CHAPTER 59
FURY
I ripped off my shirt and wrapped it tightly around the top of my thigh. The heat of the bullet was still radiating through my leg, but I pulled myself to my feet anyway, ignoring the pain shooting through me.
The anger burned all the pain away. With each step I took, the violent burning was replaced with ferocious, boiling rage that consumed me. Pumping through my veins like a drug, a turbulent furor pushed me on, gifting me with Herculean strength that I’d never experienced before.
One fucking bullet wasn’t going to stop me from tearing Green limb from limb.
First, I had to find him, though. He’d left me bleeding out in the hallway as he’d gone searching for Molly, his insane ranting echoing through the house as he called her name.
I’d seen her behind him but she’d vanished and from the sound of his cries still echoing in the distance, she gone off and hid somewhere pretty well. If I had anything to say about things, she’d never be tortured by this asshole again.
I limped down the front stairs towards his voice and the smell of smoke hit me all at once.
“Fuck!” I growled in anger, when I saw the living room engulfed in flames, the fire spreading rapidly through the house and up the front staircase. The kitchen was quickly filling with smoke and I ran through it and out the back door I’d come in, gasping for fresh air.
I looked up at the house, trying to assess the situation quickly. I pulled out my phone, called 911 and reported the fire, before turning back and trying to figure out how to get back in.
A movement above caught my eye and I saw a knotted sheet come flying out of a small window on the third floor. I squinted my eyes and saw Molly and Benji standing at the window, throwing what looked like an endless stream of sheets tied together to the ground.
“Fucking brilliant kids,” I muttered, running over to them.
“Hey!” I yelled up to them. “I’m here! You’re going to be safe. You’re doing the right thing, just climb down and I’ll help you. Tie the sheet to something inside!”
“We did!” Benji called down.
“I can’t leave Lucky!” Molly cried. Molly was still holding her dog in one hand but there was no way she could climb down with him still in her arms. She only had one to work with anyway, the other still in the cast.
“Shit,” I muttered, my mind racing.
“Throw him down to me first!” I called, holding out my arms. “I’ll catch him.”
“No way!” Molly said. “What if he falls? He’ll die!”
“I promise, Molly,” I called up to her. “I know you don’t know me, sweetheart. But I love dogs. I’d never let him get hurt. It’s the only way. You’re going to need to trust me. I promise I won’t let him fall.” I nodded, my heart heavy, knowing it was entirely possible something might go wrong and I’d have a dead dog to explain. I took a deep breath and put my arms back up.
“Do it now!”
“O-o-okay,” she muttered, tears falling down her face. She held his wiggling, fat body out the window with trembling hands and let go.
Like a loaf of bread tumbling out of the window, he spun in a circle, his short little legs flailing in the air as he fell. I stood just below him, my heart pounding as he neared. Bending my legs slightly, I made a basket-shape with my arms, and he landed heavily in them, firmly and squarely. Safe.
I breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the kids with a smile.
“He’s okay!” I cried up to them. “Now, Molly come down first. Just hold on tight to the sheets.” I put the dog down and pulled on the sheet first to make sure it was secure and then nodded.
“Come on,” I said.
“I’m scared,” she said, climbing out gingerly.
“You can do it, I know you can,” I said. Benji stood at the window holding her hand as she climbed out onto the roof before taking her feet off the roof and letting them dangle, clinging tightly to the sheets with her one good arm.
I ignored the flames flickering inside the windows downstairs. I ignored the fact that the entire house could blow at any moment. All I could do was get these kids down here safely. My rage and desire for vengeance would have to wait till they were safe.
All I could do was hope the house didn’t explode before I could get my hands on Green. If the Universe denied me that pleasure, I’d probably never get over it.
Molly’s little body wiggled down the sheets like a pro. When her feet hit the ground she cried out in joy.
I grabbed her and spun her around away from the house.
“Get your dog and run towards the woods, okay? Benji will be right behind.”
I turned back and saw Benji was already scurrying down towards us as fast as he could. As soon as he hit the ground, he wrapped his arms around me.
“Thank you, mister!” he cried.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” I said, leaning down. “Take Molly to your house, okay? I already called the fire department.”
“But you gotta get Jackie!” he said.
“Jackie?” I asked, panic rising in my throat. “What do you mean?”
“She’s in there! She told us to stay in the attic, but she never came back for us. I think she was looking for you. We told her you were shot.”
The panic turned to terror as I faced the house, now almost entirely engulfed in flames.
“Take Molly to your house, Benji,” I shouted, running towards the back door as fast as I could. “Go now!”