Saving Grace (26 page)

Anne smiled, happy to be back in the kitchen with her sister. 

Zach watched in awe as his magic moment unfolded.  With Burke pulling out of his drive, it left him the opening he needed.

              After Burke’s car turned the corner, he slid from his front seat, slipped his gun into his pocket, and bounded across the road. 

He heard them before he saw them.  Their happy banter floated from the house, and greeted him at the screen door.  He paused before opening it, giving them one more second of joy before he shattered it.

As he slowly pulled the door open, he slid inside hoping to catch them by surprise. Before he made himself known, he watched them work in tandem in the kitchen.

Although something about the Grace’s friend had gotten under his skin, he still couldn’t place her. 

Zach shook it off.  It didn’t matter, because she wasn’t his target … Grace was.  His mission from day one had been Grace, and he wouldn’t be denied any longer.  She would be coming with him tonight, even if it meant hurting someone who got his way.

Zach took a step toward the kitchen hoping to be able to grab Grace and back away, but before he’d planned out his escape in his mind the other woman turned.

Anne watched as her sister beat the eggs, and turned to reach for the can opener.  And that’s when she saw him.

“What the?”  She took a step back, bumping into Grace, as Zach took a step forward.

Grace laughed at her sister’s clumsiness, until she saw the reason for her misstep. It was then that her eyes connected with Zach’s, and she froze.

“Surprised to see me?”  His eyes were hard.

Zach’s partial beard might have been enough to disguise him, but Grace would know those steely blue eyes anywhere.  They almost pierced through hers as he took one more step.

“Zach!” She gasped, clutching her sister’s arm, unaware that she’d stepped in behind Anne for protection.

“That’s right.  And this has gone on long enough.  I’ve watched you play house for a couple weeks, and it stops now.”

Instantly, Anne’s protective instincts kicked in.  This was the man her sister had told her about … the one who’d beat her.  And although she was scared, she wouldn’t let him harm her little sister again.

“You’d better not come any closer.”  Anne warned him.

“Back away.  I came for Grace. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you get in my way… I will.” 

Zach lifted his shirt and showed them his gun.

Grace jumped from her sister’s protection and ran around the kitchen island into the other room, trying to draw his attention away from Anne.  The last thing she needed was to lose her sister after all this time.

Although scared out of her mind, she had to try to reason with him.

“Zach, you don’t want her. You want me, remember?” 

Grace tried to smile, but her lips were shaking too hard.  The adrenaline was crashing into her system faster than she could process it.

Zach smiled and slid the gun from his shorts, letting it come to rest in the palm of his hand.  The weight of it, within his grasp, gave him a surge of power.

As he stepped away from the kitchen, Anne frantically scanned the room in efforts find anything she could use as a weapon.  She took stock of a set of knives, but that would mean getting in too close.  No, she needed something to knock him out.

Burke’s kitchen was sparse, but she thankfully the man had a huge heavy frying pan.  She watched Zach, hoping his gaze was solely trained on Grace, and slowly inched for the pan to her left.

Zach, sensing movement behind him, spun to his left, and narrowed in on Anne.

“What are you going to do with that, huh?”  He watched Anne stop short of grabbing a pan, from the far end of the counter.  “I told you I didn’t want to have to hurt you, but it’s clear you’re not listening.  You think you could come at me with a frying pan?  Come here!” 

Zach had his gun pointed to Anne, who wished with all her might she was within distance to knock him over the head.  As it stood right now, Zach had the upper hand.

Zach pulled down the hammer on the gun, clicking it in place. 

When it was clear Anne wasn’t moving as instructed, he demanded through his teeth.

“I said come here.”

Out of desperation, Grace jumped in-between Zach and Anne.

“Zach, I’m the one you want. Don’t hurt anyone … I’ll come with you if you leave her alone.”

“What’s she to you?”  Zach asked, still not able to connect the dots.

Grace looked to Anne, who sent her a pleading stare.  

“Don’t do this, Gracey,”she begged. 

“No it’s okay…I can handle it.”  Grace lied.

“There you go, Grace.  Now you’re being a good girl.”  He smiled and grabbed for her arm. 

He gave it a good squeeze as a reminder of what he could do to her if she didn’t mind.

Grace winced in pain, and clamped down on her lips.  She wouldn’t let him hear her whimper.

“Let’s go.”  He turned to push her out the front door, toward his car. 

With his gaze solely on Grace, Anne knew she only had one shot.  In haste, she finally reached for the frying pan.  With one gliding motion, she slammed it down on the back of his head, sending him tumbling to his knees.

As Zach let go of Grace’s arm to shield his head, he saw were stars.  And, right before he passed out, he felt the blood that was oozing from the back of his head.

Grace quickly freed herself and jumped back to the protection of her sister. 

“Is he dead?”  She whispered, noticing that Zach still held on to his gun.

They both heard him moan, as he struggled to come to.  

“Come on. We’ve got to go.”  Anne backed up, gently pushing her sister away from Zach.

“What about Burke?”  Grace cried.  “He’ll be home any minute, and Zach could hurt him.”

“Let’s go now,” Anne said in a rush, not thinking clearly.  All she knew was that she needed to get her sister to safety.  She quickly pulled her sister out the door, knocking over a lamp in the process.

The sounds of their voices echoed through his mind, followed by shattered glass.  Zach tried to lift his head to see where they went, but everything was hazy.

You’re going to let them get away? 
Zach heard his father’s voice filling his head. 

“Stop it,” he screamed, holding his head.  He had to push forward, not only to finish his plan but also to stop his father from antagonizing him from beyond the grave.

Zach forced his way through the haze that clouded his conscience, only to come to even angrier than went he went down. 

After a few minutes of fighting of the pain, he opened his eyes to the empty room to find that it had darkened with the suns decent.  They had gone.

As placed his hands on the ground to push up to his knees, he was more determined than ever. Now it was not only about Grace, but her friend too.  He would get revenge for what she did to him.

Zach wiped the blood away from his eyes and placed a hand on the doorway to steady his steps.  He took a long breath to center his mind.  He’d come too far to stop now. 

I’m coming, Grace.  I’ll find you.

Chapter 33

She ran as fast as her legs would let her, as she grabbed her sister’s hand and ran for her life.  The darkness, which had enveloped them, was a blessing and a curse. 

It hid the two young women as they escaped down the shore, however - the darkness that chased them kept her heart racing in fear.

How did it come to this? 
Grace asked herself, recounting the last few months in her head. 

Try as she could to keep up with her sister– her feet felt like they were being sucked down into the sand. 

“Hurry!”  Her sister hollered over her shoulder, pulling her along.

“Are you sure he’s after us?”  She yelled back, and tugged her Anne’s hand.  “We need to go back!  Burke will be home!”

“Trust me!”  Anne stopped for a second - only to pull her sister close.  “I’ve dreamt this. I know it may sound strange, but I know he’s going to get up and come after us.  We’ve got to get as far away as possible and find some place safe to hide.”

“Stop,” Grace panted, pulling at Anne’s hand.   “I think we lost him.”

She needed to talk some sense into her sister.  She needed to find Burke.

“No!”  Anne panted, looking once more over her shoulder.  “He’s after us.  I know it.”

Grace looked behind them through the dark night, unsure.

“We don’t know that.  He was on the ground when we left.  Burke could be coming home right now.  What if he’s in danger?  I’ve got to warn him.”  She dug in her pocket for her cell phone. 

“Listen, I know this is going to sound strange … but I’ve dreamed about this before.  It’s happened.”  Anne tried catching her breath.  “And in my dream, we’re definitely running from him.” 

“Dreams aren’t real, Anne.  I can’t explain why you’d dream this … but doesn’t mean it will come true.”  Grace tried to reason with Anne.

“Zach’s got a gun, and he’s after us.  I feel it.  Come on - we have to hide.”

It was then that they heard a gunshot, which was closer than either of them would like to admit.  Both girls screamed and ducked down, not knowing if it was aimed at them or where it was coming from. 

“Where is he?”  Grace’s voice broke.

“I don’t know. I don’t see anyone.” 

Anne peered through the dark, down the shore.  The moonlight gave them some light, but no real indication of where someone might be lurking. 

“Lets go … we have to take cover.  We’re sitting ducks out here.”  Anne pulled at her sister once more.

As Zach ran outside, he had no way of knowing which way they’d run, so he tried to put himself in Grace’s shoes. 

He’d scouted this beach for weeks, so he knew which parts would be more appealing.  If she were running for safety, she’d head for the park, where there were more places to hide – rather than the opposite end of the shore, which only had few slippery rocks. 

The beach, lit by the moonlight as it bounced from the ocean, held only a handful of scattered lights from homes along the shore.    

Instinctively, he ran, without a clue how far they’d gone, trusting that he’d be able to catch up.

Zach had a staggered gait to his run, as his head injury was keeping him from giving it one hundred per cent.  With his blurred vision and pounding head, he fell short of a fast run, but that wasn’t going to stop him.  He was determined to find both girls now.

As he cradled his head, he temporarily dropped to his knees to rest.  He wanted to call out to them, but with the sounds of the whipping winds and waves lapping onto the shore, he wasn’t sure they’d hear him.

So he did the next best thing - he lifted his gun in the air, and fired off a warning shot.  That’s when he heard Grace’s yell in the distance. 

Zach smiled, knowing they were closer than he thought. The image of their scared faces flashed through his mind, which gave him the strength to get back up to his feet and finish what he started.  After all, there couldn’t be too many places they could be hiding.

“I’ll find you!  You can’t get far,” he yelled into the open air.  The only response he heard was a dog, barking in the distance, but he knew they heard him. 

Zach reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flashlight.  If they were close, he’d find them and when he did … he wanted to see their faces.

“I didn’t come this far, to leave empty handed.”  He grunted, in pain.  “Grace!” 

Both girls heard him yell her name, and panicked. 

“Hurry,” Anne said, frantically searching for a hiding place. 

“He’s going to find us.” 

“No, we’re going to be fine.  Work with me, Gracey.  We can do this.”

              Anne looked around them realizing they’d come to a large stretch of beach, where there were no homes.  Instantly, she began kicking herself for not trying to seek refuge with someone earlier – but all she could think of was getting as far away as possible.  

As they rounded a curve along the shoreline, a few clouds parted, allowing the moon’s light to shine enough to reveal a small ravine, which gave access to seawater.  It also carried out to a small lake, where an overpass bridged the ravine, but she saw nowhere to hide within it that didn’t leave them vulnerable.

“Anne, look.”  Grace pointed to a picnic area above them.  A small overturned boat lay lodged in the sand just next to the grass. 

Her eyes rested on the small boat, which had seen better days.  Even if she had time to drag it to water – she couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t sink.