Pathfinder

Part 2 - 29

TWENTY NINE—LEXI

I couldn't believe I let this happen. I was usually so cautious and alert. If I had been paying attention, I would have noticed the back window of my car had been broken out, leaving shattered glass all over the parking lot. I would have never gotten into my car then. In my defense, it was growing dark and I was exhausted. It was the end of the semester and teacher conferences had gone on all day and well into the evening. Being the school counselor, it wasn't necessarily a requirement to meet with the parents. I chose to do so anyway. I opened my office to anyone who wanted to meet me or talk about a problem they thought I could help their kids with. By the time I finished and cleaned up my desk, I was one of the last to leave and the parking lot was mostly empty. I was so tired I hadn't realized this corner of the lot wasn't as well-lit as other spots, giving the intruder in my back seat ample opportunity for this ambush.

I'd just put my key in the ignited when the feel of cold, hard steel was pressed to the back of my head and a voice demanded, "You're going to do exactly as I say or I'm going to blow your brains out."

I yelped in fear and then followed his instructions. Start the car. Drive. Take a right. Take a left. Turn right. Another right. Left. Left. Park there and turn off the car. Act normal or I'll shoot you. After that I knew I was toast. I should have taken the risk of a bullet to my brain, before he got me behind the closed door of this dingy motel room. As soon as he lowered the gun, away from my head, I turned around and backed up, until I ran into the wall. I stared at him, trying to place him, but had no clue who he was. So was this a random act? Did he just choose me because I had left myself vulnerable? Was this it for me? I finally found my way back to the man I love and we were supposed to get married. We'd talked about babies and now I didn't know if I'd live past today.

The man sneered at me, "That fucker thinks he's so smart. He said nobody messes with what's his, well now I've got his woman."

My eyes widened. So this guy knew Brody. Wait a minute, I blurted, "You're Ron Depew."

Ron smirked, "Oh, Brody got himself a smart one, huh? Then you should be smart enough to keep your mouth shut. Don't make me shut it for you!"

I winced and slid down the wall, trying to make myself as small as possible. He seemed content to leave me alone for now and I needed to keep it that way. Things could be so much worse. He could have kidnapped me, just to rape me. Thank God that thought hadn't seemed to enter his mind...yet. The quieter I was, the less likely he'd think about me at all.

The shrill ring of a cell phone made me jump. Ron pulled it from his pocket and put it to his ear, "I've got her. Come and get her." Then he disconnected and began to pace, pausing to peek out the curtain covered window now and again. His phone rang again, but this time he silenced it and put it back into his pocket. Apparently, he'd issued whatever threats he'd planned on issuing. There had been no mention of ransom, like when Ron had kidnapped Ricky. So Ron wasn't after money this time. What was he after?

"No!" I choked on the word, startling Ron, who glared at me. I stood and shook my head, "No, you can't kill him. Ron, don't do this. You'll go to prison for life this time. You're free right now. Leave and I'll forget this happened. I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to lure Brody here so you can kill him. Aren't you?"

"Like I said, you're a smart one. I'd like nothing more than to put a bullet between your lips to shut you up, but I need you alive for now. Dead bait doesn't usually catch the fish." Ron said with a snort. "And I'm not free. I've been rotting in jail cell for weeks, but I couldn't take it anymore. So I escaped. It was easier than I thought it'd be. I'm already in trouble, so I may as well do whatever the fuck I want, because I'm going down anyway. I plan on taking that fucker out one way or another, before I'm locked up for good. He ruined my life!"

I knew better than to argue with a crazy man with a gun, but we were talking about him killing the man that I love. We'd been robbed of six years already, I wouldn't allow anyone to take more time away from us. So I slowly advanced on Ron, speaking softly, "Ron, you don't want to kill anyone. You're actually a nice guy. I know money changes people. It goes to their heads, but no amount of money is worth taking a life. I know you think Brody robbed you of your life, of the money that was your due."

"It is my due! I married his shrew of a sister and did everything her old man asked! That family owes me!" Ron shouted.

I nodded, placating, "You did that, you're right, but Ron things sometimes happen to change our path. If I never had crazy purple hair in high school, I doubt Brody would have tried to use me to piss off his parents and then we wouldn't be where we are today."

"That fucker used you! That's what those people do. They use you and then discard you." He ranted, not picking up on what I was trying to say. I was going to try to explain that sometimes people's paths change and we just needed to roll with it, but I could see nothing was going to get through to this man. Dread filled me, down to the bone. If I knew Brody, he'd come storming in here without any regard to his own safety.

I needed to try to escape. If Ron didn't have me anymore, then maybe I could get to Brody before he came storming in here. I glanced around. Ron stood next to the door and window, so no escape route there. I looked toward the bathroom. Was that natural light, coming from there? Was it too much to hope that this motel room had a bathroom window? I glanced back at Ron, "May I use the bathroom?"

Ron waved me away, impatiently, and went to check through the window again. I didn't waste any more time. I went into the bathroom, making sure to lock the door, and then threw the shower curtain aside. A window, in the back of the shower, beckoned me. I tried the latch, but it seemed stuck. I needed something stronger than my fingers to pry that latch open. I glanced around the bathroom. A plunger sat next to the toilet, so I quickly grabbed it and used the wooden handle to try to open the latch. A moment later, it clicked open and I pushed the window wide. Then I tried to hoist myself up and over the ledge. The window wasn't overly large, so it's a good thing I wasn't a very big person.

I had just managed to get myself halfway out the window when the gunshots and shoots started. I gasped and lost my balance, falling out the window and onto my head, before I could get my hands down to protect myself. Everything went black as I wondered what the headlines surrounding my death would say. "Girl falls to her death out of Motel 6 bathroom window." How embarrassing?