Breathless

by Laura Storme

  is waiting for us.”

  Alex smiled, it was the opening she was looking

  for. Glancing sideways, Alex saw that Tad wasn't

  paying attention to the road or the signs and after a

  few strategically placed turns, Alex aimed the car

  for Hasani Industries.

  Rob watched as Alex exited the highway and

  directed the car towards Hasani. He couldn't be

  sure that that was the destination of the pair, but

  she had turned away from the airport and the roads

  leading from town. Rob followed the car for a few more miles until he saw Alex make the final turn

  necessary to go to Hasani. Reaching for the cell

  phone beside him, Rob dialed Sam.

  "Yeah," Sam answered.

  "It's Rob. I don't know what's going on, but Alex is

  headed for Hasani."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yeah, she's on Ashmore Valley Pike now. "

  "Call the troops. We'll be right there," Sam

  concluded, clicked off the phone and turned to

  James, "They're heading to Hasani. You coming,"

  he asked crossing the room to the door.

  "Yeah, I am; but why Hasani?" "I don't know," answered Sam as he passed the

  elevators for the stairs, "I wish I did, but I don't.”

  Tad had been more preoccupied with the truck

  behind them than where Alex was driving. When

  he finally realized she was taking too long getting to

  the airport, he returned his attention to their path.

  "Where the hell are we," he demanded reaching

  across the span between them and brutally

  grabbing her upper arm.

  The car swerved dangerously close to a pole and

  sent them onto the shoulder of the road. Quickly

  rectifying the car, Alex lied, "This is another back

  way to the airport.”

  "I swear, Alex, if you're lying to me or trying to delay

  the inevitable, I'll make your death painful," he sneered viciously, tightening his grip on her arm.

  Alex winced at the pain Tad was inflicting. She

  knew that he was serious and would kill her now if

  he could get his hands on the money. It was this

  thought that made her more courageous.

  Rob had seen the swerve of the car and panicked

  briefly. Not knowing what was happening inside

  the vehicle made him more cautious of how close

  he was to the other car. Rob was aware that Tad

  had to have seen him by now, but he wasn't

  dropping back. He didn't want to take the chance

  of losing sight of the car and Alex.

  Hasani Industries had the pleasure of sitting at the

  end of what might be termed as a cul-de-sac. It

  sat facing the entrance of the road and the few houses that lined it and was backed by an acre of

  woods. It was the ideal location for a

  manufacturing facility. For Alex, she considered it

  to be an ideal location for her to escape from Tad.

  Sam and James were approaching the police cruiser

  that would take them to Hasani, when James' cell

  phone rang. Pausing while Sam climbed into the

  car, James grabbed the phone from his pocket and

  flipped it open, "James O'Reilly."

  "James? It's Francine. Can you hear me?"

  "Now's not a good time, Francine," he spoke into

  the receiver continuing towards the vehicle. "I thought I should let you know I've made a

  decision about the baby."

  James paused in mid-stride and shook his head,

  "Can this wait?"

  "No, it can't. I'm at the Planned Parenthood office

  on Main Street. "

  "Francine, what did I tell you," James growled.

  "It's not fair for me to do all the work and then hand

  over this child to Alex. I won't do it, James. I'd

  rather save this child the misery of growing up than

  dealing with the humiliation."

  "Damn you, Francine," James sighed and ran his

  fingers through his hair. "I have to go, James. They want me inside in 15

  minutes. I'll see you later," concluded Francine and

  then hung up the phone.

  Sam watched as James slammed the phone shut

  and stomped over to the cruiser, "I need to get

  Francine. She's going to have an abortion. Go get

  Alex and I'll see you at Hasani in half an hour."

  Sam shook his head at James, closed the cruiser

  door and headed for Hasani. Alex was not going to

  be any happier to find that James had to leave to

  stop Francine from acting like a spoiled child

  throwing a tantrum.

  James charged to his car and headed for the clinic

  on Main Street. He figured with the lights it would

  take him five minutes, if he was lucky. He cursed

  himself for getting into this situation to begin with. He should have listened to himself when

  Francine first approached him about an affair and

  said no. But his baser instincts told him yes and he

  had listened and now he and Alex were paying for

  it.

  James arrived at the clinic office and charged into

  the reception area. Francine sat looking as

  demure as she possibly could in a white blouse and

  a skirt that actually reached her knees.

  "What are you doing here, James," asked Francine.

  "Saving my child's life, you heartless bitch," he

  responded grabbing Francine's arm and pulling her

  from the room towards the door.

  "You don't give a damn about this baby, James so

  don't pretend that you do," Francine protested trying to retrieve her arm from his grasp.

  "For your information, I really do care, Francine. All

  I wanted was to be your friend and you ruined that

  by forcing the issue of a relationship between us. "

  "You led me on."

  "How in the hell did I lead you on?"

  "You made me believe there might be a future for

  us, James."

  "No, Francine. You dreamt that. I never suggested

  it. Now, let's go," finished James as he tugged

  Francine towards the door and into the street, "I

  parked behind you in the alley, so let's go." James and Francine walked to the back of the

  building to their awaiting cars. After unlocking

  Francine's door, he placed her in the car and moved

  to his own. James had taken no fewer than five

  steps when a shadow fell across the car. As he

  turned to see who it was, he briefly wondered if Tad

  knew about Dan and Dominic's arrest.

  "Hello, lover boy," came a low voice before James

  felt the punch to his chin.

  Alex saw the sign of Hasani Industries and smiled as

  Tad began to sputter next to her, "What the hell

  have you done? Get us out of here, right now," he

  demanded gesturing wildly with the gun.

  "I'm finished taking orders, Tad. You want out of

  here so badly, you're going to have to do it without me," Alex declared continuing her pace down the

  driveway.

  Tad looked in the mirror and saw the quick

  approach of the truck, "Dammit, Alex, turn this car

  around," he ordered before turning the gun on her

  and pressing it into her ribs.

  Alex felt the dig of the gun and sat up straighter in

  her seat to alleviate the pressure. Looking in her

&nbs
p; rear-view mirror, she saw Sam's truck getting

  nearer and quietly rejoiced at the thought of this

  nightmare being over. She glanced at Tad and saw

  the panic in his eyes, as he pressed the gun further

  into her side.

  "Alex, get us out of here now. " "No, way," Alex argued slowing the car down as

  they got closer to the loading dock.

  Suddenly, Tad reached out and grabbed the

  steering wheel trying to turn the car away from the

  building and towards the exit bringing them

  dangerously close to the demonstration model

  which sat in the yard. Alex jerked the wheel back

  from Tad and slammed on the brakes spinning the

  car around in a circle. She had just about stopped

  the car, when Tad made another grasp at the wheel

  and put them on collision course for the metal

  recycling container.

  Alex was thrust against the steering wheel and then

  jerked crudely backwards by the retraction of the

  seat belt as the car settled to a grinding halt. She

  felt a protruding piece of metal reach out and rip away the pants and bandages covering the scrapes

  on her left leg. Alex moaned and gingerly touched

  the already forming bump and cut on her

  forehead. Turning her head slowly, she saw Tad

  slumped over the dashboard in an unusual

  position. Not caring whether he was alive or dead,

  Alex unbuckled her seat belt and took the keys out

  of the ignition by force of habit. Pushing open her

  car door, she fell out of the car and laid down on

  the cold concrete, sighing that she was finally free

  of Tad Pierce.

  "Alex," called Rob from the other side of the parking

  lot.

  Alex opened her eyes, not sure how they got closed

  to begin with, and looked for the voice that was calling her, "Rob," she shouted when she

  recognized the cop.

  "Hi there; nice driving," he joked kneeling down

  next to her and examining her head. Alex began

  to laugh and cry, "Thank God, it's you. "

  "Who were you expecting," he asked opening the

  first aid kit he had fished out from underneath the

  seat in Sam's truck.

  "I thought maybe you were Tad. "

  "I'm not," he said confidently while opening an

  iodine swab and brushing it across the open cut on

  her head. When he finished with that, he applied

  a dry swab to her head and taped it there. Then

  he turned his attention to her leg, "I'm going to wait

  for the paramedics to take care of that. I don't think I have enough bandages for it," Alex nodded,

  "I'm going to go check on Tad."

  Rob stood up and walked around to the passenger

  side of the car and pried the door open with the tire

  iron he brought with him. Tad hadn't changed

  positions from when he passed the car the first time

  on his way to check on Alex. Reaching underneath

  him, he gently shoved Tad into an upright position

  and looked him over. His face was pretty banged

  up and his nose was probably broken, but aside

  from that he seemed fine.

  "Is he alive," asked Alex.

  Rob felt for a pulse on the other man's neck, "Yeah,

  he is." Tad groaned and Rob leaned down to check on him,

  "Are you alright," he asked.

  "I'm much better now," Tad smiled, bringing the forgotten pistol up into Rob's stomach and firing.

  Chapter 25

  James reeled from the punch and backed himself

  into the building. He stared hard at the shadow

  that had created the punch that left his jaw sore

  and his ego even more so. Glancing briefly at

  Francine to make sure she was alright, he launched

  himself at the other man.

  James landed a punch into the firm middle of his

  attacker and heard him exhale loudly. Satisfied

  with that response, James swung again only to have

  his punch blocked and feel a blow to the abdomen.

  "Shit," he swore bending over and then receiving a

  knee to the face for his troubles. As James stood

  upright, he saw the face of his assailant, "What the

  hell?" "Hi there, lover boy," smiled Dominic, Dan's

  one-time partner in crime.

  "You're supposed to be in jail."

  "It's amazing what bail money can do isn't it," he

  joked before backhanding James face first onto the

  trunk of Francine's car. Dominic punched at James'

  kidneys ruthlessly and without ceasing. James

  grunted and moaned in pain but refused to cry

  out.

  Francine heard the thud and looked in her rear view

  mirror, thinking that James may have hit her

  car. She had just started her own and was waiting

  for him to start his so he could follow her. She

  gasped in horror as she saw the large man beating

  on James. Getting out of her car, Francine raced around to the back and attacked the man with her

  feeble blows which only served to enrage him.

  "Hello there, little girl," Dominic smiled before

  wrapping his meaty paws around her neck and

  squeezing.

  After the onslaught ceased and unable to stand,

  James slid to the ground and landed on his back,

  further enraging his already bruised kidneys. He lay

  helplessly as he watched Dominic seize Francine's

  neck and crush her larynx.

  Francine felt the large hands cutting off her oxygen

  and she began to struggle. Kicking and scratching at

  the beast of a man in front of her, she saw in her

  final moments a hint of satisfaction on his face as it

  contorted and turned blue. Francine gasped for air

  and felt the need to keep fighting, but she wasn't strong enough. Her last thought was of the unborn

  child in her womb.

  Francine landed in a heap next to him on the

  ground. Her face was ashen and her eyes mirrored

  the fear she felt in her final moments. James

  turned his face away from the horrific scene and

  tried to gather his wits as Dominic lumbered

  towards him once again. As soon as the brute was

  close enough, James brought his forearm up into

  the other man's groin, bringing him eye to eye with

  James. Struggling to his feet, James used one of the

  cars for balance and landed kicks to the abdomen,

  chest and shoulders of their assailant as he slowly

  collapsed to the ground. Falling on top of the large

  man, he placed several blows to Dominic's face until

  he was sure the man was unconscious, then

  crawled over to Francine's lifeless form. James gently lifted Francine's head into his lap and

  brushed stray tendrils of hair away from those

  haunting eyes, "Oh, Francine," he whispered as

  silent tears began to fall down his cheeks and onto

  her marred face, "What have I done?"

  Alex heard the shot and, despite protests from the

  sore muscles in her stomach, sat up and jerked her

  head to the car. She saw Rob sink to his knees and

  land in a heap next to the vehicle, "Rob," she

  shouted. Then she saw Tad moving, trying to

  extricate himself from the wreckage.

  "Alex, run," Rob gasped as the cell phone
in his

  pocket began to ring.

  "Alex, stay where you are or I'll shoot him again,"

  Tad ordered reaching down and grabbing the cell

  phone. Alex watched as he limped to the center of the driveway, where he laid down the phone and

  crushed it underneath his heel.

  Alex sat frozen with fear. She was on the wrong

  side of the vehicle to make it to the office doors,

  but she could go into the plant and hide through

  the loading dock door. Clutching her keys, Alex

  stood up suddenly and felt the warm and sticky

  ooze of blood trail down her leg soaking her

  shoe. She didn't realize that the piece of metal that

  had ripped her bandages and pant leg had also torn

  a section of skin away as well. Trying not to attract

  Tad's attention as he stood over Rob, Alex darted

  behind the recycling container as quickly as possible

  and headed for the shaky pile of wood that

  comprised the steps to the doorway. Tad saw Alex from the corner of his eye and kicked

  Rob in the head as he moved around the car and

  followed Alex. Brushing the blood from the cut in

  his forehead away from his eyes, Tad grabbed a

  length of metal piping that lay beside the container

  and used to balance himself on his swollen and

  bruised leg.

  Alex reached the steps and glanced behind her. She

  heard the crunch of pebbles and saw Tad hobbling

  his way towards her.

  "Alex, don't make me shoot you," he threatened

  bringing the gun to bear on her.

  Alex pushed the key into the lock and breathed a

  sigh of relief as the lock clicked easily and she slid

  inside. Tad fired a shot at Alex, purposely missing her. He

  didn't want to kill her, but he couldn't let her escape

  into the offices and call the police. Whoever the

  man was from the truck, Tad was sure he was

  dead. Fighting his way to the door, Tad found it

  locked and he began to curse. Stepping back from

  the door, Tad placed the gun against the lock and

  pulled the trigger.

  Sam was halfway to Hasani Industries when he tried

  to reach Rob. The cell phone rang several times

  before the line went dead. Sam panicked; it was

  unlikely that Rob would shut off the phone or

  disconnect him. Slamming down his phone, he

  grabbed the two way radio and changed it from the

  police channel to the channel he kept in his truck,

  "Rob! Rob, can you hear me," he demanded in to

  the mouthpiece. Rob lay as quiet and as still as possible until Tad was