She curled in on herself, trying to make herself as small a target as possible, and held her breath, praying he didn't really know she was close by.
“Come on, Grace, we don’t have time for this. Either you come out now or I start shooting Barbara Lack.”
All she had to do was stay hidden for a couple more minutes and then her brothers and the others would be here. That was it, surely, he wouldn’t shoot the woman in the next few minutes.
“I'm losing patience, Grace. You’ve only been out of our home for a few days and yet already you have become disobedient. I see you need to be taught a lesson when I get you home.”
Did he really think of the house where he had kept her prisoner as her home?
Given his obsession with fables, she supposed he was delusional enough to somehow believe that she was a willing participant in his games.
“That’s it, Grace. I've had enough. Either you come out before I count to three or I shoot poor Barbara in the foot. One.”
No surely he wouldn’t.
“Two.”
She almost moved but forced herself to stay still, positive Emmanuel wouldn’t follow through with the threat.
“Three. Remember, Grace, this is your fault. She’s about to suffer because of you.”
The sound of the gunshot seemed exorbitantly loud in the quiet night.
Barbara grunted in pain, screaming through the gag, and Grace’s stomach heaved.
He’d done it.
He’d shot her.
“Come, Grace. Now. Unless you wish me to shoot her other foot? A hand perhaps? Or a knee?”
There was no way she could stay here and not do anything to stop him from hurting the other woman. Elijah knew she was a few streets over, but she hadn't been paying attention to the street they were on so she hadn't been able to give him a name. Without her exact location it could still be several more minutes before he got here. Plenty of time for Emmanuel to inflict more pain.
“I’m aiming for her shoulder this time, Grace, and you only have until I count to two to get out here, I'm losing patience. When I finish with her, I'm going to go back to the car and make sure your shadow is finished off. Did he force himself on you, Grace, like the last male friend you had?”
How did he know that?
There were only two people she had told that she’d been raped and one of them was bleeding out in the car.
She began to tremble as she realized who Emmanuel really was.
“One.”
Even though she knew this was a bad idea, Grace felt backed into a corner. All she could do was pray that the cops showed up before Emmanuel disappeared with her because there was no way she was hiding while Barbara was shot over and over again.”
“Two.”
“No, wait,” she called out as she scrambled from under the bush. “I'm coming, please don’t hurt her.”
Keeping the cell phone in her pocket with the hopes that even if Emmanuel did take off with her, she could be tracked through the phone’s GPS, she walked toward her tormentor with her hands held up in surrender.
“There’s my good girl,” he said, speaking to her as though she were his pet and not a person. But to him she wasn’t a person, not really, she was a prop in his own sick, demented game.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, hoping to stall him a little. She only needed to buy a small amount of time.
“Now is not the time for twenty questions. If I'm not mistaken your posse will be here any moment.” Without another word, he aimed the gun at Barbara Lack and fired, hitting the poor woman in the head.
Grace stared in shock for a second.