A Week From Sunday (33 page)

Chapter 27

“S
URE IS A PRETTY
night,
n’est-ce pas
?”

“It really is.”

Adrianna walked comfortably beside Gabe down the streets of Lee’s Point. It was after midnight, and most of the town slumbered quietly beneath the many stars above. A light breeze stirred the treetops gently, carrying with it the fresh smell of a rain shower that had fallen earlier in the night.

After a week of bed rest, Adrianna had felt much improved. While Quinn had been adamant that she get another couple of days of rehabilitation, she had insisted that she was well enough to resume her duties at the Whipsaw’s piano. In the end, he had relented. Even though she had spent much of the evening with one eye peeled for Richard Pope, the session had gone without a hitch. Now, the day weighing heavily on her shoulders, she was escorted home by Gabe as Quinn stayed behind to close down the tavern.

“I bet it feels right nice to be out of the house,” he commented.

“I’ll say,” she agreed. “While I truly appreciated everything that Quinn and Jesse did for me, I was tired of that room.”

“C’est la vérité!”
Gabe laughed.

They turned the corner and headed up the street toward the Baxter house. As they walked, the only sounds that could be heard above that of their footfalls were the calls of crickets. All around them was darkness, and Gabe and Adrianna made their way more by familiarity than by sight.

When they reached the house, Gabe pulled the wrought-iron gate open and led the way up the short walk. Halfway to the steps, Adrianna suddenly halted and stared up at the tall windows that lined the long porch. The only light she could see was the scant amount shed by the streetlamp blocks away.

“That’s strange,” she commented.

“What is?” Gabe asked.

“Normally when we come home, there’s at least one light left on,” Adrianna explained. “Quinn makes sure that Lola leaves one lit so that we won’t make too much of a commotion when we come home and wake Jesse.”

“She must have forgotten.”

Adrianna’s brow furrowed, but she nodded and said, “That must be it.”

Even though she had agreed with Gabe’s observation, something gnawed at Adrianna’s nerves, leaving her edgy. Knowing Richard was in the area, she found herself waiting for the worst in every situation, expecting calamity to follow disaster at each turn. She found herself constantly looking over her shoulder.
That’s no way to live your life,
she admonished herself. Taking a deep breath and trying to unclench her fists, she went up the steps to the porch behind Gabe.

The Cajun opened the door and she followed him inside. As Adrianna shut the door behind them, the click of the lock echoed around the foyer. All around them was silence. She peered intently into the inky darkness but, try as she might, her eyes refused to adjust and she stumbled blindly forward as she attempted to stay close to Gabe when he moved farther into the house.

“I don’t like this,” she whispered.

“There’s nothing to worry about
, mademoiselle,
” he reassured her. “After all that you have been through, you are seeing things that are not there. This is nothing more than the Bax—”

Adrianna saw it coming far too late. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked on in horror as the metal blade of a shovel caught enough light through the open windows to gleam for a scant second before it continued downward. Time seemed to stand still, the scream that she desperately wanted to give voice to caught silently in her throat. The only sound she heard was the hard clang of the metal striking Gabe’s head.

“No!” she managed to gasp.

Gabe fell to the hardwood floor like a sack of potatoes. Even though she could not see him in the darkness, she knew that he lay still, certainly injured and possibly dead.

“Goddamn stupid son of a bitch!” a gravelly voice spat.

From out of the shadows that led into the living room stepped a dark form. His hulking shoulders seemed to completely fill the entryway, the shovel clasped in his hands as if it were a child’s toy. Reuben! He moved toward her and stopped directly in a beam of light that somehow penetrated into the house from outside. In it, she could see him smiling insanely, his eyes dancing in anticipation of the violence that was sure to come.

“Shoulda kept his nose outta this here business!” he snarled in a loud voice.

Fear threatened to drown Adrianna. Even though she felt too scared to move, somehow she was aware of her feet taking tentative steps away from the vicious man; it was as if her body were acting without her control, her sense of self-preservation trumping her terror. Over it all, she heard Cowboy’s frantic barking.

“St-stay . . . away . . . from me!” she gasped.

“I don’t think so, bitch! You ain’t gonna give my Lola no more trouble.”

With a speed that startled Adrianna, Reuben’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm. His grip was like an iron vise! No matter how hard she struggled, he dragged her toward him until she was inches from him. As he stared down at her, his hot breath washed over her face, smelling of tobacco and alcohol. This close, the fear became a real thing, and she trembled at the thought of what was to come.

“After all that there trouble you done caused me at that bar, I think you owe me a bit a fun!” Reuben paused, his bloated tongue licking his sandpaper lips. “A city lady like you are, ya ain’t spent enough time on your back. It’s time for that to change!”

Sheer horror raced through Adrianna’s veins as she realized that Reuben intended to rape her. Instantly, his hands were all over her, roughly squeezing her breasts and shaking her so hard that she felt as if her head would come free from her shoulders. Then, he tore the fabric of her blouse as if it were nothing more than paper.

“No! Dear God, no!” she shrieked but no one answered.

Suddenly, a vision of Quinn leapt to her mind. In it, she saw him springing out from behind the Whipsaw’s bar, ready to fight. She saw him running to aid the man felled by the runaway log, concern and determination etched on his face. She saw the way he fought to give Jesse a future, even if it wasn’t necessarily what the boy wanted. While it would be easier to surrender to Reuben’s rough hands, at that moment she knew that she would fight until her last breath.

With all the strength she could muster, she began to scratch and claw at her assailant, her nails searching for any soft spot where she could hurt the man, but try as she might, her actions seemed only to amuse him.

“That’s right, bitch!” He laughed robustly. “Now yer startin’ to get into it! I like it when a woman gets all fiery!”

Desperation grabbed Adrianna and refused to let go. She had to get free! An idea struck her, and she acted on it. As Reuben brought a hand near her face, she grasped him by the wrist and pulled his hand toward her. Like a ferocious animal, she sank her teeth into the side of his hand. Even when the man tried to jerk free, she refused to let go. Although the bitter iron taste of blood flooded her mouth, she clung to him tenaciously, as if her very life depended on it, which it most certainly did.

“Oww! Ya goddamn whore!” he roared. Finally, just before Adrianna could carve a hunk of flesh from the man’s hand, Reuben shook free, hurled her to the floor and grasped at his bloody hand.

Adrianna shot to her knees, alert for her slim chance at escape. Her eyes had become better adjusted to the house’s gloom, but what she could make out caused her heart to sink; from where she had fallen, Reuben stood between her and the front door. Her only chance away from the beastly man was to retreat deeper into the house. As silently and as quickly as she could, she slid out of the room, got to her feet, and hurried away.

She darted through the dining room and into the kitchen. She nearly shouted with glee; from here it would be an easy matter to slip out the rear door, onto the porch, and out into the street where she could find help for herself and the doctor for Gabe. In her hurry, she didn’t see the edge of a chair. Her knee slammed into it, and pain shot up her leg.

Don’t make a sound!
she ordered herself, clamping a hand to her mouth.

Limping to the door, Adrianna turned the knob but found that it wouldn’t open. She jiggled it quickly, certain that it was simply stuck but it remained steadfastly closed. Panic began to color the edges of her thoughts as her hand searched frantically for the unseen lock or latch that was keeping her shut inside with Reuben. Her fingers roamed quickly but found nothing.

God help me!
she silently prayed.

“Goddamn cock teaser!” a roar came from deeper in the house.

Adrianna knew she didn’t have much time. If even a minute passed without her being able to open the door, the brutish man would be on top of her. After what she had done to him, his vengeance would be swift and it would be severe. Sweat beaded on her brow and her fingers shook but she still couldn’t find her way to freedom. It was as if a grandfather clock stood before her, every tick bringing her one step closer to death!

Finally, reason won over her fear. As quietly as she could, Adrianna backed away from the door and slid into the shadows near the dry sink. It pained her to give up trying to escape, but as if to underscore how wise a choice she had made, at that very instant, Reuben burst into the room like a mad bull, his chest heaving and his voice deafening.

“Where in the hell are you hidin’, ya blasted splittail!” he shouted. His face whipped from one corner to another, scanning for any sight of his prey. Unsettled and irritable, he waited for some sign, any movement that would allow him to unleash his rage. “You sure as hell ain’t gonna get away from me! If there’s one thing I can promise you, it’s that!”

Adrianna remained stock-still. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears but she reminded herself that it was a sound that only she could hear. Her leg throbbed where she had struck the chair; though she desperately wanted to rub it, she didn’t dare for fear she would alert Reuben.

“I’ll find ya!” the man bellowed.

Adrianna thought of Jesse. Where was he? Had Reuben come to the house earlier and done something horrible to the boy? Just the thought of some harm befalling Jesse brought the first welling of tears to her eyes. For now, she just had to hope that he was safe.

One person whose safety she wasn’t concerned about was Lola. Even though she had yet to show her face, Adrianna had no doubt that Lola was responsible for Reuben’s presence. Lola had sent Reuben after her at the Whipsaw, and it was almost certain that she’d let him into the house to hurt her now. Once her rival was out of the way, Lola would go about trying to sink her hooks into Quinn.
I hate to disappoint you
,
Lola, but I’m not going to be that easy to get rid of!

“Ya sure as hell ain’t makin’ it light on yoreself by hidin’, ya slut,” Reuben snarled, his heavy footfalls echoing off the kitchen walls. From where she hid, Adrianna watched as he tentatively made his way across the far side of the kitchen. In the scant light afforded to her, she could see a glistening wetness on one on his hands; she must have drawn quite a bit of blood.

“It’d be best just to show yoreself and get it over with.” In moments, he would turn from the icebox and, passing in front of the dry sink, he’d be on top of her. Even in the near total darkness, she didn’t like her chances of evading his gaze. If she were going to run, it would have to be soon.

“Come out! If’n ya don’t, I’m gonna hurt ya . . . bad.” Adrianna didn’t doubt the truth of the man’s words, but she did doubt if it made any difference at all as to when he got his hands on her.

“Goddamn bitch!” he swore again, his voice full of venom.

As Reuben reached the icebox, Adrianna’s heart threatened to burst from her chest. He was close enough to her that she could have reached out and touched him. When he turned, his foot raised to take a step, she summoned every ounce of courage she could and lit out of her hiding place as if she were a rabbit bursting from her hole, a fox fast on her tail.

“There you are!” Reuben shouted.

She’d hoped that she’d be able to get a step or two away before he noticed her, but she hadn’t managed to surprise the large man. His arm shot out to grab hold of her again, but instead only ended up with another fistful of her torn blouse. Adrianna stumbled slightly but refused to lose her footing. As soon as she was past him, she began to run as fast as her legs would carry her.

“Get back here!” he bellowed.

With every step, pain shot through her leg, but she paid it no mind; there would be time to hurt later. Whipping past the small table on which she had eaten many meals in Quinn and Jesse’s company, she burst into the hallway at a sprint.

She was going to escape, and nothing would stop her!

Though she had only just left him in the kitchen, she could hear the sound of Reuben’s footfalls behind her. For a man his size, he moved incredibly fast. It would only be a matter of moments before he caught up to her. If he ever got hold of her again, she was certain that she wouldn’t be able to break free.

“I see ya!” he taunted her.

She headed deeper into the house. Ahead, she could see the staircase that led to the second floor. Bounding onto the lower steps, she began to move up them two at a time. If she could only make it to the upstairs bedrooms, she could lock a door behind her! She could yell out from one of the windows!