Wish Me from the Water

by R E Swirsky

  CHAPTER 95

  Dean's cell phone rang and he picked up immediately. It was dispatch about the officer he sent to check on Sarah.

  "No one was home?" Dean asked.

  He listened to the response.

  "You sure?"

  Dispatch repeated to Dean what they found.

  "Well that's good, but I am still worried about her."

  Dean refrained from telling his dispatch what he found up at Gerald's house, but he did tell them he would be tied up with a situation for a while.

  "I should be out of here in a half hour to forty-five minutes. Once I am out of here, I will go straight over to check on Sarah myself."

  Dispatch acknowledged his reply.

  "I'll call you when I am back in Bluffington."

  CHAPTER 96

  Gerald threw his shoulder against the front door and was immediately encouraged as he felt the door give.

  "Sarah!" he screamed. "I know you're in there!"

  He stepped back and charged at the door once again. This time, the door cracked in the middle and the frame buckled and separated in a number of places from the outside wall. He charged at the door again with his entire weight crashing into the door. Splinters of wood flew into the air as the door fell inwards, and Gerald's large body fell with it. He stumbled over the door and landed in a heap on the floor inside.

  Gerald lay on his back for only a moment as he reached out and tried to grip his fingers onto anything to right himself into a standing position. There was a small side table in the foyer, and he pulled himself up quickly by it and began to look around the house for Sarah.

  It had taken Gerald many months, but he had finally succeeded and he was determined to see this through. It took a very long couple of liquor-filled days to pull Sarah's whereabouts out of Simon, but he succeeded.

  Peeling back the layers of another human being was very hard work. Gerald enjoyed the challenge Simon imposed on him. Simon refused to answer why he was searching around Gerald's car and home for a long time. Each time Simon refused to cooperate or disengaged himself from the process, Gerald reengaged Simon with another smash to the side of the head or a punch in the ribs. All the while, he sipped on his whiskey and let the rage of the moment fill his dark desire to release his anger on another victim. There would be no regret later for dealing the dirty side of the deck to Simon as Simon had laid his hand first when he stepped onto Gerald's property. He was trespassing, and Gerald felt truly entitled to act accordingly.

  Torturing Simon was almost an exhilarating experience for Gerald because he had never let his anger carry him that far before. It was a slip of the tongue that doomed Simon to a fate he wouldn't escape. A simple request to "go home".

  Simon was broken and tired; Gerald had been at him for hours.

  "I just want to go home," Simon slurred through his bloodied mouth. His broken teeth made his words almost incoherent.

  "Where's home?" Gerald asked not really caring where Simon had come from.

  "Bluffington," Simon had answered.

  Gerald thought he heard the name Bluffington, but it was so slurred and mumbled that he at first he thought he had imagined it. There was a blister in his brain from where the name Bluffington rubbed repeatedly in his mind as he wondered what to do about Sarah. He asked Simon to repeat what he had just said, and this time it was crystal clear.

  "Bluffington."

  Gerald immediately upped the ante.

  "Sarah," he then whispered to Simon.

  Simon winced and lifted his head up to Gerald. He shook his head as best he could and cried. "Not Sarah. Please."

  Simon was doomed. The game was on, and Gerald was set to win. He held all the cards and would play them all, one by one, until Simon spilled Sarah’s hiding place. Simon fared well to start with. He screamed and cried as Gerald bent his fingers back, one by one, until each one broke. Gerald smashed Simon in the mouth repeatedly until what was left of Simon's teeth lay in his own lap, shattered and crimson. When that didn't get results, Gerald went even farther and used pliers to pull out Simon's fingernails, but he found that too much work. Simply cutting off a finger at the knuckle, one at a time with pruning shears got him the best results.

  Gerald stopped his reminiscing about the sessions with Simon and moved into the front living room of Sarah's new home. He called out to Sarah a number of times, but she didn’t answer. He moved about slowly from one room to another and finally stopped in the kitchen.

  "Sarah?" He whispered. He began to second-guess himself and thought maybe he was at the wrong house. Was it possible that Simon gave him the wrong house number? He moved about the kitchen and, on the counter, he spotted a few items of mail. He picked up the mail and smiled. Sarah's name was printed on the front of the envelopes.

  He set the mail back down gently and called out loudly. "You know it's me, and you know you can't hide from me. Just tell me where you are, and we can both get this over with." He said it almost sweetly.

  He moved from the kitchen down the far hallway towards the front study and slipped inside. He saw the couch facing towards the front window, and he saw movement. It wasn't much, but enough to cause Gerald to move in for a closer look.

  Gerald eased his way along the wall until he could see around the back of the couch. He broke into an evil grin as he saw his beloved Sarah sitting there on the couch, shaking in fear as she stared back at him.

  His look suddenly changed to puzzlement when he realized that Sarah was bound and gagged.

  "What the hell?" he asked as he scanned the room nervously. He couldn't comprehend how Sarah ended up this way. His thoughts went immediately to Simon. He didn't know why, but he could think of no other answer.

  Gerald stepped forward until he was looking down at Sarah. He grinned again. He didn't really care that she was bound up. In fact, this may actually be better than he could have asked for.

  "What goes around comes around, eh?"

  He laughed, put his hand on the side of Sarah's head and pushed it lightly to the side.

  "See?" he asked. "What are you going to do now, Sarah?"

  Sarah pulled her head away from his hand. Her eyes were cast downwards, and Gerald grabbed her by the chin and forced her face up towards him. He wanted to see her look him in the eyes.

  "You ran out on me, Sarah." He watched her eyes as they darted back and forth.

  "You know you can't ever leave me."

  Gerald let go of her head and stepped back. He slowly circled the couch. He paced and paced as he thought about what to do.

  "I loved you, Sarah!" he shouted. "Why did you run out like that?"

  Sarah mumbled back through her gag.

  "What? I didn't hear you?" Gerald replied and laughed. He was pleased to see her suffer.

  "I tell you what Sarah. I am going to remove your gag, and we are going to have a little chat. I don't know why Simon tied you up like this, but I am glad he did. It's too bad he won't be seeing you anymore."

  Sarah squirmed about on the couch and mumbled more incoherent sounds.

  Gerald stopped his circling and removed the gag. Sarah coughed and wheezed and grabbed a couple of deep breathes.

  "So tell me. What's with that scrawny little shit, Simon? "

  Sarah only stared back at Gerald. He saw the anger bubbling up under her fear. Gerald liked that and taunted her more.

  "He couldn't even put up any fight. What a weak piece of shit. But I'll say this much about him. I had to remove a few of his parts before he would tell me where you were."

  Sarah tried to stand up, but her hands remained bound behind her back. Gerald easily shoved her back down on to the couch.

  "What did you do to him, Gerald?" she asked sternly.

  Gerald just laughed. He was delighted. "I did what I needed to do. He won't be telling any more secrets, that's for sure."

  He watched as Sarah began to cry and shook her head in denial.


  "Did you hurt him?" she asked through her tears.

  "Hurt him?" Gerald laughed again. He loved that Sarah was suffering. "Oh!" he exclaimed as if he suddenly remembered something important. "By the way. He gave me something to give you."

  Gerald continued to laugh even harder and neared hysterics. He reached one hand deep into the pocket of his trousers and closed his hand around the object inside.

  "He gave me something," he repeated and slowly pulled his closed fist out of his pocket and lifted it up towards Sarah.

  "I’ll let you guess what he said when he gave me this." Gerald's fits of hysterical laughter ceased as he slowly opened up his hand.

  Sarah screamed at the top of her lungs, as she stared down at Gerald's outstretched hand to see a finger resting in his palm. The finger still had a ring attached. Simon's ring.

  "Yup. That's exactly what Simon said," Gerald said as Sarah screamed again.

  Gerald dropped the finger on to her lap. Sarah jumped and twisted her body frantically to dislodge the finger, and continued to scream hysterically.

  "Hey!" a voice erupted from somewhere within the study. Gerald looked around and was startled to see a teenage boy standing in the room against the fireplace on the far wall. He seemed to appear from nowhere.

  "Who the fuck are you?" Gerald shouted at the teenager. He was furious about the interruption and moved away from Sarah towards the teenager.

  The teenager mimicked Gerald's movement and stepped forward a few paces towards Gerald. "You leave her alone!" he demanded.

  Gerald's severe rage changed to one of curious amusement after he eyed the kid up and down and determined that he was really no contest.

  "What the fuck did you just say to me?"

  "Tommy, don't," Sarah wheezed out the best she could from the couch behind Gerald.

  Gerald stopped when he heard Sarah call the boy by name. He looked back at Sarah and then at Tommy. He nodded as he compiled his thoughts.

  "It was you who tied her up. Not Simon," he suggested.

  Tommy stood his ground. "I tied her up. And I don't know any Simon. Now you just leave her alone."

  Gerald simply laughed at him. "You can't be serious, you little shit. Sarah's my wife. Do you understand me? I'll do what the fuck I want with her." He paused and studied Tommy carefully. "But maybe you need a short lesson before you start mouthing off. I've eaten little shits like you for breakfast. You really want a piece of me?"

  Gerald gritted his teeth and readied himself to charge forward. He glared at Tommy with his fists clenched tight.

  CHAPTER 97

  When Dean finally arrived on Founders Road, his roof lights flashed brightly and lit up the neighbourhood with a blue and red cadence of colours. The flashes reached across both sides of the road and grabbed onto the corners and crevices of every shadow they could find as the afternoon rolled over well past the supper hour. His stomach turned when he spotted a car that matched the description Sarah gave him sitting in front of the Oliver home. He pulled the cruiser to an abrupt stop in front and looked up at the house. He could see from where he sat inside his vehicle the front door was busted and flattened, and the terrible possibility that Sarah may be inside suddenly became very real. He immediately called dispatch and asked for reinforcements.

  Dean exited the vehicle and moved slowly up to the house. As he neared the front door, he drew his gun from its holster and crept forward cautiously. He was still a few yards away from the front door when he heard voices and shouts from somewhere deep inside. He listened intently for Sarah's voice but could only discern the voices of two men as they shouted back and forth at each other. He considered handling this himself but decided the risk was too great. Dean didn't want to face Gerald alone after the scene he witnessed at the house in Calgary. He returned to his cruiser, called into dispatch with another update and screamed for his backup to hurry up. He ran the plate from the car he thought might be Sarah's old car, and his suspicion was quickly confirmed. He was sure Gerald was inside the house.

  CHAPTER 98

  Bobby and Ricky were only waiting a short time on the suspension bridge when Ricky spotted blue and red lights from a police car bouncing off the sides of the houses on Founders Road. He didn't know the police car was racing towards the Oliver home. The boys turned towards the lights and felt the adrenalin rush inside them.

  "Do you know where it's stopping?" Bobby asked.

  Ricky was already racing across the bridge towards Founders Road.

  "It's stopped! It's stopped," he shouted and continued to run up ahead. "I think it's Tommy's house! C'mon, Bobby, run!"

  Bobby tried to run, but the best he could do was a fast shuffle. Ricky stopped at the intersection where the river path crossed the access path between the houses onto Founders Road and groaned at Bobby. He wanted Bobby to move faster, but he knew he was moving as fast as possible.

  Bobby huffed and puffed when he caught up with Ricky.

  "Let's go," Ricky prompted again as soon as Bobby was beside him. Ricky jogged slower this time. He wanted Bobby with him when they finally moved out onto Founders Road.

  "It is Tommy's house!" Ricky shouted as he pointed his casted arm towards the police car.

  "Oh no," Bobby replied.

  Both boys walked cautiously down the road. Two more police cars screamed past them with lights only, no sirens, and the boys watched as these two cars also stopped in front of the Oliver home.

  By the time the boys arrived in front of the house, Detective Dean Daly and Officer Heavy Head were busy directing the other officers who had just arrived. Two of the officers had already been instructed where to go and quickly darted between the neighbouring homes, out towards the back of the house. Dean remained out in front of the home in deep discussion with the arriving officers. None of the officers had yet approached the house.

  "See! You missed them! I told you to stay at the river," Bobby whispered to Ricky. "I bet Tommy and Jason are in there now. Now what are we going to do?"

  Ricky didn’t answer and Bobby knew Ricky was thinking about the secret room again. He watched the officers for a moment and was curious as to why none had yet approached the house.

  "Something happened," Bobby suddenly said to Ricky.

  "No shit!" Ricky replied.

  "No. I mean it. Why aren't any of the police going up to the house? Something's wrong here, Ricky."

  Ricky grunted to acknowledge Bobby. "What do you think is going on?"

  "I really don't know."

  Both boys continued to watch as Detective Dean Daly directed his officers. A few of the neighbours started to file out onto the street, and Ricky spotted a number of kids as they ran excitedly down towards them from the end of the block. The crowd was going to get large very quickly.

  Officer Heavyhead and two other officers were already ushering everyone back and away from the Oliver house.

  "I think you're right. Something bad has happened. Real bad."

  Bobby nodded and continued to watch the chaos. There was no real action from the police yet. Detective Daly looked very serious as he spoke with his officers. He pointed up at the house a number of times, which made Bobby even more nervous.

  "What should we do?" Bobby asked Ricky. Ricky didn't reply and only stood and stared up at the house. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and a look of consternation crossed his face. Bobby had seen this same expression on Ricky's face before, and he knew that Ricky was about to act on impulse.

  "No, Ricky! Don't!" Bobby shouted at Ricky, but it was too late.

  Ricky suddenly bolted towards the house.

  Two of the officers out in front were focused on the crowd and were attempting to lay out a perimeter as Detective Dean Daly instructed. Neither officer noticed Ricky as he skirted between them. Dean was still engaged with the two other officers when he caught a blur of movement in the background near the house. He looked up just in time to see Ric
ky as he hustled up the stairs towards the front door. Dean turned and thrust his fist angrily in the air as he knew there was no chance of catching the boy before he entered the house.

  Ricky had just reached the top of the front landing when a gunshot rang out from inside the home. The large crowd outside flinched and ducked at the sound. The spectators and police turned towards the house, but by the time all of the officers and most of the gathering crowd looked up, Ricky had already jumped over the busted doorway and was inside the house. Almost no one saw him enter.

  "Goddamn it!" Bobby heard Detective Daly shout.

  CHAPTER 99

  Sarah screamed louder than she had ever screamed before as Gerald dropped Simon’s finger onto her lap and her horror reached a new dimension. She knew then that Simon was dead. Gerald said something, but she couldn't hear his words. She stopped her screaming as she grieved for Simon and stared down upon his bloodied finger. She immediately squirmed about and attempted to dislodge the bloody appendage from her lap. She couldn’t even breathe.

  It was Tommy's shout from across the room that caused Gerald to turn his attention away from Sarah.

  Sarah was still staring down at Simon's finger when she heard Tommy yell for Gerald to leave her alone. She couldn't really understand what was happening and the room spun away. Sarah heard herself call out for Tommy to stop, which caused Gerald to hesitate as he looked at both Sarah and Tommy. Gerald realized it was Tommy that tied Sarah up. He began to gesticulate angrily and advanced towards Tommy. Sarah forced her eyes upwards to watch Gerald and Tommy as they shouted at each other and moved a step closer to each other.

  Sarah wanted to scream. Tommy was no match for Gerald, and she felt responsible again as if it was her fault that Tommy was about to become another one of Gerald's victims.

  The two were only a few feet away from each other, and it appeared as if neither would back down. Sarah didn't understand why Tommy even came out of hiding, and she hated herself for it. Gerald swung first, but Tommy dodged to the side just in time.

  Tommy almost lost his balance but managed to rip a right hand into Gerald's right ear as Gerald fell away to the left.

  The fight progressed rapidly. Sarah could only watch in hopes that somehow Gerald could be stopped and Tommy would be spared.