Haunted(61)

Berg and I lifted Andrew and carried him outside to the pool area. Berg grabbed a couple of scarfs off of the jacket rack by the back door. We carried him to the side of the house where no one else could see.

“Berg, get me one of those lawn chair pillows, quickly.”

I tied Andrew’s hands with one scarf and his legs with another. Berg brought over a pillow.

“Berg, go inside the garage and look in my tool chest. There should be nylon rope and big zip ties. Bring them to me so we can better secure him.”

Berg ran and I was finally alone with Andrew. Berg hadn’t asked me why I wanted a pillow. Maybe on some level, he knew. I didn’t want to do this, but I had to. He would keep coming at my family until one of us was killed, if not all of us. I held the pillow against Andrew’s face, over his mouth and nose. It didn’t take long because he was unconscious and couldn’t fight. I pressed my fingers against his throat and felt no pulse. Andrew was finally dead.

I looked at the pillow for any blood from his head. Nope, Jenson hit him in the back so no messy blood on the pillow. I stood and put the pillow back on the chair and looked inside. I couldn’t see Beth, but I saw Dennis on the phone with someone. No one had seen me. Finally, Berg ran over with the zip ties and the rope. I played along and put two zip ties on each ankle and linked one in the middle. Berg used one to zip tie Andrew’s wrists. I heard police sirens. If I got busted, then so be it, but at least Beth and Joey were safe and I could live with that.

***

Chief Moses took everyone’s statement and eventually the house cleared. The coroner left with Andrew’s body. Chief Moses said the coroner noted the death looked consistent with the blunt force trauma to his head, and considering how many times Beth had hit him on the head with a Maglite, he was surprised he hadn’t dropped dead in the last month. Chief Moses said that it was obviously self-defense and there would be no further investigation.

I didn’t know if luck was on my side or if the county didn’t like to spend a lot of extra funding for autopsies that don’t look suspicious, but I’d take it. I was sure I would have to explain my actions to God one day, but God knew what kind of bastards we’d dealt with. He probably sent them on an express train to Hell himself.

After Jensen gave his statement, I walked him outside.

“Jensen, thank you. You saved Beth’s life, and I will be forever grateful.”

“No problem, mate.”

“Just curious, why did you come back?”

He looked a little embarrassed. “Went out to a club with my date, got high, got bored, so I tupped her and took her home. I decided to come back here because I thought the party that Beth had planned sounded kind of fun. I was going to apologize to her and show her my pockets were clean and ask her to forgive me.”

I nodded. I got it. The regular partying that we did, it got old. People could only screw, get high, go dancing so many times before it got tiresome. That was why Beth’s Rock of Ages party sounded fun to him. A night with good people, good music, and just fun. I patted his back and told him I’d call him when we started working in the new studio.

After he drove off, I looked at the house. Only Berg and Eve were left. Dennis and Phoebe wanted to go home and get their kids. I understood because part of me wanted to go pick up Joey. When my life was threatened, I wanted to be with my family, with the people I loved.

Berg and Eve walked out the front door holding hands. It didn’t surprise me. There was something about a horrible event that made people realize who was important and who wasn’t. When Beth was raped by Tate, I knew without a doubt I was in love with her because it hurt so much. I thought Berg knowing Eve was with a psychopath for so many months made him realize whom he needed. He needed Eve, and by the looks of it, it looked as though Eve needed him too.

“Where are you two going?”

“Not sure yet.” Berg spoke.

“Go crash in the guesthouse. Beth has it fully stocked for when Berg stays over. I’m sure she has anything that you might need, Eve.” I smiled at them.

“I got what I need.” She smiled and took Berg’s hand, so she could lead him to the guesthouse.

The only person I wanted to see right now was my wife. I ran up the porch steps and went inside the house. I turned and locked up the house tight. I turned and Beth was in the kitchen cleaning up.

“Beth,” I called in a hushed tone. I didn’t want to startle her.

“Yeah? Why don’t you go up to bed, and I’ll be up when I finish up in here.”

She didn’t sound like my Beth. I went to her and turned her around. She had been crying. I could see the dark makeup streaked down her face. It reminded me of our first couple of days in the basement. I shut the dishwasher and took her hand. I pulled her from the kitchen, turning out the light, and led her upstairs. Once we were in our bedroom, I shut the door and turned to her.

“Beth?”

“We could have died tonight,” she sobbed. I was a little confused.

“You went through worse in the CRV with Andrew, but you were fine with that. Why?”

“Because you were safe. Because you were safe and tonight I thought—I thought for sure he was going to kill you.” She cried and fell into my arms. “I can’t live without you, Roman. I was so f*cking scared.” As I held her, I realized that was why she was so strong when fighting Andrew. Joey and I were safe. Here we had both been worried about the other surviving.