It will take me over two hours to get to the house. Thank God my cheap phone has GPS, or it would take a lot longer. I’m not even certain where the hell I lived for three years. My knowledge is vague. Pete drove me out there, and I never left until I walked to that diner and the kind woman drove me to Seattle. It’s not like I was paying attention to where we were going. I was scared out of my mind, cold, shaking, crying, and praying I could get somewhere safe.
Now I’m trying to hurry back to the last man on Earth I ever want to see again. I’m shaking this time, too.
Daddy… Blade… He’s going to be so mad when he finds me gone. Hopefully, he will be in his meeting for a few hours and I’ll be almost… I refuse to think of that house as home.
My home is with Blade.
Another sob escapes. I swipe at tears that won’t stop streaming down my face. Blade is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s shown me more kindness in two weeks than anyone I’ve ever known except my mother.
I’ve learned things about myself I didn’t know before. I’m Little. In my heart, I’m Little. And he’s the best Daddy I could ever want or need. I know this is my last day on Earth, but I will be brave. I will close my eyes and think of Blade while I die.
I don’t care as long as I save that innocent girl. I glance over at my phone where it sits on the passenger seat. I took it just in case Pete tries to contact me again. I didn’t respond to him. I’m hoping he might give me more time if he’s not sure whether or not I saw the message. I flipped back through his last six texts. I have no doubt Blade has read all of them, but he didn’t reply. Pete can’t know for certain anyone has seen any text on my phone. Right? Maybe he can tell they were opened? I’m not sure how that works.
I’ve also stolen a car. Blade’s Camaro. It took me precious minutes to get it started and pull out of the parking garage. I’m lucky I didn’t hit something. I’m swerving on the highway now. I need to get a grip. The last thing I want is to get pulled over.
Blade… My mind wanders back to my Daddy. He’s going to punch a hole in the drywall. I don’t think he will care that I took his car. However, he will care that I left instead of calling him. But I know what would have happened. He would have told me to stay home while he dealt with Pete.
I couldn’t let him do that. For one, if I don’t show up, I fully believe Pete will kill that poor girl. I know how violent he is. I have to assume his anger has increased tenfold since I left. He’s pissed.
Besides that, I couldn’t let Blade and his team confront my ex. That would be too dangerous. What if something happened to the man I love because of me? No. I can’t stomach that. I won’t let him go after Pete. He could get killed or end up in jail for doing whatever he has planned for Pete.
He’ll be sad. Furious. Pissed. Mad. But he’s only had me for two weeks. He’ll move on. He’ll find another Little girl.
Another sob laced with frustration comes out of me more like a scream. The injustice of this situation is more than I can stand. I won’t have to bear it much longer, though. I have one goal. Help that girl. After that, I can let go of life. At least I’ll die knowing I saved someone else.
Think, June.
I need a plan. I took one of Blade’s knives when I left. It’s in my purse. It’s not a steak knife, either. It’s one of the ones he keeps in a knife box in his desk drawer. He showed it to me once last week when he specifically told me never to touch the box for any reason. He said the knives in there were very sharp and dangerous.
I shudder at the thought of what Daddy would do if he had the chance to punish me for not just touching the box but also taking one of the knives. I didn’t have a plan when I grabbed it, but I’m forming one now.
When I arrive, I’ll hold the knife up to my wrist and threaten to kill myself if Pete doesn’t release the girl. It will work. Pete doesn’t want her. He wants me. He’ll let her go.
But I won’t let him have me. Never. I will not willingly let that asshole get his cock anywhere near me. He’s not putting that nasty pencil dick in my mouth or my pussy. Never. I’m prepared to slit my wrist as soon as the girl is gone. It’s sharp. It won’t be hard. Hopefully, my right hand is recovered enough to slit my left wrist.
The only flaw in my plan is that Daddy will eventually arrive. It will be too late to save me, but he’ll kill Pete with his bare hands. And then what? Hopefully, he won’t get arrested. He’ll be able to say he was trying to rescue me. Self-defense.
I’m doing this for that innocent girl. I wonder how old she is. She looked so scared. I suppose she could be a grown woman. That’s more likely. He probably picked her up and wooed her like he did me until he got her to the house. Then he turned on her.
I have to save her.
I’ll never know what time Daddy discovers I’m missing because I left my new phone at home. I didn’t want to risk having it ring repeatedly if he found me gone. I’m not strong enough to ignore it.
It’s only by sheer coincidence that I happened to be in Daddy’s office when that text came in. I’m surprised Daddy left my phone behind when he went downstairs to meet with his team.
I was looking for a pen. The one I was using ran out of ink. I knew he had a jar of them on his desk, but just as I reached for one, the phone buzzed. I nearly jumped out of my skin from the shock. I couldn’t resist picking up the phone to look at the screen.
I only meant to look. I had no idea whether Pete had been trying to contact me or not. Daddy never said. The moment I saw the picture of Pete’s hostage, my knees buckled. I gasped and nearly passed out.
Somehow, I managed to pull myself together and make several quick decisions. I put my phone in my pocket, yanked the drawer open, found the knives, and took one.
Come on. Come on. Come on…
I won’t risk driving more than five miles over the speed limit. If I were to get pulled over, that girl would die.
I have to get there on time. I will. I was standing next to the phone when the text came in. I got lucky.
No, I didn’t get lucky. That girl did. Would Pete really kill her in three hours? I wouldn’t put anything past him. Nothing. And I suspect I don’t know the half of it. Based on how I’ve seen Daddy rubbing his temples at least once a day lately, he knows stuff he hasn’t told me.
