Vivian’s adrenaline kicked in as she stabbed the driver’s side, rear tire of the Mustang. Air hissed as she yanked the three-inch blade from the sidewall. She ran to the right side of the step and crouched as Adrienne kicked in the door, .38 pointed in front of her.
“Drop the gun!” Adrienne yelled, then ducked as a shot rang out and the side of the doorframe exploded. Pieces blew onto Lucy, who was to the left of the steps, back flush against the dirty siding.
Adrienne returned fire. Pop! Pop!
Potbelly yelled and shot his gun again, this time blasting out the window beside Vivian. She dropped the knife, then ducked to the ground. Lucy, too.
“Motherfucker!” the guy yelled, and Adrienne advanced into the trailer.
“Throw your weapon down! Do it now!”
The shotgun ratcheted and Adrienne fired another shot. He screamed in agony and Adrienne yelled, “I said drop it!”
He moaned, then said, “You fuckin’ bitch, you shot me!”
“Damn right I did. I could’ve killed you, asshole. Be grateful, ’cuz I still might.”
Vivian decided it was probably safe to look inside. She crouched and peeked.
Adrienne kicked Potbelly’s shotgun toward the door and well beyond his reach. She asked Simone, who was tucked between the end of the couch and the wall, “Is there anyone else here?”
Covering the side of her face, she answered, “I don’t think so.”
“Vivian, pick up the shotgun and point it at this piece of shit,” Adrienne said. “If he moves, shoot him.”
Vivian helped Lucy up, then went inside and grabbed the shotgun. Though shaking, she held it on the guy, who lay partially on dingy shag carpet and partially on crusty linoleum, bleeding from his right shoulder and left arm. Lucy held the pepper spray out toward him, too.
Adrienne walked through the rest of the trailer, then returned to the living room. “Lucy, run tell Wendy and Kate we’ve got everything under control and we need a couple of ambulances.”
Lucy took off down the path.
Simone started crying and Vivian went into the cramped, moldy bathroom, wet a washcloth and brought it back to her. One eye had already swollen shut and the other was on its way. Her black hair was matted, chapped lips were busted, and bruises ran up and down her legs. All she wore was a blood-stained, white T-shirt.
“Was there ever another girl here with you? One named Daisy?” Vivian asked, wanting to reach out and comfort her but afraid she’d touch something that hurt.
Simone shook her head once. “I don’t think so. He kept me in a back bedroom but I haven’t heard anyone else here.”
Adrienne stooped over the kidnapper, gun pointed to his head. “Where’s the other girl?”
“Screw you.”
She ground her foot into the wound on his shoulder. He screamed in pain. She didn’t let up. “Where is she?”
“They already found that whore.”
She dug her foot in deeper. “What about Daisy? The girl you took from the French House.”
He screamed again. “I didn’t take that bitch. Get off me!”
She pushed off, and he rolled over into a fetal position.
Wendy drove up in Adrienne’s SUV and came inside the trailer with Kate and Lucy. “Is Daisy here?” she asked.
Vivian shook her head. “No, Adrienne checked the rooms. She’s not here.”
Kate looked around the torn-up trailer, then said, “The 911 dispatcher has the police and EMTs on the way.”
“I spoke to Antonio,” Wendy said, carefully stepping over a broken lamp. “He said to call him ASAP.”
“I’ll deal with him later.” Adrienne asked Simone, “Is there anything we can do for you?”
“I just want to go home. Can I use your phone?”
Vivian handed it over and Simone dialed with a shaky hand. “Momma,” she said when the call connected. She started crying too hard to speak, so Vivian gently took the phone and explained that they found her hurt but alive. Help was on the way and she’d be taken to a hospital. The police would be calling soon on what hospital Simone was taken to.
“Praise God! Praise Jesus!” her mom said several times before Vivian could hang up. As soon as she did, she heard sirens in the distance.
A few minutes later, two sheriff deputies pulled up to the trailer. Kate and Wendy met them outside.
“I’m the one who called this in,” Kate said.
As they walked up to the trailer, one of them saw Adrienne with the gun and started to draw his weapon.
Adrienne held her hands up, the Lady slinging on her finger. “Whoa. Point that at him, not me.”
“Drop your weapon.”
“Okay,” she said, and bent over and slid it across the floor toward the officer. She raised her arms back up.
One deputy called for the ambulances and trained his gun on the kidnapper while the other searched the house.
The sheriff arrived just as the ambulances pulled in. One of the deputies ushered Adrienne and the girls outside so the EMTs could get to work. Soon the kidnapper was loaded up and hauled off in an ambulance, followed by two patrol cars. A female EMT attended to Simone in the trailer.
Lucy had a one-inch gash on her cheek from the doorframe debris and was treated by a stocky, brown-haired EMT. He blew on her cheek after he cleaned her wound with alcohol.
“It’s not deep enough for stitches,” he said as he gently placed the first of two butterfly bandages.
Lucy looked up at him. “I’ll add this to my list of flaws.”
He stepped back and looked her up and down. “I don’t see any flaws.”
The deputies separated the girls and waited for additional units so they could drive them individually to the sheriff’s office.
Vivian’s anxiety was building and thoughts of Mexico flooded her mind. She started to panic. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” she said to the nearest deputy. “Adrienne saved this girl. Why are we going to jail?”
“You’re not going to jail,” the deputy said. “We’ve got to do this by the book, which means separate interviews. We don’t want the prosecutor to have any reason to doubt your friend’s story.” He helped Vivian sit down on the back bumper of his patrol car.
She took some deep breaths trying to calm herself. In through your nose, out through your mouth.
The female EMT and the guy who fixed up Lucy walked Simone down the steps of the trailer and helped her into the back of the ambulance. The female climbed in with her and the guy closed the door and got in the cab, then drove off.
Antonio came hauling ass up the driveway in a black Dodge Charger just as the sheriff put Adrienne in the back of his car. Antonio jumped out of his car and flashed his badge. “That’s my sister. What the hell happened?”
“She fired her Lady Smith, hit the guy twice, we’ve got to take her in,” the sheriff responded. “She’s not handcuffed and we haven’t Mirandized her.”
“Did anyone else get hurt?”
“Other than the girl being held here, everybody else is fine.”
“If it’s okay, I’d like to be present for the interview.”
The sheriff shrugged. “Fine by me.” He got in his car and headed out, no sirens or lights.
Antonio walked over to Vivian, stern look on his face. “Y’all put yourselves in a lot of danger with this stunt.”
Vivian’s stomach clenched. “Adrienne was goin’ in, we had to have her back. She’s had ours.”
His eyes softened and his shoulders relaxed a tad. “I know, she is a bit of a wild card isn’t she?” He squeezed Vivian’s hand. “But I don’t want that putting you in danger, so quit getting involved, okay.” He dropped her hand and started jogging to his car. He looked back at her. “Please!”
Vivian smiled as Antonio sped off, a dirt cloud trailing after his car. She watched as, one by one, Kate, Lucy and Wendy were loaded into separate patrol cars and taken away. The deputy came for her and opened the back door. She slid onto the bench seat and looked at the cage in front of her. It’s happening again.
The deputy went to close the door, but Vivian stopped him and pushed it open. She jumped out, fell to her knees and threw up.