by Karen Legasy
Hannah came into clear view and Marlee’s finger hovered over the trigger. A distant branch snapped and Hannah bolted toward the noise, disappearing behind the trees.
“They’re over here!” Hannah’s voice reverberated to the sound of the others following.
“Now’s our chance.” Marlee sprang up and looked around then crouched back down. “Which way is the road?”
“That way.” Tyler pointed with the phone.
“We need to split up,” Marlee said. “As soon as we move, they’ll be on our tail. And we need to separate the phone and gun to double our chances of escape.”
“I was thinking the same,” Tyler said. “Can the two of you make it to the road on your own?”
“We’ll have to.” Marlee turned to Abigail. “Are you ready to run like hell?”
“Yes, but what about Tyler?”
“I’ll scramble up that hill over there.” Tyler motioned with his chin. “I should be able to get a signal to call for help.”
“We’ll go first.” Marlee stood up and faced Tyler. “They’ll come after us and as soon as they go by, that’ll be your chance to sneak away and run for a signal.”
“Okay.” Tyler handed her the keys to his car. “It’s parked just off the road. Use the alarm if you can’t find it.”
“Oh, Tyler.” Abigail grabbed his arm. “What would we do without you? Please be careful. And thank you.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
“I owe you for this.” Marlee squeezed his arm. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too.” Tyler crouched lower to hide.
“Let’s go.” Marlee grabbed Abigail’s hand and they fled through the trees, racing along the clearest path to the road. It wasn’t long before they heard Hannah’s voice then aggressive thrashing behind them. The sound of ripping branches was getting louder and Marlee realized they were about to be overtaken.
She pulled Abigail behind the disfigured trunk of a large rubber tree and squished her up against it. “Don’t move,” she whispered.
Hannah and her thugs ran past then stopped in a distant clearing. “Fuck!” Hannah said. “We lost them.”
Marlee watched as Hannah moved in a circle, pointing her gun in all directions and ready to shoot. She shielded Abigail and gripped the stolen pistol, hoping Tyler had made the call and help was on its way.
“Let’s spread out.” Hannah got closer. “They must be here somewhere.”
Marlee was prepared to die, but not until she’d saved Abigail. She put her lips to Abigail’s ear and whispered. “I love you. Take the gun and stay here.” She slipped the pistol in Abigail’s hand, kissed the back of her neck, then slid out from behind the tree and crept away to hide behind another trunk. She waited until Hannah got closer.
“I’m over here.” Marlee called out, hoping to distract their captors from Abigail.
Hannah swung around and readied to fire. “Where? I can’t see you.”
Marlee heard trampling, imagining the thugs rushing to Hannah’s side. “I’m by myself and don’t have a gun. If you promise not to shoot, I’ll step out.”
“I’m not promising you anything.”
Hannah approached the tree. Marlee’s heart raced as she prepared to die. If only she could prolong her life long enough for the police to arrive and save Abigail. That is, if Tyler was successful in reaching help.
“I’m waiting,” Hannah yelled. “Come out now or I’ll shoot to kill when I find you.”
Marlee took a deep breath and stepped forward to face a firing squad of Hannah and the three thugs, her hands raised.
“It’s over,” Marlee said. “The police are on their way.”
Hannah rolled her head back in a laugh. “You’re hilarious. Is that how you got to Tay? With stupid jokes like that?”
Marlee stayed silent and kept her eyes on Hannah’s, hoping she’d continue talking. She would pretend to listen, give empathy and draw out the conversation. Maybe even build a little rapport with Hannah the way she was taught to do in situations like this. The longer they talked, the better. Marlee had to believe help was on the way.
“Tay thinks she was good to me.” Hannah moved closer, gun in hand, still aiming at Marlee, and stomped her foot in the dry sand. “She doesn’t know a thing about me. All those studies we did together. All the times I put in extra long hours at the office and went out of my way to postpone my personal life for her. I even slept with her. Did she tell you?” She brushed the point of her pistol over the side of Marlee’s cheek, tracing a line from the tip of her eye to the corner of her mouth.
Marlee held her breath and stayed still under the scary sensation of the long suppressor touching her face and threatening sudden death. She resisted the urge to grab Hannah’s wrist and pry the Glock away. Heart pounding, Marlee had to keep control and make Hannah believe she empathized.
“She wasn’t any good in bed, but I’m sure you know that,” Hannah continued, dragging the gun along Marlee’s sweat-beaded chin. “You should have come on to me instead. I’m going to have more money than she’ll ever have and I could have shown you a good time.”
Marlee’s breathing became uneven as the tip of Hannah’s pistol climbed to her drenched temple and she envisioned a bullet ripping into her brain. Her knees were starting to shake. She had to do something.
“It’s not too late.” Marlee spoke in a soft voice, hoping to postpone her death a bit longer and keep Hannah distracted, away from Abigail.
“Of course it’s too late.” Hannah stepped back, her voice loud and strained. “I’m going to kill you. The only regret I have is you won’t be able to watch Tay die first.”
“You’ll be caught,” Marlee said. “She knows about you and has gone for the police. They’ll be here soon.”
“Then I’d better kill you now.” She cocked the gun and prepared to fire at Marlee.
“No Hannah, wait!” Abigail stepped from behind the tree, pistol dangling at her side.
“Aha, I knew you were here,” Hannah sneered, but kept her aim on Marlee. “The two little lovebirds wouldn’t separate. Where’s your third wheel? Tyler? Oh Tyler? Where are you? I’m going to kill Marlee if you don’t come out.”
Abigail gasped. “He’s not here. Please don’t shoot.”
“I’m going to count to ten,” Hannah said. “If he doesn’t come out, I’ll pull the trigger and we’ll all watch Marlee die.”
“Please Hannah, no.” Abigail started to wail “I’ll do anything for you, but please, just let Marlee go.”
“One.”
“You don’t have to do this, Hannah.” Marlee’s throat was constricting.
“Two.” Hannah paused between counts.
“Hannah please, he’s not here.” Abigail raised her gun then screamed and dropped it as a bullet exploded into the ground beside her.
“Three.”
“It doesn’t have to end like this.” Marlee’s jaw trembled.
“Four.”
“Please Hannah, don’t kill her. I’ll do anything for you.” Abigail fell to her knees.
“Five.” She continued as though in a trance.
“Tell me about your sister.” Marlee tried to get her talking. “What was her name?”
“Six.” Hannah twitched.
“Annabel,” Abigail said. “Her sister’s name was Annabel.”
“What a beautiful name,” Marlee said. “You’ve done so much good work in her memory. She’d be so proud of you.”
“Seven.”
Marlee readied to lunge for the gun and at least kill Hannah before she died.
“Eight.”
Just as Marlee was about to pounce, Tyler bolted out from behind a tree. “Don’t shoot!”
Chapter Forty-Four
Marlee teetered as Hannah switched her focus to Tyler. She hoped he’d managed to contact the police. If not, they were surely all to die soon.
“Well, well.” Hannah kept her gun trained on Marlee. “I love how I can make the three of you appear.
My next trick will have the three of you disappear.” She turned the weapon toward Abigail, waving it through the air as though a magic wand, and leveling it in position. “I’m going to start with you, my dear Tay. I want your girlfriend to see you die.”
Marlee grabbed Tyler’s attention and widened her eyes, silently asking if he’d made the call. He gave the slightest nod and tapped his pocket. Yes. Backup was on its way. All Marlee had to do was keep them alive a bit longer.
“Come on, Hannah, don’t you at least owe her an explanation?” Marlee edged toward Abigail.
“I don’t owe her anything.” Hannah’s trigger finger twitched.
“She has the right to know where things went wrong,” Marlee persisted.
“She doesn’t have any rights.” Hannah kept Abigail in her sights, but eased her finger off the trigger.
“Please, Hannah.” Abigail sobbed. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I loved you.”
“You never loved me.” She waved the gun at Marlee, her face twitching. “How could you love that bitch dyke instead of me? All the years I spent working with you. Giving everything, sacrificing my own happiness, and then you betray me with her.”
“Hannah, I’m so sorry.” Abigail’s voice shook. “I never betrayed you.”
“Yes, you did!” Hannah resumed her aim on Abigail. “I saw the two of you by the pool.”
“Please, Hannah, you’re like a sister to me. We’re family and have to look after each other.” Abigail leaned forward, jaw quivering as she begged for her life. “This isn’t you. I want to understand what happened. Is someone making you do this?”
“Of course not.” Hannah’s face relaxed, the corners of her eyes and mouth twitching upward. “I’m finally in control.”
Marlee knew a mentally unstable person could never be in complete control. She studied the armed brutes flanking Hannah. It was scorching, but they still wore their balaclavas. All three used both hands to grip semiautomatic pistols, silencers extending barrels, and stood at the ready to fire at the slightest cue from Hannah.
“I tried to let you do what you wanted in the company,” Abigail said.
“No you didn’t!” Hannah’s face changed to a scowl. “It was your business and you had the final say.”
“I always listened and appreciated your brilliant ideas. A lot of people with cancer have hope because of your good work. I don’t know what I would have done without you on my team.”
“I was dropped from your team the day she showed up.” Hannah almost growled at Marlee. “How do you feel about being on Tay’s team now?”
“I could never replace you on Abigail’s team,” Marlee said, visualizing the surroundings for some way to protect Abigail. “I’m not smart enough to understand your work.”
“You got that right.” Hannah snickered. “Some police officer you are. Is that why you had to leave Canada? So you could smarten up? You weren’t even clever enough to protect Tay.”
“You’re right,” Marlee said. “Abigail protected you. She believed in you and was convinced of your innocence.”
“But you weren’t, were you? And him.” Hannah shook her gun at Tyler. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Tyler,” he said. “I thought you knew that.”
Hannah fired a shot near his feet, the thud of the silenced bullet exploding dirt. He jumped back and threw his hands in the air. “Please don’t shoot. I’m the IT hacker guy. I stopped your files from downloading the other night.”
“So that was you.” Hannah nodded. “I figured Tay’s systems team was too stupid for that.”
“I can help you with anything on the net,” Tyler said. “I’ll get you the rest of your files and even more if you want.”
Marlee edged closer to Abigail. She was conscious of Tyler’s gun on the ground, but knew the likelihood of grabbing it and killing Hannah and her three thugs before getting them all killed was nonexistent. If nothing else, she could push Abigail to safety down the nearby embankment if Hannah moved to shoot.
“I’ll work for you,” Tyler said. “I’ll do whatever you want. I’m the best when it comes to hacking computers.”
“Shut up.” Hannah waved her gun at Tyler.
“Okay Hannah, I’ve had enough.” Abigail straightened up, putting her hands on her hips as she tried to assert authority. “Let them go right now or I’ll fire you.”
“Fire me?” Hannah laughed. “Sorry, Tay, but we’re not in your company boardroom, in case you haven’t noticed. I’m the one who’s going to do the firing right now.” She shot a bullet into the ground near Abigail.
The exploding dirt stung Marlee’s legs. She feared the next bullet would shoot someone. Palpitating heart and hyperventilating lungs, Marlee watched Hannah’s hand for any sign it was about to pull the trigger again. She’d managed to get close enough to Abigail to push her down the embankment and take the bullet, if necessary.
Then she heard it. A helicopter was fast approaching. She wanted to raise her arms and flag them down. It had to be the police.
As the whirring got louder, everyone except Marlee watched the sky while the helicopter flew past. She kept her focus on Hannah’s gun, which was aimed at Abigail.
Marlee heard the faint snapping of a twig in the bush behind her and hoped beyond hope that a rescue party had arrived. She knew that the next few seconds would be pivotal in defining their fate. Her eyes stayed trained on Hannah as she readied to pounce and push Abigail out of harm’s way at the slightest sign of movement.
The ground ambush was sudden and swift with heavily armed police officers emerging from the bushes to surround everyone. Hannah’s finger twitched toward the trigger.
“No!” Marlee lunged and thrust Abigail down the embankment into the gully of safety as the gunshots began. The first bullet grazed Marlee’s shoulder and the second caught the edge of her abdomen. She fell to the ground, bloody and gasping for air amidst rapid gunfire in the shootout with police.
The pain was unbearable, but she knew it was minor compared to the agony she’d suffer had Abigail been killed. Blood spurted from her side. She was going to bleed to death. Her only consolation was that she’d saved the woman who had rescued her. The woman she loved and couldn’t live without. She closed her eyes, unable to do anything else.
Chapter Forty-Five
“Marlee!” Was that Abigail? Was she okay?
The gunfire had stopped and Marlee lay on the ground, unable to move. Her eyes were closed and the pain was excruciating. She tried to call out for help, but no sound came.
“No!” Marlee heard Abigail drop on the ground beside her. She wanted to reach out, so relieved that her Ab was safe, but her body had disengaged from her mind.
“You’re bleeding. Please Marlee, stay with me.” Abigail was crying and Marlee felt warm hands pressing against her abdomen. She must have been shot there and imagined blood spurting out of the wound. Poor Ab.
“Help! I need help over here!” Abigail’s voice again. Marlee wondered where Hannah was. Surely she was captured, if not killed in the ambush. She envisioned heavily armed police officers roaming the area to verify that all threats had been eliminated.
“I can help you.” Marlee heard a male voice, most likely a first responder. “I have a first aid kit with me. Let’s get that bleeding stopped. She felt fingers at her neck, feeling around for a pulse.
“We’ve been saved Marlee.” Abigail’s words were spoken in sobs. “Help is here. You just have to hold on for a bit longer. I know you can do it.”
Marlee was losing consciousness, her world going black. She fought to hang on to whatever life she had left. She knew she was bleeding to death. The rusty smell of blood was strong and she knew there was a lot of it. The sound of approaching sirens offered Marlee hope that she’d be saved. She had to be.
“I’m here Marlee. I love you.” Abigail’s soothing voice brought her comfort. She yearned to hug the love of her life.
“I love you, Marlee.” Abigail’s sobs were getting louder.
“Please don’t die on me. I love you. Stay with me. Please don’t die.”
Marlee was in anguish. The pain of her injuries nothing compared to the suffering brought on by Abigail’s cries. She wanted to reach out of her body and somehow comfort her Ab. Hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. It was as though she was already dead.
“Keep fighting for me, Marlee.” Marlee pictured Abigail hovering over her lifeless body, wiping away tears. “It’s not over. Don’t give up. You can’t. I won’t let you.” Marlee felt Abigail’s lips brushing up against her ear. “I love you. Please don’t leave me. I know you’re strong.”
Marlee faded in and out, her motionless body in shock. Abigail’s soothing words were comforting. Marlee knew she was dying, could feel her blood draining, and was starting to sense peace. She felt as though a cloud of vapor flowed through her inner core, preparing a passageway to release her soul from life. Abigail was by her side, forever the hero as she maintained control and offered words of encouragement. Marlee tried opening her eyes, but her lids refused. She found solace in knowing her quick thinking had at least saved Abigail.
“You’re a fighter, Marlee.” Abigail sobbed. “I know you can do it. You’re my hero, my smart policewoman. I love you so much and need you to stay with me.”
There was pain in Abigail’s words. Dying was about more than just her. Abigail would be destroyed by her death. She couldn’t let it happen. That was it. She was going to live.
“Marlee.” She heard Tyler drop to his knees and felt him put a hand on her arm. “The ambulance is arriving now. You have to hang in a bit longer.” He choked back tears. “We made it. I just talked with the police and we’re safe now.”
Tyler. Marlee knew he was a good friend, a real hero the way he risked his life for theirs, and he was safe too. He would help Abigail. Just as she knew her Ab would look after him. They were family now. The bond would be too strong to break.