“Okay, let me get this straight, Jace is fine,” she asked, and he nodded. “You still work for Ash.” He nodded again, and sent her a grin, “And you’re rescuing me?” He nodded again.
“Us! He’d better be rescuing us.” Rachel piped up, her voice panicked.
“Nah, I reckon we should leave her as the bait for a change.” Lucy teased, sending Sam a quick wink. He shook his head, and stifled a laugh, as Rachel went off on a tirade that they both ignored.
“Does he want to kill me?” Lucy asked Sam hesitantly.
“He goes between angry, sad, and then back into a blinding rage, only to feel panic. He’s worried about you, that’s all. I don’t want to be on the receiving end when we get out of here. Just be prepared that I’m shoving you in front of me.” He teased.
“That’s okay; I’ll just tell him the bruise on my jaw is because of you.” Lucy teased back, but Sam’s face fell.
“I’m sorry about that. I had to prove to her that I would do anything she asked.”
“I know that, Sam, and Ash will understand. Now, do we even have a plan for getting out of here?” Lucy asked curiously.
“It’s rather sketchy, but…” The door slammed open stopping Sam’s words.
An explosion sounded that echoed deafeningly through the room. Rachel’s scream rang in Lucy’s ears, as she tried to figure out what had happened. Sam’s body weight collapsed on top her, and Lucy felt her fear return.
Blood seeped off Sam’s back onto Lucy’s fingers, and with a startled cry, she knew. Crystal’s maniacal laughter seemed to surround her, as she committed the one act that Lucy never thought she could do. She shot Sam in the back.
Chapter 33 – Darkness, pain and light
Lucy grunted with the pressure of Sam’s whole weight crushed against her own. Tears filled her eyes when he didn’t respond to her desperate calls to him. This couldn’t be happening, she told herself sternly, this just couldn’t be happening.
She tried to push against Sam’s inert form. She knew that she couldn’t truly help him, until she was free of his mass. She struggled for what felt like ages, until she was finally able to slide out from beneath him. She was incredibly thankful that he had untied her.
Laughter echoed around, and she turned to see her mother still in the doorway looking victorious. Lucy was tempted to tackle her to the ground, and give her the thrashing she deserved. Anger strummed through her, until she saw the glint of the gun still in her mother’s hands. She knew that she was once again powerless. Crystal was far too dangerous to deal with when armed, so Lucy turned back to Sam.
Blood poured out of him, and Lucy pulled the gas light that Sam had been carrying over to examine the wound. She held back the sigh of relief that threatened. It seemed her mother was a terrible shot, and had hit his shoulder, instead of any vital organs. Lucy pushed against her hand to try to stem the blood flow. Sam still appeared unconscious, but his breathing was steady, if a little fast.
“I should have known that he was still working for your little boyfriend,” Crystal accused.
“What would make you think he was?” Lucy replied through the fear that kept trying to take control. She focused on Sam, and found herself able to breathe again.
“The fact that you are untied.” Crystal looked with disgust at her daughter.
“It’s hard to find someone to trust nowadays isn’t it mother of mine,” Lucy forced herself to grin, as she applied more pressure against Sam’s wound, which kept bleeding profusely.
“Rachel, come over here.” Crystal beckoned to the other girl.
To Lucy’s surprise, Rachel stood up, and walked straight over to Crystal. She smiled broadly, with an elated look in her eyes. Dread and anger struck Lucy equally. They had played her, and she had walked right into it. The other girl had been working with her mother all along.
Lucy forced herself to calm down. She unclenched her fists, but couldn’t stop her teeth from grinding. She felt like the biggest idiot that she had believed Rachel again. She wondered if Rachel knew how much serious trouble she was in. Was it really just payback for something that had happened years ago?
“So, you want to join my Mum in jail, hmmm? I mean I’m pretty sure you turned eighteen a week ago, so I hope you realise that you’ll be tried as an adult,” Lucy said to the smugly smiling girl, who blanched at her words.
“What are you talking about?” Rachel let out an uneasy chuckle.
“Well, let’s see, kidnapping, extortion, and now an accomplice in an attempted murder. That could be bumped up to a murder charge if Sam actually dies.” Lucy said evenly.
She was fairly certain that Sam would survive, if he got to the hospital soon enough, and she could stem the blood flow. There was no way she was informing either of the women of that possibility. She had to try to use it against them somehow.
“No!” Rachel’s face went pale, as she glanced between mother and daughter.
“Remember my brother’s a cop, so I know a thing or two about this sort of stuff.” Lucy said with a confidence that she was barely feeling.
“Hell, Crystal, are you trying to destroy my life?” Rachel turned to Crystal with wide angry eyes.
The pair argued incessantly for the next few minutes, which gave Lucy a chance to reach into the bag that Sam had dropped at her feet, before he began untying her. Her hands were shaking, sweating profusely, and covered with Sam's blood. She was barely capable of focusing on anything, but she searched for a phone. She hoped with an intense desperation that she would be able to find one.
Eventually, her fingers clenched around what she hoped were a phone. She glanced over at the two idiots who were screaming at each other, but completely ignoring her. She quickly stashed the phone in the back pocket of her jeans, and focused on Sam. His breathing seemed a bit shallower, but he blinked his pained eyes open at her. He gave her a weak smile and a reassuring nod, before closing them again.
With that bit of encouragement, she decided that it was time for her own drama, if only to distract the two from arguing. She let out a sniffle, which quickly became a sob. Her best friends might know her fake cry, but there was no way that these two would.
She thought of everything that had happened with Crystal over the years, and the tears came freely. The two by the door went quiet, and turned to look at her in shock. Neither of them had ever seen Lucy cry, she had always been a tough nut to crack, so this reaction scared them.
“You did it, you killed him. God, I hope you’re proud of yourself, Crystal. You finally managed to kill someone, but it still wasn’t me,” She spluttered through sobs, hoping that they wouldn’t notice the fact that blood continued pumping out of his body.
“Oh, no, way! I’m not being involved in this. You are on your own,” Rachel’s fearful voice echoed around the room, as she walked back over towards Lucy, looking completely scared and horrified.
“How dare you abandon me, you ungrateful brat! This is just as much your fault as it is mine,” Crystal screeched.
“It is not!” Rachel defied her.
“You sent me a text telling me that he was untying her. Of course, I came in here and… shot him.”
Crystal’s eyes widened with fear, as the realisation of her actions caught up to her. She glanced to Sam, her face looking sickened, before quickly scurrying out the door, and slamming it behind her. Lucy stopped crying instantly, while Rachel looked at her perplexed.
“Come here, and hold your hand against the wound to stem the blood flow. I need to make a phone call,” Lucy’s ordered, but Rachel didn't move, she just stood there with her mouth flapping open and closed. “Rachel, if you really don’t want him to die, then you will do as I say!” Lucy commanded, and Rachel scurried over to her.
The girl looked at his bloody shoulder with trepidation, as though touching him may poison her. Lucy narrowed her eyes, and directed her to use his shirt to plug against the wound. Sam let out a moan, which caused Rachel to jump away from him. Lucy just sternly poi
nted at her to stay put, and the blonde girl finally clasped his shirt against the wound.
Lucy pulled the phone out of her back pocket, and cursed when she realised that she needed a password to get into it. She hated to do it, but she would have to try to get Sam to wake back up, and tell her what it was. He had slumped back into unconsciousness and Lucy just sighed.
“Crap, this is not going to work well,” she stepped over to Sam, when she remembered what Crystal had said earlier about Rachel texting her. “Hand me your phone, now.” Lucy stated sternly.
Rachel quickly obeyed, while glancing at Lucy cautiously. With a sigh of relief, Lucy typed in Ash’s number, and prayed that he would answer a strange number on his phone.
“Hello?” Ash said cautiously, and Lucy felt the tears welling at the sound of his voice.
“Ash?” Her voice was shaky, and she wondered if he heard her at all.
“Belle! What’s going on?” His voice frantic with worry made her feel terrible.
“She shot Sam, so I think that she’ll be asking for the money from you very soon.”
“What the hell? Is he alright?” Ash’s words trembled down the line at her.
“I think so. She got him on the shoulder. You’re right; I never should have trusted Rachel. She’s only here with me because she realised that she would be heading to jail if she stayed with Crystal.” Lucy babbled, unable to stop herself from spilling out the words. She heard Ash curse before he came back on the line.
“There’s a first aid kit in Sam’s bag, which might help you patch him up,” he advised softly.
“Okay. You do know where we are right?” Lucy's panic edged her voice, and she could do nothing to stem it.
“Yes. I’m not near there because Daz thought it might tip her off. You’re in a bunker in the middle of a paddock on the Olsen property. They know nothing of this. The whole family has been on holiday, and Crystal told them that she’d look after things for them. You’re surrounded by police, but Crystal seems completely oblivious to it, which is a good thing.” Ash explained concisely.
Of course, she would choose the Olsen’s property. They were about the only family that had no idea about Crystal’s past. They had brought the property last year when the previous owners had decided to move on. Lucy shook her head at how well her mother had planned this whole thing.
“Well, expect a phone call from her. She’s pretty frantic because I told her that she had killed Sam.” Lucy told him, as Sam moved slowly toward her.
“Not quite yet. Hand me the phone, Lucy girl,” Sam said and Lucy passed it over.
Sam pushed to a sitting position with a grunt, and Lucy felt guilty for his involvement. Lucy finally noticed the horrified look on the other girl’s face, as she stared at her blood stained fingers. Lucy decided to ignore her, and searched in Sam’s bag, until she came up with the first aid kit. Sam was talking quietly, but Lucy felt too wearied to pay too much attention, until he finally handed the phone back to her.
“Okay, Belle, I’m going to ring you guys back when she contacts me, and we will go from there. Stay safe, you know how mad I’ll be if something happens to you.” He said lightly, but she heard the undercurrent of dread and fear that he was feeling.
“Same goes for you by the way.” She replied trying to be teasing, but it came out seriously.
“I know, bye love.” He said it so softly, before hanging up, and Lucy felt tears prick her eyes again.
She stared at the phone, before handing it to Sam. Rachel tried to protest, until Lucy glared at her, and she immediately backed down. To distract herself, Lucy worked on patching up Sam’s shoulder, as best she could. She followed Sam’s instructions, which were incredibly thorough. Eventually, the wound seemed covered as good as it could be without proper medical attention.
Then the time began to dawdle, and Lucy could barely contain her impatience. Sam handed around the few muesli bars he had brought, and the bottled water, for which Lucy was incredibly grateful. For all that had happened that day, she hadn’t even realised how hungry or thirsty she was, until it was offered to her.
Sam tried distracting her by talking about Ash, but now that just made her feel increasingly stressed. Rachel stayed huddled in one of the corners, and never said a word. It had to have been the middle of the afternoon when Ash called. Sam answered said a few brief words, hung up, and sent Lucy an almost indescribable look.
“They are on their way,” he told Lucy before he turned to the other girl with a scary look in his eyes. “You say a word, and you are instigated in this, do you understand?” Rachel cowered back, but nodded her head briefly. “Keep cool, Lucy girl, and we will make it out of this alright.” Lucy nodded at him.
He seemed to show no weakness, despite the blood stained bandages on his shoulder. When Lucy looked closer, he seemed a bit green. His eyes would go in and out of focus, while his breathing was uneven. She reached over, and squeezed her fingers around his. He returned the gesture, and gave her a small smile.
“He loves you like you wouldn’t believe,” Sam said into the silence.
“I know, I feel the same way about him,” Lucy reassured him.
“Yep, I’ve certainly come to notice that. He talks about you a lot, when you aren’t with him, and I don’t think he even realises it sometimes. You’re the perfect girl for him, Lucy, so let’s not screw this up.” Sam said determinedly.
“I’ll try not to.” She promised him.
They were silent after that, tensely awaiting any noise of the impending arrival. Lucy pulled in a rough breath, as her nerves began thrumming at any tiny noise. Finally, they could hear movements, and Lucy wasn’t sure whether to be happy, anxious, or what. Her emotions scrambled through her, clutching at her heart dramatically. The door opened letting in a fresh breeze, and Ash’s voice. Lucy couldn't stay away, as she went to the door and looked out.
“You sure have your stupid moments.” Lucy muttered to herself, when she finally noticed the standoff happening outside.
Crystal stood just outside the door with her gun firm in her hand, and pointed in the doorway directly at her. Lucy backed up through the doorway fearfully, as she saw Ash approach cautiously with a huge briefcase in his hands.
“I want to know that she’s alright, before I give you anything.” Ash said quietly but firmly.
Crystal gestured sharply with her gun for Lucy to come out into the shining late afternoon sunlight. Lucy walked out, careful not to make any sudden moves, in fact she barely breathed.
“Are you okay, Belle?” Ash asked with deep concern in his voice.
His mellow voice made her want to run to him. She wanted; no needed to have him holding her, and the distance between them seemed cavernous. She had to force herself to keep still, and not become overwhelmed by his golden eyes. Seeing him with such concern and fear in his eyes for her, made her fully regret agreeing to go with Rachel.
“Um, yeah,” she cleared her throat. “I’m doing alright,”
“Let’s get on with this. You can have your kiss and make up session when I’m gone,” Crystal said snidely, as she held out her hand impatiently.
“What’s the rush Crystal? I know my friend Sam is in there too, and I need to know that he is just as well as what Lucy is,” Ash stated firmly.
“What and next you’ll want to see Rachel too?” Crystal asked with a nervous laugh.
“No, I don’t really care about her. I am sick of her trying to ruin Lucy’s life,” Ash uttered with an intense dislike, and Lucy saw Rachel flinch at his words. “Just Sam,”
At his words, Crystal looked a little ill. For the first time, she appeared uncertain of herself. She twiddled her fingers, as she seemed to be considering what to say. Lucy forced back a smile. She still thought that she had killed Sam, so this was no longer a planned situation.
They had discussed that the best way to keep Crystal off kilter was for Sam to continue pretending to be dead. There was silence from the bunker, and Ash looked towards Crystal
expectantly. He raised his eyebrows at her, making her nervousness increase to double.
“Where’s Sam?” His words were sharp, as he glanced at the older woman.
“Um… look, just give me the damn money, and I’ll be out of your hair for good,” Crystal snarled the words, trying to control the situation again.
“Not until I know that Sam’s alright,” Ash insisted, making Crystal eyes fill with panic.
She stared with utter loathing at her daughter, who knew the truth, but hadn’t said anything. She quickly snatched Lucy to her, and she struggled against her mother’s tightening grip. Perfectly manicured nails pierced into the skin on the underside of her arm, and Lucy let out a yelp.
The click of the gun halted Lucy's movements. She even stopped breathing, as the cold metal pressed against her throat. She heard Ash hiss out a breath, as fear engulfed her, threatening a black out of her system.
“You will give me my money right now,” Crystal spat the words harshly at Ash, and Lucy felt the spittle hit her cheek. She gagged, as her body started trembling uncontrollably. Her breathing was rough, and she was beginning to lose her concentration on the world around her.
“Belle, focus on me, okay,” she heard Ash say, and she forced her eyes open to look at him. His smile was grim, but his wonderful golden eyes spoke volumes of love to her.
“O-kay,” she stuttered, and he rewarded her with one of his beautiful smiles, however briefly.
“You’ve never seen the effect you have on your daughter have you, Crystal?” Ash completely ignored Crystal’s previous words as he glared at her. “She normally loses consciousness right about now. What did you do to her that made her that way?” Ash said calmly, but his voice laced with an indescribable anger.
“What are you talking about? Give me my money,” Crystal tried to change back to a more important topic.
“Not yet. Admit to me what you did to Lucy all those years ago, and it’s all yours.” Ash patted the case, as he goaded her.
I Met Her On the Balcony Page 35