Free Obsessed by Bella Maybin Page B

again. And again. Her eyes fluttered closed. She lay in a heap on the floor, finally out, snorting in shallow, haggard breaths. A shiver ran down my spine and a tear formed in my eye as I felt, for the first time, the true horror of my situation.
     
    Everything was silent. I’m not sure what kind of noise we made, but it apparently hadn’t been enough to rouse the guys outside. I hadn’t thought this through. Getting Jackie out of the way was as far as I had planned it out. Now what? I tossed the busted ceramic to the floor and gathered my courage. Knocking her out had taken away a significant amount of my fearlessness.
     
    An eerie feeling swept over me. I felt like a wounded animal might feel like, when it is trying to avoid a predator. On pointed toes, I carefully moved into the front room. There was no time to sit around and debate the best strategy. Jackie wasn’t dead, after all, and she would surely come to in the next few minutes.
     
    The front door was ajar. They were on the other side. Each time the old wooden porch creaked under their shifting weight, I held my breath. The prospect of being so near to them made my blood run cold. But I had to get a better idea of what I was dealing with. I had to get a look through that small opening.
     
    I quietly dropped to my knees, then eased myself on to my belly. The door was still about fifteen feet away, but I wanted to be as stealth as possible in getting to it. Doing my best impression of a soldier crawling through the mud, I inched my way forward. If one of them decided to come in, for whatever reason, I would have no chance to hide. It was a risk worth taking.
     
    The floor was dirty. Not quite disgusting, but it was in need of some care. It was evident that Jackie and all their other “girls” weren’t the best housekeepers. It’s funny, the little things you still notice when you’re trying to make your escape from a bunch of homicidal, kidnapping, terrorist, bikers.
     
    That same heavy smoke tickled my nose when I reached the door. It was the kind of smoke that comes off a hand-rolled, straight-tobacco cigarette. Thick and lingering. Still flat on my stomach, I squinted my eyes and looked through the gap.
     
    Their worn boots bounced and shifted not more than an arm’s length away from my face. Three of them, at first glance, seated around a small table, drinking, and smoking, and talking. Two more standing at the bottom of the porch steps. These were the two I met earlier. Duane and Nash. They were the bosses by the looks of things. They were involved in a seemingly more serious conversation, but they were just out of earshot.
     
    That was it, at least as far as I could see. If there were more of them, then that would just have to be my bad luck. But, logically, it seemed, they would all be together. Okay, now that I know where they are, I know where not to be. Now, I just had to find a way out.
     
    After backing away from the door, I nimbly got back to my feet. I needed something to wear. My old clothes had to be somewhere around here, but there’s no telling where. I didn’t have the time to look, either. Jackie was probably starting to stir already.
     
    Draped across their bar was a leather jacket. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and it made me do a double-take. Don’t bikers guard those things with their lives? Or maybe that’s their vests, I couldn’t remember. And who cares, it will be enough to cover me. I snatched it off the bar and swung it across my shoulders. It was big enough to make me look like a small child. I shoved my arms into the sleeves, but the ends of my fingers came up a few inches short of the opening. Whatever. It would work. I pulled it closed in front of me, and bunched the sleeves up over my wrists.
     
    Down the hallway, Jackie started to move. There was a low groan and some mumbled words. I had to get something to protect my feet and get out, fast. I took a quick look around, but there were no shoes. Not by