Thirty Six

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Michael looked up when he heard his name. He was surprised to see Detective Hillman. "Has something happened?" he asked, beginning to feel alarmed.

Hillman smiled. "No, everything's fine. Where's Grace?"

"Alex got sick so she took her home."

"That's too bad, I hope it isn't anything serious."

"Too much excitement probably."

"Well, I just wanted to check in."

Michael smiled and nodded his appreciation.

"I don't think she has to worry about her stalker anymore. He's gone off the grid," Hillman continued as he reached out to shake Michael's hand. "This Donny Ray Mason has moved on."

Michael felt an electric shock run through his body. Ray was a name that had been coming up for weeks. Michael tried to concentrate. Ray had groomed Reggie and didn't Grace tell him that Reggie didn't like his groomer? There was something else his panicked mind frantically searched for. Grace said she'd ran into this Ray before at the college where Laura taught. Wasn't it Michael who joked it was a small town? Now he'd sent Grace and Alex home with this possible psycho!

"Oh God," he moaned already moving through the crowd. He knew he had to get there.

"What's going on?" Hillman asked immediately, alerted by Michael's reaction.

"Get to the house," Michael yelled back over his shoulder. "He's there!"

Hillman got on his phone and called for backup and ran to his car to head over to the house.

Michael literally grabbed the girls and pulled them towards the door. "Come on we have to get home!" Neither girl said a word when they saw how upset he was. They climbed in the back and Jessie fastened their seatbelts as Michael screeched out of the parking lot.

~~~~~

Alex was crying as Donny held out the knife stained with Reggie's blood and began to lower it towards her throat. In an instant, Grace jumped up holding the toy gun that had come with Jessie's cowgirl costume. "Let go of her," she demanded, as she pointed the plastic gun at him.

For just a second he relaxed his hold on Alex, not completely letting go, but she could feel him loosening his grip. Scared, Alex kicked his shin as hard as she could with the heel of her shoe and made a run for the shattered glass door with all her might. She didn't think or feel she just ran towards the beach, which had always been a safe haven.

Donny immediately moved forward and slugged the side of Grace's face with his fist knocking her to the floor. "You stupid bitch!" he yelled. "I'm going to kill her now for sure," he promised as he turned and ran out after Alex.

Grace lay unconscious. Slowly, she began to resurface feeling dazed and disoriented. She couldn't seem to get her limbs to work. Finally, she was able to sit up. She held onto the coffee table and pushed herself to her feet. She moved as fast as she could knowing she had to stop him from hurting Alex. She drove herself through the door to the outside. The cold air filled her lungs and shocked her back to reality. She stumbled along, pushing one foot in front of the other until she was running towards the beach, where she heard Alex's screams.

~~~~~

Stillness came over the family room. All the tension seemed to have leaked out leaving only quiet behind. The silence was eerie, reminiscent of that moment just after a car crash when the noise stops and before people react. That split second in time when anything can happen.

It started out as a low moan and grew into a guttural howl. Reggie struggled to his feet and limped forward a few steps. As his mind cleared and the urgency hit him he began to trot across the lawn until he was running full force down the path towards the beach.

~~~~~

Alex reached the edge of the sand and had nowhere to go except into the churning sea. She turned back and saw Donny quickly approaching her.

Grace entered the beach from the path and yelled," No! Leave her alone!"

Alex ran into the cold water as it closed around her feet protectively. Ray reached her and threw her down, dragging her further out as he held her head under the surf. She struggled to break free from his grasp, but he was too strong. The frigid water enveloped her face and body in an icy embrace. Alex felt her panic slowly subside as it rose above her to the surface. She was swaying back and forth with the water as her heart beat in time to the gentle pulse of the waves. She closed her eyes and let the darkness carry her away.

Grace ran at him in an attempt to push him away from Alex, but he put his arm out and knocked her down.

~~~~~

Reggie moved slowly and stealthily working his way down the beach. He wanted to get on the other side, away from the lady. He needed room for his attack. He was soaked in his own blood, but he felt no pain, only the need to do what he'd been waiting to do for weeks. It was time and he was ready.

Moving past the man, he walked into the surf and prepared to pounce. A low menacing growl emanated from deep inside where a single-minded objective to destroy this intruder drove him on. In a joint movement of body and mind, he leapt forward through the air, catching the man's right shoulder and bringing him down into the waves. He sank his teeth into the man's flesh with a force driven by protectiveness, holding tight as he landed on top of him. Donny yelled out in pain. He had let go of Alex and was now in a fight for his own life.

~~~~~

Grace ran into the surf where she thought Alex should be, but she wasn't there. "Alex!" she screamed moving out deeper into the cold ebony water.

She didn't hear the police officers who had begun to file onto the beach from the footpath.


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