Forbidden Prescription 4 (Forbidden Medicine 4)

I opened my mouth to scream, but he slammed the door, muffling the noise. There was too much space between our house and the next to hear my cries.

“Sit down,” he ordered, pointing to a dining room chair. His eyes had gone eerily dark. “Let’s not make this difficult.”

“I thought you were gone,” I cried, obeying him. “I thought the police talked to you.”

“Oh, they did. That wasn’t nice of you, Ariana,” he said, pulling a chair closer to me. He sat down, his face inches from mine. “It really hurt my feelings that you would try to harm me. They told me that I could be charged with a few different crimes if I didn’t leave. But, they didn’t have shit on me. They never do. I told them that if they didn’t stop harassing me, I would sue them. That seemed to shut them up nicely. Anyway, I was thinking about leaving town now. I just wanted to make sure you were happy with whatever terrible decision you made here. This is your last chance, Ariana. You can stay here, or you can come with me.”

“I want to stay here,” I answered.

He pursed his lips. “Now, I was hoping you’d answer differently. I’m asking you to give me a chance. Come with me, and just see what life would be like with me. I promise you that I can give you everything you could ever want.”

“Please leave me here,” I said. “I promise I won’t tell the police you intruded if you just go right now and never come back.”

He thought for a minute before taking the rope out of his pocket. “I’m afraid I’m not going to take no for an answer. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“Daniel is going to be back any second. He just ran to the store down the road. You better run,” I bargained. If I could just convince Jake that his life was being threatened, then maybe he’d leave me alone.

“Then we better make this quick,” he said, grabbing my wrist.

Chapter Nineteen

Daniel

Things were finally working out better than I could have ever expected. I was so nervous about asking Ariana to move in with me and so relieved when she said yes. I knew I couldn’t go back to living alone after two crazy months with her by my side. As I left my house, I even thought about taking a quick stop at a jewelry store to look at engagement rings, but then I realized I was getting ahead of myself. I had never been this in love before and I was surprised by this rush of emotions. If things went well, in time, I could foresee myself placing a ring on her finger. Just not today, though.

I hadn’t gone more than fifty yards when I saw something out of the corner of my eye that gave me pause. I saw a familiar red car parked on the side of the road. All my neighbors had large driveways, so it was unusual to see one lone car on the side of the street.

I continued down the road, trying to figure out why that car looked so familiar. I had almost gotten to the store when I had a terrible thought.

The last time I saw a car like that, I was watching it out the window of my office.

I tried to tell myself that my imagination was getting the best of me. It would be pretty embarrassing to rush back home, empty-handed because I got spooked. I talked to the chief of police. He said that they were going to track him down and talk to him. I saw the kid myself—he was gangly as hell. A guy like that gets scared and runs. He was a wimp, not a fighter.

Finally, it got to the point where the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach was too much to bear. It was probably nothing, but I needed to go home, just to check. I tried to come up with excuses as to why I was home as I pulled a U-turn and sped back toward the house.

When I got there, everything looked fine. My hand hovered over the handle and I pressed my ear against the door. Then, I heard talking.

I shoved the door open, and much to my horror, I found Jake towering over my cowering girlfriend. She had a rope tied tightly around one wrist, and it looked like he was working on the other.

“What the hell are you doing?” I bellowed, storming into the kitchen.

“Stand back,” Jake said, his voice shaking. He held a canister of bear mace in his outstretched arms, both hands on the trigger as if he were ready to fire.

“Get out of my house. Now.”

“She doesn’t even want you. Your dad told me that she knows she’s too good for you and that she’s just using you. You should be thanking me for getting her out of your hair. She wants to come with me.”

I slid my hand in my pocket, fumbling to get my phone. “Then why the hell is she tied up?” I asked as I tried to call the police.

“What are you doing?” Jake asked, pointing a finger at my pocket. “Is that a phone? Put your hands where I can see them.”

I managed to dial the number so I let it ring in my pocket. I just hoped the operator would be able to hear what was happening and help us out. I figured I could chase Jake away and only receive minor injuries, but I didn’t want him to disappear. I wanted him in jail so I would know exactly where he was at all times.

“Were you trying to kidnap Ariana?” I asked, trying to project my voice.

“She was going to come with me willingly. She just needed a little encouragement.”

“You tied up my girlfriend,” I yelled. “Put your weapon down and untie her.”

“She’s not your girlfriend,” he screamed. “Never say that again.”

“You’re going to get arrested,” I said. “You’re going to go to jail for a long time.”

“Who’s going to believe this?” he said. “If you’re going to make up stories about me, then I’ll make one up about you,” he said in a sing-song voice. “Ariana and I leave. Once we’re out of town, I’ll call the police as a concerned neighbor who heard screams coming from your place. They’ll come in, see that Ariana is missing and find blood on the floor. They’ll know that your parents are married and figure out that there was some family tension. How’s that going to make you look?”

“Blood on the floor?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows. “This is stupid. Just untie her. Better yet, don’t move. Let me do it.”

“Stay where you are,” he said, pulling a small pocket knife from his pants. “If you want blood, I’ll give you blood. I don’t give a crap anymore.”

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” Ariana cried.

“Well, that was before you hurt me, then cornered me. We can still get through this Ariana. Come with me to the car and no one gets hurt.”

Jake yanked Ariana by the rope tied to her wrists in one hand and pointed the bear mace at me with his other. He took off running toward the door.

Not about to be threatened by Jake, I dove after him, tackling him hard. We fell to the ground with a thud.

Suddenly, my eyes started burning. The pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. My entire face was on fire and my airways burned with pepper.

“You idiot,” I choked, pinning him to the ground. I could feel my eyes swelling, but I saw Ariana slide away before I temporarily lost my vision.

The next thing I knew, someone was pouring something cold on my face. I choked and sputtered, trying not to lose my grip on Jake.

“Sorry,” Ariana’s timid voice spoke. “I thought milk would help dilute the pepper spray.”

“Thanks,” I coughed. “Can you try calling the police again? I want to make sure they’re on their way.”

“They’re here,” Ariana said. “I can see the lights coming down the street.”

“Good,” I said, wincing in pain. I shoved Jake’s face toward the floor, my last chance to cause him a little pain. “Have fun in prison, asshole,” I muttered into his ear. “I’ll make sure not to write.”

Ariana opened the door and I heard the footsteps of boots running inside. I managed to open my eyes just a little bit.

“Dr. Malone,” my former patient said, “I’m so sorry this happened. Our hands were completely tied with this kid. There wasn’t much we could do.”

“You threatened me!” Jake squeaked out. I applied a little extra pressure to his neck.