Cry for Me

by Richard Awe

  This was confusing to Samantha. She wondered who could be in the building. Joe and Meghan above her were at work. Bonnie, who lived on the second floor above Rick, was on vacation in Tennessee. Kaite, who lived on the 3rd floor above Joe and Meghan, was at work, and she saw her leave a few minutes after Joe and Meghan. The only unit left was Gene’s and she knew where he was.

  “Who would be going to Gene’s?” she thought. Then it hit her. Maybe Rick had figured it out, and they were getting ready to arrest Gene! But Gene was not there. He was here with her. If it was the police, would they think to look for him at her apartment? She wished she could signal them somehow without Gene hearing. Her cell was on the dresser. She heard it vibrating. She was hoping it was Rick and that he would get concerned and go to her apartment.

  Samantha was startled when she heard a loud thud followed by muffled voices yelling, “Police, Search Warrant!” She was so relieved! It was Rick and they were looking for Gene. They just needed to look downstairs. She needed them to come to her apartment.

  Samantha looked to see if Gene had heard the commotion. He had not. He was still singing away in the other room. He had been singing the same lyrics to “Paperback Writer” over and over.

  He was too caught up in doing whatever it was he was doing and singing that he had not heard anything. She hoped that he would stay busy. She did not want him to catch on to what was going on. Being in the ground unit, the windows were below ground level, and he was unable to see out to notice any police vehicles or activity.

  Samantha could hear people moving around and what sounded like a police K-9 dog. “How could I get a signal to them?” she thought to herself frantically. This was her chance to get some help. She felt as though her voice had returned. She feared that if she screamed it would take them awhile to find where the screams were coming from. This would alert Gene and he could kill her and be waiting for Rick. She needed to think of another way and prayed Rick would check on her while he was there.

  Chapter 22

  Rick was the first one through door after the lead SRT tactical officer sent a 75 pound battering ram through Gene’s rear door. Team #2 entered through the front door leading into the front room. Rick cleared the kitchen first and met up with Dan and the team in the front room. They cleared the front room and went back to the two bedrooms.

  They cleared both rooms and the bathroom, no sign of Gene. Rick stood staring at the wall in the spare room. It was littered with photographs of the victims. Gene had taken pictures of each victim with a digital camera, printed them out on a printer, and hung them on the wall in a giant collage.

  The room was dark. The shade had been pulled on the window and newspaper taped over the shade. Rick was looking at the pictures with his flash light when Dan came into the room. Rick I have something you need to see in the kitchen.

  Rick followed Dan to the kitchen sick to his stomach that this sick son of bitch was right under his nose the whole time. They reached the kitchen and Dan opened the refrigerator and pointed to the top shelf. Rick looked in a saw a small tray containing four test tubes. Each test tube contained a piece of masking tape and in black marker, a name written on each one. One was marked Watterson, one marked Mr. Swanson, and two more marked Mrs. Swanson.

  “What the hell is this?” Rick asked looking at Dan

  “I have no idea, Rick. I am going to have the lab test it. Looks like water.” replied Dan.

  Rick could not understand what could be in those test tubes. It was clear, like water. That made no sense. Rick thought back to Rush and the fact that his glands had been removed. “What bodily fluid looks like water?” Rick thought to himself. Then it hit him, tears. Rush’s tear glands had been removed. For some reason this sick fucker was collecting his victims tears and labeling them. “Why?”

  Rick told Dan he thought that the tubes contained tears. They contained the tears of the victims, and to have it tested and DNA samples taken and matched with the victims DNA. Dan got right on it and began taking pictures of the tubes in the fridge and bagging them in separate evidence bags.

  Rick returned to the spare room and began to look at the pictures on the wall again. The pictures were taken of the victims post mortem as if they were some type of a trophy. There were pictures of victims that were taken, and Rick could make out, the bed of dump trucks in the back ground. “This is our psycho.” Rick mumbled.

  Rick was looking at the pictures when he got to the picture in the center. He felt a chill run up his spine. In the center of the collage was a picture of Samantha, with a heart drawn around it out of lipstick.

  Rick sprinted from the room and into the kitchen. He looked out the window over looking the parking lot. “Samantha’s car is in the lot!” he blurted out.

  Dan turned to Rick, “What does that mean?”

  “He has her picture in the center of his “wall of death” with a heart around it! I have been trying to call her and she is not answering!” explained Rick.

  Rick and Dan immediately began to creep down the stairs towards Samantha’s apartment. Rick whispered to Dan to go to the front window well and see if he can peek in and asses the situation.

  Rick continued into the basement and went straight into the laundry room. Samantha’s apartment was directly on the opposite side of the south wall of the laundry room. Rick placed his ear to wall and listened. He could hear what sounded like the faint sounds of a male voice singing and talking on the other side.

  Rick did not know Gene well enough to determine if that was his voice. It had to be! Who else could it be? Rick listened for a short time and his cell phone began to vibrate. It was Dan. Rick quietly stepped out the laundry room and into the storage area and took the call. Dan informed Rick that there was a man, matching the description of Gene, walking around the inside talking to either himself or someone else in the other room. He did not see anyone else.

  Rick figured Samantha was either in the bathroom and bedroom. He was convinced that she was in the bedroom poisoned with curare and could not move. Rick prayed they were not too late. He needed to act fast. He needed to gain access to the apartment and as fast as possible. He needed to catch Gene off guard, and to do that so quickly, that if she is still alive, Gene would not have a chance to stab or shoot her.

  He needed to get the jump on him. Her apartment was laid out exactly as his. He thought his best bet was to have an SRT member throw the battering ram through the sliding glass door. Rick would be waiting to the side and could rush in. The sudden noise of the shattering glass would be deafening and hopefully would startle Gene, confusing him for a second, giving Rick the upper hand.

  Rick went back up the stairs and filled in Lt. Jones and Keyes. Lt. Jones told Rick he would throw the ram personally. Rick slowly climbed down the concrete steps that led down to Samantha’s exterior patio sliding door. Once at the door, he positioned himself to one side of the door.

  Lt. Jones was positioned at the top of the opening to the steps with the ram. Rick took a quick peek around the door and saw nothing. He looked up at Lt. Jones and gave the signal. Lt. Jones, with the help of Dan, picked up the ram and tossed it down the opening directly at the door.

  Gene was in the bedroom licking Samantha’s toes, when the ram came smashing through the window. The noise startled both Samantha and Gene. Samantha had no clue what the noise was and instinctively screamed. Gene fell backward, the shattering glass and Samantha’s scream, catching him off guard.

  Rick immediately entered the apartment his .45 semiautomatic hand gun poised in front of him. Rick moved straight for the bedroom, the glass shards crunching under foot as he briefly checked the kitchen.

  Gene could hear movement coming from the front room. He sprung from the floor and jumped on top of Samantha startling her at her waist. He pulled a 10” hunting knife from a sheath that hung from his belt. He could see a figure now moving in through the bedroom door. He grasped the knife with both bands and raised it high above Samantha’s chest ready to plunge i
t deep into her heart.

  Lt. Jones and Officer Keyes made their way down the steps and began to enter the apartment. They carefully crossed the shattered glass, guns drawn ready to offer Rick back up.

  Rick cleared the doorway and saw Gene sitting on top of Samantha with the knife high above her body in a stabbing position. Rick pointed his gun at Gene and yelled, “HANDS! LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS! DROP THE KNIFE!”

  Gene turned towards Rick and looked him in the eyes. Everything seemed to be in slow motion to him. The room had become quiet. It was as if someone was slowly turning down the volume on his hearing. He could see Rick’s lips moving as he shouted the orders but could hardly hear him. Gene could see the light shinning off of the stainless steel barrel of Rick’s gun. Gene drew in a long deep breath, smiled at Rick, turned to Samantha, and lipped, “I love you.”, as he thrust his arms down toward Samantha’s chest.

  He never heard the gun go off. It felt as if someone had hit him in his chest with a baseball ball bat. He could feel a burning sensation as the bullets from Rick’s gun ripped through his body. Gene slumped forward, the knife piercing Samantha’s pillow inches from her head.

  Rick grabbed Gene and pulled him off of Samantha. His body fell to the floor in a sitting position with his back propped against the wall. Rick released Samantha’s hands from the handcuffs and held her in his arms. She wept on his shoulder as he pulled blankets around her to cover her up.

  “Shhh, it’s ok, Sam. I got you now, it’s ok.” he whispered kissing her forehead.

  Rick looked over at Gene. He was still alive and could see his chest rising and falling with his shallow respirations. Blood bubbled from three bullet holes in his chest. Rick could hear Lt. Jones calling for an ambulance and additional personnel.

  Gene’s eyes were still open. There were tears trickling down his face and into his mouth. Gene could taste his own his tears. “It’s funny.” he thought. “I don’t feel the pain anymore”. Gene stared at Rick for a few more seconds, and drew his last breath.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  When one thinks of an author they rarely picture a 6’4” big burly biker, unless you’re thinking of Richard Awe. A blue collar family man, who rides a Harley and loves to tell a good story.

  Richard brings a fresh new writing style treating readers to gripping, page turning tales that only he can tell.

  For more information please visit the author’s website at

  www.RichardAwe.com