“You didn’t put much on there, did you? She’s waking up already.” Cora heard Alexander’s voice as she looked up from the floor of a smelly van. It was moving. Someone else drove while Alexander leaned over her; his triumphant face slowly came into focus.
“Wasn’t much left, but we didn’t need much,” the other one said, laughing.
“You lied to me! You tried to kill my dad. You’re a monster like Keith. I can’t believe I fell for it.” She tried to sit up, but Alexander pushed her back against the floor.
“No!” She fought him, “I’m not leaving with you.”
“I don’t believe I asked.” He had to use his full body weight to keep her down. Cora kicked, hit, and bit him, not stopping even when he slapped her. Her face stung, but she fought on, shoving her thumb into his eye and sending his head reeling back.
“I can’t get out,” the driver yelled. “We’re stuck.”
“What?” Alexander shrieked as he shook Cora. He jumped up to see the commotion that was blocking the exit. With her free leg, Cora threw everything she had into his crotch. She saw his eyes bulge as she scrambled away. That’s for kidnapping me! For tricking me! For shooting my dad!
The injury didn’t slow him down as much as she hoped, but then the sickness set in. She was able to escape through the van doors before he could grab her leg.
She sprinted across an indoor parking lot and soon realized she was in a hotel’s underground parking complex. She thought it was the same hotel, so maybe they hadn’t left the building yet. Using the vehicles to hide behind, she made her way to the stairs and then up to the next level.
The stairs ended and she ran into the door, hoping it would open.
Locked! Damn, damn, damn! She pounded and pounded. Someone be there – open the door! Mixed in with her racket, she heard Alexander’s heavy footsteps as he raced after her. Boom, boom, boom, boom. He had to be mad as hell that she got away – that she tried her best to beat the shit out of him.
He slowed down on the last set of stairs. It was quiet. He wasn’t yelling or cussing at her as she expected. He knew she was trapped, and he was taking his time, taking each step with a gleeful thump. Slowly, she turned around to face him. Was there any chance Nick had gotten free and was about to find her?
“You picked the wrong door, dear.” His face held a smirk of triumph, but there was also blood on his face and his hair was a mess.
“You picked the wrong girl,” she shot back. “I’m not going with you.”
He smiled again as he pulled his gun out. He had put on quite a show when pretending to help her before. That hadn’t been him at all. This evil monster was the true Alexander.
He took the last few steps and snatched a fistful of her hair. She didn’t scream. She wouldn’t give him that. He yanked her down the stairs with him and rammed them both into another door on the first flight, throwing it open. There they stood, both panting, between two doors, one leading outside while the other led back to the parking deck.
“The van’s outside,” he said as he stopped to breathe. At least she had winded him. “We’re getting in it, or I’m putting a bullet through your head and then one through Nick’s.”
He didn’t care about getting the key? Maybe this wasn’t about the money after all. She felt sick. Trapped.
“Then shoot me.”
His teeth-baring sneer relaxed into a confused frown as he studied her eyes. His fist held her hair tightly, keeping her head in place so she had to stare back at him. He wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. He was an emotional killer. She watched his eyes and, as he battled his conflicting emotions, his expression changed. She realized she was a prized possession to him, something he didn’t want to smash to pieces.
“I said shoot me.”
He unintentionally let his hand slip from her hair. She stepped toward the inner door.
The movement jarred him and he aimed a gun steady at her. “Do you really want me to shoot you? How about in the leg? You won’t be running off then.”
“Ha! I thought you said you’d put that bullet through my head.” She yelled at him and immediately regretted it. She was playing with pain. He could, and he would, shoot her if it wasn’t fatal. She didn’t know which would be worse: dying or going with Alexander. Cora took another step and was only two feet from the door.
He shook the gun. “I’ll rather have you with a bullet in you than not at all.”
Her hand reached out and touched the door handle behind her. He didn’t react but a tremor shook through her. “You’ll really shoot me?” She’d managed to change her tone. Maybe she could talk him down and get him back to the fake and polished manner he used before. Maybe she could use his feelings for her. Because, otherwise, she wasn’t making it out of this alive.
If only she’d told Nick how she felt.
She took the last step and stood with her back against the door. Her hand gripped the handle and she wondered if she could run out the door before he shot her.
“Does this game turn you on, Cora?” he asked, half smiling. “Do you think I love you enough to not kill you?”
“Love?” At her question, he lowered the gun and his face relaxed as he looked at her.
“I’ve watched you grow into the woman you are. No one else knows what you want.”
“So you thought I wanted to lose my father?” She used a daring tone, one she probably shouldn’t use when he had a gun. “You thought I wanted you to frame my father? Try to kill him? Take my life away? Is that what you’re claiming love is all about?”
“I did whatever it took to be with you.” His arm lowered completely. “Did Nick try all that hard? You’ve been chasing Nick, but I’ve been chasing you.” His gun hung on his limp arms while he waited for her answer.
“You’re wrong about him. I ran from him, and he still risked his life for me. He does what’s right.”
Alexander fired his gun.
She dove down, covering her head, but the second shot didn’t come. The first one hadn’t hit her. Thank God, she wasn’t hurt. She looked up at him. Alexander’s eyes grew wide and crazy at what he’d done. The gun remained pointed at the door as she swung it open and passed through it, away from him.