Let me go, p.22
Let Me Go, page 22
She knew his words were true. It would be even easier for him to crush her windpipe. She had to get him off of her. Squirming, she tried to buck her hips, but her ex-husband held her tight.
He pinned her shoulders to the ground. “You gonna be real sorry now.”
Desperate to break his hold, she raked her left hand across the dirt, striking something solid. Her fingers curled around a stone that rimmed the edge of the fire pit.
Her ex-husband’s face pressed closer, his smirking lips mere inches from her own. The sickly-sweet odor of his breath singed her nostrils.
“You ain't never felt no pain as bad as what I’m fixing to give you,” he said.
Ashley slammed the stone into the side of Ethan’s head. He cried out in agony as he toppled to her right. Blood streamed down his temple. She needed to get up onto her feet. To race to her car and lock herself inside. She scrambled backwards and wriggled her legs out from under his weight.
Before she could stand, Ethan caught her left ankle, his grip as strong as steel. She writhed and kicked, trying to break free. Her right heel crashed against her ex-husband’s face. The bones in his nose snapped. He cried out again as more blood erupted from his face and ran down his chin.
Ashley jerked her leg from his grasp. This was her chance to flee – her only chance to survive. She jumped to her feet and flew toward the parking area.
Footsteps pounded the ground behind her. Ethan was stronger, stood taller, and possessed a longer stride. Panic surged through her heart as she realized he was gaining fast. She wouldn’t make it to the car. His arms cinched around her waist, and she felt herself falling forward.
Ethan tackled her to the ground. She landed on her forearms. The force jarred her bones, her face inches from the dirt. The weight of his body bound her hips and legs. Ashley was trapped again. This time she feared she wouldn’t be able to escape.
Pain shot through her scalp as Ethan yanked her hair, jerking her head back.
“I was gonna make you suffer a real long while,” he told her. “Had plans to drag it out for weeks. You’re still gonna die slow. But now, it’s gonna be today.”
Ashley heard a noise ahead of her – a low rumble. A pair of headlights flashed on. The sudden brightness stung her eyes. She realized a car had rolled into the parking area under the cover of darkness.
“Stop! Police!” a voice shouted. “Put your hands up!”
She recognized the voice. It was Detective Lansing. Relief fluttered just outside the edges of her grasp. A part of her was glad Lansing had arrived, but another part wondered whether the detective was prepared for what he’d walked into.
Ethan scooped her up off the ground, allowing her to stand. His right arm clamped around her neck like a vise. She struggled in his arms, but each move just tightened her ex-husband’s grip.
“I’ll break her neck!” Ethan yelled.
“You don’t want to do that,” Lansing told him.
“I ain't got nothing to lose. If I die, she’s going with me.”
Ashley wanted to shout out for Lansing to shoot, but she had no doubt that Ethan would follow through on his threat to break her neck. If he killed her, her baby would die as well.
“Let’s talk about this,” the detective said. “We can work something out,”
“Ain't but one deal I’ll be making. Get in the light so I can see you.”
Lansing stepped forward into the glow of the headlights. His weapon was aimed at Ethan. “I know you don’t really want to hurt her.”
“You don’t know nothing ‘bout me.”
“I know that deep down, you love Ashley. Let her go.”
She felt her ex-husband’s body tense, his left arm tightened around her waist. She knew the detective was trying to negotiate, but his words seemed to make Ethan more determined to kill her.
“She got me locked up,” her ex-husband said, hatred in his voice.
“Not because she wanted to,” the detective said. “She was scared. She just did what her lawyer told her to do.”
Ashley had wanted Ethan to be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. She realized Lansing was looking for any excuse he could find to persuade her ex-husband to let her go.
“That don’t matter none. Here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re gonna toss your gun over this way. Real gentle like.”
“Let her go first, and then I’ll give you my weapon.”
“Nah, it don’t work that way,” Ethan told him. “You’re gonna give me your gun. You don’t do what I say, I’m gonna break Ashley’s neck. Then you can shoot me, and we’ll be done.”
The detective hesitated. “It doesn’t have to end like that. There’s a chance for you to make things right. I can talk to the judge and tell him that you cooperated. He’ll go easier on you.”
Her ex-husband had no plans to return to prison – Ashley was certain. She knew he’d rather die first. And he was determined that she die with him.
“You got five seconds. Then she’s dead.” Ethan started his countdown. “One … two …”
“Okay,” Lansing said. “Just don’t hurt her.”
Bending his knees, the detective tossed his gun toward her ex-husband.
“You step back now,” Ethan said.
Lansing obeyed, staying within the circle of light.
Ethan shoved her forward, but kept his arms fastened around her torso. He inched them both toward the gun.
As she hobbled in front of her ex-husband, Ashley’s thoughts jumped to Shane. She imagined her brother lying in the operating room, fighting for his life, knowing that he may never walk again. Then she thought about Steve, who she’d found out was planning to be married later this summer. She remembered Ray. Although he’d helped Ethan, he’d regretted it in the end. And there was Dr. Fisher. He’d been so kind to her after she’d lost her daughter. Neil, who could have had a wonderful life ahead of him. And Cherie. The woman may not have even known that Brett was living with Ashley. And if she had, she still didn’t deserve to die.
All of Ethan’s victims had deserved to live. Unlike him.
Ashley knew this was the end for her as well. Once her ex-husband picked up Detective Lansing’s weapon, he would kill her, her baby, and the detective. After that, he’d murder her father and brothers. She couldn’t let that happen. She refused to let her ex-husband hurt another innocent soul.
Ashley swung her right leg as hard as she could. Her toe collided with the detective’s pistol. The weapon flew across the ground into the darkness.
“Stupid bitch!” her ex-husband yelled in her ear as his arms dropped from her waist.
Ethan’s fist slammed into her jaw.
Pain sliced through her face. Knocked sideways, Ashley tumbled to the ground.
A dark haze clouded her vision as a loud ringing echoed in her head. The sky, trees, and earth swirled around her. She couldn’t tell which direction was up and which was down. The taste of acid flooded her mouth. She struggled to hang onto consciousness.
Closing her eyes, she forced herself to breathe in deep. Her jaw throbbed. She pressed her palms against the ground, trying to regain her sense of balance. The ringing in her ears began to fade – the noise replaced by the clack of blows.
Fists smashing bone.
Ashley opened her eyes. Ethan and Detective Lansing battled back and forth, volleying for position, both landing and then receiving punch after punch. Her ex-husband was stronger – a walking wall of muscle – but he’d already sustained a broken nose and a gash on his temple. Lansing was quicker, dodging Ethan’s fists. But she knew the detective couldn’t evade her ex-husband for much longer.
Pushing herself up, she tried to stand. The world began to spin before her eyes again. Ashley dropped to her knees and crawled toward the direction where she had kicked Lansing’s gun. She had to find it.
Once outside the illumination of the detective’s headlights, her eyesight dimmed. She stretched her hands forward, sweeping them across the ground, searching for the gun. If she didn’t locate the weapon soon, she feared her ex-husband would kill Lansing.
A guttural moan rang out behind her.
She looked back over her shoulder. Ethan had Lansing pinned to the ground. His fists pummeled the detective’s head. Her time was up. If she didn’t find the gun fast, Lansing would die.
An image popped into her mind. She remembered seeing her own pistol lying between the fire pit and the edge of the bluff. Ashley pushed herself to her feet. With her balance still off, she half stumbled, half ran across the parking area toward the fire pit.
As she neared the limestone slab, her night vision returned. She spotted the black silhouette of her Smith & Wesson near the rim of the cliff. She prayed she’d have time to save Lansing. Footsteps boomed behind her. She knelt beside the gun and then glanced back.
Ethan barreled toward her.
As Ashley’s fingers closed around the pistol, her ex-husband hit her from behind. Their bodies crashed to the ground at edge of the bluff, inches from tumbling over. She landed on her stomach with Ethan on top of her, her right hand pinned beneath her abdomen. To her left, the earth cut away, plunging into the valley below. One wrong move could send them both plummeting to their deaths.
He lifted his body just enough to roll her onto her back. She met his gaze for what she felt would be the last time. His soulless eyes appeared swollen. Blood caked his face. His lips parted in a wicked smile.
“Time for you to die, girl,” her ex-husband spat out.
Ethan’s fingers clamped around her throat.
She gasped as her source of air cut off. Digging the fingernails of her left hand into Ethan’s forearm, she squirmed beneath the weight of his body. She wriggled her right hand up between them.
Her premonition flooded her memory, proving true once again. This night would change the lives of her family forever.
Ashley shoved the barrel of her pistol under Ethan’s chin.
Her ex-husband’s swollen eyes widened as the cold steel of the muzzle pressed against his skin. His gaze locked with hers. The startled expression spreading across his face screamed that he realized he’d just lost the game he’d always thought he would win.
His fingers cinched tighter around her throat, depriving her lungs of oxygen.
Time seemed to freeze as a hoard of memories rushed through Ashley’s mind. The day she’d met Ethan. The day they’d eloped. The day he’d thrown her into the pit. The entwining of their lives had culminated in this singular moment.
Ashley closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger.
Ethan’s head exploded.
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
Blood and bone and brain matter splattered Ashley’s face and hair. The blast from the gunshot struck her eardrums. A sound similar to a high-pitched siren blaring inside a tunnel filled her head. She coughed out bits of her ex-husband’s flesh as she fought to catch her breath. The realization that she had inhaled skin and blood made her stomach churn.
Her lungs burned as though they’d been scorched by fire, and her jaw still ached, but she was alive. And though she’d suffered knocks and bruises, she believed with all her heart that her baby would survive as well. That her little one was healthy.
The weight of Ethan’s body flattened her to the ground. She opened her eyes, but her vision was limited by the film of blood and tissue stuck to her eyelids. The remnants of her ex-husband. She’d killed him. But she’d had no choice. If she hadn’t been able to get her pistol – if she’d lacked the strength to pull the trigger – both she and her child would be dead now.
Ethan’s limp fingers were still coiled around her neck. Repulsed by his touch, she shoved his body upward. She wriggled her legs and torso out from beneath him, scooting away from the edge of the bluff. The corpse rolled off of her and tumbled over the side of the cliff.
Ethan’s twisted game was over.
And she had won.
Her ex-husband would never be able to hurt her or her family again. Except for that fact, there was no sense of glory in her victory, only sadness. Grief for the innocent lives that had been taken and sorrow that her ex-husband had chosen a murderous path.
She thought about Shane – wondered whether he was still in surgery. Her heart ached for her younger brother. Would he be able to walk again? Or would he be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life?
Ashley scrubbed her face with the tail of her shirt. A metallic taste lingered on her tongue.
Ethan’s blood.
As soon as she had wiped away the sticky film from her eyelids, enabling herself to see, she sprang to her feet and ran back to the parking area. Detective Lansing laid crumpled on the ground in front of his car.
Blood marred Lansing’s face. His nose appeared broken, and his jaw was bruised and swollen. She checked for a pulse. He was alive, but unconscious. She needed to call for help, but her phone had sailed over the cliff in Ethan’s pocket.
The door of the detective’s sedan was unlocked. Ashley climbed inside and grabbed the microphone for the police radio.
“Hello, my name is Ashley Hope and I need help. A police detective has been injured. He’s unconscious and needs an ambulance.” She paused, her finger still pressing the talk button, feeling the weight of her next words. “And another man is dead. We’re located at Laurel Bluff. Please hurry.”
With her ears still ringing, she had to focus hard to understand the voice responding to her on the radio. But her call had been heard and help was on the way.
She rushed back to Lansing’s side. Before leaving the hospital in Cedar View, she’d texted the detective telling him she was driving to the bluff and that she believed Ethan might also be headed there. Assuming Lansing would be asleep at four in the morning, she’d never expected him to show up. She’d just wanted him to know where she’d gone in case something went wrong. In case she never came back.
Briarwood was a two-hour drive from Mettler Ridge. How had the detective reached the bluff so fast?
Lansing began to stir. His eyes opened and she saw his mouth move, but his voice sounded muffled. She wasn’t sure what he’d said. He winced as she helped him sit up.
“An ambulance will be here in just a few minutes,” she told him.
He nodded, holding his ribs. “Did he get away?”
The detective’s voice was faint compared to the buzzing in her ears, but she understood him. And she knew he was talking about her ex-husband.
“Ethan’s dead,” she said. “I shot him.”
Reality hit her as she said the words out loud. She had taken a human life. Tears streamed down her face. Not because she mourned her ex-husband, but because she felt something had changed deep within her. Like she’d lost a sense of innocence. Ethan was a murderer. He’d deserved to die for his crimes. Although she was glad it had been at her hands rather than someone else’s, she wished it had never happened at all.
Lansing met her gaze. She could see sympathy in his eyes.
“You had to,” he told her. “He would have killed us both.”
She knew the detective was right. If she had aimed her pistol at another part of Ethan’s body, simply wounding him instead, he would have thrown her off the side of the bluff. Killing him was the only way to save the lives of her child and Detective Lansing.
“I’m really glad you got my text,” she said. “If you hadn’t shown up … I don’t even want to think about what Ethan would have done to me.”
“Something tells me you still would have come out on top.”
She attempted a smile, but the action sent a wave of pain radiating through her jaw. “How did you get here so fast?”
“It was your tip about Janet Porter and Robin Lynch. The Laurel County sheriff offered to let me team up with him. To see what all we could find. We’d just wrapped up things at Robin’s house. I was halfway back to Briarwood when your text came through.”
Ashley was amazed at the detective’s dedication. He’d gone out of his way to ensure the safety of her brothers’ girlfriends.
“I can’t believe you traveled two hours just to test a theory,” she said.
“Yeah, but it was worth it. You were right.”
A bolt of fear hit her. Had her ex-husband taken another life? She knew Robin was okay, because she’d visited Shane in the hospital, but Ashley hadn’t seen Janet. Had Kyle kept her death a secret?
“Did Ethan …”
“Both women are fine,” he assured her. “Thanks to you. They got out of town just in time.”
She was relieved to hear that no harm had come to her brothers’ girlfriends.
The detective continued, “We got to Janet’s trailer first. Ethan had kicked in her back door. He ransacked the place. He also left something behind. A Buster’s Grape Bubble Gum wrapper on her porch.”
“What about Robin?”
“He broke a window to get into her house. Tossed her place too. Both women owe their lives to you.”
Instead of taking credit, Ashley again felt a pang of guilt. If she hadn’t married Ethan, the lives of Janet and Robin wouldn’t have been in jeopardy in the first place. She was just thankful she’d figured out her ex-husband’s plan before he could strike.
The detective looked at her, appreciation in his eyes. “You’ve got great instincts, Nancy Drew,” he said, with what appeared to be an effort to smile in spite of his swollen jaw. “And you obviously know how to handle a weapon. You should think about joining the force.”
Although she appreciated the compliment, Ashley couldn’t even consider the idea right now. She needed time.
The wail of emergency sirens echoed across the mountain. Ashley looked toward the east, past the edge of the bluff. The first rays of morning light broke over the horizon. A new day had begun.
It would also mark the start of a new life for Ashley and her family. She realized the journey ahead would be long, and the road to recovery – especially for Shane – would be difficult. But she knew that together, they would make it. They would draw strength from each other. And she knew just how they would begin.
