Part 34 (1/2)

”And?” The rapist grinned. He held his hands up. Steven went for the knife. The rapist swung his other arm toward him. He c.o.c.ked the gun.

”Steve!” Brianna screamed. Steven ducked. She kicked the rapist off the bed.

He shot the ceiling. He rolled on the floor. Steven held him up by his collar. He punched the rapist in the face. The rapist kneed Steven in the gut. Steven fell over in pain. Brianna couldn't tell them apart!

”Think you're so smart, huh?” The rapist kicked Steven in the chest. Steven's gun fell from his hands. The rapist grabbed it. ”f.u.c.k! A little p.u.s.s.y like you should have been flattered they thought you were me!” He kicked Steven again.

”Ahh!” Steven held his stomach.

”d.a.m.n, we really could be twins, huh?” The rapist cackled. ”Maybe we are brothers, you know?”

”f.u.c.k you.” Steven spat. ”I'm nothing like you!”

”No, you're not.” The rapist pointed Steven's gun at him. ”There's a major difference. I'll be alive and you won't!” He c.o.c.ked the gun. It jammed. Brianna crept behind him. She held her gun firmly. She pointed it straight into his back.

”You were saying?” she whispered.

He turned around. ”No one will believe any of this! I'll disappear like before!” He ran to the hall.

”s.h.i.+t, get him, Bree!” Steven held his stomach. Brianna heard footsteps charging upstairs. A group of uniformed officers stood smack dab in front of the Albany Predator. He twitched and turned as if he couldn't believe he'd been cornered. Brianna rested against the bedroom door. Two cops grabbed the rapist by his arms. They turned him around where he faced Brianna.

It seemed all over. For some reason she couldn't celebrate. The rapist smiled.

His eyes searched her body like they had many times before. He flinched while the cops snapped the handcuffs on him. She walked toward him. Steven limped from the bedroom. The group of officers gasped. Some did a double-take at the lookalike cop and rapist.

Brianna stared into the Predator's eyes. ”Guess you didn't get me like you hoped. Sorry things were messed up for you.” She snickered.

”I still won, Brianna. Because I'll be in your life forever from now on.” He looked at Steven. ”In both of your lives. You'll never forget me. You probably won't be able to look at each other the same way again.” Brianna looked at Steven. ”I put a doubt in your mind that will always be there, Brianna. Even you can't change that. I may not have left my mark on your body, but I have left it on your life. I left it on all of their lives! They'll never forget me! So whose work is more important, hmm?”

”I just can't understand why after all you've done, I still feel sorry for you,” Brianna whispered.

He licked his lips. ”You would've loved it, sweetheart. Every time you close your eyes you'll think of me kissing you. You'll think of how you almost made love to me.” Steven gaped. ”I can handle being in prison, being behind bars. I can handle anything!” The cops stared at him. ”But tell me, Brianna. Can you live with your memories of me?” He grinned. ”'Cause I don't think you can.”

”Get him out of here!” Steven ordered. Brianna turned to Steven when the others left. Brianna lifted her arms to hug Steven. He moved away. She watched him in awe.

”So uh, it's over.” She smiled. ”That's great, huh? At least now we can resume to our normal lives.” She crossed her arms. ”Until our next case.” She chuckled. He stared at her. ”Steven, what's wrong?”

”'Kissing you,' 'making love to you.'” He scoffed.

”Steve.” She touched his face. ”Are you jealous?” she whispered. ”Steven, I had to do those things to get him.”

”I'm not talking about that, Bree.” He moved her hands from his face. ”I'm talking about the fact that he could do those things and you not be able to tell the difference.”

”Steve.”

”Yeah.” He sucked in tears. ”You couldn't tell his kisses from mine? As close as we were?” She looked away. ”Bree, how is that supposed to make me feel?”

”Steven, I never meant to hurt you,” she whispered. He limped downstairs.

”But I guess I did.” She sighed.

”It looks so beautiful on you, Sarah.” Keith looked over his shoulder at the diamond bracelet on Sarah's arm. They slow-danced around his bedroom. Sarah couldn't believe how emotions could change in just a day. A day earlier she had yearned for Keith's touch. She depended on his kisses. She lived for his veneration. Tonight she simply felt dead. His touch meant nothing more than being with a stranger on the street. She moved away from him. He seemed to sense the distress in her eyes.

”You don't like it, do you?” He turned off the little stereo on his dresser.

”The bracelet is beautiful, Keith. But I'm still not satisfied with what you've told me. I'm also not satisfied by how you cooked all of this up.”

”I haven't cooked anything up, Sarah.” He sat on the edge of the bed. ”I love you. Why can't that just be all that matters?”

She sighed. ”It used to be, Keith. But tonight it's not. I can't be with someone who's not honest with me. How can I build a relations.h.i.+p with someone like that?” She took off the bracelet. He raised an eyebrow. ”I think this belongs to you.”

”What are you doing?” he grumbled.

She held the bracelet in front of him. ”I'm giving you back your...”

He grabbed her hand. ”No you're not.”

”Let go.” She sighed.

”No. I don't want the d.a.m.n bracelet back, Sarah! I bought it for you as a symbol of how much I care for you!”

”I don't want it, Keith!”

He waved his arms. ”Why the h.e.l.l not? Sarah, I don't get this! Things have been great! It's been the best! Why in the h.e.l.l are you stopping now?”

”Didn't you hear a word I've said, Keith? I don't want the d.a.m.n bracelet!” She threw it at him. She walked to the dresser. ”It's over.”

He smirked. ”The f.u.c.k it is. You can't just walk in here and break this off without giving me a reason. Even then, I won't let you.”

”There's so many reasons I can't count them, Keith! The main one is that you haven't been honest! The other is that being with you has destroyed my sister's life! I can't keep hurting her like this. It's time I finally do what's best for her.”

”s.h.i.+t, you've done that your whole d.a.m.n life, Sarah! That's the point! You do everything to suit Melody but she doesn't give a s.h.i.+t about you. If so then she wouldn't want us to break up! Don't let Melody ruin this. You said I loved you unlike any other man and that you loved me the same.”

”I do.”

He grabbed her. ”Then that's the only thing we need, Sarah! We belong together. What about all the plans we made?” She looked away. ”We even talked about getting married! What about...what about Europe?”

She rubbed her face. ”Keith, stop, please.”

”No, we made all these plans to be together, Sarah! Think about the trip, baby.”

He held her. ”We can go on it even sooner than we planned. We can go this month if you want.” She scoffed. ”Sarah, we can go there and you'll see that this is right. That it's always been right. It'll just be you and me. No one to interfere. That's the way it's supposed to be.”

She turned toward the dresser. She'd been afraid that his charm would sway her. G.o.d, she'd never met anyone like Keith before. He could make the worst times seem like blessings. Every word he said ran like a song in her ears. She shut her eyes. Going to Europe with him had been all she could think about for weeks. She thought it would be good to give Melody some time on her own. It would be so perfect. Sarah knew that.

Until she saw the earring.

She batted her eyes. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. She picked up the little golden leaf. She examined it closely. She'd know this earring anywhere. It belonged to Melody. She faced Keith. His face twisted into what Sarah could describe as only confusion. He didn't have to bother to explain this. Finding the earring somehow put all the pieces together.

”Sarah...” He held up his hand. ”What, what do you have there?”