Vicious Valentine by Patti Benning (best ereader for comics .txt) 📕

“Hurry,” Hannah said, trying to hold onto the doorknob as Shayne wrestled with it. “I don’t think I can hold this for very long.”

“There is a pair of nail clippers in the drawer in the bedside table,” Vanessa said.

Caroline jumped up and pulled open the door, bring the clippers over to begin working on the heavy plastic zip ties. It didn’t take long for her to free Vanessa. She stood up just as Hannah stumbled back from the door. Shayne had managed to somehow turn the knob and slam the door with his shoulder at the same time, and it nearly knocked her off her feet.

“No!” he said when he saw Vanessa on her feet. “You don’t know what you’re doing. We’re meant to be together. You can’t take her away from me.”

“You only met her a few days ago,” Hannah said, grabbing the first thing she could – a pillow from the bed – and throwing it at his face. “You’re insane.” Her phone buzzed with an incoming call, and for a crazy second she thought about throwing that at Shayne’s face too.

“I’ve known her for a long time,” Shayne said, knocking the pillow away. “I first saw her at the bar almost six months ago. I tried to talk to her a few times, but I was always too nervous. I decided to get to know her first.”

“Stalking someone isn’t getting to know them!” Vanessa shouted. “You stalked me for months. I thought I was going insane. I thought someone was going to murder me in my sleep.”

“I’d never hurt you,” he said. “I would never do that.”

“You already did,” she shouted back. “You tied me up. You threw a vase at me!”

“I just needed you to listen,” Shayne said. He had such an open, panicked look on his face that Hannah forgot for a moment that he was dangerous.

“You killed Rory,” Vanessa said, her voice dipping low. “Do you think that didn’t hurt me?”

His face shut down. “I had to, didn’t I? I can’t stand the thought of him getting to spend time with you when I can’t. You’ll see, Vanessa, it was the right thing to do. I love you more than he ever could.”

“You’re insane,” Caroline spat.

“I’m not! All the things I did, I did for her.” He pointed at Vanessa almost accusingly. “When I found out that your ex came to the restaurant on Valentine’s Day and you had a run-in with him, I knew I had to hurt him just like he hurt you. And after you found Rory, I had to make sure you were okay. I was just keeping watch on you. You were at that house all alone. Anything could’ve happened.”

Hannah felt a chill go down her spine at those words.

“Enough,” Vanessa barked. “We’re leaving.”

“No,” he said. “Please, don’t. Just hear me out.”

“I think we’ve all heard enough,” Hannah said. She took a step toward him, hoping that he would back away, but he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folding knife, which he flicked open without looking.

“I really don’t agree, Ms. Cooper,” he said. “Vanessa just needs to hear me out. I’m not going to let anyone take her away from me again.”

The phone in Hannah’s pocket buzzed again. Shayne’s eyes flicked toward the sound for a moment and she used that time to back up, standing with the two other women. They outnumbered him this way, though she had a bad feeling that might not matter much. He had already proven how dangerous he was with the knife, after all.

“Vanessa, I just want you to listen to me,” he said, approaching slowly, one hand raised slightly as if trying to calm a frightened animal. “I love you, I really do. You have no idea how much. I would do anything for you.”

“Put the knife down then,” Vanessa said, her voice shaking. “If you really care about me, then you won’t want to hurt me. You don’t want me to be scared of you, do you?”

“No, of course not,” he said. Slowly, he put the knife on the bed, then took another couple of steps closer. “Do you mean it? Will you hear me out now?”

For a moment, Hannah thought she heard the sound of a door opening somewhere else in the apartment, but before she could focus on the sound, Vanessa spoke up. “Yes, of course. But you have to promise me you won’t hurt my friends, okay? They’re my best friends. I don’t want to see either of them get hurt.”

“As long as they don’t try to interfere, I won’t hurt them,” he said. Vanessa nodded and stepped forward.

“No –” Hannah started to say, but broke off when she saw the bedroom door move. She recognized Ben’s outline and her eyes widened. Shayne was still facing them, with his back to the door.

“It’s okay, Hannah,” Vanessa said loudly. She seemed to have spotted Ben too, and was trying to keep Shayne distracted. “I know he won’t hurt me.”

Shayne’s face lit up with hope and he took another step closer to her, but she shook her head.

“Backup,” she said. “I don’t think you’ll hurt me, but you might tie me up again. You already did that once, after all. Let’s keep a few feet between us. I know you don’t want to let the other two out of your sight, so you can just back toward the door. We can have a private discussion in the hallway.”

He nodded, keeping his eyes on her. “I won’t tie you up again, now that I know you’re going to listen to me,” he said. “But we can do it your way.”

He did as she asked, backing toward the door as Vanessa kept pace with him, speaking soothingly. She didn’t give the slightest sign that Ben was approaching carefully from the opposite direction until he made his move, lunging forward and wrapping an arm