Saving Thea

by Melissa Schroeder

  He patted her knee in a completely fatherly way. But maybe because of the tension of the day, something slithered down her spine like a snake.

  “Why don’t you just lean back and relax? I’ll have you home in no time at all.”

  She shook off her uneasiness and settled back in her seat. A man who’d known her parents and her all her life was treating her with affection. Nothing to worry about.

  It was the stalker’s fault. Once they caught him, she’d feel more comfortable with men. She just hoped Duncan found something that would help.

  A thousand thoughts flew through Duncan’s mind as he sped to Thea’s house.

  “So, your uncle picked her up. What’s the big deal?” Rusty was a top-rate investigator, Duncan was sure of it but the guy just hadn’t connected the dots.

  “I never called Chris.” His throat almost closed off the words, trying to deter the admission. A man he thought of as a father figure, who’d taught him how to drive and, hell, bought him his first condom and explained safe sex, couldn’t be the killer. Could he?

  “You never called Chris?” The tone of his voice suggested he was working it out. “How would he know?” He was silent for a few seconds. “You’re not thinking Chris would…”

  The steel ball weighing down his stomach indicated he was thinking of it. “I-I am. Jesus.”

  “But I’ve known him all my life. Why would he do something like this?”

  “Rusty, you know as well as I do one of the things they always say is ‘I’d never expect him to do something like this.’” Even accepting that, his heart still rebelled at the idea of Chris being a killer.

  He pulled into the driveway, jumped out of his truck, and hurried up the front steps, Rusty hard on his heels. Chris’ car was nowhere to be found and only the porch light and one in the kitchen seemed to be lit. He unlocked the front door.

  “Thea, baby, you in here?” Silence. They searched upstairs and the backyard. Nothing. Not even a sign of a struggle.

  “Where would he take her?”

  “I don’t think he’d go to his house. Too close to Mom.” The image of the charred remains of the Johnson house rose in his mind. “The only other place I can think of is her house.”

  “We’re here, Duncan, and there’s not a sign of her anywhere.”

  “He took her to the old Johnson house. I’m sure of it.”

  As they sped down the road, he called the station house and sent a car to his uncle’s place then asked for backup from the Rangers to be sent to the old Johnson land.

  His head pounded and a chill went through him at the thought of not making it there in time to save her.

  Thea stirred when the car came to a stop. She’d never really fallen asleep but drifted as Chris had driven her home. She slowly opened her eyes as he stepped out of the car. She blinked when she saw her surroundings.

  She’d avoided the remains of her parents’ house. To this moment, she hadn’t realized the extent of the damage. The house she’d grown up in was nothing but charred wood and twisted metal. It had been a two-story ranch house, much like the one she was renting right now. The only room left halfway intact was the living room. The ceiling was gone but the four walls were still standing although they’d been weathered by years left open in the elements.

  Uncertain what Chris had in mind by stopping here, she followed him out of the car and caught up with him as he walked through the remains of the front porch.

  “I remember when your parents started dating,” he said, not turning around. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. “Margie was one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen.”

  A gust of wind blew against her back and she shivered. She crossed her arms and rubbed her arms wishing she’d brought her coat.

  “Only in school two days and your dad asked her out. Snapped her up just like that.” A tinge of anger laced his voice. “None of us ever had a chance at her, you know.”

  “Mom always said it was love at first sight.”

  He spun around, the stream of lights from the headlights illuminated his anguished face. “But why? Why him and not me?”

  Every minute it took to get to the Johnson house erased ten years from Duncan’s life. He turned down the old farm road that led to their property.

  “You don’t think he’d do anything, do you?” Rusty asked. When Duncan didn’t reply, he continued, “Of course he would. If you’re right, he killed her parents.”

  Bile rose in his throat but he swallowed it. “And he killed all those women. All these years…”

  He wouldn’t think about it. He couldn’t if he planned on keeping his cool. Saving Thea. That was all that mattered to him.

  A chill of fear raced through Thea. He took a step closer and she backed away. She had to keep her wits.

  “Why, Thea? I loved her. I worshipped her. I would have made her happy.”

  “She was happy.”

  Anger mottled his face. His hands bunched into fists but he didn’t step closer.

  “Happy? You call sitting in this house, this farmhouse with its bad plumbing and driving an old car being happy? There were months they barely had enough money to pay the bills!”

  The fear she’d tried to conceal must have shown on her face because he took a breath and then released a sigh. It was the same sound as the one in the phone calls. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact Chris, a man her father considered a brother, was a killer. He’d been her father’s best man and Jed’s godfather.

  “Everything came so easily to your father. I had money but your father, he had luck. Dirt poor and uneducated. What did she see in him? Why was he the one she turned to?”

  Anger mixed with fear, knotting her stomach. She swallowed past it. Losing her anger now might really set him off. Even in the shadows cast by the car lights, she recognized the glazed look in his eyes. It was the look of a person with nothing to lose.

  “I waited. I waited for years. Oh, I let her know how much I loved her, but never in person. Love notes.” A chilling smile curved his lips. “For years I planned. I knew no one, not that jackass Dailey, not anyone in town, would suspect a Perry. Especially one who had been best friends with the victim.” He closed his eyes, apparently lost in his sick fantasy. “I plotted and planned and waited. Then, when everything was in place, I struck.” He sighed again. Goosebumps exploded down her arms at the breathy sound.

  With him off in his world of memories, she knew this might be the only time she could escape. Without a second thought, she spun around and took off running. Her survival depended on getting away from him, so she’d take her chances running through the pasture. It was the only chance she might have to survive.

  Duncan pulled in behind his uncle’s sedan. The headlights were still on, the passenger and driver’s side doors ajar. There was no sign of them anywhere.

  He jumped out of his truck trying to decide where to head first when an SUV pulled up behind him. Rusty waved to it and Duncan assumed it was the Rangers.

  Fear simmered with betrayal and the only thing he could think of was finding her. He turned to start searching and Rusty stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

  “Hold up, Duncan. Let me decide what to do here.”

  “Screw you.”

  He tried to break free but Rusty grabbed his arm in a death grip.

  “Duncan, you have got to listen to me. You’re emotionally involved, you know her. If you take charge, it’ll be a mess.”

  “You know her, too.”

  “But I don’t love her.”

  Duncan didn’t move, didn’t say a word but the truth hit him like a load of bricks. There was no way he could save her, keep her safe, if he ran out there half cocked.

  “Okay, but I have final say.”

  “Thea! I can explain. If you would only listen.” His footsteps sounded in the brush behind her. Calling on the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she ran faster. “Your mother made the mistake of not listening to me. Sa
id she never saw me as anything but a friend. A friend!” He was closing in on her, and she quashed the terror.

  “She ruined it. Ruined everything. I showed up that night hoping. Hoping your mother had finally come to her senses. But she disagreed. Then she refused to discuss it. I had no choice.”

  Memories of that night, of Chris’ voice, of her mother’s shouting pleas, flashed through her mind before she could stop them. Try as she might, there was no halting the anguish in her mother’s voice. Her last act was to save her daughter. She lied to save Thea and she wouldn’t let her mother down now.

  “Then you came home for your grandfather’s funeral. You took my breath away. I knew that you, you could save me. You could be the one to take her place. But you had that jackass you were married to, so I stayed away.”

  She continued running. Fear pumping through her, trying to ignore the pain of his deception lancing through her. She no longer heard his footsteps and he’d stopped yelling at her. Thea hoped she was gaining some distance from him. Ahead, she saw a light. It looked like one of the few streetlights on the deserted farm road. Just a few more steps and she may be able to get her bearings and head for help.

  Just as she stepped onto the road, the fine hairs on the nape of her neck bristled. She knew before she turned around that Chris had caught up with her.

  “Thea. Did you really think you could get away from me?”

  She slowly turned to face him. His hair was a mess and anger darkened his usually cheerful eyes.

  The thing that caught her attention, though, was the gun he had pointed at her chest.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Thea had known Chris was the killer. But for some reason, the thought he would pull a gun on her was unbelievable. The kind, loving man she’d known her whole life never existed. This man twisted love into a depraved form of worship. She took a breath trying to calm the nerves dancing along her spine.

  “You didn’t think you could get away, did you?” he asked. He stared at her, his eyes still glassy with his madness. “Your mother didn’t understand. Why do they never understand?”

  His hand holding the gun shook. Thea knew calming him down would be the only way to survive.

  “Chris, you have to understand. You’d just told me you killed my parents.”

  “I didn’t kill your parents. I released them from their existence. They were unhappy, and I saved them.” The absurdity of the statement had her fighting a hysterical giggle that bubbled up in her throat.

  “Right.” She concentrated on hiding her anger, her outright disgust with him. Injecting what she hoped was the right amount of understanding in her voice, she said, “They didn’t understand.”

  “Your father was so surprised.” Her composure almost slipped at the sound of pride in his voice. “He just kept asking why.”

  “Well, maybe he was just too simple-minded.”

  His eyes searched hers as if trying to determine whether or not she was lying. She attempted to look as innocent as possible. If she could gain his trust, she had a better chance.

  “Yes, yes! He just couldn’t understand why I was releasing him.” His grip on the gun loosened. “Of course, it is going to pain me to have to kill Duncan.”

  Duncan headed off in the direction he was sent by Rusty. He’d argued with Rusty who said he should stay behind. Truth was, he needed to be the one to find Thea and Chris. He could reason with Chris. At least, he hoped so.

  He kept searching his memory for a clue, something that should have jumped out at him about his uncle. How could a man he loved, he knew all his life, be a killer?

  As a cop, he knew the stories. The quiet ones were the ones who could move through the crowd, killing people, and getting away with it for months, sometimes years. But never would he think Chris could cold-bloodedly kill his best friend. Then…all these years. All those innocent women.

  He pulled his mind away from those thoughts. Recriminations for missing the signs could come later. Right now the most important thing was finding Thea.

  He caught the murmur of voices and headed in that direction. It was a man and a woman. He inched closer and within seconds, he recognized Thea’s voice.

  “Duncan?” Thea asked, her voice strained from panic.

  “Well, of course. He touched you. He must die.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Thea, don’t treat me like an idiot. Any man who looks at a woman the way my nephew did tonight has made love to her. No.” He sighed, looking older all a sudden. “I regret it, but he must die. Then, maybe, maybe we will have a chance.”

  “A chance at what?”

  “For love, silly.” His playful tone almost made her choke on the bile in her throat. The man was clinically insane. She had to get away from him.

  “But, Chris, you love Duncan.”

  “Well, yes, I guess I do. But nothing like my love for you. Or for Margie. Until she ruined it. No, Duncan will have to die.”

  “Well, why don’t you take care of me?”

  Both of them jumped at the sound of his voice. Duncan still couldn’t believe this man held a gun on his woman. They both turned to look at him, Thea’s eyes first warmed with relief then chilled to panic at the sight of him. Chris shook his head in regret.

  “Why couldn’t you just leave her alone, Duncan? You’ve slept with every tramp in town, their stink is all over you. But you had to touch her.”

  “Chris, be reasonable—” Thea pleaded but Chris wouldn’t listen.

  “Reasonable? Reasonable? For the second time someone I trusted stole the woman I love, corrupted her. Slept with her before marriage. And you want me to be reasonable? I planned, I waited, hell I even got rid of that bastard ex-husband of yours. And you want me to be reasonable? You are supposed to love me. Like I love you. We will be happy together. Happy like you could never be with Duncan.”

  Chris’ voice had risen with each statement. He was completely hysterical and Duncan was worried that in his madness, he’d lose control and shoot Thea. His mind jumped from idea to idea. He needed a plan, something that would stop Chris. Thea took care of it for him.

  “But I don’t love you, Chris. Not like that.” Her voice was low and calm. Never did she break eye contact with his uncle. “I love Duncan. I probably always have.”

  She reached out to Chris with her hand but before he could stop her, Chris backed away. Horror etched his features as he studied her as if she were grotesque. Duncan readied himself to pounce if Chris tried anything but he didn’t want to move unless necessary. Chris still had the gun pointed at Thea and if he approached his uncle, he might kill her.

  “No, no, no!” His voice raised with each no. Complete madness glazed his eyes and he continued to back away from Thea. “No, I will not allow this to happen again.”

  He stopped and looked at Duncan. The pain in his eyes tore at Duncan’s heart. This man truly was mad.

  “No, I can’t stand by and let this happen.”

  Chris aimed the gun at Duncan and Thea’s heart almost stopped beating. For several seconds, not even the sound of their breathing could be heard as all three of them seemed to be holding their breath.

  “Chris, you can’t kill Duncan. You know you love him.”

  “Not as much as I love you.” He never took his eyes or gun off of Duncan.

  “But, if you kill him, you could never have me. I would never be yours. I’m Duncan’s.”

  He glanced at her, pain contorting his face as if he finally understood what she’d been telling him. His hand dropped and his shoulders slumped. He turned away from them and Thea looked at Duncan. Without hesitation, she hurried to him. The moment she was in his arms, he squeezed her tight, thanking God nothing had happened to her.

  “Everything will be okay,” Duncan promised.

  He never took his eyes off his uncle. Chris stood motionless in the country dirt road, seemingly lost. He still held his gun, but it dangled from his fingertips. Sounds of the other m
en approaching sent relief flowing through him. He didn’t want to be the one to arrest his uncle.

  Rusty was the first to reach him, but as he approached, Chris spun around. Duncan shoved Thea to the ground and fell on top of her as the shot rang out.

  Chris fell to the ground, the gun he used to kill himself dropped beside his lifeless form.

  Thea sat on the tailgate of Duncan’s truck, someone’s jacket wrapped around her. The county paramedics declared she was slightly shocky and since that moment, Duncan told her to sit and rest. He and Rusty seemed to be handling the details as both their departments had investigations that would be probably linked to Chris.

  From the moment everyone converged on the scene, Duncan had been distant. She shivered anew at the cold expression in his eyes when he saw his uncle kill himself.

  Pain still stabbed her heart. Chris had been such a good man, or so she thought. And with his retelling of what he did, the memories were slowly creeping into her consciousness.

  When he’d arrived that night, she didn’t know it had been him. At least, she didn’t think she did. Maybe she’d pushed it back into her subconscious so she didn’t have to deal with it. She knew it would be years before she recovered from seeing Chris point that gun at Duncan.

  She shivered.

  “Thea.”

  Her brother strode forward, worry creasing his brow. She hadn’t even known they’d called Jed. Before he reached her, she started to tremble.

  Jed pulled her into his arms and held her tight against his chest.

  “Oh, Thea. Honey. I’m here to take you home. Gwen’s sick with worry.”

  “I was gonna go home,” she said between sobs.

  “That’s why Duncan called me. You can’t stay by yourself.”

  “But I thought Duncan was coming home with me.”

  “No, Thea, I’m staying here. I have too much to do.” His voice was almost toneless.