Chapter 57: Chapter Fifty-Seven - Ava

Hearing Heidi Capello’s voice from the other side of the safe room door sent chills down my spine. I knew it was her. I could feel it in my bones.

Who else would it be? In her eyes, I’d taken everything she ever wanted apparently. Not only did she want Fletcher, but she wanted to be in the Hines family.

Unlike me, she grew up in a similar family. One that wanted money so badly they would do anything to get it. To keep their family safe without a conscience.

They didn’t care who they hurt or how they did it. As long as they got what they thought, they deserved.

I clutched the phone in my hand and attempted to call Fletcher again. His number was the only one I could remember besides 911.

Fletcher seemed to think no one could get inside here and that I was safe. We’d never talked about what I should do when I got into the safe room. Or who I should call. My first instinct was 911. But considering Fletcher’s line of work…I wasn’t sure I should. Closing my eyes, I pressed the phone to my forehead and listened as they began to type in codes.

Would it lock me in after so many failed attempts? Would it sound an alarm? I hadn’t asked enough questions about the safe room apparently.

My mind wandered to Lucinda. Had they hurt her? Tears brimmed my eyes as I thought about her being scared and without anywhere to hide.

They’d hurt the guards, or killed them, I wasn’t sure. There was no way of knowing what they did to Lucinda. I curled my knees to my chin and listened as they stopped putting in the codes. Several minutes passed when I heard something like a chainsaw roar to life.

I squealed and crawled to the far corner of the room. They must have come prepared or rifled through the shed out back before they broke inside.

My fingers danced along the phone dial. I could call the police and have the Capellos arrested. But then where would that leave us? It wouldn’t solve anything. It would only add fuel to the fire. I hated to say it but they needed to die for all of this to end. I didn't pretend to know their unspoken rules but what else would stop this madness?

Closing my eyes, I listened as the saw hit the safe door. I was certain that it wouldn’t be able to slide through the steel, but then again, what did I even know?

The chainsaw stopped abruptly and I heard Heidi’s voice again. “Come on out, Ava Terry. If you come out now I swear we won’t kill Fletcher.”

I pressed my lips together for several seconds. “I don’t believe you have the balls to do it,” I taunted.

I wasn’t sure she heard me until she laughed. “I don’t give a damn about Fletcher. I care about his family lineage. About what the Hines’ have built for themselves here. What do you think you’ll inherit when Mr. Capello finally bites the dust.”

“You’re wrong,” I said. “I don’t care about Fletcher’s money. I’ve lived in a hellhole for the past four years. I don’t care about money or jewels. I care about Fletcher.”

Heidi scoffed as if she was disgusted. She went quiet for several seconds when I heard a man’s voice.

“Fletcher is at the hospital with his father. We have eyes on him. If you come out right now, I’ll call off the sniper.”

I wanted to believe what they were telling me but I wasn’t naïve enough to believe they wouldn’t kill me right then and there.

This was a ploy to get me out because they couldn’t get inside. “No,” I said firmly. “Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I was born yesterday. As soon as I step out of this room you’ll put a bullet in my head. I’m not coming out. You’ll have to find a way inside.”

I wasn’t the girl in the movies who gave up everything because of a threat. I strongly believed that Fletcher was smarter and stronger than the Capellos.

Loud hammering abruptly hit the safe room door.

“Stop it,” the man told Heidi. “She’s not coming out…”

I listened as their feet scurried around in the bedroom and seconds later everything went silent. I sat up on my knees, waiting for something to make sense when I smelled it. Smoke.

Fear snaked down my body and cemented me to the floor. They were going to burn down the entire house with me inside?

Angry tears rolled down my cheeks. I had to get out if I wanted to live.

But then again, they were most likely waiting for me on the other side. The smoke smell grew stronger, so I fumbled around for something heavy. The heaviest and most portable thing was the phone attached to the wall.

With all my might, I placed my feet against the wall and pulled until I heard the wire snap. Swallowing the lump of fear lodged in my throat, I grabbed the latch and opened it from the inside.

Smoke billowed into my face, and I buried my mouth and eyes into my forearm. I couldn’t see anything other than smoke and rays of sunlight peeking through the bedroom window.

I crawled out with the phone in my hand and put my back against the closest wall. The smoke was coming from this room, and when I poked my head out of the door, I saw something was on fire that sat on Fletcher’s childhood bed.

I’d broken the phone and couldn’t call the police, not that I wanted to do something like that, but now I couldn’t.

I stood up on shaky legs, while keeping my back to the wall, I slid along the room with my forearm covering my mouth. The urge to cough settled over me. But maybe the smoke would keep them from seeing me, and I could make it out if they didn’t hear me.

I made it to the door where the smoke had billowed out into the hallway. The hallway was clear. I knew they’d probably be waiting for me on the bottom floor.

Where I desperately needed to go. I needed to get to the door to make it out alive. I didn’t know the second story enough to find a way out. I could jump from a window but I was afraid to break my ankle.

I closed my eyes for a few brief moments and dared to move toward the stairs railing. Glancing over the rail, I couldn’t see anyone. A slight movement to my left drew my attention to Duke.

He stood with his back against the hallway wall on the bottom floor. He put his finger to his mouth and I nodded in agreeance.

The feeling of being safe washed over me, and I sighed. I could still make it out of here….

Strong arms wrapped underneath my armpits, and pulled me back against a strong chest. A scream ripped from me as this masked man began to drag me down the smoky hallway.

Panic set in. I’d learned one self-defense move in a class I took in college. It was the only thing I could think to do. I couldn’t think about the whereabouts of Heidi or Duke.

I went dead weight, lifting my arms by my ears and slid to the floor. Before this man could reach down to get me, I punched upward into his balls making him

bend forward, and brought my shoe up to meet his nose.

He hissed and stumbled against the wall as I climbed to my feet.

When I did, Heidi Capello stood at the top of the stairs with a gun pointed right at my face.

I could potentially outrun the gun, especially if she couldn’t see me well because of the smoke. But I didn’t know her skills. I didn’t want to take the chance of dying without seeing Fletcher first. Surely Duke had gotten in touch with Levi or Fletcher.

They were on their way, right? Right?

Heidi coughed and laughed as the man beside me groaned and stood to his feet. Roughly he grabbed me this time, holding me in a way that I couldn’t break free.

“Look-a-here,” she said, stepping forward. “Finally, Fletcher Hines if going to pay for what he did to me.”