by Jane Blythe
“Mom,” Vanessa couldn’t help crying out, her mother’s eyes met hers, the glare fading away into horrified panic.
“Long time, no see,” Ricky singsonged at her grandparents. “As much as I’d love to take our time and really make the most of tonight, I’m unfortunately a little pushed for time, so you’ll have to forgive me for rushing.”
A pop sounded over her shoulder, and Vanessa found herself surprised to see a bright red spot appear on her grandfather’s head. He seemed to fall to the floor in slow motion, a puddle of blood growing wider and wider around his head. Vanessa could see the mouths of her family moving, and she assumed they were screaming, but all she could hear was Ricky’s heated breath panting in her ear.
Another pop and her grandmother dropped.
Ricky’s breathing quickened further. The sound reminded her of Vince, and how he had sounded just before they had made love for the first time.
As the third pop sounded, Vanessa slipped into a shocked haze where nothing could touch her.
* * * * *
3:01 A.M.
“I hope I’m right about this, Kate,” Xavier murmured as he and Kate silently made their way through the Adams’ backyard.
He’d ridden in the ambulance with Annabelle to the hospital and hovered by her side as she was treated in the ER. Once they had her settled in a room, Xavier had sat beside her bed and begun to think. Annabelle had said that Ricky told her he had one more family left to kill. They’d tracked down all the houses where Ricky had lived and established that he had already killed all his neighbors. So there was obviously one more person that Ricky Preston blamed for his mother’s death.
It had hit him all of a sudden.
Ricky had been out the day his mother died. Out with a friend. Ricky was clearly unbalanced, and he seemed to be blaming anyone who was even vaguely associated with the fire. It didn’t seem like much of a leap to think he’d blame the people he was out with the day his mother had died.
He’d called Kate immediately, asked her to find out what friend Ricky had been hanging out with the day of the fire and track him down. His partner had managed to find out that Ricky’s friend was a Barney Adams, now married to Hilda, with two children, thirteen-year-old Justin and seventeen-year-old Vanessa. The family currently lived with Barney’s parents. Very convenient for Ricky Preston.
Annabelle was stable. She hadn't regained consciousness yet, but she was responding well to oxygen therapy, and she was safe in the hospital. As much as he wanted to stay by her side, Xavier also wanted to make sure she remained safe. The only way to do that was to take out Ricky. So Kate had come to collect him, and they had just arrived at the Adams’ house.
Before Kate had a chance to comment on whether or not he had read Ricky Preston correctly, a shot rang out.
Quickening their pace, they reached the backdoor and slipped quietly inside. The commotion seemed to be coming from the living room, so they moved closer, pausing in the kitchen door to survey the scene before them. Four bodies lay on the floor, each with a bullet hole in their head. The puddle of blood from each wound was quickly melding together forming one giant pond around the bodies. Barney Adams sat in this pond, clutching his young son in one arm, his wife in the other.
Off to the side stood Ricky Preston. In one hand he held a gun, which was currently pointed at Barney’s head; with his other hand, he held a knife at a teenage girl’s throat.
Vanessa Adams was standing completely still. Her face a blank mask of shock. Her brown eyes stared unseeingly at the bloody scenes before her.
Ricky, on the other hand was staring, mesmerized at all the blood. He was panting, aroused, an eerie smile on his face. Xavier remembered the blood covered rooms at the other crime scenes; they’d been right about Ricky’s attraction to blood.
With a slight nod to Kate, Xavier took a step into the room. “Ricky, put the gun down and let Vanessa go. It’s over.”
Barney’s head snapped in their direction. Ricky’s turned much slower, as though he were unable to rip his gaze from the blood. Vanessa didn’t move at all.
“Ah, Detective Montague.” Ricky’s eyes cleared. “I was hoping not to see you again. I guess that little pest Annabelle managed to wake up and tell you I wasn’t quite finished.”
He refused to be baited into losing his temper, Barney and Vanessa Adams’ lives depended on him keeping his cool. “Ricky, let the girl go; she doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
Ricky held Vanessa in front of him to prevent Xavier and Kate from getting a clean shot. Ricky smiled, “No offense intended, but I’d rather not hang around and chat with you, Detective Montague. Tell Annabelle I say hi.”
With that, Ricky fired off a shot at Barney Adams and one at Kate, both dropped to the ground. Then, still using her as a human shield, Ricky dragged Vanessa after him as he darted off through the house.
Xavier dashed to his partner’s side. “Kate?” Pressing his fingertips to her neck, he was relieved to feel her pulse beating strongly. Thankfully, the bullet had hit her vest. Turning his attention to Barney, the man had been shot in the shoulder; he didn’t appear to be bleeding too badly and his eyes were open.
“Vanessa?” Barney whispered.
“Go after them,” Kate’s weak voice insisted as she drew a harsh breath. “Go, Xavier,” she repeated when she saw him hesitate. “I’m okay, back up will be here any minute, I’ll call for medics.”
“Stay still,” he instructed Kate. “You’re hurt, stay where you are till I get back or medics get here.”
Gun drawn, he headed off in the direction Ricky had gone. Assuming Ricky had gone back outside to flee, he made straight for the backdoor. He was right. As soon as he exited the house, he caught sight of Ricky at the end of the yard, attempting to drag Vanessa over the fence.
“Ricky,” he yelled, moving slowly towards him. “Stop, or I’ll shoot.”
“You won’t risk the girl,” Ricky mocked. Even in the thin moonlight, Xavier could make out his smirk. “Just like you wouldn’t risk Annabelle.”
“You used Annabelle like she was nothing.” Xavier was seething with hate towards this man.
“She is nothing,” Ricky shot back snidely.
“Then why did you listen to her bare her soul?”
“It amused me,” Ricky shrugged, disinterestedly.
“You took what she told you and used it against her,” Xavier snapped.
He shrugged again. “It amused me. Annabelle thought she was better than everyone else, she deserved to be taken down a peg or two.”
“So you raped her?”
A wicked grin spread across his face, reminding Xavier of the Grinch from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. “I’ll be a first she’ll never forget.”
“You know after what you did to Annabelle nothing would make me happier than to kill you, so let the girl go and turn yourself in.” Xavier was struggling not to just start firing his gun at Ricky regardless of the consequences. Nothing would make him happier than killing Ricky Preston, but he wouldn’t unless it was his only option.
“You know, you are more of a pain in the neck than Annabelle ever was,” Ricky sighed. “Here’s another choice for you.” With that, Ricky sliced his knife across Vanessa Adams’ neck and threw the girl to the ground, then jumped at the fence.
Muttering a curse, Xavier dropped to his knees beside the teenager. The cut on her neck was gushing blood. Ripping off his shirt, he pressed it against the wound, hoping to stem the flow of blood enough to buy the girl time until the paramedics arrived.
Once again, Ricky Preston had outplayed him.
* * * * *
5:43 P.M.
Consciousness came back slowly.
Her mind was fuzzy.
Annabelle wasn’t sure where she was.
Was she still in her basement? Or maybe the wine cellar?
Where was Ricky?
She tried to move but her limbs were heavy.
Was she still tied up?
Her head ached and she moaned a little.
Then someone was looming over her. Her eyes were still closed but she could sense the presence. Hands gripped her shoulders and she let out a terrified shriek. Ricky must be back. She didn’t want him to touch her again.
“Belle, it’s okay,” a voice soothed. “You're in the hospital, you’re safe now. Shh, it’s all right. I’m here.”
“Xavier?” She was barely able to believe what her ears were hearing.
“I'm right here,” he said again, gently brushing his fingertips across her forehead. “I'm not going anywhere.”
A sob caught in her throat. Xavier had come looking for her, and he’d found her. Saved her.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Xavier began to stroke her hair. “Open your eyes for me, Belle.”
She wanted to do as he asked, but she was scared. Scared that perhaps this was all just a hallucination, that when she opened her eyes she’d be back in her basement with Ricky Preston.
“Come on, Belle, open your eyes,” Xavier urged.
Tentatively, she obeyed, forcing her eyes open to find Xavier smiling down at her. She let out a relieved breath. She really was in the hospital. And it was really Xavier hovering at her bedside.
“There you go,” Xavier grinned, relief flittering through his eyes.
“You’re really here,” she murmured.
“I’m really here,” he agreed. “And you’re really safe now. Do you remember what happened?”
She concentrated. “I remember Ricky locking me in my father’s wine cellar. I think I remember you finding me. You told me to rest, to concentrate on breathing.” She looked at him for confirmation, and he nodded. “You said you were sorry for leaving me alone, and then you told me to stay with you, but I was so tired.” She was tired now, too, and her eyes fluttered closed as sleep lapped at the corners of her mind.
“Okay, that’s enough for now, you need to rest,” Xavier said softly.
But something tugged at her mind. Something important. Forcing her eyes back open. “There was another family Ricky was going to kill. Did I tell you that?”
“Shh,” Xavier resumed stroking her hair. “You told me. Kate and I found them.”
Something flashed through Xavier’s eyes, but Annabelle was too tired to figure out what it was. “How long have I been here?”
“Almost eighteen hours. The doctors said you were lucky to be alive, another few minutes in that cellar and you might not have been.”
Another flash in his eyes, this time Annabelle could see it was fear. Before she could say more, a knock sounded at the door. It swung softly open to reveal Xavier’s partner.
“Hey, Annabelle, you’re awake,” Kate smiled. “How’re you feeling?”
Considering this, her head was pounding, her face felt tight, she assumed from stitches on her cheek, but otherwise her pain was like a distant hum. “Tired, but not in too much pain.”
“Morphine’s good for that.” Kate cast a glance at Xavier.
“Belle was just telling me what she remembers after I found her,” Xavier answered Kate’s unasked question. “But I think she’s had enough for now,” he added firmly.
“Something’s wrong.” Looking from Xavier to Kate and back again, she may be tired but she wasn’t so worn out that she couldn’t see that they were hiding something from her.
“We need you to tell us everything you remember about your time with Ricky,” Kate told her.
“Xavier?”
“It’s important, Belle,” but he looked conflicted as he took her hand and squeezed it.
“I don’t remember Ricky taking me,” she began, she’d tell them what they wanted then she’d get the answers she needed. “After you left I didn’t even make it to the bed, I was so tired, I just collapsed on the carpet. The next thing I remember is waking up tied to a table in an attic. I didn’t know if you’d be looking for me.” She caught Xavier’s pained look. “But I hoped you would be, so I worked at getting my bracelet off, so if you found that attic you'd know I’d been there.”
“We found the bracelet,” Xavier smiled encouragingly.
“Ricky came back and drugged me, and the next thing I remember we were in my basement. He’d tied my hands behind my back and then tied a rope to my brother’s punching bag. It made my shoulder ache so badly.” Her voice faltered a little as she remembered the pain. “When Ricky came back I tried to talk to him, tried to find out why he was doing it, and if I could talk my way out. But I made him angry, and he tried to strangle me.” Again, she trailed off as she recalled Ricky’s hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing so tightly.
Xavier let out a muted growl, his eyes furious; he looked like he wanted to throw something. Kate placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
“I'm okay, Xavier,” Annabelle squeezed the hand that still held hers. “Ricky told me about his mom, and then I accidentally made him angry again and he hit me. Then he…he…” Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she blinked and they spilled out, trickling down her cheeks. “He raped me,” she forced the words out. Xavier attempted to embrace her but she pushed him away, wanting to finish. “He left me alone for a while then when he came back he told me that he had one more family to kill, and that I was his distraction. Then he locked me in the cellar,” she finished determinedly. When Xavier reached for her again, this time she let him wrap her up in his arms. Burying her head against his chest, she twisted her hands into his shirt and clung to him as she wept. When she’d calmed a little she asked, “Did you find the other family?”
He hesitated before answering, “Yes.”
“But?”
“We weren’t in time to save them all,” Xavier replied reluctantly.
“Oh.” Tears were brimming in her eyes again. She had hoped Xavier and Kate had been able to save the other family. Ricky had been right, Xavier had been too preoccupied with her and people had died because of it.
“I'm going to go and get your doctor to give you something to help you sleep,” Xavier murmured softly, settling her back against the pillows.
“Xavier, she needs to know,” Kate stopped him with a hand on his arm as he moved to stand.
“Later, Kate,” he protested. “She’s weak, she needs to rest now.”
“What do I need to know?”
“When you’re stronger,” Xavier answered firmly.
“Tell me,” she didn’t want any more secrets.
“Belle,” Xavier’s voice held a warning note.
“Please,” she begged.
He sighed. “Ricky Preston got away,” he told her.
She was sure she must have heard wrong. “Wh-what?” she stammered.
“I’m sorry, honey—Ricky Preston got away. He’s still out there,” Xavier repeated, his eyes filled to the brim with anger and fear.
“Do you remember Ricky talking about any place he may go, any person he trusted?” Kate asked.
“No.” The world was beginning to spin. Ricky was still out there. That meant he could come back. Any time. He could come back and take her again. Hurt her, rape her—whatever he wanted. Maybe next time he’d kill her.
“I won’t let him hurt you again, Belle,” Xavier perched on the side of her bed and gripped her shoulders so tightly she couldn’t help but cringe. “I promise, Belle. He will never hurt you again.”
“It’s my fault,” she whispered, recalling her conversation with Ricky in the basement before he’d raped her. He’d told her she was weak and scared—and she was. That’s why he had used her. He’d known she’d never be able to get away on her own. That someone else would have to come and save her. And while Xavier had been wasting time on her, Ricky had been free to destroy another family.
“It is not your fault,” Xavier shook her gently.
She nodded her head. “Yes, it is. Ricky said I was weak…”
“You’re not weak, Belle,” Xavier told her.
Ignoring him, she continued, “…that I was too scared to have a
life. He was right. He said I just hide in the house all the time, that I don’t have a life. He was right again. I am weak and pathetic and useless.” Annabelle caught the hysterical note in her voice, but she was beyond caring. “You should have let me die, saved the other family, made sure Ricky didn’t get away. You should have let me die.”
“No, Belle,” Xavier said fiercely. “No to all of that.”
The aching in her head grew so severe that it sent everything else shimmering to the background. She vaguely heard Xavier tell Kate to go and get a doctor. He needn’t have bothered; she didn’t need sedatives to help her sleep. Her vision began to fade in and out, the going backwards and forwards making her nauseous, so she let her eyes fall closed. Then when a wave of blackness washed over her, she let it knock her down and pull her back out with it.
* * * * *
8:57 P.M.
Xavier needed to sleep. He knew that, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off Annabelle.
She hadn't regained consciousness again since she’d passed out following her hysterical outburst. He’d known she wasn’t strong enough yet to hear that Ricky Preston was still out there somewhere. It worried him that she blamed herself. That she thought she was weak. It made him angry that Ricky had obviously used things that she’d told him against her.
When she woke up next they needed to talk.
About a lot of things.
He needed to understand why she didn’t date, why she hadn’t felt loved throughout her childhood, why she was so afraid, and why she believed that she was weak. He needed to understand so he could help her.
There were things she needed to understand about him, too.
First of all, he needed to properly explain the Julia situation. Despite her declarations that she believed that he was falling in love with her and that he wasn’t going to leave her for Julia, he wasn’t quite sure that she really believed it. He thought maybe she had needed to convince herself that he wasn’t going to leave her in order to survive her abduction. He wanted her to know that it was okay if she couldn’t believe it right now, that he would prove it to her if she was willing to put her faith and trust in him.
