Chapter Four
Duke
She looked meek and petrified. It caught me off guard. Half expecting her to be her normal spitfire self, it nearly broke my heart having to be harsh and inspired me to get the mess figured out soon. Then I’d hoped she’d forgive me.
But first I needed to get this pregnancy thing out of the way. Could I keep her locked away while she was in that condition? There really was no choice at that point. She’d have to wait it out in isolation.
The phone ringing interrupted my thoughts, and then with a rush of adrenaline, I was making my way toward town following a lead my informant provided. If this tip panned out, it could be the tipping point to the whole thing.
The street was eerily quiet and shadows from the street light danced between the buildings. The arranged meeting spot was an alley between two deserted buildings. I stood tuning into my surroundings in order to make sure nothing was overlooked.
I nodded curtly at the gentleman who came from the other end of the alley. All my nerve endings were on edge anticipating what information he had to share and hoping this wasn’t some type of trap. Trust between the informant and me was fragile. I had to have faith in him, but I never knew when the other side might have turned him, therefore setting me up for exposure or ambush.
This man gave me the typical hand sign we used to distinguish ourselves to each other, and I relaxed slightly.
He handed over the envelope without hesitation, and I greedily took possession of it and waited until I was headed away from town in the opposite direction of my home to consider opening it, knowing it needed to wait until I was securely at home. Even though it took an extra hour to arrive back at the house, the knowledge of not being followed made the extra time worth it.
One quick stop along the way, and then I was seated at my desk as the laptop booted up. The rip of the sealed envelope was the only sound in the room as I held my breath, hoping that the contents would be the key piece. The folded paper crinkled loudly as I yanked it from the safety of the envelope, which I discarded into the desk, and I swiftly unfolded the paper. Written in large black block letters was the name—Morton Todd.
Morton. I’d heard of it before from my searches and chat rooms on the dark web where I mingled with the darkest of the darkest people in society, all to try to find the solution. One quick search revealed that we indeed were part of the same circle. That information was a win.
It wasn’t until the chime of the clock sounded that I realized that I had been leaning over the laptop for hours making plans, close to being able to make a move, and the growling of my own stomach reminded me that I had told Natalie I would be back with food. I’d had her close to eighteen hours and hadn’t given her an ounce of nutrition.
Chapter Five
Natalie
He promised he'd come back with something to eat. When it appeared, he wasn’t coming back I curled up on the bed after spending what seemed like hours pacing back and forth in the small room trying to formulate an idea, but the lack of food made my mind dizzy.
I’d finally given in and used the bucket, and even though no one was around to see it happen, I couldn’t stop the embarrassment from turning my cheeks warm.
The jiggling sound of the doorknob woke me from the uneasy sleep, and I shook off the grogginess as quickly as possible. I needed to be alert for whatever was about to happens.
My eyes went instantly to his side where he held a baseball bat and a small paper bag. I hoped with every ounce of my being that the bat was to subdue me if I tried anything, which I didn’t have the energy for. I was biding my time. It had to be the right time, and it didn’t go unnoticed that the times he’d come in, he’d left the door open behind him. That is my ticket, and I will use that to my advantage soon.
But it was the bag that really caused the most assault. When he reached into it, I thought for sure he’d pull out a sandwich or something. Anything would be welcomed. Instead, it was a box, which he threw at me. “Take this now,” he barked. “I want to know for sure. You need to prove it to me.”
The box loomed in front of me, where it skirted to a stop after sliding across the floor from his toss. I stared at it disbelieving, and when I didn’t move, he bellowed, “Do it now!”
Wasting no time, I scooted from the bed to the floor, where I picked up the box and examined it more closely. A pregnancy test. He wanted me to take a pregnancy test there and then to prove the validity of my calm. Any hope I carried that I might use that lie to get out of there was dashed in those moments.
“You want me to take this now? In front of you?” I questioned, startled at the audacity of his request. Prisoner or not, I had some dignity left.
He glared at me. His look became hard and unforgiving. He didn’t need to say anything to get his point across. I had to take the test, and I had to do it then.
With my head hanging low in disgrace, I made my way to the bucket. His gaze followed my every movement.
If I had thought using the disgusting bucket was horrible before, then it was like a torture device, and the tears silently fell as I peed on the stick.
Not bothering to wipe it off, I handed the stick to Duke and waited as far away as I could get from him for the lines to form. There was no way to anticipate his reaction. I knew the results would be negative, but did he?
He went from wonder to hate as his attention went from the stick back to me. I grimaced at my lack of forethought. I should have known he’d want to be sure.
My emotions took over, and all the calm and cool that I wanted to project left me as I howled, “You’ll never get away with this! You can’t keep me here.” My feet took me running toward him. Wild and unpredictable. My fist connected to his temple, which threw his balance off, and the bat tumbled to the floor.
That was my moment.
I launched for the bat.
As my hand gripped the handle, I toppled to the floor, Duke tripping me and forcing me from behind to the ground. He straddled me; my face pressed to the floor.
His hand came to my neck, pressing me harder into the concrete. His hips were flush with mine, and he flicked them. Not once but several times into mine, making me cry out from the pressure he put on my body and the indication he was making with the motion.
His erection hammered into my backside as he leaned in and bitterly whispered, “You will never act in this manner again. I’m protecting you. Do you understand?”
I didn’t understand, but I didn’t want to provoke the situation further. I nodded the best I could, crying out with pain as my chin and cheek scraped the rough finish of the floor.
Duke got off of me slowly, making it easier for me to breath. His knee was left pressing on my back, but then he wrapped his hand into my hair, using it to pull me to my feet, and then he flung me away from him. I tumbled to the bed where I quickly turned to face him, not wanting to be caught off guard if he came at me.
Duke’s eyes flicked from the test laying on the floor to me. He bent to pick it up, and he flicked the test at me. It landed at my feet. The one pink line glaring up at me. He left without a word, and my anxiety heightened. I’d rather him take it out on me sooner rather than later. Before he left the room, he kicked the paper bag into the middle of the room. I scrambled from the bed to the bag, not caring if it made me appear weak, and as I ripped into the sandwich and took a huge bite, the door slammed and locked.