Sucker Punched: A KT Morgan Short Suspense

by Kathryn J Bain

  “I believe your hero’s here.” Clarice looked down at Matthew, then turned to Sophia. “Watch him.” She pulled Meredith by the arm. “You’re with me. Haley, Evenie, make sure you’re ready to shoot.” She inhaled a deep breath and counted to ten. “Let’s go.”

  5:22 p.m.

  The motorcycle stopped at the main road. Jonah finally released a stuck breath. He hadn’t expected Thunder to spin around like he had. He’d been on a motorcycle before, but never like this.

  Thunder parked the bike in a batch of trees.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  Jonah took off the helmet. “I saw KT.”

  “Yep.”

  “How can you be sure this is the place?” Jonah followed Thunder over bushes and around tree branches.

  “Only place out here. Shoe prints in the dirt. Besides, your sister’s already checked it out.”

  “How did she have time?” Jonah panted as he climbed through the woods.

  “She’s fast, and she’s good,” Thunder said, barely a bead a sweat on his forehead.

  They paused at the back of the trailer.

  Three young women and a girl walked up and down the dirt area they’d just ridden on. Jonah knew one of the women to be Clarice Seidel. He paused when he spotted the guns they were carrying. The women neared the outskirts of the woods where Jonah had seen his sister. He turned in the same direction, but Thunder grabbed him by the arm.

  “Our job is in that trailer,” Thunder whispered, gesturing with his thumb. “KT can take care of herself.”

  After a beat, Jonah nodded. They tiptoed toward the trailer. Thunder motioned for Jonah to get down.

  “There’s a backdoor.” Jonah pointed.

  “Might be blocked.” Thunder kept his stare on the women. “That would ruin our element of surprise.”

  After a minute or two, the four headed into the woods out of sight.

  Jonah could barely hear over the pounding of his pulse in his ears. How did KT do this for a living? He and Thunder crawled under the front window. Thunder pulled a knife from his belt. At the door, he checked the knob. It turned. He swung it open and rushed inside. Jonah followed.

  A young girl let out a startled scream.

  Thunder pointed the knife at her chest. “Say a word, it’ll be your last.”

  She held her trembling hands up.

  Matthew’s eyes were wide. He mumbled something, but Jonah couldn’t make out the boy’s words through his taped mouth.

  Anger flashed through him. How dare they treat his son this way. The thought almost stopped him. He’d never really thought of Matthew that way until now.

  “Cut him loose.” Thunder handed the knife over to Jonah.

  While Jonah sawed at the bindings on Matthew’s legs, Thunder taped the girl’s mouth. He then tossed her onto the ground like a rag doll and hogtied her. The ripping sound of the tape echoed off the walls. If anyone were near, they’d surely hear it.

  Thunder took his knee off the girl’s back. “You’d think I done this before.” He laughed patting her on the head.

  He took his knife from Jonah, and with a quick swipe released the young boy’s hands from behind him. Thunder pulled the corner of the tape on Matthew’s face.

  “This is gonna hurt like a Band-Aid coming off. Best to do it fast.”

  Matthew swallowed hard, then nodded and shut his eyes tight.

  Thunder jerked the tape off in one swipe. Jonah half expected Matthew’s lips to be attached.

  “I told them you’d come.” Matthew jumped into Jonah’s arm. “They’re planning to kill KT.”

  Pop! Pop!

  . Jonah raced to the window. KT was running toward the river. The Seidel woman chasing her. KT dove into the water.

  “We’ve got to help her,” Jonah said.

  “Not until the boy’s safe.” Thunder glanced around. “Just a matter of seconds until they get back here. Now’s the time to use the backdoor.”

  He scooted a chair out of the way and unlocked it. “Let’s go.”

  Jonah gave a quick look out the window. No sign of his sister in the water. Had they shot her? He fought the urge to run out to see. Instead, he grabbed hold of Matthew’s hand and took off running in the opposite direction.

  5:31 p.m.

  Clarice sped to the wooden dock. Within a second, Meredith and the other two joined her. No sign of KT Morgan.

  “Did I get her?” Haley asked, out of breath.

  “Don’t know.” Clarice continued to scan the water.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Meredith said.

  Clarice agreed. “Something’s off.” She nodded to Haley. “You and Evenie head back to the kid. She’ll eventually end up back there if she’s able to.”

  In the Suwanee River, Clarice looked for any sign of blood. Nothing. Where was she? No one could have held their breath that long.

  “Maybe the tide took away her body.” Meredith bit her bottom lip.

  Could it without them knowing? Clarice jumped at the ringing of her cell phone rang. The screen showed Haley’s prepaid number. “What?”

  “He’s gone,” Haley yelled. “The kid’s gone.”

  Fire burned in Clarice’s stomach. “What do you mean he’s gone?”

  “Sophie’s tied up. She said the two guys from the motorcycle came in and took him.”

  Clarice squeezed the phone, ready to spit nails. She mentally chastised herself for being so stupid. She should have known that Morgan woman was just a distraction.

  Next to her, Meredith let out a guttural scream. She clawed Clarice’s shoulder. Her blood froze from the wide-eyed look of terror in Meredith’s eyes.

  5:34 p.m.

  At the bike, Jonah bent to catch his breath.

  “We ain’t got time to rest.” Thunder looked down at Matthew. “You ever rode on a bike?”

  “No.” Matthew’s eyes shined with excitement.

  “All you got to do is hold on tight, got it?”

  “Got it.” Matthew gave a curt nod.

  “Take him home. I gotta help KT.” Jonah turned to leave.

  “That wasn’t the plan.” Thunder stepped in front of him. “The kid is.”

  “And you’ve got him.” Jonah gasped for air. “But there are at least four of them. That’s too many.”

  Thunder pointed a finger at him. “But I tried to stop you, okay? Don’t want her thinking otherwise.”

  Jonah nodded.

  “Cut through the woods, quietly.” He pointed to his right. “Keep low. If you see someone, stop until you’re sure who it is.” He pulled out his cell and dialed. “The cops will be here soon.” He patted Jonah on the shoulder. “Good luck not getting killed by your own sister.” He laughed and turned to Matthew. “Ready to board?”

  “Yeah.” Matthew looked over the bike, his brow furrowed.

  Jonah patted his shoulder. “Tell your mom KT and I’ll be home soon.” He helped Matthew onto the back of the bike. “You got this.”

  “Time to get you home, kid.” Thunder turned the bike on. Matthew grabbed him tight around the waist.

  Once they were out of sight, Jonah glanced up at the sky. “Lord, Thanks for helping Matthew, now do the same for me and KT.”

  He took three steps in the direction they’d come, then cut back into the woods like Thunder had instructed.

  5:36 p.m.

  Clarice tried to pry Meredith’s fingers from her arm, but the terrified girl’s nails bit into her skin. Meredith pointed down. A knife blade was shoved through the slats of the dock through the top of her foot.

  “Get it out,” Meredith finally released her hold. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

  Clarice shot down through the dock slats, hoping to hit KT.

  “Help me.” Meredith pulled at her hair. “It hurts. Bad.”

  Clarice caught sight of the Morgan woman about a hundred yards away. She rolled up on the embankment from the water. Shooting from this distance would be a waste of bullets. She disappeared into
a wooded area about fifty feet from the trailer.

  Tears raced down Meredith’s face. “Make it stop hurting,” she cried.

  Clarice struggled to breathe, then calmed herself. She had to think of Evenie. “Sorry.” She aimed the gun at Meredith’s chest.

  “No, ple—.”

  Clarice pulled the trigger.

  Meredith crumpled to the ground.

  Clarice took off to the trailer. She needed to stop KT from getting to her daughter. Inside, she found Evenie on her phone. The other two girls nowhere in sight.

  “Where’s Haley and Sophia?” Clarice asked.

  “They left.”

  “Left?”

  “Yeah. They figured once you shot Meredith, they were next.”

  Clarice tore the phone from her daughter’s hands.

  “Give me my phone back.” Evenie grabbed at it, but Clarice tossed it against the wall. Evenie rushed over to it. “You broke it. How dare you…”

  “How dare I? Why didn’t you stop those two from leaving?”

  “What’s the point?” Evenie’s voice remained calm. “It’s only a matter of time until Grandpa hears.”

  “But you can end up spending the rest of your life in prison.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  Evenie shrugged. “Like Haley said, I could always cut a deal.”

  “What?” Clarice stumbled backward as if slapped. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I thought this was all for me. You wouldn’t want me to suffer, would you?” Evenie’s eyes darkened. “And if you’re in jail, Grandpa would probably take me into that nice house.”

  Clarice stared. This can’t be happening. Her child wouldn’t turn against her. No. Her child was simply scared, that was all.

  “We need to get out of here.” She grabbed hold of Evenie by the arm and shoved her out the door.

  They ran into the woods. In minutes, the van came into sight. Within feet of the vehicle, Clarice stopped short. The tires on the passenger side were flat. She rushed to the other side. Deflated also. This had to be KT Morgan’s doing.

  “Mamma, look.” Evenie pointed.

  Haley was sneaking behind a tree, looking over her shoulder. After a second, Sophia rushed up beside her.

  “Get rid of them,” Clarice growled under her breath. Then it’d be KT’s word against theirs. And Ms. Morgan’s fingerprints could never disappear from that window.

  Clarice put her finger to her lips. She and Evenie did a half circle to get behind the two girls.

  Haley spotted them. She took off running with Sophia following.

  Clarice easily caught up to them. The two girls bent over to catch their breaths.

  “We saw you.” Haley panted out the words. “You shot Meredith.”

  A siren blared nearby, and they all looked in that direction. Clarice’s heart pounded in her ears.

  She raised her gun and pulled the trigger before Haley could move. Haley toppled over. Sophia grabbed hold of Clarice’s hands, wrestling with the gun.

  “Help me,” Clarice yelled at Evenie who just stood off to the side, a stoic look on her face.

  The struggle continued until Clarice felt a presence nearby.

  A figure in black rushed from the woods and slammed into her, knocking all three off balance.

  “Run!” KT Morgan yelled.

  Sophia took off in the direction of the police sirens.

  KT grabbed hold of Clarice and shoved her against a tree. She gripped her around the neck with one hand and stared at her with dark eyes. “You should never have messed with my family,” she said.

  Clarice couldn’t breathe. She clawed at the fingers squeezing the life from her. She spotted Evenie over KT’s shoulder, a gun in her daughter’s hands.

  “Don’t move,” Evenie said.

  5:45 p.m.

  Jonah saw a young girl running up the path. He headed the other way, climbing over branches, trying to be quiet through the dead, dry leaves on the ground.

  He heard voices a few feet away. He crept closer, then stopped short. A young girl held a gun while KT pressed a red-faced Clarice Seidel against a tree.

  “Shoot her.” Clarice Seidel choked the words out.

  The girl took a step back. She lowered the gun. “I can’t. I’m not like you.”

  Jonah rushed up. “Here, I’ll take that.”

  Tears welled in the child’s eyes as she handed the gun off to Jonah. “I didn’t want to, she made me.”

  “What are you still doing here?” KT glanced at Jonah over her shoulder. She lessoned her hold on the Seidel woman who coughed and hacked. Tears rolled from Clarice Seidel’s eyes.

  KT’s eyes narrowed.

  Jonah shook his head. His sister would be mad at him for sticking around to save her life. “Someone had to have your back, sis.”

  KT shoved Clarice Seidel back against the tree.

  “Matthew?” KT asked.

  “He’s on his way home.” Jonah took a step toward his sister. “You can let go of her.”

  Clarice Seidel didn’t even look at them, her eyes focused on her daughter instead. “Evenie, how could you?” She wilted against the tree; the fight gone out of her. “After all I’ve done for you.”

  A gleam came into the young girl’s eyes taking Jonah aback.

  Pounding footsteps rushed their way. Officers shoved through trees.

  “Come on, KT.” Jonah put his arm around her. “I need you for my wedding, remember?”

  KT planted her hand on Clarice’s chest and leaned close to her face. “If you even think about my family, it’ll be the last thought you ever have.”

  October 4

  10:22 a.m.

  Clarice was led into a conference room. Her father, her public defender, and a strange man were seated in chairs around a table. Could Daddy have gotten her an attorney? All three men rose when she walked in.

  “Daddy.” She rushed up to him, forcing tears. “This is wrong. I didn’t do it.”

  “Yes, yes you did.” He grabbed her by her upper arms and pushed her away.

  “How can you say that?”

  “Evenie told us everything.” He nodded toward the table. “Sit. We need to discuss this.”

  “I hate to say it, but my daughter is a liar.”

  “She had a good teacher.”

  Clarice sucked in a breath. She walked over and plopped down in the chair next to her attorney. “So, who’s this,” she asked.

  Her father glanced at the stranger next to him. “This is Mr. Reynolds, the state attorney who’ll be prosecuting your case.”

  She bounced out of her chair and stared down at her own attorney. “And you let him come in here to try to get me to confess?”

  “I made it clear nothing said in this room can be used in court unless you agree.”

  “Okay then.” She lowered herself again and folded her hands on the table in front of her. “What do you want?”

  “I want you to plead, to save your life,” Daddy said.

  “For something I had no part in.”

  He shook his head. “If you plead, I’ll make sure that you’re as comfortable as you can possibly be. I’ll even come see you. After all, if I’d gotten you help years ago then this might not have occurred.”

  “Help? You think I’m crazy.”

  “Not crazy enough under the terms of the law.” Mr. Reynolds eyes shined. He was enjoying this, trying to get her own father to turn on her so he could win.

  “Daddy, I swear, I’m innocent.” Clarice touched a hand to her chest. “What type of person do you think I am?”

  His Adam’s apple jumped.

  “I didn’t kill anyone,” she cried. How could her daughter turn on her like this?

  “Not even Meredith Anderson?” Mr. Reynolds bounced his pen off a notepad.

  “That Morgan woman was at fault for Meredith. She stabbed her. I only put her out of her misery.”

  “She’d been stabbed in the foot.
Not exactly life threatening.”

  “I’m not a nurse. How am I supposed to know she wasn’t going to bleed to death?”

  “And Haley Taylor?”

  “That one I did. But only to protect Evenie. She’d forced Evenie into this plan of theirs.” Clarice turned to her father. “I used to tell Evenie about growing up in a nice house with a pool. She wanted that so bad, I think that’s why she told the others. I should never have taken them in, then maybe Stefania and her kids would still be alive.” Clarice bit her lip.

  “I knew when I saw you at the police station, you’d been the one.” Daddy’s eyes misted. “I know you that well.”

  “But you’re wrong.”

  “I’m not here to argue.”

  “Then why exactly are you here?”

  “I want you to live. They’re talking the death penalty. I don’t want that for you.”

  “Instead, I get to spend the rest of my life in a tiny room, every move being watched.”

  “It’s more than you gave Stefania and her kids.”

  Heat filled Clarice’s chest. “Stefania, Stefania, Stefania. She’s the only one you ever really loved. If I had anything to do with killing her, then it’s really your fault for not loving me as much as her.”

  “I do love you or I wouldn’t be here.” Daddy’s jaw grew taut. “The only fault I have is in not taking you to get help when your mother and I first saw the evil in you. Then maybe, just maybe this wouldn’t be happening. That’s why I’m pleading with you to save your life.”

  “I’m not taking the blame for something I had no part in.” Clarice crossed her arms over her chest. “Evenie is the one to blame for all this, not me.”

  Daddy let out a loud breath. “Not only did Evenie agree to testify against you, but so did the other girl.”

  “They’re both lying to save themselves. They probably both cut a deal, didn’t they?” Clarice turned her attention to the state attorney.

  “Your daughter has been given immunity if she testifies,” Mr. Reynolds said. “The Morgan woman said you told her to kill her, but Evenie didn’t. Hard to believe she’s such a cold-blooded killer if she couldn’t pull the trigger on Ms. Morgan.”