Unbroken

by Natalie Debrabandere

  “We don’t really know if she might still be suffering from a personality disorder, we don’t know what triggered all this. My bet is that Mike wanted none of it, and it made her angry. All I can tell you Kristan is that she is behind everything that has been happening to you recently. And we found her prints all over the car that was involved in your crash.”

  Kristan punched the dashboard so hard it brought tears to her eyes.

  “She must have got to Liz somehow,” she said, her voice breaking. “Liz was seen leaving with a woman. A blonde woman. Did your officers pick her up?”

  “No, they were busy keeping an eye on you,” Omaru stated, and this time Kristan felt a little bit sick.

  “Where is she going?” she whispered. “Where…”

  “I’ve got an inkling she’s aiming for some kind of a confrontation now,” Omaru said. “With you. So I figure…”

  “My house,” Kristan exclaimed. “She’s going to my house.”

  “Okay, don’t…”

  “If she hurt Liz I will kill her, Omaru,” Kristan interrupted, “so you’d

  better get there fast.”

  “Kristan, wait…”

  But Kristan did not wait for him to finish, and she floored it. The Porsche’s hard tyres spinned wildly for a second and then found precious grip, and the car shot forward. Kristan was doing eighty when she passed the city limit sign, and as she flew past Omaru’s car coming the other way she was so focused she did not even see it.

  “Damn it!” the man exclaimed, and he swung his car around and got on his police radio.

  Chapter 20

  Liz had been listening out intently for the Porsche and its characteristic sound, and she knew the very second that Kristan arrived back at the house. She tensed when she heard the car door slam shut, and a second later her eyes filled with tears when she heard Kristan calling out for her. Her heart hammered in her chest as the woman who stood in the middle of the room holding the gun grimaced a horrible smile and looked up expectantly. She even licked her lips.

  Liz had no idea who she was, and it did not matter. She understood now that it had not been her ex-husband trying to scare her, and Pam might be jealous of her and struggling to come to terms with their new relationship and Mike’s death, but she was no psycho. On the other hand, this woman, who had tricked her into getting in her car with her, acted and sounded seriously unbalanced. She was chain smoking and dropping half-smoked cigarettes onto Kristan’s beautiful floor.

  Liz hated her with every fiber of her being.

  It had all started with a phone call out of the blue, and someone saying that Kristan had been knocked off her bike on her way back to the house. The helpful stranger had offered her a ride home, saying that Kristan was waiting for her there, but then as soon as Liz had climbed into her car she had pulled a gun on her.

  Now Liz knew that her lover was there. She was close, she was coming for her. And she started to feel sick when she realised that it was exactly what this woman had been planning all along. She heard Kristan as she burst in through the front door, shouting her name again and mindless of the danger that might be waiting for her.

  Liz remembered their conversation that day in the car, about Kristan’s tendency to react first and think later.

  I promise I’ll do something about it.

  Kristan had promised, and yet there she was now, running straight into the arms of a woman who wanted to hurt her and probably even kill her. And the worst thing about it was that Liz knew it was all her fault. It was because of her that Kristan was going to put herself in harm’s way, and Liz hated herself for being so stupid and believing a total stranger.

  “Fucking hurry up!” Melissa yelled as she stared down toward the hallway.

  Kristan walked in a second later, breathing hard, her cheeks flushed and her ice blue eyes burning.

  She spotted Liz immediately and headed straight for the couch where Melissa had ordered her to sit, but the woman stepped forward in front of her and pointed the gun at her head.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “No!” Liz screamed, jumping to her feet.

  “It’s okay,” Kristan said calmly.

  She raised her hands up in a peaceful manner, just as she came to a stop as close to her lover as she could.

  “It’s okay, Mel.”

  She could barely recognize her.

  Mel had always been pretty, and she was always smiling when she worked at the Holiday Park. The woman she was looking at now looked older, harder, her clothes were dirty, and she looked nothing like the cute kayak instructor that Kristan knew. She had dark circles under her eyes, she looked angry, and the gun she was pointing at her head looked suspiciously like a Glock, and not a weapon to be underestimated.

  Kristan glanced at her partner and she was glad to see that apart from a busted lip she appeared to be okay. Pale, terrified, but okay. Kristan tried very hard to ignore the fact that Mel had hit her. She put that thought and the anger that came with it out of her mind because she could not afford to lose control.

  She focused on Liz instead.

  “Are you all right doc?” she asked, using the familiar nickname she knew her partner liked.

  She took her eyes off Mel again for a bit longer, long enough to meet Liz’s gaze and send a silent reassuring look her way.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” Liz replied in a trembling voice.

  There was something in Kristan’s voice that was so incredibly calming, and her eyes were so tender and full of love that it helped her to forget about their situation, if only for a second. She forced herself to smile, because she loved Kristan so much and because she was convinced that she was going to lose her.

  “Are you okay…” she started.

  “Just shut up,” Melissa muttered, interrupting her. And then she shouted, “Shut the fuck up, both of you!”

  Kristan tensed. She shook her head a little, but she remained silent. She waited a couple of minutes, watching as Melissa paced and smoked in front of them. When the woman glanced at her again Kristan held her gaze.

  “What are you doing, Mel?” she murmured. “What is going on with you?”

  Melissa glared at her and she stopped pacing.

  Before Kristan could react she took a step forward and punched her in the face.

  “It’s all your fault!” she screamed.

  Kristan doubled over and tasted blood in her mouth, and she glanced quickly toward Liz again, silently signaling for her not to move. Mel had turned her back on them and she was now facing the back window. Unfortunately Kristan did not think that she would be able to take her down that easily. With her partner in the room still she would not try any desperate moves. So instead, very slowly, she walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. Liz immediately linked her arm through hers and pulled her close. She was careful to remain quiet.

  Kristan gave her a gentle smile. She could feel Liz trembling against her and she squeezed her hand as she returned her attention to the woman standing at the back of the room. When Melissa spun around to face them again she instinctively extended a protective arm in front of Liz.

  Melissa chuckled darkly.

  “Oh, how fucking sweet, Holt. You think if I want to put a bullet in her head that’s going to stop it?” she snarled.

  “Probably not, but it won’t stop me trying,” Kristan said flatly. “Mel, what’s going on? Tell me what’s wrong, okay?”

  “I am not your mate.”

  “What about Mike?”

  The woman’s troubled blue eyes flashed a clear warning.

  “That was your fault, too,” she exclaimed.

  “How do you figure that?”

  “I was in love with him but he wanted none of it. I went to see him that evening in the office, after you’d left. I wanted to talk to him but all he did was laugh at me. He didn’t understand.”

  “Understand what?”

  “Me!”

  “Did you get angry?”

>   “Damn right I did,” Melissa shouted. “I grabbed that spanner, and as soon as he turned his back on me I hit him.”

  Kristan tried to detach herself from her words, she tried to stay calm, but Melissa carried on.

  “I hit him as hard as I could, and it was good! Shouldn’t have made me mad. And now he’s gone, just like that,” she added, and as Liz stared at her in horror she started to laugh.

  Kristan made a conscious effort to keep breathing, deep and slow.

  “You need help, Mel,” she said calmly. “Let us go, okay? Then we can help you.”

  “No fucking way,” the woman snapped, waving the gun toward Kristan and blinking furiously. “You’re staying.”

  “Then let Liz go at least.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” Kristan insisted. “You’re pissed off with me, not her. So let her go.”

  “If not for you Mike would have wanted me,” Melissa carried on as if she had not heard her. “But he loved you.”

  “Mike was my friend, Mel,” Kristan stated quietly. “Not my lover. My friend.”

  “He loved you,” Melissa spat, taking a step closer. “You got in my way, and I had to hurt him because of you.”

  “Not because of me.”

  “Yes! You made me hurt him. Now I am going to fucking hurt you too. Get up!”

  “Melissa…”

  “I said GET UP!”

  Slowly Kristan got to her feet, aware that she was losing control of the situation and not knowing quite how to get it back. When she moved she made sure that she was standing right in front of Liz, protecting her from whatever might be coming their way, hoping that she could buy them some time.

  “Let her go, Mel,” she repeated. ”You wanted me, I’m here. Just please let her go.”

  At the same time, Kristan was signaling for Liz to stand up too, and Liz did so very carefully.

  “Don’t you fucking move,” Melissa snapped at her. “You,” she said, gesturing toward Kristan. “You come closer to me.”

  “I don’t think I want to, Mel,” Kristan replied quietly. “But we could talk. Right? We could talk, like we used to? Why don’t you put the gun down?”

  And she raised a hand behind her back and waited for Liz to take it. She pulled her against her, and she made sure that her lover would not be able to step in front of her.

  Melissa laughed nervously.

  “You do what I tell you, Holt,” she muttered. “I had to kill him because of you. I fucking hate you.”

  “Mel, the police are outside,” Kristan said softly.

  “Liar.”

  “The police will be coming in now, and Liz and I are going to leave.”

  Melissa burst out laughing once more, a crazy laugh completely devoid of humour, and she watched as if in a trance as Kristan started to move slowly toward the back of the room, still holding on to her partner, still shielding her with her body.

  “You think you’re so fucking smart, uh?”

  “We’re just leaving, that’s all. It’s okay, Mel. We’re just going…”

  Melissa rushed forward all of a sudden and she hit Kristan again, only this time it was with the butt of her gun, catching her on the side of her head where the stitches were still fresh.

  “Get lost,” Melissa yelled at Liz. “I don’t care about you, it’s her I want. Just GET LOST!”

  Liz did not move an inch, instead she held on hard to her partner’s hand as blood started to pour from Kristan’s head.

  “Go,” Kristan murmured.

  Liz started to panic.

  “No,” she said. “No. Kris, don’t…”

  “Liz, just go,” Kristan said sharply.

  “I don’t…”

  “Please,” Kristan repeated.

  She pushed her partner toward the door, squeezing her arm one last time.

  “I love you,” she murmured, and then she pushed her hard and shut the door behind her, locking it from the inside. Liz hit back at it with all her strength.

  “Kristan!” she yelled.

  Then almost immediately she felt hands on her. She spotted a couple of uniformed officers in the hallway, and before she could utter another single word Omaru was ushering her outside toward his car.

  “Stay here,” he urged. “Do not go back in there.”

  He turned back toward the house and raised his radio to his mouth.

  “All units, you are clear to shoot. I repeat, you are clear to…”

  But he was too late.

  Suddenly there was a blood-curdling scream from inside the house, and a couple of shots were fired. Liz could not tell where they had been coming from.

  She went wild.

  “No! Let me go!”

  She twisted out of Omaru’s grip and ran up the steps leading back inside, limping, almost falling. The police had already kicked the door open, and Liz burst into the room after them and spotted Kristan, half lying, half sitting down against the wall below the window sill. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing hard.

  Liz dropped to her knees in front of her.

  “Kris, look at me,” she said loudly. “Open your eyes, look at me!”

  Kristan opened her eyes, and her first impulse was to pull her partner down on top of her, to shield her from harm, to keep her safe. Then she noticed the police in the room, and she met Liz’s gaze.

  “Are you hurt?” the woman asked frantically. She turned back toward the cops. “Guys, where is that ambulance?”

  Kristan shook her head as blood dripped into her eye.

  “I don’t need an ambulance…”

  She spotted Omaru and his officers on the other side of the room, standing over a body she knew was Melissa’s, and she shivered. She struggled to sit up.

  “Stay still,” Liz ordered. “Did you get shot?”

  “No. I’m okay, doc.”

  Liz stared at her, then at her chest, and she paled at the sight of the neat round hole in her jacket, still smoking, positioned right over her heart. She felt faint at the look of it and she could not understand how her partner was still moving, still speaking, let alone smiling now.

  “Liz…”

  Liz tore at her jacket, clawed at it and wrestled with the zip, finally managing to pull it down so she could see the full extent of the damage. She stopped when she saw the thick vest that her lover was wearing underneath it all.

  “What…”

  Kristan rested a soft finger under her chin and leaned forward to kiss her lips.

  “I told you I would be careful,” she murmured.

  Liz started to shake.

  Kristan had been wearing body armour under her jacket. Without it she would be dead by now.

  Liz wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her hard against her, not knowing whether to cry or burst out laughing. She felt Kristan’s strong arms around her, felt her fingers caress the back of her neck softly, and she started to sob.

  “It’s okay,” Kristan murmured gently against her ear. “It’s okay, babe, it’s all over. It’s over.”

  It was a long time before Liz could let her go, and when she finally did Omaru was standing next to them, pretending to look out the window with an interested look on his face.

  “Looks like snow again,” he remarked.

  Liz stood up and she hugged him hard too, and then she spotted Pam standing a little way away, looking like she was about to fall.

  “Kris,” she whispered. “I think your friend needs you.”

  Kristan brushed blood off her brow and she straightened up.

  “Be right back, doc.”

  Pam was crying, staring at Mel’s body, and when she got to her Kristan simply put her arms around her and pulled her close without a single word. Pam held on to her tightly.

  “I am so sorry Kris,” she murmured. “I knew she wasn’t right.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I knew it, and I should have told you earlier but...”

  Kristan hugged her gently for a minute longer,
and when she pulled back she just smiled.

  “It’s okay, buddy,” she said softly. “It’s over now. How are you? Not hurt or anything?”

  Pam shook her head no, and she looked hesitantly toward Liz as the woman walked up to them and wrapped her arms around Kristan’s waist.

  “It’s good to see you Pam,” she said quietly. “Thanks for trying to help.”

  “I’m sorry I was too late, Liz. I should have…”

  “You were not too late,” Liz reassured her.

  “Let’s get out of here, shall we?” Kristan declared. “You want to grab a coffee with us Pam?” she enquired, and both women stared at her, frowning.

  “What?” Kristan asked, obviously completely oblivious to the fact that she was covered in blood.

  “You need your stitches looked at, darling,” Liz told her gently, and she turned to glance toward Mel’s lifeless body, but only for a second. “You and I are going to the hospital.”

  “Can’t you do it?” Kristan protested, and she looked at Mel as well and again she shivered a little. “You’re a surgeon, surely you can do stitches?”

  When Mel had pulled the trigger on her she had been standing by the window, and as the woman fired Kristan had been unaware that one of the sharp shooters outside had done the same thing at approximately the same time. Body armour or not, if the man had missed, she would probably be dead by now. All of a sudden fatigue hit her like a ton of bricks.

  “Kristan?” Liz said gently. “Did you hear what I said?”

  “Yes. Okay. Pam, will you be all right?”

  Pam smiled, and it was probably the first time that Liz had seen her do so and actually mean it. She stepped forward and hugged her tightly.

  “See you soon, okay?” she said. “Don’t be a stranger.”

  “I won’t. Thanks.”

  Kristan smiled at her friend and gave her a thumbs up, and she was glad when she got a happy look from her back in return. She allowed Liz to drag her away, and she did not protest when she had to sit in the back of the ambulance with her to drive the five miles to the hospital. She was beyond tired.

  Liz stayed close to her whilst a young doctor cleaned her head thoroughly and put fresh stitches in place.