Good Deed Bad Deed, Marcia Morgan [summer beach reads TXT] 📗

closer. He delivered a strong right hook squarely to Gareth’s face and he stumbled backward, dazed, his body stopped by the wall. In what seemed like an instant Lenny was on him again, this time with his hands around Gareth’s throat. His arms flailed as he began to lose breath, his face flushing red from the pressure of blood unable to circulate from his head. The expression in Gareth’s eyes was one of both terror and resignation. His knees began to buckle as the two men locked eyes. Lenny’s eyes were cold, his expression one of evil intent.

* * *

During the violent confrontation in the house, Ben had remained parked across the street and was becoming more and more impatient. Just as he had decided to give his surveillance only another half hour, he heard the crackling sound of a gunshot. There was no mistaking it, and he looked around, uncertain of the direction from which it had come. The adrenaline rush that came with hearing a gunshot triggered him to take action. He jumped from the car and ran to the house, knowing something had to be done to move things along, to find out whether he was even on the right track. While crossing the street he looked up and down for signs of activity, but there were none. He proceeded slowly up the walkway to the front door then stood still, listening for any signs of life. At first he heard an angry voice, followed by the sound of furniture hitting the floor. Less than a minute passed before he heard screams. Neither man was aware that someone had been watching the house and was now listening at the door.

Ben hoped the woman who screamed was either Olivia or Valerie, but regardless, he made the decision to intercede on her behalf. Finding the door locked he threw his body against it. The degraded wood frame gave way and the door fell forward, providing access to the house. The first thing he saw was a man with his hands around another man’s throat. Ben had no way of knowing whether the man being strangled was involved in the abduction, so his first instinct was to help him. He caught a glimpse of the women, but knew he must first disable the man whom he immediately recognized as the one who had attacked him twice in London.

Lenny heard the door fall to the floor and turned away from Gareth, distracted from the pleasure he felt while strangling the man. Ben charged at him, but Lenny just laughed and pushed him aside. His attention was now on Ben, and Gareth had to take advantage of this momentary freedom. He gasped for breath and steadied himself before going to the bedroom door to look at the women. He could see Valerie was bleeding from her abdomen and knew that if Lenny subdued the man, all four of them would not survive. Olivia was sobbing and trying to reach for an unconscious Valerie. Lenny and Ben were circling each other like wrestlers at the start of a match. Gareth took advantage of the moment by rushing back into the room and grabbing the handcuff keys from the cupboard knob.

Things were happening fast, but it seemed that everything was moving forward in slow motion. He proceeded to unlock Valerie from the radiator then Olivia from the cot. Olivia scrambled to where Valerie lay drifting in and out of consciousness.

Gareth went to Olivia and helped her up. “Run! You can’t help her! Get out of here while you can.”

“How can I leave her?” Olivia cried out. “She’ll die!”

“If you don’t run—now—you’ll die too!”

Olivia was weak and unsteady on her feet. She moved through the outer room as fast as she could, momentarily leaning on one chair, then the other, before reaching the open door. Ben continued to spar with Lenny but managed to shout to Olivia, telling her to run outside and find help. Her face full of terror, she obeyed. Ben and Lenny were engaged in a physical struggle that Gareth expected would not end well for Ben. He seemed mesmerized, watching the men wrestling for control. He stood in the doorway, his back to Valerie, who had regained consciousness and was moaning on the floor of the tiny room.

Just as he had done with Gareth, Lenny punched Ben in the gut then the jaw, sending him hurtling backward against the wall. He stomped forward, and before Ben could recover from the punch, Lenny grabbed for his throat with both hands. Ben felt the painful pressure of Lenny’s thumbs cutting off his breath, but with residual weakness in his left shoulder he was unable to pull Lenny’s right hand away. He struggled with Lenny’s left hand, trying to wrench it from his neck and gasping for breath at any slight break in the pressure. In spite of his efforts to break away, Ben’s focus began to blur due to the restricted blood flow. For a moment his only awareness was of the pulsing in his neck and the loud ringing in his ears.

A crackling noise suddenly broke through the ringing, and he felt the pressure on his neck release. He focused on Lenny’s eyes. They were vacant, his face absent of any expression. Weakness overtook Ben. His knees gave way and he began to slide down the wall. Lenny fell toward him, glanced off the wall, and dropped on his back, hitting the floor hard. The man was lying completely still, his eyes wide open as if staring at Ben. Then Ben noticed blood begin to trickle from the side of Lenny’s mouth. There was a hole in his chest, around it a widening circle of blood soaking his shirt. Ben regained his composure and strained to turn the bulky man over. That accomplished, he saw a smaller hole in his back, barely ringed with blood. Since the hole in his chest was obviously an exit wound, Ben wondered how the bullet hadn’t