"How could you do that to my sister? How could you do it to anyone?"
"I"d do anything to keep you, Sarah. Anything."
"Let me go, Keith." He did. She ran out of the house.
"You can"t be serious! You"re going to the police?"
"Oh, you"re d.a.m.n right I am." She ran to her car.
"And say what? You have no proof."
"They have medical evidence on file, Keith."
"Melody lied." He shrugged. "And she"ll lie again. She won"t tell."
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You threatened her, didn"t you? My G.o.d, she"s too scared to leave the house because of you, isn"t she, Keith?"
He rubbed his face. "Just be with me, Sarah. I can make all of this go away. You always said I could make anything go away!"
"Not this time, Keith."
"Sarah, you go to the police and you have nothing! They won"t believe Melody because she"s wasted too much time!" She shook her head. "Besides, money talks, Sarah. And I got enough of it to say anything I want. You know I"ll get the best attorney. And with my connections I"ll get off, Sarah." She figured he probably would. But that wasn"t reason enough for her not to try. "Sarah, think about this. The police will believe me over what you or Melody say. I can get people to believe anything I want." He squinted.
She wiped tears. "And to think that I once admired that about you the most." She got in her car.
He stepped off the porch. "You belong with me, Sarah. Nothing I"ve done will ever change that. You"ll come back to me. You know no man will love you the same way I do."
She started the car. "I hope not." She sped off.
"Sarah!" Keith ran into the driveway.
Chapter Eighteen.
"Ahh!" Melody moved her head from the pillow just in time. The huge knife swung past her face. The blade instantly shattered her pillow. She turned around to see Keith standing by her bed. She couldn"t describe his twisted expression. She would have said angry or mad. But that didn"t even seem to fit. His hair and clothes were neatly in place.
A man like Keith never seemed to unravel in any circ.u.mstance. His cool-no-matter-what att.i.tude had always alarmed Melody. She hadn"t seen him since the rape. Right now she wasn"t thinking about that. She thought about the knife in his hand. She wondered why she hadn"t heard from Sarah all night. She had no idea where she"d gone. Keith yanked the knife from the pillow.
He rubbed it against his leg. He dug the point into his skin until tiny drops of blood covered the blade. Melody stared at those icy green eyes. Could he not feel the blade? Could you not feel pain once insanity kicked in?
"So are you happy now, Mel?" He sighed. "You happy now?" She slowly moved against her bedroom wall. She held the sides of her floppy T-shirt. The clock barely struck nine. Where the h.e.l.l had Sarah gone? "I asked you if you were happy now, Melody." Keith"s voice trembled.
"Keith." She sobbed without warning. "What...what are you doing?" She kept her eyes on the blade, while quickly cutting her eyes to the door. Keith shut it closed before she could make it out of the room. He stood in front of it.
"Sarah knows." He sweated. Melody gasped. "I tried to explain to her that this was all your fault. She didn"t believe me. It"s the first time in my life that I had to prove myself. I didn"t enjoy the feeling."
"Keith..."
"Shut up!" He held the knife toward her. Melody shook against the wall. "This is all your fault, Melody. Your pain, my pain, Sarah"s pain! It"s your fault! I wouldn"t have raped you if you hadn"t insisted on taking Sarah away from me!" he sobbed. "Did you even care about how I felt about her? Did you care I loved her? No, because you"re so d.a.m.n selfish!" He swung the knife at her.
"Oh!" she shrieked.
"Selfish b.i.t.c.h! You"re not even worth being alive!" He swung the knife at her face.
"Oh G.o.d!" she wailed. "Keith! Ahh!" He swung again. She clung to the end table by her bed. "Keith! Please!"
He looked at the knife. "I"ve never loved anyone like I love your sister. There have been others, Melody. But none of them made me feel like Sarah does." He rubbed the blade. "I don"t like hurting people! But I"ve always been taught that you do what you have to do to stay in control! You..." He wailed. "You gotta stay in control or nothing matters."
"Keith." She held out a shaking hand. "Keith, I...look, this has all gone too far. Even after all that"s happened, I"d like to help you." She stared at the knife. "I"m so sorry. I had no idea you were in so much pain."
He acted as if the knife put him in some sort of trance. "You really wanna help me, Mel?" he whispered.
"Yes." She"d never seen anyone so desperate before. She just wanted to put an end to all of this. She had hated Keith from the beginning. Now she felt sorry for him. Obviously, his actions weren"t really his fault. He was very, very sick. Too sick to realize the things he did. Melody actually felt guilty for how she"d treated him. He needed help. He hadn"t needed her hatred.
"Why would you wanna help me, Melody? You know d.a.m.n well you hate me." He chuckled.
"I...I hate the things you do, Keith." She kept her eyes on the blade. "But I don"t think I hate you. I realize now that it"s not your fault you do the things you do. I mean, you think you need to stay in control or else you feel like you"ll lose everything, right?" He nodded slowly. "I understand that, Keith. I don"t blame you for feeling that way. We all want to keep control and have the happiest life we can."
"If you understand it now, how come you couldn"t all this time?" He looked at her with fire in his eyes. "Am I supposed to believe you want to help me, now? No, you just want to save your a.s.s. Well, it won"t work, Melody! I came here to kill you! Sarah left me because of you! I"m losing everything! Even Lucas has doubts! You"re not gonna destroy me! I"ve worked too hard!" He swung the knife at her face. Melody screamed. The blade missed her mouth by less than an inch.
"Keith, please!" He chased her out the bedroom. Keith grabbed her on the stairs. She pushed him off before he could stab her.
"Melody!"
"Stop, Keith, please!" She stood against the couch. "Please, don"t do this. You don"t know what you"re doing!"
"I do know. I"m gonna eliminate the problem and the problem is you!" He rushed toward her.
"For Sarah?" she shrieked. "You think killing me will bring her back to you?"
"I don"t know. All I know is that I cannot be happy with you in my life one more minute! Ah!" He sliced the knife through the air. Melody ducked. She fell on the floor. She begged for mercy. Keith cornered her against the front door. He stood over her with the knife held high.
"Keith, please!" She cried. "Please don"t do this!" He raised his arm.
"No...no...no!" Melody shielded her face with her hands. Someone knocked on the door. Keith froze. Lucas"s voice rang from outside. "Lucas!" Melody tried to open the door. Keith swung the knife to stop her.
"Don"t you dare open that door," Keith growled. "I"m gonna finish this, Melody! I gotta finish this because I won"t have any peace with you around me! I have to kill you."
"Keith, please don"t!" Melody cried.
"I have to kill you," he whispered. "I got to or I won"t be able to breathe! You haunt everything I do! I can"t get peace of mind with you around! I can"t live like this, Melody!"
Melody didn"t know what shocked her the most. Keith wanting to kill her or that he felt she ruined his life. All this time she had hated him and wanted him gone. She had no idea that Keith felt the same way. She loathed him for being with Sarah. He loathed her for standing in his way. No other revelation could feel so amazing. She stared at Keith"s hard face. They both wanted the same things for different reasons.
They both hated each other. Obviously, Keith hated Melody far more than she could ever hate him. He wanted to kill her. What else was there to think about?
"Melody!" Lucas pounded on the door. "Keith, I know you"re in there! I see your car! Don"t you dare hurt her!"
"Lucas, I..." Keith rubbed his face. "Right now, this is none of your business! I know you think you love her, but you don"t know what she is. She"s evil, man! I don"t want her to drag you down. She"ll try to ruin your life like she ruined mine!"
"You did that all on your own, Keith!" Lucas shouted. Melody whimpered against the door. She tried to stand. Keith"s expression warned her against it. "Keith, what has happened to you, man? Is this because of Sarah?" Lucas twisted the doork.n.o.b.
"No, it"s because of Melody!" Keith pounded the door. "Go away, Lucas! I"m doing this for all of us! Don"t you see? We"d all be happy if Melody were dead! She"s like some disease! She just gets into your life and tears things apart until you have nothing!" He shook the knife.
"Keith, please," Lucas whispered through the door. "I love you, man. We"ve been friends for years! You can"t do this. You want to go to prison for murder? Keith, I love her. Think about Sarah, man! Think of how she"d feel if you killed Melody. Keith, you can"t do this," Lucas begged. "Please, open the door. You"re not in your right mind. Sarah and I care about you. We"ll get you the help that you need."
"I don"t need any help, Lucas! Once this is over you"ll see how much better things will be!" He waved the knife. He struck Melody in the shoulder.
"Ahhh! Lucas!" She placed her hand to stop the blood. "Lucas, please help me! He"s gonna kill me!"
"Keith, stop!" Lucas pounded the door.
"I raped her, Lucas! I know she told you! Don"t pretend you care about me after all of this!" Keith bellowed.
"Wh...what?" Lucas fell against the door. "This can"t be true," he whispered. "This can"t be true, Keith!" Lucas beat the door.
Keith stared at Melody. "It is! And you know what, Luke? I don"t regret it at all!" Keith brought the knife across Melody"s chest. Her T-shirt slightly ripped down the middle. He missed her chest by an inch. He swung again.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Melody screamed. "Lucas! Lucas, he"s gonna kill me!" She shut her eyes. "Lucas, help me, please!" Lucas noticed a cop car coming down the street. He ran off the porch to flag them down.
"b.i.t.c.h!" Keith pulled her close. He jabbed the knife into her stomach. The sudden pain prevented her from screaming. She held her stomach. Blood covered her hand, yet she didn"t know how deep she"d been cut.
"Oh..." She slipped onto the floor, weak and helpless. She rested her b.l.o.o.d.y hand beside her face. She hadn"t the strength to fight anymore just like their last meeting. Keith stood beside her. He"d won that night too. She couldn"t gather any strength to fight him now. She never thought of what death would feel like.
She eased her eyes closed. Keith would finish her off. She didn"t know how she"d gotten into this mess. Would this be how she"d die? At the hands of her enemy? Keith claimed he always kept control. He only needed to stab her one more time to prove it.
The front door popped open. "Freeze!" An officer positioned his gun toward Keith. Another one rushed onto the porch. Keith shifted back and forth. He dropped the knife on the floor. The cops rushed to apprehend him. Lucas ran inside.
"Melody!" He s.n.a.t.c.hed her up. Her eyes opened instantly. "Oh s.h.i.t!" He saw her stomach and shoulder. "That motherf.u.c.ker!" he cried. "Melody, are you all right?"
"I"m...I"m losing blood, Lucas. It"s getting hard to breathe and I can"t feel..."
"We need an ambulance, please!" he shouted to the officers. One called the ambulance. The other escorted Keith outside. Lucas cradled Melody against his chest. "It"s over now, Melody. Baby, it"s all over now."
She raised her b.l.o.o.d.y hand to Lucas"s face. "I love you." She drifted into unconsciousness.
"Hi, Steve." Brianna stood at their adjoined desks the next morning. He rubbed the collar of his crisp, dark-green shirt. She hadn"t meant to hurt him. Hadn"t he realized she had no choice? He should have been happy that the nightmare had finally ended. He flipped through some papers. He hadn"t spoken to her a few minutes ago in Jersey"s office, either. She didn"t know why she expected him to be different now.
She scooted on top of his desk. He slightly turned away. She couldn"t help grinning at his effort to ignore her. "Steven, I"m sorry if I hurt you, okay? But I was trying to do what I needed to do. Anyway, when he showed up at my house a month ago, I didn"t know he wasn"t you! Steven, is the way you"re treating me fair? There"s a bigger picture here."
He stood. "Really?"
She walled her eyes. "You know what? Forget you, Steven." She moved from the desk. Cunningham and a few other officers gazed from their seats. "I don"t know why I"m apologizing to your ungrateful a.s.s! Look, I put my life on the line for you! I went way beyond the call of duty because you asked me to. I let the man who tried to rape me into my home. Steven, I sat up day and night trying to figure out ways to help you. And this is how you treat me? You should be apologizing to me!"
She scoffed. "You just run off for a month and you don"t contact me? You were so selfish that you didn"t care that I was worried!" She sighed. "Then you have the nerve to act s.h.i.tty with me? If it hadn"t been for me being bait, your a.s.s may still be a suspect!" He looked at her. "Do you realize that?" She stood close to him. "I refuse to let you make me feel guilty..." He pulled her into a mesmerizing kiss. She floated from his arms afterward. She had to shake her head to snap from the trance. She touched her lips.
"Remember this kiss and how it made you feel, Bree." He rubbed her hair. "I doubt that next time you"ll get confused again."
"Wow." Cunningham gaped at Brianna. She nearly fainted. She regained control when she noticed everyone staring.
"You mad that I kissed you?" Steven whispered. Those blue eyes seemed to search every ounce of her thoughts.
"No." She smiled. "And you"re right. Next time I won"t be confused."
"So, are you two back together?" Cunningham grinned. They didn"t answer. Parsons walked up. He switched his cigarette back and forth in his mouth.
"Oh yes." Steven sucked his lip. "Now this is what I"ve been waiting for, Bree."
She touched his chest to hold him back. "Now, Steve, you just got out of jail. I don"t think killing Parsons would be wise. Even if he is an a.s.shole." Brianna glared at Parsons.
"Well." Parsons stood in front of them. "Nice shade of lipstick, Kemp." Steven wiped Brianna"s lipstick from his mouth. "I was just at the commissioner"s office. They"re all abuzz down there, I tell you. I have a feeling the news stations will be heading your way, Kemp. I just wanted to say..."
"No, I got something to say."
"Steve."
"Be quiet, Bree, I"ve been waiting for this." He cracked his knuckles. "Parsons, I"ve been waiting to say this ever since you wormed your way into my life. You"re the saddest, most pathetic, pitiful..."
"Hold on, okay." Parsons held up his hand. "I wanted to say I was sorry, Detective." Steven looked at Brianna. "I know I came down a little rough on you."
"A little rough?" Steven guffawed. "Parsons you could have cut my b.a.l.l.s off, and I wouldn"t have thought it was any worse than the way you treated me!"
"I guess I deserve that. I was talking it over with the commissioner as well as my boss at Internal Affairs. You"ll receive a full written retraction and formal apology from all of us." Steven gaped. "I really am sorry. But I had a good reason for coming down on you the way I did. I just wanted to find the rapist."
"Parsons, that"s the whole d.a.m.n point. You didn"t trust a fellow officer of the law long enough to let me do my job. You didn"t even give me the chance you would have given a criminal off the street! How do you think that made me feel?"
"Terrible." He put his hand in his pockets. "Distrusting of the department, I guess. I can only apologize, Kemp. I can"t take it back." He held out his hand. "From now on I"ll keep it in mind that we"re on the same side." Steven hesitated before shaking Parsons" hand. "Maybe we can be friends."
"Oh, hold on, okay." Steven sat at his desk. "I don"t love your a.s.s. I just wanted the apology."
Parsons grinned. "So I guess you"re all glad to not be seeing me here anymore."
"Ha!" Steven laughed. "You ain"t never lied, did you?"
"I really am sorry."
"I think he sees that, Parsons. But you were an a.s.shole." Brianna sat at her desk.
He smirked. "Well, before I go, I"d like to ask you something, Morris."
"And what in the world could you possibly want to ask me?" She crossed her feet on her desk.