You Belong To Me (28 page)

While the couple made love, someone was standing outside in the cold, watching and plotting. They’d studied the two and knew that an opportunity was coming up. All that was needed was a small window of hope and luck. “Surely he can’t be with you all of the time Danielle,” the lone outsider mumbled. Danielle must suffer for she did to Ethan. Per his instructions, if something should happen to him, even if it wasn’t by her hand, Danielle must be made to suffer for it. Not just because of what she did to him, but because Ethan Tillitson’s death needed to be avenged. And they’d make sure of it, Danielle Martins must suffer till her last breath.

“You look amazing Danielle,” Mitch cooed as he watched her get ready.

“Ah, don’t you mean Christine? My phantom?” She joked.

“Excuse me, you look amazing Christine,” he said giving her a long kiss.

“So do you my love, and when you put in the mask, it’ll make you look even more
sexy and mysterious,” she winked.

“Danielle, I'm not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands off you tonight,” he grinned.

Danielle got up from the settee. “That’s okay,” she let out a chuckle. “I want your hands all over me baby.”

“Well in that case, let the
fun begin,” he said before gathering her into his arms.

“Mitch, we are going to have so much fun tonight,” she said excited.

“Yes we are baby, yes we are.”

Danielle was adding some finishing touches to her costume while Mitch took Samson outside for a wa
lk. He had promised Joe and Vic that he’d check out the perimeter of the large property and let them know if anything was awry. The first thing he noticed was that snowflakes had begun to steadily fall.  “Looks like we’ve got a snow storm coming huh boy?” He said to Samson who was eyeing something  far off in the woods. “Hope it’s not a big one.”

After inspecting the property and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he let Samson do his business, and headed back towards the cottage.

“Everything okay?” Danielle asked as she gave Samson a pat on the head.

Mitch nodded his head. “Everything is fine. Looks like we’re in for a white Halloween though,” he said and motioned towards the window.

“Oh how romantic,” Danielle grinned.

“You sure you don’t want to stay in tonight?” Mitch raised a tempting eyebrow.

“As tempting as you’re making it sound babe, no. I want to go to the party, besides, I want us to show off these hot costumes,” she teased.

A sudden bark from Samson alerted the
m that someone was nearing the door.  Mitch swung the door open hoping to catch whoever it was off guard.

“Mom? Mom, what are you doing here?” He asked his mother. Even though Samson had become quite familiar with Gail, he wouldn’t stop barking. His atten
tion however was not aimed at Gail, he was barking at something outside, through the open door. “I'm just going to put Samson in his Kennel,” Danielle said and led the barking dog upstairs and out of sight. Gail stood in the doorway and wiped the snow off her vintage looking witch costume before stepping inside.

“Well hello to you too son, my, don’t you look handsome,” she said admiring her son’s costume.

“I stopped by to talk to Danielle. I’ve been so busy helping plan the party that I haven’t had time to stop by and talk to you,” she said looking apologetically at Danielle.

“You look beautiful by the way, and I figured since we have to pass by here on the way to the party, now would be the perfect time,” she smiled a genuine smile. “I had your father drop
me off.”

“We were just about to leave mom,” Mitch frowned at his mother.

Danielle interrupted. “Mitch honey its fine, you go on ahead and spend some time with your dad, and your mom and I will talk and we’ll go to the party together, I’ll just take my car that’s all. And if the weather is bad later on, I’ll leave it in the parking lot alright? Now go on, tell everyone that your mother and I will be there shortly. Drive safe.” Danielle did not give him a chance to object. Before he knew what was happening, she was giving him a quick kiss, handing him the keys to his truck and shoving him out the door.

 
Danielle was very anxious to hear what Gail had to say. She hoped that it wouldn’t take long however because she wanted to get to the party. Her friends were there and she knew that by the time she and Gail finished talking, she would be in need of a stiff drink.

“I'm glad you stopped by Gail, thanks for thinking of me.” Danielle wanted to start the conversation as politely as possible. No need to stir up tro
uble, she thought to herself.

“No Danielle, I am the one who should be thanking you, if it wasn’t for you, Mitch and I
  still wouldn’t be talking. So I not only owe you a heartfelt thank you but I owe you an apology as well.”

Danielle wasn’t quite sure h
ow to react; she wasn’t expecting Gail to be so forthcoming with her apology.

“Gail, you don’t owe me anything, I'm just glad that you and Mitch were able to work things out and I hope that you understand that I would never hurt him. What happened this pa
st summer was obviously unintentional and although Mitch and I were both hurt emotionally and physically, we wouldn’t change a thing about our relationship. All we want to do now is move on.”

Danielle hoped that Gail would understand and take her words to
heart.

Gail let out a relieved sigh. “Danielle, I know that now and I am so thankful to hear you say that. Please know that I never meant to hurt you intentionally, I was just scared that something bad had happened to Mitch.
  After I lost Gabe, I vowed to never let anything happen to either of my kids, but I know now that I took things too far and again, I apologize, can you forgive me?” She asked with tears in her eyes.

Julie Thompson came out of the woods, to anyone who saw her; she looked as if she ha
d simply been out for a stroll in the snowy forest. But no one would see her because there was no one around.  It was time to take things to the next level; Danielle Martins had gotten away with killing Ethan long enough. Without her lover there, things would go a hell of a lot easier. What concerned her most was that Danielle be made to suffer and suffer she would.

As she made her way towards the cottage, she removed the .22 she’d been carrying from her backpack and put it in her pocket. She would act as
if she was having car trouble and needed help. She could hear a dog barking furiously somewhere in the cottage.
That may be a problem,
she thought to herself.

I’ll shoot it if I have to. Julie proceeded to the door with fierce determination, but not befor
e she stopped to cut the telephone wires that led to the cottage.

“Gail, of course I accept your apology, but again, it’s not needed, I'm just happy that you and Mitch… Oh why is he barking like that?” Danielle asked, angry now that Samson had started his
ferocious barking.

“Danielle, while you’re tending to Samson, would you mind if I used your restroom? I’ve got to take off all these layers and readjust these damn undergarments too,” she fretted. “They’ve been bothering me ever since we left the house.”

“Of course not, Gail, feel free. Use the upstairs one, it’s bigger.”

Danielle had to take a moment and try to absorb what had just taken place. And just as she was about to head up the stairs to check on Samson and hopefully settle him down, there was a kn
ock on the door.

“I’ll bet it’s Mitch.” She laughed. “I bet he’s come back to check up on us.” Danielle joked as she raised her voice so that Gail would hear her.

 Danielle was quite surprised to see a woman standing in the doorway. She looked about the same age as her, albeit a bit disheveled.

“Hello, can I help you?” Danielle asked, concerned for the female stranger.

“Yes you can,” she said trying to sound as helpless as possible.

“My car broke down and no one
answered the door at the house over there, do you think I could use your phone to call for help?”

 
 Danielle stuck her head out of the doorway and saw that the snow was falling more steadily now. Joe and Vic must have already left for the party, she thought while glancing over at the dark farm house. I can’t keep this poor woman out in the cold, she thought to herself.

“Of course you can use my phone, come inside where it’s warm.” Danielle hastily closed the front door and shouted at Samson for him to be
quiet, she couldn’t hear herself think.

“Sorry about that,” she said after the dog followed her command and grew quiet.

 “The phone is just over here, please; make as many calls as you need to. Would you like a cup of tea while you wait?”

Julie brushed th
e snow off of her fleece jacket, and placed her backpack on the floor next to her.

“A cup of tea sounds great thanks,” she said as she pretended to pick up the phone.

With her back to her, Danielle began to prepare two mugs of tea. Almost forgetting about her guest in the restroom, she reached for another mug, just as she did, Julie was suddenly behind her. “Oh, are you done making your calls already?” Danielle asked disconcerted at the invasion of space.

“I don’t need to make any calls Danielle,” she said
as she removed the gun from her pocket.

Without hesitation, Danielle used the only weapon she had; she slammed the heavy mug into the side of Julie’s face. As the mug smashed into bits and pieces and fell onto the floor, Julie looked Danielle in the eyes.
She rubbed at the large bump that was forming on her left temple.

“This is for Ethan,” Julie said and fired her weapon into Danielle's abdomen.

For a moment Danielle thought she’d been stabbed, but as the pain began to sear inside of her she realized that she’d been shot. She looked down and placed her hand over the small bullet hole and watched as the light colored material of her costume began to turn crimson red.  She instinctively reached out for help, but Julie took a deliberate step back, she watched as Danielle fell to the floor.

“And just in case you are wondering who I am Danielle,” she said with intense callousness. “I'm the woman Ethan was really in love with and you took him away from me. He wanted me to make you suffer, are you suffering Danie
lle?” She asked with a sadistic smirk on her face.

Gail had started to make her way towards the staircase, but returned to the safety of the bathroom when she heard the gunshot. She would be of no help to Danielle if she was shot too. She only hoped that the intruder, whoever she was would leave and not go through the entire house in search of more victims. Who was she? And what the hell did she want?  Gail was unable to hear what was being said as she quickly flicked off the light and sat huddled in the bathtub. She wondered who was injured.
Please god let Danielle be alright
, she silently prayed.  Samson was barking uncontrollably now and for a moment, Gail thought of crawling out of the bathroom and unlocking his kennel, but she was too frightened, she sat there frozen with fear and terrified for her own life.

Julie took one last look at Danielle and as she lay there withering in pain, she took a photograph of Ethan out of her backpack, smiled and kissed it. “I know you’re watching ba
by,” she looked up towards the ceiling and smiled again.

“I did what you asked Ethan, and it was easy, she’s suffering just like you wanted baby.”

Julie knelt down next to Danielle and studied her a moment before speaking. “Well it’s been fun Danielle, but I must be going.”  A low moan was all that escaped Danielle’s lips. The pain was coursing through her now, it was the most intense feeling and yet she fought hard to pay attention to every word that her assailant was saying; she knew that if she survived, she’d need to remember.

“Oh and in case you’re thinking of calling for help, don’t. I’ve already cut the wires, and the cell reception around here sucks,” she smirked. “Especially in this weather, so good luck with that,” she said with a penetrating gr
in. “Good bye Danielle, I hope you learned your lesson, but I won’t have to worry about that now will I? She laughed. “Because you won’t be around to steal anybody else’s boyfriend now will you?  Oh and just one more thing,” she said leaning down close. “Always remember this, Ethan belongs to me. He always has, and always will,” Julie chuckled and walked out the door.

Danielle watched through blurred eyes as Julie calmly walked out of the cottage. Samson’s barks had turned to deep guttural growls now and sh
e wondered what happened to Gail. Had she somehow escaped? Or had she locked herself in the bathroom. Each time she screamed for her, the blood seemed to escape from her abdomen even faster. The second time she groaned her name; Gail came bounding down the stairs and immediately went to her. Sweat was pouring down Danielle’s face and she was shuddering fiercely from the pain. She was trying desperately to stay awake and it was becoming a losing battle.

“Danielle, honey you just hold on, I'm going to get hel
p,” Gail said, her breathing fast and heavy as she reached for her cell phone. She cursed when she saw that it displayed “No signal.” Reaching for the house phone, she found that too had no dial tone.

“Gail, she cut the wires, you’re going to have to go to
Joe and Vic’s. Go through the back door and call for help,” Danielle was getting weaker and weaker by the minute and she had begun gasping for air, everything around her was becoming dark. “Hurry Gail,” she moaned in pain.

“Danielle, I’ll be right back,”
she said and took off running towards the farm house.

“Buddy, you sure you don’t want to give Danielle a call and make sure that she and your mother haven’t killed each other?” Jason joked with his friend.

Mitch glanced at his watch. “You
know, maybe I should, the snow is coming down pretty heavy and I don’t want Danielle driving in this. I’ll give her a call and let her know that I'm heading back over there to pick them up.”

He wasn’t worried when he was unable to reach her by phone, he wa
s well aware of the fact that cell phone service at the cottage was iffy at best, and that with the heavy snow, the main lines were probably down.

Jason came up behind his friend. “Oh hey buddy, don’t bother going to pick them up, looks like this storm cau
ght everyone by surprise, they’re thinking of canceling. Looks like a lot of folks are heading out already, me and Shay are thinking of leaving too. We want to head out before the roads get too bad.”

“Give Danielle our love Mitch, and tell her to call me!
” Shayla playfully poked him before she and Jason headed towards the coat check.

“Will do Shay and listen, you guys drive careful,” Mitch said before heading off on his own back to the cottage.

Gail rushed back into the cottage. “Danielle honey, the ambulance is on its way, just hold on a little longer,” she urged.  Gail grabbed a towel and began to apply pressure to Danielle’s wound.  Although the wound looked small, it appeared that the bullet was still lodged in her skin and the blood around it seemed to be oozing out. Tears of pain fell from her eyes as she tried to speak, but Gail stopped her.

“Danielle honey, don’t try to talk, just keep looking at me. You hear that honey, the ambulance is coming, you’re going to be alright Danielle do you hear me? N
o, don’t close your eyes sweetheart, don’t close …” As the darkness took over, Danielle’s last thoughts were of Mitch.

The snow was sticking to the ground now and as Mitch made his way back to the cottage, he had to be careful. He had put the Xterra in fou
r wheel drive and was only minutes away from the cottage. Looking in the rearview mirror he noticed several red and blue flashing lights bearing down on him. “They can’t be after me,” he mumbled as he double checked the speedometer. As he veered to the side of the road and let them pass, he let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god, the last thing I need is a ticket,” he murmured. Must be a bad accident, he thought to himself and watched as two police cruisers and an ambulance whizzed by him.

It wasn’t until he
was a bit closer that he realized that the cruisers and ambulance were going towards Joe and Vic’s house. He knew that since Joe and Vic were still at the party that left only one reason why the cruisers and ambulance would be heading in that direction. “Danielle!” He shouted as he came upon the scene. He was half way in the driveway when a police officer stopped him.

Sir you can’t go in there!” The officer shouted and physically restrained him.

Mitch pushed the officer hard. “My mother and girlfriend are in there!” He shouted back at the officer.

Just then Mitch pulled away from the officer, he watched as his mother was being led out of the house by an EMS worker. They had wrapped her in a blanket and Mitch noticed that the color had completely drained fro
m her skin.

“Mom!” He shouted. “Mom, what the hell happened? Where is Danielle?”

The paramedics had begun to wheel her out on a stretcher and once Mitch caught glimpse of this, he almost collapsed. There, lying lifeless on the stretcher was his Danielle. “Jesus Christ ma! What happened?” He asked and ran towards the ambulance.

He listened as the paramedics were talking, the whole scene was making his head spin. All he kept hearing was gunshot wound and blood pressure dropping and she’d managed to stay con
scious for a long time before passing out. Mitch turned for a moment and looked at his mother. Had she done this? Had she shot the woman he loves?  A heavy hand on his shoulder brought him back.

“Sir, are you that woman’s son?” An officer pointed towards h
is mother. Mitch had to think for a minute, he was going into shock. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.

“Sir!” The officer grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

“Yes I am her son, but I need to be with Danielle,” he said. His voice trailing off.

“
She’s in good hands sir, they’ll be taking her to Mercy Hospital, we’ll make sure that you get there soon enough but right now I need you to answer some questions,” the officer said sternly.

 
With the roar of the ambulance in the background, Mitch listened as his mother recounted exactly what had happened before and after Danielle was shot. Mitch racked his brain trying to figure out just who the female assailant was but he was coming up empty. His mother had not seen the woman, she only heard her voice. “Are you positive it was a woman ma’am?” A detective asked her.

Gail let out a shaky breath. “Yes I'm positive and I heard her say the name Ethan.” Mitch looked at the officer and immediately requested that he call Mike Talon to the scene.