea how long that Amy had been missing and without a single phone call, I wasn’t exactly being handed a lot to go on.

Every single second that passed, left me with more concern that I wasn’t going to get to her in time. I shouldn’t have been thinking the worst, but I just couldn’t help myself. I was actually imagining the police coming to my house and telling me that they found her body, like Rick had threatened. It was difficult for me to get it out of my head. I’d never met someone that wanted a beautiful woman dead for no reason. What fueled him to be so cruel? How did someone like Amy get involved with that loser in the first place?

It wasn’t just that he took Amy. He had my child too. If I lost one, I knew it would be both of them. The chance of my child surviving would be slim to none. I couldn’t believe that I was thinking all of these terrible things. I needed to be optimistic and keep telling myself that they were going to be alright. I had to.

When we got closer to the house, I noticed that Lucy’s little car was still parked around the side. She had to be somewhere and just couldn’t hear us when we were calling. John and I got to the front door. “I’ll go find her and meet you back here. I’m sure she’s in the laundry room or somethin’. She can’t hear worth a damn anymore.”

John agreed and stayed on the porch while I made my way in the house. Just like all of the time lately, the house was quiet. I walked through the dining room area and then into the kitchen. The house was spotless. I checked the laundry room and then headed upstairs. When I couldn’t find her at all, I headed for the family room, before meeting John outside. While going in that direction, I picked up my phone and dialed Lucy’s number. The ringing was coming from the family room. I started running toward the sound and stopped dead in my tracks. Rick was standing there with Amy’s gun in his hand. Lucy was tied up on the couch, while Heather was on the floor close to her. As I walked toward them, he turned around and noticed me. As he did it, I saw Amy on the floor behind him. I went running toward her, but with one wave of the gun, I froze.

Rick had the gun pointed at Amy’s stomach. “You take one more step and I kill everything you love with one squeeze of this trigger.” He turned and looked at Amy. “Your knight is here to save his damsel. I guess you can both die together.”

“The only person that’s goin’ to die is you. Touch her again and see what I do to you.”

Rick paid no attention to my threats. He aimed that gun right at Amy’s stomach. As soon as he turned his head to look at her, Heather came lunging at him with her hands still behind her back. The gun went flying across the hardwood floor and I didn’t waste any time going after that bastard myself. My body rammed into Rick’s. I swung hard, hitting him right in the jaw. His head swung around and he started to lose his balance. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and hit him again, right in the same place. Blood went flying and his eyes started to close. I held onto his shirt tighter and slammed his head against the floor. I wanted him to bleed. I wanted him to die watching me saving Amy.