Unfortunately, he caught on right away and started chasing after me. He tried to turn on the light switch, but I had yet to replace the bulb that had gone out.
“Not cool, Sophia.” He turned the flashlight on in his phone and began walking down the steps. “What in the hell are you doing? I thought we were past the games?”
Crouched down behind a shelving unit, my heart raced as I considered my options. I wanted to save Marcy, but was terrified of getting into a car with the maniac. If only I could get Patrick’s gun away from him and somehow force him into telling me where she was.
“Sophia! Come on out. You want to see your friend alive, don’t you?”
He drew closer and I hunched down even lower. Fortunately, he turned and headed in the opposite direction, toward several boxes of items I’d been meaning to take to the Goodwill. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and crept over to the staircase. As I began climbing, the creaking of the stairs gave me away.
“There you are.” He leaped after me, grabbing my ankle before I could reach the top.
I fell to my knees, but managed to kick him hard in the shoulder.
Swearing, he let go.
I scrambled up the last few steps, slammed the door and locked it.
Thank God.
Releasing a shaky breath, I grabbed my phone and key fob from the kitchen counter.
“Sophia!” hollered Patrick, trying to open the door. He jiggled the handle and threw his weight against the door. “Open this fucking thing or Marcy is dead! I mean it!”
I paused, frantic that I might be making a horrible mistake. But I had to wonder if he was lying again and had already killed her.
I couldn’t trust him.
There was a loud splintering noise as the door began to give.
Frightened, I quickly fled the cabin and ran toward my car. As I was about to get in, I heard pounding from Marcy’s trunk.
“Help!”
“Marcy?” I raced over to the car and tried opening the trunk. Of course it was locked. So were the doors. “Shit!”
“Sophia, is that you?” she cried out.
I hurried back to the trunk, relieved that she was okay. “Yes, I’m going to try and get you out of here.”
“Where is that lunatic?”
“In the cabin.” I looked toward the shed, where I’d put the ax Patrick had brought with him the last time. Thank goodness I’d kept it. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“To get an ax.”
“Be careful!”
As I headed toward the shed I heard the screen door bang as Patrick stepped out onto the porch.
“Sophia!” he hollered, scanning the yard. “Get back here or your friend is a goner!”
I looked back over my shoulder and that was when he noticed me.
Shit.
He flew down the steps and I ran like hell to the shed. I flung open the door, grateful I’d procrastinated about getting a lock for it, and went inside. Inside it was so dark, that I could barely see a foot in front of my face. Fortunately, the ax was exactly where I’d left it. Brushing away a few spider webs, I picked it up and turned around to find him standing in the doorway.
He eyed the ax and smiled coldly. “Well, well. What are you planning on doing with that?”
I gripped it tighter. “I’m saving Marcy.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She can’t breathe in the trunk.”
His lip twitched. “Ah. So she woke up.”
“Yes. She’s claustrophobic,” I lied, “and freaking out. We have to let her out.”
“She’s alive. She’s fine.” He pointed the gun at me. “Dammit, woman. You’re making things difficult. Almost too difficult. Don’t make me regret something I don’t want to do.”
I raised my chin. “Like what? Kill both of us?”
“I don’t want to. I really don’t. But, things aren’t working out like I’d hoped and your resistance is getting very fucking annoying.” He rubbed his shoulder where I’d kicked him. “And painful.”
I eyed his gun. Even with the ax, I couldn’t beat him. But, at least I could save Marcy and worry about escaping him later.
I took a deep breath. “Let her out and I’ll go with you.”
He looked unsure.
“I just want her safe and then we… we can be together, if that’s what you really want.”
Patrick thought about it for a little while and then nodded. “Fine. First, put down the ax.”
“After you let her out. There’s no other way.”
He studied my face and then relented. “Fine.”
We walked out of the shed and back over to Marcy’s vehicle. Watching me carefully, he pulled out the key fob and opened the trunk.
Marcy climbed out, her eyes swollen from crying and her dark hair disheveled and sticking up everywhere. Her face was streaked with mascara and she had on her Halloween costume—a Playboy Bunny outfit I’d helped her pick out. Our eyes locked and I could tell what she wanted—for me to act. Before I could even consider my next move, Patrick grabbed her and held the gun against Marcy’s cheek. “She’s out. Now, put the ax down or she’s dead.”
Not wanting to risk her life, I did what he asked.
He nodded toward the ax. “Move away from it.”
I took a few steps back.
He motioned to the trunk. “Get inside.”
I looked at him in surprise. “Me?”
“Yeah.” He cocked the gun. “Now.”
Marcy and I looked at each other.
“Don’t do it,” she begged. “Don’t trust him.”
“If she doesn’t, you’re both dead,” he growled. “Sophia, I’ll give you to the count of three. One…”
I had no other choice. He’d already killed John. He’d probably also killed the other woman he’d stalked, Leah.
He clenched his jaw. “Two…”
“Fine.” I started climbing into the trunk.
Panicking, Marcy broke free from Patrick’s hold, reached for my arm, and tried pulling me out. “Don’t do this. You know he’s a killer. You’ll never get out of this alive.”
“If I don’t, we’re both dead. At least he’s giving us a chance.”
“You can’t trust him.
