Fate and Destiny (30 page)

Five boards out, Andrew
dropped waist deep into the hole, his feet landing on frozen earth.
He climbed out quickly, gauging the spreading fire. The open window
let out enough of the smoke so the air near the floor was clean
enough to breathe. He scrambled across to Destiny.

“
He still
there?”

She nodded, tears trickling
down her cheeks. It was a good sign to Andrew. She was still in
there. Disconnected from reality just enough to block out Charles
and not lose her mind.

“
I need you to follow me
as fast as you can, okay? He won’t be able to get here as fast as
we can get out. Understand?”

Another nod and Andrew
crawled back across the floor. Destiny dropped to her stomach,
slithering along soundlessly behind him like a soldier, rifle
extended in front of her. At the hole in the floor, Andrew dropped
down, crawling to the side, careful not to bump his head on the
pipes. The lake water was cleaned before traveling to most of the
cabins that were not on the well line Andrew was on. The pipes to
the summer cabins were shut off each fall at a chlorinating
junction near the lake so they would not freeze in the winter. If
he remembered correctly, the outside door to the crawlspace was at
the back near the lean-to shed.

He waited a moment, but
Destiny didn’t follow him into the hole. Moving back to the
opening, he stuck his head up to see what was keeping her. She lay
on the floor, looking at the hole, but not attempting to drop in.
“Destiny, we have to hurry now. C’mon honey.”

He reached his hand up to
touch her face, wanting to bring her back to here and now.
Thankfully, Charles had not begun his tirade against Destiny’s
sanity again.

“
You said no more dark
holes.” Her voice a shaky whisper, she didn’t move.

“
I know. I’m sorry. But
this is the only way out. It will only be a couple of minutes and I
will be with you the whole time.” He ran his fingers over the
tendril of hair hanging in her face, brushing it back. Finally, she
swung her legs around and slid into the hole with him, quickly
dropping to the earth.

 
In the dark,
crawling across the hard ground, Andrew prayed no snakes used this
area for their winter hibernation. The door should only be a few
feet in front of him. His hands played along the floor over his
head every few inches, finally closing on the leather strap used to
pull the door open. He was dismayed to find the strap and the door
over his head warm. Sitting up so his feet were flat on the ground,
he squatted, knees bent, hands on the door over his head. Using his
back and legs, he pushed against the door with all of his strength.
And almost launched himself right out of the crawl space as the
door easily flew open, slamming quietly into the rapidly melting
pile of snow. Embers and ash drifted over them as the wall above
the door burned.

Andrew stood, quickly
emerging and reaching back to pull Destiny free from the tomb under
the cabin. The heat from the wall singed the air. Most of the back
of the cabin scorched, pockets of flame still lingering in places
as the fire raced along the top edge, the heat competing with the
ice and snow. The structure was weakening fast. The tortured logs
popped and cracked as the weight of the roof leaned into the wall.
Andrew urged the numb form of Destiny to the trees directly behind
the cabin.

Safely in the confines of
the forest, hidden from view in case Charles decided to inspect his
arson handiwork, Andrew placed his hands on Destiny’s shoulders,
pushing her down to sit on a tree stump.

“
Listen to me, Destiny.
Stay here. If you hear anything, shoot first and ask questions
later. I’ll whistle like when I’m calling Shadow if it’s me.
Otherwise, shoot.”

 
She didn’t move, but
she heard him. He kissed her lips and she kissed him back, but the
blank look didn’t leave her. Charles’ voice echoed through the
trees here like a strange wood creature singing, but Andrew could
not make out the words. Regretfully, he left her sitting there,
rifle across her lap, staring into the trees in front of her, the
wind blowing the hair around her face.

Skirting the edge of the
trees, carefully hidden from view even when the moon filtered
through the clouds rolling across the night sky, Andrew made his
way around the clearing where the cabin burned, the gun weighing
heavily in his hand. He didn’t want to stumble across Charles
unexpectedly and give the lunatic the upper hand. The back of the
cabin now completely engulfed, fire found its way along the side of
the kitchen, seeking nourishment to feed its ravenous appetite.
Except for the smoke rising to meet the clouds, the front of the
cabin appeared unscathed. Andrew noted the broken window where
Destiny sat on guard only a few minutes earlier.

As Andrew made his way
through the trees, Charles’ voice became louder, leading Andrew
directly to him. Blocking out the foul language as Charles became
frustrated no one had visibly abandoned the building, Andrew
concentrated on listening for the direction of the noise. He was
close, but as Andrew was ready to set the sights of the gun
squarely on Charles’ forehead, the perverse warbling stopped.
Peering around a thick tree trunk, expecting to see the man
watching the cabin, Andrew froze, gun raised. Charles was not
there.

A twig snapped to Andrew’s
left. Too late, he spun around, gun raised too low as he came face
to face with Charles. The assailant’s gun pointed directly between
Andrew’s eyes. Heart stopping, eyes closing, Andrew waited for the
gunshot that would be the last thing he heard in this lifetime.
Thoughts of Destiny flowed through his mind first, quickly followed
by his family and friends, Shadow, his father. The love of so many
people. He would die knowing they would all mourn him. He had
regrets, but he would do it all again for Destiny.

A lifetime passed by in a
few seconds and Andrew cautiously opened his eyes. The gun pointed
at him shook uncontrollably in the hand of the madman staring at
Andrew with fear. Close up, even in the dark, Charles had the look
of a man under the influence of too many mood-changing chemicals.
The dark rings set deep in the shallow pale face around the wild
eyes spoke of someone who hadn’t slept in days. His breath reeked.
His skin hung loose across the bone structure. But the eyes were
the worst, less than human. An animalistic quality controlled the
man in front of Andrew.

“
You’re dead. I killed
you.” The words contained a reverent hush as Charles stared at
Andrew. “I’m so sorry, Dad. It was an accident.”

Charles dissolved into
hysterical crying, the gun in his hand not dropping, but waving
wildly in Andrew’s face.

“
It’s all that girl’s
fault. Why didn’t you love me as much as you loved her? It was my
birthright to have everything! I was your son. I deserved
it!”

Anger quickly replaced the
sadness. The gun steadied, rage rolled over Charles.

Startled, Andrew flinched
as the walls of the cabin out of his line of vision gave way, the
roof crashing to the ground. He could not see it, afraid to take
his eyes from Charles and break the spell, reminding Charles of who
he really was.

Glee transformed Charles
yet again into a large, dangerous child.

“
Ah! Did you see that dad?
I killed that bitch and her lover too! I burned them up in there.
They didn’t get out! Isn’t that great? Now we can go back home and
put all of this behind us. With her out of the way, I won’t have to
share you with anyone. I think I will have to lock you up in the
basement of my house though. I have everything now and you can’t
take it back. You’re alive, but no one else needs to know. This is
so perfect! So much better than I ever planned! The bitch is dead!
Lenny and Doug will take the blame for your death and you aren’t
dead!”

The hysterical laughter
suddenly stopped as Charles studied Andrew, the only thing between
them the gun held firmly in Charles’ white knuckled death
grip.

“
Wait. Dad, you look
different. Did you cut your hair or something?”

Andrew stiffened. Lucidity
was returning to Charles. At any time, he could snap back to
reality. He had to do something and fast.

“
Of course not Charles. I
am the same as I have always been. I think we need to have a talk.
I love you. I always have. You are my only son. No one could
replace you. I’ll go home with you and no one will ever know I’m
there. You can have all of the money. It’s just what you
wanted.”

Andrew spoke softly,
matching his tone to the voice of his own father. The similarities
to the sounds emerging from his mouth and the memories of his
father caused a chill to race down his spine. Relief visibly swept
over Charles as he delved deeper into the fantasy created in his
mind.

“
Oh Dad, that’s all I
wanted to hear.”

The gun dropped, and Andrew
found himself wrapped tightly in the embrace of a crazy man before
he could pull his own gun up and put Charles out of his
misery.

Trying to wriggle the gun
into the right angle to fire and remove himself before Charles had
a chance to fire back, Andrew moved slowly, not wanting to startle
the insane man.

A whistle split the air. A
perfect imitation of Andrew’s whistle for Shadow. At that very
moment, a gunshot fired from close range deafened him. Closing his
eyes, bracing, Andrew didn’t feel any pain, or life ebbing away.
The only thing he felt was the bony body of the drug addict
lurching away from him. The arms embracing him suddenly relaxing
their hold, freeing him as Charles flew to the side, landing in a
heap. Red immediately staining the trampled white snow from the
hole in Charles’ temple.

Unable to take his eyes
from the lifeless body, Andrew was almost comatose, shaken by the
events of the last few seconds. Sirens echoed through the trees
surrounding him. The fire crackled and popped behind him. From his
left, a whistle. Same as before, only much softer, gentler. His
eyes drifted that direction, entranced as the army of sirens grew
louder. Snow. Rocks. Trees. A figure standing two feet from him.
Long warm brown hair, green eyes, a rifle held confidently, the
barrel pointed harmlessly to the sky.

Epilogue

Sunday, February
23

           
 
“
They’re
here!”

A chorus of excited,
screaming children bounced through Betsy Miller’s
kitchen.

“
Okay, okay, okay! I’m
coming! Let’s go greet them.”

Most of the town converged
on Betsy’s house to share in the excitement. A parade of Betsy’s
family members and friends streamed out of the house, forming a mob
around the Jeep parked in the driveway.

“
Let them get out of the
car. Billy! Back up! Let her open the door. Grandma coming through.
Out of the way.”

Sons and daughters, nieces
and nephews, cousins and grandchildren stepped aside for the
matriarch of the family to make her way through the crowd to be the
first at the passenger side door. A tall, lovely woman stepped out.
A bandage on her head. Various cuts and bruises marking her face
but healing nicely. She was beautiful in Betsy’s eyes. She wrapped
her arms around the younger woman. Her own daughter waited at the
driver’s door to embrace the son she almost lost to a
madman.

“
Destiny. Welcome to the
family, honey. I’m so glad you’re here. Andrew already passed
around the news that you accepted his proposal. A spring wedding at
the lake will be wonderful.”

Wrapped snugly in the older
woman’s arms, Destiny could not speak. A family. An enormous,
wonderful, warm, loving family, all of them accepting her as if she
had been born to them.

The embrace broke as
Destiny was bumped from behind when Shadow made his exit from the
car. He looked like a pirate dog with the bandana-like bandage
draped roguishly over the corner of his head. The bullet wound was
deep but had not penetrated his thick skull. Stitches reattached
the ear although it would flop slightly askew for the rest of his
life.

Emerging from the Jeep
after the dog, Doug turned beet red as Betsy embraced him just as
thoroughly as she embraced Destiny.

“
Young man, you are so
brave for everything you did. Matt and Doreen told me all about
it.”

Although embarrassed by the
show of emotion, Doug stood tall and proud, grinning at Destiny
over Betsy’s head. Stepping back and looking up so she could see
Doug, she brought her small hand up to pat his cheek.

“
And don’t you worry son,
we will all be here to help you when you testify against Lenny for
all of those charges they brought against him. Helping in the
kidnapping was bad enough, but what he did to those poor girls was
awful.”

She leaned in like she
planned to whisper although she had to speak loudly to be heard
over the noise of the well-wishers.

“
Prostitution and drugs
are awful things. That poor girl with the baby. They’re going to
charge him with murdering her? Really?”

Doug nodded
confidently.

“
Yes Ma’am. I told Matt
everything I knew and he said the cops would check into what I
said. Matt told me that the Vegas cops figured out that Lenny and
Charles killed her to keep her quiet about what they were
doing.”