Star Bright (32 page)

That’s all she cared
about, “Even before the burns you’ve always been a horror character
in my life.” The venom in her voice shocked both her and
Ricky.

Ricky didn’t like it. He
saw the glimmer in her eyes, and it wasn’t because of the tears
streaming out of them. She had gotten it back, something that had
taken months for him to destroy had seemed to have repaired
itself.

“
Someone grew
a spin.” he said with a weak smile, “I wonder if you’ll still have
it when I get my hands on Michael.”

She felt her heart
flutter for a second, at the mention of Michael’s name. But she
didn’t have anything to worry about, he was under the watchful eye
of Dave, whom she was sure had deeper connections and longer arms
than he let on, his father oozed of the power he had, and Miguel, a
man she was indifferent to, but was capable of swatting Ricky like
the bug he is, if he went anywhere near Michael. She had nothing to
worry about.

“
You see
Ricky.” she swallowed the quiver in her voice, “I’m not the only
one protecting him anymore. You’ll be dead before you get a hundred
feet to him.”

Ricky pushed her away as
he felt his jealousy take over him, more than his anger, “What, you
think that rich man you’re whoring yourself to will keep him from
me?” he sneered, “So, you must have started off as that little
blond doll’s nanny before you ended up in his bed.”

Izzy.
Maria felt her heart pound harder, she felt
herself choke at the thought of Ricky near Izzy. Dave will protect
them both, there is no reason to worry.

Ricky laughed, pleased at
the momentary scared look that had flashed on her face, “For all I
know he might be old and walking around with an oxygen tank!” He
laughed again, “Who’s nanny were you really, the old man or his
granddaughter?”

Maria felt a relief wash
over her. Ricky didn’t know what Dave looked like, all she could
hope for was he didn’t know where they were currently living, “You
could always find out for yourself, it would be the last thing you
ever do.”

“
He might be
protecting that brat, but he’s not here to protect you.” Without
warning, Ricky threw a punch that landed on the side of her face,
before she could fall, he caught her and punched her again,
knocking her to the floor.

All she saw was the fist,
and then stars and she felt a blunt pain close to her eyes. She
couldn’t see the second one, she felt the pain and she could taste
the blood from her busted lip. She shook her head trying to clear
her vision, but the kick to her abdomen made her forget about her
eye sight. She rolled, turning her back to him, which he accepted
with another kick. Maria cringed backwards with a
scream.

“
Just like old
times.” Ricky said joyously, taking off his jacket and throwing it
aside. He had missed this, beating Maria to a pulp and only
stopping when her cries for help were drowned out by the blood
choking her and when she lay limp, close to death.

Maria crawled towards the
kitchen area, the throbbing in her back and belly crying out louder
with each move. She wasn’t going to allow this to happen to her
again, she had grown out of being the victim and Ricky wasn’t going
to make her one again.

“
Where are you
going?” He dragged her back by her foot, then laughed when she
kicked his hand away with her free leg. He let go and stared at the
graze on his hand before he turned back at her and laughed as she
tried to crawl away again, “You’re making this fun.” he followed
her, “Look at you, putting up a fight!” He lifted his leg and
brought it down hard on her back.

Maria cried as the pain
made her eyes sting with tears, her ears full of that one familiar
sound. Ricky put his hand over his lips, “I think I broke
something.” he said, feigning concern and then he busted out
laughing, “I missed the sound of your bones breaking, and I’m sure
you missed it too.” he lifted his foot over her again, “Shall we
hear it again?”

“
No, please
no!” Maria begged, lifting a hand to stop him.

Ricky crouched down and
reached a finger to her lips. He pressed down hard on the wound,
then lifted his finger to look at her blood, “Your blood still
looks the same, but I’ll have to spill more just to be
sure.”

“
Ricky, no!”
she sobbed, covering her face with her hand.

“
Why not, we
are reminiscing aren’t we?” He swiftly slashed her hand with his
pocket knife. Maria screamed rolling away, but she rolled back with
a louder scream when she felt the pressure of her weight on her
broken ribs, “The only difference is, you’ll be the one in flames
and I’ll be the one holding the match.”

“
If you are
going to kill me, just do it!” Maria begged. She wasn’t up to going
through hours of torture before he finally killed her.

“
I am going to
kill you, but I want to have some fun first.” he grabbed her hair
and pulled her face closer to his, “I’m just having a hard time
deciding whether to make love to you before or after I beat you,
cut you up and burn you.” he brushed his lips against hers, “Help
me decide, hmm?”

The door flew open with a
bang, startling Ricky. He let go of Maria and she fell back on the
floor with a thud. She didn’t know who was at the door, but all she
wished for was the unexpected visitor was here to either kill her
or Ricky.

“
Who the hell
are you?” Ricky yelled, standing up. His answer came silent, hard
and surprising. Maria saw Ricky sag to the floor, his face frozen
in complete shock. Maria smiled as a black fog filled her eyes,
she’d also gotten her answer, the stranger was here to kill him.
She winced when she felt her body get dragged up, the stranger
whispering urgently in her ear as he hurriedly walked away carrying
her in his arms. The corridor light was the last thing she seen
before the black fog completely consumed her, numbing all her
senses and the pain in her body.

Chapter
Nineteen

Dave paced around the
room with a third glass of brandy in his hand. There was no way he
could stay sober listening and picturing all the degradation Maria
had been through in Ricky’s hands. It was amazing she was still
sane and alive, most women he knew would have killed
themselves.

“
This is my
entire fault.” Miguel cried into his palms.

Edna hugged his shoulders
to her and rocked him gently, “No it’s not.” she swallowed a sob
before she went on, “You couldn’t have seen something like this
coming. I certainly didn’t.”

“
He might not
have seen it coming, but he knew it was happening!” Dave yelled,
“So yes, it is his fault!”

“
Dave stop,
can’t you see he’s suffering?” Edna kissed Miguel’s shoulder and
placed her head on it.

“
Why should I
hold back? You didn’t blink once when you told her how she
destroyed your life!” Dave spat out, turning his anger to Edna. She
cringed back and hid her face in Miguel’s shoulder.

“
That’s
enough.” Miguel whispered, pulling his head up. His eyes were blood
shot and wet, he looked like he had aged twenty years in the last
hour, “Where is she now?”

Dave flushed down the
brandy, “I’ll find out.” he poured himself some more then pulled
out his phone and dialed.

“
Don’t you
think you’ve had enough to drink?” Edna asked, “You need to be
sober when she comes back.”

“
Sober? I
don’t think I’ll ever be able to stay sober after what you’ve just
told me.” He sipped at his glass, “It’s amazing she didn’t seek
comfort in drugs or alcohol.” He raised his phone to his ear and
waited for Johnson to pick up.

“
She had
Michael to help her get through each day.”

“
Tell me this,
when Michael was conceived...” he let the question hang as he
lifted his glass to his lips. It was sad enough that Ricky was
Michael’s father, it would only be sadder if he existed out of rape
and not love.

“
At that time,
the devil hadn’t shown his horns yet.” Edna smiled, “Maria was
truly happy and in love, like I was when I found out I was pregnant
with her.” she turned to Miguel and pulled his face closer for a
kiss.

“
You just
climbed five steps above Ricky in my scale of bastards.” Dave said
with a chuckle, amused by the dagger stares his soon to be
parents-in-law gave him, “Don’t worry, you are just a step below my
dad.”

“
Where is my
daughter Dave?” Miguel asked, biting down on his temper. He was
doing a fine job beating himself up all on his own and he didn’t
need Dave’s help.

Dave lifted his finger up
when he heard Johnson’s voice on the line, “Hey, where’s
Maria?”

“
Dave.”
Johnson stuttered. He turned around to look at Maria, if it wasn’t
for her shallow struggled breathing he would have thought she was
already dead, “We have a problem.”

“
What, did she
make you again?” Dave took another sip. He’d have to look for a
more competent shadow for Maria, her suspicious nature made her
radar impossible for Johnson and his men to keep up with
her.

“
No, it’s not
that.” he pulled up in front of the emergency entrance. He got out
of the car and ran inside, “I need some help!” he yelled in the
busy room before he ran back out, two nurses running behind
him.

Dave put his glass down
and stepped closer to the couple, his chest already tightening,
“Johnson what’s going on?” his voice was unsteady and full of
fear.

“
Ricky.” he
said, running behind Maria’s gurny, “He found her.”

Dave grabbed at his neck.
He felt like he was suffocating, like someone had put a bag over
his head, “Johnson...”

“
She’s alive,
but in bad shape. We are at the Memorial Hospital, you need to get
here.” Johnson watched as they cut up her pink t-shirt and exposed
her black and blue torso and abdomen. One of the doctor’s lingered
on her side, he pressed down making Maria wake up with a deafening
scream, blood seeping out of her mouth. He held her down and yelled
something before they pushed her through another door.

This was bad, far worse
than he thought, and if he knew Dave well enough, Johnson was sure
he was going to be in a room across from hers after Dave was
through with him, “Dave, you have to get down here,
now!”

Dave dropped the phone
and stared at Miguel and Edna. He couldn’t find his voice to speak,
it was stuck under the millions of sobs in his throat. Edna stood
up and moved to him. She blinked back her tears then placed her
palms on Dave’s wet face and turned him to her.

“
You don’t
have to say anything, just nod or blink, I’ll understand.” She
spoke slowly to him like she was speaking to a child. She saw the
dead look on his face and it could only mean one thing, her
daughter was in trouble and her odds were set on Ricky being that
trouble.

Miguel stood up and moved
behind her, “Edna what’s wrong?” his voice full of
urgency.

“
Dave.” Edna
started calmly, “Is she alive?”

“
What!” Miguel
spat out.

Edna ignored him and
stayed focused on Dave, “Honey, nod if she’s alive.”

Dave nodded, “She’s at
the Memorial Hospital.” he struggled out.

She let out a breath of
relief then turned to Miguel, “You and Dave, go I’ll stay with the
kids.”

“
I’m going to
kill him!” Miguel said between clenched teeth as he rushed out the
house, Dave followed him, slowly slipping out of his daze with each
step, all he felt now was anger and hate. Ricky had crossed the
line for the last time.

Dave stood at the
hospital room door, his arms crossed over his chest and his mind
replaying Edna’s words like a record player stuck on a loop, as he
stared at the sleeping Maria. With all the bruises on her face, she
looked peaceful, like she hadn’t been through a traumatic
experience just a few hours ago, of course thanks to the strong
sedatives they gave her, which he wouldn’t mind taking
himself.

He rubbed his hand over
his face, and then blinked a few times just to make sure he wasn’t
in a drunken dream. She was in that bed, bruised and broken, but
alive and safe and at that moment that’s all that mattered. He felt
his throat tighten as his eyes stung with tears. He had promised
she would be safe, that nothing like this would ever happen to her
again, but it did, and worst of all, under his watch.

“
Johnson, how
the hell did you let this happen to her?” Dave turned to glare at
him, keeping his position at the door way.

“
I don’t know.
She went in alone, no one followed her. I guess he was already
inside just waiting for her.” Johnson rapped out.

“
He almost
killed her!” He turned to look back at her, she had turned her head
and was trying to set free her strapped arm, but soon
stopped.

“
But he’s the
dead one.” Johnson spoke confidently. That was the only good thing
that had come out from that night.

Dave turned and looked at
him. He couldn’t deny he was relieved that Ricky was dead, and
their lives would now be like every other normal family’s. No more
shadow body guards for Maria and the kids, no more secrets or
investigations and no more suspense thriller movie their lives had
turned out to be. He did like the thrill Maria’s life had been, but
he wanted it over, it was time for him to stop playing the God
Father, it wasn’t fun anymore, especially after seeing Maria like
this.