Daniel nodded. “I know it, she took me there a few weeks ago. Erica must’ve followed her there before. Fucking psycho.”
They reached the car, but before Jane could get in, Daniel grabbed her arm and swung her into the metal siding hard enough that her small body bounced against the black panel. “Fuck, that hurt, you asshole!” she yelled, rubbing her shoulder.
“Why’re you here?” he demanded angrily.
“Addison hired me to be here,” she snapped. “Why are you here, dickhead?”
“You did a shit job of protecting her, didn’t you? She wouldn’t be in this situation if you’d figured out who her stalker was a little sooner? What were you doing, Sitnikov, taking her money and fucking around?” he snarled in her face. “That how you got fired from the city police in the first place? Did a piss poor job of actually detecting shit?”
“That’s enough, Mercer,” King said warningly.
“Fuck you,” Jane yelled back at him. “Maybe if she trusted you to protect her she would’ve told you about her stalker, like a normal girlfriend would tell her normal boyfriend. Oh… oh did that bother you? Did I detect a little flinch there, big guy? What’re you gonna do about it? Gonna choke me out again, like last time? Or maybe go old school and just punch me. I bet you like punching girls, don't you?”
He reached for his cell phone as he climbed into the vehicle. He looked back at her in the rearview mirror. “Not going to punch you, little girl. Going to call your husband and tell him where you are. Betting the Russian Boss has no fucking clue where his property is right now.”
“You son-of-a-bitch!” Jane tried to launch herself at him from the back seat, but Daniel shoved her back.
“Put it away,” King rumbled from beside Daniel. “You’ve made your point.” His eyes met hers in the mirror. “Besides, Vladimir will know soon enough. He has ears all over this city. It’s probably best if she tells him herself. You two need to drop these ridiculous hostilities. Let’s just get to Addison and hope like hell she’s okay.”
Daniel stared hard out the window as they drove. He wanted to blame Jane Sitnikov for this mess, but she was right. He was to blame. He should’ve protected Addison. He should’ve been a proper boyfriend to her right from the beginning. If he had been, then she would’ve told him about her stalker and he could have taken care of Erica long before she could’ve ever touched Addison. If anything happened to Addison, it was his fault. If anything happened to her, he wasn’t going to be able to live without her sweet self in his life. He needed her light to balance his dark. Without it, the dark would consume him and everyone around him.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Erica wailed, pressing one hand against the wound over Addison’s collarbone.
The gash was deep enough to reach the bone, but it wasn’t serious. Or at least that’s what Addison hoped. Blood soaked into her blouse, but gradually became sluggish. She almost laughed out loud when she realized that just that morning she was wondering what colour her shirt was. Well, watermelon coloured or not, the blood was definitely going to ruin this particular outfit. Probably so was the long cut over her ribs on the other side, she thought cynically. There was also a nick over her cheekbone that seemed to be dripping blood down her face.
At least her physical appearance now matched the macabre dinner scene that Erica had set up for them. Addison shuddered in disgust as Erica lay her head against Addison’s breasts and sobbed out her misery at how badly her perfectly planned evening had ended. If it weren’t for the knife clutched tightly in Erica’s fist, Addison would most definitely have shoved her away and told her exactly what she thought of this ‘perfect’ date. The chill evening air wrapped around Addison’s bare arms, telling her that the sun was finally setting and it was nearly time for her to take advantage of the coming darkness.
In order to do that though, she would need to summon some acting ability to distract Erica. With heavy apprehension, she touched Erica’s head and brushed the strands away. “I… I’m so sorry I ruined everything Erica. That was never my intention. I guess I’m just… just a temperamental musician. I just can’t seem to stomach food right now, but you were right, these were all of my favourite things. And I so appreciated that you thought of them for me.”
Erica sniffled and raised her head off Addison’s lap. She took Addison’s hand and pressed it against her cheek. “You have no idea how much work it was to get all of this stuff here and to check on it every week. There was this homeless guy who was sniffing around our stuff once. I can't even tell you what I had to do to protect it from him.”
Horror settled in the pit of Addison’s stomach and she felt as though she was going to throw up. She shuddered and then forced herself to continue speaking. She remembered feeling a candle roll against her hand when Erica had thrown her against the table.
“You’re so thoughtful Erica, I bet you even thought to bring romantic candles for the occasion, didn't you?” Addison said.
“Oh yes, I did!” Erica said excitedly, getting to her feet.
“Do you think you could light them for us?” Addison asked innocently, hardly daring to breath.
“Of course I can! I even brought matches!”
Addison held her breath and waited. Erica would have to put the knife down to light the candles. If Addison timed it right, she would be able to get the knife away from her when Erica put it down. “How many candles are there?” she asked and then explained. “I’m able to see a little bit of light and it… it makes me happy.”
“Four candles,” Erica said happily. She bent over and kissed Addison, pressing her cold lips against Addison’s for a few seconds. Addison forced herself not to shudder in response.
Then Erica moved back and began moving around the table. Addison let out a tiny breath and listened. Erica placed each one back in its holder, set the knife down, struck the match and lit the candle before moving on to the next. As Erica drew closer, Addison could indeed see the tiny flare of light as the match lit.
“Last one,” Erica said, standing in front of Addison.
Idiot, Addison thought as Erica set the knife down right in front of her and lit the match. Addison knew she would have to be incredibly fast if she wanted to get out of the clearing in one piece. Erica was bigger, stronger and motivated by deep-seated psychotic obsession. Plus, she could fucking see!
Addison grabbed the knife and flung it as hard as she could into the forest, away from both women, knowing that if she held onto it, Erica might be able to get hold of it and turn in against her. Then, as fast as she could, Addison flung herself off of her chair and onto the ground, shoving the chair into Erica’s legs and toppling her over. Addison pushed the chair onto Erica’s back as she tried to get up. She leaped to her feet and kicked Erica as hard as she could to slow her down, landing the blow in Erica’s side, and began running. She realized right away that her jingling flip flops were going to give her away and kicked them off her feet.
Addison ran as fast as she could with her hands out in front of her. Despite the precaution, she still ran full tilt into a tree, slamming into the trunk with enough force to knock her onto her back. She swallowed a scream of agony as she rolled over on the forest floor clutching her head and arms where they were scratched and bruised. Tears of helpless anger and despair flowed down her face as she forced herself back onto her feet. She began running again, arms outstretched, this time at a slower pace. She ran into more trees, but with less bruising force. Now she used them to fling herself forward, wrapping her arms around them, occasionally stopping to listen for Erica’s voice. Her bare feet began to hurt unbearably as she stepped on rocks and branches, but she made herself keep going. She moved her way steadily toward the rushing of the river, knowing that Erica wouldn’t be able to track the sound of her movements over the sound of the river.
It felt like she had been running forever. Her lungs burned and her legs ached. Her feet felt raw from stumbling over roots and branches. As she slowed to catch her breath, she realized she couldn’t hear Erica calling her anymore. She was about to start searching for the footpath that she knew ran close to the riverbank when she heard Erica’s crazed voice calling her, much closer than it had been since Addison escaped her. It sounded like Erica was only yards away from her and closing. Addison swallowed a scream and ran full tilt toward the river, hoping if she could just reach the path maybe she would find an evening jogger who would help her. But she overshot the distance to the path and went hurtling down the river valley, straight down the bank toward the rushing river.
Addison tried desperately to slow her descent. She didn't want to end up in the river at this time of year. With the spring runoff coming down from the mountains, the river was extremely dangerous. She felt her skirt rip on a branch just before she tumbled into the river. She reached out, trying to grab hold of the branch to drag herself back out, but she was swept right out into the raging water.
