by Lily Harlem
Rick didn’t move.
Brick grabbed Carly and dragged her from sight.
I tried to step backward, my legs shaky and weak, but the gun butted into my head again, just behind my ear this time. I drew my hands to my cheeks. They were shaking like maracas and I could hardly make them connect. My stomach churned, my heart pounded. My eyesight had gone wonky, everything was blurred.
“You made me notice you, Laurie.” Rick’s voice was steady and calm. “You know you did.” He took a step forward.
“But you didn’t call, you didn’t answer my letters and then you started sending me horrid lawyer letters and the police came to my house. You just don’t seem to care. You just don’t make me feel special anymore.”
“But you are special, you know that. Now please put the gun down. Put the gun down and we can all go get a coffee and talk about this like adults.”
She sucked in a breath. “I don’t want to drink coffee with this bitch,” she said angrily, jabbing the gun harder at my head.
“No, no, please,” I gasped, my eyes not leaving Rick’s face. If I was about to die, I wanted him to be the last thing I saw, I wanted his face to be the image that would be with me for all eternity.
“Don’t shoot her,” Rick said, his nostrils flared as the muscle in his cheek flexed.
“Why not? I hate her.” She shoved the end of the gun with more force into my skull. “I hate her so much it hurts.”
Pain sliced around my neck and down my spine. I whimpered and balled my fists.
“But you don’t know her.” Rick stepped forward again. He was so close now I would almost be able to touch him if I reached out.
“I know she’s been staying at your house, overnight. You let me stay once, remember?” Laurie’s voice lifted. “It was perfect, beautiful, the best night of my life.”
Several drips snaked down Rick’s neck from his sopping-wet hair. They trickled into his dense thatch of chest hair and disappeared. I wanted to be those drips. I didn’t want to be me, about to be murdered in front of my boyfriend. I wanted to be a drip all safe and sound against Rick’s chest.
“We did have a great night,” Rick was saying. His voice had changed, or maybe it was my hearing. It was softer, gentler, as though coming through gauze. “It was one of the best nights of my life, too, Laurie.”
“So why was it only once?” she whined.
Rick held up his big palms. “Initially I lost your number and then, I’ll be honest, Laurie, some of those letters were a bit needy.”
“But I needed you. I needed you so badly.”
“I know that now.” He smiled but it wasn’t a real smile. There were no dimples and his soul patch barely moved. “You’ve opened my eyes and I do think we should make a go of it.” He shrugged and pointed at me. “She was just a passing phase.”
“You mean you don’t love her?”
Rick shook his head, his dark gaze glued on Laurie. “No, not at all, a quick fling. It’s you I want, Laurie, you’re the one for me. We could be so great together.” Quiet fell over the restroom, interrupted only by a dripping cistern.
“What do you think I am? Fucking stupid?” Laurie suddenly shouted.
“No, no of course not.” Rick reached out. I couldn’t quite see, but I thought he had a hand on her shoulder. “Can’t you feel it?” he asked, his voice amazingly calm and soothing. “Can’t you feel the energy between us? It’s not like that with me and Dana, it’s just you, Laurie, just you that gives me the feeling of electricity when I touch you.”
“So I should kill her, get rid of her. Then we won’t have to worry about her.” She scraped the mean point of the gun over my scalp, tearing my hair until she reached my temple once more.
I whimpered and braced my neck.
“What would be the point in that?” Rick asked. “I told you, she means nothing to me. We don’t have to see her again, once we leave this room, ever. She’s already history to me.” His other hand reached out and I felt his knuckle brush my cheek. He’d taken hold of her wrist, the wrist holding the gun.
I hoped to hell he knew what he was doing. I didn’t have any chance of dodging this bullet.
“Besides,” he was saying, “if you commit murder you’ll be locked up for years, years that we could be spending together.”
“But you’d wait for me, wouldn’t you, you’d wait for me?”
“It would be an awful long wait, Laurie, you know that. You’d get life for murder.”
I sensed more movement behind Rick and flicked my gaze around his shoulder. Three burly security guards stood in a row by the door. I didn’t feel any relief. What could they do? My fate was in Rick’s hands. If only he could persuade her to move the gun from my head. I didn’t care what he had to say, he could promise her anything. I just wanted her to believe it.
“Laurie, come on, put the gun down, you know it makes sense,” Rick said.
“No. No and get off me.” Laurie had also seen the security men. “Get the fuck off me or she gets it. Now!”
Rick lifted his hands, his eye contact with her not breaking for a second. He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip.
I wanted to fold onto the floor, my legs were like noodles. I didn’t think they could hold me up much longer. But I didn’t dare collapse, that might be all the excuse Laurie needed to pull the trigger.
“Take the gun from Dana’s head. It’s me you’re mad at, not her,” Rick’s voice lowered to a persuasive rumble. “Point the gun at me, not at her, Laurie. Come on, me not her.”
In an instant she released me. The hard end of the gun disappeared and I watched in horror as she jabbed it into Rick’s bare chest.
“No,” I cried, wanting to grab for it, my arms twitching. But I couldn’t, I couldn’t grab it and guarantee she wouldn’t fire straight into his heart.
“That’s it, good girl,” he said, “That’s better.” There was relief in his voice. He must be the only man in the world who could speak with relief when a psycho aimed a gun at his chest at point-blank range.
“Now we can talk about us,” he said.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “We have to talk about us.”
“You know what I think we should do first, though?”
“What?”
“I think we should kiss. Do you remember that night, Laurie, that night when we had so much fun, we kissed and kissed, do you remember? Do you remember that, Laurie?”
My guts clenched, I was going to vomit, fear and disgust rivaling for supremacy at the sight of the gun pressed into his chest.
“Kiss?” she asked.
“Yes, let’s recreate the magic. Kiss me again, Laurie, like you did back then.” He leaned forward, the gun digging harder into his curls of chest hair and denting his flesh. He ignored it.
I wanted to step away, I wanted to collapse. I wanted to fling myself into his arms but I just stood, frozen to the spot—dizzy, tears flowing down my cheeks.
Laurie tipped her head. Her breaths were ragged, her stench overpowering.
Rick smiled at her, his eyes black and intense. “That’s it, Laurie, kiss me.”
She stepped forward, touched her cracked lips to his in the briefest of kisses then pulled away.
“Is that it?” he asked, acting as if he didn’t have a gun against him and she was a wonderful, desirable woman. “That’s not the passionate, sexy kiss I remember. You can do better than that, come on, show me. Show me what I’ve been missing out on.”
In a sudden flurry, she lunged upward, threw her arms around his neck and sucked onto him, her high-pitched squeal of crazed pleasure filling the room.
Then it all happened so fast my mind couldn’t keep up with my eyes.
Rick spun Laurie around so her back hit his chest. Her hand holding the gun was flung into the air, his fingers wrapped around her wrist.
An explosive bang blasted through the restroom. White plaster rained down from the ceiling as a bullet hurtled upward.
I screamed.
/> Laurie screamed.
“Fucking bitch,” Rick shouted, stepping forward and ramming Laurie’s writhing body against the wall. The impact of her chest banging into the tiles sent a grunt from her lungs and the gun skittered under a cubicle door, spinning as it went.
The security men ran in, the dark navy of their uniforms instantly peppered by the snowy debris in the air.
“Stay the fuck away from me,” Rick snarled into Laurie’s ear. “Got it?”
Her face was squashed up against the tiles, her cheeks puffing in and out as she breathed and her eyes squeezed shut.
He loomed over her, teeth gritted, every single tendon and muscle in his back, shoulders and arms taut and prominent and coated in both sweat and plaster. “Because if you ever, ever come near me or anyone I care about again,” he snarled, “then you won’t just be going to prison. I’ll see to it that you lose function of all four fucking limbs and that’s if I’m feeling generous that day, got it? You fucking got it, bitch?”
“But you love me,” she cried, foamy spittle leaving her lips and dribbling to her chin. “Why would you say that? Why would you do this?”
“I don’t love you. I never have and never will. Get that into your crazy fucking head, woman.” His body shoved into her harder and she cried out as she was squashed against the wall.
“Ramrod,” one of the security men said, placing a hand on Rick’s bare shoulder. “We’ll take it from here.”
Rick’s whole body jerked, his lips snarled back over his teeth. He made no move to let her go. If anything he pushed into her harder.
“Rick,” I said, shakily. “Rick, please.” He turned to me, his eyes glazed, his face twisted in anger.
“It’s okay now,” I managed. “It’s okay. Let her go.”
He focused on me for a few long, drawn-out seconds, then sucked in a deep breath. His eyes lost their glazed fury and he pulled back from Laurie and watched as she was quickly surrounded and cuffed.
My legs finally gave up. Muscles shaking and knees refusing to hold my weight, I slithered to the ground. My palms slapped onto the cold floor, my knee landed on a sharp chunk of ceiling.
Rick was there in an instant, scooping me up against his chest. “Baby, it’s all right now, it’s all right.”
My whole body shook, from the very center of my torso to the ends of my fingers and toes. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak. My eyes were so full of tears I couldn’t see.
“Get that mad bitch out of here,” Rick snarled over his shoulder at the security men. “Now.”
I buried my face into his neck, clung to his shoulders and drew in fast, juddering breaths.
“You’ll regret this,” Laurie shouted as she was hauled past us. “You’ll regret picking her over me. She’s a whore, she doesn’t really love you. She’s nothing on me. I love you. I can give you what you need.”
“Shut the hell up,” a security man said, yanking her from the room.
Rick’s hands were all over me as if checking for injuries. “Shh, baby,” he soothed into the sudden quiet. “She’s gone, the gun has gone. She’s gone, forever.”
My ears were still ringing from the sound of the shot, my guts rolling, my heart pounding. I wasn’t dead, I was alive. Rick wasn’t dead, he was alive. I hardly dared believe the terror was over.
He hugged me tighter. “Did she hurt you anywhere? Do you need the paramedics?”
“No, no, she didn’t, but…oh God…she’s so crazy…the things she was saying…I thought I was going to die, I…I thought you were going to die. Rick, I—”
“Shh, it’s okay, take slower breaths, calm down.” He stroked a hand down my back and kissed my head. The texture of his stubble-coated chin on my temple was so sweet, so familiar after the deadly cold of the gun.
“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered again.
I snuggled into him, splayed out my fingers on the wiry patch of chest hair the gun had touched. I shuddered and choked back a sob. Fisted the short curls and shut my eyes.
“Dana, Dana, Jesus, are you okay?” Carly’s voice tinkled over the ringing in my ears as she squatted next to me and put her hand on my back.
“Yes,” Rick said. “She’s okay, just very shaken.”
“She doesn’t look okay,” Brick’s deep voice rumbled from somewhere above me.
“She’ll be fine, she breathes fast like this when she’s scared.” Rick tilted my chin so I was forced to look into his face. “Come on, baby, slow down or we’ll have to get you a paper bag.”
“I…I’m okay.” I swallowed and felt the first semblance of control over my breathing return.
Carly’s hand was still on my shoulder. “We should get her out of here, it’s real dusty. It’s not helping.”
Rick grunted in agreement and, obviously not having the same weak leg problem I was having, stood, taking me with him. Gently he secured me against his chest.
Chapter Nine
I sat in the players’ lounge, Rick on one side, hugging me close and Carly on the other, encouraging me to have sips of water. Brick sat opposite looking grim and cracking his knuckles every so often.
Dale was quick to arrive and slipped in past two police officers guarding the lounge.
“How the fuck could this have happened?” Rick demanded as a way of greeting.
Dale shook his head and sat next to Brick, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. Somewhere in the recess of my mind I thought how small he looked. I’d gotten used to big men, enormous men. They’d become the norm for me now.
“To tell you the truth, Mr. Lewis, and I hate to admit it, this was one hell of a screw-up on the force’s behalf. Miss Sharp was supposed to be held secure but some dumbass let her out on bail yesterday evening.”
Brick banged a clenched fist on his wide thigh. “Of all the goddamn fucks-ups. She had a gun, a gun pointed at Dana, Ramrod and Carly. If I hadn’t been talking to Carly as she walked into the restroom God knows what could have happened. Someone’s head will roll for this. I won’t let it rest until it does.”
“And neither will I, sir,” Dale said, gnawing the side of his cheek and eyeing Brick’s flushed face and clenched fists.
“But, but how did she get in here, into the rink?” I asked, remembering Rick having to punch in a security code.
It was the first time I’d spoken in a while and they all turned to me. Rick tightened his hold around my shoulders.
Dale frowned. “From what she’s just told my officers, she ducked in with the early morning cleaning staff. She must have been hanging around for hours, laying low and staying out of sight.”
“But how did she know I was going to be here?” I asked. “I didn’t even know I was going to be here until this morning.” My mind flitted back to Rick’s sweet way of persuading me. It felt like a lifetime ago, a beautiful but distant memory.
“I’m guessing she didn’t, Miss, but when she saw you she decided to make you her target rather than Mr. Lewis.”
A shudder ran up my spine and I touched behind my ear where the gun had brutally shoved into tender flesh.
“So how long do ya think she’ll get?” Rick asked. “Behind bars.”
Dale shrugged. “Hopefully long enough for her to forget she’s in love with you.”
Rick snorted. “Strangest fucking love I’ve ever seen.”
“She’s crazy,” Dale said matter-of-factly. “She believes it all, every deluded word she’s ever said or written, she thinks it’s all true. But you can rest assured she’ll be institutionalized for many years to come. In fact, she may never be out if she doesn’t satisfy a board of psychiatrists that she’s mentally stable and not a risk to anyone.”
I sighed. “Well I for one hope she doesn’t get out anytime soon, because I couldn’t go through that again.”
“You won’t have to,” Rick said earnestly. “I promise, baby, you won’t have to.”
After completing statements, Rick and I went straight to his home. The thought of a big
meal turned our stomachs and I think it did Carly and Brick’s, too. Plus I wanted to wash the plaster dust from my hair and the scent of Laurie’s hideous body odor and perfume from my skin.
Dropping my purse on the chaise, I waited while Rick silenced the alarm system.
“Do you mind if I go take a shower?” I asked.
“You want company?”
I shook my head. “No, I need a few minutes alone to get my thoughts back together.”
He nodded. “Yeah, you do that, take as long as you need. I’ll rustle something up to eat.”
I smiled my thanks, kicked off my shoes and went up the stairs, gripping the handrail as I went.
By the time I came back down, the smell of waffles was floating from the kitchen and my stomach gave a growl of approval. Suddenly I was hungry.
“Feeling better now?” Rick asked, looking up from pouring coffee.
I nodded. “Yes, thanks.”
“Come on, this is ready, let’s go sit and eat.”
I followed him into the lounge, adjusting the waist of my sweats and pulling the arms of my cream sweater over my hands. I’d tugged my hair into a low ponytail and wore no makeup, just sweetly scented face cream.
“Here you go,” he said, pointing to the huge squishy brown sofa. “Sit and I’ll find us something to watch on TV, give you some distraction.” He glanced at my hands bunched in my sweater. “You cold?”
“A little.”
He reached for a remote and flicked to life a gas fire full of artificial logs.
Instantly heat radiated toward me. I sighed and rested back. The couch was so big that sitting right into the seat meant that my legs stuck out straight. It was like a Jack and the Beanstalk couch, made for a giant.
Rick looked at my legs and smiled, passed me my mug of coffee and a plate of warm waffles. “Eat,” he said. “It’ll do you good.”
He held his own plate of waffles, twice the amount of mine, and trawled the TV channels. I folded my legs under and looked around the room. It was the first time I’d been in there. Two bay windows held views across the immaculate lawn and were bordered by navy-and-cream-striped curtains complete with matching valance and tie-backs. An enormous glass cabinet full of hockey trophies stood between the windows. The flat-screen TV was supported by a sleek black stand and above the mantel was a huge oil painting depicting hockey players slashing over ice and angling sticks at a puck—their faces steely and determined, their bodies looming before a blurred crowd.