Page 71 of Traces of Kara

Mimi breathed in shallow, silent breaths. She listened to Roland’s halted respirations.

He made a sound somewhere between a groan and whimper.

Mimi’s heart beat in her ears like a drum. She held her breath, waiting for him to reach for her. The urge to open her eyes gnawed at her. Fear consumed her. She felt as though her head was twitching, moving ever so slightly, so that Roland might notice. She remained prone across Kara’s body.

Kara’s chest jumped beneath her, as if she’d been startled.

Mimi’s eyes involuntarily flew open—a mother’s innate response. Her heart thumped against Kara’s pulsating chest. She tried to remain still. Her body would not abide her desire. Her head turned, her eyes meeting Roland’s zombie-like stare. His body was slumped against the wall three feet from where Mimi and Kara lay. Blood oozed from his gaping mouth. A deep hole ripped open his belly. Blood spread across his shirt and pants, seeping crimson onto the floor. His arms hung limply by his sides. His neck was cocked at an odd angle. Mimi’s skin prickled. Tears welled in her eyes. She remained on Kara, feeling her daughter’s heartbeat against her chest.

Roland didn’t blink.

Roland didn’t move.

Mimi wondered if it was at trick. Was he playing dead, too? Her eyes scanned the room. The door, propped open by the toe of Roland’s boot, was splattered with blood, dripping to the floor in slippery red streaks. Dark red dots sprinkled throughout the small room, as if someone had shaken a wet paintbrush.

With trembling hands, Mimi pushed herself off of Kara, her eyes trained on Roland. She looked back at Kara, then drew her eyes back to Roland’s still body. Mimi squinted, tilting her head forward to get a better look at Roland’s chest. It was not rising up and down. Mimi’s teeth chattered. She bit her lower lip in an effort to quell the noise of her teeth battling each other. She had to pass by Roland to leave the room, and she couldn’t carry Kara. She had no choice. She had to get help before Kara died.

Mimi stood on spaghetti legs and took a shaky step toward the narrow path between the machinery. Roland did not move. His eyes looked beyond her as she moved toward him.

The first step was like stepping into fire. Her nerves burned with tension. The second step brought needle sharp pains as she stepped directly in front of Roland. She hesitated and felt her face soften. In his relaxed state, it was easy for Mimi to see the boy he once was rather than the maniac he had become.

Mimi raised a trembling hand to her lips. Sobs climbed from deep in her chest as she looked at the man who had stalked her daughter. How could he have come from the same womb as Kara? Kara. Mimi whipped her head around. Kara lay still, her skin shockingly white against the dark concrete floor. Mimi wiped her eyes on her sleeve and walked toward the door, stepping over the largest puddle of crimson blood.

Scratch…slide…Roland’s large palm gripped Mimi’s ankle. She screamed, kicking at his hand with her left foot. Her right leg was chained to the ground with Roland’s great weight. She screamed. Roland’s body lay sideways on the floor, his large fingers wrapped around her ankle. She kicked at his hand, crying out in fear. Mimi reached for a large slab of metal.

Footsteps thundered toward the room.

Grant appeared in the doorway, gun aimed at Roland.

“No!” Mimi yelled, her face a twisted mess of fright. “No, no, please, Grant, no!” She knew Roland was going to die, and she couldn’t take seeing him shot before her eyes.

His grip on her leg loosened. His eyes shot toward Kara as he let go of her leg completely, then slipped onto all fours and pulled himself in his sister’s direction, his eyelids drifting opened and closed.

Mimi gasped, her heartbeat quickening with every inch he moved. “No,” she said quietly. “No,” her voice escalated. “No!” she screamed.

With her next breath, she raised the slab of metal above her head.

“No!” Grant yelled, diving for Mimi.

The metal came down hard upon Roland’s skull, reverberating against Mimi’s hands. Roland sucked in a breath. His body swayed right, then left, before collapsing face first inches from Kara’s legs.

Grant grabbed Mimi and shoved her behind him, his left arm out like a fifth grade safety patrol, his right wielding the gun.

Mimi dropped to her knees, her body wracked with sobs.

Chapter Fifty-Three

Mimi stood outside the door of Kara’s hospital room. Inside, Kara lay in a toxin-induced coma from the antifreeze, her beautiful face marred with scratches and bruises, and six stitches arched just above her right eye.

“She’s lucky to be alive.”

Mimi turned toward Dr. McCall’s confident voice, feeling like a failure.

“If she’d gone twenty-four hours without ethanol after drinking the antifreeze, she would have most likely experienced renal failure, and, well, she wouldn’t be here right now.”

Mimi covered her quivering lips with her hand. It’s all my fault. The words echoed inside her head.

Dr. McCall continued, “The ethanol in the alcohol she ingested prevented the antifreeze from metabolizing into a deadly toxin.”