The Straight Crimes (26 page)

She balanced herself against the tree’s rough bark, whimpering as she pulled the tiny pieces from her flesh.

The sound of her uncontrollable heartbeat amplified in her ears. As each frightening second passed, she incessantly reminded herself to breathe.

Then a loud crash came from the direction of the house.

Andrea cautiously peered around the tree and stared at the front door, but he wasn’t there. It heightened her fear. Could he see her? Was he watching her through the window?

She watched as another bolt of lightning lit up the yard. It made her paranoid. Fearful of being caught, Andrea held her breath and made a dash for safety.

Every step she took became more grueling than the one before. Andrea wanted to scream for help, but such action would have been an exercise in futility. Not only would it make finding her easier, but no one would’ve been able to hear her.

Andrea lost her footing and landed on her injured arm. The shooting pain was like a hot blade, slicing down the left side of her body.

As the lightning sparked around her, Andrea looked straight through the trees and saw the killer. The sheer horror of seeing his silhouette made her entire body go numb.

The madman stopped directly in front of her with his shoulders hunched over, staring her down through his ski mask.

“Shit!” Andrea rustled through the muddy grass and hobbled towards the shore of the big lake.

The killer relentlessly charged after her. He growled and grunted through his mask. For the maniac, her tenacity made the chase more thrilling.

“Why won’t you leave me alone?” she whimpered, exhausted from her wounds. Andrea flailed her uninjured arm and looked over her shoulder, watching him gain ground on her.

As she ran through her backyard, Andrea stared down the steep hill leading to the lake, wondering how she was going to escape.

The man was mere feet behind and closing in quickly. There wasn’t time to think.

Andrea panicked. With nowhere else to go, she sprinted down the long staircase that lead to the beach. She moved with precision, afraid of losing her footing on the soaked boards.

She heard him scurrying behind. Her face felt flushed and she was breathless, expelling all energy she had left to escape his wrath.

Suddenly, the murderer caught up and grabbed her by the arm.

Andrea screamed and pulled away, stumbling down eight steps to the plateaued landing halfway down the staircase.

The killer was so close he could taste her blood. In that moment, he would’ve given anything to hear her scream again. He wanted it more than anything.
 

“Please stop!” she begged. With no option but to persevere, Andrea grabbed onto the railing and pulled herself up. Splinters sliced her hand as she ran it down the wooden banister, but she couldn’t pay any attention to the sharp pain.

By that time, Andrea had lost so much blood that she’d grown weak.

The madman’s feet stomped against the step, nearing his target.

“Go away!” she pleaded.

The killer reached out and pulled her hair.

Andrea felt his breath on her neck and heard him panting, provoking unbridled fear.

Before she knew it, the stranger had her back in his strong grip.

“No!”

 
              He restrained her arms, squeezing the one he’d shot.

Andrea shrieked in agony. “Let me go!” The scratch of her vocal chords burned her throat like fire.

They stared each other in the eye in the middle of the downpour.

She desperately waited for him to respond, to show some sign of compassion.

Instead, the stranger stared her down and grabbed her by the throat. Then without any remorse, he shoved her down the remaining steps.

Andrea cried, plummeting backwards into uncertainty. She cracked her back against the railing, tumbling over and hitting her head and legs against the boards.

He’d thrown her with such force that Andrea rolled all the way down and landed face first into the wet sand. She couldn’t move.

While the image thrilled him, it also made him jolt. He watched in sadistic pleasure as she lay helplessly on the beach. The man waited only a moment longer before pursuing her.

Andrea could barely open her eyes. She slowly wiped the blood away from her nose and struggled for air. Then she crawled through the sand, pushing through the excruciating pain.

Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled backwards by her feet.

“Stop, no! Get off me!” she sobbed uncontrollably.

The killer flipped Andrea on her back, straddled her body, and growled. Then, he slowly reached back and revealed a bag similar to the one he’d used on Patrick. He knelt down and lowered it over her face.

“No!” she begged, shaking her head side to side.

As tightly as he could, the man fastened the ends around her neck. Then he turned her onto her stomach and stepped back.

The darkness was absolutely frightening. All she could taste was the blood collecting in her throat and the grains of sand in her mouth.

 
              “Please, don’t do this!” she begged for his mercy.

The man didn’t say a word. His silence was unnerving.

“I don’t deserve to die like this!”

Then, he whispered slowly, “But I think you do.”

“For what?”

He wouldn’t answer.

“What did I ever do to you?”

When he didn’t respond, Andrea went berserk. “Why the hell won’t you answer me? You’re a God damn coward!” she roared.

“No, I’m a hero—ridding the world of trash like you.”

Without wasting another moment, he bent down and pushed the gun against the side of her head.

Andrea freaked out, screaming hysterically.

“Got anything else you wanna say?” he taunted her.

“It doesn’t have to end like this.”

“You’re wrong. Someone’s gotta teach you a lesson.”

Her cries were drowned out by the sounds of the rain and the lake, but ultimately silenced as he pulled the trigger, blasting her skull with the gun.

The explosion was more thrilling than offing her lover. It was primitive, something that was always inside him. He’d never felt more alive and more powerful than he did at that moment.

After admiring his handy work, he walked back to the house. Then he returned to the beach, dragging Patrick’s body with him.

One by one, he pulled their lifeless vessels across the wet sand, dumping them into the deep hole he’d dug earlier that night.
 

As he covered their corpses with mounds of wet sand from the shovel, his cell phone rang in his pocket.

“Well?” the voice on the other end asked.

“It’s done,” he answered.

“Did they suffer?”

“Yeah,” he smirked, “right ‘til the very end.”

The caller roared in delight and smugly muttered, “Perfect.”

TWENTY-FOUR

“G
reat,” Harper muttered, seeing her cell phone illuminate with Traci’s name across the caller ID.

She quickly silenced the device and peered through the dark, relieved to see that the call hadn’t woken Nik.

Traci’s relentless pursuit was more than obnoxious, it was bordering on the line of obsessive.             

Harper pressed her head against the glass as she sat on Nik’s window seat, watching the storms devour the sky.

She stroked Jack’s silky coat as he stretched his four legs and let out a content purr. Looking at the tiny thing, she was envious of his untroubled existence.

The heavy rains washed against the house and helped ease the unsettling silence, but Harper was restless. Her mind had been so overwhelmed with emotions that she couldn’t find any comfort in slumber.

She put Jack on her shoulder, pulled back the tattered quilt, and walked over to Nik’s bed, watching as he stirred in his sleep.

Seeing him rest was an utter relief, after the difficult time he’d had taking the news of his father’s drowning.

Harper set Jack down beside Nik. He instantly curled up and wrapped his tiny black paws around Nik’s massive arm.

Her empathy for Nik ran as deeply as their love. The amount of pain they’d shared in such a short period of time was immeasurable.

Harper gently pushed back the hair from Nik’s forehead and softly kissed his temples. For all he’d done for her, it felt good to return the favor and take care of him. They were each other’s strength, dim beacons reaching out to each other for comfort through the night.

After realizing another sleepless night was ahead of her, Harper buttoned up the
borrowed plaid shirt from Nik and headed downstairs.

There was a chill in the drafty staircase as she tip-toed down the stairs, heading into the kitchen. The place still seemed unfamiliar to her, and not entirely welcoming, considering Jett’s personal views on heterosexuality.

As she rounded the corner, Harper jumped back, so startled she let out a loud scream.

Sitting with his back to her was Jett, sipping a cup of coffee. She wasn’t sure what surprised her more—the fact that he was alone in the dark, or that he was indulging in a non-alcoholic beverage.

“My goodness,” she whispered, putting her hand to her chest. “I’m sorry for screamin’ like that, Mr. Roberts. You scared me half to death.”

“I thought you’d both gone to bed.”

“I’m havin’ trouble sleepin’ and wanted a glass of milk, if that’s all right?” she asked apprehensively.

“No one’s stopping you.” He motioned to the refrigerator.

Harper hesitantly opened the door, keeping a watchful eye on Jett. He seemed strange. There was a nefarious absence in his glare like he’d been hypnotized. It was slightly unsettling.

As quickly as she could, Harper took a glass from the cabinet and poured it half full. Then she stood under the faint glow from the kitchen light and nervously sipped.

It was difficult to be in the same room with the man who’d caused so much anguish for Nik, mainly because he’d reluctantly allowed Harper to stay with them.

The worst part was holding her tongue. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but couldn’t as a houseguest. For Harper, not being able to reprimand him for his parental negligence was slightly paralyzing.

Although she’d only been there two days, the maddening hours were filled with so much awkwardness that Harper didn’t know how to conduct herself. Still, the temporary arrangement was better than dealing with Traci and her delusions.

Harper and Jett had barely exchanged glances, let alone many words. Every time she crossed his path, she wondered what spiteful thoughts were stewing in his mind.

Jett Roberts was not the kind of man to do favors, let alone show an ounce of compassion, not even for his family. So Harper didn’t understand why he allowed her to stay. She wasn’t sure if it was pity or an unreached level of inebriation that’d influenced his decision, but either way she was grateful.

It was difficult to discern much of anything. However, for all she’d been through, if there was one thing Harper had felt in her time in Michigan was pain. Maybe that was their common thread. She could see the hurt spelled out in his eyes, so clearly it practically screeched across the deafening silence.

Harper felt compelled to say something, struggling to find any thoughtful words.

After a couple minutes of awkwardness, she rinsed her glass and placed it in the dishwasher.

As she went to leave, she turned around and faced him. “May I?” she asked, motioning to the empty chair.

Jett nodded.

She momentarily reconsidered her proposition as the sweat began gathering in her palms. Instead, she nervously wiped them off on the front of her shirt and sat down.

“What’s on your mind?”

Harper lifted her eyebrows in astonishment. “I wanted to say thanks,” she muttered.

“Why?”

“For lettin’ me stay here with y’all.”

“Oh yeah, sure.”

With a dubious look, Harper continued. “I don’t know how much you really know about me. It was kinda my choice to go to Traci’s in the first place ‘cause I didn’t really have any options after my aunt kicked me and Mama out. At first, Traci seemed like she really wanted to help me.” She began fidgeting and running her fingers across the badly scratched wooden tabletop.

Jett waited impatiently for her to continue.

“When Auntie died, Traci tried her hardest to make sure I was all right, but she’s different now. She’s meaner. Like when Detective Harris found Mama’s body, for instance, Traci’s party was more important than worryin’ about my feelings. I thought she’d be more understandin’ and supportive, especially since she lost 
her
 mother just a year ago, as you’re well aware.” Harper gulped.

Jett cleared his throat. “Traci sounds like a heartless bitch. She must take after her mother.”

Harper closed her eyes, quietly chastising herself for her blind insolence. “I didn’t mean to bring Andrea’s name up. I’m sorry.”

“That frickin’ whore destroyed our family. As far as I’m concerned, she can rot in Hell.”

“Forgive me for sayin’ so, but the affair ain’t all her fault.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Pat was stupid enough to follow her to his own death, and now he’s never coming back. I hope she was worth throwing away his life and family. They both deserved to drown in that lake.” Jett flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette and watched with haunting intent. “You know what I don’t get? How does someone, who spends their whole life on a boat, manage to drown? Couldn’t handle a little storm? That’s the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard. She ruined him—she made him weak.”

“Well, maybe not.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“If you ask me, I’d say she made him stronger. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you want and go after it.”

Jett scowled. “Yeah, maybe that’s how Nik and I should see it too,” he said sarcastically.

“Actually, that is how Nik sees it. Look, in life we don’t always make the best choices. Who’s to say what’s wrong for one person ain’t right for another? We only live once. Personally, I think it’s better to go after what you really want instead of stickin’ around some place you ain’t happy.”

“He abandoned his family.”

“I didn’t say that makes it right, but he had a good reason—”

“Like what, chasin’ after some
 straight
 woman?” Jett clenched his jaw. “When you make a commitment to someone, you’re supposed to follow through, for better or worse. Bottom line, that frickin’ cheater couldn’t even do that.”

Harper glared at Jett. It took every ounce of self-control to keep her mouth shut.

“Everyone thinks I’m the bad guy 
here
, but that’s just it—my ass is still 
here
, his ain’t. That asshole never said bye to either of us. Some guy he turned out to be.”

“Maybe he was afraid.”

Jett frowned. “Afraid of what?”

“Afraid of you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. It ain’t exactly Sunday brunch tryin’ to have a conversation with you.”

“You don’t know anything about my family or my relationship with Pat.”

“No, but Nik’s told me enough to paint a pretty good picture.”

“You only know 
Pat’s
 side of things from Nik’s perspective. That doesn’t mean you know the truth. Has Nik bothered to tell you how hard I’ve had to bust my ass to keep this family going over the years? Has he even mentioned the millions of things I’ve done to try and please Pat? I may not have been perfect, but at least I was always faithful. He’s the one who cheated on 
me. 
That woman, Andrea, was just as bad as he was. What kind of person breaks up a family? She stole everything from me, and now I’ve got nothing left.”

Harper folded her arms across her chest in disgust. “She stole
 
everything
?”

“You heard me, everything.”

“Wow.” Harper clicked her tongue, feeling her filter diminish. “You’re frickin’ blind.”

“Excuse me?” Jett lifted his eyebrow.

“Never mind.”

“If you have something to tell me, you better come out with it.”

Harper cleared her throat. “I don’t think you know what you’re sayin’. Once I start, I can’t stop.”

“Did I stutter?”

Harper took a deep breath and carefully contemplated her words. “You remind me of my Mama. I know y’all never had the pleasure of meetin’, but you should know that bein’ compared to her ain’t a compliment.”

Jett stiffened his back. “Is that so?”

“Let me just start off by sayin’ that I don’t agree with Patrick’s behavior—runnin’ around behind your back. I can’t imagine what that feels like, but can you really blame the guy? You probably hurt him with all the fightin’.”

“So having a couple of arguments makes it okay to cheat on your husband?”

“No, that ain’t what I’m sayin’, but judgin’ by the look of Nik’s back, it seems like y’all do more than argue around here.” She glared at him. “Forget it. I ain’t gonna fight with you, Mr. Roberts.”

“Then you shouldn’t have started this. Besides, you could’ve fooled me. It seems like you wanna run your mouth ‘bout shit that ain’t none of your business.” Jett took another drag on his cigarette.

Harper propped herself up and leaned in towards Jett. “I’m the kinda girl who’s gotta say it like it is. There ain’t no way I can sit across this table and pretend that I don’t know about the ways you’ve hurt your family. I don’t know your reasons and I don’t know all the details, but it doesn’t matter. You can choose to see what you did to Pat or you can ignore it. You’re the one whose gotta live with yourself and the messes you’ve made, but as you’re well aware, Pat ain’t here to clean up after you anymore.”

Jett flashed a scowl at Harper.

“Takin’ care of someone who doesn’t give a damn about you is the most thankless job in the world. My Auntie spent her whole life carin’ for Mama and never got anything in return, not even so much as a thank you. It used to make her so mad, and I bet that’s how Patrick felt.”

“It ain’t my fault he’s gone—”

“Maybe part of the reason he left had to do with his sexuality and things you couldn’t give him, but you’ve gotta accept some of the blame for the way you treated him. If you don’t, you’ll never move past it. Bottom line, there ain’t nothin’ you can do about it anymore, so you’ve just gotta accept what happened. Otherwise, you and Nik won’t ever be able to have a future, especially with what you said about Andrea taking 
everything
 away from you. That really pisses me off.”

“Why, ‘cause Traci filled your head with shit ‘bout how wonderful her mother was?”

“No, it ain’t got nothin’ to do with her. It’s ‘cause you’re too blind to see what’s in front of your frickin’ face. You still have Nik, don’t you see that? And he’s all that you’ve got left.”

Jett folded his hands and stared down at the table in silence.

“Nik had to pick up where Patrick left off. Every time we hang out, he’s late from his chores or rushin’ back to make sure you’ve got dinner on the table. If it ain’t that, your chickens need to be fed, your yard needs a trimmin’, or you need somethin’ else done that you’re too lazy to do yourself. I’ve never seen a guy work so hard to please his daddy, but Nik feels like he’s nothin’ more than a disappointment to you. He’s had to grow up real quick, takin’ your abuse and livin’ through all your fightin’. So if you think for one moment you’ve got nothin’ left while Nik’s still in your life, then you’re a God damn idiot.”

Jett was so stunned he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even look at Harper, feeling incredibly shocked by the heavy truth of her words.

“I can see the hurt in his eyes. It’s the same hurt I’ve felt my entire life. I’ll have to take that pain to the grave ‘cause Mama ain’t around to clean up her mess and apologize to Auntie and me. Maybe it’s too late for you to tell Pat sorry, but it ain’t too late for you and Nik. Sure, you’ll never be able to erase the hurt you’ve caused, but at least you still have the chance to make things right with your son. Don’t you see that? Nik’s still here. He’s 
all
 you have left. Hell, he’s all 
I
 have left, and I’ll be damned if he’s made to feel like he’s nothin’. Maybe he ain’t that special to you, but let me tell you somethin’, Mr. Roberts, he’s everything to me.”