Breaking the Chain (28 page)

             
"Is...are we hiding from the brown man?" Justine asked in a shaky voice when Mary turned on the light and noisily expelled the breath she'd been holding. "Has he come to kill us?"
             
Mary crossed the room and patted the old woman's shoulder. "I'm not sure, Justine." She pressed the scissors into the elderly woman's hand. "Look, I need you to do me a favor. As soon as I've checked to make sure the coast is clear, I want you to go call the police. Use the phone upstairs, in case Dykes comes back. That will give you enough time to call 911. I've got to go see what's happened to Jack. He went outside a little while ago and hasn't come back yet."
             
She dug the car keys out of her pocket and handed them to Justine. "If I'm not back in twenty minutes, I want you, Sadie, and Mrs. Milliron to run to the van and leave. I don't care where you go, just drive as far away from this house as you can. Mrs. Milliron knows how to drive, so you should be fine. Please, promise me you'll do that. Okay?"
             
"What are you going to do?" Sadie asked.
             
"I'm going to go out the side door and see if I can find Jack," Mary said, trying to inject a note of confidence into her voice. She held up a hand in warning as she moved toward the door. "I'm going check the hallway now. As soon it's safe, I want you to go upstairs and call 911. Okay?"
             
"Got it," Justine answered in a panic-stricken voice. "Just be careful, Mary."
             
"Don't worry; I plan to." Taking a deep breath, Mary gently turned the knob and started to pull the door toward her. So far, so good. Inching the door open, she peered into the narrow hallway. "It's okay. Come on, Justine. Before he comes back."
             
The house was eerily silent as Mary and Justine inched their way to the foot of the stairs. "Go, quick," Mary urged, nudging Justine toward the first step. "If he comes back, I'll keep him occupied as long as I can."
             
She waited until Justine climbed the stairs, then moved stealthily into the drawing room. Once she was sure it was empty, she crept toward the French doors and turned the handle. She was almost there!
             
Steely fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist the moment she stepped through the doorway. "Not so fast, Mary," Dykes whispered ominously in her ear. "Where do you think you're going?"
             
Mary's heart froze in her chest. Now what was she going to do? "Just...just checking for noise," she said. Pulling her arm, she tried to free herself from his grasp. "You nearly scared me to death. What are you doing out here?"
             
"You lied to me, Mary," Dykes whispered in her ear. "You lied about Jack. He's not in bed, because I checked. I couldn't find him outside, either. Where did he go?" His grip tightened. "I'm only going to ask you one more time. Where's Jack?"
             
Would answering him give Sadie, Justine, and Mrs. Milliron enough time to get away? Could she distract him long enough? "He...he went outside to get rid of those high school kids who're sneaking around the backyard."
             
"Shit, I knew this was going to happen," Dykes said, dragging her back into the drawing room. His right arm reached behind his back; a second later it was brandishing a pistol. "Where are the old women?"
             
"What are you doing with that gun?" Mary asked. "Dykes, what's going on? Where's your friend Sal?"
             
"Never mind about Sal," Dykes said with a growl. "Where are the old women?" Still brandishing the pistol he walked over to the door and jerked it open. "You better come out," he called out in a loud voice. "If you're not out here by the time I count to five, I'm going to shoot Mary." He started to count. "One. Two. Three."
             
"Stop, we're coming," Justine called out as she, Sadie, and Mrs. Milliron slowly emerged from Sadie's room.
             
As Sadie passed Dykes, she leaned over and spit on his shoes. "God's going to punish you for what you done," she said, reaching into the pocket of her skirt and bringing out a pistol. Holding it in front of her, she cocked the trigger. "Mary, run," she called out. "Get out of here while you can."
             
"Sadie, don't," Mary screamed as Dykes grabbed the pistol with his free hand and tried to wrestle it away. Time seemed to stand still as the three horrified women watched the life or death struggle between Dykes and Sadie. The next instant, a flicker of flame exploded out of the end of Dykes' gun; Sadie's upper body jerked backwards as a bullet slammed into her chest. A look of surprise crossed her face as she slumped forward and collapsed to the floor.
             
The room filled with screams as Mary raced toward her friend. "Why, Sadie? Why did you try to shoot him?" she cried, lifting the elderly black woman into her arms. As she cradled the old woman against her, thick red blood began to ooze from the hole in Sadie's chest, seeping out between Mary's clenched fingers.
             
"Why did you have to shoot her?" Mary asked, lifting her gaze to Dykes. "For God's sake, she was an old woman. You could have taken the gun away from her without shooting her. Why did you have to shoot?" Tears poured down her face as she tried to stem the flow of life-giving blood that refused to stop. "Justine, get the first aid kit out of the bureau," she screeched. "If we can stop the bleeding, she might have a chance."
             
"Stay where you are," Dykes called out. "Don't anybody move until I say so."
             
"You can't let her die," Mary cried.
             
"It wasn't my fault," Dykes said, staring at the ever-widening stain on Sadie's shirt. "She grabbed the gun; it was an accident. She made me shoot her."
             
"If we don't stop the bleeding, she'll die," Mary said, begging him with her eyes. "Please, let us get the first aid kit from the bureau."
             
Dykes waved the gun toward Mrs. Milliron. "You. Go get the kit, and don't try anything funny."
             
Mrs. Milliron stumbled forward, and brought the first aid kit to Mary. As she bent to help, Dykes pressed the end of his gun against her head. "Get over to the couch. Now." He watched the thick red stain spread across the makeshift bandage Mary had placed against Sadie's chest. "That old bitch died two weeks too soon," he murmured. "If she hadn't died so soon, none of this would've happened."
             
"What are you talking about?" Mary asked, fear for the other women's safety clouding her reason. Then it struck her. "Are you talking about my Aunt Elizavon?" Instead of being terrified, she suddenly felt calm. No matter how scared she was, she had to keep Dykes from hurting Justine and Mrs. Milliron. "Look, Dykes. No matter what you've done, I'm sure we can work something out. There's no reason for anybody else to get hurt."
             
He shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late for that, Mary. If that old hag dies, it will be the gas chamber for me." He shook his head. "You never should have moved up that date, Mary," he stated in an ominous voice. "If you hadn't, none of this would be happening. I had it all worked out. Everything."
             
"What date? What are you talking about?" Mary demanded.
             
"Never mind. You just better make sure that old woman doesn't die."
             
"I'm trying, Dykes. Believe me, I'm trying." Sadie moaned and Mary drew the old woman closer. "Hang on, Sadie. You can't die," she whispered. "I need you. Please, Sadie. Please don't die." She watched as Dykes cocked the trigger of the gun and waved it toward Justine and Mrs. Milliron. She had to distract him until Jack came back. Surely he'd think of a way to help them. "Tell me, Dykes," she said. "All those emergency stops we made this past couple of weeks--they weren't really emergency stops, were they?"
             
He snorted derisively. "No, Mary. They weren't."
             
"What were you smuggling, Dykes? Antiques stolen from my aunt's house?"
             
"Not hardly. That old bitch had everything under lock and key."
             
"So, what were you smuggling?"
             
"Shut up; you're asking too many questions. That's the problem with women like you. You never know when to leave well enough alone. You gotta keep asking questions, all the time. Yak, yak, yak--that's all you do."
             
The sound of gunfire, followed by shouting filled the air. "Stay where you are," Dykes warned, running toward the French doors. More shouts filled the air, and he started to swear. "The cops, it's the cops. Son of a bitch."
             
Mary's panic intensified with every shot that was fired. Who the hell was out in the workshop? It couldn't have been a bunch of high school kids, not with all those bullets being fired. Was Jack in the middle of the gunshots? Had he been killed? Was that why he hadn't come back? Dear God, she prayed. Please, please keep him safe. Taking a deep breath to forestall the panic that threatened to overwhelm her, she tried to think of a way for them to escape. She couldn't let Dykes kill Justine and Mrs. Milliron. She had to keep him talking until Jack or the police got here.
             
"Let me guess. It wasn't high school kids down at the tunnel tonight, was it? Look, Dykes. You can still get away," Mary lied. "You can use our van. We have the keys right here." She glanced at Mrs. Milliron, who withdrew a set of keys from her pocket. "Just take the van and go. You don't have to kill us," Mary said, rising to her feet. Her heart pounded in her chest, and icy fingers of fear tightened their grip on her stomach. The hair on the back of her neck stood up when she heard him cock the hammer of his pistol. Dear God, she prayed, please don't let us die. Not here, not like this.
             
The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the room, causing Dykes to turn toward the French Doors, firing his weapon. Several men burst through the French doors and into the room, firing their weapons.
             
What was happening? The noise of guns going off drowned out Mary's terrified screams as she dropped to the floor and draped herself over Sadie to protect the old woman from further harm. Hiding her head in the crook of her elbow, she prayed for the gunfire to end. Who had burst into the room? Were she, Justine, and Mrs. Milliron about to meet their maker?
             
The sound of gunfire faded away, but she was too terrified to move. It wasn't until she heard Jack call her name and felt a hand on her shoulder that she dared to open her eyes.
             
"It's all over, Mary. Thank God I found you. You're safe now, babe," Jack said, squeezing her shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
             
She raised her head to look at him. "I'm okay, but Sadie...she's been shot."
             
"We need a doctor over here," he called out. "Quick, someone's been shot."
             
Sadie began to moan, drawing Mary's attention back to the old woman. "Sadie, hang on," she cried, cradling the old woman close. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the old woman lay gasping for breath. "Sadie, please don't die. I need you; we all need you," she cried over and over again.
             
The elderly black woman opened her eyes for the first time since she'd been shot. "Mary...closer," Sadie whispered.
             
Mary leaned over. "I'm here, Sadie. Please, don't try to talk. Save your strength."
             
"Give...hand."
             
Sobbing, Mary held out her hand to the old woman. Chanting in between gasps for breath, the old black woman squeezed Mary's two middle fingers close together. "Squeeze," she ordered.
             
Mary did as she was told and immediately felt a burning sensation in the tips of her fingers. The feeling moved up her arm, then slowly over her body, until she felt engulfed in warmth. The image of a little girl with a big grin pasted on her face flashed through her brain as the burning faded away.
             
"What...what was that?" she asked the old woman. "What did you just do?"
             
"Did you see it, Mary? Did you see her? She's your future. You and Jack will have a child--soon. A girl. Spirits done told me, and now you. I gave you my power; now you can see future as well as past. It's done," the old woman whispered softly. Her hand reached up to touch the side of Mary's cheek, then fell to the floor.
             
"Sadie, don't leave," Mary cried out in anguish. Cradling the old woman gently against her chest, she sat in silence, tears flowing down her cheeks.
             
Jack pressed two fingers against the side of Sadie's neck, then carefully unfolded Mary's arms from around the old woman. "She's gone, Mary. Let me have Sadie," he coaxed, gently pulling the old woman's body away from his wife. Mary leaned back and watched in silence as Jack laid tenderly lowered Sadie's body to the floor.
             
Jack placed his hand against Mary's cheek and forced her to look at him. "Mary, you're in shock." He wrapped a blanked around her and held her tightly against him, waving off the medic that was hurrying toward them. One of the men took a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over Sadie's body while two others led Justine and Mrs. Milliron from the room.