Untethered

40 | Rescue Me

"What do you suggest?" Emma asked wearily. "He's already been gone over an hour; he'll be back soon. We're lucky if we have another hour and a half left, and there's no place to go way out here."

"I'm not sure," her mouth screwed to the side, sky blue eyes taking in the room, cast in stark shadows from the shadeless lamp, where her eyes came to rest.

Emma's phone started buzzing again, and in the quiet of the room, Julie heard it. Her eyes darted to Emma, perplexed at the way her dress was glowing in the dim light.

"My phone!" Emma gasped. "Help me. I forgot, I slipped it into my bra. If we can get a call out..." Her voice trailed off, lightened with hope.

"Lay down on your side," Julie suggested, Emma complied and tilted her head back, as her mom wiggled closer, mirroring her position. "If I can just push it up, so it falls out..."

Emma hunched her shoulders slightly, creating a little space between her bra strap and her skin, while Julie nudged the bottom edge of the phone through the cotton fabric of her sundress. It slid up a couple of centimeters.

"It's almost out," Julie said, "Lean forward a little more."

Emma tilted her body forward, and shimmied her shoulders, causing the phone to fall onto the bed.

"Teamwork," she gasped, falling backward, before sitting up and turning the cell over using her mouth. "I'll try to get a call out." She pushed the home button with her nose, and groaned. "There's only like one bar. You'd better start looking for a way to get our hands free, mom."

Julie pushed herself into a sitting position, her mouth in a thin, grim line. "I have an idea, but it's going to hurt like a bitch." She walked over to the small table holding the lamp, turning her head sideways. Cradling the long, thin base of the lamp under her neck, she carefully tipped it over so that the still-lit bulb was hanging off the end of the table.

Emma watched in fascination and then her mouth opened and her eyes widened.

"Mom, you're going to burn yourself."

"Better than getting beaten or shot to death when Danny gets back," Julie replied, but her voice wobbled and pitched like a ship in choppy waters. Gritting her teeth, she turned around, and held her bound wrists over the bulb. Copper flooded her mouth, and she started salivating at the tang as she bit her cheeks hard, to keep from crying out.

Emma jerked her head in an uncertain nod, and went back to her phone. Dialing numbers wasn't possible, and the voice command wasn't working without wifi, so calling 9-1-1 wasn't going to work. She had two contacts as shortcuts on her home screen: Evan and Ryan. Since Evan was back in San Diego, she settled for Ryan, and hoped he would answer this time.

~*~*~

Ryan's truck careened into the driveway, and he barely thrust the shifter into park before rushing out. He made a beeline for Emma's house, finding the door unlocked, but no one inside. Her car wasn't in the driveway, and he growled in frustration. Evan had already called him back, not being able to get ahold of Julie, and Emma had yet to be heard from.

He climbed back into the cab with less urgency than he'd exited, and thrummed his fingers agitatedly against the steering wheel in an erratic beat. Unease slithered around in his gut, and despite the late August heat, cold, clamminess shone on his skin.

It didn't feel right, and he was at a loss for what to do next.

On cue, his phone vibrated in his hand, startling him so that he almost dropped it. Cursing, he fumbled to answer the call without bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Ryan? Oh my God, Ryan!" Emma's voice was hardly recognizable, higher by a few octaves, and trembling with relief.

"Emma? Where are you? Are you okay?" He breathed a thankful sigh. "God, I've been so worried. I found the door open at the house, and when you weren't here..."

"I'm in trouble, Ryan." Her voice cracked, "I don't have great service, and I don't know when he'll be back."

"What happened?" Ryan's heart picked up and his stomach plummeted.

"Your dad used my mom, and he kidnapped me. He has a gun, and he's really angry." Her voice shook, and he could her breath shuddering out unevenly. "He was going to the house to find the key from the safe... You have to get out of there, Ryan. He's nuts, he'll kill you." Harsh sobs came across the line, as she started to break down. "He's coming back here for us. He's going to kill us."

Fury and dread smacked into Ryan hard at those words, and his chest ached at the sound of her crying, but he struggled to sound calm, keeping his voice even. "Emma, darlin', you need to tell me where you are so I can call for help, and you need to try to get out of there and hide."

"O-okay," she hiccuped, "I don't know what town we're in. It's somewhere northeast of the Cities. Might even be Wisconsin. He's got us in an abandoned motel called Perch Lake Roadside Inn, or something like that. He's got us tied up, and we're in the middle of nowhere. I don't know what to do, Ryan!" Her tone went up another octave, and she began crying again in earnest.

"You need to stay calm, Em. Breathe. I'm going to have to hang up with you so that I can call the police. Okay?"

"Y-yes. I'm so afraid," she admitted, her voice small.

"I know, baby. I'm scared, too. I need to make that call... just hang in there, alright?" his own voice cracked, "I love you, Emma. More than anything. Be careful."

"I love you, too," she whispered, quietly sobbing again.

She heard him suck in a deep breath before the line went dead.

A/N:

Happy Thanksgiving! Well, Black Friday, I guess. While everyone else is going nuts shopping, I am cozy at home, getting my update out to you!

Have a safe weekend, folks!

Jessa xx

P.S. This chapter is dedicated to @FTM--OG. Thank you so much for all of your votes and fanning. I really appreciate it, and so glad I could change your mind about 3rd Person POV, that's an amazing compliment for a writer ♥