He’s holding me tight in his grip. I writhe and worm my body, but he isn’t letting go. I manage to turn myself a little sideways, just enough to get my arm twisted loose. I clench my fist, then land a punch on his face, just hard enough for him to let me go. He screams and curses my name when I jolt out of his grip and spring forward. I jump up over the railing, then let myself fall to the lawn one story below. Only the lawn is turned into a pile of mud, and, as I land, I am covered in mud from top to toe. I can taste it in my mouth and feel it in my nostrils. I look up and see Ryan above me, hollering my name.
Then, I run.
I run, and the mud is splashing up against my legs and my back, while the rain is still pouring down on top of me. I hear Ryan as he runs for the slope next to the house and comes down toward me, avoiding having to jump. He is faster than me, and soon he is running toward me down the sloping backyard, sliding in the mud toward me, his legs first, trying to trip me. He misses, and I continue toward the road I know is there somewhere because I just walked it with Frank a few days earlier. But it’s no longer visible. It’s covered in mud, and big parts of the edge have been dragged into the valley by the water.
Still, I continue carefully so I won’t make a wrong move and get dragged down with the water. It is gushing down the sides of the mountain, making big muddy rivers that I have to jump over and land in the mud on the other side, face-first. I am fast on my feet, though, as I hear him yell behind me. He sounds like a drowned mouse, and the rain soon clears my face and hair, washing away the mud.
I make one more jump across a river gushing down, and slide onto my back on the other side, then get back up and run, panting, gasping for air, when I suddenly reach an edge and stop. I almost don’t see it in the darkness, but as I come close enough, I realize there is no more road. It has been washed down the valley. I turn around and see Ryan coming toward me. He stops running when he realizes I have stopped. He is walking closer, pointing the gun at me.
“This is it, Laurie. End of the road for you. You hear me? This is it, Laurie. You’re done running! Ha! You thought you could just slip away, didn’t you? But that ain’t happening. No, not tonight. Not ever, Laurie. You’ll never get away from me.”
He laughs, walking closer, then fires the gun. It’s probably because it’s so dark that he only hits me in the shoulder. There’s only a little light from a lamppost on the street above us, shining down through the trees. Or maybe he does it on purpose so he’ll get to torture me a little longer because he’s usually a very good shot. It still hurts like crazy, and I fall back into the mud. Ryan is walking closer, grinning, while I am screaming in pain and holding a hand to my shoulder.
He is getting close, hovering above me, pointing the barrel of the gun at me.
“Say goodbye, Laurie. Say goodbye now.”
He has his finger on the trigger, and this is where I think this is the end; this is it for me. I don’t know if it is God holding his hand over me, or what it is, but at this very moment, a wall of water breaks loose from above us, then hits him and washes him away and takes the part of the road he’s standing on with it. He drops the gun, and I hurry to pick it up as it is about to be washed down as well. I can’t see him; I can’t even hear him scream until I finally spot his head sticking out. He is dangling from a tiny branch sticking out of the mountainside, holding onto it for dear life. Water is gushing down the sides and is about to grab me too, but I put the gun in my waistband, then manage to grab onto a bigger branch with my one good arm and swing myself onto a place higher up, where there is still solid ground to stand on. The water is moving fast and fiercely below me now, roaring into the valley below.
“Help! Help me!” Ryan screams.
He is close enough for me to be able to. I can help him if I want to. I can reach out my hand and let him drag himself up to me and save him.
But I don’t.
Instead, I just stare at him, look him straight in his eyes as water and mud gush down on him, and the branch he’s holding onto threatens to break free. I look him straight in the eye, and I don’t do a darn thing.
He is still screaming for my help as I climb upward toward drier ground. I stop for a few seconds once up there, but I don’t look down at him. I don’t dare.
But I do hear as the branch gives way, and I hear his scream as he is pulled down with the mud.
Chapter 56
Laurie reaches for the box of tissues and grabs one. She is trembling as she wipes the tears from her eyes and catches the ones that have rolled down her cheeks, dabbing the skin gently. Jonathan watches her. He realizes he has been holding his breath while she told the last part.
Laurie closes her eyes for a second to compose herself, then looks at them again. Detective Grande is shifting in her seat. Jonathan noticed she, too, was spellbound by the story while Laurie told it.
Laurie exhales and places her hands on top of the covers. “Somehow…I’m not sure how, but somehow, I manage to get back to the cabin. It’s all a haze right now, as I was probably in deep shock. But I remember walking in the rain, crawling through rows of trees, areas of mud piles, and finding the remainder of the road. I remember spotting the cabin in the distance, and I remember getting back up on the porch and coming inside, getting to shelter, then the feeling of great relief when closing the doors. I remember I then slid to the floor and cried. The last thing I did was to crawl up in the chair in the living room and put the gun on the table so the police could see it once they entered. I remember leaning my head back in the chair, pain throbbing in my shoulder, then hearing the soothing sound of sirens approaching in the distance.”
“And that’s where our officers found you,” Grande says. “When they got to the cabin.”
Laurie nods her head. “And that’s the story. Every little part of it. As you can hear, it was all self-defense, and that is the truth. Now, you do what you need to do, but I know I didn’t kill anyone.”
Grande sniffles and wipes away a tear before she glances at Jonathan like she hopes he doesn’t see it. Jonathan turns off the Dictaphone app and looks at his notes. Grande sends him a look and nods. She gets up.
“I think we’re done here. I want to thank you for taking your time,” she says as she reaches out her hand and shakes Laurie’s.
Laurie smiles. “Is that it? You don’t have any more questions for me?”
Grande looks at Jonathan, then shakes her head. “I don’t think so. It was obviously self-defense. I am sure whatever evidence is found up there will support your story. We won’t bother you anymore. I am sure you’re eager to get home to your children.”
Laurie swallows, then nods. “I sure am, thank you, Detectives.”
Jonathan reaches out his hand and squeezes Laurie’s, then smiles gently. “Thank you, Mrs. Davis.”
She sniffles and nods. “Thank you both.”
Jonathan shares one last glance with Laurie then walks to the door and holds it for Grande. As he is about to leave, he hesitates, then looks back at Laurie.
“Oh, there was one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“There was the matter of Vera.”
“Yes? What about her?”
“We never really got the story of why she died. She was Frank’s sister. Why did he kill her?”