“Yeah, I do too,” I said and picked him up to move him to his play yard. “I’m going to get a load of laundry started and then we’ll go to the grocery store.” I knew he didn’t understand a word I was saying, but that didn’t stop me from talking to him like he did.
Kalen fell asleep on the way to the grocery store, and I hoped he would stay asleep while I shopped.
Luck was on my side, and I was able to finish shopping in record time. However, Kalen woke up as I was pushing the cart out to the car. I knew I only had a few minutes before he would start crying for a bottle, so I hurried to the car to unload the groceries. I was focused on the task at hand and not paying any attention to my surroundings until I felt something press into my side.
I jolted in surprise and turned my head to see a man standing entirely too close to me. I immediately recognized him as the creepy man who came to Stuff It asking about renting a unit. “Get the baby and come with me. If you try anything stupid, I’ll kill you both right here.”
“O-okay,” I stammered. “I’ll do whatever you say. Just, please don’t hurt us.”
He pressed what I assumed was a gun harder into my side. “Now!” he demanded.
I carefully lifted Kalen’s seat from the shopping cart and briefly considered running back to the store. Before I could take a step, the man shoved me toward the car parked behind mine. “Get in,” he said sharply.
I climbed into the back seat with Kalen, who started to cry the moment the man closed the door. “It’s okay, buddy,” I said and put his pacifier in his mouth, which he promptly spit out.
“Shut him up!” the man yelled and sped out of the parking lot.
“I’m trying!” I yelled back. I tried to give him his pacifier a few more times, but he wasn’t having it. I rocked his seat as best as I could and rubbed his little head. I even tried Grant’s fingernail flicking trick, but nothing worked to soothe him.
By the time the car came to a stop, Kalen was still crying, and I was a frazzled mess. I’d been so focused on calming Kalen that I hadn’t paid attention to where we were going or how long we’d been in the car.
“Tell me how to open the gate,” he demanded.
It took me a moment to realize where we were. Stuff It. Once I did, I quickly rattled off the code.
He pulled through the gate and parked on the far side of the building. Jerking the door open, he told me to get the baby and get out.
“What do you want?” I asked as he moved us toward the office.
“I want what your brother stole from me,” he spat.
My heart started pounding in my chest as panic raced through me. I had no idea what to do, but I thought playing dumb would be better than admitting I knew about the stolen guns and hadn’t done anything about it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I wasn’t prepared for the smack he delivered to my cheek. The impact of it almost knocked me off my feet, but I managed to stay upright after taking a few staggering steps back. I put Kalen down and moved a few feet away from him.
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” he screamed and swiped his hands across the front desk, sending everything crashing to the floor. “I know he has my shit here!”
“He has a unit here. It’s number three-seventy-three. I’ll give you the key and you can get whatever you want out of it.”
He hit me again, much harder than the time before. I stumbled back and fell to the ground, instinctively curling into a ball and covering my head. I braced for another hit, but thankfully, it never came.
“I’m not talking about the guns, you stupid bitch. Where’s the rest of it?”
I really didn’t know what he was talking about, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “The rest of Ben’s stuff is upstairs,” I said and pointed toward the apartment above us.
He grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. “Let’s go.”
I left Kalen wailing in his car seat while I led him to the apartment upstairs. Once inside, he shoved me to the ground and told me to stay put while he started emptying Ben’s boxes.
I had no idea what he was looking for, and I didn’t care. I just wanted to get Kalen and get away from him. As he searched through the boxes, I slowly inched my way to the door. If I could get downstairs and get Kalen, I could run to my house or to Landon’s and call for help.
I was two feet away from the door when he noticed me. “I thought I told you to stay put.” With that, he started kicking me. Over and over. Until he knew I wouldn’t try to move again. Because I couldn’t.
“Please don’t hurt the baby,” I whispered and curled into a ball, trying to protect myself as best I could from his relentless onslaught of kicks.
I could barely breathe when he finally stopped and turned back to the boxes. “I know it’s here somewhere!”
I didn’t know how long I’d have before his attention returned to me, but I couldn’t lay there and let him beat me to death. I had to do something.
