Contrasting Lives

by Leah Dempster

  Collado shook his head vehemently, waving the gun in a more agitated manner and Matt cringed. “No. No way. Those brats are the kids of a police detective,” he said with a sneer. “They'd go straight out the door and call the cops.”

  Matt tried again. “They're just kids, Collado. It's just complicating matters by having them here. You'd be better off just dealing with Emily and I, gives you much more leeway in organizing your escape. Six hostages are too much to deal with.”

  “Don't tell me what to do!”

  To Matt's horror, Collado swung around towards Emily, unfurling the strands of the whip and letting it lash across her already decimated back. Emily barely moved under the fresh assault, but fresh blood began streaming down her legs.

  “Stop it!” Matt yelled angrily. “Leave her alone!”

  Collado turned and stared at Matt, his dark eyes filled with fury. “I do what I want to this little slut. She's mine. She's always been mine. This is your fault. You touched what doesn't belong to you.”

  “She doesn't belong to you!” Matt shouted; cringing as Collado swung the whip at Emily again. The sound of the leather slapping across Emily's skin was something Matt thought he'd never erase from his memory. “Stop it! God, stop it!”

  Matt could feel Harper and Millie trembling against his sides, and he clenched his hands into fists, wondering how he could possibly get them out of this mess.

  Collado turned back towards them, laughing cruelly. “She signed my contract. She's my belonging, my plaything.”

  “She'll be of no use to you, if she'd dead!”

  Collado raised an eyebrow. “Don't worry; I'm not going to kill her. I'll have my fun, and when I've finished, I have an associate who'll take her off my hands and pay me for the privilege. He'll fix her up, and have her out on the auction block by the end of the month. I don't care what happens to her once I've gotten my revenge.” Collado rubbed the barrel of the gun against his shirt, eyeing Matt and the children thoughtfully. “Afterwards, I'll return home to San Francisco, and forget this slut ever crossed my path.”

  Matt could guess what Collado didn't say verbally. There would be no witnesses left. Collado intended to kill all of them. “The Seattle Police Department may have something to say about that,” Matt said, and bit his lip, wishing he hadn't retorted. He knew better than that in a hostage situation, but he'd never had to deal with a hostage situation in which he and his own children were the hostages.

  Collado chuckled. “You're kidding, right? Nobody'll care about this piece of trash – she's just a whore. I doubt anyone will even notice that she's gone.”

  Millie tugged urgently at Matt's t-shirt with her bound hands, and he glanced down at her. Millie's eyes were wide with fear. “I need to pee, Daddy.”

  “Shut the kid up,” Collado growled.

  “I need to pee!” Millie repeated.

  Matt shook his head helplessly, not certain how to deal with this latest situation. Collado was on a knife's edge, crazed and nervous, and this situation would only make matters worse. “Can you hold it, honey?”

  Millie shook her head firmly, growing more militant with each passing second. “I have to pee, Daddy. I need to pee!”

  “For fuck's sake!” Collado yelled. He brandished the gun towards Courtney and Matt cringed. “Take the little bitch to the bathroom, and come straight back here. If you don't do what you're told, I'll kill your Dad. D'you hear me?”

  Courtney nodded wildly. “I can't help her with my hands tied—”

  “For fuck's sake.” Collado glanced around the room wildly, before he disappeared for a split second into the kitchen. He came storming back out with a large kitchen knife, and Matt watched on in horror as Collado sliced the knife between Courtney's hands, cutting through the cable tie. “Two minutes. If you're not back in two minutes, I'm killing someone. Got it?”

  Courtney nodded anxiously, got to her feet and rushed to take Millie's hand and draw her down the hallway.

  “You need to let the kids go, Collado,” Matt said quietly when the girls had disappeared. “Kill me if you have to – but don't hurt my kids.”

  “Shut up.”

  “You won't get away with this. Your face will be splashed across every TV station and internet news site.”

  “I told you, nobody's going to care about this little slut,” Collado scoffed. “She's nothing to anyone.”

  Matt lifted an eyebrow. Surely to god, Collado knew who Emily was? He couldn't possibly be oblivious to the Coulter name, could he? Could this dickwad have been involved with Emily for four years – and not known who her father was?

  Jesus. This situation had just taken a turn for the worse. When Collado found out whom he was holding – when he realized the size of the fishpond he was pissing in –he'd kill them all and be crossing the border into Mexico in record time. Matt wrenched at the cable ties frantically, desperate to get his hands free.

  “Where are those fucking kids?” Collado said, turning his gaze towards the hallway. “Hey! You little shits! Get back here, now!”

  Much to Matt's relief, the two girls came scurrying back down the hallway, Courtney clinging to her little sister as the two of them returned to the couch.

  “About time you two bitches came back. Sit down with your Daddy again, like good little girls.” Courtney hurried across to sit down beside Matt, and she stumbled a little, falling into him awkwardly.

  Before she righted herself, she whispered against his ear. “Gun. Lower back.”

  Courtney straightened and sat at Matt's side, as close as she possibly could, while Matt tried to put together what she was telling him. Collado didn't have a gun at his lower back, his shirt was tucked in and there was no visible sign of a second gun.

  Wait. Courtney couldn't be talking about his back up weapon, could she? The gun he kept locked up in the gun safe in his wardrobe? Surely not… He glanced across at Courtney, saw her use her eyes to gesture towards her own back. Christ, she'd gotten hold of his gun. But what could he do? He still had his hands tied behind his back.

  Collado was eyeing Courtney lasciviously. “She's a fine specimen of womanhood, isn't she? Curves… in all the right places. I like 'em young. Emily would never play that game for me, no matter how much I backhanded her.”

  Matt thought he was going to vomit, as he watched Collado eyeing his beautiful daughter as if she was a piece of meat. Collado turned towards the dining room table, where he'd left a pile of cable ties. Matt was about to lunge towards Collado, to hell with the fact that his hands were still tied behind his back, when he felt Courtney pressing something into his fingers.

  He brushed his thumb across the item and had to avoid grimacing when it cut deeply through the pad of his thumb.

  Courtney had handed him a razor blade.

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty Three

  It took Matt a few minutes to slice through the cable ties – although the razor blade was incredibly sharp, maneuvering it in his fingers without dropping it, and getting it into a position where he could cut at the cable ties without being able to see them, was difficult. To make matters worse, he was trying to do it without Collado guessing that something was up. And he was fucking terrified of dropping the razor blade and losing this one opportunity, he'd been handed. He sliced through nearly every finger in the effort, and his hands grew slick with blood. But he persevered, knowing he had to get his kids and Emily to safety. What he would do after he was freed, Matt didn't know, but he knew he had to do something and soon.

  Collado had gotten sidetracked and turned on the television, and was flicking his gaze between Matt and the kids, Emily and the screen. He'd apparently forgotten about the cable ties and Courtney and Millie remained free. “It's bullshit, nobody cares about this bitch,” Collado repeated, his voice an indistinct grumble. He turned back and slashed the whip across Emily's thighs and she groaned.

  Collado twisted Emily around against the chains and Matt cringed when he heard Emily scream. Collado had gripp
ed her upper shoulder, uncaring that he was putting pressure on her eviscerated flesh. “Say hello to your friends.”

  Emily blinked her eyes open, shivering with a combination of pain and shock. She focused on Matt and he saw the horror in her blue eyes when she saw that the kids were with him. “I'm so sorry,” she whispered.

  Matt cut through the last of the plastic binding his hands together, and a surge of adrenaline rushed through his veins as he felt the cable ties give way. “Not your fault.”

  “It is… should have been more careful… No good…”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Collado yelled; turning his attention to Emily and drawing the whip back in his hand to strike her again.

  Matt took advantage of the split second of opportunity, the only chance he could see of rescuing them from this mess. He didn't think he had time to grab the gun. He launched himself from the couch, rushing towards Collado and hitting him low, his head connecting with Collado's lower back. It knocked the air out of Collado and he staggered forwards, crashing into Emily before he lost his footing. Matt went with him, grappling for the gun. He needed to take the gun away from Collado, had to gain the upper hand in these few seconds, or they were all going to die. He punched haphazardly, aiming for any body part he could hit.

  Collado rolled, reaching up with the gun and to Matt's horror; he saw Collado intended to shoot Emily. Matt lunged forward, grabbing the gun and trying to bash Collado's wrist against the ground, trying to force him to let go. In the background, Matt could hear the kids screaming and he yelled at Courtney. “Get them out of here! Call 911!”

  He didn't see if Courtney had heeded his request, because Collado had gotten the upper hand and forced the gun back down towards Matt's torso. With a huge effort, Matt rolled over and managed to slam a couple of punches into Collado's gut. Collado grunted in pain, but he swung the gun up and slammed the butt into Matt's face. Matt shook his head, trying to clear his vision as it blurred and grabbed for the weapon again.

  “Stop it! Leave my Dad alone, or I'll shoot!” Courtney shrieked.

  Collado's gun had split Matt's temple open and blood was pouring down his face, obliterating the sight in his right eye. He focused on his surroundings, saw that Collado was laying on the floor, still holding his own weapon, but his attention was focused on Courtney, who stood in front of them, with Matt's back up gun pointed at Collado's head in a double-handed grip. There was no sign of the other kids and Matt hoped they'd made it to one of the neighbor's places and were asking for help.

  “You won't shoot,” Collado scoffed, regaining some of his composure. He lifted his own gun and aimed it towards Matt. “I'll kill your father.”

  The situation was going to unfold badly. Courtney's hands were shaking violently and she was terrified, her face white and pinched with fear. For a few seconds, which seemed to tick away at the speed of hours, he could see what was going to unfold. Collado would call Courtney's bluff, and he was guessing right – Courtney couldn't bring herself to shoot someone in cold blood. Collado would kill him, and then kill his daughter. Matt found himself frozen, terrified of the consequences.

  From the corner of his eye, Matt saw Emily shift slightly, wincing with pain as she lifted her leg and kicked at Collado. It was a weak effort, given her terrible condition, but enough to throw Collado off balance. Matt took the opportunity to lunge forward and this time, he gripped the hand Collado held the gun in and slammed Collado up against the living room wall, bashing his wrist repeatedly into the drywall until Collado lost his grip on the gun.

  Matt's rage was incandescent; he punched Collado again and again. Fear of what could have happened, rage at what Collado had done to Emily, terror at the thought of how close he'd come to losing his daughters to this bastard, found Matt beating into Collado with his fists, unable to stop.

  “Dad! Daddy!” Courtney shouted at him, and as the white rage subsided, Matt realized Collado was lying on the ground, his face a bloody mess. In the distance, the sound of sirens approached, and his shoulders slumped in relief. He got to his feet, carefully kicking the weapon away from Collado's unconscious body, before he turned to Courtney. “Give me the gun, sweetheart.” He stepped towards Courtney cautiously, and pried the gun carefully from her trembling fingers.

  Courtney was focused on Collado. “Is he… is he dead?”

  Matt shook his head. “No, sweetheart. He's not dead.”

  Courtney flew into his arms and wrapped herself around him, sobbing hysterically and Matt sunk to the floor in relief.

  ≈≈◊◊≈◊◊≈≈

  The paramedics and fire service arrived within minutes of the police, and Emily was released from her bindings and carefully laid on a stretcher on her stomach, before she was rushed to Seattle Memorial. She's lost consciousness while Matt and Courtney had struggled to release her, and Matt watched anxiously as members of the Seattle Fire Service took over, cutting through the chains with bolt cutters.

  Matt needed half a dozen stitches in the gash in his forehead, and his fingers were a mess of bandages where the razor blade had sliced through his skin multiple times. His knuckles were black and blue from where he'd beaten the crap out of Collado. When Matt considered Emily's injuries, he figured he and the kids had been lucky.

  Much to his relief, none of the kids had been injured, although they had been badly shaken by the events of the morning, they were bouncing back quickly. Millie was of the opinion that she was entirely responsible for the end of the kidnapping and told every person who would stop long enough to listen, that she had single-handedly fixed everything by needing to pee. The true hero, in Matt's opinion, was Courtney. While Millie was in the bathroom, Courtney had shown the presence of mind to remove the blade from Matt's razor and snuck into Matt's room to retrieve his back-up weapon. He still wasn't certain how he felt about Courtney taking those sort of risks, nor was he thrilled that she had known the combination to the weapon safe, but he wasn't going to argue the point now. She'd saved them all, and Matt was incredibly proud of her.

  Matt left the emergency department with a pile of pain pills, some antibiotics and a severe headache, which he didn't suspect would ease up until he was certain Emily would be okay. Family and friends had descended on the hospital and were standing impatiently in the waiting area, and Matt was drawn into a fierce group hug with his children.

  “How's Emily?” Matt asked his Dad anxiously, catching his gaze over the top of his kids' heads.

  “She's upstairs in ICU. Her mother and a sister are with her, and her friend Sally is waiting in the ICU waiting room for any news,” Joe explained. He shook Matt's hand, and Matt could see the relief in his dad's eyes and suspected that the past few months of recriminations and arguments had been forgiven.

  Matt's mom pulled him into her arms and hugged him fiercely, and Matt wrapped his arms around his mother's back, taking comfort from her embrace. “I'm so sorry, son. For everything. That poor young woman – she's in a terrible state from what we've heard.”

  Matt stepped back from his mother and nodded anxiously. “I love her, Mom.”

  For a long moment, Clare stared up at her son, and he could see emotions flickering across her face in a montage of thoughts. Finally, she glanced at her husband who was standing at her side and he nodded imperceptibly. “All right, Matt. I promise you, we'll try and accept her into our lives.”

  Matt couldn't wait to tell Emily how much he loved her, but he knew there was some damage control to deal with first. His kids had been traumatized; they'd need his support and care. And by now, Emily's name would have been splashed all over the news headlines. The fallout was going to be enormous. He'd need to sit down with his kids, explain a few things before they were subjected to the nightmare of publicity that was certain to be waiting for them outside the hospital doors. How he was going to explain the situation, he didn't know, but somehow, Matt was certain he would find a way to make this work. He loved Emily and he wasn't willing to let her go. Everything else – it was a
ll stuff he'd have to find a way of dealing with – but his ultimate goal was to have Emily join him in his life with his family.

  Paul Meccelli strode in through the double doors leading into the Emergency Department, with Mandy following closely beside him. Mandy's eyes were filled with concern and she hurried across to where their group stood, wrapping Matt in a furious hug. “Are you okay? The kids? Are they fine? Where's Emily? Is she okay? Did that asshole hurt the kids? I'm so sorry we fought with you, Matt, but you made me so mad…”

  “Whoa, Mandy. How about one thing at a time?” Paul grinned, holding his hand out to Matt. “You've had quite the night, partner. Collado was taken to Seattle State for treatment. He's in custody and he'll be formally charged with kidnapping, grievous bodily harm, and attempted murder in the morning. He's under guard until we can move him.” Paul seemed to be in a forgiving mood and he smiled again. “Seems he got the crap beaten out of him, while he was being apprehended.”

  “Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy,” Mandy sniffed disdainfully. “Give me five minutes with him, and he'll be spitting out teeth and crying for his momma.”

  “Can we go up to the ICU?” Matt questioned. “I need to see Emily; I have some stuff I need to tell her.”

  Paul shook his head. “It's gonna be a while before she can have visitors, man. She's messed up in a whole lot of ways, and Mrs. Coulter flew in an hour or so ago. She's the only one allowed in.”

  Matt's frustration rose. “She's had nothing to do with Emily for years!”

  “But she's her family,” Mandy pointed out quietly. “None of us can claim any kinship with Emily, so her family has the legal right to be with her.”

  Paul wrapped an arm around Matt's shoulder and drew him to one side. “Listen, I'm in a forgiving mood, after seeing what you did to that prick, but I'm warning you right now. You hurt Emily again, and I won't be forgiving again.”