Protecting Melody (23 page)

“So I decided to ruin yours in return. It took a while, but I did it. I followed you for years, Melody. I studied you. I had to wait until you got back from college, but once you did, I did what I could to learn everything about you. I wrote that letter to Robert. Now he hates you, as he should. I fucked with Amy. I saw my chance when you broke up with Lee. I got him. I won. He likes
me
, not you. You should hear him talk about what a lousy fuck you were.”
 

Melody tried not to hyperventilate. Diane
was
crazy. She’d built up everything bad that had happened in high school and her life and blamed her. It made no sense. Knowing nothing she was saying was true, Melody tried to placate Diane. “I never slept with him.”
 

“The hell you didn’t!” Diane’s voice was loud and shrill again. “He told me all about it. How you couldn’t take his cock down your throat like I can! How you didn’t like to take it up the ass, but I do that for him.
Me
! I do everything you wouldn’t and he loves
me
now. I used to think you were so smart. I have no idea why I was so jealous of you. God. It was so easy to make you run. All I had to do was threaten your precious
dog
.” Diane kicked at Baby, and the dog yelped as Diane’s foot made contact with her back leg.
 

“Please, Diane. Not Baby. Please don’t. She didn’t do anything.” Melody could feel the tears on her cheeks, but couldn’t do anything about making them stop. Watching Baby do her best to escape the cruelty Diane inflicted on her was heart wrenching. Melody had rescued Baby from the shelter and a life where she was probably abused just like Diane was doing to her. She couldn’t bear it if they got out of this alive and Baby reverted back to her skittish demeanor.
 

“Shut
up
,” Diane hissed. “Fuck. Still so damn stupid. It was so fucking easy to track you. You thought you were so smart hiding in Florida, then running to California. You think I wouldn’t figure out you’d have Amy helping you? The second she came into the bank with that Power of Attorney I knew. I kept my eye on her. After she’d take money out of your account, she’d put it the mail, in her own fucking mailbox. She’s as ‘hashtag stupid’ as you.”
 

Melody flinched, but Diane continued.
 

“It was so damn easy to rattle you. I called in sick and flew across the country to leave you that note. I knew exactly where you were. You weren’t hiding. You’re a joke.”
 

“So what now?” Tex’s voice was hard and flat from the corner of the room, effectively bringing Diane’s attention back to him.
 

Diane whipped her head around to stare at him. “What now? Now she’s going to see what it’s like to feel humiliated. She’s going to regret dissing me that day. And when I’m done here, I’m going to do the same thing to Amy. She’s just as guilty as Melody.”
 

“Amy’s gone. You can’t hurt her.”
 

“Whatever, soldier boy. I found Melody, I can find Amy. But you know what? I think I’ll start with you instead.”
 

“No! Diane!” Melody stood up at the couch and Diane immediately swung the gun her way.
 

“Sit down, Mel,” Tex told her in a stern voice. “Diane—”
 

“Aren’t you just the concerned boyfriend?” Diane interrupted Tex in a sing-song voice. “No, Melody, don’t sit. Go into your bedroom and find something to tie your boyfriend up with. I’ll give you twenty seconds. If you don’t find anything, I’m going to shoot him in the other leg.”
 

“What?”
 

“One. Two.”
 

Melody whirled and ran down the hall to her room. Fuck. Diane was bat shit crazy and Melody had no idea what to do. She looked around frantically, hearing Diane counting from the other room. She whipped open her lingerie drawer and pulled out couple pairs of panty hose.
 

“Eleven. Twelve.”
 

Melody wrenched open the drawer next to the bed and pulled out the bondage ropes she’d bought recently. She’d meant to get them out and let Tex play with her, but it was too late now.
 

“Fifteen. Sixteen.”
 

“I’m coming! Don’t shoot him!”
 

Melody stumbled back into the living room and could feel a bead of sweat roll down her face. “I’m here!”
 

“Tie his ass up. And if you don’t make it tight, I’ll gut your dog and you can watch her bleed and die right now.”
 

Melody looked and saw that Diane had obviously gone into the kitchen and grabbed one of her steak knives. She held a knife in one hand and the gun in the other. Melody knew Diane would kill Baby in a heartbeat. She dared a look at her dog. Baby was intently watching Diane and growling softly. At least she wasn’t cowed by her, but Melody didn’t have any time to think about Baby, she quickly walked over to Tex and kneeled at his side.
 

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered dejectedly, dropping the items she’d collected from her room on the floor.
 

Tex didn’t say a word, but kept his eyes trained on Diane. Melody took the pantyhose and wrapped his wrists together behind the chair. He sat tense and motionless as she maneuvered his limbs. She then took the rope and tied his hands to the slats on the chair. She wound the rope around his waist and down to his leg. She tied his good ankle to the chair leg. She wanted to keep the bindings loose, but didn’t want to risk Baby’s life.
 

“Now back the hell away from him and sit back on the couch, bitch.”
 

Melody did as Diane asked with a pit in her stomach. She had no idea how they’d get out of this. Now that Tex was tied up, she had no clue what to do. He was supposed to be the one to save them. He’d promised.
 

Diane laughed a crazy laugh that made the hair on the back of Melody’s neck stand up. She’d completely lost it and Melody was at a loss as to what she could do to get them all out of this in one piece.
 

Melody wanted to try to keep Diane’s attention on her. Tex was way too vulnerable right now. “So what? Are you going to shoot me? How is that going to humiliate me? Are you going to kill me, Diane? Do you think you’ll get away with that? If you shoot me you’ll have to shoot Tex. And the second you pull the trigger someone will call the cops. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry for anything I did when I was a teenager. Please.”
 

“Oh I don’t have to use the gun . . . yet. Besides, yeah, someone will call the cops, but I’ll be long gone when they get here.” Diane walked over to Tex. She was smart enough to keep the gun trained on Melody the entire time.
 

“I have no idea what she sees in you. You’re pathetic. Look at you. One fucking leg. Disgusting. I’m sure it’s all scarred up too. You must have a big dick, but I’m sure she doesn’t satisfy you. Jesus, she’s cold. Robert’s told me all about it.”
 

Diane took the steak knife she’d been holding and held it to Tex’s face.
 

“Diane . . .”
 

She sliced down Tex’s cheek, leaving a thin red line of blood in its wake. “Every time you say a fucking word, he gets cut.” The words were said nonchalantly, as if she was commenting on the weather.
 

Melody swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. She couldn’t just sit here and let this crazy woman hurt Tex. But she had no idea what to do.
 

“Remember when your electricity was turned off? Yeah, that was me. It’s so easy to fuck with you, bitch. Seriously. You had your payments being directly taken out of your account. All it took was two clicks of my mouse and . . . whoops . . . those auto payments stopped.”
 

“You did that?”
 

“Ah ah ah,” Diane chided and she took the knife and ran it down the length of Tex’s arm. Once more, blood welled up from the slice. This time Melody heard Tex draw in a quick breath, but he otherwise didn’t move and kept his eyes on Diane the entire time.
 

Melody leaned over and put her head in her hands. She couldn’t watch. There was no way.
 

“New rule.” Melody heard Diane’s words, but didn’t raise her head. “Every five seconds you aren’t watching, I cut him.”
 

Melody’s head came up quickly at that.
 

“Too late bitch, five seconds is up.” Diane took the now bloody knife and put it against Tex’s throat. She pressed in and laughed as she made a downward cutting motion.
 

Melody cried silently. She could see that each cut she made was deeper and longer. At least she hadn’t cut horizontally across Tex’s throat, but cutting him vertically was just as bad. The blood oozed from his neck and was absorbed into the collar of his T-shirt, turning it obscenely red in moments.
 

“It’s too late for sorry-ass apologizes, Melody. I don’t want to hear your fucking sorries.”
 

Diane stepped away from Tex, obviously having tired of messing with him. Melody risked a look at him and could see that all of his attention was focused on Diane. It was as if he didn’t even feel the cuts of the knife into his skin.
 

“I don’t want to hear your fucking apologies, but I
do
want to hear you beg.
Beg
me to spare your pathetic crippled boyfriend’s life.
Beg
me to save your dog’s life.”
 

Melody didn’t waste any time, if Diane wanted her to beg, she’d beg. It wasn’t a matter of pride, it was a matter of getting out of the situation alive. “Please, Diane. Don’t do this. I’ll do whatever you want. Please. I’m begging you. Don’t hurt him anymore. Let Baby go. She’s innocent in all of this.”
 

“I changed my mind.”
 

Melody’s head hurt. She knew Diane was just playing with her. She might have been cutting Tex, but she was torturing
her
, and they all knew it.
 

“You have a choice. You want him to walk out of here? Well, he won’t be walking will he? More like hopping!” Diane laughed like a loon. Melody kept her mouth shut, waiting to hear what horrible choice she wanted her to make.
 

“Choose. You or him.”
 

“What? I don’t understand.”
 

Diane took a step toward Melody and raised the gun and aimed it at her head. She took another step. Then another. Then one more until she was right next to Melody and the gun was resting against Melody’s forehead, right where Tex liked to kiss her. “You get to pick. I figure no matter your choice, it’ll ruin your life. So fucking choose. Do I shoot you? Or him?”
 

Melody looked up at Diane in horror. Was she serious? Of course she was serious. She had a gun to her head and Melody could see the evil behind her eyes. There was no compassion there…at all. Nothing that showed Melody any of them would be getting out of the apartment alive. Diane was going to kill them all, no matter what game she was playing now.
 

“Me, she chooses me.” They were the first words Tex had said since Melody had tied him up.
 

Diane raised the gun she’d been holding at Melody’s head and pointed it at Tex. Before Melody could say anything, Diane pulled the trigger. The sound was obscenely loud and Baby yelped then went back to her low growling. The smell of gunpowder permeated the air around them.
 

“No!” Melody leaped off the couch, but quickly fell back down when Diane swiped the bloody steak knife over her arm, leaving a long gash. Melody kept her eyes on the kitchen table
and was relieved to see Tex still sitting upright. Diane had missed. Thank God. Hopefully the sound of the gun going off would prompt one of her neighbors to call the police as she’d warned Diane earlier.
 

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Crip. This is not your choice. It’s hers.”
 

Melody held her bleeding right arm with her left hand and stared at the hole in the wall behind Tex. The next shot could take away the man she loved. All he was, all the good he’d done in the world, all the people who relied on him to help them…all of it would be wiped away by a mentally-ill woman with a crazy grudge.  
 

“Now, Melody. I believe you have a choice to make. Would you rather I blow
his
brains out . . . and you can live. Or I can shoot you in the head, and
he
can live. Choose.”
 

“Diane, you wanted me to beg, and I’m begging. Please, don’t do this.”
 

“Too fucking late.
Choose
!”
 

“Don’t do it, Mel.” Tex’s voice sounded weird.
 

Melody couldn’t tell if it was from fury or a deeper emotion. She looked over at him. Jesus. He seemed to be covered in blood. It was running down his face and his neck and there was even blood dropping on the floor from the gash in his arm. Melody didn’t want either of them to die, but she didn’t see any way out of what was about to happen. Tex was tied to the chair,
she’d
fucking tied him there, and Diane had a gun pointed at her head. Melody knew Diane would most likely kill Tex after she shot her, but maybe, just maybe her sacrifice would give Tex time to do…something, and he’d be able to get away.
 

“I love you.” Melody mouthed the words to Tex and she watched as his face hardened in fury. Not at her, but at the situation. Beneath the fury, Melody thought she saw a hint of despair. If these were going to be her last moments, she wanted to be looking at Tex when she died. Tex. The man who’d driven across the country to find her. The man who promised he’d always be there for her. The man who she knew would die in her stead in a heartbeat. Melody tore her eyes away from him, suddenly deciding she didn’t want to be looking at Tex when a bullet tore through her brain. It was better he didn’t watch her life leave her body.