Amy

by Deborah A. Price

  Rose glanced at Elaine who was still smiling and grinned. “She does.”

  “I believe so,” Elaine whispered. “So when are you getting married?”

  “We’ve narrowed it down to June. It’s the actual date we’re debating now.” Rose answered before glancing down at her cell phone. She read Bob’s text and stood. “It seems that they’re on the way back.”

  Amy turned towards them after loading the dishwasher. “Is that all he says?”

  “Bob has always been short and sweet. I’m sure that they will tell us more when they arrive.” Rose sighed. “Amy, please try to relax and tell yourself that this is over.”

  Amy turned away from her and grabbed a dishcloth to wipe off the table. “Do you think that it’s strange that Elaine hasn’t received a text from Nate? Or that Bob hasn’t mentioned whether or not his sister was alright?”

  “Like I said, Bob is very brief with his texts.” Rose noticed that Amy was uneasy.

  Amy shook her head, closing her eyes while she thought. “It’s not that I want to feel uneasy, Rose. I want notification that it’s over. I guess you should go to the door to let him in.” Amy looked towards Elaine after Rose stepped towards the door. “Anything from Nate?”

  Elaine mumbled no. She stood and stepped over to Amy. “I agree with you. Nate would’ve sent me something. I guess we need to allow ourselves to think that Nate might’ve been busy.”

  “Nate is never so busy that he doesn’t tell you something.” Amy mumbled, glancing at the counter and the handgun. “Try sending Nate a message.”

  Elaine grabbed her cell phone from the table and typed a quick message. “He doesn’t have it on, or he’s not in a service area.”

  Rose opened the door after they heard a knock. “Bob,” Rose narrowed her eyes after not seeing Nate or Kyle. “Where are the others?”

  Ricky twisted his lip and stared at his future sister-in-law before pulling out a set of handcuffs from his jacket pocket. “I have no idea where any of the guys are. Can’t say that I care.” He pushed Rose from the door and guided her to where Elaine was standing with Amy.

  Leering at Amy, he barked at Elaine and Rose to sit down on the floor and place an arm underneath the table before handcuffing them together. “I told you, Amy, you’re the one that I really want. You will beg.”

  “No, I won’t. I’ll never beg you for anything.”

  “Oh, you will.” Ricky laughed when he watched the two women on the floor and unsheathed the knife he carried on his belt. “I wonder if you will be as good as I think.” He touched the knife to Amy’s shirt and watched her skin become exposed through the cut before pushing her down the hall. “I was expecting a fight, Amy.”

  “You’re fixing to get one.” Amy snapped before backing into him and elbowing his stomach. “Get your hands off of me, Ricky. You won’t get away with this.”

  “But I will,” Ricky laughed. “Bob is at the hospital with Melody. Or he should be. I was so hoping that Kyle and Nate would be here. I want them to hear your screams.”

  Amy felt her stomach tighten before making herself calm. “You won’t have the pleasure.”

  “Poor Amy, I don’t see anybody that can help you.” Ricky tightened his grip on her arm. “I believe that this is your room.” He pushed her towards the door. “Nobody can save you from what I plan.”

  Amy winced from the pressure while looking around her room. “What do you plan?”

  Ricky traced her arm with his knife, watching a trail of blood start to trickle downwards. “I’m going to have some fun. That’s all you need to know. It’s really too bad, Amy, the fact that you’ve fallen in love with someone like Kyle. I was imagining you as my wife.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve daydreamed about you ever since the day you stepped into my sister’s office. I tried letting other women fill that need, but it was you that I saw. I was disappointed that you and Randy were in a relationship. He wasn’t right for you.” He shoved her down to the floor. “I thought that it was clever how he put those letters back together. I traded them for a few very entertaining letters. You have to see, Amy, that those letters were only meant for you. Those deep blue eyes of yours. It’s funny that I’m not seeing any fear. You must be in shock.”

  “I’m not scared of you.” Amy snapped.

  “I strangled your boyfriend, Amy. The thought of another man touching you drove me crazy. Then I broke into the morgue and shot a gun into his head. There wasn’t any blood that way. Just a clean hole destroying that handsome face of his. I’ll deal with Kyle when I see him again. Maybe, I’ll toy around with your brother.”

  Amy studied her arm after feeling the warm blood drip on her hand.

  “I hafta admit that listening to you and Kyle turned me on. Thinking about touching you. . .found that I had to find a woman to relieve that tension.” Ricky grabbed her arm and lifted her. “You know what I want.”

  Amy focused on the knife he was holding and narrowed her eyes. “You want to die.”

  “Die? No, although I can tell that you’re wishing me a torturous death.” Ricky laughed slicing her shirt open to reveal more of her breasts. “Nice, Amy.” Shoving her down on the bed, he opened the duffel that he carried in with him and grabbed some rope. “This time, you won’t fight.”

  “But that’s what you want, Ricky. You want me to fight you.” Amy stared at him with anger in her eyes before he grabbed at her wrists. “The fight turns you on.”

  “It does.” Ricky agreed while tying one of her wrists to the bedpost using a clove hitch. “But I don’t need the fight with you.”

  “What do you want?”

  “The same thing that Kyle does,” Ricky answered. “And I’ll get it. You’ll learn how to please me and everything will work out for you. If you don’t, you’ll simply join Randy. Now,” he grabbed her other wrist and tied it the same way to the post. “It’s time, Amy.”

  Chapter 23

  Elaine strained her ears to hear and then pulled her cell phone from the back of jeans with her free hand. “What’s Bob’s number?”

  Rose quickly gave her the number and leaned back against the table leg. “I should’ve known that I was being tricked.”

  “Knock it off, Rose, and quiet down. I need to hear.” Elaine sent a group text to Nate, Kyle, and Bob, hoping that one of them would receive it before calling the detective’s number that they had seen that night. She was very thankful that Nate had her program it into her phone.

  Elaine whispered into the phone after receiving the detective’s voice message. “Ricky is here. I’m handcuffed with a friend to a table, and he has Amy in the back of the apartment. You have to help us.” She glanced at Rose with tears in her eyes. “Damn messages.”

  “What about the text?” Rose whispered. “Anything?”

  “No,” Elaine continued to whisper. “We need to find a way out of this. Can you lift the table leg?”

  Rose wiggled until both of their hands were low enough for her try. “You’ll have to help, Elaine. It’s heavy.”

  Elaine heard voices outside the front door and looked towards it. “The guys?”

  Rose froze when she heard Amy scream. “God, I hope so.”

  Elaine closed her eyes before hearing the pounding on the door. “They’re going to have to break the door down.” She heard another scream and started praying. “And soon.”

  “Let’s try the table again,” Rose fisted her hand around the leg; the scream was creating an energy and strength that she hadn’t known she possessed, but it wasn’t enough.

  The door splintered and Elaine sighed when she saw Kyle and Nate step inside the apartment. “Get to Amy!” Elaine almost shouted to cover a new scream. “Now!”

  Kyle saw the gun that had remained on the counter and grabbed it with a quick movement before storming back to the bedroom where he focused on Amy while pointing the gun at Ricky. “Touch her again and you’re a dead man.”

  “Just the man I wanted to
see.” Ricky placed the knife point on Amy’s exposed skin and laughed. “You won’t shoot me because you don’t want her to scream again. I haven’t begun to have my fun with your little lady.”

  Kyle was still focused on Amy when Nate walked into the room armed with his baseball bat. “Nate’s going to untie her, Ricky. I can promise that if you don’t remove that knife, I will shoot you. Just like you did my housekeeper.”

  “The cheap whore deserved it.” Ricky laughed, pressing the point down and drawing more blood, watching with amusement while Kyle lowered his handgun. “You must want to watch, Kyle. Don’t see you trying to fight me.”

  “Why don’t you step away from Amy? Drop the knife. Can’t you see that you’re hurting her?” Nate asked, stepping closer to where Amy had closed her eyes. “You haven’t done anything else- I mean she’s still wearing her pants.”

  “I was waiting on Kyle.” Ricky hissed. “I want him to hear, to listen like I did. You don’t want to take another step, Nate. Do you see where I’m heading with this knife?”

  “You won’t kill her, Ricky.” Nate stated in a calm voice even though he could feel the panic taking him over while looking at his sister’s blood.

  Kyle crept to where he was standing right behind Ricky, released the safety on the gun, and yanked him away from the bed. “I ought to kill you right here for what you’ve done, but I have no intention of sharing a cell with you.”

  “Kill me, Kyle. I dare you.” Ricky watched Nate loosen the ropes that was holding his sister and laughed. “Do you two really think that this is the end?”

  Nate stared at him after starting to work on the ropes that were holding his sister’s legs. “Yes, we actually are thinking that.” He straightened, stepped over to where Kyle was holding the gun and grabbed it. “Go to her, Kyle.”

  Kyle stepped over to the bed and sat beside Amy, not knowing what to say. “Amy?”

  Amy pulled her shirt together. “How was Melody?”

  “Melody?” Kyle stared at her. “No, Amy; I don’t want to talk about Melody. What I want to do is beat myself up because he managed to come in here and do this to you. Elaine managed to send us a text. You have no idea what was I thinking.” He frowned at the blood before hearing the sirens from in front of the building. “I froze.”

  Amy moved to the opposite side of the bed without saying anything. All she wanted was to clean up and. . .Standing, she turned to Kyle. “Would you have let him do it, Kyle? I think that I want to know that. I need to know.”

  “No, I wouldn’t have.” Kyle asked, dumbfounded. “Is that what you think?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Amy informed him before Detective Keaton walked into the room. “Good night, Kyle.”

  “You really think that I would have let him touch you.” Kyle mumbled.

  “I said good-night, Kyle.” Amy stated while still clutching her shirt. “And he did touch me.” She watched Kyle leave the room and stared at the woman standing at the door. “I guess you want my statement.”

  “Along with a few pictures. It looks like you might want to think about going to the hospital.”

  “I’ll give a statement and the pictures, Detective. Then that’s it. I’m tired, and I just want to rest.” Amy held her arm while she talked. “It’s been a very long few weeks.”

  “Well, I won’t waste any more time than I need. Detective Norman is talking to everybody else.”

  “And Ricky isn’t here?” Amy asked before glancing at the door.

  “They’ve taken him downtown for booking.” Detective Karen Keaton started asking questions and writing down Amy’s responses before closing her notebook. “A lot of people freeze or hesitate when they come face to face with something like this, Miss Brannan.”

  Amy stared at her and shook her head. “I’m sure that they do.” She grabbed some clean clothes and waited until Karen left the room before sinking down on her bed.

  “Why didn’t you want to go the hospital?” Elaine asked before sitting beside her.

  “For what?” Amy snapped.

  “Don’t get snappy with me, Amy. I was the one handcuffed with Rose- remember? You need to have those slashes checked out. There’s no telling where that knife has been.”

  Amy scowled before standing and grabbing her clothes. “I’m going to take a shower and then sleep. I’m not worried about how clean the knife was or if Kyle jumps off a very high bridge. I just want to be left alone now.”

  “You’re blaming Kyle.”

  “I am not.”

  “Yes, you are, Amy. How is this Kyle’s fault?” Elaine asked, watching Amy walk towards the door.

  Amy angled so that she was looking at Elaine. “I’m not blaming anybody.” Turning again, she stepped out in the hall and into the bathroom.

  She stood underneath the shower, closing her eyes while the water ran in hot currents over her body, washing away the blood, but not her thoughts. Not the threat or knowing that Kyle had stood behind Ricky while he dug the knife into her abdomen.

  Kyle had seen her tied up to the bed, and he had just stood there. Amy sighed knowing that she’d never understand how he had done just that. Opening her eyes when she felt the water turn cold, Amy found herself focusing on the length from the cut on her arm. “I survived.” Amy whispered before turning off the water.

  She was shivering before reaching for her towel and found herself staring at a dozen red roses that weren’t there before. Amy glanced at the door thinking that she had locked it. She didn’t, couldn’t, trust herself.

  Ignoring the roses, she reached into the medicine cabinet and grabbed a roll of gauze to wrap around her arm and stared at the bottle of pills she had hidden in plain sight. Satisfied that she had covered the cut as well she could, she grabbed the bottle and opened the lid, dumping the reminder of her past into the toilet and flushing them.

  She glanced at the door after pulling a fresh shirt over her head.

  “Amy, come on. Nate isn’t going to sleep until after he sees that you’re alright.” Elaine mumbled after knocking.

  “Tell him I’m fine.”

  “I’ve tried to tell him. Just walk out and let him see you.” Elaine responded.

  “Where’s Kyle?” Amy asked and found herself staring at the roses while hearing silence. “I don’t want him here, Elaine. I’m serious.”

  “But he. . .”

  Amy opened the door and stared at her brother and friend. “I don’t want anything to do with him. Those roses weren’t in the bathroom before I stepped into the shower, and I remember locking the door. Now- Where’s Kyle?”

  Kyle stepped into the hall and leaned against the wall. “I think that we should talk.”

  Amy narrowed her eyes. “Do you make it a habit of entering a bathroom while it’s occupied?”

  “I wanted to make sure that you saw them.” Kyle answered. “I wasn’t prepared to hear you cry.”

  “I wasn’t crying.”

  “Yes, you were. You were crying.” He straightened after Elaine and Nate walked towards the living room. “I can understand, but you don’t want to think that I can. Just like you want to be angry because you thought that I was going to let Ricky hurt you. He had a knife in his hand and pressure on your stomach, which I may add is still bleeding. If I had made a wrong move, you would be in the hospital.”

  “You had the gun, Kyle.” Amy snapped. “And he did apply more pressure because you were there. I don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s over. Done. The end, and guess what? I’m still a survivor. I don’t need you, Kyle. I don’t.”

  “The pills?”

  “I’m a survivor, Kyle. I don’t need them; all I need is sleep.” Amy stepped into the bathroom, grabbed the roses, and stepped out again. She stepped towards Kyle and pushed the vase at him. “Good night, again.”

  “Tell me something first- why were you crying?” Kyle asked.

  “That’s my business, Kyle. I don’t have to answer that because you weren’t even supposed to know that I
was crying. I was in a locked bathroom where I should’ve been allowed to have some privacy.”

  Kyle studied the roses he was holding and nodded. “Okay, I made a mistake, but that doesn’t change anything.”

  Amy threw her hands in the air and turned towards her bedroom.

  Elaine stared at Kyle after the bedroom door had closed. “Kyle, she’s not thinking right now.”

  “She’s thinking just fine, Elaine.” Kyle glared at the roses and pivoted. Placing the roses on the table next to Amy’s sketchbook, he sighed. “Amy is right. It’s my fault that Ricky got in here, but she’s also wrong. She’s the one that told me to go with Nate and Bob.”

  “How is Melody?” Elaine asked. “I know that Bob couldn’t wait to get out of here to visit his sister.”

  “She’s got some bruising. Ricky was pretty rough on her.” Nate answered while watching Kyle. “If Kyle hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have gotten in the door.”

  “Amy asked me about Melody, but I wanted to talk about her.” Kyle informed Nate. “All she wanted to do was ask if I was going to let Ricky continue. I admit that I hesitated, but if I hadn’t,” Kyle paused, “he could’ve killed her where he had that knife. Puncture an organ or. . .”

  “It’s over, Kyle. I’m sure that after she’s had time to think about it, she’ll understand why you did what you did.” Elaine glanced towards the bedroom. “If it makes you feel any better, she wouldn’t talk to me either.”

  Nate closed his eyes while he thought about the way Amy had been tied up when they managed to get to her. “He cut her more than once. Toyed with her because he was waiting for Kyle to join them. Listen, Kyle, give her some time and then talk to her.”

  “Give her time to think about this? She needs to talk.”

  “She did exactly that with Detective Keaton.” Elaine stated before walking towards the bathroom.

  “That’s not what I was saying.” Kyle muttered picking out a rose from the vase and holding it up to his nose. “You don’t know how much will power it took not to squeeze that trigger. The only thing that stopped me, other than where he was holding that knife, was the fact that I want him to pay for what he has done to her. Done to all of us.”