Ambushed
Natalie openedher eyes to find Nugget licking her hand and whining. She sat up slowly. Nugget pranced back and forth across the room, pawing at the door.
“Okay, okay, I’m up now.” As soon as she clipped shut Nugget’s leash, he tugged her down the stairs and out onto the street, beelining for the closest square of dirt beneath a tree.
Shivering both from nerves and the cold, she encouraged Nugget to hurry up.
Nugget trotted back to her side, and she turned to go in when a hand gripped her wrist and body-slammed her back against the building’s wall.
“Not your boyfriend? You’re a terrible liar.” Gavin pressed her hard into the brick as Nugget growled and snapped at his leg. He reared back and kicked Nugget in the mouth. The dog yelped and bit his leg. Gavin flicked open a butterfly knife in his hand and moved to stab at the dog, but Natalie took advantage of his distraction to shove him, throwing him off balance. Gavin stumbled backward, and Natalie jerked Nugget’s leash back toward her, pulling him out of Gavin’s reach. She ran inside her building but before she could close the door behind her, Gavin’s body stormed through the doorway.
Nugget snapped at Gavin, but Natalie dragged him up the stairs, tears blurring her vision. She did not want to become a domestic violence statistic.
“I’ve tried to be nice!” Gavin shouted, limping up the stairs behind her. “We’re going to go inside and work this out like we always do.”
Natalie banged on doors on each landing, screaming for help. An old widow lived on the first landing, and the next-door apartment was vacant. The second floor housed a married couple—more doctors—they worked day and night. No one was going to help her. She had a single thought now:Colt! Help me!
Gavin held the knife in front of him as he stumbled up the stairs, pointing it at Natalie. “Look what you’ve brought us to. Why couldn’t you just stay compliant?”
Natalie’s hands shook violently as she tried to wedge her key into the lock of her door. Gavin lunged to grab her arm and Natalie screamed. He caught her and she dropped the keys, holding Nugget close to her body by the collar.
“Please,” she said. “Don’t do this.”
“What choice have you left me with? You won’t answer my calls. You change your locks.” Gavin picked up her keys, the knife still pointed at her throat, and unlocked the door. “Get inside,” he said, shoving her in.
Natalie tripped over the carpet, falling into the coffee table. The hard wood bit into her back. Gavin grabbed the leash and kicked Nugget out into the hall, then slammed the door shut.
“Did you forget who I am?” he asked, pacing. “How do you think it makes me look, when a nobody like you breaks up withme?”
“I’m sorry,” Natalie said crying. The knife blade glinted in the light cast from the streetlamp through the blinds.
Gavin kicked the leg of the table behind her. Natalie screamed, covering her face.
“What do you want from me?” Natalie screamed.
“You humiliated me,” Gavin said. He grabbed her by the hair and threw her onto her side. “You should know what happens to people who cross me.”
Suddenly, the door to Natalie’s apartment flew open as a foot kicked it hard on the other side.
“Natalie!” Colt shouted out running toward Gavin and slamming into him like a brick wall. Gavin flew a few feet in the air before he hit the floor.
Colt dove to take the maniac down for good, but Gavin slashed the knife at Colt, nicking his chest. Natalie screamed again as red blood seeped out of the tear in Colt’s shirt.
“Call the police,” Colt said, his eyes locked on Gavin.
Natalie fumbled for her phone, but her fingers felt clumsy and numb as she tried to dial 911.
Gavin circled Colt like a cat, then thrust the knife forward again. Colt dodged by jumping backwards. Gavin slashed the blade at Colt’s neck, but this time Colt grabbed his wrist and twisted it until it cracked. The knife clattered onto the floor, and Colt kicked it under the couch. He punched Gavin in the stomach. Sirens sounded down the street.
Gavin lifted with a strong right hook to Colt’s jaw, but Colt absorbed the punch like he was Superman, completely unfazed, then lifted Gavin over his shoulder and knocked him to the ground. He wrestled him face down to the carpet, pinning his arms to his back.
Sirens flooded the night and blue lights flashed as two police cars raced down the street. Natalie huddled against the couch as Nugget barked from the doorway. Steps pounded up the stairs again as the officers ran into the apartment, guns drawn.
Colt lifted his hands and backed away from Gavin. Gavin scrambled up, his shirt hanging untucked and torn.
“Hands up,” the police said, a gun pointed at each man.
“He didn’t do anything,” Natalie said, pointing at Colt. “It’s the other one that attacked me.”
