The Sound of You **on hold**

Chapter 25

Adelaide

We get in the taxi, and I'm trying to think of every way to get out of this. If he didn't have a gun, I would jump right out of the other side of the car and run away. I'm fucking scared. My heart is racing, but adrenaline is keeping me functional. I try to silently communicate with the cab driver as Nathan gives her the address. He's taking me home. To our godforsaken apartment. The last place I ever want to go. I sit myself at an angle where the driver can see me in her rear view mirror.

I wish there was a way for me to tell her to flip the switch that would turn on the strobe light on her car so someone would maybe call the police for help. But my dispatcher mind goes to the scary place where the police would be coming to an unknown situation, probably with not enough resources to take on a dangerous person with a firearm. Although what other kind of emergency would trigger a cab driver to turn on their emergency light? I suppose it could be assumed a weapon is involved.

My mind is going in circles and I can't think straight! I bend forward and place my head in my hands. I groan. I don't know what to do or how to get out of this. I may need to do some things I don't want to do. So not the bed I was wanting to jump into tonight. Then the tears start streaming again. Dawson. What must he be thinking right now? As far as I know, he just thinks I disappeared. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe he will call the police. Ugh the police. It's only now occurring to me that if I'm saved by professionals tonight, everyone at work is going to know my business. All over again.

"Pull yourself together." Nathan murmurs to me coldly. Then he strokes my back gently, making me want to vomit. Maybe I should, he might just toss me out on my ass. I wipe my face and sit back up, looking back into the rear view mirror, where the driver finally looks at me. She must see the distress in my eyes, because she keeps darting her eyes from the road to meet mine.

"You two have a fun night?" She asks brightly.

"Uh, yeah." Nathan replies.

"Did you see the game tonight? Provincial smackdown. The Oilers got crushed." Hockey. Bless her soul. She couldn't have brought up a better subject with Nathan.

"No, I'm actually a Kings fan." He shifts his weight and relaxes his body finally. I don't. I will be on edge until I'm a safe distance from him. She keeps him talking about hockey for a bit, and she asks him about some statistics, making him start doing some searching on his phone. I hope this is a distraction enough for me to be able to text someone, so I pull my phone out to check.

I have multiple texts from Pauline, but I don't see what they say because Nathan slaps my phone out of my hand, making me jump in my seat. My phone falls to the floor. I don't dare reach for it now. Nathan goes back to typing into his phone and searching for NHL stats or some shit.

Then the driver turns in a direction that doesn't make sense. The direction we are going now doesn't take us home. It's the complete opposite direction. Nathan doesn't notice though. We keep driving and he spouts whatever results he's found and keeps researching. The driver keeps talking animatedly with him about hockey while I try to figure out what's going on.

We drive for a few more minutes before I see a bright sign that I recognize coming up down the road, and my heart starts pounding with anticipation. It's a precinct. This driver is taking me to a police station. At least I hope and pray she is, and it's not just a coincidence that she has a terrible sense of direction and no women's intuition.

I thank God with all I have when she turns into the station parking lot. She stops the car and I grab my phone and jump out, without a glance back at Nathan.

"Adelaide!" Nathan calls from the car, as he jumps out. "Fuck!"

As I approach the door, three police officers come running out.