Murder Stalks (38 page)

The silence stretched out, leaving Marissa
wondering where Michael was. Fear held her in place but
anticipation made her want to flee. Ally caught her attention. They
both raised their shoulders, questioning where their attacker had
gone.

“
Maybe we should move,”
Ally whispered next to Marissa’s ear.

Marissa shook her head. Once they moved,
Michael could track them. They had the advantage if they stayed
still.

A siren blasted in the distance. Marissa
clenched her fists, trying to stay put when her mind encouraged her
to run. Ally tapped her on the shoulder, raising her eyebrows and
her shoulders. Marissa shook her head again. They would wait
Michael out, making him search for them.

Marissa and Ally both jumped when his voice
rang out from the front of the warehouse. “I know you’re in here. I
killed him, you know. It was easy. One shot and he was down.”

Marissa bit hard on her hand, stifling a
sob. Tony would never see this baby. Blood seeped out of the bite
mark, it tasted bitter, but she didn’t let up. The pain was enough
to keep her mind on track. Michael would find them and kill them
both. They had to fight to survive. This baby was all she had left
of Tony, and she wouldn’t let Michael Rains take that from her.

“
I know exactly where you
are. Taking off your clothes won’t keep me from following your
tracks. You’ll just make it easier in the end for me to get what I
want. You can’t hide forever.”

His voice sounded closer this time. Ally
gripped Marissa’s shoulder with a shaky hand. Marissa looked behind
them. There was one exit from this row behind them and one in
front. Michael could come from either way, catching them off
guard.

“
Ally, we need to have a
plan,” Marissa whispered.

“
He’s not going to stop
until he finds us and kills us.” Ally’s voice shook as she talked,
her eyes were wide and her face blanched white.

“
Don’t talk that way.
We’ll both survive. He’s not going to win.”

“
We could draw him to one
of us, then the other person could come from behind and hit him,”
Ally whispered, holding up the metal bar she’d picked up
earlier.

“
I’ll make a move towards
his voice the next time he speaks. You move in once I start talking
to him and knock him out.”

“
I don’t like the idea of
you being used as bait,” Ally said.

“
You’re stronger than I
am. If he fights back, you have a better chance of hurting
him.”

“
I still don’t like it,
but I’ll do it. I won’t let you down.”

They hugged and Marissa wondered if this
would be the last time they saw each other alive. She moved to the
end of the aisle and poked her head around, checking for Michael.
It was clear. She clenched her fists and moved slowly, forcing her
feet forward towards danger.

“
I hear you, little mouse.
Soon you will be dead, just like your husband. He begged for his
life as I held the gun to his head. He didn’t mention you. I
thought you might like to hear that. The last thoughts from your
husband were of himself, not of you.” Michael’s voice
taunted.

He was lying and she knew he was. Tony was a
noble man with character and strength. He never would have begged
for his life. Marissa wanted to yell the truth back to him, but she
didn’t. She held her position a few yards from the aisle where Ally
waited to attack.

Marissa’s hands shook even though she had
clenched them to her sides. The sound of her own breathing seemed
too loud, but she knew her senses were magnified. Footsteps sounded
near and Marissa let out a short squeal. She wondered if this was
how a cornered animal felt during a hunt.

Michael’s laugh echoed through the building.
“I’m coming for you.”

His voice was close and Marissa had a hard
time staying in place. She wanted to run away from him and away
from this warehouse. Sirens came closer, but they were still too
far off to help them. The police had no idea which building they
had gone into. It was up to her and Ally to end this.

“
Ally, I have a special
surprise for you. Once I kill Marissa, I’m going to fuck you on top
of her. Her bloody body will be under your naked butt when I come
inside of you. Does that excite you?”

Bile rose in Marissa’s throat. Powerless
over the need to purge, she hunched over and retched on the floor.
Michael laughed again, this time from behind her. He had moved
quickly, sneaking around their position. Marissa wondered if he
knew what they were doing. She didn’t have long to think. He
grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, his hand rough on her
bare skin. She let out a high-pitched shriek and backed away,
tripping and falling once.

“
Marissa, you know this is
the end. That baby inside of you will never see the light of day.
I’ll kill you, just like I killed Ashley and Tony. Your entire
family will die at my hands.

“
No,” Marissa cried out.
The blood drained from her head. She felt weak, ready to faint, but
she wouldn’t give up without a fight.

“
Where’s Ally?”

“
She ran for help.” Damn
it, they were in the wrong place for Ally to sneak up behind
Michael. If she moved out from her spot, he would see her and their
plan would fail.

Marissa needed to let Ally know Michael had
approached from the other way. She would have to move to expose his
position. Marissa backed up, moving closer to the row where Ally
was standing.

“
Why don’t you stop right
there?” Michael pulled his gun out from behind him. “We’ll end this
now.”

“
No, I want to know why
you hate Tony so much,” Marissa asked, stalling for
time.

“
You know how much of an
ass he is. He only thinks of himself, always taunting the weak
ones. I had to prove him wrong. I got stronger, and he got weaker.
I studied him for the last five years. I knew his weaknesses and
exposed them all along the way. Sally Gerrig was a peach. I think
I’ll find her after all this is over.”

“
I know about
Sally.”

“
You don’t know shit. You
white trash bimbo. Spreading your legs for Tony Santos when you
could have had a better man. I’m glad Tony interrupted us so I
didn’t have the chance to do you. It would have been a huge step
down from my normal standards.”

“
You have no standards,”
Marissa spat out.

Michael aimed his gun at Marissa. Her heart
jerked rapidly. The tingling in her hands and feet made her limbs
feel disconnected. She shuffled backwards, her feet automatically
moving to flee.

“
Tony has always been a
prick. He taunted me before I was adopted. We lived together for a
while at the boys’ home. He called me Wuss, but he was wrong. I’m
not the baby, he is. I put up with so much abuse because of
Tony.”

“
He didn’t abuse you,”
Marissa countered, trying to keep him talking until help
arrived.

“
Oh, you know nothing. He
should have been the one adopted by the Carson’s. But no, I had to
go. They forced me out of the orphanage, and Tony was their
ringleader. The couple had picked Tony first, but he told them
‘no’, knowing they would beat me once I went home with them.” His
eyes moistened and took on a faraway look. “And they did. Almost
every day, they beat me, made me bleed.” His gaze jerked back to
focus on Marissa once more. “Now they’re dead, just like
Ashley.”

Marissa’s body shook all over. Michael was
blaming Tony for something he had no control over. He had been a
child at the time, not one of the caretakers.

“
You’re wrong, Michael.
Tony had nothing to do with you being adopted by one family or
another.”

“
Shut up,” Michael
screamed and leveled his gun once more at Marissa.

She saw a blur of motion behind Michael. He
lurched forward, but caught himself before he fell. Turning, he
caught Ally in the face, knocking her to the ground. His foot
connected with her head. A sickening crack echoed through the
warehouse.

Marissa whimpered, her stomach clenched, and
she thought she would be sick again. Blood poured from Ally’s head.
Marissa was sure she was dead.

“
You stupid fucking
bitch,” Michael yelled as he kicked her again. Ally moaned and
moved her legs, pushing away from the attack. He bore down on her,
his face contorted in hatred.

Anger boiled up in Marissa, making her
vision blur. Running may save herself, but Ally would be dead by
the time Marissa made it back with the police.

Chapter 44

Tony couldn’t open his eyes. His head felt
split in two. For a moment, he couldn’t control his muscles, and
try as hard as he might, he couldn’t sit up. Lying in the dirt
wouldn’t save Marissa, but his body wouldn’t respond to his
commands.

He heard voices, but couldn’t make out who
was talking.

“
We need to get him up and
out of here.”

“
I’ll help you lift
him.”

Tony felt a hand on his arm, and he jerked
away from the touch. His eyes popped open. Rex was in the dirt next
to him.

“
Tony, you okay?” Rex
asked.

“
Help me up.”

“
You aren’t going to pull
me down again?”

“
Sorry about that.” Tony
wiped the dirt from his hands. He grabbed onto Rex to steady
himself, he didn’t want to wind up back in the dirt. “Where’s
Marissa?”

“
I don’t know. I think
they went across the creek,” Rex answered.

“
Have you called for
another search team to hit that area?”

“
Backup is on the way.
Tony, let’s get you to the EMT guys and let them patch you
up.”

“
We don’t have time. Get
your cell phone out of your pocket and carry your gun above your
head, we’re taking a swim.”

“
Tony, you’ve been shot.
You won’t be worth shit if you pass out over there.”

Tony reached up to touch his temple and came
away with blood. “Just a scratch. You let me worry about it.
Marissa is over there. Janice, you coming with us?”

“
I wouldn’t miss it for
the world.”

Tony led the team across the creek, swimming
with one hand in the air. He’d lost his gun in the scuffle with
Michael. He’d find a way to disable the bastard so he couldn’t hurt
Marissa again.

Exhaustion pulled at him, making him want to
give up in the middle of the creek. It would be so easy to lay back
and let the current take him, but Marissa was out there. She needed
him.

On the other side, they found a trail of wet
footprints leading to a warehouse. They approached the building
cautiously, not wanting to be ambushed by a cagey Michael Rains. He
was armed and would shoot. Tony had the scrape to prove it. Rex
edged the door open slowly, sliding into the warehouse with his gun
drawn.

Tony followed, the pounding of his heart
echoing in his ears. He strained to hear any noise. Someone was
talking. Inclining his head, he indicated for Rex and Janice to
split up and search down the aisles.

Each step drew him closer to the voices
echoing through the warehouse. Michael’s voice rose as he yelled.
Tony didn't catch the specific words, but he could hear the hate
laced with each sound.

Tony’s palms were sweaty and his mouth dry.
His vision blurred for a moment as he thought about his wife. He
prayed Marissa was still alive.

He caught a glimpse of Rex moving between
the stacks of boxes. They acknowledged each other with a nod and
pointed to where they thought the voices were coming from.

The crash of boxes against the floor urged
Tony to move quicker. He rounded the end of a tall stack of crates.
Relief pulsed through him when he saw Marissa, alive, lying half
naked on the floor, but his elation plummeted. Michael Rains stood
only feet from her aiming his Glock at her head.

“
Andrew Carson,” Tony
yelled out, hoping that using Michael’s real name would throw him
off.

Michael turned, his gun aimed at Tony’s
chest. His eyes rounded in disbelief, then narrowed as he sighted
Tony. The first blast missed, sending Tony diving for cover.

“
You just won’t go away.
It doesn’t matter now, Tony, I have your wife,” Michael
yelled.

“
Let her go and maybe you
can walk out of here.” Tony racked his brain, trying to come up
with a way to buy them some time.

“
Don’t lie, it’s
unbecoming and shows a lack of character.”

“
Give it up, Michael. Just
put the gun on the floor and slide it towards me.”

“
You have got to be
crazy,” Michael laughed.

Another round splintered the corner of the
crate next to Tony. A sliver of wood launched itself into his arm.
He gritted his teeth to keep from cursing out loud. He wouldn’t let
Michael know he was hurting.

Marissa lay behind Michael, her arm hung at
an odd angle. His heart clenched. She’d been injured. He hadn’t
protected her. Tony saw her move. She was creeping away from the
bastard. Thank God, she’d be safe.

Tony kept talking, trying to keep Michael
focused on him. Maybe Marissa could get away and find help. All
that mattered was that she and the baby survive.

Michael fired again, and Tony ducked further
behind the crate. Tony looked over the edge of the box and saw
Michael moving towards his hiding spot. Marissa hadn’t left. He
could see her moving behind Michael, stalking him. She ran forward,
her head smacking Michael in the back. Tony watched in horror as
her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell to the ground. The
sound of her head hitting the concrete made him sick.