by Matt Drabble
“Awake I see,” Katy said cheerily as she busied herself.
Tommy tried to get up but he found that his ankles and wrists were both handcuffed. Apparently Trotter junior was more careful than her father when it came to setting an inescapable scene.
“So what exactly is your plan here Katy?” He asked from his prone position.
“Simple really,” she replied casually. “I’m going to shoot you in the head at close range so it looks like suicide, then I’m going to uncuff you and throw your body off the dam.
Tommy wanted to laugh in her face at the absurdity of his suicide being taken seriously. But she had been right earlier when she had said that he was now the one viewed as suspicious and weird. He was the boy who had witnessed the murder of his own father’s adulteress lover. It was a murder that had haunted him from the day forward and there was a medical trail a mile long that spoke of therapists and medication. He was sure that tongues around town would already be wagging with illicit gossip about what had happened out at Todd’s barn. And he was sure that his suicide would not raise many eyebrows around Denver Mills.
Katy grabbed his chained ankles and began to drag him towards the guardrail that protected the 200 feet drop off the dam and into the water far below. He wracked his brain for something, anything just to buy him a few more moments of precious life. His head bounced painfully through the gravel of the parking area as she pulled him. His mind was blank and his thoughts were tired. So much had been taken from him that a little black peace and solitude seemed almost inviting. It was then that he caught sight of Ally. For a moment she looked like the child that he had grown up with. Coltish legs and a crooked defiant smile. She started to break from her cover and he shook his head quickly. Katy would hear her coming across the gravel and would shoot her dead before she could get close enough.
“What about your father Katy?” He asked hoping to throw the deputy off balance. “You killed him. You shot him in the barn when you and I were wrestling for control of the gun and I thought that you were under his hypnosis,” Tommy reminded her.
“Most unfortunate,” she said sadly. “But you heard him. All that talk about we this and we that. I knew that he was going to spill my secret any second and that would have ruined everything that I had planned.”
“So you killed him?” Tommy laughed aloud. “After all of your talk about poor old daddy and his treatment by this town? Congratulations Lady you really are a chip off the old block!”
“I suggest that you shut up,” she snarled.
“Or what, you’ll kill me you fruitcake!” Tommy laughed loudly hoping that Ally would be able to sneak up whilst Katy’s attention was on him.
“You killed him,” Katy whispered with menace. “All of you, this whole damn stinking town killed him, I just pulled the trigger.”
“So that’s how we’re rationalizing murder now is it?” Tommy laughed again. “You murdered three people and dumped them in with the garbage. That was you Katy, all you. Not your father, not this town, and certainly not me. You killed your two colleagues and some innocent girl and stuffed them in a dumpster. If you think that you’re just going to able to walk away from that, then you really are nuts!”
Katy dropped his legs and kicked him hard in the ribs. She was young and strong and he felt at least one rib break under the blow.
“YOU SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!” She screamed.
Tommy winced as she yanked him up into a sitting position with his back against the guardrail. She pulled the gun from her waistband and jammed it hard in his face.
“You really are a daddy’s girl aren’t you?” He managed through the gun barrel that was suddenly pushed into his mouth.
Her eyes were hypnotically blazing as the family madness consumed her. She was millimeters from his face and the stench of her insanity was overwhelming at such close quarters. He tensed as he felt her finger tighten on the trigger and through his blurry gaze he could actually see the hammer begin to fall. He closed his eyes and waited for the bang.
The noise that he actually heard was the inhuman scream of Ally as she broke cover and charged across the short distance between. He opened his eyes to see a warrior running towards them. Ally’s hair was flaming and her eyes were wild as she pumped her arms and legs furiously. Her face was feral and full of rage as she ran. Tommy felt his heart leap at the prospect of being saved. But it skipped a beat when he realised that she wasn’t stopping.
Katy turned just in time to look incomprehensively at the wild woman charging them like an out of control elephant. Tommy thrust his handcuffed hands upwards just as Katy pulled the trigger and he felt the bullet part the air just above his head close enough to scorch his hair. The next thing he knew Ally had run full force into Katy and then the two women were falling. Ally’s face spun over his in slow motion and their eyes locked as she took Katy with her over the guardrail. Tommy desperately grabbed for her but only caught empty air as she passed. At the last possible minute Ally’s fingers locked over the chain between his handcuffs. Her falling weight almost pulled his arms out of their sockets and he only just managed to hook his feet under the metallic barrier. She swung beneath him and crashed hard into the dam wall. He went to try and pull her up when he realised that the weight was too much. He risked a glance over the edge and saw Ally dangling above the 200 feet drop and holding onto her ankle was Katy one handed. The combined weight was starting to pull him over and his bullet wounded shoulder screamed in agony. He could see Katy’s face below silently laughing. She dangled below Ally with a wild expression of glee as she clutched Ally’s ankle with one hand and she still held the gun in the other.
“Ally,” he gasped “I can’t hold you both!”
“Star crossed lovers leaping to their deaths together, it’s just too perfect,” Katy laughed.
Tommy slipped another few notches as he was dragged further towards the edge. Ally had hold of the chain between his handcuffs and he stretched his fingers to just grab her sweaty forearms as she lost her grip on the chain. The 6 inches or so that she dropped almost pulled him over with them. His hold on her arms was tenuous at best and he frantically tried to ignore the shattering pain in his shoulder. He was now leaning over the edge with his knees rammed against the guardrail and his back arched, taking the combined weight of the two women.
“What could be more perfect?” Katy laughed, “You both fall to your deaths.”
“So will you, you freaking moron!” Ally shouted in fear and anger.
“Not me sweetheart, I’m immortal, I’ll live forever!” Katy shrieked wildly as she started to swing on Ally’s ankle.
Ally swung a foot downwards and made a hard contact with Katy’s face. Tommy could see the blood begin to flow from the deputy’s now shattered nose. The woman’s mad grin didn’t falter as the blood flowed across her face. Ally swung again and again, harder and harder but to no avail. He could just see that Katy’s grip was tightly snagged on Ally’s jean leg. Her fingers were curled like a claw and dug deeply into the material. He felt Ally’s strength wane and sag as the woman below her refused to release her grip.
Tommy looked down into Ally’s eyes and saw with horror that she meant to drop from his grasp to save him. He shook his head furiously at the notion and she only smiled kindly back. “Please,” he whispered with desperation, “no.”
She nodded back with a gentle smile.
Tommy gripped harder as she released her grip from his hands and then he was only clasping her. He saw beneath her swinging body as Katy raised the gun that she held and aimed precariously at him.
“Don’t do it Ally, please,” he gasped as he strained, “not like this, not after everything. You can’t let her win, you can’t let crazy win, not after everyone that we’ve lost.”
A bullet pinged off of the metal barrier as Katy fired, but Tommy didn’t break the gaze with Ally. Their eyes were locked and he had no more strength left for speech and so he simply mouthed, “I love you.”
Her beau
tiful green eyes suddenly flared with defiance again and her fingers laced around his. Another bullet fired from below and this time the bullet ricocheted off the barrier and tore a groove in her arm. Tommy watched as she turned to face the swinging deputy below who was grinning wildly like she was playing on the monkey bars rather than over a 200 feet drop.
“You think that you’re immortal?” Ally yelled, “You think that you’re going to live forever you crazy bitch?
Katy’s response was to take a careful aim at Tommy’s head. He knew from her one shut eye and tight aim that she wasn’t going to miss again.
“I cannot die,” Katy hissed.
“So let’s find out,” Ally replied.
Ally let go of one of his arms and Tommy couldn’t immediately see what she was fiddling with. He peered further over and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw her unbuckle her belt. She looked up and winked.
Just as Katy pulled the trigger a final time Ally’s jeans slipped from her waist and the deputy fell 200 feet into the gushing water below firing the revolver in one hand and clutching a pair of 501’s in the other.
Tommy worked furiously to pull Ally up. Now that he was only holding one woman instead of two the work was easier. He concentrated hard, determined not to fail at the final hurdle. She soon reached up and grabbed his upper arms and they fell back over the guardrail clutching each other. Their bodies entwined as they clasped and hugged each other. Tommy looked down at her bare legs and began to laugh. Soon Ally joined him and their sound echoed around the beauty spot. The air was filled with laughter and they both felt a small sense of reclaiming a little of the past.
26.
EPILOGUE
Sandy Grimes looked around as the bus blundered its way across the country. They were travelling back home after visiting her Auntie June. Their car had been stolen during a pit stop on the way to Auntie June’s house and her mother had been acting strange ever since then. With no car to take them back home and since her mom hated to fly, they were stuck on a bus. The thought of flying had wildly excited her until her mother had thrown a spanner in the works. Her mother had sold the idea of bus travelling as just as exciting as the plane ride, but Sandy was 6 now and she wasn’t a baby or a fool.
The bus was slow and it always seemed to take forever for them to get anywhere. Ever since their car had been stolen by some “weirdo” in her mother’s words, they were stuck on the bus. All of their belongings had been in the car but at least Auntie June had lavished her with new toys. She had heard her mother explaining what had happened to the car to Auntie June in quiet whispers when they thought that she wasn’t listening. For some reason Auntie June had kept hugging her tightly ever since she heard the story.
During the bus journey her mother who had long since given up trying to entertain her. She had read every book and listened to every song on her new MP3 player. The view outside of the window had become dull and monotonous. The flat landscape was barren and dusty.
She had packed her backpack with every conceivable entertainment measure that she could think of, but she had been through the pile inside of the first two hours. Her mother had engaged her with various games for another hour before she had grown tired and insisted that she needed to take a nap. And so Sandy found herself sitting beside a sleeping mother and with nothing to do.
The bus was half full and made infrequent stops. Some people got on and some got off. Some of the faces looked interesting, but most just looked hot and bothered.
She leaned into the aisle as the bus slowed and pulled off to the side of the road. She could just make out up ahead a truck-stop with a woman waiting flagging the bus down. The woman got onboard and paid the driver. Sandy had started trying to make up stories for the new arrivals. Her brain was always ticking and full of fantastical thoughts and ideas. Maybe a new man was a cop going undercover on the bus. Maybe a new woman was a princess sneaking away from the castle to meet her prince. The new woman looked sad as she got on and walked up the aisle to take a seat just in front of her. The woman’s nose looked swollen and sore and she wondered what exciting adventure the woman might be on.
The woman arranged herself in the bus seat and looked out of the window as they pulled away. Sandy was just about to settle back and think up a story when the woman suddenly reached into her jacket. There was a glint in her hand as she withdrew a coin from her pocket. The woman stared out of the window as she rested one elbow on the armrest and placed a hand against her cheek.
Sandy watched in fascination as the woman began to absently make the coin dance over her knuckles as her nimble fingers played.
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