Fatal Vendetta

by Sharon Dunn

  An older woman with bright blue eyes poked her head past the curtain. “Elizabeth?”

  She nodded.

  The nurse stepped into the room and studied Elizabeth for a moment. “At the very least you have lots of cuts and bruises that we need to deal with.”

  She was grateful that the nurse seemed like a kind grandmother. The exam went quickly, and Elizabeth got dressed and found the admit desk to fill out her paperwork. While the clerk waited for documents to print, she looked around for Zach. Certainly, he wouldn’t have left without her.

  “Here you go.” The clerk shoved several pages toward her.

  She read them in a cursory way before signing them.

  Zach’s voice filled the air around her. “Are you about ready to go?”

  She nodded, feeling dizzy when he was so close. She reached out and brushed her hand over his forearm. “Two minutes.”

  She turned back to finish with the paperwork. He stood close to her. She’d let him into her life further than any man other than her father in the past ten years. Despite how wonderful she felt around him, how safe, she knew there were still walls. Her reaction to the male nurse revealed that. Fear lingered in the back of her mind, and she wondered if marriage would ever be a possibility for her. As wonderful as these feelings were, maybe it wasn’t right to lead Zach on.

  Zach pointed toward the main entrance of the ER. “There are a couple of news crews outside.”

  She let out a huff of air. “I never intended to have this kind of attention focused on me.”

  “We can get out over by the laundry facilities. One of my EMT buddies loaned me his car so I can take you home.”

  They hurried through the hospital and out into a back parking lot. Zach pulled the keys from his pocket, and she got into the passenger side. “I checked on Kenny’s status. He’s still unconscious.”

  They were five minutes from her house when she finally found the courage to speak up. “I have reason to believe that Kenny was not working alone. I think someone sent him after me.”

  “Why would he have to be sent? The police told me they found recordings of your newscasts in his trailer. There was footage of him in a crowd at a news story you covered. He was an obsessed fan—it’s as simple as that.”

  “Here’s one complication—I heard him talking to someone on the phone when I was in that trailer. They were discussing me, and the person on the other end seemed to be giving Kenny orders. It makes sense that Kenny couldn’t have been the one orchestrating all of this. You saw his mental state. He must have had help.”

  Zach shrugged. “We’ll let the police know.” He parked the car by her house and turned to face her. He reached out to touch her cheek. “We’ve got to get on with our lives.”

  His expression softened. The nuance of affection his words carried cut her to the core. He thought they had a future together. She wanted that more than anything. And she certainly didn’t want to hurt this kind, brave man. Deep down, though, she knew her damage would make it hard to move forward in the relationship.

  “You don’t believe me about Kenny having help?”

  He gripped the steering wheel. His jaw hardened. “I want to believe this is over for you.” Pain filled his voice. “You’ve been through enough.”

  “Maybe when Kenny regains consciousness, he’ll talk.” She could feel the wedge being driven between them. This wasn’t just about Kenny. She pushed open the car door.

  He got out and met her on the sidewalk. His hand touched her elbow. “Maybe we can have dinner later.”

  She turned to look at him. He must have seen something in her face because his expression changed.

  “Or maybe not,” he said.

  “You’re...beyond special to me. But I just can’t be in a relationship. I don’t think I can ever be married and that would be the reason for us to date.”

  He lifted his hand, palm facing her. She leaned toward him, signaling that it was okay for him to touch her. His hand rested softly on her cheek. “I understand. You’ll always be my friend.” Pain and disappointment saturated his words.

  She took a step back, feeling as though she might fall apart. She stood on the sidewalk watching him get into his borrowed car and drive away. She touched her cheek where his hand had been. She watched as he turned a corner and disappeared. Her heart was heavy as she made her way up the sidewalk and back into her house. Back to her old life of putting all her energy into her job.

  Once inside, she shut the door and collapsed on the floor, weeping over all that had been stolen from her.

  She sat up, leaned her back against the couch, wiped her eyes and stared out the window. She had a more immediate threat to think about. Kenny had had help. That much she knew. This was not over yet.

  SIXTEEN

  Elizabeth stared at the text from Dale.

  Possible fire at the old sugar beet factory. Meet me there in twenty.

  She grabbed her bag that contained everything she needed to cover a story and headed out the door.

  She slipped behind the wheel and took in a breath. The first exciting-sounding story since she’d told Zach three days ago there could never be an “us” for them. She hadn’t seen him since. Maybe he’d been staying away from the fluffy stories on purpose.

  Even the thought that she’d hurt him made it feel like someone had punched her in the stomach. She started the car. Then pulled her phone out to text Zach.

  Before they had been competitors. Now they were friends. In the past, she would have relished getting the scoop on him. Now she wanted to help him.

  She clicked on the letters on the tiny screen.

  Possible fire at the sugar beet factory. Headed there now. Telling you this as a friend.

  She tossed her phone back in the bag and pulled away from the curb. She missed him as a friend and someone who understood the crazy business they were in. If he showed up, maybe it would indicate he was ready to resume their friendship.

  She drove out of town past flat, rolling fields of grain. The sugar beet factory hadn’t been operable for years though there was probably plenty there that could catch on fire.

  She felt a moment of fear at the memory of the last fire she’d covered, but pushed past it with the reminder that there had been no attacks against her since Kenny Davis had been caught.

  Kenny had regained consciousness, but between the mental illness and the medication not much of what he said made sense. They had learned that the truck he’d driven was a recent purchase and way out of his price range. Maybe that was an indication that he was working for someone. But whoever it was didn’t seem to want to confront her in person, so she should be safe. Mostly.

  The sugar beet factory came into view. She drove through the security gate, broken years before by teenagers who came out here to party. She brought her car to a stop as the hairs on the back of her head stood on end. No fire truck. No police. No other news teams. No Dale. She never beat the first responders to a story. What was going on here?

  She opened her door and studied the abandoned buildings. Then she saw it. Flames shooting out of the second story of one of the buildings. She heard shouting inside.

  “Help me! Help me!”

  Elizabeth bolted up the stairs. The flames spread across the floor and shot out the window but had not consumed the entire building. “Is somebody in here?”

  She heard the voice again coming from the room behind the one that was on fire.

  “Help me, please. I can’t move!”

  She grabbed a welder’s coat that was hanging on the wall and beat back the flames enough so she could get through. She ran toward the closed door. When she jiggled the handle, it didn’t budge.

  “I’m coming in there.” She turned sideways and slammed her hip against the aging door. It burst open. The room con
tained debris, empty beer and pop cans. There wasn’t a person in sight.

  Her heart hammered in her chest as she walked across the worn wooden floorboards and picked up the tape recorder sitting on the floor.

  A voice played through the speakers. “Help me! Help me! Help me, please. I can’t move!”

  All the air left her lungs. She turned to escape the tiny room, but the path was full of growing flames. She slammed the door shut and ran toward a broken window, jumping out to land on the tires and other pieces of equipment that were stacked below.

  She sprinted back toward where she’d left her car,

  What sort of sick game was going on here? Kenny was locked away. Was this someone playing a joke or was this the person who’d been assisting Kenny?

  Elizabeth heard footsteps behind her. When she looked over her shoulder, a man wearing a ski mask was twenty paces behind her. She ran faster.

  He gained on her. His hand clamped her shoulder and yanked her back. The man was the same build as Neil Thompson.

  She swung around and kicked him hard in the shin. He bent over, but recovered and lunged at her, only tightening his grip when she struggled. He dragged her back to her car. When the man tried to shove her in the backseat, she started hitting him over and over and then reached up to pull off his mask. The move seemed to infuriate him. His fist slammed into the side of her head and then punched her hard in the gut several times.

  With the wind knocked out of her, she was helpless to respond. He lifted her up and shoved her in the backseat as she wheezed and gasped for air. He got into the driver’s seat and sped out of the factory grounds. The back tires spat gravel as he drove at a dangerous speed.

  After a few minutes, she was able to take in a breath. She sat up. “Neil, you can’t really want to do this. It’s only a job.”

  The man didn’t respond.

  “I know who you are.” Again she reached for his mask.

  He slammed on the brakes in the middle of the country road. While he was getting out, she pushed open the door opposite him. As soon as her feet hit the dirt of the road, she dashed off toward the open field.

  He ran after her.

  She sprinted, increasing her stride. Her legs burned from the effort. The man lunged at her and took her down to the ground. The two wrestled. She twisted free and landed a hard blow to his face. She tried to crawl away on all fours but he grabbed her ankle and dragged her back.

  She sat up and reached for his mask again, clawed at it as he angled to get away. All the strength and every ounce of fight left her body when she saw who her attacker was.

  Craig Miller, the man who had ruined her life ten years ago.

  She struggled to take in a breath.

  His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Elizabeth, now you’ve gone and ruined everything.”

  She was like a rag doll as he dragged her back to the car. She thought she might faint. Against this man, she had no fight in her.

  * * *

  Zach stared at Elizabeth’s text for only a moment before he knew something was wrong. He would have heard from the first responders if there was a fire anywhere. This had to be a trap. He tried to call her, but there was no answer. The text had come in ten minutes earlier, while he’d been in the shower—was he already too late?

  He jumped in his car and drove out to the sugar beet factory pushing it to high speeds on the two-lane. He’d just heard the news from his cop friend that Kenny Davis had been released from custody on some technicality. The turn of events was so recent that Elizabeth probably hadn’t been contacted yet.

  Though Zach had meant it when he said he would always be her friend, he’d been avoiding Elizabeth, not going to the stories where he expected to run into her or waiting until he knew she was gone. They would be friends again, but right now seeing her was just too painful.

  If she was in trouble though, he needed to get to her. He would always love her even if she couldn’t love him back. As he approached the sugar beet factory, he saw Elizabeth’s little red compact car pulling out. He sped after her, flashing his lights on and off to get her attention. She only increased her speed.

  He pressed the accelerator. Maybe then she’d notice him. Her car increased speed, as well. He edged close enough to see that it was man, not Elizabeth, who was driving.

  He stayed close to the car, not bothering to reach for his phone. He could not lose the precious minutes it would take to call for help or risk not being able to maintain a tail.

  They drove for miles. Though he could keep the compact car in his sight, he couldn’t overtake it on the winding road.

  A thought plagued him that maybe Elizabeth wasn’t even in the car. Maybe she was back at the sugar beet factory fighting for her life.

  The road straightened out, and he took the opportunity to zoom up beside the car. The man behind the wheel was not Kenny. He looked menacing as he glanced in Zach’s direction. He jerked the wheel, clipping Zach’s car.

  Zach’s car swerved off onto a shoulder, but he responded by increasing speed, getting in front of the other car and then slowing down. The little red car sped around him. The sign indicated that the road was about to get curvy again.

  The right lane bordered open fields while the left had a slight drop-off. He dared not risk trying to come alongside the car and be run off the road.

  All he could do was stay on the guy’s bumper and hope he ran out of gas before Zach did.

  The guy slammed the brakes on suddenly. Zach rear-ended him. Metal crunched. His body jerked forward. The air bag deployed, and he was flung back. Zach took a moment to reorient himself.

  His door flung open and hands grabbed him, pulling him out. Zach glanced at the backseat of Elizabeth’s car. She lay motionless in the backseat. The momentary distraction gave the man opportunity to punch Zach in the stomach. Zach doubled over and fought for air. The man landed a karate chop to the nerve between his neck and shoulder. His body vibrated with pain.

  Zach planted his feet and prepared to fight his opponent, despite the pain and the dizziness. He shot his fist across the man’s jaw even as he felt himself getting weaker and struggling for air. All the same, he landed blow after blow on the man’s body until the man backed off.

  He would do whatever it took to help Elizabeth. He changed his strategy and marched toward the car, prepared to drive away with Elizabeth. He swung the car door open. The keys were still in the ignition.

  The man had recovered and lunged toward the door, which Zach hadn’t closed in his rush to start the engine.

  The man leaned in as the car gained speed and twisted the keys free. As soon as the car came to a stop, he pulled Zach out of the seat and kicked him.

  Zach fought back, but the other man overpowered him, driving him to the ground. The man grabbed Zach’s cell phone out of his pocket and threw it.

  “Get up.” The man flicked open the trunk of the crumpled back end of the car.

  Zach dragged himself to his feet even as black dots filled his vision. The man grabbed him. Zach felt himself slip in and out of consciousness as the man pushed him into the trunk of the car.

  * * *

  Elizabeth came to in a dark room. Her hands were tied behind her, and she was lying on her side. Something about where she was felt and smelled familiar, but it took her a moment to figure out where she was. Her breath caught and her heart fluttered.

  She was back inside the main room of Kenny Davis’s trailer. Craig must have been paying Kenny to torment her. That explained some of the mixed messages. Kenny’s obsession with her made him the perfect candidate. But why had Craig come back to torment her after all these years?

  She shuddered. Seeing Craig again had set her back ten years, just when she was starting to feel stronger.

  She pushed herself up into a sitting position. Only her hands we
re bound. She walked over to the little kitchen area. Bending at the waist, she pulled open a drawer with her teeth and then backed up to it in an attempt to retrieve a knife. Her fingers touched cold metal, but when she felt the object, it was clearly a spoon. She tried again. This time, the sharp blade of a knife grazed her finger. She worked it into her hands with care and then sawed at the rope around her wrists.

  Outside the trailer, she heard someone moving around. All the curtains were closed but she caught a flash image of Craig as he passed by. Even glimpsing him made her insides turn to wax.

  She couldn’t tell what he was doing other than making noise and banging against the flimsy walls of the trailer.

  Feeling a sense of urgency, she sawed back and forth until the rope had a little give in it, and she was able to twist free. She pulled back the curtain. Craig had skirted around the trailer. She couldn’t see clearly, but he had something in his hand that he set down on the ground.

  When she tried the door to the trailer, it was locked. The windows were too small to crawl through. She peered outside again and gasped as flames licked the sides of the trailer. Craig had been spreading gasoline around the base of it.

  Panic shot through her as she ran into the little room where Kenny had kept her. Maybe that window would be big enough to escape through. A body lay on the bed. At first she thought the man was dead until she saw his chest expand.

  She rolled him over on his back. Zach. He must have figured something out from the text she’d sent him and come after her. She shook him and called him name. He was unresponsive.

  “Oh, Zach, please. Wake up.” He didn’t move, and she realized that finding a way out for both of them had to be her priority. She could drag him through the window if she had to—but first, she needed to get it open.

  She searched around for some sort of tool to detach the plywood. She ran back to the kitchen and found a heavy-duty spoon that she used as a lever between the board and the wall. After sliding the window open, she managed to tear the plywood free just as the trailer filled with smoke. She coughed, then tried again to wake Zach.