My Sunshine (30 page)

He heard a set of footsteps approaching the door, then the
sound of the lock unlatching. Finally, the door swung open and John was greeted by a gun - and Scott Gerber.

“Run,
John!” Chloe screamed. “Run!”

“Hello,
John,” the intruder said coldly. “Surprised to see me?” It was a rhetorical question, and he shoved the gun closer to John’s face. “Get in here.”

John
knew he didn’t have a choice, and he offered little resistance as Scott pushed him into the room. He locked the door behind them. John started toward the bed where Chloe was being held, but Scott grabbed his arm and held him back.

“No, sir.” He pushed
John toward the seating area. “She’s mine,” he said.

“No!”
John said. He tried to see what condition Chloe was in. “What have you done to her?”

Scott
shook his head. “Nothing more than you did to Rachael.”

Still pointing the gun at
John, he dragged a wooden folding chair out of the corner, something he had brought in from another room. He unfolded it and ordered John to sit down in it.

John
hesitated and turned to take a swing at Scott, disregarding the danger of the gun. He was met by the gun smashing against the side of his head. Everything went dark. When he came to, he was securely tied to the chair both his hands and feet bound by strong nylon cording. John’s head lolled to one side, and he tired to focus on Chloe.

“Can you see her?”
Scott asked.

John
nodded. The chair was in the perfect position to see Chloe lying on the bed, her hands bound to the headboard with the same kind of rope. She was dressed only in her bra and panties. “What have you done to her?” he demanded again.

Scott
shook his head. “Nothing yet.” He double checked the knots keeping John secure and went to the bed. Chloe screamed.

“No!”
John struggled with the ropes, but was tied tight. He wasn’t going anywhere. “Don’t hurt her!”

Scott
, who was now shirtless and had his jeans unzipped, pointed the gun at John’s face. “Shut up.” He tied a dirty bandana around his head, blindfolding him.

John
dropped his head
.
Oh Go
d
, he prayed
.
I am so sorry for what I have caused. Please, please help us through this.

Please don’t let him hurt her. Please God, let him take my life
and spare hers. I love her so much. Please let her live, and don’t let him hurt her.

Chloe
saw Scott coming toward her. “No!” She screamed. “What are you going to do to me?”

Scott
smiled at her, and it sent chills down her spine.

“What ever you want, baby,” he said.

“Please don’t,” Chloe said. “Please.”

Scott
slid down on the bed next to her and put his hand over one of her breasts. “Do you know why I am here?”

Chloe
shook her head. “No. Did John do something to you?”

Scott
nodded. “He sure did, baby,” he unclasped the front clasp of her bra. It fell open, exposing her to him. “Nice, nice,” he murmured.

Chloe
tried to ignore what he was doing to her. “What?”

“He had sex with my wife,”
Scott said.

Chloe
winced. “Is that what you are going to do to me?”

“Sure,”
Scott said. He pushed down the waistband of his underwear to expose himself. He lay down next to Chloe and rubbed himself against her leg until he had achieved an erection.

He positioned himself between her legs and ripped off her
panties.

See, Banana-brain, you’re only good for sex.
John is letting him do this to you.

“No!”
Chloe cried more against the voice than Scott Gerber. “No! No!”

“
Chloe!” John cried.

“Shut up, both of you,”
Scott said. He got back up off the bed, adjusted his briefs and grabbed the gun. He ripped off the blindfold. “Maybe you want to watch,” he said to John.

“Don’t do that to her.”

Scott laughed. “Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? You didn’t ask me before you screwed Rachael.”

“I didn’t know she was married,”
John explained.

“Oh, well, then,”
Scott said sarcastically, “that just makes it okay. I’m sorry. I think I’ll just go.” He laughed.

“What do you want?”
John asked. “Money?”

Scott
shook his head. “I want rid of you.” He pointed the gun at him again. “I’m tired of you getting everything you want. We both came from the same place; why do you win and I lose? You’re not winning anymore.”

“Then shoot me,”
John said. “Go ahead and kill me. Kill me and leave her alone. Let her go.”

Scott
pulled back the hammer. Chloe heard the click and screamed. “No! Do what ever you want to me. Don’t hurt him.”

“
Chloe, no!” John said.

Scott
laughed. “Maybe I’ll just kill you both.” He uncocked the gun and holstered it in the waistband of his pants.

John
’s cell phone began to ring. His customized ring tone told him that it was Tyler. “I have to get that.”

“No, you don’t,”
Scott snapped.

“Yes,”
John insisted. “We’re supposed to meet someone.

If we don’t show, they’ll come looking.”

“So?” Scott said. “I wouldn’t mind collecting me a whole room full of you pansy-fags.”

“The cops might come,”
John said. “The explosion, you know. We’re supposed to be on guard.”

Scott
considered this. “Answer it. Throw them off.”

“I can’t reach it,”
John said.

Scott
crossed the room to John and pulled the phone off of John’s waistband. He flipped it open and held it up to John’s ear. “Hello?”

“
John,” Tyler said. “I was starting to think that you didn’t want to talk to me.”

“No, man. What’s up?
”
I’ve got to let him know somehow what’s going on.

“Everyone else is already at Mike’s. You and
Chloe need to get over here. They want us all together. They don't think it was random.”

“I don’t really feel like going out tonight. I think me and
Chloe are just going to order in.”

“What?
John, what are you talking about? Didn’t you hear me? The bomb was meant for us.”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll call you sometime tomorrow.”

“John, what is going on, man? You’re freaking me out.”

“I’m sorry.”

John could hear Tyler gasp. “Should I send someone over?” He asked. “Is Chloe okay?”

“Yeah, you should.”

“Like an ambulance?”

“Oh, no.”

John winced as Scott pushed the gun against his temple.

“Hurry up,” he growled.

“Like the police?”

“Yeah, man. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

Scott pulled the phone the phone away from his ear. “That took too long.”

“Sorry, man,”
John said unapologetically. He glanced toward Chloe. She was staring straight up at the ceiling.

Scott
went back to the bed and double-checked Chloe’s bonds. He put his shirt back on and rechecked the ropes around

John
. “I’m going to get something to eat and some smokes.”

John
watched him disappear. He waited until he heard the front door shut. “Chloe?” John called. “Are you okay?”

Chloe
didn’t answer. “Chloe?” He looked down at his shoes. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. Everything that has happened today is my fault.”

“Why,
John?” Chloe asked. “Why did you sleep with his wife?
”
Because that’s what he does, stupid. He sleeps wit
h
women, lots of women. You’re just one of them. You kno
w
he’s been doing it since you’ve been together.

“I didn’t know,
Chloe. I promise.”

“It’s always something with you,
John: Monica Williams, Jane’s sister and now this. What can I expect next?
”
Wha
t
difference does it make, Chloe? You’re going to die.

“I’m sorry,
Chloe. Nothing else is going to happen. Tyler knows something is wrong. Hopefully, he’ll send the police.”

“This has been a bad, bad day,
John.”

“I know.”

“The voice is back.”

John
’s eyes welled with tears. He didn’t cry often, but he couldn’t help himself. He had promised her that she would get better. “How bad is it?”

“She doesn’t like you. She says I’m going to die.”

“You’re not going to die, Chloe. Listen to me; don’t listen to her. We’re going to get through this.
”
Dear God, please
,
She is so fragile. She can’t take this. Please get her out of this situation
.
“Did he hurt you?”

Chloe
finally turned her head and looked at John. “No. Please don’t let him rape me.”

“I’ve got to get us out of here,” he said. He pulled and
tugged against the ropes to no avail
.
This is my chance. I’ve go
t
to get us out of here while he is gone. Tyler, buddy, I hope yo
u
called the police.

There has got to be a way to break this chai
r
. He looked around. There was nothing other than the wall that he could slam the chair into to break it, and because his ankles were tied to the chair he couldn’t stand up.

“Crap!” He screamed. “
Chloe! Chloe, listen to me.

Can you get loose?”

She pulled at her bonds. “I don’t think so.”

He wiggled and bounced in the chair as much as he could,
trying to loosen the joints in the chair. The chairs had taken a lot of abuse when all five of the guys had lived there, and as he moved around, he felt the chair getting weaker and weaker. He moved around furiously. Sweat formed on his forehead and

began to roll down his face, stinging his eyes.

  Finally, he heard the telltale crack of one of the legs breaking. He continued slamming himself around on the chair until the front legs broke free. He stood up with his arms still tied to the chair behind his back. He swung himself around and slammed the chair against the dresser, smashing it to pieces.

Once the chair fell apart, he was able to slip his hands out of the
ropes. He ran to the bed to free Chloe.

Scott
suddenly reappeared and held the gun to John's head.

“The police are outside! What the hell did you say on the
phone? I should kill you right now.” He pulled the hammer back and placed the barrel of the gun against John’s temple.

“If you kill him the police will kill you,”
Chloe said.

“You don’t want to die.”

Scott looked at her. “You’re right little lady, I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to live like a rock star, too.

Although I would have expected that you would have a little
better place than this.” He lowered the gun. “How much money do you have?”

“What?”
John asked.

“How much money do you have?”
Scott repeated slowly.

“I don’t know.”

The answer seemed to annoy him. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You have millions, right? It has to be; I see your ugly face every time I turn around.”

“Yeah, millions,”
John agreed, “but it’s invested. I can’t get to most of it.”

“But someone can,”
Scott said. “I want it.”

“Okay,”
John agreed, willing to agree to anything. “You can have it. Just let us go.”

They could hear someone in the kitchen.
Scott went to the door, eased it open a few inches and fired two shots.

“We’ve got this place surrounded,” a voice called through
some sort of megaphone.

Thank you,
Tyler. Thank you, God!

“Get out of the house,”
Scott demanded. “I’ll kill them both. Get out!” He fired a shot into the wall over John’s head.

Chloe
screamed.

He pointed the gun back at
John. “This is not going to end pretty.” He paced the floor smoking cigarettes and muttering to himself.