by Stacy-Deanne
“Oh really? News flash, Sarah! Jeff wants you for himself! He always did! What the hell are you doing speaking to him behind my back, anyway? What the hell is going on around here? You’re acting suspicious and sneaky just like Melody.” He sighed. “What the hell difference does it make how we met? You love me now!”
“It makes a big difference because you weren’t honest! None of this was honest, this relationship, nothing!”
“Sarah, how can you say that? I love you! Everything I did I meant it! You couldn’t tell that? You’re going on something that doesn’t even matter!”
“It matters to me!”
“All right, fine! I was so in love with you that I wanted to make sure when we met it was perfect! I didn’t want to mess things up.” She turned away. “Is that so wrong? I did it for you, Sarah.”
“Moving on.”
“What is this, a courtroom?” He grimaced.
“I don’t know but you’re about to be put on trial, Keith.” She crossed her arms. “You’ve lied about another thing, haven’t you?”
“No. I’ve never lied about anything.” She grinned. “It’s the truth, Sarah!”
“How come you didn’t tell me that my sister was here the night she was raped?”
“What did you say?” he whispered.
“I’m sorry. Did I stutter, Keith?” she shouted. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that Mel was here the night she was raped?”
He tilted his head in the air. “I guess Lucas told you this.” She nodded. “First, my friend accuses me of things, and now my girlfriend? I wish I knew what was going on.”
“You’re not the only one. You still haven’t told me why she was here.”
“She came over because she was angry at me. Big surprise!”
“Why was she angry with you?”
“Does Melody need a reason? She hates me, Sarah!”
“Okay, well, why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“I forgot! It’s not even important, is it? Damn, I mean, she was over here the night she was raped! Big deal! What’s the problem about that?”
“The problem is that you never told me, Keith. And I thought I could trust you more than I can trust myself.”
He reached for her. “Sarah, you know you can. I love you so much.”
“Then why have you been lying to me?”
“It’s Melody! Sarah, is it always gonna be like this? Is Melody gonna constantly interfere in our lives? Sometimes I wish she was…” He paused. Sarah squinted.
“Go on, Keith.” Her voice trembled. “You wish she was what?”
He shrugged. “I wish she was dead.”
She gaped. “How can you say something so cruel? And about my sister?”
“Sarah, she hasn’t pulled the punches with me. I’m sick of making an effort and all she does is ruin things. She has tried to ruin my life and now she’s trying to ruin our relationship! Well, I won’t let her.” He grabbed her. “I know you love me, Sarah. With that nothing matters.”
“I can’t stay here any longer. This is sickening.”
“Don’t go.” He held her. “Please just…look, I bought something for you. It’s upstairs. Please just come and get it. Then if you still want to go, you can.”
She exhaled. “Keith.”
“Please, Sarah.” He kissed her.
“Okay,” she muttered.
“You’re gonna love it, I promise.” He led her upstairs.
The rapist climbed from the bed. Brianna lay still.
“What do you think you’re gonna do?” she asked. “Like you said, I obviously have a plan, right? The cops are waiting to make their move on you. They’re hiding outside.”
He grinned. “Bullshit.” He waved the knife. “But I’ll tell you how much about you I know.” He walked to the end table. He got her gun. Brianna buried her head into the bed. “Didn’t know I knew where you kept it, did you? I told you I know everything about you, Brianna. I knew everything about all the women I pleasured.”
“Is that what you call it?” She grimaced.
“They might not have wanted it but they enjoyed it after they got it.”
“You’re disgusting. You are a rapist! The lowest piece of shit to walk the planet! I cannot wait to see your ass is in prison, shaking and scared like the women you raped! You’re not as smart as you think. You shouldn’t have come here, because this time, I won’t let you leave!” She charged him. She punched him. He toppled over. The gun flipped from his hands. “Freeze!” He threw the knife at her face. “Ahh!” He grabbed her by the waist. Brianna dropped the gun.
“Stupid bitch!” He grabbed her. “Who do you think you are, huh? Get on the bed! Get on the fuckin’ bed, you stupid cunt!” He shoved her on the bed. He grabbed the gun and knife from the floor. “It’s gonna happen this time, Brianna. But with only one change! I’m not leaving you alive.” She shook. He climbed on top of her. “Tonight you’re gonna die! How do you like that, huh?”
“Freeze, motherfucker!” a voice bellowed from the hall. Steven stepped inside with his gun held high. The rapist gaped at Brianna. He held her gun in one hand, his knife in the other. “Put it down now!” Steven ordered.
“Steve.” Brianna gasped. The rapist glared at her.
“I said…” Steven stepped closer. “Put the gun down now.”
“Steven, be careful,” Brianna whispered.
He winked. “No thing, Bree.” He grinned. “Hate to bust up your little party, though.” The rapist groaned.
“No apologies necessary.” Brianna exhaled.
“And?” The rapist grinned. He held his hands up. Steven went for the knife. The rapist swung his other arm toward him. He cocked the gun.
“Steve!” Brianna screamed. Steven ducked. She kicked the rapist off the bed.
He shot the ceiling. He rolled on the floor. Steven held him up by his collar. He punched the rapist in the face. The rapist kneed Steven in the gut. Steven fell over in pain. Brianna couldn’t tell them apart!
“Think you’re so smart, huh?” The rapist kicked Steven in the chest. Steven’s gun fell from his hands. The rapist grabbed it. “Fuck! A little pussy like you should have been flattered they thought you were me!” He kicked Steven again.
“Ahh!” Steven held his stomach.
“Damn, we really could be twins, huh?” The rapist cackled. “Maybe we are brothers, you know?”
“Fuck you.” Steven spat. “I’m nothing like you!”
“No, you’re not.” The rapist pointed Steven’s gun at him. “There’s a major difference. I’ll be alive and you won’t!” He cocked the gun. It jammed. Brianna crept behind him. She held her gun firmly. She pointed it straight into his back.
“You were saying?” she whispered.
He turned around. “No one will believe any of this! I’ll disappear like before!” He ran to the hall.
“Shit, get him, Bree!” Steven held his stomach. Brianna heard footsteps charging upstairs. A group of uniformed officers stood smack dab in front of the Albany Predator. He twitched and turned as if he couldn’t believe he’d been cornered. Brianna rested against the bedroom door. Two cops grabbed the rapist by his arms. They turned him around where he faced Brianna.
It seemed all over. For some reason she couldn’t celebrate. The rapist smiled.
His eyes searched her body like they had many times before. He flinched while the cops snapped the handcuffs on him. She walked toward him. Steven limped from the bedroom. The group of officers gasped. Some did a double-take at the lookalike cop and rapist.
Brianna stared into the Predator’s eyes. “Guess you didn’t get me like you hoped. Sorry things were messed up for you.” She snickered.
“I still won, Brianna. Because I’ll be in your life forever from now on.” He looked at Steven. “In both of your lives. You’ll never forget me. You probably won’t be able to look at each other the same way again.” Brianna looked at Steven. “I put a doubt in your mind that will always be there, Brianna. Even you can’t change th
at. I may not have left my mark on your body, but I have left it on your life. I left it on all of their lives! They’ll never forget me! So whose work is more important, hmm?”
“I just can’t understand why after all you’ve done, I still feel sorry for you,” Brianna whispered.
He licked his lips. “You would’ve loved it, sweetheart. Every time you close your eyes you’ll think of me kissing you. You’ll think of how you almost made love to me.” Steven gaped. “I can handle being in prison, being behind bars. I can handle anything!” The cops stared at him. “But tell me, Brianna. Can you live with your memories of me?” He grinned. “’Cause I don’t think you can.”
“Get him out of here!” Steven ordered. Brianna turned to Steven when the others left. Brianna lifted her arms to hug Steven. He moved away. She watched him in awe.
“So uh, it’s over.” She smiled. “That’s great, huh? At least now we can resume to our normal lives.” She crossed her arms. “Until our next case.” She chuckled. He stared at her. “Steven, what’s wrong?”
“‘Kissing you,’ ‘making love to you.’” He scoffed.
“Steve.” She touched his face. “Are you jealous?” she whispered. “Steven, I had to do those things to get him.”
“I’m not talking about that, Bree.” He moved her hands from his face. “I’m talking about the fact that he could do those things and you not be able to tell the difference.”
“Steve.”
“Yeah.” He sucked in tears. “You couldn’t tell his kisses from mine? As close as we were?” She looked away. “Bree, how is that supposed to make me feel?”
“Steven, I never meant to hurt you,” she whispered. He limped downstairs.
“But I guess I did.” She sighed.
“It looks so beautiful on you, Sarah.” Keith looked over his shoulder at the diamond bracelet on Sarah’s arm. They slow-danced around his bedroom. Sarah couldn’t believe how emotions could change in just a day. A day earlier she had yearned for Keith’s touch. She depended on his kisses. She lived for his veneration. Tonight she simply felt dead. His touch meant nothing more than being with a stranger on the street. She moved away from him. He seemed to sense the distress in her eyes.
“You don’t like it, do you?” He turned off the little stereo on his dresser.
“The bracelet is beautiful, Keith. But I’m still not satisfied with what you’ve told me. I’m also not satisfied by how you cooked all of this up.”
“I haven’t cooked anything up, Sarah.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I love you. Why can’t that just be all that matters?”
She sighed. “It used to be, Keith. But tonight it’s not. I can’t be with someone who’s not honest with me. How can I build a relationship with someone like that?” She took off the bracelet. He raised an eyebrow. “I think this belongs to you.”
“What are you doing?” he grumbled.
She held the bracelet in front of him. “I’m giving you back your…”
He grabbed her hand. “No you’re not.”
“Let go.” She sighed.
“No. I don’t want the damn bracelet back, Sarah! I bought it for you as a symbol of how much I care for you!”
“I don’t want it, Keith!”
He waved his arms. “Why the hell not? Sarah, I don’t get this! Things have been great! It’s been the best! Why in the hell are you stopping now?”
“Didn’t you hear a word I’ve said, Keith? I don’t want the damn bracelet!” She threw it at him. She walked to the dresser. “It’s over.”
He smirked. “The fuck it is. You can’t just walk in here and break this off without giving me a reason. Even then, I won’t let you.”
“There’s so many reasons I can’t count them, Keith! The main one is that you haven’t been honest! The other is that being with you has destroyed my sister’s life! I can’t keep hurting her like this. It’s time I finally do what’s best for her.”
“Shit, you’ve done that your whole damn life, Sarah! That’s the point! You do everything to suit Melody but she doesn’t give a shit about you. If so then she wouldn’t want us to break up! Don’t let Melody ruin this. You said I loved you unlike any other man and that you loved me the same.”
“I do.”
He grabbed her. “Then that’s the only thing we need, Sarah! We belong together. What about all the plans we made?” She looked away. “We even talked about getting married! What about…what about Europe?”
She rubbed her face. “Keith, stop, please.”
“No, we made all these plans to be together, Sarah! Think about the trip, baby.”
He held her. “We can go on it even sooner than we planned. We can go this month if you want.” She scoffed. “Sarah, we can go there and you’ll see that this is right. That it’s always been right. It’ll just be you and me. No one to interfere. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
She turned toward the dresser. She’d been afraid that his charm would sway her. God, she’d never met anyone like Keith before. He could make the worst times seem like blessings. Every word he said ran like a song in her ears. She shut her eyes. Going to Europe with him had been all she could think about for weeks. She thought it would be good to give Melody some time on her own. It would be so perfect. Sarah knew that.
Until she saw the earring.
She batted her eyes. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. She picked up the little golden leaf. She examined it closely. She’d know this earring anywhere. It belonged to Melody. She faced Keith. His face twisted into what Sarah could describe as only confusion. He didn’t have to bother to explain this. Finding the earring somehow put all the pieces together.
“Sarah…” He held up his hand. “What, what do you have there?”
“Why is this here?” She shut her eyes from disgust. “Why, Keith?”
“Uh, I found it. It was so beautiful that I kept it. I just…”
“Do you ever stop lying? Can you for once just be honest with me? Who in the hell do you think you’re fooling, Keith? You did not just find this earring! This is my mother’s earring, Keith!” He gaped. “I know damn well it is! My father had these earrings custom made for my mother on their last anniversary before they died! I received these earrings in the will! I gave them to Melody on her sixteenth birthday!”
“Sarah, I…”
“Why is this here, Keith?” Tears filled her eyes. “Oh God, is it true? Were you sleeping with my sister?”
“No!”
“Then tell me what the hell this is doing here, Keith!” Sarah paused. She glanced around. Her mind went to Melody’s description of the rape.
She remembered how upset Melody had been that she’d lost her earring that night. That had been strange. Melody couldn’t give a decent description, though she claimed she saw her attacker’s face. That had been strange. She nearly fell out whenever Sarah mentioned Keith. Sarah held her mouth.
Melody couldn’t describe her attacker or wouldn’t?
“Sarah, what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking…” The earring shook in her hand. “The worst thing I could ever think in my life. Keith, I’m begging you to give me an answer I believe. Now, what is Melody’s earring doing here?”
“Okay, she left it that night she came over here. Must have been then because she was only here once.”
“Why did she take her earrings off in the first place and in your bedroom?”
“She left it by the couch, Sarah. Of course she wasn’t in my bedroom.” He sighed. “Sarah, I meant to give it to her but I guess I forgot I had it.”
“You forgot with it sitting right on your dresser? Tell me the truth! What is Melody’s earring doing here, Keith?”
“It fell off, okay! I mean, damn! I didn’t know she’d left it. By that time you’d banned me from the house.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “Then why didn’t she come back to get it?”
“What?” He stood.
“You heard me, Ke
ith.” Her tone stayed leveled. “If she simply left it, why didn’t she ever come back? Or better yet, why didn’t she tell me she left it here?”
“She probably didn’t know.”
She squinted. “And why would she not know?”
“Sarah, she was raped that same night! You think she cared about an earring? She probably thought she lost it when she was attacked!”
“She did, Keith.” He glared. “You see, she told me she lost it when she was raped. She figured she must have.” He turned away. “So I guess that explains it, huh?”
“Sarah, I know you’re not accusing me of…”
“I am, you motherfucker!” She trembled. “I’m accusing you, you bastard! You raped her, didn’t you, Keith? You raped her! It was you! All this time!” Tears filled her eyes. “Oh God! You sick, pathetic bastard!”
“Sarah!”
“I know it was you!”
“I can’t believe you’re accusing me of raping Melody! That’s insane! Sarah, how could you do that?”
“Because it’s the truth!” she shrieked. “I know it! Melody didn’t leave her earring! She lost it when you raped her, didn’t she? You sick bastard! Oh!” She gripped her head. “How could you do this? What kind of monster are you? Oh my God!” She walked around the room. “And I kissed you! I made love to you after what you did…,” she wailed.
“Sarah.” He tried to hold her.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t you ever touch me, Keith! You are gonna pay for this!”
“I didn’t rape her!” He shook her. “Do you realize how that sounds? Sarah, I love you!” She tried to break free. “How could you say something like this about me?”
“It’s the truth!” She pushed him with a force both couldn’t believe. “These earrings mean the world to Melody, Keith! For her not to come back here, she had to be scared to death! And she said she lost it when she was raped! Stop lying to me! Admit it!” She hit him. “Admit it!”
“All right!” he bellowed. Sarah shivered. He looked at her. “All right. I did it.”
“You…” She struggled to breathe.
“Oh, Sarah, baby.” He rubbed his hair. “I know it seems horrible but I did it for you. Everything I did was for you.”
