Nowhere to Run (Stephanie Carovella) (49 page)

“That’s not my decision to make. It’s yours,” Stephanie said softly, giving him a careless shrug. “I wouldn’t have cared either way. I didn’t know her. I was just wondering why, that’s all.”

“She admired my work,” He blurted, his eyes narrowing when Stephanie’s tongue darted out to touch the bottom of her lip.

“She admired your work?” Stephanie echoed softly, her lips curving into a smile when she realized Rafe’s focus was on her mouth.

“She treated my art with respect, so I let her go,” he said dismissively, ending the conversation by savagely taking her mouth with his own.

Lifting his mouth from hers, he turned his head towards the front door. Hearing a car door slam, he grinned widely. “Our guest has arrived. It’s time to get this party started.”

***

Gena stepped out her car, immediately pulling her Beretta out of its holster. Scanning the perimeter, she could feel the adrenaline flooding through her. Turning the front door handle, she wasn’t surprised to find it unlocked.

“Detective Evans, please come in. Stephanie and I have been waiting for you,” Rafe called from the kitchen. Freezing, she silently cursed. He was waiting for her, she realized. Waiting for what, she didn’t know, but she had to be prepared for anything. Even if it meant preparing for Stephanie’s death, or her own.

Gena straightened her back, walking into the kitchen. What she saw chilled her to the bone. Rafe held Stephanie tightly, her back pressed against his chest, his arm tightly around her waist. In his other hand, he held a kitchen knife tightly against Stephanie’s throat.

She took in Stephanie’s disheveled appearance – from her bruised lips to her ripped shirt, exposing her bra. “Stephanie,” she breathed, taking a step forward. Rafe jerked Stephanie back, the blade pressing tighter against Stephanie’s neck.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you Detective Evans,” Rafe said evenly, “Or I may have to slit Stephanie’s pretty throat.”

Gena aimed her gun at Rafe, keeping her eyes pinned on him. “It’s over Rafe, let her go.”

“Oh no Detective Evans, it’s only just begun,” Rafe gloated, his arm tightening around Stephanie’s waist. “You and I both know you won’t shoot me. Not while I have this blade against Stephanie’s beautiful neck.”

His grin feral, he growled, “Drop the gun, or I slit her throat.”

Gena halted, casting a glance at Stephanie. Stephanie’s eyes darkened with an emotion she couldn’t identify. “Gena, please,” she whispered.

Gena watched Rafe press the blade even tighter against Stephanie’s throat, blanching when a trickle of blood slid down her throat. “Okay, I’m putting the gun down now,” she coaxed, stepping forward and placing the gun on the bench separating her from both Rafe and Stephanie.

Stepping backwards, she lifted both her hands up. “See, I’ve put my gun down. Now let her go, Rafe.”

Rafe laughed coldly, releasing Stephanie. Stephanie calmly walked towards the bench, taking Gena’s gun off the bench. Lifting her eyes from the gun, she mouthed silently, “Gena, I’m sorry.”

Gena stared from Rafe’s excited expression to Stephanie’s shaken one, watching Stephanie pick up the gun and aim it at her before firing.

Gena’s body jolted with the impact of the gun hitting her and she staggered backwards, disbelief on her face. Clutching her side with one hand, she looked down at the red blooming through her white T-Shirt. Lifting her hand, she paled at the sight of the dark red blood covering her hand. Tearing her eyes off the blood, she lifted her eyes to meet Stephanie’s grief-stricken one. “You shot me,” she whispered, her knees buckling underneath her.

Stephanie closed her eyes, taking a ragged breath. She felt Rafe move closer to her, his breath hot against her neck. “You shot her,” he whispered, awestruck. “You actually shot her.”

She opened her eyes in time to see Gena sink to her knees, disbelief on her face. Stephanie’s own face contorted with pain and she took a deep breath. Turning around to face Rafe, she pasted a triumphant smile on her face. “I told you I would.”

Rafe nodded silently, glancing over at Gena. He hazily watched Stephanie step back from him, adrenaline running through him. He took a step towards her, halting when a wave of dizziness hit him.

He watched Stephanie step back from him again, confusion sliding across his face. “Stephanie,” he began, taking another step towards her.

Stephanie picked up her wineglass. Taking a sip, she watched confusion slide across Rafe’s face. She smiled coldly, as he staggered towards her.

“It’s rather ironic isn’t it?” she said coldly, watching as Rafe sank to his knees on the kitchen floor, dizziness overwhelming him. “The fact I laced a very expensive bottle of wine with GHB to trap a sexual predator.”

“You drugged me?” Rafe growled, bracing himself against the kitchen bench in an effort to lift himself off his knees.

“Of course,” Stephanie said simply, arching an eyebrow. “Oh wait, did you actually believe I wanted you?” she laughed harshly at his wounded expression, moving towards him, the gun still in her hand. Viciously kicking the back of his legs, she grinned in pleasure when he sank to his knees again. Lifting the gun above her head, she brought it down hard against his head, triumphantly watching him slump to the ground.

Kneeling down beside him, she unbuckled her jeans belt and, working quickly, she tied his hands behind his back. Standing up again she eyed him with contempt, turning on her heel. She quickly moved to where a dazed Gena was sitting with her back against the kitchen wall, her eyes glazed over.

Dropping to her knees, Stephanie jerked her shirt off her shoulders, rolling it into a ball. Taking Gena’s hand off her bloodied side, she lifted Gena’s shirt, staring at the bullet wound. Leaning Gena forward, she smiled grimly. She gently probed at the wound, hearing Gena grunt in pain. “It looks like the bullet was clean. It went right through you,” Stephanie said, leaning Gena back against the wall and pressing her ripped shirt against the wound. She clamped Gena’s hand down on it. “Press down as tightly as you can,” she murmured, smiling sympathetically at her friend.

“You shot me,” Gena groaned, opening her unfocused eyes to glare at a smiling Stephanie.

“You’ll get over it,” Stephanie said, rolling her eyes. Picking up the gun, she cast another glance to where Rafe was slowly trying to pick himself up from the ground, weaving unsteadily.

Calmly aiming the gun at him, she watched take a step towards her, weaving unsteadily. “You laced the wine with GHB,” he ground out, disbelief still on his face.

She stepped back, keeping her eye on him. “I thought it was apt to do so. After all, you did rape, torture and murder my friends, you sick son of a bitch.  And you didn’t even notice the significance of the year, did you? 2003 was the year I married Dominic. The man, you killed - my husband.”

***

Jase cautiously walked down the hallway, freezing at the sound of Stephanie’s raised voice coming from the kitchen. Standing in the kitchen’s archway, he surveyed the scene in front of him. Gena sat against the wall, blood covering her hand as she held her side. He turned his gaze towards Stephanie, watching in disbelief as she brought her gun down hard against the side of Rafe’s head. Quickly striding to where she stood, he grabbed her wrist when she went to bring the gun down onto Rafe’s head again. “Stephanie, don’t,” he said.

She turned to him, her expression savage. “Why not? After everything he’s done, why can’t I hurt him the way he hurt me – the way he hurt Angel, Carolyn, and Ana?”

Jase turned his head when Rafe slowly laughed, lifting his head to look at them both. He spat blood onto the kitchen floor, rasping. “They begged for it. They were begging for it even when they gasped their last breath.”

Jase noticed for the first time Rafe’s arms were tied around his back. He grinned at Stephanie. “You’ve been busy.”

“I wasn’t taking any chances,” Stephanie said, shrugging carelessly. Glancing over at Gena, she said, “We need to get her to a hospital.”

“Rafe shot her?” Jase asked, lifting an eyebrow when Stephanie shook her head.

“She shot me,” Gena growled, weakly lifting her head to glare at Stephanie.

“I was saving your life,” Stephanie retorted, glaring at Rafe when he laughed coldly.

“You shot me. How is that fucking saving my life?” Gena said between gritted teeth.

Jase glanced back at Rafe, who was inching closer to Stephanie. Aiming his own gun at him, he stared straight into Rafe’s cold eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”

Rafe ignored him, his eyes on Stephanie. “You and I are alike. We are one and the same. You know it deep down inside,” he whispered, a smile of pleasure creeping onto his lips. “You enjoyed shooting her. I know you did, just as I know you enjoyed hitting me. I could feel the pleasure coursing through you.”

Stephanie watched Jase move away, smiling when she realized he was calling 911. Locking her eyes with Rafe, she spat, “We’re nothing alike, you and I.”

Rafe smiled mockingly at her. “We’re exactly the same. You can deny it all you want, but I know differently.”

Stephanie shook her head. “No, we’re not the same. Either way, it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over. The game is over. You lost.”

“I think not,” he whispered softly, closing his eyes, a smile of pleasure creeping onto his face. “Every time I close my eyes, I will see all their faces as they beg me. They died because of you.”

Stephanie shut her eyes tightly, whispering, “Shut up.”

“Not just them, but Dominic. Your precious Dominic, who you claimed to have loved more than anything, yet who you walked away from. You walked away from him without a backward glance, all because I asked you too.”

“No,” Stephanie said, unconsciously raising the gun to aim it at Rafe.

Jase turned his attention from where he was kneeling beside Gena, trying to keep her conscious. Hearing the anguish in Stephanie’s voice, he watched her aim the gun at Rafe. “Stephanie, no, this isn’t the way,” he said, stumbling over his words as he moved to her side.

“Yes,” Rafe said, focused on Stephanie, amber eyes clashing with grey. “Killing your friends was a pleasure, but the pleasure I felt each time with them was nothing like the pleasure I felt when I killed your husband. It was almost orgasmic.”

“This isn’t over,” Stephanie whispered, tearing her eyes off Rafe to where Jase stood with an outstretched hand. “Jase, this will never be over.”

“Stephanie, please give me the gun,” Jase said, reaching out to take it from her. She jerked away from him, tearing her gaze back to where Rafe knelt, sneering at her.

“We will always be linked together,” Rafe gloated, straightening his back and lifting his chin to stare at her.

Jase took a step towards Stephanie, keeping his eyes on her. “Honey, you don’t want to do this. If you do this, you will never forgive yourself. If you do this, he’ll win.”

“It will never be over. Not while one of us is still living,” she whispered.

“Yes.” Rafe hissed out, not tearing his eyes off Stephanie. “You know what you have to do.”

She nodded, turning her head to look at Jase, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry Jase, but I can’t do it. I can’t live like this anymore.”

“Stephanie,” Jase said, stepping towards her.

“No, Jase, it has to end. While one of us is still breathing, he will never stop. There’s nowhere left for me to run, nowhere left for me to hide. This ends tonight.”

Looking at him again, she whispered, “I’m so sorry.” Turning back to Rafe, she gripped the gun tighter, aiming at him before she pulled the trigger.

Again and again, she pulled the trigger. Her face devoid of any emotion, she emptied Gena’s clip into Rafe’s convulsing body. When the clip was empty, she looked to where a stunned Jase stood and held the gun out to him. “Now, it’s finally over.”

Epilogue

Stephanie knelt at Dominic’s grave, a single red rose in her hand. Closing her eyes, she swallowed convulsively, her throat tightening with anguish. “I did it, Dom. I killed him. I did it for you, Dom. For you, Angel, Carolyn and Ana.”

Opening her eyes slowly, she let the tears fall freely down her cheeks, whispering, “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I walked away. I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. I’m sorry you had to die because of me.”

Gently placing the rose on the top of the headstone, she lovingly traced her fingers along his name, Dominic Delaney. “I’m finally free from him, Dom. And all it took was losing everything and everyone I ever cared about,” she said bitterly, dropping her head in anguish.

A hand touched her shoulder. Lifting her head, she turned it slightly to see Gena standing behind her. Silently, she clasped Gena’s hand, a sob escaping from her throat.

“It’s finally over, Stephanie,” Gena whispered, looking down into her friend’s grief-stricken eyes. She realized she was seeing, for perhaps the first time, Stephanie’s real emotions stripped bare. She closed her own eyes at the stark pain revealed to her. Opening her eyes again, she gripped Stephanie’s hand tighter, squeezing it gently.

Stephanie nodded, turning her head back to the headstone. “He can’t hurt me anymore.”

Gena grinned, shaking her head. “Stephanie, he can’t hurt anyone anymore. You shot him sixteen times.” Holding Stephanie’s hand more firmly, she helped her to her feet, wincing when the movement caused her pain.

Smiling weakly at Stephanie, she said softly, “I guess I should be glad you only shot me once.”

“Gena, I’m sorry…” Stephanie began.

“I still can’t believe you shot me,” Gena said, shaking her head.

“You know I had no choice,” Stephanie said quietly. "If I hadn’t shot you, he would have killed you. I saved your life.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would avoid saving my life in the near future. I don’t think my body could handle it.” Gena said, wincing as she shifted from foot to foot.

“Gena, I
am
truly sorry.” Stephanie said quietly.

“I know you are,” Gena said quietly, watching Stephanie’s eyes drift back to Dominic’s headstone. “Stephanie, it’s over,” she repeated firmly.