Unforgettable (36 page)

“I’m glad dey putted him in jail for what he did to your purdy house,” the child told her.

“I’m glad he
was
, too,” Breezy said, knowing in her heart the four-year-old couldn’t possibly pick up on such a subtle hint and, even if she did, it was hopeless to think she’d know what to do with it.

Breezy sighed in relief as Sarah finally and safely bounded down the stairs. At the end of the walk, she suddenly stopped and turned to give Breezy a strange look just as Frank slammed and locked the door.

“Get back on the sofa, both of you…
now!”
Frank said, shoving Susan with considerable force towards the sofa.

“Hey! You don’t have to be so rough. She’s never done anything to you,” Breezy said, stepping between him and Susan in an attempt to shield her from him.

“Awww, cry me a river, why don’tcha? Sit the fuck down and shut the hell up, for once in your life, before I give you something to cry about. You haven’t seen rough, yet,” Frank said, shoving her in the back.

The phone began ringing again.

“What the hell is this? Grand Central Station or Indiana Bell?” he grumbled.

“I told you! They know we’re here and they expect an answer or they’re going to start showing up to check on us,” Breezy explained, standing up to answer the phone.

“Sit the hell down, bitch! Susan, get over here and answer the damn phone. Tell them you’re going shopping with Breezy and you won’t be home for hours….and don’t try anything funny,” Frank said angrily.

Susan, obviously frightened, slowly stood up. Breezy gave her hand a light squeeze as she passed by and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but she was too afraid of Frank at the moment. She kept her eyes downcast and wouldn’t even look at Breezy.
Poor Susan! She looked so beaten. Damn Frank, anyway.

Frank leaned against the sideboard and kept his eyes on Susan as she answered the phone. She refused to meet his eyes, looking only at the phone as she spoke and ran her finger nervously back and forth along the top of the sideboard.

“Hello?” Susan greeted the caller.

“Susan! This is Carl. I just heard Frank escaped,” he told her.

“Oh, hi, Janet. Yes, I know,” she replied.

“He’s there, then?” Carl asked in surprise.

“Yes. Yes, Breezy’s here, but she’s busy right now,” Susan said.

“I got it, hon. Listen carefully…some officers are already on their way over and I’m just a few minutes from your house. I called Patrick, too…he’s closer than I am. We’re coming, Susan. Whatever you do, don’t leave the house with him,” Carl advised her.

“Sure, that sounds wonderful. I can hardly wait. Oh, by the way. We’re leaving in a minute to go shopping and probably won’t be back for quite a while, okay?” she told him.

“I got it. Stall him, Susan! Do whatever it takes, but do
not
let him get you out of the house. We’re coming, kiddo! Just hold on a few more minutes,” Carl urged.

“Okay. Don’t forget to lock the back door, Jan…you’re always leaving it open. Uh huh. We’ll be back later. Bye now.” Susan hung up the phone, hoping Frank didn’t make the connection, but he never suspected a thing. Janet did have a bad habit of not locking doors and he knew it.

Frank forced Susan back to the sofa.

“Sit down, shut up, and don’t either of you make a move or a sound. I can see you both from here, so don’t even try it,” Frank said, keeping the gun trained on them as he walked backwards into the kitchen.

“Who was on the phone?” Breezy asked in a low whisper.

“How did you know?” Susan asked, terrified that if Breezy knew, Frank would, too.

“Janet would have your head if you ever called her ‘Jan.’ Who was it?” Breezy asked again.

“Carl. The police are on their way,” Susan whispered.

“Thank God!” Breezy sighed in relief.

“He said not to leave with Frank, no matter what, and that they’ll be here soon. He called Patrick, too. He’s closer than Carl,” Susan told her.

“
WHAT? Why…How…I can’t…
No!…
Not here…with Frank…
No!…
He’ll kill… No…no…no! I won’t…” Breezy stuttered hysterically.

“Breezy, calm down! We have to stall him. Please…I need you!” Susan whimpered.

Susan’s pleading voice, and the knowledge that Patrick was running headlong into danger, was like a splash of ice water in the face. She had to stop Frank and she had to do it now!

“If Frank tells you to get up, make sure you’re nowhere near him, Susan. Let me be closer to him than you are. I’ll do everything I can to stall him or stop him but if you get the chance, run! I mean it, Susan! Don’t wait for me and don’t try to hel…” she trailed off.

“Shut the fuck UP! Jesus Christ! Damn women never know when to shut their fucking traps. Just ‘yap, yap, yap,’ all day long!” Frank growled, reentering the living room.

“It’s too damn busy around here,
ladies
, and I use the term loosely. I think it’s time we took a little ride, don’t you?” Frank grinned wickedly, dangling Breezy’s car keys in the air from his nasty fingers.

From the kitchen, Adele’s thrumming heartbeat, time bomb, and warrior drums style music played on, fueling the rush of blood through her arteries.

“Whatsa matter, Frankie? Two women all alone in a big ol’ house too much for you to handle?” Breezy sneered. “I’m not surprised, really. I always knew you were only half a man.”

“I think I’ll tie you up and make you watch while I fuck your little friend over there senseless. Then we’ll see what her babies look like in their second trimester,” Frank purred, leaning over her menacingly.

His foul breath and disgusting body odor made her want to cringe, gag and turn her head away in repulsion. Instead, she stared straight into his eyes and let him ramble. The more he ‘yap, yap, yapped,’ the more time it was buying them. Susan covered her stomach protectively, sobbing at his cruel words.

Breezy realized she’d run out of time…help wouldn’t arrive soon enough to save them. She was completely on her own now and she was going to have to stop Frank cold in order to save Susan.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you while I do it, too. Hurting you, dreaming up ways to do it, has kept me going all this time and, when I’m done with her, I’m going to find new ways to torment you,” he promised.

Locking her eyes to his, Breezy slowly stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, making sure she stayed between Susan and Frank.

“You’re not man enough to hurt me, Frank. You never were,” Breezy scoffed.

Frank backhanded her across the face, but Breezy had anticipated it this time and stood her ground. Her head turned violently to the left when his hand connected with her cheek. Her face hurt so badly she wanted to grab it, sink to the floor and cry, but she refused to give him the satisfaction. Every second she defied him kept him off kilter, arguing and punching her. As long as he was hurting her, he wasn’t physically touching Susan and that’s all she could ask for at the moment. She’d be his punching bag again until she could find a way to stop him.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and bit back the tears. Intentionally moving slowly, she turned her head to face him. Shaking her hair out of her eyes, despite the pain it caused, she lifted her chin defiantly, staring him straight in the eyes.

The warrior drumbeat got louder and more intense, joined now by several hands clapping in time to the beat, her rage building along with it.

“Like I said, you’re not man enough. You’re a failure even at that!” she spat.

Breezy saw the anger flame in his eyes as he drew back to punch her in the face with his fist, but she ducked out of his reach and his fist connected with air. She grabbed him by the waist and shoved as hard as she could, putting all of her body weight and anger behind it. Frank toppled backward over the coffee table, losing his grip on the gun. It went flying into the air and disappeared somewhere behind him.

“Run, Susan!” Breezy screamed as she tried to hold him down so Susan could escape.

This time, Susan did get up and run, but she didn’t run away. Instead, she raced for the gun on the floor just a fraction out of Frank’s reach. She tried to worm her way past him to get to it but Frank kicked Breezy in the ribs so hard, it literally lifted her small frame off the ground and sent her sprawling across the room. He rolled over, stood up, and punched Susan in the face, knocking her out cold just as she was about to get her hand on the gun.

Frank picked up the gun and crossed the room. He grabbed a handful of Breezy’s hair, dragged her to her feet by it, and slammed her into the wall. He held her there by the throat with his left hand and held the gun under her chin. He was strangling her, his fist gripping her tighter and tighter with every word he spoke. He literally held her a half a foot off the floor by her throat.

“You stubborn, stupid bitch!” he shrieked. “I was going to let you live but you just pushed me too far. Now you’re going to die. They’ll have to use a putty knife to scrape your brains off this wall. Once I’ve finally gotten rid of you, I’ll carry out my plans with your pregnant friend over there on the floor. Should be easy enough to wake her so she can enjoy it. Who knows…maybe, just for the fun of it, I’ll go get myself a puppy and visit that sweet young thing that was here just a minute ago.”

Breezy scratched and clawed to get his hand from her throat, but it was impossible. He was incredibly strong…too strong, and it made no sense. She wanted to scream…to cry out for help, but she couldn’t. Frank was strangling her! She was dying and she knew it. He’d removed the gun from her chin and was now using it to touch her inappropriately, running it over her breasts and between her legs. She knew Frank would defile her body even after she was dead. She struggled desperately to kick and squirm free but it just made things worse…she was growing weaker by the second. Her life was ebbing away and her last thought was of Patrick.

“I know! I think I’ll go down to that shop of yours and say hello to good ol’ Janet while I’m here and, oh yes, I’m going to pay a little visit to Tom and that stupid boyfriend of yours, too! He didn’t seem to like the fire very much. Maybe he’ll like fireworks under his car instead!” Frank gloated.

“I don’t think I’d like that at all, thank you!” Patrick said before punching Frank in the face so hard, it sent him sprawling backwards. The gun flew out of his hand, skittering across the floor to the other side of the room.

Breezy slumped to the floor coughing, sputtering and gasping for breath. She didn’t know where he’d come from, but she thanked God Patrick had appeared when he did. Carl and the police couldn’t be too far behind. This would all be over soon and Frank would be back in jail.

While she struggled to regain her senses, the two men grappled and battled…each one desperate to put the other out of commission. Patrick was punching Frank repeatedly in the face while holding onto the collar of his filthy shirt, but the man just wouldn’t go down. It was surreal! The punishment Patrick rained down on him should have knocked him out long ago. Frank’s lip was split wide open and gushing blood, a front tooth was missing, his nose was obviously broken and the cheek under his left eye was fractured and swelling fast, but he still refused to give up.

Breezy’s eyes swept the room frantically, looking for the gun. She finally spotted it next to Susan’s hand. She was awake now, watching the whole scene through terror filled eyes from across the room.

Staggering and crawling painfully towards her, Breezy paused and turned her head to see if Frank had gone down yet. He’d somehow gotten out of Patrick’s grasp and was going after him with the fireplace poker. She saw him swing it once, narrowly missing. Patrick ducked and weaved, trying to get close enough to snatch the cast iron poker away from him.

Frank swung again, but Patrick dodged out of the way just in time.

On the third try, his violent swing caught Patrick square in the chest. The force of the blow knocked him backwards into the stone mantelpiece, where he hit his head with vicious force and slumped to the floor.

He didn’t get back up.

Susan and Breezy looked at each other across the room in terror. Breezy regarded the gun lying next to Susan’s hand in despair and knew what had to happen now. Reading her intentions in her eyes, Susan picked up the gun and tossed it to her.

Breezy caught the gun and rose to her knees, spinning around just in time to see Frank raising the poker high above his head to stab Patrick in the chest.

“FRANK!” Breezy snarled fiercely.

The front door crashed open and Breezy knew it was the police. She just didn’t care anymore…Frank had to be stopped.

Frank turned at both sounds, but ignored the huge man stomping across the room towards him. Grinning maniacally at the hilarious sight of Breezy holding a gun, he spun the poker around playfully like a baton before gripping it like a baseball bat and starting towards her.

The gun boomed as Breezy pulled the trigger once. The bullet hit Frank squarely in the stomach. He froze for a moment and looked down at the bloody hole in disbelief. He looked back up again, rage twisting his face grotesquely, and charged full bore at Breezy.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Breezy screamed.

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, turned her head aside, and pulled the trigger again, and again, and again…

***

“Shhh, Breezy. It’s okay, honey…he’s dead. It’s okay, now. Give me the gun, sweetheart.”

Paul was standing behind her, one leg on either side of her, reaching over her shoulders to ease both hands over the top of hers, trying to coax the gun out of her deathlike grip.

She was still pulling the trigger…
click…click…click…click.

Startled, Breezy twisted her head to look up and behind her.

“Paul?” she whimpered in confusion.

“Yes, it’s me, sweetheart. You’re safe now,” he crooned soothingly. “Give me the gun, Breezy. It’s okay, now. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Breezy finally released the gun as she knelt staring up at him, blinking rapidly. Suddenly remembering what she’d been doing, she looked where she’d last seen Frank, clearly frightened and ready to run. She didn’t see him anywhere.