Over You (27 page)

“Get up,” he growled, then he dragged her across the floor.
 

They were getting closer to the lamp that she had focused on earlier. “I’ll walk,” she said.

He held on as she got to her feet, then pulled her forward. The lamp was nearly within reach. As she came alongside it, she abruptly twisted away from Douglas, which loosened his grip, although didn’t break it, and awkwardly grabbed the lamp with her bound hands. She yanked it hard, unplugging the cord, then swung it toward Douglas’s head. He threw his arm up to block it, releasing her. The lamp slammed against his arm, which gave Jessica the moment she needed to dash toward the front door.

She gripped the knob and turned it hard, but the door didn’t open. In abject terror, she saw the deadbolt had been locked. Her hands shaking, she turned the lever into the unlocked position, but as her hands wrapped around the doorknob for another try, Douglas slammed into her, shoving her hard against the front door.

“I didn’t want to have to use this,” he said in her ear, jamming a gun against her side. “But I will if I have to.”

Jessica felt a sob climb up her throat as she knew her opportunity for escape had ended.

“Now, let’s walk up the stairs together.”

He yanked her by the arm and turned her toward the staircase, then gave her a shove to move her along. Keeping the gun pressed to her back, he followed her up the stairs.

Jessica walked as slowly as he would let her, trying to postpone the inevitable. When they reached the landing, he turned her around so that they were both facing down the stairs. He stood behind her and kept the gun pressed into her side.
 

“What are you going to do?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“I think you know very well what I’m going to do. It worked so well with William.”
 

Jessica looked down the long wooden staircase to the tile floor at the bottom. She recalled how sore she was after only falling down a few steps the day before—and that had been onto carpet—and felt fresh horror rush through her. She wished with all her heart that she had never found those letters. She closed her eyes and thought of Kyle, and was glad he would be happy with Melanie.

Suddenly the front door burst open. Jessica’s eyes shot open to see who it was. “Kyle?” she breathed, unbelieving.

“Douglas, what are you doing?” Kyle yelled from the base of the stairs.

“He has a gun,” Jessica shrieked.

“Back off, Kyle,” Douglas said.

The pressure of the gun left Jessica’s side, but then she felt it pressed against her right temple. Douglas’s other hand held tight to her left arm.

“Jessica!” Kyle’s voice was frantic.

Jessica saw the look of utter terror on Kyle’s face and briefly wondered if he’d miss her when she died.
 

“Walk,” Douglas growled in her ear.

She looked down and saw she was only a few steps from the top stair. Douglas shoved her and she shuffled forward as little as possible.

“Move,” he said as he pushed her again.

She couldn’t stop the forward motion, but reached out for the railing with her bound hands. Her hands had become slick with sweat and she had trouble getting a grip, but was able to stop before toppling down the stairs, although her feet were hanging halfway over the edge. When she looked at Kyle, she saw he had started coming up the stairs and was on the second step from the bottom.

“Stop,” Douglas shouted.

In one step, Kyle climbed two more stairs. Douglas moved the gun from Jessica’s temple to point at Kyle.

“No,” Jessica moaned as Kyle took another large step forward, putting him about a third of the way up the stairs.

“If you want to do it this way, fine,” Douglas said.

Jessica felt a slight shift in the way Douglas stood and feared he was about to pull the trigger. In that moment she pushed backward into Douglas as hard as she could. The gun went off and she felt her feet slipping out from beneath her. She tried to throw her arms out for balance, but with her hands bound together, all she did was throw her arms above her head. She fell backwards and felt an explosion of pain as her back hit the hard edge of a wooden stair. As she bounced downward, her head hit the railing and her back slammed against stair after stair.
 

Finally she stopped, but realized she hadn’t reached the bottom. Dazed by the fall, it took a moment to understand that Kyle had caught her and kept her from falling further.

“Jess,” he said. “Are you okay? We need to leave. Now.”

Jessica felt like she’d been beaten and found it difficult to move.
 

A bullet flew past her and she twisted around as best she could and looked up the stairs at Douglas, who was pointing his gun directly at them. He pulled the trigger again and this time Jessica felt an incredible burst of pain in her thigh. She glanced down and saw a large circle of blood blooming on her jeans.

“He shot me,” she stammered as she tried to press her bound hands against the wound. Sticky warmth filled her hands and she felt herself getting dizzy.

Kyle suddenly shoved her behind him, using himself as a shield. Then he turned away from Douglas, scooped her up, and moved them down the stairs. Another bullet flew past them and Jessica was terrified that Douglas would hit Kyle too. They managed to reach the bottom of the stairs, and Kyle carried her out the front door. Douglas wasn’t far behind. Kyle raced down the porch steps, but instead of running to his truck, which would be right in Douglas’s line of fire, he turned sharply left and raced to the corner of the house, then turned left again until he was at the back corner.

All Jessica could think about was Douglas killing them both and no one finding their bodies for days. She knew she was slowing Kyle down, but also knew there was no way she could run on her own. Gratitude for Kyle swept over her, but with the duct tape keeping her wrists fastened together, she couldn’t even put her arms around him. She tried to make herself less awkward to carry, but could barely move with the excruciating pain shooting down her back, and the gunshot wound in her leg.

When Kyle reached the French doors at the back of the house, he tried the knob but it was locked. He set Jessica down on the far side of the porch, then took a step back and kicked the door. Nothing happened. He kicked several more times before the glass shattered, making a tremendous noise that Jessica was certain Douglas must have had heard. She looked past Kyle but didn’t see Douglas, which almost scared her more than seeing him. At least then she would know where he was.

Kyle picked her up and carried her through the broken door and paused in the kitchen.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

He set her in a kitchen chair, grabbed a kitchen towel and pressed it to her thigh. “Hold this here.”

Jessica used her bound hands to press the towel against her leg, then watched as Kyle pulled a knife from a butcher block and cut the duct tape from her wrists.
 

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, punched some numbers, and held it out to her. “Tell the police what’s happening.”
 

Jessica held the towel against the bullet wound with one hand and took the phone with the other. Her hand shook as she pressed the phone to her ear. “We need to hide somewhere while we’re waiting for the police,” she said.

“Well, I’m going to try to hide you, at least.” Kyle gazed into Jessica’s eyes and tried to smile.

“What about you?”

Kyle shrugged, then picked her up.

Jessica moaned in pain at the movement.

“I’m sorry,” Kyle said, as he carried her into the library.
 

The dispatcher answered the call and Jessica quickly explained what was happening, then gave the address.
 

Kyle stopped and looked around, then used his foot to pull the desk chair away from the space under the desk, then he gently put Jessica in the small space.
 

He knelt next to her. “You’ll be safe here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Before she had a chance to say anything, he pushed the desk chair partially back in, then hurried out of the room. It was an old desk and the only opening was where the chair slid in. Jessica tried to press her back against the wooden wall but pain shot up her back at the slightest movement and her leg throbbed. She stayed where she was and listened for any indication of what was happening to Kyle.

 
The dispatcher asked her what was going on. “I’m hiding under a desk,” she whispered. “But Douglas is still out there. I’m worried about Kyle.”

“The police are on their way and should be there any minute.”

“Please, please hurry,” she whispered, trying to silence the sobs that insisted on pushing their way out of her mouth. After a moment, she heard sirens approaching. Then she heard a gunshot coming from somewhere outside. “Oh no,” she moaned.

“What is it?” the dispatcher asked.

“The gun. I heard it go off. I have to see if Kyle’s okay.” Frantic with worry, Jessica pushed the desk chair away.

“You need to stay where you are.”

“No.”

“Ma’am, you need to stay hidden. That’s the safest . . .”

Jessica pressed the Off button, cutting off the dispatcher’s instructions, then slid the phone into her back pocket. She managed to crawl out of her hiding place and tried to stand, but a sharp pain in her back knocked her to the floor. Determined to make sure Kyle was all right, she crawled across the floor toward the window. Once there, she managed to pull herself up enough to look out into the front yard, but she couldn’t see either Kyle or Douglas. She watched as an ambulance and three police cars raced to the house, and officers swarmed out with their guns drawn.

Certain that Kyle had been shot, Jessica was beside herself with worry. Using what little strength she had, she laboriously crawled toward the front door. Suddenly, strong arms lifted her from behind and she was convinced she would be killed. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth.

“It’s me, Jess,” Kyle said in her ear.

She sagged against him, never so happy to hear his voice, and he moved his hand from her mouth. Turning to face him, she quickly looked him over. “Are you okay? I heard a gunshot.”

“I’m okay.”

“Where is he?”

“The police have him. I was able to come up from behind him and take him down. His gun went off, but I was able to keep him there until the police got here.”

Several officers burst into the room, guns drawn. Jessica and Kyle both looked up in surprise.

“Is there anyone else here?” one of the officers asked.

“No,” Jessica said. “I’m the one who called. It was just Douglas. At least that I know of.”

“We’ll take a look around to be sure. Are either one of you hurt?”

“She needs to go the hospital,” Kyle said. “She’s been shot. She also fell down the stairs and hurt her back.”

A few minutes later Jessica found herself in the ambulance. Kyle had told her he would meet her at the hospital.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

In the ambulance, overcome with exhaustion and finally feeling safe, Jessica fell asleep. When she woke, she found herself in a hospital bed.
 

The doctor came in a short time later. “Hello, Jessica. I’m Doctor Nielson. How are you feeling?”

“Sore all over.”

“Your back is severely bruised and you’ll be sore for a while. But the bullet just grazed your leg, so that should heal nicely.”

Relieved to hear that, she smiled. “Thank you.”

“You have a visitor outside. Are you feeling up to that?”

“Who is it?”

“I believe he said his name is Kyle.”

Thrilled to hear he was nearby, Jessica said, “Yes, send him in.”

A moment later the doctor left, and then Kyle came in. “You’re awake,” he said as he approached her bedside, a smile on his face. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty sore.” Pleased that he had stayed at the hospital, she figured he would leave once he knew she was okay.
 

“I’ll bet. That fall down the stairs looked pretty painful.” He grimaced as he spoke. “And I’ll bet that bullet wound doesn’t feel too good, either.”

She tried to sit up, but her injuries prevented her from doing it easily. Kyle immediately helped, positioning her against several pillows.

“Thanks.” She smiled, grateful to have him there. She was quiet for a moment before speaking. “I remember you catching me and keeping me from falling all the way down.” She paused as tears filled her eyes. “And then after he shot me, you carried me out of the house.” She paused again, gathering her thoughts. “I was so worried that he was going to kill us.”

“He would have if we hadn’t gotten away.”

“Where is he now?”

“In jail. Charged with attempted murder.”

“That’s good.”

“Why was he trying to kill you anyway? Does it have something to do with those letters you told me about?”

“Yes. He knew I found out that he killed his parents.”

“Killed his parents? The last thing you told me was that William was his real father. You never said anything about murder.”

Jessica told him what she had discovered that day.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I almost did, but I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me.”

His jaw clenched. “I’m so sorry I doubted what you told me.”

“I’m just glad you got there when you did. But how did you know to come?”

“I didn’t know.”

Confused, Jessica shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why did you come over then?”

“I just had a bad feeling. You had told me that stuff about Douglas, and then at the last minute he hired me to do some work. But the thing that made me come back was when I tried to call him and his phone went right to voice mail. He always answers his phone. Everything together just seemed strange and I wanted to check to make sure you were okay.”

Touched that he’d been thinking of her, the knowledge that he would soon be out of her life depressed her and she felt melancholy settle over her like a heavy blanket.

Kyle paused. “I tried to tell you to stay away from him.”