again. All of this pain will be over for all of us and I’ll be able to be with sweet Jocelyn again.” The tears rolled down his face as he talked.
It was hard to tell for sure if any of what he was saying was real or if it was something related to some sort of childhood trauma. She knew how childhood trauma could mess with your mind. Somehow she had to get him to see the reality of the situation in the here and now.
“Pete, listen to me. I’m Julie and I’m not sad anymore. You’ve met Chris, right? Remember Chris? He’s makes me very happy. And remember Toni. She makes you happy, right?”
He glanced over at the doorway. “Yeah, I remember. It was all just a ruse, so no one would know.” He looked back at her, his eyes hardening with resolve. “You were the goal all along. The neighbor almost fucked it up, but you’re here with me now. This is the way it has to be. You’re perfect number thirteen. It’s okay. We’ll die together and then there won’t be any pain any longer for either one of us.”
She was trapped here and he planned to kill her. She couldn’t let that happen, not when she finally had something worth living for. Having her die like this would kill Chris. She thrashed on the bed, trying to get the tape to loosen, but there just wasn’t any give in it. She arched her back, determined to get free, even if it meant ripping her fucking hands off.
The bed dipped in between her legs and she stilled in panic. Pete loomed over her. While she’d been trying to pull herself free, he’d stripped off his jeans and was now naked and aroused. Oh God, no. He was going to rape her first. He leaned over her and she could feel his hot breath on her bare skin as he touched her breast.
“No!” she screamed as she tried to get away, but there was no way to escape. No, this couldn’t happen to her. No! “Pete, please don’t do this. Please don’t. We’ll get you some help. Something’s just gotten messed up in your head. Please don’t do this. This isn’t you. This isn’t what you want to do.”
His eyes had gone vacant again as he stroked her nude form. “I never got to consummate my love with you, Jocelyn, and that’s why you died. I’ll fix that now and then everything will be right so we can die in peace.”
He was hard against her and she shut her eyes, trying to shut out what was happening here. She needed to make a list, a list of reasons why this wasn’t happening. Her breath came in panicked gasps and she couldn’t hear anything over the pulse pounding in her head. With her eyes closed, she couldn’t even come up with a list. All she could see in her head was Chris. She needed her last thoughts to be of Chris, not this. Please, not this.
* * *
As Chris pulled onto the street where Pete lived, he panicked. “Colton, that’s Julie’s car in Pete’s driveway.”
Colton grimly nodded. “But Toni’s is here, too.” He gestured toward her car on the street. “They’re probably both fine. Like Brian said, this is probably just some gang ruse to frame a cop.”
As Chris parked the truck behind Julie’s car, they both shot out of it and trotted up to the front door. Chris was raising his hand to knock when a muffled scream and, “No!” came from inside the house.
“That was Julie!”
* * *
A cacophonous explosion sounded across the room and Pete fell on top of Julie. It took a moment to realize he was dead weight. She couldn’t even feel him breathing, just the quickly pooling puddle of hot blood flowing from him. Julie’s gaze darted to the doorway where Toni stood holding the gun that just fired. She still had a handcuff attached to her right wrist and the hold on the gun was shaky as she stood, staring in shock.
“Toni,” Julie said very quietly, not wanting to startle her. “It’s okay, honey. Set the gun down before you drop it.” From the amount of blood spreading across Pete’s back and the bed, if he wasn’t already dead, then he was going to be soon. “He’s not moving. Put the gun down and please come get him off me.”
Footsteps pounded as Chris came barreling into the room, his eyes wild with