Redemption Rains

by A D Holland

  “I wouldn’t do that Miss,” Mr. Smith spoke in a thin, reedy little voice that contained a tinge of an accent Elizabeth could not place. She met his black beady eyes and then looked down at the gun he had tucked in his coat.

  “Bring her along Lindsey, we don’t have much time and I am running out of patience.”

  Samuel dragged her to the car and shoved her in the back seat, climbing in behind her and slammed the door. She was thrown back into the seat when Rocko, who was driving, pressed on the gas and sped away. Elizabeth fought to control her emotions as she listened to Samuel speak.

  “This is not what we had planned Smith,” Samuel’s voice was a bit shaky. “We agreed that I would take her out of the country for a while and convince her not to testify. Nobody would be the wiser. What do we do now if someone sees us together with her? They will surely put two and two together,” he had really lost control now as sweat poured down his face. “How am I going to explain this?”

  “You will not have to explain anything Lindsey,” Mr. Smith spoke in a bored monotone voice. “We will take care of the loose ends.”

  “And what about my problem?” the question came as a screech.

  “Your debt will be considered paid when we have completed this bit of business here. Smile Lindsey, you are going to be a free man very soon.”

  Elizabeth saw Samuel glance in her direction with trepidation and fear in his face. He had sold her to these people to pay back some kind of debt. For the first time Elizabeth saw Samuel for what he really was, a selfish, weak-minded fool who cared for nothing and no one, save himself. Repulsed by him, she slid deeper into the corner of the seat.

  They weren’t going to just let her not testify. No. They were going to do away with her completely. She was a loose end that needed to be tied up. A bullet would be the sure thing, but what if they wanted to torture her? Could she withstand the pain? She shivered violently and her teeth chattered together. She was suddenly very cold. Wrapping her arms around her like a shield, she pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window and waited as her mind tortured her with images of death.

  After an hour of driving along the interstate, Rocko exited. He chose a single lane farm road that seemed to go on forever. The sun had almost completely set on the horizon making it hard for Elizabeth to see where they were going. When the car finally stopped, she could faintly make out the silhouette of a small A-frame farm house. Samuel stepped out of the car and reached in to drag her across the seat and out of the door. She fought him, kicking and screaming at him. When she made contact with his shin Samuel swore loudly and slammed his fist into her face. She reeled from the impact, feeling her head spin and her knees go weak, Elizabeth crumpled in a heap at his face.

  “You bitch,” Samuel swore down at her. “You have been nothing but a thorn in my side since you stepped foot in my house. Now we’ll see who ends up being Daddy’s favorite,” the scorn in Samuel’s voice caused Elizabeth to wince.

  Was that what all this was about? All those years he had just pretended to be her friend. In truth he hated her, hated her for coming in and stealing away his father’s love and attention. Long forgotten memories flashed in her head. Times when she saw Samuel glaring at her with hate in his eyes when Edward paid attention to her. Alexis was never a threat to Samuel, Elizabeth knew this. Alexis never stirred anything more than mild interest in their step farther. It was Elizabeth who Edward had taken too. Seeing the lost little girl and longing to fill her sad eyes with happiness. There was nothing that Edward wouldn’t do for her and realizing this now made her love him even more. Looking at Samuel, she knew that she had been blinded by his charm. He had always hated her and now he would be rid of her.

  Elizabeth felt whipped; she could not fight these monsters anymore. Her shoulders sagged in defeat and when Rocko reached down to lift her off the ground, she did not fight. Hope drained from her, leaving her empty as a shell.

  Rocko half carried half-dragged her lifeless body into the house, Mr. Smith walked ahead unlocking the door and turning on lights. Samuel trailed behind, limping and swearing.

  “Tie her hands and put her on the bed in the other room,” Mr. Smith gave the order to Rocko.

  “Lindsey, you will sit as guard, I have a few details to take care of before we finish with this business,” he left the room without a second look.

  Rocko dumped Elizabeth on the bed and tied her hands behind her back. She sat with her back straight and her shoulders stiff, watching as Rocko walked over to Samuel and mumbled something to him. Samuel looked up at her with disgust in his eyes and responded to Rocko’s comment.

  “I wouldn’t touch that fat cow with a ten foot pole!” his mouth turned up in a scornful smile that left Elizabeth feeling cold. At one point during the drive she had thought that she might be able to play on Samuel’s sympathies and convince him to help her escape, but now, looking at his face she realized that he was more dangerous than the other two men. Mr. Smith and Rocko saw her as a liability, nothing more. Samuel saw the person and hated her. With a sudden sense of determination, Elizabeth raised her chin and looked down her nose at Samuel, gritting her teeth. He walked slowly toward her.

  “It seems Lizzy, that Rocko here thinks you are quite a handful of woman. Do you know what he just said to me?” he cocked a single eyebrow. “He wanted to know if you were a good bang.” He sniffed at her in distaste. “But I’m not surprised at the interest; you seem to be attracting a lot of brutes lately.” He saw her flinch at his referral to Devin. He latched on to her sign of weakness and dug his claws in deeper.

  “You really are a silly girl to give yourself to that man. Don’t you know that he would do anything to bring my . . .” he paused as he searched for the right word “. . . companions down? Even sleeping with the likes of you; the poor chap deserves a medal for going through that horrifying event.” He bent down to peer into her eyes. “Tell me Lizzy, how did you keep from suffocating the poor bastard?”

  “For your information, Samuel,” she smiled smugly at him. “I have no doubt he enjoyed the experience.” Elizabeth jerked her leg up, landing her knee in his groin. Samuel slumped over holding himself.

  When he struck her across the face with the back of his hand, Elizabeth did not crumple, instead she sat perfectly still with her head held high. She told him with her eyes that she was not afraid of him and when he backed down and walked away, Elizabeth’s feeling of victory encouraged her even more. She was not going to just lie here and let them kill her, she was going to fight them every step of the way.

  Elizabeth had sat so long on the bed her muscles ached, but still she refused to relax. Her mind running through ideas for escape, she focused her attention on Rocko. For some reason he had taken an interest in her and now he sat across from her in a chair. He had laughed at Samuel when he staggered out of the room holding his crotch.

  “Mr. Lindsey, I think you no good at guard,” his English was broken and laced with a thick accent. “I will guard now.”

  Rocko had then placed his large body in the wooden chair across from the bed, sitting quietly, watching her. At one point he stood and pulled a linen handkerchief from his pocket, reaching across and wiping the blood that trickled from her nose. Elizabeth stiffened at his touch, holding her breath.

  When he sat back down replacing the handkerchief, she studied him through her lashes noting the way he looked at her. His expression was one of a child admiring a new toy, it repelled her, but she stifled the shudder that threatened to rack her body.

  Now she pondered the possibility of turning him away from Mr. Smith and helping her escape. Elizabeth opened her eyes wide and smiled directly at him.

  “Mr. Rocko,” she batted her eyes for good measure and lifted her tied hands behind her back. “These ropes are so tight; they are cutting into my wrists. Do you think you could loosen them just a little?” her eyes were wide and pleading. Rocko looked at her with skepticism. “I don’t mean you have to untie them, just loosen them.
”

  Without saying a word, he stood and walked across the room. Reaching behind her he loosened the ropes around her wrists. Elizabeth felt the blood flow through her hands and her fingers tingled. The look of gratitude she gave Rocko was real.

  “Thank you. It is very kind of you.” She had leaned closer to him and turned up the wattage on her smile. She watched the blush creep into his face.

  “You are welcome, senorita,” he stepped back from her and then reached out his hand to touch her tousled hair.

  “It is so lovely,” he admired. “The curls are so soft.” He rubbed a curl between his finger and thumb before dropping the strand of hair.

  Elizabeth grasped at the chance in front of her and threw caution to the wind. In a slow seductive move, she raised her leg and crossed it over the other one, causing her skirt to ride up on her thigh. This caught his attention and he licked his lips and reached down to touch her knee with his large fleshy fingers. Elizabeth fought the nausea threatening her stomach and pasted a seductive smile on her face as he squeezed her knee and then moved his hand up along her exposed thigh, pausing at the hem of her skirt.

  “Senorita, you are a fine woman,” his voice was raspy, his eyes ogled her.

  She uncrossed her legs then and felt him shudder as his hand traveled up under the skirt and felt the lace of her garter. He dropped down on his knees and buried his face in her neck, placing sloppy wet kisses there. She shuddered in repulsion and leaned back away from him.

  “Now Rocko,” her voice was husky. “Do you really think it fair that you get to do all of the touching?”

  With a groan, he reached around and untied her hands pressing her back against the bed with his enormous body. Elizabeth felt panic grip her as he took her hand and placed it against the hardness of his arousal. She took her other hand and laid it on his chest under his suit jacket. She felt the cool metal object sticking out of his inside coat pocket. This is what she was searching for. She slid her fingers closer to the knife. In an attempt to distract him she squeezed his arousal with her other hand causing him to shudder uncontrollably against her. She wrapped her fingers around the handle of the knife and slowly withdrew her hand.

  “What is going on in here?” Mr. Smith’s usually monotone voice blasted from the doorway. Elizabeth quickly palmed the object and placed her hand against her side. Rocko was off her in an instant, stepping away from the bed and turning to Mr. Smith.

  “We don’t have time for this Rocko.” Mr. Smith flicked a disgusted look her way. “Bring her.”

  Fear gripped her throat as Rocko picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the house. They walked a short way out into a field and then Rocko placed her on the ground, gripping her arm to help steady her wobbly knees. She held the knife in her hand, the tip covered by the sleeve of her jacket.

  Elizabeth looked around and could see that they were several yards behind the house, and then her gaze fell on the shallow grave to her left. Samuel was standing beside it holding a shovel. He looked at her with malice.

  “I hope it meets your approval Lizzy,” he laid the shovel on the ground and picked up his discarded jacket. “The least I could do, provide you with a decent burial, we are family after all.”

  She kept her silence, waiting and watching for the perfect time to make her attack. She knew that Rocko would be the one holding the gun. Judging the distance between them, Elizabeth knew that it would be a gamble. The sound of a low flying helicopter off in the distance caught their attention. As it approached, hope flared in her heart. Maybe help had come.

  “Well, well, well,” Mr. Smith directed his attention on Samuel. “It appears, Lindsey that you were not quite so convincing when you snatched away our little package here.”

  “No. I was convincing.” Samuel sounded scared and his voice cracked slightly. “Kane suspected nothing when I took her away. In fact he looked quite relieved to have her off his hands.” The remark struck Elizabeth’s heart causing a deep pain.

  “You underestimate Detective Kane,” Mr. Smith spoke calmly. “His hate for our mutual friend runs deep. He would not give up finding the man who killed his wife and ruined his father that easily.”

  The statement stunned Elizabeth. Servano had killed Devin’s wife. That was why he was so cold and bitter. Samuel walked closer to Mr. Smith.

  “I don’t know and don’t care about Devin’s story; I just did what I was told.”

  “But if you had done the history, you would have known what kind of adversary you were up against.” Mr. Smith looked at Elizabeth with cold eyes. “The father had been a detective for almost twenty years when Kane first became a cop. But the father was not just any detective; he was a mutual friend who took care of business for us on the inside. One day Kane came across evidence of this and confronted the father. As the story goes, the father was remorseful and promised to go to the FBI with his knowledge and testify, making him a marked man. When the hit went down though, it was not the father in the car that exploded. It was Kane’s young wife.” Mr. Smith shook his head. “It was an unfortunate thing losing your wife and unborn child that way. Kane went crazy and went after Servano with a vengeance, refusing to forgive the father for bringing this down on their family. The father was still a marked man, but in the end he shot himself, too weak to live with the guilt.”

  Elizabeth felt the tears flowing down her cheeks. Oh Devin. Her heart cried out for him. The pain he must have went through. At that moment the helicopter flew over them without pausing. It wasn’t him. He would not be coming.

  “I told you that it was nothing Smith,” Samuel said with more assurance in his voice now, watching the helicopter grow smaller in the distance. “Now, do you think that we could get this over with? I have an appointment with a lovely little blonde and I do not want to miss it.”

  “But of course Lindsey,” Mr. Smith paused, looking Samuel up and down. “I have just had a wonderful idea.” He turned his head in the direction of Rocko. “Why don’t we let Lindsey here do the job? What do you think Rocko?”

  Rocko grunted his agreement and walked over to Samuel handing him the gun. Samuel raised the gun up to his face, which held a look of fear.

  “I don’t know if I can do this.” His voice was small.

  “Sure you can.” Mr. Smith said confidently. “Just point and shoot.”

  This was it, Elizabeth told herself as Rocko moved to stand to her right and Samuel stood directly in front of her. She knew that Samuel would have trouble as she watched his hand waver. Swiftly, she struck out at Rocko with the knife she held in her right hand. The steel blade sliced across the immense girth of his stomach causing him to double over and fall to the ground. A shot was fired and Elizabeth stepped to the side crouching down to dodge the bullet. She raised her head and watched as Mr. Smith fell to the ground, a gaping hole in his forehead. She looked to Samuel in shock and realized that he had not fired the gun.

  “Drop the gun Lindsey,” Elizabeth heard the dark voice and turned to stare at Devin standing a few feet behind her. He did not look at her. He focused his cold stare on Samuel as he cocked the hammer of the gun in his hand. He was here. Devin had come to save her.

  “Kane,” Samuel’s voice held surprise and horror. “How the hell did you find us?”

  “I followed you from the hotel.” Devin’s voice was hard. “Did you really think I would let you take her away so easily? Now drop the gun. You stand no chance getting out of here. There are a dozen officers surrounding the place as we speak.”

  Samuel looked around in panic, searching for evidence of Devin’s statement. He focused on the sounds of sirens coming from the farmhouse. Without warning, he reached out and grabbed Elizabeth, wrapping his arm around her throat and placing the gun at her temple. He spoke with more confidence now.

  “No Kane, I think that you should drop the gun. Not unless you want to see Lizzy’s brains splattered all over the place?”

  Devin let his gaze rest on Elizabeth’s
face for the first time and then he swung his eyes back to Samuel.

  “What makes you think that I care whether you splatter her brains or not? I got what I came for Lindsey,” Devin’s gaze never wavered from Samuel’s.

  “I think you do care Kane, you wouldn’t want your image ruined by allowing another woman under your protection to be killed.”

  Devin looked at Samuel for another long minute before he released the hammer and dropped the gun on the ground. Elizabeth was shocked, numb from the realization that Devin didn’t care about her, only his reputation. She felt Samuel release her from his death grip and push her forward. He then pointed his gun at Devin and Elizabeth turned to face Samuel, fear in her eyes. It was the dream. It was coming true. She knew what would happen next and she stepped sideways, blocking Devin.

  “Ah Lizzy,” Samuel bit out. “Will you never learn?” as he spoke he lunged to the side and fired the gun, hitting Devin in the shoulder. Elizabeth screamed and ran to Devin. He was lying on his back with his eyes closed. She went down on her knees and bent over him.

  "Oh, Devin, don’t die,” she cried uncontrollably. “Please Devin don’t die.”

  “Very touching Lizzy,” Samuel’s voice broke through her grief, “crying over your lover’s body.”

  Elizabeth looked into Devin’s face and saw his eyes flicker open. She was blocking him with her body so Samuel did not see when Devin looked down at the gun he had clasped in his hand and then back to Elizabeth. She knew what had to be done as she heard Samuel step closer and cock the gun once again, aiming at her bent head. She looked into Devin’s beautiful blue eyes feeling the fear drain from her. She knew that he would protect her. With a slight smile, she leaned further over Devin’s body. This action allowed him to raise his hand and just before Samuel released the trigger, Devin fired the gun he had hidden.

  Samuel clutched his chest and fell to his knees. Elizabeth watched the light fade from his eyes as he fell in a crumpled heap just inches away from them. Relief filled her entire body as she turned back to Devin.