Identity Crisis (Rocky Mountain Novella Series) (9 page)

     It was too late.  Before Steel knew what was happening, Jason had shot him in the back.  Kristen screamed and sobbed as she saw her husband crumble to the ground. 

     “This time, I’m going to make sure he’s dead,” Jason said evilly before adding, “And, you’re going to watch!”

     He quickly shot Steel two more times, and Kristen watched in horror as blood began to coat the floor around him.  She wanted to yell at Jason for what he had done, but with the gag around her mouth, he wouldn’t have been able to tell what she was saying anyway. 

     Shooting Steel wasn’t the end of Jason’s plan.  He was going to blow them all to bits.  He had already wired an adjacent outbuilding with explosives, and grabbed Steel by the legs to drag him out of the cabin and to the out building.  While Jason was gone, Kristen struggled to get free.  Steel may have been killed, but she could still save Julie and herself and possibly bring Jason to justice. 

     With the ropes around her hands loosened from Steel’s cut, Kristen was able to get her hands free.  She frantically tried to get her hands free before Jason came back for her and Julie.  As soon as she was freed, Kristen grabbed Steel’s gun which was still lying on the floor, and tucked it into the waist of her jeans and then proceeded to try and free Julie. 

     Julie had been chloroformed again, but was regaining consciousness.  She didn’t know what time or even what day it was anymore.  As her eyes focused, she saw Kristen kneeling before her.  She looked like an angel that had come to save her.  But, Julie didn’t even know if what she was seeing was real.  She had been in and out of consciousness so much that she didn’t know when she was awake or dreaming.

     “Come on!” Kristen yelled in a whisper as she noticed Julie opening her eyes.  “Run!”

     Kristen grabbed Julie’s arm and forced her to her feet.  Julie was weak but she did her best to make it to the door as quickly as her wobbly feet would allow.  Once she was out the door and partially down the road, she glanced behind her to see where Kristen was, but she was nowhere to be seen. 

     Just as Kristen was about to follow Julie out the door, she was yanked back inside by her hair.  She pulled the gun from her waistband, but Jason was too quick.  He knocked the gun from her hands and pulled her by her hair down the hallway towards the back door.

    
With each step, Julie felt the strength return to her legs.  It was likely adrenaline, but her momentum could have just been caused by the downward slope of the road.  She was running for her life.  She didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t care.  She just wanted to get away from the man who had kept her drugged up since she was taken from the wedding reception. 

     “Kristen!” she screamed when she realized her best friend wasn’t behind her.  As soon as the sound escaped her throat, she realized she shouldn’t be making noise, signaling her position.  Jason could have been somewhere searching for her. 

     Just as she was about to turn back around in an attempt to help Kristen, the sound of vehicles caught her attention.  It was the S.W.A.T. team followed by a bunch of police cruisers. 

     “Julie!” she heard hollered from one of the cruisers and looked around frantically to see who it was that was calling her name.  She still wasn’t quite clear headed yet. 

     Kawoski breathed a sigh of relief as he sped up the road leading to the cabin.  Thankfully, the car Kristen was driving was equipped with a tracking system that allowed them to locate the new rendezvous point.  Neither Kristen nor Steel was anywhere around, but Kawoski did see someone he thought he might never see again…at least not alive.  He barely stopped the vehicle before jumping out from behind the steering wheel and running to embrace Julie. 

     “Man, I was so worried about you!” he said into her ear as he lifted her up and twirled her around.  Julie was so relieved to finally be free that she wept openly.  “Everything’s going to be okay now,” Kawoski told her as he held her face in her hands.  The sight of her bruises made his heart ache.  If he had the chance, he would make Jason Middleton pay for what he had done to her. 

     Julie was enjoying the safety she felt in Kawoski’s arms, but then she remembered Kristen.  “She was right behind me,” she explained.  “But, I don’t know what happened to her.”

     As Jason pulled Kristen through the cabin, she struggled to reach into her pocket and retrieve the Steel’s knife.  She had put it in her pocket after helping Julie get free.  Knowing it could be her last chance to get free, Kristen rammed the knife into the hand that had been grasping her hair. 

     “You bitch!” Jason yelled as he yanked his severely bleeding hand back.  His shock gave Kristen just enough time to take the knife and stab Jason again, only this time in the throat. 

     Jason’s eyes widened as he felt the knife go into his neck.  He could feel the blood filling his mouth.  He felt like he was drowning. 

     Just as Kristen was about to run to find Steel, the cabin door burst open and the room was quickly filled with S.W.A.T.  One of the men grabbed Kristen and drug her outside. 

     “Wait!” she screamed, but no one was listening.  “Steel.  I have to go find Steel!”

     The next instant, Kristen was thrown forward.  As she looked back from the ground, she saw that there had been an explosion.  It wasn’t the cabin, but something off to the side.  The realization hit her.  It was the out building that Jason had put Steel’s body.  She cried uncontrollably as she watched the flames spread to some of the trees and the main cabin. 

     All of the S.W.A.T. team was able to get to safety, with Kristen’s money, before the cabin went up in flames.  Jason’s body was also brought out, but he was already dead.

     Julie and Kawoski comforted Kristen as she was checked out by the EMTs.  She couldn’t stop crying.  She had only just gotten married to Steel and now had to deal with the fact that he was gone forever.  Gone, before her honeymoon was even supposed to be over.  It was something she couldn’t accept.  Even though Jason had died because of his hatred, he still accomplished part of what he set out to do.  He had made Kristen watch as he killed the love of her life. 

     “Look!” Kristen heard one of the police officer’s shout as she sat on the ambulance letting the EMT attend her minor wounds.

     Kristen barely looked up.  She was still in shock.  Without Steel, nothing else really mattered.  But, out of the corner of her eye, she saw what the officer was talking about.  It was Steel, emerging from the wooded area beside the cabin.  He was limping and walking slowly, but she recognized him instantly. 

     Without thinking, Kristen stood up and ran to her husband.  She didn’t know how he could still be alive, but none of that mattered.  He was alive, and she was so thankful.  “I thought you were dead!” she cried as she reached him and kissed him deeply. 

     “So did I for a little bit,” Steel replied with a smile, though even that made him wince from the pain.  As he walked, he tore off his shirt, revealing the bullet-proof Kevlar vest he was wearing.  If it weren’t for that, he would’ve been dead. 

     “I woke up in a small out building, wired with explosives and made it out just before the explosion went off,” he explained in his statement as the fire trucks worked hard to put out the blazing flames behind him. 

     “Let’s go home,” Kristen told him after making sure that he and Julie were both alright.

     “I’m going to get a ride back with James,” Julie said as she hugged Kristen goodbye.

     “You know I was so worried about you,” Kawoski told Julie softly as he walked her to one of the squad cars, interlacing his fingers with hers.  It would be a long time before he would admit it, but Kawoski had deep feelings for Julie, and knowing that he had almost lost her made him weak in the knees.  He wasn’t going to waste any more time being shy.  If their experience had taught them anything, it was that time is not guaranteed for anyone.  Feeling impulsive, he brought Julie’s hand to his lips.  “Will you go out with me tomorrow?” he asked.  “I really like you and want to see where this can go.”

     For the first time in days practically, Julie smiled.  She wrapped her arms around Kawoski’s neck and kissed him.  She could hear the whistles and teasing from the other officers but she didn’t care.  She had strong feelings for Kawoski and was going to show him just how she felt.  “Does that answer your question?” she asked with a laugh as their lips parted. 

     “Guys, you’re going to have to handle this.  I have a date with the most beautiful woman in the world,” Kawoski told his men as she scooped Julie into his arms and kissed her a second time, this time the kiss was longer and deeper.  The two new lovers spent that night together, and many nights afterwards. 

The End.

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“Naw.  She’s okay.” I half managed to get out as my friends were teasing me about having a crush on April Powders. 

“Yeah, you do! Ohhhh, yeah, you do!  Jimmy likes April.  Jimmy likes April,” Mikey sang out loud while dancing around our lunch table.  I’m not sure how, exactly, I became friends with Mikey. 
I suppose it was because we had homeroom together since I could remember.  He was very tall for a thirteen year old and built like a lumber-jack.  And, like you’d assume from looking at his unkempt hair and dirt-stained face, he had absolutely no manners.  He didn’t even care if there were girls around when he needed to pass gas, or shoot a booger out of his nose.  And, he certainly didn’t mind embarrassing me in front of April Powders. 

I was
quickly turning beet red, and wanted to die. 

April wa
s a girl who I sat next to each day in my English literature and biology classes.  She had curly, brown hair that always smelled like roses.  She was our class president, and my lab partner in biology.  The truth was, I did have a bit of a crush on her, but I’d never tell Mikey that.  No need to give him more ammunition to use on me later.  It was always so hard to concentrate on the biology lesson when I was sitting next to April.  I was magically transported into the wishful thinking of my mind by the lovely, clean scent of April’s hair.  I would get so nervous, though, that I had to constantly wipe the palms of my hands on my pants in class.  They would sweat so much when I was around her.  I mean, they would sweat a lot…so much so, that I felt like a sweat factory in biology!  I probably left class everyday with pit stains under my arms too.  I’m sure she thought I was a complete and utter idiot.