First to Die (20 page)

I heard the shuffle of dirt. He was behind me. I held my breath and waited for the next hit. He’d made sure that I stayed awake with slaps and kicks. I felt a snap in my chest, and the little bit of air that I had in my lungs pushed out and slipped away.

“When I ask you a question, I expect you to answer me!” I stared into his dark, vacant eyes. “Don’t look at me that way.” He reached down and pinched each of my eyes closed. I felt his foot hit my stomach and knock the wind out of me.

He untied me from the beam, lifted me up into his arms and cradled me like a sleeping child. My tense body rested against his and he carried me to the table. Confidently, he moved. Conscious of his direction. Instinctive. Calculating. He moved with ease. Something like a cat.

I kicked my legs. The cold air revealed his warm, steady breaths. I felt weightless. I pushed my elbow deep in his chest. He was powerful. A master of his sick craft. The devil himself in a god-like costume. He moved with soundless steps across the room as if he were floating above them. He was sure of himself, and his excitement grew as he moved me closer to my final resting place. He studied my face. He gently caressed my cold cheek with his hand, and leaned down to smell my hair. His heavy breaths in the cool air raised above him like smoke rising from hell. I jerked my body away from him. Short gasps of air pleaded with him as he laid me on the carving board. I pulled at my tied hands.

“You’re squirming like your mama did when I cut her up.” His eyes turn hollow.

“Fuck you.” My blood was pumping so fast that I could hear it swooshing in my ears. If I didn’t get control of my breathing, I was going to choke. I felt my stomach churning. I wanted to vomit. A stabbing pain sliced through my heart and I was spinning out of control.

“That’s not very lady-like.” He moved closer. I pushed back against the table. He was right on top of me again. I was trapped. I had nowhere to go. A sharp blade grazed my neck and I felt a long, warm stream of blood slide down my neck. I stared in his vacant eyes.

He swayed from side to side like an animal ready to attack. “You should have stayed out of it.” His face was pressed against mine, and I could taste his hot, rancid breath. “I would’ve left you alone.”

“Don’t do this.” My eyes pleaded with his. “This can be our secret—you can trust me.” I took a deep breath. “I promise, no one will ever know.” I was grasping at anything to calm him down, and back him up. I heard the piercing sound of metal against metal as he slid another blade from the table and rested it between my wrists. I flinched. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was filled with a gritty paste.

He eased the knife away from my neck and slammed it down next to my head. He reached up and grabbed my hair, pulling my head to the side. “Don’t fight.”

“I won’t.” I laid still. “I won’t fight you.” I took another deep breath. “I can help you, we can figure out a way to make all of this go away.” I felt my eyes glazing over. I had to stay calm.

He gazed at me for a brief moment and tilted his head to the side. I thought I saw a different face. “I don’t need help.” The dark, evil man was back again. “It won’t’ stop,” he yelled, and wound his hand around the strands of my hair, pulling tighter. I was pinned against the table and knew I had to make a move or I was going to die.

The blade cut between my hands and my arms fell to my side. I swung my feet around and pushed my weight against him, and I fell to the ground. The knife landed next to me. I reached for it. He yanked on my twisted hair and pulled me up. His fist came up and I felt the power of a sledgehammer hit the side of my face. I felt the pain radiate and pleaded with myself not to pass out. Don’t pass out. My knees trembled and I could barely stand.

“That wasn’t a smart move.” His voice echoed through the damage of his fist. He pulled me around reached for the knife. I fought and kicked it across the floor. His left hand was around my neck now, and his right was buried in my stomach. I doubled over, gasping for air. “I told you not to fight.” His voice was angry and dark, floating through a tunnel.

My breathing was coming in short, shallow intervals. I couldn’t breathe. I spit out a mouth full of blood to the floor. I put my hand up. “Fight, I won’t fight, please,” I managed to whisper. He dragged me by the hair across the room and picked up the knife. “Please.” I choked on the word from the pain. “I won’t fight you anymore.”

He yanked me up and knocked me back into the wall. The blade glimmered in the dim light. I couldn’t stop it as it came toward me. I felt a sharp pain and heard an awful suction noise when he pulled it out. I lost my balance and fell to the ground on all fours, panting and drooling like a defenseless animal. Blood was pooling beneath me in a steady flow. I felt dizzy. Sick.

The blade had penetrated my side fast and hard. Breathing was no longer a natural reflex. I pressed my hand to my side and brought it back up. It was covered in blood. I was covered in blood.

“Please,” I gasped. I didn’t want to die. I wasn’t going to let this maniac kill me. My fight or flight response finally kicked in. I pushed my hands as hard as I could to get myself off the floor and out into the tunnels, away from him.

“You little bitch.” His hand grabbed my shirt and pulled back me back down. I held my side, rolled over, and kicked him in the face. I felt a surge of nausea. I kicked him again. I pulled myself up and made it to the entrance, but he was right on me. I hit the wall like a wrecking ball pounding the side of a concrete wall and it brought me down again. I heard the sound of a sharp crack in my chest and the pain swelled with each breath. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to breathe. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get away from him. “Your mama squealed like you.”

The few minutes that he was ripping me to shreds felt like hours. “You rotten piece of shit.” I was on my feet again, but this time he would have to kill me because I wasn’t stopping. I went back at him with everything that I had, but I was no match for him. If I was going to die, I was taking the son of a bitch with me. I rammed up against him and knocked him to the floor. I pushed up again. I felt his hand circle my ankle and I landed hard. His weight pinned me to the floor and I couldn't move. He was yelling at me, but his words made no sense. His hand came up and circled around my neck like a noose and he strangled off any air that I had left. The blade came at me.

The loud noise rang out and I faded into the darkness. I felt a warm sensation cover my entire body. My fight was over. Bright lights covered me like a blanket. I heard muffled voices. I didn’t recognize them. I felt no pain. I could breathe again. I tried to open my eyes and move around, but I was floating. I let go and drifted away.

Chapter 30

A
continuous beep pulsated to the right of me and I heard a familiar voice. I was cold and felt strapped down. I couldn’t move.

“When do you think she’s going to wake up?” I heard him say.

“You need to go home and get some rest,” she said.

“I can’t leave her alone.”

“She hasn’t been left alone since she got here, and you’ve barely left that chair in days.”

“I’m not leaving her,” he said to the voice that I didn’t recognize. “I promised her I would never leave.” His voiced faded and I floated off into the distance again.

I felt a hand squeeze mine and I fought to open my eyes. I blinked and squinted in the light. I peeked out from a slit and saw Jason sleeping in a chair next to me. I blinked a few more times so I could focus. I looked around. I was in Riverview Memorial Hospital. I squeezed Jason’s hand and he stood straight up, leaning over me.

“How do you feel?” he said, with sparkling eyes and a big smile. “Let me get the nurse.” He pulled up a dangling cord and pressed it with his thumb.

“I feel like I was hit by a bus.”

“You had me pretty scared.” I saw a shiny film cast over his eyes. “We almost lost you the first night, but I told them that you’re a fighter.” He smiled again.

I lifted my hand, and felt the bandage over my eye and around the left side of my face. “Why do I have this here?”

“You have a couple shattered bones, but the surgeon said you would never be able to tell that anything happened once it’s healed.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “They said they were taking the bandages off tomorrow.”

The nurse shuffled in and snatched my file from the clip at the end of my bed. “How are you feeling, Samantha?

“I hurt everywhere and I’m so tired.” I tried to smile at her.

A giggle floated around the room. “You’ve been in and out a few times. Can I get you anything?”

“Some water, please.”

“How about we start with ice chips, and work our way up?” She grinned at me. “My name is Katie and I’m going to check your vitals. Okay, honey?

I reached around and felt my stomach and chest. It was wrapped tight and it hurt every time I took a breath. “What are all these bandages?” I whispered.

“Battle scars,” Jason said.

“I didn’t think I had that many. He only stabbed me once and maybe broke a rib.” I was taking in small breaths. “What happened?”

“Are sure you want to hear this right now?”

“Yes, please.”

“You don’t have one stab wound, you have two.” He took a deep breath. “He didn’t hit any vital organs.” I saw him smile again. “Two fractured ribs and the bandages on your arms are from defensive wounds.” He squeezed my hand. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

Nurse Katie chimed in. “This guy right here is the one that shot the psychopath.” She walked around and squeezed the IV bags that were hanging above my head. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go and get you those ice chips.”

“I thought you were in Chicago.”

“I was, but I didn’t feel right the first time that I talked to Mrs. Schultz, when I asked her to check on you. She called me again when I was about thirty minutes out. She did exactly what you told her to do.” He sat back down in the chair and wrapped both of his hands around mine. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through this.” He laid his head on my hand. “I don’t know what I would do if I had lost you.” He lifted his head up and looked me straight in the eye. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

I felt a tear run down the side of my face. “I love you.” I reached up and touched the side of his face.

***

A man covered in seafoam green wheeled me to the entrance while Jason went for his car. The sky was a powder blue with big, white, puffy clouds that looked like bunches of cotton balls floating around. A dash of red, pink, and white flowers lined the entrance with a hint of green, and the air smelled like the sky had opened up and sprayed us with a fresh sprinkle of rain. I took a deep breath and held it in. Jason came around, opened the door and held out his hand.

“Thank you,” I said, and smiled a devious smile. I was finally going home. “Let’s get out of here before they change their minds.”

“Two weeks wasn’t too bad.” He glanced over at me and grinned. He reached over, grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me while you recuperate?”

“You’d be sick of me before too long.”

“Never happen.” He tipped his sunglasses down and winked at me. “We have a big surprise for you.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t say that and then not tell me.”

“It’s been a hard secret to keep.” He looked the other way. “Doctors said I wasn’t allowed to get you excited.” I heard a low rumble to the left of me.

“Here we go.” I rolled my eyes. “We were having such a nice day.”

“I’ll never change.” He jerked his head around and blew a kiss at me. “They didn’t want you busting any stitches open in a mad dash for the door.”

“I only tried to escape twice.” I was reprimanded right back into my bed every time the night shift caught me roaming the halls and organizing protests with the other prisoners.

“I’m well aware of your shenanigans.”

“I was hoping they’d throw me out.” I reached over and pinched him on the cheek. “Tell me the surprise. What’s the big secret?”

“We didn’t know what was going to happen on the other end, so they thought it was better for you to work on getting yourself better.”

“That’s so wrong.” I looked at him and laughed. “What is it?”

“You’ll have to wait and see,” he laughed.

The ride home was slow, and I thought of my mom and dad as we inched closer to the house. “She didn’t leave. She never left me.” I said out loud.

Jason reached over and grabbed my hand. “I know, sweetie.”

“My dad did everything he could to protect me.” I felt Jason tighten his grip.

“I can’t believe that little Billy was hiding down at the old fisherman’s shack the entire time,” I said. “He must have been terrified.”

“Yeah, I feel bad for him.” His hand moved across his face. “I was surprised when the Randalls showed up at the hospital.”

“Me, too,” I said. “Bill’s a different person now.” I smiled. “I wish you could have seen his face the other day when Ivy’s broadcast echoed through the halls of the hospital that Hayes’ gloves had the Mason and Edwards’ DNA on them.” I felt a weight lift off of me. “I thought he was going to bust a nut when she said that the Harper case was solved.” I let out a long sigh. “Bobby Hayes, running loose for years and the chief trying to cover it all up. What a mess.”