Waiting, A Dangerous Game
Page 17
“You fucking whore!” Morris shouted at Shirley while in pain.
Shirley went over to Brenda to see if she was alright. As Shirley was walking towards Brenda, Morris kicked at Shirley’s ankle. Shirley fell hard onto the floor. Morris tried kicking Shirley in her face but he missed. Shirley forced herself to get up but her ankle was hurt.
“Brenda, get up! Get up and run.” Shirley yelled for Brenda. Brenda was lying on the floor semi conscious with blood dripping from her broken nose. Shirley finally got up and was limping towards Brenda. Just at the moment, Morris swung his leg at Shirley and caught her calf. Shirley fell onto the floor hard again. Morris got up onto his knees and went over to Shirley. He pulled at Shirley’s hair and knocked her head onto the floor. Blood splattered from the newly opened wound. Shirley used her elbow and gave a hard hit on Morris’s stomach but there was no effect on Morris. He slapped Shirley again and punched at Shirley’s kidneys. Shirley screamed from the excruciating pain.
“You asked for it. You are going to be sorry for this.” Morris gave Shirley another hard slap.
Shirley’s vision was getting dark. She felt that she was going to pass out from the pain. She found herself losing the strength to fight. As she tried to punch Morris, Morris grabbed hold of her hand and gave a hard punch on her bicep. Shirley felt as though her hand was paralysed.
“I’ve waited too long for this Shirley. You are not going to stop me.” As Morris was trying to overpower Shirley, he felt something hard hit the back of his head. He turned around and saw Brenda standing behind him with a metal pan in her hand. Brenda raised the metal pan to strike Morris again but Morris ducked at the right moment. Morris got up and gave Brenda a ferocious punch on her chin, Brenda collapsing unconscious to the floor.
The interference from Brenda allowed Shirley to regain her awareness. Shirley took the nearby chair and swung it at Morris, catching him on his head and neck. Morris went to his knees. Before he could stand up, Shirley yelled and smashed the chair at Morris again, the chair breaking at the impact. Morris fell to the floor, groaning and struggling to get up. Shirley limped over and kicked Morris on his face, the collision hurting her injured ankle further.
Shirley limped around the room, trying to find her revolver. She limped over to the bathtub and searched the area but she could not find her revolver anywhere. She had no idea where Morris kept it. Shirley looked over at Brenda and saw that Brenda was knocked out cold. Shirley knew she had to get help soon. She limped over to the bedroom door, trying to open it but the door was locked. Shirley pulled at the door, trying to break the lock.
Morris could barely stand up. Every time he tried to stand, he fell back due to the pain. He knew his head was badly hurt and he suspected his neck bone to be broken. He vomited blood and lay on his vomit. He looked around and saw Shirley trying to force open the door. He was determined not to let Shirley leave this place. The only way she was going to leave this place was being dead.
Morris got up to his feet with newly built rage. He breathed heavily and his eyes were red with wrath. He walked over to the door and wrapped Shirley’s neck with his arm. He started choking Shirley.
Shirley tried to resist and kicked out at Morris but she did not have the strength to do any major damage. Morris’s grip on her neck was getting stronger. Every time Shirley tried to breathe, she felt Morris’s arm inching further into her neck. Shirley used her hands to pull Morris’s arm away but she was too weak. Shirley felt her oxygen supply being cut away from her vital organs.
From then on, everything seems to move around her in slow motion. Shirley thought she has stated to hallucinate. Shirley saw the door swing open and she saw a figure standing at the doorway. The figure aimed his revolver at her. Shirley saw the laser pointer moving up from her feet to her forehead. Shirley heard a loud bang and she swore to herself that she saw the bullet flying towards her. Suddenly everything seemed to move fast as though someone pressed the fast forward button on a DVD player. Shirley felt Morris’s arm releasing away from her neck and she felt onto the floor. Shirley gasped for air and she felt oxygen rushing into her body. Shirley gasped a few more times before she felt her body being filled with oxygen. Shirley breathed a little easy and regained her composure. She looked around and saw Morris lying in a pool of blood. His eyes and mouth opened with his tongue hanging from his mouth. Shirley noticed the bullet entry mark on his forehead. Shirley closed her eyes and said a small prayer for Aisha.
Shirley looked up again and saw the figure at the doorway, standing beside her.
Shirley uttered the words, “You almost killed me, Rossi.”
CHAPTER SIXTY ONE
THE APARTMENT WAS FILLED WITH officers. Paramedics were attending to Brenda and they placed her on a stretcher. They injected some medicine and brought her out of the apartment.
The Forensics Team together with Gabriel placed Morris’s body into a black bag. They zipped up the black bag and carried it out of the apartment. Gabriel walked over to Shirley and patted her head. He smiled at Shirley and left the scene.
“How did you find out?” Shirley asked Rossi as paramedics attended to her wounds. The paramedics covered her with a thick blanket as she lied on the stretcher.
“That’s the least of your concern now Shirley. Get some rest. I will let you know when you have recovered.” Rossi replied her.
“No damn it! I need to know now. How did you find out?” Shirley tried to sit up on the stretcher but she immediately fell back in pain. The paramedics cautioned her to lie still on the stretcher.
Rossi looked at Shirley’s plight and gave her the details on his follow up to the three shops and how he did not manage to find any concrete leads. Rossi briefed Shirley on the explosion at the third shop.
“You think he had a hand in that?” Shirley asked Rossi.
“There is a high possibility that he had a hand in that Shirley. After talking to the officer at Arson Branch, I paid the Tysons a visit again. I went through Cambria’s room and found her diary. There was a picture of her and Morris and that’s how I managed to figure it out. When I called you and no one answered, I knew you were in trouble.” Rossi explained to Shirley.
“How did you notice the hidden cams in my apartment? I watched your movements at my apartment through the monitors and never once did I notice you looking in the direction of the cams.” Shirley pondered to Rossi.
“When I entered your apartment, I already noticed a suspected hidden cam in the living room. I took a cautious effort not to look up at the cam again. I also resisted the temptation to look for other hidden cams. I had a strong feeling that he might have been observing me.” Rossi explained.
“You were staring at the newspaper article framed on the wall for some time…”
“I was using the glass frame’s reflection to observe your bedroom. I noticed a suspected hidden cam at the corner of the ceiling. I pretended not to find anything in your apartment and left. The moment I left your apartment, I called up the Surveillance Department. I told them about the hidden cams and I wanted to know where the feeds were being broadcasted. At the same time, I called up Prateep, a university dropout who is a freelance hacker whom I knew from a previous case. I told him your address and within minutes, he told me that the feeds from the hidden cams were being broadcast to an apartment in the same building. Surveillance Department called me and confirmed the location as well. The rest, you already know.”
Shirley closed her eyes and took in the information from Rossi. Images of her Daddy, Aisha and Morris were running through her mind. Shirley opened her eyes and looked at Rossi.
“The Patrol guys never reported sighting the Mitsubishi as it belonged to Morris. Even if they noticed the Mitsubishi on the same night as the escape from the nightclub, they would not have suspected anything unusual as the car belonged to Morris. That’s why it was so easy for him.” Shirley realised.
“What is it?” Rossi asked.
“You almost killed me.” Shirley replied.
Rossi laughed out loud at what Shirley said before exiting the apartment.
EPILOGUE
A YEAR ON AFTER THAT TERRIBLE day, Brenda got herself a job as a marketing associate. She worked her socks off, trying to erase the frightful event in her life. She was always sceptical of any guys who became her clients. She never talked much to the male colleagues at her work place. She always kept herself in the company of her female colleagues. Her female colleagues, not knowing about the scar in Brenda’s life, always tried to hook her up with one of the male colleagues. They always got puzzled when Brenda rejected any idea of going out on a date.
Brenda will always use the train with her female colleagues after work. Each of them will stop at different stations. Brenda will alight at her destination station. From the station to her residence, it was only a mere five minutes walk. Brenda always uses the same route to go back home. As she was walking back home, she noticed a car with tinted windows parked at the corner of the street. Her mind started playing with her. Her senses were turning into a mess. She was re-living that dreadful day when Morris approached her. She kept on telling herself that Morris was waiting for her inside the car even though she had seen Morris being dead. Her legs became frozen. She could not move her muscles. Her eyes were only fixed on the car with the tinted windows. She was waiting for Morris to get out from the car at any moment, trying to do all the horrible things to her again. She started screaming her lungs out, passer-bys looking at her and wondering what has happened to her. She screamed again and ran hysterically as fast as her legs could go. Breathing heavily and sobbing at the same time, she over looked her shoulders to see if the car was following her. She still thought that Morris was going to get out of the car and chase her. She ran without stopping until she reached her residence. She entered her residence and activated the multiple locks of her entrance door. She ran to her couch and pushed the couch to her entrance door. She ran into her bedroom and locked the door shut. She went to her bed and covered herself fully with her blanket, hiding herself away from Morris.
After the terrible event, Shirley was posted to administrative work for six months. After the third day doing administrative work, Rossi called on her and told her to partner him on a new case. She was so grateful to Rossi for bringing her back to Crime Investigation Unit.
A year on after that terrible day, Shirley came back home from work after a tiring day. She went to her bed straight and fell on it. She was sleeping soundly, when she felt someone suffocating her with her pillow. She could not see who it was. She tried to push the person away but the person was too strong. She kicked out her arms and legs trying to free herself. She used all her strength and pushed her pillow away from her face. When she looked at the person trying to suffocate her, she realised that it was none other than Morris himself.
“No!” Shirley woke up panic-stricken. She looked around to see where Morris was but she could not find him at all. She was breathing heavily and she reached for her revolver, aiming it at different places, trying to locate where Morris was.
“Uncle Rossi, come over here. I need your muscles for this one.” Yusoff called out to Rossi.
A year on after that terrible day, Rossi was promoted to Deputy Head Investigations. Though Rossi was the Deputy Head Investigations, he still took cases together with Shirley. Rossi let Shirley run the show most of the time and he took a back step. He knew that Shirley had improved a lot and he just guided her along when she got stuck. Rossi could not see himself being out from the streets.
“Uncle Rossi, quick, the line is going to snap.” Yusoff called out to Rossi again.
Rossi got up from his nap and went to help Yusoff. He took the fishing rod from Yusoff.
“What’s the matter big guy? The fish is too strong for you?” Rossi asked Yusoff.
“Not really. I just couldn’t bear to see you sleeping while I am fishing. So I decided that you need to catch this one.” Yusoff answered Rossi.
After Aisha died, Rossi paid for Yusoff’s studies and catered for his needs. Rossi took care of Yusoff and became his guardian. Yusoff moved in with Rossi. Every Sundays, Rossi brought Yusoff to Islamic classes in the morning and will wait for Yusoff until the classes were over. Once the classes were over, Rossi and Yusoff will go out and spend time together.
Rossi smiled and looked at Yusoff. He is getting smarter by the day. Rossi thought to himself. Rossi felt a pull from his fishing rod. He knew a fish had taken the bait. Without much struggle, Rossi fished out the fish.