In Your Arms (20 page)

“Help!” Sam screamed. All she wanted was for this horrible nightmare to end. “Help!” she continued to scream. “Please, anyone!” Sam’s breathing hitched. No one was out there, no one could hear her. “Help me!”

She banged on the top of the trunk, heart racing as she began to hyperventilate. She knew she needed to stop, but she couldn’t. Everything dimmed again as Sam passed out.

* * *

“Sam?”

Sam slowly opened her eyes. Someone was calling her name. And her cell phone was ringing. Where was her phone?

“Sam! Are you in there?” the voice said more loudly.

It was Phillip, she was sure of it.

“Phillip?” she called out.

“Sam! Are you okay?” He sounded relieved to hear her and scared at the same time.

“Phillip?” She began to cry. “The keys are in here.”

“It’s okay, Sam. I’m here.”

“Please help me.”

“I’m going to get you out, just hold on.” She didn’t hear anything for several long interminable minutes, but then his footsteps came rushing back. “Sam, I want you to cover your face. I’m going to break one of your tail lights.”

“Okay,” Sam said as she brought her arms up and covered her face.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Phillip chipped away her tail light and slowly light and fresh air began to pour into the trunk. “Sam, can you hand me the keys?” he asked after he had finished.

Sam picked up the keys and brought them to the opening. Phillip took them and quickly unlocked and opened the trunk.

Sam shielded her eyes as he reached down and gathered her in his arms. Sam put her arms around his neck as she was pulled out.

“It’s okay, Sam. I’m here.”

“Thank you,” she said, looking up as Phillip placed her feet on the ground.

He touched her face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just glad you got me out of there. How did you know where to find me?”

“Josh came late to practice, and he was acting really weird. When I came out to the parking lot, I saw your car was still here, which I thought was strange. I tried to call you, and I could hear your phone ringing in the backseat.”

“He attacked me in the bathroom. That’s all I remember,” she said weakly.

“Your neck,” he said, running his fingers over a couple of bruises that were beginning to form. “What happened?”

“Josh. He, uh, was choking me until I passed out I think. That’s how he put me in the trunk.”

Phillip hugged Sam closely. She rested her head on his chest, glad he had come to her rescue. Whenever she was around him, she felt secure and safe.

“Sam, we have to go to the police.”

“We can’t, he will know what I did and hurt everyone I love.”

“He won’t. The police will be able to protect you. He won’t get away with anything. With your testimony, they can make sure he doesn’t get out.”

“I’m scared.” She hugged him tightly, trying to banish the image of Josh’s face when he’d threatened everything she cared about.

“Don’t be scared. I’ll go with you. I’ll be with you the whole time. He won’t hurt you or anyone else. Trust me,” Phillip said, looking down at Sam.

“Okay, I’ll go, but only because I trust you,” she managed weakly.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. Phillip took her to the police station, where she was interviewed about everything that happened. Her parents came, and her mother had a complete meltdown when she found out what was going on. No one could understand why she’d kept everything to herself for so long, and Sam honestly didn’t know herself. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now she wasn’t so sure.

If she’d only told what she knew right after it had happened, then Billy might have gone to jail, but he wouldn’t be dead.

The cops had gone to try and arrest Josh, but they couldn’t find him. He’d probably realized that she’d told someone after he’d returned from practice and found her car gone. The police assured her that they were doing everything in their power to find him, but she hadn’t slept at all when she got home that night, even though she knew there was a squad car parked outside her house.

Josh was crazy. Who knew what he’d do next?

She was exhausted by the time she went to school the next morning. Her mom had actually wanted her to stay home until Josh was found, but with all the extra security at the school, she figured she’d be safe and she didn’t want to sit home, wondering and worrying. She wanted to be around her friends.

She was talking to Phillip when Alex ran up to her at her locker. “What happened yesterday? You didn’t answer any of my texts, and you got home so late. My dad said there was a police car parked in front of your house all night.”

“I kind of bumped into Josh.” Sam said quietly, not wanting anyone to hear her.

“What!” Alex burst out.

“Shhh. Yeah, he choked me until I passed out and then stuffed me into my trunk.”

“So that’s why your tail light is broken.” Alex shook her head, her eyes wide.

“Yeah, Phillip rescued me, and then convinced me to go to the police.”

“I knew I could trust this man,” Alex said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Phillip blushed at the compliment.

“Oh sorry,” she said, removing her hand. “So what did they say?”

“They’re looking for him,” Sam said grimly. “But they can’t find him.”

“Hey, guys,” Michael said, walking up to them. “What’d I miss?”

“Nothing,” Alex said, holding his hand, obviously not wanting to bring him into it. “You ready for class?”

“Yeah,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.

Sam looked from Phillip to Alex. “I guess so.”

“See you later, Sam,” Phillip said.

“Bye, handsome.”

Chapter Thirteen

“S
am,” Phillip said, running up to her after school. “I just wanted to say goodbye before I head off to practice. I won’t get to see you for the whole weekend.”

“It’s okay, Phil, you’ll survive.”

“Maybe not,” he said ruefully.

Sam looked up at Phillip and smiled. Then reaching up, she pulled him down and kissed him. Phillip wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to let go.

“Will that be enough to keep you alive until Monday?” Sam asked as they parted.

“Uh, one more ought to do it.” He smiled then pressed his lips to hers.

“Okay,” she said, resting her forehead on his. “You really need to get to practice, and I really need to get home.”

“You’re right, I’ll talk to you later, babe.”

“Phillip,” she said, looking up at him, glad to have something to take her mind off everything that had happened. “That’s not going to work either!”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what Tracy used to call you.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize.”

“It’s okay. Maybe for now you should just stick with Sam. Nicknames are supposed to come naturally, they aren’t forced. Now go to practice or you’ll be late,” she said, kissing his cheek.

“Bye, Sam,” he said. “Be careful, ok? I’m going to be worrying about you all weekend.”

* * *

During dinner that night, the house phone rang. “I’ll get it,” Sam said, standing up from her seat.

“Let the machine get it,” her mother said. She didn’t like it when the phone rang during dinner, and she especially didn’t like it when her children answered the phone during dinner.

“I’m already up, Mom,” Sam said, walking into the kitchen to answer the phone. She’d take any excuse to get away from her mother’s smothering concern.

“Hello?” she answered, expecting to hear some telemarketer.

“Baker,” Josh said coolly.

“What do you want?” she asked, not sure why he was calling her. Hadn’t the police arrested him?

“You,” he snarled.

“You’ll never get me to tell you who else I told,” she whispered, glancing nervously toward the dining room.

“Don’t worry. I already know it was your friend, Alex. Isn’t that, right, Alex?”

Sam couldn’t breathe. She heard mumbling and crying in the background. Was it Alex? Did he really have her?

“You’re lying,” Sam said, trying to conceal the fear in her voice.

“Would I lie, Baker? Go on, Alex, tell her.”

There was a pause before Sam heard the distinct sobs of her best friend. “Sam, please. Help me!” she managed to say before Josh grabbed the phone away.

Sam’s heart was pounding uncontrollably in her chest. “What do you want?” Sam asked, terrified.

“I told you, I want you. Call your boyfriend and tell him to meet you here at school, east wing entrance, and no cops or your friend is dead.” The line went dead, and Sam hung up the phone. She didn’t try to explain to her parents, she ran upstairs to her room, grabbed her keys, and came back down.

“Samantha Baker, where do you think you are going?” her mother yelled at her as she ran back down the stairs, heading toward the front door.

“I have to go,” was all Sam could say before she swung the door open and ran out to her car.

“Go where, Sam?” her father yelled behind her.

Sam opened her car, started the engine, and then zoomed down the street before her parents could say anymore.

As she drove, Sam fumbled around in her pocket and took out her cell phone, dialing Phillip’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, can you meet me at school?”

“Sam? Right now? I thought you were grounded?”

“Yes, right now.”

“What’s wrong, Sam? What happened?”

“Josh has Alex. I can’t explain more, but he said if we involved the cops, he would kill her. I have to go, I’m here,” she said then hung up the phone.

Sam stopped her car and slowly stepped out, shutting the door behind her. She walked up to the east wing of the school and opened the doors. It was dark and silent, except for faint crying she could hear in the distance.

“Baker, you finally decided to show up.” Josh’s offhanded comment scared Sam to the point where she stopped dead in her tracks. He was behind her, and Sam quickly turned around.

“I’ve been waiting for you to show up,” Josh said, walking toward her.

“Where’s Alex?” Sam said.

“Right through there.” He pointed with his gun to a classroom.

Sam walked through the door and found Alex tied to one of the chairs.

“Are you okay, Alex?” Sam cried, running over toward her and kneeling down.

“Go ahead, untie her,” Josh said.

Sam untied Alex and helped her out of the chair. “What do you want, Josh?” Sam asked boldly.

“Well, let’s wait for your boyfriend to show up and then the party will really start. But first, let’s make our way to the hallway,” he said, motioning for them to walk. “Don’t worry, I won’t shoot. I’m not that cold.”

Sam and Alex walked into the hallway, not sure what was in store for them. As Josh followed closely behind them, Sam stayed close to Alex.

“I’ll distract him, and you run for help,” Sam whispered to her friend.

“What do we have here?” Josh said. “Is someone trying to plan something? Look, Baker, it won’t work. Whatever it is you’re trying to plan.”

Sam saw a fire extinguisher ahead and knew how she was going to create a diversion. “Josh, you wouldn’t know if a book hit you, much less if I was planning something.”

“Ha ha, very clever, Baker. I see why Phillip is so in love with you. And that, by the way, was sarcasm. He's a blind fool.”

“Josh, you aren’t supposed to point out if something is sarcastic.” Sam wasn’t sure what she was doing, but making Josh more upset seemed to be what was happening.

“You know, Baker, it’s going to be so much more peaceful around here when you’re gone.”

They had reached the extinguisher, and Sam looked to Alex. “Now!” Sam yelled as she grabbed the extinguisher and immediately began to spray it just as she heard Alex scream.

“Stop!” Josh yelled as he fired his gun.

“Sam, please!” Alex yelled.

As Sam set the fire extinguisher on the ground and the air began to clear, Sam saw Josh holding Alex with his gun directed at her.

“Now I thought I made myself clear when I said no funny business. Instead of saving your friend, Baker, you’ve just killed her,” Josh said as he pushed Alex into the trophy case on the wall. Josh was strong and Alex was nothing compared to him.

Sam picked up the fire extinguisher and started to spray Josh once more. “Alex run!”

Josh regained his balance and knocked the extinguisher out of Sam's hands. “Watch this, Baker.” In one swift motion, he turned and fired his gun.

Alex dropped to the ground.

“Alex!” Sam screamed as she ran toward her friend.

“Stop! Don't move!” Josh yelled, holding up the gun. “Now that wasn’t too hard. All I have left are you and Phillip.”

“Please,” she cried, unable to say anything else.

“Oh, stop crying! So she’s dead, get over it!”

“You’re crazy!” Sam yelled.

“I’m crazy? Is that something you really say to someone who holds your life in his hands, Baker? I’m shocked. Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”

“Yeah, but I don’t apply the same courtesy to psychopaths.”

“Ouch, that really hurt,” Josh mocked.

“You know you can’t get away with this.”