Glancing about the room, Tanya desperately searched for the reason Beatrice told her to run inside. Her eyes then spotted Bessie, hanging proudly in her cabinet. Running to the case, Tanya pulled at the doors, but they were locked. “Shit.”
The bedroom door began to split as Vladimir began to make progress against the heavy oak door. Tanya closed her eyes and remembered Bruce peering into the vase on the mantel piece. She peered at the dresser table and saw a vase sitting in the centre. “Please be in there.” Picking it up, she tipped it into her hand. A small key fell into her grasp.
Gun in hand she loaded the cartridges and knelt behind the bed. Her maroon finger nail flipped the safety off. “Vlad?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“So?” The door smashed open and Vladimir stepped inside.
“It’s yours.” Tanya fired Bessie. The shot ripped into Vladimir upper chest, sending him crashing back into corridor.
The headlights lit up the front of the house and Serge spotted the open door of the house as Bentham pulled up outside. Serge ran into the house and spotted Beatrice holding her bloodied face, “Tanya, where is she?”
“Upstairs.”
“Tanya.” Serge darted up the stairs. He could hear Tanya’s sobs from the bedroom. Jumping over Vladimir’s body, he found Tanya crouched behind the bed. “Oh, God please tell me you’re all right?”
“Serge.”
“He hasn’t touched you has he?”
“No.”
“I thought I’d lost you both.”The two embraced. Serge didn’t want to let go. “I’ll be the husband you want me to be. And the father our child needs.”
“Did you say husband?”
“If you still want to marry me, that is?”
“Of course I still do.”
Serge took the gun from Tanya. “One last thing. I better make sure this time.”
Bentham tended a dazed and confused Beatrice. He glanced up the stairs as Serge carefully walked Tanya down. “So is this the family you always wanted hey, Tanya?”
“What are you doing here? Where is Bruce?”
Serge ran back up the stairs. “I’ll go and the get the gun again.”
“I’m here.” Bruce shuffled into the light from the darkness of the yard. “What’s happened?”
Bentham stood up and put a hand on Bruce’s. “The closing of a particularly bad case.”
END
BREAK ME FREE Page 17