But here it was a year later, and she hadn’t backed down. Not one iota. That took a strength beyond anything he thought a person would be capable of.
“No,” Jessica muttered in her sleep. “No!” she said more loudly and thrashed her head to the side. Her nightmares. When she slept, her subconscious betrayed her.
Asleep, she was unable to hide the sadness, pain and fear. And her nightmares were something Scott couldn’t stand to witness. Despite his hatred for her parents and all they stood for, he couldn’t help but feel some guilt over what he and the men were doing to Jessica and her nightmares intensified his feeling of guilt.
“Jessica,” he said going over to her, and shaking her arm. “Jessica, wake up!”
Jessica snapped to attention on the couch, eyes unfocused, confusion on her face.
“Jeffrey?” she asked, hope tingeing her voice. But then her eyes focused and the sight of Scott brought tears to her eyes.
“It’s time for your pill,” he said hating the obvious sadness that seeing him had brought her . This was all so alien to him. Even after all this time he couldn’t get used to her hating him. Women loved him. He was a lover. Every fiber of his being made him want to kiss her mouth, make the frown turn into a smile … pleasure her. But the daggers that she was shooting at him with her eyes dampened that fire pretty quickly.
“Here,” he said opening his hand that clutched the birth control pill. “Shit!” he said when his uncurled fingers revealed nothing but his palm. He turned to look behind him, it must have fallen when he stood up … the tug at the back of his pants was followed by a wave of horror. An image of his handgun tucked in the back of his pants flashed through his mind as he pictured himself turning his back to her. He spun around and found Jessica pointing the gun at him, hatred etched in her face.
“This is for my family!” she yelled. The gun was pointed at his chest, right at his heart. But she couldn’t do it. Not cold blooded murder.
That surprised her. In that split second she shifted her aim off centre of his chest, and pulled the trigger. The gun exploded and Scott flew back as if a very strong wind had picked him up and flung him away from Jessica. He fell to the floor with a thud and didn’t move.
Jessica’s heart was pounding a mile a minute. He couldn’t be dead, not where she’d shot him. But she’d hurt him, enough to give herself a chance to get away. Elation spread through her. Finally, she got a strike back for her family. Nothing could dampen that feeling, not even the sound of running feet outside. The others were coming, and they’d have their guns. She knew she didn’t stand a chance. Her only hope had been if she’d had time to get herself out of the damn harness. But she was tied to the sofa. They would gun her down. And though she had hoped to survive her ordeal here, the fact that she wouldn’t didn’t really bother her. She felt a smile take over her face as she raised her gun at the front door. She wondered how many she’d could take with her in the end. That wouldn’t be cold blooded murder anymore, but self-defense.
She could hear footsteps coming up the front steps now. Who would be first through the door? She hoped, really hoped, it would be Angus. It was entirely possible that she wouldn’t get more than one shot off, and if that were the case, she hoped she got one shot into Angus. For him, she’d aim right between the eyes. She pointed the gun at the front door, initially at chest level. She knew from what her parents had taught her, that it was best to aim for the chest. Head shots were hard if not nearly impossible to make. But despite what had been drilled into her she forced the nozzle of the hand gun up to head level. With chest shots, you were more certain to bring down the enemy but not as certain to kill them. Angus was a kind of evil that she had never known, really known, existed. But now that she knew, she didn’t want to take a chance on merely maiming him.
She waited a split second more, and then the door opened. She began to pull the trigger waiting to see that animal’s face. But rather than Angus running through the door, it was Jimmy.
Without thinking Jessica swung the gun an inch to the right and fired. She had no time to see where the bullet went because an arm came out from behind her and smashed the gun from her hands. Jessica had half a second to stare at the gun sliding across the floor, before the room spun by her in a blur. Suddenly Angus’ furious face came into view. He must have come in the back door. Jessica had just enough time to curse herself for not thinking of the back door before Angus landed a punch on her left cheek that sent her flying. The impact of her body smashing into the wall forced the air to rush out of her lungs. As she sank to the floor she saw Angus stalking toward her. Tears burned her eyes. She had failed again. Not only was she going to die but she’d only managed to take one of these animals with her. Angus raised his fist and drove it into her face again. This time darkness took over the bright colors that had floated behind her eyes.