Sucker Punch (34 page)

To my surprise, Jawarski’s big black truck turned onto the street and came to a stop in front of the Playhouse. He’d probably gone to my apartment, and when I wasn’t there he came looking for me. That touched me in a way I didn’t have time to analyze right then.

I stopped running but either Paisley didn’t notice or she didn’t care. “Hey, Paisley, it’s Jawarski,” I called after her. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

If she heard me, she ignored me.

Nothing on earth could have compelled me to go back into that building, but I wanted to catch Jawarski before he went in. I didn’t want him to run into Jason unprepared, especially since I was pretty sure Jawarski wouldn’t be carrying his gun.

The street was empty, so he’d parked directly in front of the doors. I called out to him, but the wind carried my warning away. I shouted again and kicked myself into high gear, hoping I could stop him, but he ducked his head into the wind and let himself into the Playhouse before I could reach him.

Terrified and gasping for breath, I stopped at the corner of the building. Jawarski was walking into a dangerous situation completely unprepared. Everything inside rebelled at the thought of going back into the Playhouse, but I couldn’t let him run into Jason without warning.

There had to be some other way. I could follow Paisley to the Curl and call for help, but that might take too long. I could call Jawarski on his cell, but there were so many places in the Playhouse where he wouldn’t receive a signal, I discarded that idea immediately. No, it was either go in after him, or wait where I was and pray he made it out alive.

That was no choice at all.

After glancing around to make sure Jason wasn’t nearby, I darted across the street and into the theater before I could change my mind. Inside the lobby, I stood for a minute, straining to hear Jawarski moving around and trying to figure out which direction to go.

When this was over, I promised myself, I was going to avoid this theater like the plague.

Outside, the wind howled and the glass doors rattled. I jumped and whipped around, convinced I’d find Jason there. When I realized I was still alone, I sighed with relief and forced myself to choose a direction. Opting for the auditorium again, I inched aside the velvet curtain and looked inside to make sure Jason wasn’t there before I stepped inside.

With every minute that passed, my muscles wound tighter. If Jawarski was here to look for me, wouldn’t he be making some noise? Calling out for me? Turning on lights? Instead, an ominous silence echoed through the theater, and my nerves felt as if they were on fire.

I hurried through the auditorium, taking advantage of the cover the curtain provided to check the hallway and shop area before I stepped out into the open. And still I couldn’t hear anything that would let me know where Jawarski was. For all I knew, he’d doubled back and gone outside again while I was in the auditorium.

I’d almost convinced myself that’s what had happened when something several feet ahead of me hit the ground with a loud bang. I heard voices, but only for a second before a gunshot exploded in the silence.

I held back a scream and gulped back tears that sprang into my eyes before I could stop them. I silently begged anyone who’d listen to let Jawarski be the one with the gun, but I was terrified that he wasn’t.

The Playhouse wasn’t a large theater, but as I tried to figure out where the shot came from, the twisting mass of rooms and work areas separated by eerie-looking props and dust-covered backdrops seemed to stretch on forever. Fear paralyzed me, but I couldn’t let it gain the upper hand. Jawarski might already be hurt. I had to find him before the unthinkable happened.

Desperate, I plunged along a narrow path that led through abandoned sets and props. The pain medication was wearing off, and my head throbbed as I ran. As I neared the back of the building, I heard someone moving around in the distance, so I stopped running and slid behind a listing backdrop from some long-ago play.

Instinct urged me to hurry, but I forced myself to move cautiously. As I drew closer, I heard Jason talking but I was still too far away to pick up what he said. My breathing sounded unnaturally loud in my ears as I strained to make out what he was saying.

“A cop? You’re a goddamn cop? What in the hell am I going to do
now
?”

A large box several feet ahead of me tilted, then fell heavily to the floor. I held back a gasp and pulled back into the shadows. In the dim emergency lighting, I could see Jason in the scene shop, which was little more than a clearing in the middle of the chaos. The stage crew used that area to build the backdrops and platforms needed for each production. If I could get to it, there’d be plenty of items I could use as a weapon. But that was a big
if
.

Jason paced from one end of the clearing to the other, then stopped and looked down at something on the floor. I assumed that something was Jawarski.

Please
, I begged silently.
Be alive.
Because if he wasn’t . . .

I couldn’t even go there. Every doubt about our relationship I’d nursed for the past two years evaporated as I tried
not
to contemplate a future without Jawarski. But the more I tried not to think about the unthinkable, the more firmly my mind locked on it and refused to let go.

Be alive
, I pleaded again and slipped a little deeper into the shadows. I had no doubt that Jason would kill me if he saw me, and the fear that realization brought with it nauseated me. Whatever I did now, I’d have to be more careful than ever.

I stood in the shadows for what felt like hours, studying my surroundings and trying to formulate a plan. I’d have to catch Jason off guard, but that wasn’t going to be easy. The box that might have helped keep my location secret had fallen to the floor a few minutes ago, so the distance between us—which I calculated at about thirty feet—was completely open. The instant I left my hiding place, it would be open season on Abby.

Jason paced the floor, talking to Jawarski every once in a while. Obviously, the idea of killing a policeman bothered him more than the murder of your ordinary civilian. It was a small point in our favor, but I’d take anything I could get.

I couldn’t hear Jawarski responding, but I didn’t let myself lose hope. Jason was talking to him. That had to be a good sign.

Each lap Jason made was six steps long as he paced between a large piece of castle backdrop from last year’s production of
Cinderella
and a row of wooden palm trees used in
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
. That didn’t give me much time, but if I judged it right, I could take advantage of the element of surprise. And
if
I could catch him off guard, I might be able to push over that row of palm trees. If Jason was in just the right place when I made my move, the trees would hit him and buy Jawarski and me some time to get away.

If that plan wasn’t shaky enough, Jason clutched a pistol in one hand. No amount of surprise would give me the upper hand against a gun. I had to make sure he didn’t get a shot off.

Obviously agitated, Jason made another pass the length of the floor. As he reached the far end of the open area, he whipped around and aimed the gun at Jawarski. “Shut
up
. I told you, let me
think
.”

Jawarski
was
alive! Relief so strong it almost buckled my knees swept over me and tears filled my eyes. He was alive, but I had to assume he was injured; otherwise, he’d have been on his feet. He must have said something else, because Jason mopped sweat away from his temples with the back of his gun hand. “That’s easy for you to say,” he snarled. “That son of a bitch killed my sister, same as if he held a gun to her head and pulled the trigger. He killed my mother, too. Don’t talk to me about forgiving.”

While he was distracted, I dropped to all fours and crawled through the jumble of scenery and props toward him. As I drew closer, I began to pick up on what Jawarski was saying, but I still couldn’t see him. I crawled past a few loose boards and a pile of stage swords. I considered using both as a weapon, but I didn’t trust myself to grab one without giving myself away.

I forced myself to focus on the plan and inched around a wooden platform that probably hadn’t been moved in at least a year. Dust billowed up from the floor, and I fought back the urge to sneeze. The effort made my nose hurt, my eyes water, and my throat sting.

“You don’t know what it was like, watching my sister suffer. Watching my mother wither up and die.” Jason’s voice rose higher. “Everyone thought he was such a great guy. Everybody loved him—until they got to know him. He used people. Like a vampire, he sucked the life right out of everyone he met.”

I could make out the low rumble of Jawarski’s voice now, and the relief of knowing that he was still alive made my eyes water again. Not more than five feet from my goal, I crept past another abandoned backdrop and something soft brushed against my arm.

Instinctively, I jerked. My hand swept the back of a Grecian pillar, and it tottered on its flimsy base. I caught it as quickly as I could, but I was too late.

“Who’s there?” Jason demanded.

I froze in place and held my breath, cursing myself silently for making such a stupid mistake.

“Whoever it is, you’d better come out.
Now
.”

I didn’t move. I’m not sure I even breathed.

“
Now
!” he demanded again. “Unless you want the cop to die right here and now.”

Frustrated and angry with myself, I got to my feet. I was close enough to see over the last row of storage that stood between us. Jawarski lay on the floor, alive but pale and obviously weak. A trail of blood spread out from beneath his shoulder.

I’d never seen Jawarski looking anything but buff and healthy. Seeing him like this made my stomach lurch, but it also filled me with a resolve that surprised me. No matter what it took, I was going to keep him alive.

“I want your hands where I can see ’em,” Jason ordered. “Now, come on out here.”

Jawarski rolled his head to the side and saw me. His eyelids flickered, and I realized that he was close to passing out from the loss of blood. “Abby,” he croaked. “Get out of here.”

With a roar of anger, Jason shouted, “Shut up! How many times do I have to tell you?” and before I could move, he planted a boot in Jawarski’s side.

Jawarski’s skin grew deathly pale and a moan escaped his lips. I decided the time was now or never. I lunged for the palm tree backdrop and shoved it as hard as I could. It didn’t move.

I threw my whole body into the effort and shoved again. Just as it began to topple, I saw Jason spot me and level the gun in my direction. As the shot rang out, I crumpled to the floor. I heard the explosion, saw the flash from the end of the muzzle, and felt something scorching hot fly past me.

The palm trees fell with a loud crash and dust billowed up from the floor. I looked frantically for Jason and found him beneath the fronds of one tree. He was dazed, but not out. I couldn’t see Jawarski anywhere.

I knew that Jawarski and I had just one chance to escape with our lives, so I wasted no time. Gathering my strength, I let out a bellow that surprised even me and charged Jason. I saw him stagger to his feet. I saw the moment he realized I was aiming for him. Watched his arm rise slowly until the pistol was aiming at my chest.

This is it
, I thought, and a strange sense of calm settled over me. I hit him dead-on. My head and neck snapped backward from the impact. Pain shot through my ribs and down into my knees. I stumbled after the impact and fell into the castle backdrop. It fell backward, and I heard the sound of splintering wood.

Jason rolled to his side. He looked stunned, but I couldn’t count on that lasting long. I looked around for something—anything—to use as a weapon. My gaze lit on a stage screw someone had left on a box about two feet from where I stood.

I could hear Jason coming close, so I lunged for it and slipped my hand into the handle. I swung with all my might as Jason came up behind me and the long screw plunged into his chest, just below his shoulder.

The impact stunned him, but he had momentum going, and he fell forward. Blood poured from the wound, spattering the scenery around me. I threw myself out of his way and narrowly missed being pinned beneath his body.

He landed heavily, and the gun skittered away from his hand. I dove after it and aimed it at him, determined to make sure he wouldn’t get up again. I’d never shot a person before, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t hesitate if Jason made any attempt to come at me again.

He groaned and rolled to one side, and a cold knot of anger formed where my heart used to be. “Try it, Jason. Go ahead. I dare you.”

Very slowly, he turned his head to look at me, and he must have seen the conviction on my face because he lay back down, skewed slightly to avoid applying more pressure on the screw embedded in his chest.