Saving Us

by Jennifer Foor

  It wasn’t just that he took Amy. He had my child too. If I lost one, I knew it would be both of them. The chance of my child surviving would be slim to none. I couldn’t believe that I was thinking all of these terrible things. I needed to be optimistic and keep telling myself that they were going to be alright. I had to.

  When we got closer to the house, I noticed that Lucy’s little car was still parked around the side. She had to be somewhere and just couldn’t hear us when we were calling. John and I got to the front door. “I’ll go find her and meet you back here. I’m sure she’s in the laundry room or somethin’. She can’t hear worth a damn anymore.”

  John agreed and stayed on the porch while I made my way in the house. Just like all of the time lately, the house was quiet. I walked through the dining room area and then into the kitchen. The house was spotless. I checked the laundry room and then headed upstairs. When I couldn’t find her at all, I headed for the family room, before meeting John outside. While going in that direction, I picked up my phone and dialed Lucy’s number. The ringing was coming from the family room. I started running toward the sound and stopped dead in my tracks. Rick was standing there with Amy’s gun in his hand. Lucy was tied up on the couch, while Heather was on the floor close to her. As I walked toward them, he turned around and noticed me. As he did it, I saw Amy on the floor behind him. I went running toward her, but with one wave of the gun, I froze.

  Rick had the gun pointed at Amy’s stomach. “You take one more step and I kill everything you love with one squeeze of this trigger.” He turned and looked at Amy. “Your knight is here to save his damsel. I guess you can both die together.”

  “The only person that’s goin’ to die is you. Touch her again and see what I do to you.”

  Rick paid no attention to my threats. He aimed that gun right at Amy’s stomach. As soon as he turned his head to look at her, Heather came lunging at him with her hands still behind her back. The gun went flying across the hardwood floor and I didn’t waste any time going after that bastard myself. My body rammed into Rick’s. I swung hard, hitting him right in the jaw. His head swung around and he started to lose his balance. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and hit him again, right in the same place. Blood went flying and his eyes started to close. I held onto his shirt tighter and slammed his head against the floor. I wanted him to bleed. I wanted him to die watching me saving Amy.

  I laid his knocked out body down and reached over to free Amy’s hands. She wrapped her arms around my neck and started to sob. “You’re okay, darlin’ Oh my God, I thought I lost you. You had me so damn scared.”

  “I thought I was going to die.” She continued to cry.

  I picked her up and carried her over to the couch Then I started to untie Heather and Lucy. Just as I was getting the last loop loosened on Lucy’s rope, I heard the girls scream. Rick had woke up and took a dive to obtain the gun across the room.

  I sprung forward trying to get to it faster than him. Our hands met at the base of the gun. As I attempted to punch him in the face, he jerked his hand, with the gun, away from me. He pointed it right at me and then laughed as he moved it to face Amy. “As much as I’d like to kill you, I think it would be more fun to let you watch her die. If you have anything you want to say to her, you better say it now. You have about ten seconds to get it all out.”

  I had one chance to save Amy and the baby that I already loved so much. They could live a good life, even without me in it. My family would take care of them. They would keep them safe and make sure that they never had to worry about anything. My mother would love her grandchild and they would be able to remember me through that child.

  They were my responsibility, my only reason for living. I had to try and give them more time on this precious earth. In all of my life there had been one constant. It was my love for the land. I wanted Amy to have the chance to appreciate the small things in life. I looked toward her. She was crying so badly. In a few moments she would be crying even more, but hopefully she would have a chance to get free of this evil man. “Darlin’ you are the only woman that I have ever loved. You know that, right?”

  She nodded. “I love you, too. I love you so much, Conner. I wanted you from the first moment you saved me. No man has ever compared to you.”

  As she said it, Rick looked her way. It was enough to give me a window to make my move. “No matter what, you take care of our child, Amy.” I lunged my body toward Rick. “Run!” We went rolling on the floor. I saw Amy out of the corner of my eye. She got up and started running out of the room.

  I swung my arm around to hit Rick, but he was able to move out of the way. In the background I could hear screaming. I needed to keep him down so the girls could get away. I pushed myself into him again. My body felt heavier and I used it to my advantage. I held it over him, keeping him from moving. The room started to feel cold. I tried not to notice it, but it was freezing. I swung at Rick one more time, missing him again. He managed to free himself of my hold. Then he stood up and punched me in the face. I felt his whole fist slamming into my jaw, but for some reason I couldn’t feel the pain of it. Maybe it was just the adrenaline. I went to lift up my hands to grab ahold of Rick, but they felt too heavy to move. I tried again and this time I actually made contact. His head went sideways and his body stilled. He was laying down beside me.

  Everything was getting blurry again.

  My eyes were still open but I couldn’t see anything.

  I needed to know if Amy was alright. Had Lucy and Heather gotten out of the room too? Did John finally come in to check on us? Why couldn’t I think clearly?

  Something was wrong.

  My eyes went back into focus. Someone was standing over me. They were yelling at me, except I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I couldn’t tell who they were. This made no sense.

  Where was Amy?

  Did she get free?

  What happened to Rick?

  My body was being touched. I could feel that. The person in front of me was saying something important. They were telling me to hold on. They were begging me to stay awake.

  But I was awake. I had beat Rick. He was laying somewhere, injured.

  Chapter 29

  Amy

  One minute I am fearing for my life and the next Conner is coming in to save me. I don’t know how he found us and I don’t even care. He was there , exactly where I needed him to be.

  Rick held that gun close to my belly. I could feel my child moving around inside, like they knew that we both should be running away from this crazy man. I just couldn’t take the chance. I knew if I tried to get away he would become more enraged and try to kill me.

  In a matter of minutes, I think I had gone through every single emotion possible. If anyone could get us out of this situation, it was Conner.

  Rick pushed all of his buttons and even though I was scared to death, I could smell the testosterone in the room. Rick hated Conner, just as much as Conner hated Rick. They had words and then they went after each other. When the gun went flying and they started wrestling around the floor, I did as he told me and started to run out of the room. It wasn’t until I heard the one single gunshot that I froze in place. I was afraid to look back, knowing that it had a fifty percent chance of being Conner instead of Rick.

  A few things happened simultaneously. I heard John’s voice calling us to run out of the house. I turned and rushed to find Conner. Rick got up and started coming towards me.

  He had blood all over him, but still came at me. I looked around and didn’t see the knife anywhere. On the floor lay Conner’s body. I froze, unable to comprehend just what I was doing. I had to get to Conner. He had to be okay. This couldn’t be happening, not to him, not to us.

  I turned to hear Rick growling and lifting the gun up in front of me. “If I were you, I’d turn your fat ass around and start walking. There is nothing you can do for him now.” He came up behind me and grabbed me. “You’re going to help me get out of here and then we are goin
g to find out how to get me my money.”

  I wanted to tell him that he didn’t have any money and because he had shot Conner, there would never be any. The family would stop at nothing to see Rick pay for hurting their kin. I closed my eyes and kept moving. He pushed me to walk faster.

  John appeared in the doorway with his gun cocked. “Put down the gun and get your hands in the air. It’s over Rick. I’ve got the house surrounded.”

  Rick pushed the gun into my stomach. It was hurting me, but I was afraid to cry. I was afraid to let myself feel anything, especially when I knew that Conner was in the other room, bleeding. I just wanted to see him. He needed to know that I was right here. He needed to know that I would never leave him.

  I knew I was panicking inside. The more I tried to breathe and be strong, the more I feared I was failing horribly. “Rick, please. Think about this. If you hurt me, they are going to kill you.”

  He pushed the gun into my stomach harder, almost knocking the wind out of me. “Shut the fuck up, bitch!” He pushed me forward again. “I think you’re here all alone. I think I’m going to walk right out the door and there ain’t a damn thing you’re going to do. Besides, if you shoot me, I will still have time to get a bullet in this little bitch here. Now, toss me your gun and back away from the door.”

  John just stood there, aiming the gun at Rick. “This is your last chance. Let the girl go.”

  Rick laughed again. I heard the gun click. A lump formed in my throat and I felt like I could’t breathe. I swallowed it and closed my eyes. Sure, I could try to throw my head back at him or kick his shin, but he could also shoot me just as easily.

  “John, please just listen to him. I need you to get to Conner. Lower your gun and let us by.” I think that both John and Rick were equally shocked. John shook his head. He didn’t want to do that. I asked again. “Please!”

  He bent over and sat his gun on the floor. “Now, just let the woman go.”

  Rick shook his head. “I don’t think so. Amy here is my ticket out of here. Move out of my way!”

  “John, please. You need to get to Conner.” I was pleading with him. He had to know how important it was to get to Conner. The room behind us was silent and that was never a good sign. I couldn’t even begin to let myself think that he could really be gone.

  John backed away and held up his hands. I hated being forced to walk past the man, but Conner seemed to be my only concern. He just had to be okay.

  I looked back when we reached the foyer and saw John rushing down to the floor in the family room. I could hear him saying Conner’s name and telling him to stay awake. That meant that he was alive…right?

  Rick pushed me out of the house. He kept the gun pointed at my belly as we made our way to the hidden mail truck. I looked all around the property and didn’t see all the police cars like John had told Rick about. I should have known it was bluff. If the police were on their way, we would be long gone before they arrived.

  After pushing me into the back of the truck, Rick shut the door and climbed into the front seat. He reached into his pockets and I heard him cussing. “Shit! I dropped my damn keys in that house.” He pointed the gun back at me. “Come here!”

  I crawled forward. “Give me your hands.”

  I lifted my hands up in front of him. He grabbed a zip tie and wrapped it tightly around my wrist and then secured it to the seat belt. “You try to get free and I will kill you. You understand?”

  I nodded and watched him climb out of the truck. Once he was gone, I slumped down on the metal truck floor and let myself break down. This was the absolute worst thing that I could have ever imagined happening. I just had to know that Conner was going to survive this. My tears continued until I heard the back door opening. I spun my body around in case it was Rick.

  Heather climbed inside. She held her finger to her lip. “Shh, I don’t know how long we have. She grabbed the zip tie and looked around the truck for something to break it with. It wasn’t like there was a pair of scissors laying around. Heather smiled and pulled out a knife from the waist of her pants. She started rubbing it back and forth until the tie came loose. I shook off the sensations of how tight it had been.

  Before I could turn around to climb out. The driver’s side door flew open. I put my hands back and pretended I was still hooked up, while Heather ducked her body behind the driver’s seat so that he couldn’t see her. We stared at each other as the truck engine started.

  Heather reached over and touched my belly. I was shocked at first, but she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and pointed to her own. I knew right then that she was trying to change because she had a chance at real happiness herself. I cried more imagining never being able to see or touch Conner again. The mail truck started whipping around as Rick attempted to get off of the ranch. I lost my balance and went rolling across the bed of the truck. Rick slammed on the brakes, sending me crashing back into his seat. He grabbed me by the neck. “How did you get free, bitch?”

  Heather grabbed him by the neck and started choking him with a plastic zip tie. “She had help!”

  I watched his face turning red as the air was being cut off. Finally, his hands let go of me. I fell back against the hard metal floor. Rick was digging his fingers into Heather to try to free her hold on his neck. I saw the gun between his legs. There was no hesitation as I took a deep breath and threw my body forward.

  As soon as I had it in my hands, I slid back and aimed it right at Rick. “Put your hands in the air, or I will blow your God damn head from here to Texas.”

  Heather slowly let go and backed away from the seat. Rick laughed. “Yeah, right. You expect me to believe that you even know how to use that?”

  I aimed for the window right beside his head and fired. It was loud and I was pretty sure I had busted out at least one of my eardrums. Heather held onto her ears and tried to keep her eyes on what was going on.

  Right away, Rick held up his hands. “Alright! Alright! What do you want now?”

  I froze. What was I supposed to do now? Was I supposed to let this man, who had possibly killed the father of my child, just go to prison? Oh hell no!

  I aimed the gun at his thigh and fired. He grabbed his leg and screamed out in agony. “That was for all the times you lied to me.

  I shot him in his arm. “That was for all the times you laid a hand on me.”

  “Stop it! Please!” He was pleading with me to spare his life, but all I could see was Conner lying on that floor.

  I shot him in the stomach. “That was for everything you did to me and the people I care about and for forcing Heather into hiding just because she didn’t want to hurt people anymore.”

  He cried more. I knew he was in pain and all I wanted to do was smile. “Please, Amy. Call an ambulance. I’m going to bleed out here.”

  “You stopped at nothing until you took him away from me. Was it that hard for you to know that I was truly happy? I hate you. You are the real life devil and you deserve to spend an eternity in Hell for what you’ve done.”

  Rick made one last attempt to get to me. He threw his body in my direction and I fired.

  His body slumped over me.

  Heather helped me push him off so that I could stand up. We could hear police sirens in the far distance and knew help was coming.

  She grabbed my hand and we both pushed open the back doors to the mail truck. Police cars surrounded the truck and we were met with officers running toward us. They surrounded the truck, but what they found wasn’t going to be what they expected. The only thing left inside was Rick’s lifeless body. He may have taken his first wife’s life. He may have ruined his second’s, but I’d be damned if I was going to let him take anything away from me anymore.

  I kept hold of Heather’s hand until I saw the ambulance pulling up in the distance and then I ran as fast as my pregnant body would allow. The only place I wanted to be was with Conner. I just had to know if he was still alive.

  Chapter 30

  Co
nner

  It was John. He was telling me to stay awake. That’s the only thing that I was sure of. Everything was blurry but I could make out his beard and the sound of his voice. A female voice started talking to me. My hopes of it being Amy were disappointing when I heard the slight Spanish accent. It was Lucy who was holding my hand.

  One minute I was starting to be able to focus and then the next I wouldn’t be able to hold my eyes open at all. I wasn’t in that much pain. It was more that I was freezing.

  I had to stay focused. I had to get to Amy.

  I was fighting. There was no way for me to be sure how bad it was, but I knew I was seriously injured.

  When I opened my eyes again, I could have sworn that I was seeing daylight. A rush of reality came over me when I wondered if I was dying. Soon, I felt someone putting something over my face. The loud sounds of rattling forced me to open my eyes. I think I was in an ambulance.

  I tried to lift my head, but the person next to me pushed it back down. “Try to keep still.”

  I didn’t want to keep still. I wanted to know where Amy was. I didn’t give a damn about going to a hospital. Not if she was out there somewhere with Rick. If I’d gotten injured that could only mean that Rick got away.

  “Amy…” It probably didn’t even sound like her name out loud, but in my mind it came out right.

  I thought about Amy, forcing myself to focus on just her. I couldn’t give up hope.

  My body was in a battle with my mind. Although I tried to fight, I was playing a losing battle. My eyes became heavy again and I could feel myself losing control. Amy was the last thought I had before everything went to black.

  Chapter 31