See Tom Run by Scott Wittenburg Page A

I’ll let your
buddy live if he really means that much to you.”
    “Thank-you Kyle! You won’t regret this!”
    “You’re gonna owe me big time! You hear me?”
    “Yes, I know. I will make it worth your while.”
    “You bet your sweet ass, you will! Now, Mr. Yup-shit,
maybe you can tell me where you keep your duct tape. And if you
tell me you don’t have any, the deal’s off. I’ll just blow your
head off.”
    Tom thought for a moment. “I think there’s a roll in
one of the cabinets in the laundry room.”
    “You better pray it’s there or you’re out of luck. I
want to get the hell out of this place and I don’t have time to be
looking around for a roll of goddamn duct tape. Go get the tape,
Erin. And hurry before I change my mind.”
    Erin nodded and ran to the laundry room. Tom heard
some shuffling around and a moment later, she returned with a roll
of duct tape.
    “What took you so long? Now, you’re going to have to
pull out that chair a little, old man, so I can get this tape
around you.”
    Tom scooted out a foot or so from the table. Kyle
pulled out a length of tape and starting at Tom’s elbow, began
wrapping it around his chest and the back of the chair. He wrapped
it around no less than a dozen times. Tom could hardly breathe it
was so tight.
    “Now, your feet.”
    He bound Tom’s feet together several times then
continued wrapping the tape around the front legs of the chair.
    “And now, just in case you get a notion to try
chewing …”
    Kyle proceeded to slap a four-inch strip over his
mouth.
    “There, now. Sorry you can’t say goodbye, old man,
but that’s just the way it goes. Come on, wench. Lead the way out
of this place.”
    Erin stood up and faced Tom. “Thanks for your help,
Tom. I hope you find your family. And don’t worry about me. I’ll be
okay.”
    “Let’s fucking go! ” Kyle shouted.
    “My coat, I left it—”
    “I’m losing patience here. You have thirty seconds to
get it or I blow him away!”
    Erin ran into the living room and returned a few
seconds later with her coat.
    “Grab that stuff and let’s blow this Popsicle
stand.”
    Erin gathered up the food, glanced at Tom with a look
of sadness and regret, and then ran out the door.
    The moment she was out of sight, Kyle stared directly
into Tom’s eyes.
    “And this is for humping my girl!”
    He brought the handle of the gun down cleanly into
Tom’s skull.
     
     

CHAPTER 6
     
     
    When Tom came to, he started to bring his hand to the
aching lump on his head and realized that he couldn’t move either
of his arms. In his dazed state, he couldn’t immediately recall why
he suddenly found himself bound and gagged in his kitchen or what
had led up to it.
    Then the events began to unfold.
    Erin! She had been taken away by her old boyfriend,
Kyle!
    He wondered how long ago they had left. He glanced
down at his wristwatch and realized that it must have been an hour
or so ago. Too much time for him to catch up with them—
    Even if he knew where they were headed …
    He had to get out of this chair. He tried to force
his arms out of the duct tape but it was hopeless—he could hardly
move them even the slightest bit. He looked around the kitchen and
wondered if he could somehow scoot himself over to the drawer where
the kitchen knives were stored. He decided to give it a try.
    He started rocking back and forth in an effort to get
the chair to move forward. It took all he had to get it to budge.
But at least it was possible. He continued rocking until he had
moved a few inches, then stopped to rest. At this rate, he
estimated it would take him three hours to get to the other side of
the kitchen. If he didn’t have a coronary first.
    Got to be a better way—
    There was a possibility that he could get his hand
into his pants pocket if he was able to get into the right
position. He recalled that he still had the keys from the CRV he
had borrowed the night before. With some luck, he might be able to
use them to