If I Say Yes (29 page)

“I want you to suffer. For what your mother did and for what my
father did.”

“You can’t blame me for their actions,” I whisper. My body is
wrecked with sobs. I can hear Eli groaning in pain. The sound of the baseball bat making contact with his knee is playing like a broken record over and over again.

“Your mother isn’t alive, which I have Jared to thank for that. Since he didn’t finish the job with you, it’s my duty to do so.”

“But your fat—”

“He is paying for what he has done. Why do you think he was in your apartment all those weeks ago? Because I coerced him into it.”

I think back to the night that Robert was in my apartment. That
night has replayed in my mind a thousand times, trying to make sense
as to why he was there that night with Jacob. Why after all these years,
he was doing something about it. The pieces are starting to fall into
place. The emails, how the person knew my every move. It was all
Heidi. She knew my every step, her desk was outside my office, and it was easy for her. But I still can’t figure out where Eli and Reid play into this.

“Fine. Do what you want with me, but just let them go,” I plead.

“No, they are staying. It’s part of your suffering. I am going to kill
both of them, painfully and slowly, and thrive off the torture it brings
you. Then, once I am finished with them, I will do the same for you.
None of this is going to be short and quick. We’re going to be here for
a long time. Now, why don’t you get comfortable for a little bit. I have
to go check on a few things, and then the fun times will resume.”

Heidi turns and walks out of the room, closing the door behind
her, and I hear the sounds of locks clicking in place. She’s locked us in
here, leaving just the three of us alone. I glance around the room, a
heavy weight bearing down on my shoulders, and I can’t stand to look
at Eli or Reid. Eli is still softly groaning in pain and I feel helpless. Nothing
in this room has been touched. The room remains unchanged and just
like it always has. The four poster bed sits just to the right of me, a large
fireplace sits empty across the room, and a night stand by the bed. That’s
it. Neither of my parents made this room personalized. They left the
personalization to their offices. Rooms I only caught a glance of once or twice
in my life.

Finally, I muster the courage to glance at the both of them. At first
glance, Eli seems unharmed except for the low groans emanating from
his body across the room. His upper body remains untouched. Reid has
only experienced the one wound as far as I am aware of. My eyes drift to the bandage around his stomach. Traces of red seep out through the
patched up wound, making the wrap turn to a slightly pinkish color around the cut. I’m sure he is in pain, but he isn’t showing it in any
way. I watch as both of them move their heads back and forth, trying to
wiggle the gags out of their mouths. I pull against the chair again and
barely manage to budge the rope. After a few minutes, I give up and sag
against the chair. I cast my eyes down to the floor, tears brimming in
my eyes, and let out a soft sob. “I’m so sorry. You two shouldn’t be here.
This is all my fault.”

“
No,” Eli’s rough voice surprises me and I jump, “That woman is
sadistic.” I glance over at him and I start to cry. “Don’t cry,
little rabbit.”
Another sob escapes my mouth. “None of this is your fault. She has got her panties twisted up in a terrible bunch, or perhaps a stick was shoved up so far up her ass that she couldn’t remove it.”

“This isn’t the time to make jokes,” I say as I laugh softly. In the
time of trouble, I can count on Eli to make me smile. “I’m sorry, Eli,
for whatever I did wrong. I have missed you so much.”

Eli lets out a long sigh, “You didn’t do anything wrong. I just let my ego get the best of me. I missed you, too.”

“If you two are done playing make up, I think it’s best we try and
figure a way out of here.” Reid’s voice cuts into the conversation. I turn
my attention to him and find him smiling. A smile at a time like this.
What is wrong with these guys? “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad
you guys are making up. I’m tired of Liza hurting over this, but now is not the time.”

A low groan comes from Eli, and I see the regret in his eyes. “Pretty
boy is right. We need to figure a way out.”

I try not to laugh as the two of them, mainly Reid because Eli can
hardly move, fight against their restraints. I know the situation we are
in is quite serious, and that Heidi can come back at any moment, but
watching two big men fight against a chair and some rope is quite
humorous. Eli gives up first and I can’t say I blame him. He’s probably
got two busted knee caps and that cannot feel good. I try again to fight
against the ropes, but my body is aching from the movement.

My head is pounding and where I was stabbed feels like it is on fire. I pulled a couple of stitches out trying to wiggle my wrists from
the ropes. Tears sting my eyes, and I bite my lip to avoid crying out in
pain.
This is useless. We can’t get out of these ropes.
These ropes are as snug as they can get.

I give up before Reid, who is still twisting and turning his body every which way he can. The determination on his face says he’s not
going to stop. I glance around the room, searching for anything that
might help us if we can figure out how to get to it. A glint of sliver
flashes in the light, and I remember the knife. I glance over to Reid,
and then to the floor where the bloody knife she used to slice him open
is still laying. “Reid… the knife.” He looks down at the knife and then
back up to me, nodding his head. “See if you can kick it over here to
me. If you can, I can try to get the chair to tip over and use it to cut
myself free.”

“Let me do it since it’s right next to me.” He starts moving back and forth, building momentum to knock his chair over.

“No, I can do it if you can get it to me,” I say quickly. He stares at
me and raises an eyebrow.

“Now is not the time for heroics, Liza.”

“Shut your mouth, Reid.” He smiles, and I shake my head. “I’m
just saying that my hands are smaller than yours, and I can maneuver
the knife better than you can.” He nods his head, accepting what I am
telling him. I inhale a deep breath and hold it while I watch him slide
his foot towards the knife. It’s just out of his reach, and he curses. “Calm
down,” I say softly. “See if you can slide your chair over a tiny bit.”

For a moment, he stares at me like I am crazy before he decides to go for it. Inch by inch, he makes his way closer to the knife, the carpet
making it tougher than it should be. After several long minutes, Reid
finally gets himself into a position where he can reach the knife better
and get a good kick behind it. He brings his foot back as far as he can and swiftly kicks the knife.

Time slows down as I watch the knife fly up into the air. No one makes a sound, and all I can hear is the sound of our deep breathing.
The knife begins to make its descent to the floor, and I watch in
anticipation as it gets closer and closer. My heart drops when it stops just short of me. It will be hard to reach, but I figure if I can get my chair on the floor, I might be able to wiggle it towards it. I rock the
chair back and forth until I get enough momentum to tip it on its
side. When I land, the chair makes a loud thud against the floor, and I cry out in pain, quickly quieting myself and listening for any signs of Heidi coming back to the room.

I lie there for a minute, waiting for the shooting pain to subside in my side, and try to figure out how I am going to reach it. I wonder if I slip my foot out of my flat if I might be able to slip it out of the
rope and use it to push me across the floor. Without another thought,
I slip my foot out of the shoe and begin trying to pull it free. Unlike
Reid, who didn’t have his feet bound for whatever reason, mine were
just a few inches above my ankles. The rope tugs against my skin,
creating a friction like burn against it. After what seems like forever, I can feel the rope begin to slightly loosen, unlike the one that has my hands tied behind my back.

A few more pulls and my foot springs free. Eli and Reid let out a
cheer of excitement and I glare at them for being so loud while stifling
back my own excitement. I push my foot into the carpet and use it as
leverage to push me forward. It’s working, but slowly. After a few
minutes I am right next to the knife, but my hands are behind my back.
I use my free foot to slowly turn around while still on the side.

“You’re almost there,” Reid says. “See if you can get the chair to move backwards. The knife is just within your grasp.”

I do as Reid says, and in seconds, I feel the butt of the knife graze
against my fingertips. One more soft push off the ground and I’m able
to wrap my hands around it. My heart leaps with joy. I’m so close. I
move my hands to the best of my ability and get the blade of the knife
under a piece of the rope. The position of my hand is awkward and
uncomfortable. The rope is rubbing at my skin, and I can feel it cutting
it open and stinging. Slowly, I move the rope back and forth, little by little. Just as I cut through the last strand of rope, I hear the locks on
the door clicking. I am frozen in place with fear just as the door swings
open and Heidi steps through.

“WHAT THE HELL
do you think you are doing?” Heidi’s voice vibrates
across the room from the door. I lie there, unmoving. I don’t want her
to know that I am free. I watch as she walks across the room and wait.
Once she is close enough, I pull my hands from behind my back and stand up. The chair is still tied around my foot, and I kick at it until I break free. Heidi’s slow saunter turns into a dead run just as my foot
pulls free, and I barely manage to block her incoming blow. She grabs
a handful of my hair and yanks on it. I scream out in pain. My arms
flail around, trying to reach her and break free. My hand makes contact
with her face and she releases my hair.

Now that I am in control again, I stand there waiting for her, slowly
breathing in and out. “It’s over, Heidi.”

She throws her head back and laughs. “Not yet. Those two—” she jerks her thumb over her shoulder towards Eli and Reid “are still tied
up. So that leaves you and me.” She lunges for me. Clenching my fist,
I throw all my strength into the swing. I miss, hitting her shoulder
instead. She tackles me to the floor as if my punch didn’t have any
effect on her. As she tries to pin me, I struggle harder. I bend my leg,
kneeing her in the back. Her grip slips. I seize the moment, bucking her off of me.
She lands
on top of the chair. A piercing scream fills the room.

“Liza!” Eli yells. “Use the knife.”

I glance at the knife just as Heidi recovers, and when she dives
for me, I plunge it into her side. She falls to the ground, screaming
and thrashing her body around. I push the knife a little further into her torso before pulling it out. I search the room for something heavy enough to render her unconscious and snatch the lamp off the night
stand. I stand above her, and for the first time, Heidi seems terrified. I
close my eyes and bring the lamp down against her head. She instantly
becomes quiet. I collapse against the ground, pull my knees up to my chest, close my eyes, and rock back and forth.

The vision of my mother comes back. The one where she is blaming
me for her death. I’m stuck in the montage of blood and her dead corpse
trying to get to me. “Liza!” I can faintly hear my name being shouted,
but I am stuck in this nightmare. “Liza… baby… you have to help us out
of these ropes.” I finally register Reid’s voice and snap back to reality.

I glance over and see Heidi’s unconscious body next to me, and
the knife protruding out of her side. I close my eyes, wrap my hand
around the hilt of the knife, and shudder as I pull it out of her body. I
don’t open my eyes until I am sure I have crawled past her far enough
so that I don’t have to see her. My hands shake as I cut through the
rope behind Reid’s chair that bounds his hands. My heart is pounding
and my breathing is ragged. I don’t realize that Reid is free until I feel
his strong arms wrap around me and pull me close. I open my eyes and
gaze up at him. He crushes his lips down on mine. “It’s going to be okay. We made it,” he whispers between kisses.

“Ahem,” I hear Eli clear his voice, “Did you forget I was still here?”
Reid lifts one finger at a time off the knife, prying it from my hand,
places a kiss on my forehead, and goes to free Eli. Once the ropes have
been cut free, Eli doesn’t move. He can’t move.

Reid returns to my side, pulls my face into his hands, and gives me a kiss. “I’ve got to go call for help.”

“There’s a landline in the office two doors down.” He tilts his head
and stares at me questionably. “I never disconnected anything in the house.” He raises his eyebrow, and I smile slightly. “Don’t ask.”