Obsession and Sacrifice (Alaska #2)

by Tiffany Carmouche

  “It is time,” the note read. “It’s time, Bradley. We can get him together and Nicole can be yours.” Brad crumpled up the note and threw it down. He realized Steve was near. He realized he was watching his every move. He must have a night scope. His head jolted around in quick movements at every noise that echoed out of the darkness. A chill went up his spine. He wanted to call out to see if Dylan was okay but didn’t want to give away either position.

  Then he saw the knife shimmer. Shit. Brad raised the gun. His arms couldn’t hold still. He was shaking. Concentrate. Concentrate. He tried to anchor himself. I can do this. I can do this. He wiped the sweat off his brow.

  “Bradley, you don’t want to do that. Were friends Bradley. I can help you.” Steve’s eerie voice haunted him. He searched to find were it was coming from and gripped the gun firmer. I can do this. All of a sudden the knife flung through the air. Blood gushed out of Brad’s hand and the gun dropped to the ground. As Brad turned back for the gun, Steve leapt toward him, lifting another knife, ready to attack. Brad dodged him and rushed for the gun. His feet twisted in the debris. He fell backwards.

  Steve had him where he wanted him, on the ground, wounded, and without a weapon. Steve pounced on him, driving the knife toward his chest. Brad grabbed his arm and tried to twist the dagger back toward Steve as he struggled to maneuver out from under him. He rolled away but was unable to grab the knife from Steve’s hands.

  “He’s over here. Dylan he’s over here.” Brad panted as he searched for a branch he could use as protection.

  As Dylan rushed to the sound of Brad’s voice. His feet snagged by a trap hidden in the leaves. He couldn’t move.

  Steve’s eerie voice called out. “Thank you, Bradley. It’s just like we planned it. You can finally get the girl.” Dylan looked over at Brad, raising his eyebrows. Brad wouldn’t trap him. They were brothers.

  “So, Dylan, did you really think we would let you live? Did you really think we would let you get the girl? Bradley here has been helping me. He led me right to you. He gave me your gun.” He lifted the gun and blew in the barrel.

  “He is lying. Dylan. I swear he is lying.”

  “You didn’t think he would just sit back when you took the only woman he loved, did you? We realized you had to die Dylan. Thank you, Bradley. Good teamwork.”

  “Dylan, I swear to you he is lying.”

  “Bradley, be proud. You won. Now you can fuck the girl.” Just then Steve lifted his arm to fired the gun at Dylan. Brad jumped in front of the bullets and dropped to the ground.

  Grabbing the knife from his sock, Dylan cut himself free, and charged at Steve full force through the brush. Throwing the knife, he hit Steve’s leg and Steve fell to the ground, dropping the gun. Dylan raced over, picked up the gun, and held it to Steve’s head.

  He heard the police radios and saw the flashlights darting around as he steadied his hand to pull the trigger.

  “Don’t do it! Don’t do it, son. Son, I can’t have you go to jail.” Mr. Carlisle appeared in the woods with the police.

  “You didn’t see what he did to your daughter.” Dylan held the gun, shaking in hysteria.

  “I know, but locked behind bars, you can’t do anything to help Nicole. I’m counting on you to help my daughter get better. Don’t throw it all away, son. He’s not worth it.” Mr. Carlisle walked toward Dylan with the police officers. “Let me have the gun.”

  Dylan handed him the gun, his hand shaking. It was finally over. There was no way Steve would be set free now. They watched as the police handcuffed Steve and brought him toward the lights of the police car.

  “It’s finally over, Brad,” Dylan let out, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “Brad.”

  Brad’s not moving. “Brad.” Dylan ran to the body. He was motionless. “Brad.” He’s covered in blood!

  “You gotta get up. Brad!” Dylan squatted over the body. “What the hell were you thinking? Brad, get up.” Dylan lifted Brad’s head off the rock. He embraced his body. “Brad!” He didn’t move! He looked down at his own chest, now covered in Brad’s blood. “You can’t be dead,” Dylan’s voice started to crack, “Brad!”

  His eyes opened wide. Frantic, he turned to Mr. Carlisle. “He jumped in front of the bullet.” Dylan slapped Brad’s face hoping to jolt him awake. “This isn’t funny, Brad. I’m not laughing. Get up! Get up, man.” Dylan turned to the people around him. “Why the hell isn’t he moving? Brad! I need you man. BRAAD!”

  Tears flooded his eyes, he wasn’t moving. Brad wasn’t moving! “You can’t do this to me Brad. Get up! You can’t do this to me!”

  “You need to move, sir,” a paramedic said, putting his hand on Dylan’s shoulder.

  “Brad!” His voice cracked and he fell to his knees. “BRAAD!” They strapped him to the gurney.

  Chapter 72

  *Nicole*

  My mom brought Jessica home. I couldn’t leave. I sat by the window looking out into the woods. The police lights spun as I waited. An ambulance arrived. I gasped as I saw the officers walk Steve out of the woods and haul him off in the police car. The EMTs run into the woods with the gurney.

  “This can’t be good. This can’t be good.” I limped as quickly as I could into the woods after the EMTs. I saw Dylan crying as the men hoisted Brad onto the gurney.

  “Brad?” I ran to him. “Brad!” He was covered in blood. “Nooo!” I turned to Dylan and screamed, “What have you done? What have you done?” I turned back and my voice quivered. “Bradley!” I touched his face. It was cold. “Talk to me Bradley.” My dad tried to hold me back. “Get off me!” I screamed, pushing him away as I broke free and held tight onto the bloody body. “Bradley!” I placed my head on his chest.

  “Ma’am you are going to have to move.”

  I glared over at Dylan as they tried to pry me off him. “What happened? How could you let this happen?” I fought them off clutching to him with all my might. “Bradley, get up! I need you to get up!”

  Dylan tried to calm me down but it only made me more furious and I hit him. “Get off me! Get. off .of .me.” I shrieked.

  I held onto Brad’s hand as they lifted the body, trying to pull him away from me. “Don’t you take him.” They stripped my hand away from his. I fell to my knees. “God, don’t you take him from me!”

  As they carried the gurney toward the flashing lights, I grew hysterical, stumbling after the body as they took him out of the woods. They tried to close the doors to the ambulance. I pushed through and grabbed onto the door. “I need to go with you, please let me go with you.”

  “Nicole, calm down,” my dad tried to pull me away.

  “Get off of me!”I screeched. “How could you let this happen? Get off of me.” My body shook. “Please God, don’t take him.” I banged on the doors, hoping they would let me in. They started to drive away and I limped toward the flashing lights, falling to my knees. “Don’t. you take. him!” My heart ached and I held my stomach rocking. “You can’t take him away.”

  “My car’s in the back. Let’s hurry,” my dad tried to tell me. I couldn’t move. Everything blurred. Dylan came up behind me and put his arms around me. His body shook as the tears fell from his eyes. I turned, beating on his chest and collapsed in his arms. “How could you let this happen? How could you let this…” I broke down, sobbing. Dylan was silent as the tears poured down his cheeks.

  “I don’t know what happened. It should have been me. It should have been me.”

  Chapter 73

  *Dylan*

  Mr. Carlisle sped to the hospital, running red lights and skidding sharp turns. They rushed into the emergency room.

  “You have to make an exception. My wife works here. Please. I’ll stay out here, but please let them go back.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, and call you if I can.”

&
nbsp; Mr. Carlisle went to sit next to Dylan and Nicole in the waiting room.

  “He can’t die. Bradley can’t die.” Her body, drained and weak from crying, still trembled as she rocked back and forth in Dylan’s arms.

  Hours passed with no word.

  “Mr. Carlisle.” A lady emerged from the doors. As he reached her she whispered, “I’m doing this for your wife. As long as they are calm they can go in to see him.”

  Mr. Carlisle went over to his daughter and Dylan. “He is alive. They are making a special exception for you to go in because you are not family.” He handed them the passes. “I’ll wait out here. He is conscious.”

  Nicole flung her arms around her dad and around Dylan. She took Dylan’s hand and they made their way past the double doors to the curtain that was now Brad’s room. They both took a deep breath and opened the curtain to step inside.

  “Excuse me, I think you are in the wrong room.”

  “Brad, it’s me, Dylan. Are you okay?”

  “What are you doing in my room? Who are you?”

  “Bradley it’s me…” Nicole turned white and looked over at Dylan, swallowing hard.

  “I’m just messing with you!” Bradley burst out in a smile.

  “You ass!” Nicole wiped away her tears and went over to the bed and smacked him.

  “That was messed up. I’m going to have to kick your ass when you get out of here!” Dylan walked over to the bed. “What the hell were you thinking, jumping in front of bullets? That was pretty stupid, man.”

  “I didn’t think they would hurt this bad” He laughed. “Ouch,” he held a bandage by his chest. It hurts to laugh, this sucks. I was hoping he would miss and I would just have looked heroic.”

  “It was stupid, just plain stupid. You gave me a heart attack.”

  Nicole took his hand in hers and kissed his forehead. “Bradley you’re not allowed to die. My god, I really thought.” Tears started to form in her eyes again.

  “Hey, can you all sneak me in a shot of tequila or something?”

  “Bradley!”

  “Man, I really thought you were dead. You okay? What did the doctors say?”

  “They got all the bullets. Thank god, they didn’t hit anything vital so I’m just looking at a bunch of pain for awhile, but I’ll live. I guess I blanked out when I hit a rock or something. My head is killing me.”

  “So when do you get to come home?”

  “I should be out in a few days. No concussion.”

  “You really scared me, Bradley. Do you want something to eat? Maybe we can sneak some food in here. I don’t think the tequila is a good idea with the pain killers.”

  “What happened to Steve?”

  “I had him, I was going to shoot him in the head, but Mr. Carlisle and the police showed up. I gave them the gun and the police took him to jail.”

  “So he is finally locked up.”

  “Yeah, we are finally rid of him.”

  After a few hours, Nicole asked, “Bradley, are you sure you’re doing okay?”

  “Yeah, Nikki. I’m fine.”

  “I really want to stay, but I should go home to see Jessica. Would that be okay with you?”

  “Of course, Nikki. I’ll be out of here in a few days.”

  “You really scared me. Don’t you ever do that to me again.” Nicole kissed Bradley’s cheek. “I’ll come back in the morning.”

  “Dylan, you can stay. I’ll go home with my dad. Steve is locked up finally so I’ll be fine.”

  Dylan gave Nicole a kiss goodbye. “I’ll see you in the morning, babe. Love you.”

  “Love you too, Dylan. Bradley, you get better, okay? And no more stupid hero moves, okay?”

  “I promise.”

  Chapter 74

  *Steve*

  Steve sat in the back of the police car. Officer Parker, the cop who had delivered the message to the Carlisle family about Nicole’s death, looked in the rearview mirror waiting for his cue.

  “Why are you going this way?” Officer O’Neil asked as Parker turned to go down a deserted road.

  “Tell the nice man, Nelson,” Steve interrupted with an eerie voice.

  “I’m sorry, Jimmy.” Officer Parker pulled out his gun and shot Officer O’Neil. Then he pulled the car over to the side of the road.

  “Good work, Nelson. You tell that family of yours I won’t be able to stop by this time. Now if you can just undo these handcuffs.”

  “You will leave my family alone now, right?”

  “Nelson, you know what our deal is. As long as you do what I say, they will be alright. As long as I get to a safe place and make the call, no one will do anything to them tonight.”

  Officer Parker got out of the car and opened the door to the back, helping Steve out. Steve sneered at him as he undid the handcuffs.

  “Now give me your gun.” He handed Steve the gun. “Very good. Nelson, very good. You have proven to be very useful. Now, the keys to the car.”

  “You’re going to leave me out here?”

  “The keys to the car, Nelson.” Steve grabbed the keys from him. “Very good, very good. Now Nelson, I’m beginning to wonder if I have any use for you anymore. Your daughter is such a pretty thing, I don’t know that I can resist. You did good, Nelson. You did very, very good.”

  “You promised. You promised if I helped you, you would leave my family alone. Don’t you touch them or I will…” As Officer Parker charged the Steve, Steve picked up the gun and shot him.

  He walked over to the Officer Parker’s body and stripped him of his uniform, leaving him half naked on the pavement. He walked to the back of the police car, opening the trunk and pulled his bag out of the back. “Nicely done, Nelson, just as we planned.” Placing it on the trunk, he opened it to find his knives inside. Perfect. Stripping Officer Parker’s uniform, he began to change. He removed the badge from the blooded stain shirt and fastened it to the fresh one he pulled out of the bag.

  He walked into the woods, buried his clothes and returned to the vehicle. As he scanned the area, he grabbed the duffle bag and sat in the driver’s seat. He leaned over and pulled out some horn-rimmed glasses and a slick grey wig. From one of the pockets he pulled out the dark brown contact lenses and adjusted the mirror so he could put them in his eyes. With an eyebrow pencil he darkened his eyebrows. From another pocket he pulled out a pair of teeth and quickly popped them in place.

  Patting down the officer’s body in the passenger seat, he uttered, “You won’t be needing these anymore, now will you?” and placed the officer’s wallet, gun and radio in the duffle bag.

  “Well, Jimmy.” He leaned over the dead body and opened the passenger side door, “This is where you get off.” He let the body fall to the road.

  He opened his computer and clicked on the surveillance app. Nicole was still at the hospital and--perfect, Jessica was at home. Putting the car in gear, he headed down the road, closing the door. “So, Jessica, it is time we go for a nice little ride.”

  As he made his way down the highway, he grinned when he saw her. There on the shoulder stood a college-age girl in her cute little mini skirt bent over to investigate her flat tire.

  He looked in the rear view mirror, pushed the thick glasses up his nose and turned on the red and blue lights, pulling up behind her. “How nice.”

  Chapter 75

  *Nicole*

  A few hours later, when my dad and I finally left the hospital and pulled up in the driveway, a homeless person stood on the sidewalk with a bouquet of yellow carnations.

  “Miss Carlisle?” the lady asked walking over to me. I clutched tight to my fathers arm. “I was asked to give you this.” She handed me a cell phone and a note. I unfolded the piece of paper.

  ‘You should have never left me, Nicole.
I have to say you

  really disappointed me. I have brought Jessica on a little ride

  with me. I hope you don’t mind. It is really you I want, Nicole.

  If you would like to see her go free, you can offer yourself

  instead. That is the only way I’ll let her go.

  Do not tell anyone. I’ll be calling you shortly to tell you

  where to come. Remember, the only way to have Jessica

  set free is if you come in her place.’

  I looked at the cell phone the woman gave me, and the note in my hands. “Dad, run, check on Jessica?” I turned to the door, limping inside quickly. “Jessica…Jessica!” I screamed entering the front door and rushed through the hallway to Jessica’s bedroom. “Mom! Where is Jessica?”

  “Your mother is sleeping. Jess isn’t in her room!”

  “Maria, Maria where is Jessica.” Mr. Carlisle tried to wake his wife, but she opened her eyes and then turned over and went back to sleep. It was almost as if she was drugged.

  “Dad, he has Jessica. He has my baby!”

  “How? He’s in prison.”

  I threw the note down on the table. “He has my baby!” I picked up my cell phone and called Dylan, but his phone was turned off. I tried Bradley. His phone was off, too. “Dad, I need you to go to the hospital. I need you to get Dylan.”

  “Tell him to track my cell phone to find me. He said he could do that somehow. I’m going to get Jess.”

  “I’ll call the police.”

  “Get Dylan! The police didn’t do shit! Steve has my baby! He is supposed to be in jail! Please Dad, get Dylan.”