by L. L Hunter
I gasped and stared at my partner. He knew me so well. That was probably the reason we clicked so well at the Academy and in training.
“You’re right.”
As we were coming from Newcastle this time, it didn’t take too long to reach the Cave’s Beach turn off. When we sat in the exact same place I had been when the truck hit me, I couldn’t help but feel an eerie sense in the air, and was even more anxious than before. A question came to mind as I stared at some of the debris that remained behind on the road from my accident.
“Have you arrested the truck driver?”
Mark nodded. “Yeah. He was over the limit and had Cannabis in his system. The perp blew a one-point-four- blood alcohol reading and was drugged up to the eyeballs. I don’t know how he functioned.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. You said it. Anyway, he won’t be getting behind the wheel any time soon.”
“Good.”
When we reached the turn off to Catherine Hill Bay, Mark told me to open the glove compartment in front of me. When I did, I found my gun.
“Um… I should be retested before using this.”
“Dude, I’ve seen you shoot a target in the head blind. You’re fine.”
“If the Fed’s find out about this…”
“Don’t worry, its all sorted.”
I turned towards Mark and glared. “What do you mean?”
“The boss signed off on it. He told me to tell you to ‘send him to his daddy.’ Whatever that means.”
Of course. How could I forget? Mark hadn’t been my partner back then. I was fresh out of the Academy, and on my first field case. I shouldn’t have been allowed to come along, being a probationary constable, and all. But I did because the Senior Sargent said I had shown great potential. What a way to throw me in the deep end. Before heading out, I had been briefed about our perpetrator. The guy we were after was a middle-aged man by the name of Jack Chandon; a divorcee who dedicated his life to swindling helpless people of their life savings. He sold fake shares into a fake online company. He promised his clients hefty returns but never delivered. That night, the AFP had him cornered. We had set him up to meet with a potential client—one of our undercover cops. We entered the gates of the storage place where our perp was due to meet our cop and parked around the back in the dark, but near a visible exit in case things turned sour. We got out of the car, making our way around to the side entrance. Our cop had decided on this place because he wanted to ‘see the goods.’ We knew there was nothing inside the storage unit, but our perp didn’t know we knew that. Things had gone well until Mr Chandon opened the storage room. Our cop pretended to act hostile, which was our cue to act. We moved in just as Jack Chandon pulled out his gun. Things happened fast, but I was faster. I shot him in the chest before he even managed to fully extend his arm. It wasn’t until later, I found out that Jack Chandon had a teenaged son.
As we approached the Chandon family’s holiday house (proceeds of crime, of course,) my palms began to sweat. I realised everything had been leading to this. I was in this situation now because I had a feeling Levi knew what I had done five years ago, and that this was his way of paying me back—taking the one whom I cared about for the one whom he had lost. An eye for an eye.
Charli
I came back downstairs an hour later to find Frankie on the phone again. He sounded even angrier than last time. The door to the kitchen was ajar, so I stood on the outside and was able to just peek through. I was beginning to think eavesdropping was one of my best talents.
“What do you mean ‘they know’? Ah shit, Courtney.”
Courtney? Who was Courtney? Frankie was pacing in the middle of the kitchen, hands waving about as he spoke.
“What? How can they be gone? I thought you said he was in a coma?” I could hear a frantic female voice on the other end relaying information to him.
“Well you had better create a diversion,” he growled and threw the phone on the kitchen counter. Then like a wolf, he seemed to sense me hiding behind the door. His head turned in my direction.
“Eavesdropping again, are we? One day, that’s going to get you killed,” he snickered. I tensed as he walked towards me and pulled open the sliding door, revealing my hiding place.
“I don’t know anything,” I said, playing the dumb naïve bitch role he had given me. I pushed past him, but he seemed to see through my façade. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back hard against his body. He fed his fingers through my hair and then using it as leverage, he yanked my head back.
“Be careful what you say. You have no idea who you’re playing with.”
“You’re right, I don’t know. You haven’t told me who you are. I know nothing about you.” I had to distract him somehow.
He sighed. He was taking the bait. “Fine. You want to know who I am? I‘ll tell you who I am.” I waited. This was it. “My name isn’t Frankie James Scott. My real name is Levi Jack Chandon, I’m twenty-two, and my sole purpose now that I’m free is to avenge my father’s murder.”
I gasped. So he was lying to me. He wasn’t finished speaking though. He adjusted his grip on me and continued.
“You know, meeting you wasn’t chance. It was no coincidence. I planned it. You know why? I’ll give you a moment to remember. I know you do.” His breath was hot against my ear, sending shivers down my spine, and not in a good way.
“I’ll give you a hint. Think back to high school, senior year. Think of a case your father might have had at the time.”
I was back on the dance floor at my school formal standing by the refreshments table.
“Yeah, you know, Levi Chandon,” my friends were saying, “he’s free.”
Levi Chandon.
No wonder the name had sounded familiar. My eyes widened.
Nathan
“Are you sure this is the way?” It was dark now, and I couldn’t see anything save for what was in front of the car.
“Positive.” As we followed the winding road up to the house, it was so dark we failed to see the car that was hiding off to the side of the road.
“Shit. Mark, watch out!” The car pulled out at the last minute in front of us. Mark swerved to try to miss it but it was too late. It hit us from the driver’s side. We began spinning as Mark tried desperately to correct us, but it was no use. Finally, our car wheels came to rest on the edge, dangling over the side of the cliff. I began to black out, but I was aware enough to see the precarious position we were in.
“Mark!” I looked over towards Mark to see if he was okay. He was unconscious and had blood coming from a wound on his head. Glass fragments littered his body. “Shit. Mark!” I started shaking him, but the shaking made the car shake, as well. I heard a moaning sound and realised it was the car. We were moving forward.
“Mark! Wake up!” I glanced around the car and tested my limbs. I could still feel my legs, which was a good sign. I knew I had to get out of the car, but I couldn’t leave Mark inside. I tried feeling for a pulse, but there was none.
“Mark.” There was no time for tears. I had to move. I climbed out of my seat belt and stood up in the seat. The car creaked and moaned again, rocking slowly. If I didn’t get out now I would fall to a fiery death over the side of the cliff. The last thing I wanted was to leave my partner behind, but I knew the last thing he would want was for me to die trying to save him. We had been trained not to look back, to get ourselves out of danger, and then go back later, if and when the situation was deemed safe. Before pushing myself between the seats, I slid my fingers over Mark’s eyelids, shutting them, giving him the last sign of respect before I left him behind.
“I’m sorry.” I climbed through the car to the back, using the butt of my gun to smash the back windscreen. I made it onto the bonnet before the car started plummeting over the cliff face. I jumped as the tears fell.
Chapter Thirty
Charli
“No!” I tried backing away from him. “It’s you. You’re the guy my father was representi
ng. You killed your girlfriend.”
“One of many girlfriends.” He said it so carelessly, flicking a hand in the air. He didn’t seem to care. He had no remorse. I pulled myself free and began to run. I made it half way through the kitchen door before he had me again.
“You’re a murderer!” I screamed
“I had to do it. I needed my revenge. She got what was coming to her, just like your father.” I barely had time to register his words before he had me back against him.
“And if you don’t do what I tell you, you’ll be next.” I tried to hold back the tears. I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid. How could I not see who he really was? Damn, I really was naive.
“What do you want me to do?” I said shakily. I had to stay alive.
“Call home.” When I hesitated, he screamed in my ear, making me flinch. “Do it!” I fumbled for my phone in my jeans pocket, almost dropping it once, and dialled my home number. My mother answered on the second ring.
“Nathan? Is that you?”
“No, Mum. It’s me.” Nathan? Why would she be asking for Nathan?
“Oh, Charlotte. Charli.” Mum began weeping uncontrollably.
“Mum? What’s wrong? And why did you think it was Nathan? Do you mean my friend, Nathan?”
“Yes. Listen, Charli.” I was scared. My mum never called me by my preferred name. It was always Charlotte. “Charli, you have to find Nathan. He’s in trouble.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s a long story. I... I should’ve told you a long time ago but, your father…”
“My father, what? Mum, what’s going on?”
“Charli, he’s dead.”
“What? Who’s dead?” I tried getting through to her but she was crying too hard. “Mum?”
“Charli, find Nathan.”
“Okay. I’ll find him, but is Dad okay? Mum? Please tell me!” Frankie snatched the phone off me just as my mother began saying something and through it across the room.
“No! What did you do?” I screamed.
“What I had to do.” Frankie finally told me. That was the last straw. I began hitting and punching and kicking him but I wasn’t strong enough. He had me pinned.
Nathan
As I sat on the edge of the driveway near the cliff, wondering what had just happened, I heard a noise behind me. The gravel crunched. I turned to see someone I wasn’t expecting.
“Mia?”
“Hello Constable Nathan. Have a nice trip?” This girl was not the girl I remembered from campus, Charli’s friend. No, the girl standing behind me looked like a sadistic knife-wielding serial killer. Her face held a malicious smirk, and the full moon above glinted off the blade of the knife she held in her right hand.
“Mia. Put down the knife, and no one is going to get hurt. This doesn’t have to end badly.” I put my hands up in front of me.
She only laughed at me. “It has already ended badly, for Charli’s father, and for those three helpless and pathetic skanks who thought they could get in my way.”
“What? Three?” I stood but almost fell again, something was wrong with my leg. I couldn’t check it yet until I dealt with the threat at hand. “Did you hurt Charli’s father, Mia?”
“First off, my name is not Mia. It’s Courtney. Second, yes, I did. He was a liability. He knew too much. And so do you.”
Shit. She was right. This was turning real bad, real fast. I had to find Charli, but first I had to call for backup. Lucky I still had my phone in my pocket. I slipped my hand into my pocket, distracting the girl by talking.
“So, let me get this straight, you’ve been working with Levi this whole time?”
“Yep. We’re the ultimate power couple. I guess you could call us Bonnie and Clyde.”
“Right, the ultimate criminal couple. And you also posed as a college student to befriend Charli?”
“So did you.” The distraction was working. My thumb slid over the unlock button and pressed down on the speed dial button.
“No, I was working undercover to protect Charli.”
“Well, you’re doing a wack job of that.”
I bowed my head, feigning shame. “I know. I failed.”
I thought I had her distracted.
I was wrong.
I not only failed in my job, which was the truth, I had also failed to see the signs I was trained to see in a suspect before they strike.
Courtney smirked, her hand flinched, and then she lunged at me. I was quick, but not quick enough. I pulled my gun out one second too late. Her blade pierced my side.
I fell to my knees, and as she began to run, I fired. The bullet caught her in the ankle, then her back. Another went straight through her arm. I had to fire three rounds before she went down.
As the pain took hold of my body, I heard sirens approaching in the distance and knew it would soon be over. But I couldn’t give up now. I had one more task to do.
I had to find Charli.
I pulled myself up. Pressing a hand over my wound, I made my way to the house.
Chapter Thirty-One
Charli
I had to find Nathan.
I didn’t understand what my mother had meant by ‘find Nathan,’ but I knew deep down something was not right. It was peculiar, the way I felt for him. I know it may sound cliché, but it’s as if he and I are soul mates. It’s as if our souls are linked. But I had one slight problem. Frankie… I mean, Levi, or whatever he had said his name was… had me pinned against the kitchen bench and was beginning to take off my clothes. I knew I had to surrender to him to save myself, but I also had the most overwhelming urge to run outside. But I stayed pinned and surrendered myself because I knew help was nearby. I knew this would soon be over. Frankie/Levi began by stripping me of my t-shirt, then my bra, lingering on the mounds of my breasts. He kissed his way over and around them and trailed kisses down my abdomen to the most sensitive part of my stomach, making me flinch. When he began undoing my jeans and pulling them down, I locked my emotions away and became a soulless being. My soul was now hovering on the ceiling above my body watching the whole scene play out. But something caught my attention. Someone was coming through the front door. Luckily, Frankie/Levi hadn’t heard them yet. He continued fondling me, and when he had my knickers down, he didn’t hesitate. He entered me fast making me cry out in pain.
Nathan
I tread carefully up the drive and front steps to minimise sound, but when I was at the front door, which was wide open, I heard sounds. It sounded animalistic. It sounded like an animal was dying—or someone was making love. As I walked further into the house, checking around each corner, gun at the ready, I knew they were in the kitchen.
Charli
Someone was coming. I knew they would find me soon, but I had to distract Frankie. I pulled his body closer to me.
“Oh, Frankie…”
“Oh, baby. You’re so tight.”
“I’m ready. I can’t hold on any longer.” I dug my nails into his back as my fake climax came and went. I screamed out to make it more real.
He wasn’t faking though.
“Oh, Charli.”
“Frankie. Don’t stop, I want more.”
“Oh, baby. You’re relentless.”
As I let him lift me up onto the bench, I turned my head to look at the door of the kitchen. What I saw on the other side shattered my heart even more...
Nathan
I tried to approach the kitchen door as silently as I could, but it didn’t matter. The sounds of their love- making drowned out the sounds of my footsteps. The sliding door was open an inch so I peered through. What I saw through the gap I knew I couldn’t un-see. It was Charli, in the grip of Levi, having sex on the kitchen bench. I almost turned away when I noticed Charli’s face. She had the expression of detachment. I had seen it before on the faces of rape victims. She was trying to shut herself off from the experience, shut off her emotions so she wouldn’t be able to feel pain or pleasure. I smiled on the inside for her br
avery, all the while aching to run in there and yank Levi off her. I knew I should wait until he pulled himself away from her, but I didn’t listen to my training. I burst into the room.
Charli
I was glad my fake climax worked. It distracted Frankie long enough for him not to notice Nathan standing outside the kitchen door. But not long enough. Before I knew it, Nathan was rushing in, gun raised and poised at Frankie’s head.
“Shit.” Frankie cursed and quickly slid out of me and grabbed his trousers. “This is perfect.” I shivered. The way he said ‘perfect’ wasn’t in an annoyed way. It was more as if he had been waiting for Nathan to show up.
“Nathan,” I gasped seeing his raised gun. “What are you doing?”
“Get dressed and get out of here, Charli,” Nathan said, not taking his eyes off Frankie.
“But—”
“No, but’s, Charli. Move!” Nathan’s sudden change of tone made me flinch, but I didn’t move.
“Nathan, put your gun down. Everything’s okay here.” I stepped between the boys. Frankie began laughing hysterically. I turned to glare at him. “Frankie?”
“I told you, bitch. My name is Levi, not Frankie,” he spat his name as if it were poison and continued talking. “Didn’t you hear the girl, Nathan? Put your gun back in your pants and we can finish this the right way.”
“Not likely. I’d prefer to finish this my way. The way I’ve been trained.”
My eyes widened. “Trained? Nathan, who are you?”
“Oh my God, hasn’t he told you?” When I didn’t answer back, Frankie laughed again. “Oh this is great! The perfect twist to the story. ‘The heroine gets betrayed by both her love interests.’ But I’d much prefer the ending to be more like this.” as quick as a flash, a movement neither Nathan nor I saw coming, Frankie reached behind his back and pulled out a knife. With the flick of his wrist, with metal gleaming under the lights, Frankie threw the large kitchen knife forward. It flew through the air and imbedded itself in Nathan’s abdomen.
