by SK Wee
“I think I need to, Cal,” Marsha spoke in a near whisper. I wasn’t sure why she felt she needed to see them, but I was proud of her courage. I kept my arm around her in case it became too much for her. Cal didn’t bother looking too closely at the pictures, he had already seen the same ones at Mark’s, but he did find a slip of paper inside.
See what a flaming faggot your husband is—whoops—was. He doesn’t deserve to produce any offspring. He only can destroy. Nothing of his shall remain to contaminate the Earth.
Those words sent a wave of terror through me. “That sounds like a threat against Marsha’s baby, Cal. We need to protect her.”
“I agree. I’ve already set a protection detail near the funeral home, thinking Mark was a target but we need someone here also. Possibly at the Feed Mill too. I need to make some more calls. Are you going to be all right, Marsha?” Both Cal and I looked at Marsha and I noticed she was staring at the top picture. It was one of the new ones—Travis was bound and gagged with numerous knife wounds. The photo only showed his upper torso, and I hoped that Marsha didn’t want to look at any more of them knowing what else they sliced into.
“Come, Marsha, let’s go back and sit in the living room. Cal needs to make some phone calls and Mom should be back soon.” I guided her into the next room and she didn’t put up any resistance, thank goodness. I heard a car door slam out front and went to the window. Logan was standing next to his sports car and looked around the neighborhood. I went to the front door and waved at him.
“Fee, how are you doing? I was no longer needed at the Landing so I thought I would see if you needed help here. Since you forgot your cell phone at my house this morning, I wasn’t able to call you.” He looked me over as intensely as he did the surroundings earlier and kissed me.
“Cal’s in the kitchen, maybe he would like some help.” Logan glanced at Marsha and gave her a quick nod before making his way into the kitchen. I was sure that he would see things in the missive that the rest of us probably missed. I know Cal is very good at his job but had little training for what he was involved with right now.
Cal and Logan had their heads together talking about the case. It was growing dark outside, and I remembered that I hadn’t had a thing to eat all day. I was supposed to be eating for two. I had yet to see Marsha eat anything either and asked the guys if they were hungry. I didn’t mind cooking if Marsha had something easy to make. Just as I started looking through the cupboards, I heard the front door open and watched as my mom and Ruth walked back in carrying what looked and smelled like a wonderful meal.
“Oh, Mom, thank you. I was just looking for something to make for us. Let me help you with that.” She had somehow thrown together a stew and also brought a couple of pies. I knew she didn’t have time to make them herself but didn’t care where they came from.
The sheriff came by a little later and they loaded up the trunk and bagged up the other evidence. Logan was still watching everything, with his arm still in a sling he couldn’t do a whole lot, though I could tell that he saw and studied every pedestrian and every vehicle that went by.
Sheriff Drawbert came inside to talk to everyone. “Cal will be in charge of your watch. We are taking this very seriously and your welfare is of the utmost importance. Please don’t leave the house without Cal or whomever he chooses as a replacement. I will keep you informed and let you know as soon as we apprehend the suspect or suspects.”
Chapter Eighteen
Mark
I finished up the paperwork for the funeral after Cal left. There wasn’t much else I could do until they sent over the body. Oh, Travis. I felt just terrible for his family. I had never even met them, even though the Feed Mill was only a couple of blocks from my home. Then I realized that I really didn’t know all that many people personally. This was such a small town but I never socialized with anyone. Since being ostracized in high school, I didn’t want to get close to anyone. It certainly made for a very lonely life.
When Travis started coming over, he brought out the fun side of me once more—the side I kept firmly hidden away from the world. It took a few visits but the last couple months, I lived for the times I could let myself shine through. I soon realized that I was actually a very fun, social person. Adventurous, sometimes silly, and sometimes tender and caring. All this Travis brought forth and more. Now it felt like I needed to shove the lid down on all that. Hide away once again and make sure no one could see who I really was.
For years I railed against God for making me so different, and then I found true peace within myself. While Travis was around, I felt normal and cared for. Now once again, I knew that if the whole town knew about me, my business would suffer and I would likely be run out of town. A big part of me wanted just that, leave this self-righteous town behind. Go somewhere that I would be valued for who I was, valued for being unique and different instead of living in fear that I would be sent packing for my differences.
When I decided to shut the office down for the evening, I glanced out the window and spotted my guard parked across the street. I hoped he was wasting his time. I couldn’t believe that someone would try to harm me because of what Travis did years ago. It didn’t make any sense at all. But if Cal thought I needed protection, I wasn’t going to refuse the gesture.
Once I got upstairs, I grabbed a bottle of wine that was left over from Travis’ last visit. It seemed like he always brought wine—said it made him mellow and horny. He sure was that. I smiled at the thought and of all he taught me the last few months. I was finally happy with my self and my body. Secure in the feelings of self-worth and filled with a sort of confidence that even if I could never have my heart’s desire, I was still wanted, still desired. Travis had always made a point of exclaiming how beautiful I was to him—alluring and sexy were other words he would use. How I would miss that.
As I sipped the wine, I tried to remember everything Travis said about his past relationship. I know he said something about twins and how much trouble they could be. There were some other comments he made, though. I seemed to remember something about a scorned cheerleader. Yes, he mentioned dating a cheerleader, and I wondered how badly that ended and how she may have found out about his preferences. Could she be the one that wanted vengeance? If she was, she certainly had help. The pictures of Travis showed him bound and gagged. Two things I didn’t think a woman could accomplish on her own easily. Well, unless she knocked him out first, but it was obvious he was wide-awake and screaming during the photo shoot.
None of the women I had met through my work at the funeral home would have the stomach for the gruesome, bloody mess shown in those pictures. If it was the woman, she most certainly had some additional mental issues. Even a man would need to swallow the bile that rose while looking at them. The one picture, in particular, would have any man squirming. The thought of the ruthlessness of the killer was enough to scare anyone.
With no further answers coming from my recollections, I got comfortable on the sofa and turned on the news. I heard some sort of banging downstairs but didn’t think too much about it. My old Victorian house had more creaks and groans than anything I’ve ever been in. Many of the townspeople believe it to be haunted, but I think it’s just the age of the old building. It was originally built in the mid-nineteenth century by a lumber baron. At one time, it was the largest residence in the town, but now just the upper levels are living areas and the main floor and cellar were consigned to the funeral service business that my grandfather started in the 1950s.
Having discounted the noises from below, I was stunned with the door burst open, and two people ran in with a rifle pointed in my direction. The one with the rifle was a young woman, probably younger than thirty. The other was a big hulking lad, and he seemed younger yet. He was easily twice my girth and looked fairly solid. I stood up quickly from the sofa, spilling the wine in the process.
“What do you want? I don’t keep much money here, but you can have what I got.” I was hoping I could placate th
em with some ready cash.
“Sorry, buster, but the money ain’t good enough.” The big guy pushed me forward and grabbed my arms behind my back. He sounded uneducated or possibly slow, like he had a mentality of a much younger person.
“Tie him up, Robbie. Hurry, I saw the squad car out there. We don’t have the luxury of time with him.” She kept the rifle aimed at me while glancing outside.
“Huh? Don’t I get to cut him up, Callie? You said I got to. You promised for Cole’s sake that I could cut him some.” The big guy sounded upset he wouldn’t have the time to carve me up, probably like they had done with Travis.
“Later I’ll find someone you can cut to shreds, but him, we got to shoot and leave. Hurry, that cop will be back around in a couple of minutes. Tie him to that chair and I’ll shoot him. We still need to start the fire, so hurry. I’ll let you throw the match, how does that sound?” I noticed a huge grin form on Robbie’s face.
“I gets to start the flames? Really? Okay, I got him tied.” Robbie had me loosely tied to one of the kitchen chairs. I thought I could get out of it if I wasn’t killed. I tried to think clearly, but fear continued to cloud my thoughts. “Shoot em, hurry, so I kin start the flames!” He was actually jumping up and down in anticipation of his role in my demise.
“Well, get out of the way, idiot!” I didn’t think the name bothered the big guy at all. He was giggling with glee. I heard her get ready to fire and the blast was deafening. I felt the chair fall backward and a searing pain near my left shoulder. Having been around dead bodies all of my life, I quickly realized that I needed to emulate the look. I could feel the blood oozing out of the wound and kept my eyes frozen open, staring at nothing.
“Got that done, now all we have to do is fire the building and figure out how to get rid of the pregnant wife. That’s going to be the fun part.” I heard them both giggle as they made their way down the stairs.
As soon as I heard them leave I tried to get out of the ropes that were binding me, but they seemed to have tightened since I fell over onto them. The pain in my right wrist told me that it probably broke during my fall. I still tried to wiggle them loose. When that proved impossible, I decided to roll over onto my knees and crawl to the door. I had a better chance of killing myself falling down the stairs while being tied to a chair than anything else, but I knew that if they started a fire in the house, it wouldn’t take long for the whole place to go up in flames. I didn’t have time to find a phone, even if I could actually hold one.
It seemed to take forever just to get rolled over. I knew I was still bleeding from the bullet wound and was becoming weaker by the second. After the fourth try at getting rolled over, I finally made it. I carefully got to my knees, which was harder than I thought without the use of my arms and I tried to scoot like an inchworm toward the door. When I did look up at the door, a feeling of defeat washed over me. How was I going to open the door? I tried to scoot around, but I couldn’t reach my hands up high enough to reach the doorknob.
Turning back around, I considered trying to turn it with my mouth but that proved impossible also. The smoke was already coming up the stairs so I knew that they were successful in starting the fire. I tried the lay on my back, and even though the chair was now once again lying on my broken wrist and the pain was terrible, I could now reach my feet over to open up the door. I had removed my shoes and still had on socks. My feet kept sliding around the handle without turning it, but I continued to try. This was my only chance, my last resort.
Chapter Nineteen
Fee
We all heard the buzzing of Cal’s radio. He got on his phone to find out what was going on. That’s when I heard the sirens of our one and only fire truck in town. The fire department consisted of volunteers, and many people would just follow the fire truck and see if they were needed. When Cal got off his phone, I watched as he grabbed his jacket.
“It’s the funeral home. Arnie was supposed to keep watch. He said he didn’t see anyone enter, but saw two people run outside as the place exploded. We believe Mark’s in there. If Logan agrees to stay here and keep a look out, I would like to run over there and see if I can lend a hand. I have a feeling whoever is responsible isn’t done yet.”
“I’ll keep watch here, Cal. Let us know what’s going on.” Though Logan appeared unaffected, I could tell that he was clearly on edge.
“But shouldn’t we have a deputy here?” Marsha asked, not aware that Logan is a federal agent.
“Logan can handle it for the short time I’ll be gone. Remember that Sheriff Drawbert stated I could name my replacement, well I just did. I’ll be back as quick as I can.” Cal didn’t wait for any further arguments. I stood by the window and watched him speed off. I sent entreaties up to God for Mark’s well-being. I sure hoped they would get him out of there alive. Another thought came to mind, which was that both of my older brothers were volunteers for the fire department and would certainly be on the front lines of this one. I sent more prayers to God for their safety. Mom and Ruth had left over an hour earlier, so now it was only the three of us left.
When the phone rang, I ran to answer it knowing that it was still too early for news but worried something else had gone wrong. The voice on the phone was female, ‘We’re coming for the baby now. It can’t be allowed to survive. Evil breeds evil,’ and then she hung up.
With my heart in my throat, I looked back at Logan. He knew immediately that something was wrong. When I told them what was said, I heard a cry of anguish come from Marsha.
“Oh, Fee, Cal should not have left. How can you protect me? My baby?”
“Calm down, Marsha. We are not defenseless. Logan is here and Cal will be back soon. You need to remain calm for the baby’s sake.” I used my most reassuring tone, hoping she would relax.
“Two pregnant women and a one-armed man? I would call that defenseless.” Marsha was sniffling.
“Well, what happened to your power of prayer? I’m sure if you believe, no harm will come to you.” It wasn’t nice to throw that in her face, but I didn’t feel like being nice at that moment. She was always preaching to me, she should follow her own advice.
“I’ve been trying to do just that, but I don’t seem to feel any safer. All the praying I did for Lizzie gave no results, all the praying I did for my marriage gave the wrong results. I guess I don’t have the strong conviction I once had. I’m just so scared for my baby, that’s all I’m concerned about. I know you doubt that, but it’s true. I’m not the self-centered bully I used to be. I know what a mother’s love means now and it’s all I yearn for. Please, keep my baby safe for me.” The last part felt like such an earnest plea that I truly believed my sister may have changed. I hope she had, for her child’s sake. She would now need put herself second for the first time in her life.
Then we heard the sound of a gunshot ring out in the vicinity. “Get down you two, NOW!” Logan had his gun out and stood alongside the front picture window. I grabbed Marsha and slid with her to the floor between the sofa and coffee table. As we lay there trying to catch our breaths, I felt something warm and wet come through my clothing.
“Dear God, Marsha! Did your water just break?” I looked over at her face and knew immediately that I was right. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We can take care of everything. Don’t worry about anything.” I wish I wasn’t so worried about everything.
There was another gunshot and the picture window exploded into a million pieces. My first thought was that Logan had been standing beside it, but then I heard, “Stay down!”
We heard an answering gunshot and then a scream from outside. I knew Logan did not fire his revolver thus there was help on the outside also. Shortly after the scream, there was another loud bellow of what sounded like grief or anguish.
“Clear!” This came from a female voice near the outside of the window.
“Fee, it’s okay. Nessa’s here. How’s Marsha?” Logan moved the coffee table aside so we could stand up. We were fortunate because the table
had protected us from all the bits of glass that seemed to be everywhere around us.
“I think we have a baby on its way.” I grabbed his good arm to help me to my knees. “It may be hours yet but if it’s safe, I should bring her over to the hospital.” Marsha was still sobbing, but we managed to get her up off the floor and into her car. I didn’t know where Nessa came from. I didn’t notice any extra vehicle outside. Once we got into Marsha’s car, I drove her over to the hospital. I told Logan to meet me over there when he could.
As soon as we entered the doors, I could tell that the emergency room was in an uproar. My first thought was that my brothers had been fighting a fire, but then I also thought about poor Mark who actually was in the fire. As soon as I got Marsha settled with a nurse I ran back to the desk to see what was going on. They were tight with the information but then I saw my brother, Dave, come out of one of the rooms. He was dirty and sooty like he just cleaned out a chimney by sliding down inside of it.
“Dave, please tell me that you got to Mark in time. Where is Karl? Is he all right?” I noticed Dave had burns along one of his arms but was otherwise unharmed.
“Karl took some burns but he’ll be all right. We got Mark out of there, but he was unresponsive. He is now breathing with a ventilator but is still unconscious and needs surgery to remove a bullet from his shoulder. All I can say is that he is alive for now.”
After giving him the report about Marsha and the fact that the killers seem to have been caught, I went back to check on Marsha. The nurse explained they stopped the labor for now and would keep her there for the rest of the night so they could keep an eye on her.
When I found Mark’s room, I also found Karl, slouched over the bed and sobbing. I felt so sorry for him. I could feel his pain through his tears.