chapter one hundred and five

My head was starting to throb from the tussle with thug number one; he had elbowed me in my nose brace a few times and that was a few times too often. Dear God, how do we get out of this predicament? With Viola an emotional mess a few feet away, I decided to join in her whimpering and see if we couldn’t get some sympathy coming our way.

“Owwwwww, I think you might have re-broken my nose!” I howled with added emphasis while I held my face in my hands. “I don’t feel well. You should probably take me to a hospital right away.”

Bumpy-headed thug responded by kicking my feet forcefully. “Shut up!” I groaned and sneaked a peek at his face through my fingers; he glanced over at Viola’s crumpled frame and then sent a questioning look at coffee-stained thug. It appeared that they were undecided about what to do next, so perhaps I could prod them in the right direction. I had called Cam and shots had been fired, so I knew that help was on the way. My plan was to distract them until the police arrived.

I leaned over slightly to the right. “Viola, are you okay? Are you bleeding? Did he hurt your baby?” I extended a hand towards her in a caring gesture and received a kick to my shin for my efforts.

“I said shut up! And stop talking nonsense. We never took no baby!” I grimaced while I grabbed my leg and thanked God for hired thugs who had not been filled in on all the details of their crime. Perhaps I could use that to stir things up a bit.

My voice became loud and incredulous. “Tait didn’t tell you that you kidnapped a pregnant woman? How stupid can he be? Anything happens to her baby and the deal is off! Why wouldn’t he tell you something as important as that?” The eyes of both men darted back and forth from Viola to me and then to each other.

“Damn it!” the one watching me cursed and punched a wall with his elbow. “We have to get outta here. Now!” He grabbed my arm and motioned for scratchy face to help Viola up.

“For all you know Tait set you up! Sent you back to the house so that you could get caught red-handed! He must have known someone would be watching it. You know how ruthless Tait can be. That man always covers his tracks so that nothing comes back to him. He obviously doesn’t care if anything happens to Viola, the baby, or you for that matter. He’s just trying to send a message that nobody messes with Tait!”

My words found their mark a little too well. The lumpy thug struck me across the broken nose with his gun and I fell onto the carpet, nearly losing consciousness as waves of pain and nausea coursed through my body. I heard sirens in the distance. They sounded like a beautiful symphony. The floor vibrated as heavy feet ran out of the closet. A door slammed. Car tires squealed. The sirens got louder, then quieter. Maybe everyone had gone home. That would be nice, I needed some rest. I heard my name being called, so I lifted my heavy eyelids.

Cameron stood over me, agitated and upset. “I thought I told you not to go in here alone.”

“I wasn’t alone,” I murmured and let myself sink into the fluffy cloud of numbness.