“Go inside the house, Caroline,” Jameson ordered.
“He’s got a gun,” she warned, refusing to leave him.
“You’d better listen to her,” Cain said. “If you come willingly, Caroline, I won’t kill him. For every second you hesitate, I’ll put a bullet in him.”
Caroline tried to move around Jameson. She felt brave enough to fight for herself, but she couldn’t allow Jameson to get hurt.
“Stay back,” Jameson said, shielding her with his arm.
“One,” Cain counted.
“Wait,” Caroline begged, attempting to avoid Jameson’s attempt to keep her behind him.
“Two,” Cain said, menacingly.
Caroline screamed as her senses overloaded. Unable to bear watching Jameson die, she fought against his hold. Jameson turned to shield her as the gun went off. His body jolted against Caroline before he turned, using his body to protect her.
“Jameson,” she screamed as another bullet whizzed past her head. She fell to her knees as she lowered him to the ground.
“Get behind me,” he said through gritted teeth.
“No, he’ll hurt you,” she cried as Cain yanked her by the hair.
“He’s dead anyway,” Cain laughed sinisterly as he aimed the weapon at Jameson’s head.
She kicked and clawed as he pulled her from Jameson’s weak grasp.
“Watch while I kill him, Caroline. His death will be on your hands. You let him touch my property,” he growled in her ear.
The knife Victoria gifted her pressed against her thigh as if reminding her. Caroline struggled against him while she slid the blade from the sheath.
“I’m not anyone’s property,” she gritted out as she plunged the knife into his thigh, as Victoria taught her, and twisted.
Cain let go of her, screaming in agony.
“You bitch,” he seethed. “You’ll be lucky if I ever let you out of your cage.”
Caroline didn’t respond as she stumbled toward Jameson. Cain raised his gun to fire as Jameson rolled over and shot him, hitting Cain’s shoulder.
Jameson’s arm fell to the ground as Caroline dropped to her knees, taking the gun from him. She aimed it at her abuser. The man who tormented her on a daily basis for five years.
His eyes narrowed as he took in her shaking arms. His smile grew bigger as blood filled his mouth, dripping down his chin.
“You’d better have a good aim,” he taunted. “Because I’ll have to come up with a new punishment for your disobedience. Put down the gun and get on your knees.”
Jameson pulled himself up, determined to protect her as blood seeped through his shirt. “Run, Caroline,” he wheezed.
No, not this time, Caroline thought as she peered at Cain and straightened her shoulders. She was no longer a victim. She was a survivor.
“I only need to hit you once,” she said as she aimed and fired. His body jerked with every hit, and he turned startled eyes on her as if suddenly realizing she sent him to hell. His body moved in slow motion as Caroline dropped the gun. She watched as he fell into the pool face down in the water.
Caroline gently turned Jameson on his side. Blood coated his chest, making it difficult for her to see the wound. Hating to leave him, she rushed inside. Moving past Nancy’s unconscious body, she grabbed kitchen towels to hold onto the wound as she picked up his phone, calling 911.
“I’m Caroline Bates. I need an ambulance to 222 Greenbriar Ct. Hurry, he’s shot and bleeding,” she told the operator before dropping the phone.
She cried as she pressed against the injury.
The throbbing hurtlike hell as anger flooded his system. He’d be damned if he went to hell with Cain. Jameson opened his eyes to stare into Caroline’s crystal blue ones. They filled with tears as she pressed against the damn bullet hole.
