21 Dares: A Florida Suspense Mystery (21 page)

“I’m
slipping.” Susan struggled to lift herself up. “I… can’t… hold… on…”

“You’ve
got to,” Abbie said through clenched teeth. She scrunched her eyes, strained to
raise her arm and lift Susan back up. But Susan was too heavy. Abbie’s grip
weakened.

“I’m…
slip—” Susan screamed.

“Hold
on!” Abbie grunted. She felt the ends of Susan’s finger tips. The reality of
what was happening—
what was going to
happen
—was instantly clear. Susan’s fingers slipped out of Abbie’s hand.

Susan
dropped.

Abbie
fell with her. She reached for the guard rail on the fire escape.
Grasped it.
Wrapped both arms around the metal
pole.
Hanging in the air, she gulped a breath. She looked down.

Susan’s
arms thrashed wildly as she fell. An animal-like shriek burst from her lungs,
echoing through the dark streets.

Then
silence.
 

Abbie
shut her eyes.
Turned her head away.
Her stomach
turned to ice. Wind whistled in her ears as she held onto the metal pole, her
body dangling. Below, Dharma and the twins stood quiet, as if there had been a
second of disbelief that passed through them,
then
the
screaming began. Abbie could hear them crying. She opened her eyes. Her arms
weakened with the weight of her legs kicking freely in the air. She struggled
to hold on.
 

Her
arms gave. She slipped. Her hands gripped the edge of the metal grate landing.
Her fingers looped into the holes. She looked down again. Dharma and the twins crouched
around Susan’s body like they were praying over it.
Poor Susan
.
Was she dead?
Alive?
Abbie couldn’t think
about that right now.

She
tried to pull herself up. Her arms weren’t strong enough.

Below
her, one of the girls—Lindsey, maybe Dharma—yelled, “Hang on.” But Abbie
couldn’t. Her fingers were slipping. Her joints ached. The pain intensified.
Her feet grew heavier. The pain sharpened, pulling her arms out of her
shoulders. Gravity had hold of her. She could literally feel its grasp. It
pulled on her legs.
Stretched the tendons in her arms.
Her shoulders were on fire. Her wrists burned. Her fingers strained.
Ached.
On the verge of giving up.

She
was slipping.

Sweat.
Blood.
It didn’t matter. Her mind scrambled.

She
tried to block out the pain.
Hold on
,
she told herself.
Just hold on
. Her
eyes flooded. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.
Dripped off
her chin.
Her nose was running.
 
She looked up at the ledge. She had to pull
herself up. She focused all her energy to her arms.
Held her
breath.
Set her sights on the ledge—
when
she saw him
.

He
was standing there.

On the roof.
 
Leaning over the short
perimeter wall.
Looking down at her.

She
saw his face but her brain couldn’t process it.

She
gasped. Almost let go.

The
man with the brown hat and tan trench coat was standing there.
Watching her.

Chapter 25

A
bbie opened her mouth to scream. She had no
voice left. All her energy was focused on her death grip to the metal grate. Her
eyes scrunched. She tried to keep them open, but they closed, tight. Her fingertips
pressed hard on the metal. Her fingernails scratched the steel. Still, her grip
loosened.

Even
with her eyes closed, Abbie felt his weight land on the fire escape. It shifted
the space around her. The metal joints wailed as he moved. He was coming near
her, above her. Fingers clamped around her wrist.
 
A strong grip.
A tight grip.

“I
got you.” His voice was deep, raspy.

Abbie
grasped his lower arm. Her heart pounded. Gravity released her. She suddenly
felt free and her legs flailed. Abbie opened her eyes. He lifted her up.

 
“I got you,” he said, squeezing her bicep
s. He raised his arms.
Grabbed the back of her belt.
Got an arm beneath her and hefted
her upper body onto the fire escape landing. She bent at the waist. Brought her
right leg up first, then the other, and rolled onto her side, the core of her
body firmly planted on the grated platform. She lay on the cold steel, inhaled
deeply, then cried. The tears flowed freely, and she couldn’t stop them.

The man stood over her. His hat was gone. His
gray hair swirled in the wind.

“Just breathe,” he said. He put a hand on her
back and helped her sit.
“You’re
all right. Just breathe.”

“Thank
you.” Abbie wheezed, coughed,
then
sat up.
She couldn’t stop the shaking. Her arms
folded tight with her hands tucked in her armpits. Her hair tangled around her
head, brushed her face. Her cheeks flushed.
She coughed again. The man
towered over her. She didn’t recognize him and scooted crab-like toward the ladder.
Her legs felt weak, rubbery. She clung to the railing. “You’ve been following
me.”

“I’m
not going to hurt you,” he said. He slowly removed his trench coat and stepped
toward her. She flinched as he kneeled beside her. She was too winded to move.
He wrapped the tan trench coat around her shoulders. “You’re in shock. Just take
a moment to catch your breath.”

“What
do you want?”

“I
want you to relax,” he said. He stretched out an arm.
 
She pushed it away. He tried again. “You know
me.”

“I
have to get outta here.” She unfolded her arms, shrugging the coat from her
shoulders. It fell around her hips on the grate. She searched for her phone. It
wasn’t there. It must have fallen from the ledge.

“You
know me, Abbie,” he said calmly. “You know me.”

Abbie
paused. She studied his face. There was something familiar. Even in the dark,
his eyes sparkled. His smile widened, revealing a row of white teeth. Gradually,
she remembered.

A face popped-up in the
attic scuttle, blocking the light from the hallway. It was a new man, with a
moustache. He had blue eyes.
Kind eyes.
And he smiled.

“Abbie Reed?” His voice
was calm. “Abbie, I’m a police officer and you’re safe now.”

Abbie
remembered it clearly. She’d almost forgotten him. “You were there,” she said.
“That night. You were there.”

“I
protected you.”

 
“You carried me out of the house. You saw my
sister—”

He
held out his hand. “That’s right, Abbie. It’s me.
Charlie
Hicks.”

“I
gotta get outta here. I gotta check on Susan.” She stood, catching a glimpse of
the gun holstered on his belt around his waist. Her eyes opened wide. “Are you
still a police officer?”

“No.
Not anymore. But I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Get
away from me.” She stood and climbed the metal ladder. Reaching the perimeter
wall, she climbed over it and planted her feet on the concrete roof. She looked
back. Charlie Hicks was on the ladder, climbing over the wall. She moved away
from him, holding up a hand. “I said, get away from me.”

“You
need to sit down and catch your breath.”

“No, stay back!”
She dashed across the
roof toward the exit door. He followed, came up behind her. She opened the door.
He reached above her, held the door shut.

“It’s
not safe in there,” he said.

She
struggled with the handle,
then
turned. Her back against
the metal door, she looked up at him. “What do you want?”

“Don’t
go back into the stairwell.” He
whispered,
his breath
hot on her cheek. “It’s not safe.”

“Why
are you doing this?”

He
gripped her upper arm. She struggled, broke free of his grip. He backed away
with both hands raised.

“Abbie,
I’ve been watching over you,” he said. “You’re not safe.”

“I’m
not safe? Is that a joke? Where’s McKenzie? What have you done with her?” She
tightened her back against the metal door. She gripped the handle, her thumb on
the knob.

“I
don’t know anything about your friend.” He lowered his hands. “But I can tell
you that you’re in danger.”

“Are
you threatening me? Tell me what you did to her!”

“Come
with me and I’ll take you home.” He took a step toward her.
“Back
to Pembroke.”
He stepped closer, reached for her. She kicked him, hard,
directly in the groin. He grunted and doubled over. She swung the door open.
Ran through it.
Headed down the stairwell.
The heavy exit door slammed shut, plunging her into darkness. She didn’t care. Blind,
Abbie bound down the steps, two at a time.

She
held onto the railing along the wall, turned when she reached the fourth floor.
She whipped around the next corner and dropped another level.

When
the door at the roof level opened above her, it flooded the stairwell with
light. Abbie heard him coming down the steps after her. She picked up pace. The
door above slammed shut, echoing, and the stairwell went dark again. She
dropped to the second floor landing without looking back. His steps echoed, competing
with
her own
footfalls. She ran faster.

She
dropped to the bottom floor. She ran her hands along the wall, feeling for the exit
door. She jiggled the handle. It wouldn’t budge. The door was locked. She tried
harder, looked behind her, then tried the door again.

He
was coming.

She
beat her fists on the door and screamed for help. She could feel him
approaching, his body barreling down the stairs. In seconds he would be on top
of her. She beat harder on the door and tried the handle again.

It
suddenly opened.

Light
rushed into the corridor, and Abbie raised an arm to protect her eyes. It was a
flashlight.

“Ma’am,
are you okay?” A man in a dark blue uniform held the door open. She rushed past
him into the large receiving room.

“Hold
on,” he said. It was the police. There were two officers. She fell between
them. They gripped her, held her up.

“He’s
in there.” She pointed to the dark stairwell. “He killed Susan. He killed her.”

More
police officers came into the room. Firmly gripping her arms, they led her through
the receiving area. Holding the front doors open, she paused and glanced over
her shoulder. The first two officers were stepping into the stairwell.

“He’s
got a gun,” she called to them. “He’s armed.”

 
The officers disappeared into the stairwell.
The door slammed shut behind them.

Outside,
Abbie headed into the street and feared she’d stepped into a war zone. Half a
dozen police
cruisers angled in
front of the building, lights flashing in and out of sync.
A fire truck blocked traffic on Eighth Street. A
police officer held back a crowd of pedestrians and onlookers crowded on the
sidewalks. Near the building, an EMS team had Susan on a gurney.

As
they passed, Abbie saw Susan’s face, bloodied and scratched. Her head was
positioned in a brace with a collar around her neck. Her eyes were closed. As
they brought the gurney to the ambulance, Abbie had to press herself all the
way between two flashing squad cars to make room. Abbie froze where she stood;
she couldn’t help herself. Susan’s face was just inches away, and Abbie
couldn’t help but stare. Susan’s eyes opened ever so slightly. She made a
sound,
then
lost consciousness again.

“She’s
alive!” Abbie looked at two EMTs dressed in white. “Is she going to be okay?”

They
pushed her aside as they lifted the gurney into the waiting ambulance.
 

With
her heart thumping in her ears, Abbie looked for Dharma and the twins. When she
spotted them, she ran past the squad cars and police officers to the girls.

“Susan’s
alive,” Abbie said. Lindsey shook her head, her eyes swollen with tears. Abbie
looked away at the screaming ambulance, then back at them. “I saw him,” she said.
“I saw the man who did this.”

“What’d
he look like?” “Who was he?” “Was it the man who was following you?” They all
asked at once.

“Abbie’s
eyes shifted to Dharma, then Lindsey and Lindsay. “McKenzie is in real danger.”

“I
know,” Dharma said. She handed Abbie her phone. “We got the text message too.”

Abbie
looked down at the phone as a female officer approached. Abbie had forgotten
about the incoming text. It came when she and Susan were standing on the ledge.
It was the surprise beep that led to Susan’s fall. As the officer led her to a
waiting ambulance, Abbie read the message.