Running Away With Him

As for me, there’s nothing I could have wished for more than to never run into Trevor again. I knew if he found me that I wouldn’t be strong enough to get away a second time. But even though I can’t save myself, maybe I can get Brad away. He never asked for any of this.

Again, neither did I.

But this doesn't stop me from standing up now, completely naked, in front of Trevor. The nausea that threatens to empty my stomach at his feet is somehow kept in control by my shaking fists and determination to get the next words out.

“Look at me.” My voice is barely a whisper, but it’s the best I can manage under the circumstances. His gaze lifts from the heaving Brad. His eyes take in all my curves with admiration. I want to vomit, but I keep going. “I’ll do whatever you want. But first you have to let him go.”

Trevor closes the distance between us. He doesn’t touch me, but his face lowers until I can feel the warm air as he asks menacingly, “Is that a threat?”

I take the chance at our close proximity to grab his hand and move it to my breast. “It’s a promise.”

The pause as he considers my proposal is overwhelming. Instead of the absence of words, it’s like the presence of his malevolence is roaring right along with the waves crashing on the shore. Finally, he turns to Brad and says, “Looks like you lose. And since I’m not a sore winner, I’ll give you one minute to get the fuck out of here.”

Brad stands with visible difficulty, his left arm holding his abdomen. He looks to me for some sort of sign, but all I can do is turn my face away in shame. I’m nobody worth fighting for, and I never should have dragged someone else into this.

Still, my savior hesitates, unsure of what his next move should be. He looks to his car and for just the briefest of seconds, his eyes go wide. It’s like he’s realizing something. Something that soon has his feet striding forward without a glance back. But just as he passes Trevor, my ex grabs him by the shoulder and spins him around.

“And if you so much as dream about going to the cops with anything you think you saw, I’ll tear you apart. Besides, who do you think they’re going to believe: a police officer without a stain on his official record? Or you? The loser who kidnapped that cop’s girlfriend?”

He kicks Brad in the back of the knee, causing him to stumble forward. Brad then looks back at me once more before dropping his head and trudging up to his car. As soon as the door closes behind him and the engine starts up, Trevor turns his attention back on me.

“Now,” he says while tracing his finger up from my stomach, around my breast, across my shoulder, and ending with him jabbing it into the side of my neck. “What are we going to do with you?”

He answers his own question by throwing me down onto the blanket. I look over at Brad who is sitting in his car. Staring at me. Maybe he’s waiting for me to run. Knowing that I have next to no chance at succeeding, I still find myself kicking at Trevor’s shin while he’s busy unbuckling his belt. He shouts out, but it’s more in surprise than in pain. And though I punch and scratch at his face, I can do nothing to stop him from lowering himself on top of me.

That’s when the car horn blares through the still air.

Both Trevor and I look over incredulously at Brad. He’s staring us down. Daring Trevor with his eyes. Then he hits the car horn again. This time, a flock of seagulls take flight from behind his car.

“Fucking prick,” Trevor snarls out as he stands. He readjusts his pants and points a finger towards Brad. “You don’t know what you’ve just done to yourself, pal.” Leaving me behind, he tromps through the sand, ready to dish out more abuse on the only one who’s been looking out for me before himself. Because Brad could have all of this in his rearview mirror by now. But instead of backing out, the engine roars and the car plunges straight ahead.

Right into Trevor.

Chapter 10

Brad

So that’s what a punch feels like.

This is about the only thought I can manage while Kate’s psycho ex-boyfriend pummels me until I’m facedown in the sand, unable to bring myself to care that I’ve now got a mouthful of the gritty stuff. All I can wonder is if this is how I die. Because this guy’s a cop, and from what Kate’s told me, a completely unstable one. He might just get rid of me now. Toss me in the ocean and be done with any evidence of his crime.

And maybe that’s what he was planning, but Kate distracts him. Promises the one thing he’s after: her. And that’s enough for him to let me go. But not before warning me that I should keep my mouth shut. That no one would believe my word against his anyway.

And he might have been right. Because he’s got every advantage over me, except one. And that’s my secret weapon. The one I saw blink red on my dashboard as I trudged back towards my car.

When I slide back into the driver’s seat and turn the ignition, I pause to gather myself. But I’m waiting for another reason too. Because I know what he’s planning to do the moment I leave, and it’s not going to be pretty for Kate. Of course, its not going to be pretty for the black box camera I’ve got on my dashboard either. The same one my dad insisted on buying for me when he got taken to court over an insurance scam.

Trevor’s right: no judge would ever take my word over his. But there’s no denying the cold hard proof of digital video.

But I need the camera to capture as much damning evidence as possible. That’s why I allow him to push Kate to the ground. Why I wait even as he smothers her body with his own. It’s only when things are about to reach their point of no turning back that I lay on the horn.

Soon Trevor’s attention is on me, not her. And though I’m quaking in the car, barely even able to shift into drive with my shaking hands, I wait until Trevor is close enough that there will be no denying that it’s him on camera. That’s when I hit the gas and plow into the cop.

The sound his body makes is that of a dull thud and the giving way of plastic and aluminum. He doesn’t fly up on my hood or bounce behind my car. I hit his thighs square with my bumper and stop immediately, leaving the man prone in front of my now dented bumper. Throwing it in park, I wait a good ten seconds to make sure he’s not getting up. When I do pull myself out, I edge around the front to find him prone on the ground, his hands wrapped around his right leg, which is bent at an unnatural angle right at the knee. He’s howling and spitting when he looks up at me.

“I’m going to fucking murder you,” he screams, nearly frothing at the mouth, “There won’t even be anything left to bury, because I’m going to destroy you.”

I ignore him, and run up to Kate, who looks over at Trevor in horror and asks, “What did you do?”