Her Only Salvation (16 page)

“I’m glad you chose the former,” she said, adrenaline pumping through her veins and making her heart thunder in her chest.

“I don’t know how to handle you anymore,” Randy confessed, pulling back to look at her. He pushed a strand of hair that had slipped from her ponytail behind her ear in a move so affectionate that Terri almost had to remind herself that he was dangerous. Almost. “You run from me, hide from me, play house with another man to get at me, and when I finally corner you, you say terrible lies, all to hurt me. Why?”

Terri wasn’t sure how to respond. “I don’t know why I said and did all those things,” she said, looking at where her hands played against his shirt rather than meeting his eyes where he would no doubt see the lies being spun there. “My only defense is that I haven’t been feeling like myself lately, and that you were right. We have a lot to talk about and work on.”

Crushing her to his chest, Randy breathed deeply, as if she was his lifeline. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that.” He paused. “I’m sorry I hit you,” he said regretfully. “I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. You know that, right?” Terri nodded, her cheek rasping against the rough fabric of his shirt. “You mean everything to me, Terri. I’m nothing without you.”

“You’re nothing, period,” Luke’s rumbling voice said from the doorway.

Randy released her, shoving her behind him and baring his teeth like a ferocious animal guarding its territory. “You,” he snarled. “You’re dead.”

“Actually,” Luke said with a cocky lift of his chin, “I’m not.” Tilting his head, he looked around Randy’s big body and smiled warmly at Terri. “How you doing, sweetheart?”

“Don’t you dare talk to him,” Randy warned, never taking his eyes off of Luke. “You have some nerve trying to move in on another’s man’s wife.”

Luke stood with his shoulder propped against the doorframe, the picture of nonchalance. “Ex-wife,” he corrected, and Terri suspected the remark was meant to antagonize him rather than defuse the situation.

“Not yet, not ever,” Randy said confidently, his muscles bunching with agitation under his clothes.

“Soon then.” Luke just couldn’t seem to let it go, and Terri was terrified of what he was doing. She tried to shake her head at him, warn him off, but he was ignoring her, or at least pretending to.

“You can’t have her, you know. She doesn’t want you,” Randy told him, reaching behind him to bring her around to his side where he tucked her under his arm, presenting a united front.

“Oh, I can, and she does,” Luke said, standing up straight now. He held out his hand and flexed his fingers, motioning her to him. “It’s alright, sweetheart. Just a couple of steps. Show him you’re not afraid of him anymore.”

Terri hesitated, not sure which way this would go if she did. She wanted to. Oh, did she want to, but she wasn’t sure that she could without disastrous consequences. She looked up at Randy, reading his eyes, which were fierce compared to Luke’s soft, welcoming gaze.

“Well,” Randy said expectantly. “Tell this asshole to take a hike, Terri, so we can get the hell out of here.” The hand he had resting on her hip squeezed painfully, a silent warning to do as he said.

Unable to meet Luke’s eyes, Terri focused on a section of splintered molding above his head that had been broken when Randy forced his way in.  She then spewed the biggest lie of all. “This is my husband, Luke. I love him, not you. You can’t honestly believe I would choose you over him?” The pressure on her hip eased—a sign that Randy was pleased with her performance.

Luke was quiet for a span of time, and then he stepped into the room and to the side to give them room to pass. “If that’s the way you want it…”

“You’re smarter than you look,” Randy said with smug satisfaction, nudging her into motion. As they passed, Terri finally found the courage to look at Luke, willing him with her eyes to see the desperation, the despair and anguish residing in her heart. Luke just looked at her, no feeling, just a distant look of resignation. She had hurt him with her lie, and he was too blind to see what was happening right in front of his face.

Panic swept through her. Each step she took echoed a death knoll in her mind. Halfway down the staircase, Terri wrenched free of Randy’s loose grip and tore back up the stairs, calling Luke’s name frantically.

Chapter Nineteen

Luke was outraged to find Randy was in his home. How had the guy even gained access in the first place? He knew Terri was only siding with Randy to keep him pacified and avoid a disaster. But Luke had to pretend to be fooled, considering the level of danger they were now dealing with.

Luke had combed every inch of the house, installing all kinds of security measures and checking to be sure they worked. Short of a natural disaster, he was almost positive the house was sealed tighter than a vacuum packed pickle jar, which everyone knew was nearly impossible to open. Clearly Terri wouldn’t have opened the door and invited him in for tea, so what had gone wrong?

He let them pass because he needed a moment to think. He also needed Randy to believe that he was going to let Terri go without a fight. The guy was that arrogant. As if he alone held some claim to her, that there was an unbreakable bond, an invisible tether that somehow made her his and his alone. It was incredible to him that anyone could be so blind, but then people were some of the most screwed up species on the planet, weren’t they.

He was toying with the idea of shooting Terri’s husband, and was already bent on one knee in search of the gun he had hidden beneath his mattress, when Terri’s panic-stricken voice called out for him. He could hear her need, the sheer terror in her voice and, with a flicker of panic of his own, he flipped the mattress off the frame.  But he found only empty space. The gun was gone.

With no time to think, Luke bolted from the room, his only idea to somehow save Terri and take down her husband in the process. He exited the room in time to meet her wide-eyed look of terror, then Randy spun and snagged her foot. He tugged hard, and her feet slipped from under her. Luke watched as she bounced down the staircase on her stomach, her chin slamming down each step as she went, her teeth clattering together so hard he thought they might break, until she lay motionless at the bottom.

A roar of true fury exploded from Luke. He called her name, anger and fear mixing hot in his voice. Then he leaped into action. Nearly flying down the stairs, he tackled Randy, plowing him into the floor so hard he was surprised the hardwood didn’t give way.

“You filthy bastard,” Luke raged, fisting Randy’s shirt collar and thumping his head into the floor. That lasted only about two seconds before Randy was able to get his wits about him and turn the tables.

Chest expanding, Randy’s eyes lit on Luke, and in a move straight out of a UFC fight, he lifted his legs into the air, capturing Luke around the neck and wrenching him backwards to the floor. He hit hard, his head spinning. He groaned, and when he opened his eyes, it was to see a fist speeding toward his face.

Employing his adrenaline-fueled reflexes, Luke rolled out of the way, hearing the sickening crack of bone on wood that could have been his face. Randy hollered, gripping his hand. Luke got his feet under him, and they were facing off again, circling each other. Randy’s mouth curved downward and his eyes shown with madness, and Luke had a moment in which he realized he was looking into the belly of the beast.

From where she lay sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, Terri moaned, and Luke made the mistake of looking in her direction. In a flash, Randy was on him, his fist colliding with his jaw, his eye, his cheek with maddening speed until his face felt swollen and numb.

And then he was there, bent over with his face so close their noses touched and he could smell the stale beer on his breath. “I had plans for you,” Randy seethed, “a whole bag of fun with your name on it. It was supposed to be a surprise, but your impatience has forced me to change my plans. Now you will die quickly, but no less painfully, I’m afraid.”

A quick jab to the ribs. Luke felt the break like a snap of white hot lightning, scorching his insides with the most incredible pain he had ever felt. He gritted his teeth, refusing to do more than grunt. A smile, then another punch, this time to his stomach. The force was so strong, Luke was sure something had been ruptured, but every muscle and organ in his body was screaming so loud, he couldn’t single out where it was coming from.

Through bloodied, swollen lips, Luke grinned, feeling the skin on his split lips separate with a sting. “Sorry to mess up your plans. I never was one for surprises,” he panted, enjoying the heated look he received in response. He earned another punch to the face for that little remark.

“A regular jokester, huh,” Randy said, gripping Luke’s face in his meaty paws so tight he thought he heard bone crack. “Maybe I’ll take a little time, introduce you to my favorite knife—”

The deafening sound of a jet engine breaking the sound barrier echoed throughout the first floor, causing Luke to wince. But it wasn’t a jet, as Luke realized a moment later when Randy’s words cut off and a look of complete shock froze his face.

Slowly, Randy pushed himself off Luke, stumbling into the wall as he tried to stand. He held his hand to his side, pain etched in his face and shining brightly in his eyes. Luke watched in stunned silence as a trickle of blood seeped between Randy’s fingers and dripped to the floor.

“Are you okay?” Terri asked Luke in a shaky voice.

Luke turned his head to look at her. She stood a few feet away; her arms held out straight, his gun gripped tightly between her trembling hands. Her eyes misted over as she watched her husband.

“I’m fine,” Luke managed, though he felt like he had just gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. “Never felt better.”

“You shot me,” Randy accused. “You shot me and you stand there asking him if he’s okay?” He took a menacing step toward her, faltered, and fell back against the wall, grimacing. “Dammit, Terri!”

“I’m sorry,” Terri told him, her voice quavering. “But I can’t let you hurt anyone anymore.” Randy glared at her, his skin turning ashen as the blood ran faster. “It’s over, Randy.”

He bared his teeth at her. “It will never be over between us. We belong together, Terri. Don’t you see that? We’ll never be apart. As long as I live, I will always come for you.”

“I was afraid of that,” Terri said, regret ringing in her voice. Then she pulled the trigger a second time. Randy grunted as the bullet entered his chest, then slowly slid to the floor, leaving a crimson stain on the wall that traced his path down.

“I…loved…you,” Randy gasped. They were the last words that would ever leave his lips.

Crying out with realization of what she had just done, Terri ran to him and dropped to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m sorry,” she cried over and over again, touching his face, his hair, but he was already gone.

Luke’s heart broke for her, and with the last of his strength, he managed to roll onto his side and push himself up on his arms. He crawled to her, gritting his teeth at the pain that radiated from his midsection to his fingertips, and tugged her into his arms.

He held her that way, clutching her to his chest and rocking her, for an unknown amount time. He didn’t say anything, because what was there to say? The whole situation was so messed up; nothing that he could say would ever fix it. So he kept his mouth shut and held her, using the silence and the strength of his embrace to tell her what she already knew—that she wasn’t alone, that he would keep her together even when she felt like she was falling apart.

***

The police showed up with sirens screaming, their colored lights dancing across the treetops. They were late, and for some reason, Luke found this to be almost comical. He and Terri sat in the back of the ambulance, their feet hanging over the end as the paramedic finished cleansing Luke’s cuts and checking them for any serious injuries. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital,” he asked them, handing Luke an icepack for his swollen…everything.

“I’m fine,” Luke said again, sighing at the cool relief on his face. “The pain killers are working like a charm.”

The paramedic frowned. “Sir, you have two cracked ribs, a fractured nose and contusions over thirty percent of your body.”

“I know what I have,” Luke said, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “I already told you, though. I am not spending the rest of my night and part of the day sitting in the emergency room when I could be resting comfortably in my own bed. Not gonna happen.”

“Ma’am?” The paramedic turned his focus on her. “What about you?”

Terri stared up at the house, watching as another pair of paramedics wheeled a stretcher out the door, a black body bag strapped to it. The paramedic repeated the question, and she snapped out of the daze she had been trapped in. “I’ll be okay,” she said thickly, and turned to tuck herself against Luke’s side.

He cringed at the pain that zinged through his side, and she stiffened, prepared to pull away and offering her apologies, but he pulled her back against him, determined to offer her the only comfort he could.

Together they watched as Randy’s body was wheeled past the truck and out of sight. A vast sense of relief filled Luke, as if they had just left behind the mountain of an obstacle that had been standing between them. As he looked down at the top of Terri’s head, seeing the stark blond roots showing against the false black strands, he wondered if she might be feeling the same.

Sometime later, as the sun crested the horizon, its warm rays reaching lazily across the sky to tickle the trees and the grass, the ambulances pulled away, leaving behind a few officers who were busy taking statements and gathering evidence…or just standing around talking.

The detective that Luke had talked to before stood in the middle of the lawn talking to a taller, more distinguished man, who Luke guessed to be his superior, and relayed what Luke and Terri had told him, adding a few details of his own experience to the mix.

“I was questioning the Lefebvre kid,” he was saying. “But he couldn’t remember a damn thing. As it turns out, though, his friend remembered quite a lot. Apparently, he had been running to catch up with him when he saw the truck barreling down, and he caught the license plate. It just so happens I saw that same license plate earlier in the day.”

Luke sat up straighter, straining to catch everything. “I had been out at Mrs. Cunningham’s residence that very morning. I was performing a visual of a blue truck that was sitting in her drive, you know, because every blue truck was suspicious to me at that time, and I saw the plate. Thought it was funny at the time…” He paused, glanced back at the ambulance, an unreadable look strolling across his face. “I suspected right then and there who I was dealing with, but I had no idea how deep this case went until I got a call a few minutes after leaving the hospital.”

Luke was leaning forward now, his attention rapt on every detail that spilled from the detective’s mouth. “Apparently, the lawyer she had hired to help her with her divorce was working with the husband to keep her from getting one. Seems they went back a ways. I guess he had been helping him all along, paying him off and carrying out favors to keep him quiet about some not-so-honest things going on in his own life. Guess he couldn’t handle the pressure of knowing he could go down at any minute.”

“This sounds like a legal issue,” the other officer, or whoever he was, said, scratching his fingers across his bearded chin.

“My thoughts exactly,” Detective Young agreed. “I think The Bar might be interested to hear about how he’s been abusing his powers, too.”

“Indeed.” The man clapped Young on the shoulder. “Good work, Howard. Now let’s wrap this up. Somebody, and I won’t name names,” he looked at Howard pointedly, “woke me up very early this morning.”

Howard grinned ruefully. “Go ahead and take off, John. I can handle the rest from here.”

Luke and Terri were sitting on the top step of the porch when Detective Young approached them. “How you two doing?”

“About as well as can be expected,” Luke replied.

The detective nodded, looking over their heads into the open doorway where photographers and detectives were just wrapping up. 

“I don’t have to tell you how lucky the two of you were tonight. The things he had stashed in that bag…Well, let’s just say that I’ve seen some things in my lifetime and none of them make me shudder like what I saw in there. He had plans for you two.”

“Yeah, well, I’m just glad he didn’t get the chance to act any of them out,” Luke said fiercely, anger still vibrating through his sore and injured body.

“Me too,” the detective concurred. He pegged Terri with a hard look. “You were incredibly lucky that you got away tonight. Not very many women have the strength to do what you did.”

Terri barely looked at him, but gave a subtle nod. She didn’t feel like a strong woman at all.

Finally, after a cleaning crew was finished erasing all signs of the carnage inside the house, and everyone else was gone, Luke led Terri back inside. They settled on the couch together, neither of them speaking, too worn out with everything that had happened to formulate the simplest of words.

When the quiet grew to be too much for him, Luke broke the silence. “Well, I didn’t get a chance to tell you this earlier, but you did a great job cleaning the house today. Very lemony fresh.”

Terri’s response was a long time coming, but eventually she nodded. “I didn’t clean the bathroom with my toothbrush like I promised, but I think you’ll be happy with the results.” She stared at the bucket of cleaning supplies still sitting on the table across from them, the iPod still lying on the floor. Moving like a zombie, she rose to her feet and bent to pick up the small music player. “I better put these things away,” she said, hooking the bucket’s handle and lifting it off the table.