by Toni DeMaio
“Wow, it’s eleven already, we really lost track of time,” I said.
“Good it’s past dinner,” Gino said, “We’ll meet the police back in the kitchen. This way the cops can get him out of there before he can make a scene that’ll affect Mama’s bar business. I’ll let them in with my key. The asshole will be cleaning up and shutting it down for the night. Thank God Mama will already have gone home and Lisa will be on duty…Oh, my God! Lisa!”
“We’ll be there to support her, Gino,” I said, hugging him, “She’s strong and you know she needs to know about this. Just make the call, Gino,” I coaxed, as he finally hit send and put the phone to his ear and, a few seconds later, told the 911 operator every horrible thing we’d just learned.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
TORI
When I ended the call with Daddy and put my phone down on the table, I was so happy I did a little dance. Mrs. Donovan had come out to the kitchen with me to get more popcorn and ended up sitting with me while I called him.
“What are so happy about?” she asked, laughing along with me.
“Daddy and Kat must have made up tonight! I’ve been secretly hoping this would happen for weeks now,” I said, “I don’t know why Daddy was acting so weird around her but I’m just glad it’s straightened out now.”
Mrs. Donovan looked as glad about it as I was. “Me too, Sweetie, I like your daddy a lot and I happen to know Kat does too.”
“I hope so,” I said, then gave her the biggest hug because if I’d tried to say anything I was pretty sure I might cry. Now I’m hoping really hard that Daddy and Kat will be boyfriend and girlfriend and I can’t wait to see Angel again and ask her what she thinks about that ever happening.
Mrs. Donovan hugged me back and then smoothed my hair back from my face, “Let’s get some more popcorn for this big bowl before everyone falls asleep out there.”
It was hard to believe how scary this day had started out with me being so afraid of what Uncle Mario might do because now I felt like everything had changed and this was going to be one of my best days ever…at least it would be when Kat got back and Gia and I told Kat and Mrs. Donovan the truth about Uncle Mario.
“Mrs. Donovan,” I said, “Remember I told you Gia and I had something important we wanted to talk to you and Kat about later tonight?”
“Of course I remember,” She said with a warm smile, “Do you girls want to tell me now since Kat’s been delayed?”
I stared at her, tempted, but shook my head. “It can wait a little longer.”
After we’d filled the bowl to the brim Mrs. Donovan switched the kitchen light off and we started to walk back through the dining room. It was then that the screen door creaked open just like in a scary movie. We both stopped and just stared at each other, and then at the back door.
“That must be Kat,” Mrs. Donovan said like she’d just figured it out, “I wonder why she didn’t just come in the front door like she always does.”
Mrs. Donovan had switched the porch light on, and was taking the safety chain off the door, before I could try to stop her. I felt like my heart had dropped down into my stomach and I was really scared; scared bad. “Please don’t open the door, Mrs. Donovan,” I said in one breath, “Look and see if it’s really Kat, first.”
She laughed, “Don’t get spooked Tori, who else could it be at this hour? You don’t still believe in The Boogeyman do you?”
Actually I did because I knew he was for real and unfortunately he was also a member of my family.
The second Mrs. Donovan released the dead-bolt and turned the doorknob, the door shot open with so much force it knocked her off her feet and sent her sideways. I screamed and ran toward her, but I was too late. Her head smashed into the marble countertop and then she was just lying on the floor, and there was blood…lots of blood.
“No!” I screamed, falling to my knees beside her, scared to death, not knowing how to help her. But I never got the chance to try because ‘The Boogeyman’ was on top of me, snatching me up into the air by my armpits and yelling in my face. I couldn’t do anything but cry and pray Angel was close by just as she’d promised.
Uncle Mario’s breath smelled like old beer and his eyes were red just like a Halloween Devil mask. “You little bitch,” he snarled, his spit hitting my forehead, “You thought you were so slick you could get away from me!”
“No, Uncle Mario,” I pleaded, “It wasn’t like that.”
“You little bitches think I’m stupid, so now I have to teach you both a hard lesson. You can’t hide from me, not ever. Did you think this old lady was going to save you?” He laughed. “I told you two not to screw with me or your little brothers would pay for it. And now not even your daddy or Gia’s mommy, or your old-ass interfering grandmother can save you now. Where are the kids and don’t try to lie to me.”
“They’re probably asleep in the front room by now, but you don’t have to hurt anybody; we’ll do whatever you want,” I said, as he put me back down on the floor and
dragged me by the back of my nightgown through the dining room toward the front room where Gia and the boys were waiting for popcorn.
As he dragged me along, I looked back to see if Mrs. Donovan was awake yet, but she lay so still, I feared she was dead. Then I realized my cell phone with the app that could save us, was still there on the table. “You don’t have to do this, Uncle Mario,” I begged, “Mrs. Donovan was knocked out before she even saw who was coming inside. Gia and I will do whatever you want and then you can go and when she wakes up we’ll say a burglar came in, and we all screamed and scared him away. No one has to ever know you were even here, Uncle Mario!”
“It’s too late for that now…I’m sick of this boring town and the way the family’s treated me. I deserve respect and they act like I’m some worthless piece…”
Gia heard his voice as we came into the room and she jumped up and screamed, cutting his words off before he could finish his sentence. Both boys were up in a flash and clinging to her from both sides.
“I’m dealing with you first, you little bitch,” he snarled, then he kicked me aside, and I rolled into the carved leg of an end table; then lay still as if I too had been knocked unconscious. He kicked at my leg one more time, but I didn’t make a sound.
“Run!” Gia shrieked as all three kids took off like a gunshot. All the exits were on the other side of Uncle Mario so there was no place for them to run but up.
I watched them shoot upstairs long before Uncle Mario could get a hold of any of them. He was halfway to the stairs when suddenly he pitched forward and fell flat on his face as if something invisible had tripped him.
I doubted I’d be able to make it up and away before he could grab me again but then I heard Angel’s voice directly in my ear, as she whispered, “Run, Tori! Hit the App then run out the back door! Go! ”
At the same time the brightest light I’d ever seen, flashed like fireworks over Uncle Mario’s head, stopping him from struggling to his feet. Now he was the one screaming like a little girl as he fell backward, down onto the boy’s sleeping bags, covering his eyes as if he’d been blinded by the brilliant light. “What the hell was that?” he bellowed.
I darted back into the kitchen, pushed the app but left it on the table so the police would come to the right house. Then I grabbed one of the sweaters off a hook by the door and took off running for my life, running to save all of our lives. I ran faster than I ever have before.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
KAT
Gino led the way up the back steps of Mama Maria’s and then, using his key to open the door, he and the three policemen who’d just met us there, entered the restaurant. They’d requested I wait outside, but I couldn’t help climbing the stairs and peering inside through the glass on the back door.
Gino looked pissed and the three policemen stood by quietly while he spoke to Lisa first, telling her the awful truth about her husband and what he’d been doing to terrorize their children. I wonder
ed where Mario was because he was no-where to be found in that kitchen.
My heart went out to both of them as I heard her scream then watched her fall into Gino’s arms, devastated and sobbing. Almost instantly after that, Brian Jr. came barreling through the door from the dining room at which point she flew into his arms and told him everything.
From the look on his face, I could see how much Brian still loved Lisa, and how he struggled to control his rage over what had happened to her children, at the hands of the child molester she had unknowingly married. She clung to him in such a natural way as she poured her heart out that I realized she still had feelings for him, too. And it was evident how in the past weeks since he’d come home she had quickly come to rely on his big heart, his quiet strength and steady presence. I wasn’t surprised. They were and always had been a perfect match. I imagined the entire family would need him, and be grateful they had him to rely on in the difficult days ahead.
The police spoke to several of the kitchen staff; then Gino caught my eye through the window and opened the door for me. “You can come in, Kat. The bastard isn’t even here,” he muttered, “Do you believe he called out sick on the first night he was supposed to take over as head chef.”
“So where is he?”
Lisa became aware of the two of us and lifted her tear-stained face from Brian’s chest to answer me. “He’s home. I can’t believe this, Kat,” she wailed, “My babies…I brought this evil into our home…Leo would hate me if he knew.”
“Oh, no,” I said quickly, rubbing her back, “You couldn’t have known, Lisa. You can’t blame yourself. Mario’s the only one to blame.”
There were tears in Brian’s eyes as he held her more closely to his heart while she sobbed even harder. “No one could ever hate you, Lisa. You know Leo was crazy about you. And you’re the best mom I know. No one loves their kids more than you do,” he soothed her with his gentle words.
One of the policemen cleared his throat and put his pen and pad back in his shirt pocket. “I suggest we head over to the residence now and pick the suspect up.”
Lisa blew her nose and nodded. “But let me have the first crack at him, okay, Officer? I’ve got a lot to say…”
The policeman nodded shortly and then we all filed back outside.
Gino opened the car door for me, but I was suddenly frozen to the spot. I was overcome with this feeling that something was wrong with Tori and my heart actually hurt I grew so terrified for her…for all of the kids.
Then the radio in the police car next to us came on sending out another call and I listened in horror as my mom’s address was mentioned, along with something about a domestic disturbance in progress…But how? I wondered. Brian Sr. and my mom get along beautifully, and at this late hour surely he’d gone home to bed hours ago.
Gino heard the call, too, and sprang into action. “Come with me, Kat, we’re going to your mom’s first.”
“Follow behind me,” the policeman in the car next to us said, “And do you have a key to your mom’s house, Miss?”
I nodded, diving into my bag to locate it while Brian Jr. called to us, guiding Lisa toward his car, “We’ll follow behind you guys,” he said.
And then we were all racing toward the Bed and Breakfast, the three police cars taking the lead. I was praying harder than I ever had before. Please God, please don’t let this have anything to do with Mario.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
TORI
I pulled Mrs. Donovan’s sweater around me like a coat and ran so fast I thought my lungs would burst. Terrified, I raced and slid across the icy street and then up the very long driveway to where Frannie and her family lived.
The porch light was on, but there were no other lights shining from any of the windows and I felt terror slice through the cold as I remembered they had all planned to go over to Lilly and Tom’s for pizza and a movie. This was worse than any scary movie I’d ever seen, and I fought myself not to panic.
There weren’t any other neighbors on this street, only woods, dark and cold. The wind blew hard against my face and I pulled the sweater up over my nose and shivered. I’d never been this cold before, not even when we went snow tubing at Camelback and all I wanted to do was sit down on the porch steps, wrap up tight in Mrs. Donovan’s big sweater and cry; but then I heard screams, terrible screams coming from across the street. If they were loud enough for me to hear them way over here, then Uncle Mario must be doing something awful to all of them.
I couldn’t hide over here when my little brother and my cousins were begging for help. I was pretty sure it was Anthony who was screaming and crying the loudest and I prayed for Angel to help him as I gathered my strength and turned back, racing to the house. I wondered what was taking the police so long to get here and I hoped the app had worked like it was supposed to…then I prayed it had worked, harder than I had ever prayed before.
I ran back across the slippery street, up the long drive to the house and crept up the back stairs, shaking worse than ever now. When I opened the screen door it creaked and I hoped Uncle Mario hadn’t heard it as I stepped back into the warm kitchen, thinking I’d grab my phone and call 911 directly this time.
Mrs. Donovan wasn’t on the floor anymore, but I knew from the puddle of blood she wasn’t in very good shape. I turned and grabbed for my phone, but it wasn’t where I’d left it on the table. I hoped Mrs. Donovan had been the one to find it. I picked up the receiver on her wall phone but there wasn’t any dial tone so I figured Uncle Mario had messed with the line before he came crashing in on us.
I wanted to run again, but I knew I had to be brave so I sneaked through the dining room and peered into the living room afraid of what I might see. With the horror Uncle Mario had brought into this house, I didn’t expect it to still look so beautiful, but it looked just like a happy, normal home at Christmas time with all the lights and decorations glowing brightly.
I could hear the kids scrambling and running again upstairs, screaming bloody murder as Uncle Mario chased after them, swearing like a crazy person. I wondered if Christmas would ever be fun for any of us again.
And where was Angel?
She must have been right beside me because the minute I thought of her I heard her voice, “Hide, Tori, under my mom’s desk back in her office. The police and your dad and Kat are coming. I have to get back upstairs. Stay hidden no matter what you hear.”
I didn’t question her. As long as I knew Angel was on our side, I believed she would take care of all of us. I raced back through the dining room and then down the hall from the kitchen to the office. I grabbed Angel’s picture from the top of the desk and held on tight as I scrambled under the desk, just as she had told me to do. And then I prayed harder than I ever have before.
Almost immediately I heard sirens, the kind on an ambulance, and then the wail of the police cars finally tearing up the hill. I poked my head out and peered up at the clock on Mrs. Donovan’s wall and couldn’t believe it when I saw that only a few minutes had passed since I’d first hit the app and run to Frannie’s for help, because it had seemed to me like hours had gone by.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
MERI
I woke up on the kitchen floor and all I knew was that my head hurt like the devil. I sat up slowly and realized I’d been lying in a pool of blood, and only then did I remember all that had happened. The minute I’d unlatched the back door and turned the knob, it flew back into me like a weapon, knocking the air out of my lungs and throwing me off balance and apparently into the marble counter where I hit my head.
Thank God I’m hard-headed or I’d be talking to the Lord about now. I pulled myself up by getting a firm grasp on the drawer handles above me and then I ran some tap water on a clean rag I’d snatched from under the sink. I wrung it out and pressed it hard against my head. It hurt, and I could feel a lump rising, but I figured it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been since I can stand straight and walk without the room spinning. My mother always said h
ead wounds bleed the most so they appear more serious than they often are.
Then I heard the commotion upstairs and I wondered if the kids were taking advantage of my unplanned ‘nap’ and rampaging through my Bed and Breakfast having a good old time, unaware that I’d been injured. But in another instant it became clear their screams were filled with fear and I knew that wasn’t the case and more likely they were being chased and threatened by whoever or whatever had burst through my kitchen door.
“I can’t believe it! The first criminal in recent memory picks my place to rob,” I muttered as I dove back under the sink and poked around until I found one of Bob’s old wrenches. It’s rusty, but heavy, and will certainly do the trick. Next, I snatched the phone receiver off the wall, intending to call 911, but it was silent and useless. The line had been cut.
It was at that point I felt dread begin to creep over me; a dread growing to match the screams coming from my upstairs. This wasn’t good, and not at all what I’d planned on dealing with tonight.
But there never has been much that’s scared me and so I shook off the fear and started toward the screaming children. They needed help and I was the only one here who could save them so that was exactly what I intended to do. And God help the animal who’d knocked me on my ass and gone after those kids.
As I crept toward the stairway, a bright light, very much like Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, appeared just above me, twinkling and dancing as it led the way ahead. “I see you, Angel,” I whispered, grinning despite the grave situation, “So we’re doing this together…Thank God…”
The light grew brighter and I took that as a yes, so together we climbed on and with each step the fear and apprehension lessened. One Donovan woman was a lot to handle, but two were clearly unstoppable.