Avalanche (20 page)

“Of course,” Kendra answered, tugging on the rope around Pamela’s
waist, making sure they were tight.

“Red Starling, Pamela Rhodes, meet Erica Bane, my sister.”

“Erica Bane, you dated Chandler Chase before Pamela did,”
Red said, putting it together. “I only found one picture of you, but your hair
was different then.”

“Chandler preferred blonds, so I became one.” Erica removed
the black gloves covering her hands and arms, up to her elbows. “It’s a
pleasure to finally meet you, Sheriff Starling. I have to say that I’ve grown
fond of your small town, in the weeks that I’ve been a part of it. Starsdale is
very charming, as far as backwoods towns go.

“Why are you doing this? Chandler and I have been finished
for months!” Pamela twisted to look at the woman. She saw nothing familiar
about her, except that she did resemble Kendra. Their noses were the same, so
was the shape of their faces.

“You took him away from me,” Erica said simply. “Now you
have to pay.”

“That’s not true,” Pamela protested. “Chandler and you were
through, long before he and I got together.”

“That’s what he told you? How strange,” Erica picked up the
gun, and came around to look Pamela in the eyes. “Chandler loved me. He came to
me, more than once, after taking you to dinner, or to some party. He didn’t
want to let me go. But you insisted, didn’t you? You made him leave me, told
him it was you, or me. He chose you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Pamela stared at
the woman who had been making her life a living hell for months. All because of
a man. “I never told Chandler anything like that. I never knew he was dating us
both, at the same time.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Erica laughed, her madness
beginning to shine through. When she looked back at Pamela, her eyes held more
hatred than Pam had ever known. “I know that it was
you
who convinced
him to forget about me.
You
who threatened to ruin him, if he didn’t
stay with you.
You
are the reason that I lost our baby.
You
, and
no one else.” Erica stepped closer to Pamela as she spoke. Soon, she was
towering over her.

Pamela looked up at her, saw the crazy gleam in her eyes.
She knew that whatever she said would make no difference, but she had to try.

“Erica, I swear that Chandler never even mentioned you to
me. I never forced him to stay with me, I couldn’t ruin him if I tried. And I
tried, believe me. I thought he was the one stalking me, but no one believed a
word of it. I didn’t know about your baby, did Chandler? I would never have
continued seeing him if I knew about your situation.”

“Shut up, whore. I’ll never believe your lies. Of course
Chandler knew about the baby, he paid for the damn abortion! He begged me to
have it, told me that you would never forgive him if he had a child with
another woman. That was when he ended it with me, right after he forced me to
kill our child.” Erica’s voice changed as she spoke. The anger totally
disappeared, a kind of childish calm taking its place.

Ignoring everyone, Erica cradled both hands over her belly,
singing softly to the child that was no more. 

Red and Pamela’s eyes met. Communicating silently, they both
understood that they were dealing with madness.

Kendra, standing behind Pamela, leaned down to whisper in
her ear, once Erica walked farther away.

“Don’t be frightened. She only wants to scare you. I’m so
sorry, but I had to help her. She’s very fragile.”

Pamela cut her eyes to Kendra, seeing that the other woman
truly believed her sister was only fragile. How could she not know that Erica
was completely insane?

Erica now rocked an imaginary infant in her arms as she
sang, gazing down at the empty space with love and adoration. The gun looked
out of place in her hand, but she managed to keep it firmly in her grip.

Red took the opportunity to pull the chain between the cuffs
against the wooden rail. The rail didn’t budge. He knew he could free his feet,
but they would do him no good as long as he was chained to the bannister.

“Hush little baby, don’t say a word,” Erica sang, totally
oblivious to her audience. She walked to the window, looking out as she
comforted her imaginary child.

“You have to help us get free,” Pamela hissed to Kendra,
hoping that Erica wouldn’t hear. “She’s going to kills us if you don’t!”

“No she won’t,” Kendra assured her. “Erica’s been hurt, she
just needs to feel better. This will help, I promise. Now that she has you, I
know that she’ll let you go. She promised.”

“Kendra, your sister is mentally unbalanced.  You can’t
believe her. She’s told me, over and over again, that she wants me dead. She
intends to make good on her word.”

“But she would never do that,” Kendra insisted, watching
Erica with love in her eyes. “You’ll see, she’s really a good person. She just
gets a little mixed up sometimes.”

“We can help you get her help, just let us go!” Pamela tried
again.

“But I am helping her,” Kendra insisted. “This is helping
her. She needs to feel that she’s better than you, that’s all. Now that she has
you tied up, both of you at her mercy, she’ll feel good again. And she’ll let
you go.”

“No, she won’t! Can’t you feel the dried blood on your neck?
Erica did that to you. And I’m afraid she’ll do much worse, if you let her.”

“That was just for show, Erica would never hurt me,” Kendra
chuckled softly. “She’s the only family I have left, Pamela. Surely you
understand that I have to help her.”

“Of course, but this is not the way. Set us free, Kendra.
We’ll find someone who can really help her, I promise. I’ll cover all the expenses.
We’ll find a place close to you, in LA. You can visit her all the time.”

“You’re talking about an institution! I swore that I would
never see her put in an institution again! And I won’t!” Kendra’s whispers
became louder.

“What did you say?” Erica whirled toward them, the baby
totally forgotten.

“Nothing, Erica. Pamela was just offering to help you,
that’s all.”

“Help me how?” Erica asked, narrowing her eyes as she came
toward them.

“With whatever you need,” Pamela said quickly, before Kendra
could speak. “I’ve very sorry about your baby, Erica. But you’re young, and
beautiful.  I’m sure that you can have another child, someday. I can even speak
to Chandler for you, convince him that you’re the one for him. I’ll do whatever
I can to help you, Erica.”

“Oooh, listen to her, Kendra. Perfect Pamela wants to help
me. She’ll even tell Chandler to come back to me, as if I would want her
scraps.” Erica slapped Pamela hard across the face. “That’s for your offer,
bitch. Don’t make it again.”

“Erica, don’t hurt her!” Kendra exclaimed, placing a hand on
Pamela’s shoulder. “You promised you only wanted to scare her.”

“Shut up, little sister. This is my party.” Erica brandished
the gun toward Kendra as she spoke. “Go sit down.”

Kendra did as Erica ordered, a look of hurt and confusion on
her face.

Red repositioned himself so that his shoulder was against
the rail he was chained to. Now that Erica and Kendra both had their backs to
him, he could try to break through the wooden dowel. Seeing Erica hit Pamela
sent his adrenaline into overdrive. He knew he had the strength, knew he only
needed a few seconds to maneuver his way free, but he dared not make a move
while Erica still held the gun.

She could shoot Pamela, or him, before he could get to her.

Pamela felt the sting of Erica’s wrath as heat spread from
her cheek. The force of the blow had nearly taken her head off of her
shoulders, at least it felt that way. Biting her lip to keep from screaming,
Pamela quickly righted herself, to look at Red. She knew he would be furious,
and she wanted him to know that she was okay.

Meeting his eyes, she saw that he had shifted. He obviously
thought he could push through the rail and escape, but if she knew it, Erica
would know it too, if she looked his way.

Red nodded and stared at the gun in Erica’s hand, silently
telling Pam to work with him. Somehow, they had to convince her to let it go.

“I suppose that I deserved that.” Pamela’s word’s surprised
them all. “What is it that you want from me, Erica? How can I make this right
for you?”

“You can’t, bitch. Nothing will ever be right again.” Erica
grinned, her eyes suddenly shining with inspiration. “But taking away the man
you love is a start. Say goodbye to your Sheriff, Perfect Pamela. I think I’ll
shoot him in the gut, so he’ll bleed out slow.” Erica turned the gun on Red,
her eyes widening when she saw what he was up to.

“Erica, no! Red is my friend, he’s never done anything to
you!” Kendra jumped up, running to her sister. “Please, don’t hurt him!”

“He thinks he can escape,” Erica laughed, pushing Kendra
away. “He actually thinks he can save his lady love from the evil stalker.”
Erica walked quickly over to Red, the gun pointed at his stomach. “I never
liked that term, stalker. It wasn’t as if I hunted her through the woods, or
anything like that. I watched, I waited, I learned everything there was to know
about her. Call it research, reconnaissance, deep investigation. Just don’t
call it stalking.”

“How about a sick obsession? That’s a good term to describe
what you’ve been doing,” Red said casually, looking Erica straight in the eyes,
ignoring the gun pointed at his midsection.

Without a word, Erica ran to Red, hitting his temple with
the butt of the pistol.

“That’s enough out of you, Sheriff.” Erica stood beside of
him, breathing hard, her eyes wide. “At least I don’t follow her around like a
little puppy dog. Where’s your pride, man? Why did you come crawling back to
her, after she kicked you out?”

Flashes of tiny, bright lights swam in front of Red’s eyes.
Blood streamed down the side of his face, the force of the blow having split
open his skin. Struggling to remain conscious, Red tried to focus on Erica’s
words, but heard little of her rant. The hit left his ears ringing, and his stomach
rolling.

“Erica, don’t!” Kendra screamed again, but this time she
didn’t move. She’d never seen her sister so angry, so intimidating. Things were
not going as Erica promised. Her insistence that she only wanted to speak to
Pamela, to scare her a little, rang hollow as she stood like a deranged
warrior, ready to move in for the kill.

Turning slowly, Erica leveled the gun on Kendra. Her face
hard, Erica tilted her chin, her eyes boring into those of the one woman who had
repeatedly tried to help her.

“The next time you open your mouth, I’ll put this gun in
it.”

The threat was made more terrifying by the lack of emotion
in Erica’s voice. For the first time in her adult life, Kendra was truly afraid
of her big sister.

“Exactly what is it that you want from me, Erica? You’ve
terrified me for months, you’re holding us all hostage, isn’t that enough?”
Pamela, frightened to the core for Red, wanted to refocus Erica’s attention.
Blood flowed freely from the wound on his face, she wanted to give him time to
regroup, collect himself. It was the only chance they had.

“I want you to know the kind of pain that I felt. I want you
to know what it’s like to lose everything that matters to you.”

Pamela’s ploy worked, Erica walked over to stand close to
her, the gun now pointed at her head.

“Then why are you trying to hurt Red? I don’t care about
him. I still love Chandler, you should know how that feels. He broke my heart,
too, Erica. We should both be hurting him, not each other.”

Erica appeared confused as she tried to process Pamela’s
claim. Nothing made sense anymore, if what she said was true.

Pamela saw the confusion, hoped that she could use it to her
advantage.

“I’m so sorry about your baby, Erica. Chandler should never
have turned his back on you. I know what it’s like to lose him, Erica. I do
understand your pain.” Pamela’s appeal was based on lies, but that didn’t
matter. She would do whatever was necessary to get through to the madwoman.

“You understand nothing, bitch. I know that you’re lying.
You tossed Chandler over, kicked him to the curb, just like lover boy, over
there,” Erica motioned to Red. “You’re the type of woman who doesn’t care who
she hurts. But not anymore. Getting rid of you is a kindness. But first, you
have to feel the pain.”

Smiling in a way that only truly deranged people can manage,
Erica slowly turned toward Red.

The throbbing in his head was not diminishing, but Red
couldn’t afford to wait until it did. He knew that Erica’s next move was to put
a bullet in his gut, then he would be no good to Pamela, or himself.

In one swift move, he kicked away the ropes around his legs,
while shoving himself through the wooden rail. As soon as his hands were free,
he reached up and turned off the light, then dove out of the way.

The first shot barely missed his ear, as he cleared the
stairs. The second one hit several feet away from him.

Moving on instinct, he barreled straight into Erica as she
fired wildly into the sudden darkness.

Pamela and Kendra both screamed as he took the woman down,
knocking the wind out of her with the force of his tackle.

Struggling for the gun, Red could not remove her finger from
the trigger. She kept shooting, sending bullets into the ceiling and the wall
behind them.

Red’s only thoughts were of Pamela. She was a sitting duck,
only inches away from the erratic gunfire.

With every ounce of strength he possessed, Red pushed the
gun into Erica’s ribs, seconds before she fired again.

Blood spurted from the wound, seeping onto Red’s hands, and
onto his clothes. It took very little effort to remove the gun from Erica’s
hand.

After securing the weapon, he looked into Erica’s eyes,
reading surprise, and more than a little madness, just before they rolled back
in her head, and her body went limp.