Enlightened Love

by Shara Lanel

  “Knock then.” Kerry clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. Goose bumps crawled up her arms and she felt slightly nauseous at the thought of seeing Jason again. Maybe she was wrong in her assumption that he would find killing the others too messy. Maybe he would shoot her as soon as she walked through the door, then kill the rest of them.

  She grabbed Rick’s arm and pulled him back from the door. “I think you should come in through the back—there’s a back door, right?”

  “Yes, most likely locked.”

  “Well, go by the window then. Wait ‘til you hear me knock—I’ll knock loud—then get inside whatever way you can, though quieter would be better. I’ll be the distraction that will hopefully give you time to get Evan and Lydia out.” She took a deep breath. “Okay?”

  Rick’s gaze seared her as if he suspected what she was about, but then he nodded and moved like a cat around the corner of the building. Kerry waited a few heartbeats, then went to the door and banged.

  When it opened, Kerry felt the overwhelming urge to puke all over Jason’s Armani suit. He looked exactly the same—tanned, blond, perfect. Not so much as a hair out of place.

  “Ah, my love, I’ve found you at last.” He reached for her and Kerry fought the urge to back away. She let him take her arm and guide her inside. Rodriguez guarded the back door, and Stephan stood sentry near Evan and Lydia who sat on a shabby couch. She couldn’t tell if they were bound in any way, but the two goons held their guns at the ready. She expected Rick to break in at any moment, but perhaps he was waiting for her to speak.

  She cleared her throat, then plastered on a smile. “Jason, darling. I’ve missed you so.” Someone gasped behind her as she flung her arms about Jason’s neck.

  Jason backed up a step as breaking glass signaled Rick’s entry. He recovered quickly, pulling his gun and placing it against Kerry’s temple, but Rick had already knocked the guns from his men’s hands with two well-placed kicks. He yanked Lydia to her feet and basically shoved her out the window. Evan grabbed up one of the guns and aimed it at Jason, but he’d pulled Kerry in front of him like a shield. Rick circle kicked, knocking Rodriguez on his ass. Then Stephan charged, but Rick performed a laser-fast one-two punch that sent the man sailing to the wall and sliding to the floor unconscious.

  “Let her go,” Rick said, advancing on Jason.

  “Get away or I’ll kill her.”

  “That’s your plan anyway, isn’t it?” Rick’s voice sounded cold.

  Kerry giggled, which brought all eyes to her. “I’m afraid there’s been a terrible misunderstanding.” She snuggled her back against Jason, fighting the bile in her throat. “This is my fiancé.” She turned in Jason’s arms to face him. “Right, honey? You’re going to take me home. I miss my father so.”

  Jason looked down at her and pressed the gun even tighter to her forehead. “Oh, yes, I’m taking you home … sweetheart.”

  “Kerry, what are you doing?” Rick’s voice was a loud growl. He maintained a fighting stance with one foot forward and both fists raised.

  “Evan, tell your cousin that this is my fiancé.” She saw Evan’s eyebrows raise. Then he gave a slight nod. “Come on, Rick,” he said, “seems like she wants to go.”

  “She does not!”

  Jason lowered the gun to rest against Kerry’s hip. “Come, come, dear fellow. You have lost. Kerry is coming home with me and you and your cousin may return to your own peaceful lives.”

  Rick seemed about to lunge.

  Jason tsk-tsked. “I’ll shoot her. Gut shots are very painful, I hear.” He kept his eyes on Rick, but his free hand that had been wrapped around Kerry’s waist now drifted higher until it covered her breast. He pressed himself forward until Kerry felt his hard-on against her back.

  She nearly choked. Her eyes stung, but she kept the tears from falling. “I want to go, Rick,” she said softly, knowing that Rick intended to fight even at the risk of getting shot. It didn’t matter what Jason would do to her. She had to get Rick to give up and walk away. Only he mattered.

  “You do not.” Rick’s stance now seemed rigid; the knuckles of his fists were white.

  “I do.” Kerry heard the plea in her voice. “Jason and I will be married and I will see my family again. That’s what I want.”

  Evan reached out and grabbed Rick’s arm. “You heard her. Let her go.”

  “Coward.”

  *

  Evan felt Rick’s admonition like a physical blow, but Kerry was making her decision. She’d entered their lives and wreaked havoc. They were better off without her and this was her choice. Evan recognized it as the sacrifice it was. He did wonder what would happen to her, but it was safer for all of them to get Rick to concede defeat and let Kerry go. Perhaps he was a coward. All he knew was that if he used his rifle and fired a shot it would likely hit Kerry, and if Rick attacked, he would likely die. The men on the floor were already coming around, so now they were outnumbered again, and he didn’t know for sure if Lydia was all right. Keeping his grip on Rick’s arm, he spoke to Sentron. “Take her. We won’t stop you.”

  Sentron nodded. Once Rodriguez and Stephan had regained their feet, he said, “Come along boys. It’s time to return to sunny California.” He shoved Kerry towards the doorway. “After you, my love.”

  “You bastard.” Rick lunged at Sentron’s back just as Kerry stepped out the door. Before Evan could stop it, a shot was fired, directly at Rick.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Rick!” Kerry screamed. She tried to push her way back into the office, but Jason blocked her path.

  “No, my love, it’s time we go home.” His grip was painful on her arm and the gun gouged her waist. He shoved her down the step towards the rental car.

  “Rick! Rick!” Kerry yelled and wept even as Jason shoved her into the back seat and got in after her. His bullies climbed into the front. The engine roared and the car lurched forward then screeched around the street corner.

  Was Rick alive? She’d witnessed his body falling, but she hadn’t seen the wound. She had put herself at Jason’s mercy and Rick may have died anyway. She squeezed her eyes tight. He might be dead. Oh, God!

  Jason’s hand touched her cheek. “Darling, you look positively dreadful.” That same hand trailed down her neck to her chest. It rubbed her breast and squeezed. With his gun hand, he lifted her shirt, uncovering her plain white bra. The processed air sent goose bumps over her skin. He released the front clasp, revealing Kerry’s nipple. She closed her eyes and bit her tongue, using the pain against the fear as he pinched her nipple until it peaked. Not again. She breathed deeply, trying to fight panic and nauseating sense of déjà vu. She was going to be raped in this car while two other men watched and while the man she loved lay bleeding, possibly dying, in Evan’s office.

  Oh, God. Rick.

  She tried to think. She assumed that the car barreled towards the airport. Once there she could attract security’s attention with her lack of ID and disheveled dress. But how could she save herself here and now?

  The touch of cold metal against her bare stomach caused her to open her eyes. Jason ran the gun along her stomach to the top of her pants, then to her crotch. He pushed her thighs wide, then rubbed the gun barrel against her sex.

  “Would you like this gun to make love to you, my sweet Kerry?”

  Kerry gagged on bile and blinked back tears. She wanted to scream, but knew no one who cared would hear.

  “Rodriguez, pull into that motel up ahead. My fiancée and I need some private time to get reacquainted.”

  Rodriguez smirked at the rearview mirror. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  * * * *

  A mound of bloodied towels blocked Rick’s vision. He lay on his stomach on the hard floor of Evan’s office, and when he tried to rise he discovered that he couldn’t move.

  “Hold still. The rescue squad will be here soon.” It was Lydia’s voice. In fact, Lydia seemed to be sitting on him, pressing his shoulder into the floor. He
imagined this is how he would feel if a horse stood on him. Again, he tried to move. “Rick, you’re still bleeding. I have to keep pressure on it.”

  Bleeding? It all came back to him then. Jason. Kerry. A gun held on her. He must have blacked out. One minute he’d felt his chin thud against the hard floor, the next he found Lydia sitting on him. A jump cut, very disconcerting.

  “Where’s Evan?” He discovered his throat was dry and his tongue cottony.

  “He’s out front waiting for the police. I think he’s chain smoking again, too. I haven’t seen him do that in years.”

  Rick had never seen his cousin smoke. A throbbing in his forehead caused his right eye to twitch. “And Kerry?”

  Lydia pressed harder against his shoulder. “Gone.”

  He remembered now. She’d left with Sentron. Rick squeezed his eyes shut. Behind his lids he saw Inela lying on the dirt floor of her home surrounded by her own blood. Then he saw his parents’ twisted bodies inside that ditch. But the most painful image of all was Kerry’s sexy smile after a bout of lovemaking. “I failed. I promised I would protect her.”

  “Rick, you did everything you could.” Lydia lifted the towel from his shoulder, then touched the wound with her fingers. “The bleeding’s finally stopped. I think you’ll live.” She slid off of him and stood to peek out the window. “Looks like the cavalry has arrived.” Flashing lights bounced across the white office walls.

  Rick stood shakily and glanced out the window, noting that the sky had lightened to gray, though the sun was still hidden. This would take too long; they would be too late. He pulled out the top drawer of Evan’s desk. It was full of paper clips, rubber bands, pens and keys of every size. Rick scooped up the set with the lock remote. He glanced at Lydia, who was still staring out the window. “Why don’t you go out to him? I’m fine.”

  Lydia glanced his way. “Okay. I’m sure they’ll want to talk to us next.”

  “You go on. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  The bell jingled as Lydia left the office. Rick wasted no time. He slipped through the back door and darted the short distance to Evan’s Land Rover. The lock chirped as he used the remote to open the doors, but no one noticed as the ambulance siren faded out and Evan directed the paramedics towards the office. Rick turned the key in the ignition and pressed the gas. The SUV bounded down the back alleyway and out onto the street.

  Listening for sirens, Rick drove away from the crowd. A few streets over, he realized no one had followed him, so he gunned it. He had no idea where they had gone, but logic told him the airport, so he would head east through downtown and pray that he wasn’t too late.

  * * * *

  Kerry’s mind kept replaying the mental tape of Rick being shot, then for variety it would throw in scenes of Jason in their living room ringing a woman’s neck. They sat in the still car waiting for Rodriguez to procure a couple of rooms. Jason held Kerry’s arm in a vise-like grip, sure to leave bruises. She knew she needed to get away, but she was having problems thinking straight with these horrible images repeating in her head. She felt almost numb. Almost, but not quite. A bit of anger hid in the corner of her soul. As Jason continued to grip her arm and make lewd comments in her ears, the anger grew. Warmth replaced the cold clamminess in her arms and hands. Soon, her face flushed. She felt hot as she remembered yet again Jason firing his gun. She supposed she’d been angry all along, but it had never felt like this before. In the past, the hot anger had been pressed down by her fear. Fear had ruled all of her actions, but now she couldn’t stop thinking about all that Jason had taken from her life—her family, her identity, her home, and now Rick. And that was the one thing she could not forgive. She didn’t know if Rick was dead, and the not-knowing was pure torture. She didn’t want to believe it.

  Rodriguez stepped out of the motel office, tossing keys into the air as he walked. Think, Kerry, think! Even if Rick were able to play hero, he wouldn’t reach her in time if Jason got her into that room. For a moment, she felt unreasonable resentment knowing Rick had not kept his promise, had not protected her, but that faded quickly. She’d started to think of him as her Superman, but he was a mere mortal pitted against pure evil. An unfair fight from the outset.

  Rodriguez opened the back door and handed Jason a key. Jason stepped to the ground, then tugged Kerry out of the car after him.

  He allowed his goons to go to the rooms first to unlock the doors. His gun was no longer pointed at her, Kerry realized. He had stuck it back in his waistband, apparently confident that she was cowed enough to go without a fight. No way. She let her body go limp, and, as she did so, she started to scream.

  “What are you doing?” Jason asked. He swung his hand back as if to slap her but something distracted him. Instead, he tightened his grip, digging his fingernails into her arm, but by now Kerry was sitting on the ground. He pulled her a foot through the gravel, but then stopped again, looking towards the motel. Kerry followed his gaze, but still screamed without pausing for breath. She noted that the office attendant stood at the door plus several curtains were pulled back so that curious spectators could peek out from their rooms.

  Had anyone called 9-1-1? Was anyone going to help her or at least ask what was going on? Jason dragged her another foot and her mind raced with fear at the idea no one would rescue her. They would all just watch as she was dragged into a hotel room and murdered.

  * * * *

  Rick scanned both sides of the road for any sign of Sentron’s rented car. Was he even on the right road? He pounded the steering wheel, then pressed harder on the gas pedal, squealing around a slight bend in the road. He ignored the stickiness on his shoulder and refused to think about the amount of blood he had lost. None of that mattered until Kerry was safe.

  There was a motel up ahead. Should he stop and call Evan, he wondered. See what the police were doing? He slowed as he drew near the tacky pink motel sign, still debating whether he should take the time to call, but that would give Sentron more time to escape for good. No, he should keep going. Evan and Lydia would have told the police everything.

  As he drove past the motel’s large gravel lot, he noticed a commotion towards the back. Several people stood watching. It seemed like someone was being dragged across the lot screaming. His heart kicked into his throat as recognition set in.

  Kerry.

  The truck flew into reverse, skidding across the gravel. He shifted forward again and aimed right towards the combatants. Rick finally recognized Sentron’s men. They were walking back towards Jason, slowly though, as if they didn’t want to attract any more attention, but Kerry was doing enough of that all on her own.

  *

  For Kerry the scene played out in slow motion. She noticed the truck with her peripheral vision, noticed it seemed to be coming straight at them. Unable to see the driver, she focused on the grill and tried to ignore the ripping sensation on her scalp where Jason held her by the hair. She’d dug her feet and hands into the dirt to create as much drag as possible, but that wouldn’t slow him down for much longer. Why hadn’t the police arrived?

  Now the truck was practically on top of them. In a moment, she would be face to face with the license plate. Before that moment could come, the truck veered to the left and skidded to a halt in front of Rodriguez. The driver side door opened and Rick jumped out.

  Hope welled up inside her. Oh, God, was it really him or was she hallucinating?

  As he stalked closer, Kerry could clearly see the large rust stain across his shoulder. Without hesitation, he faced Jason and punched him twice. Her eyes watered at the sudden cessation of pain as Jason let go of her hair. She felt relief until she saw him draw his gun.

  Not again! She couldn’t watch Rick get shot again. But even before she’d completed that thought, Rick whirled around and kicked Jason’s forearm. Kerry fell the few remaining inches to the dirt as Jason let go of her arm, howling in pain. She scrambled backwards out of reach as fast as possible. Jason still held his gun in front of him, but i
t was no longer aimed correctly, as he looked over his shoulder to locate Kerry.

  The hesitation cost him. Rick dived under the gun and hit Jason in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. He grabbed Jason’s wrist and banged it against the gravel until he lost his grip on the gun. Rick struggled to keep Jason prone as he tossed the gun in Kerry’s direction.

  Kerry and several onlookers watched, waiting for the explosion, as it bounced against the ground. It didn’t fire.

  Muted sirens could be heard in the distance. Kerry wept gratefully. Rick would pulverize Jason and the police would be here to lock her ex-fiancé up.

  A movement drew Kerry’s attention. To her left, Rodriguez walked almost casually around the nose of the truck. The hand in his pocket no doubt gripped a gun, but he was hesitant to reveal it in front of so many witnesses. However he was watching the struggle between Rick and his boss intently and sidling closer.

  Kerry scooped up Jason’s gun and stood, pointing the gun at Rodriguez and Stephan. “Stop right there!” She had no idea how to shoot the gun, but that didn’t seem to matter. Rodriguez had stopped walking and his eyes held hers as if to gauge her seriousness.

  The men on the ground continued to wrestle, rolling closer to the bystanders. Kerry’s hand shook. The gun was heavy. Where the hell were the police?

  Finally, sirens pierced the air, followed by flashing lights, followed by two police cars. They parked just a few feet behind Kerry. Kerry continued to face Rodriguez, afraid of what he would do if she glanced away.

  “Put the gun down, ma’am.” The voice seemed unnaturally loud.

  Kerry turned her head slightly. “That man has a gun, too.”

  “We’ve got him in our sights, but we can’t move until you put the gun down and step away from it.”

  Kerry glanced at Rick. That fight had been decided. Rick sat atop Jason, pulling his arm behind his back with one hand while the other dug his face into the ground.