Wednesday, April 8, 12:07 A.M.
With a feeling of overwhelming disgust, Lynn tensed her muscles to move forward off the couch with the intent of getting to her knees. All sorts of things were flashing through her mind, such as making a mad dash for the gun or butting the man in the groin with her head or even biting off the tip of his penis, but she knew she would do nothing, out of pure fear for her life.
Suddenly a high, piercing scream shattered the silence, making Lynn think she was about to jump out of her skin. She blinked by reflex and raised her arms to fend off a blow, but she wasn’t hit. Instead the intruder shot forward and plowed into her, crushing her against the back of the couch. The man’s arms had shot out on either side of Lynn to break his fall. A grunt of air escaped from his mouth.
For a few seconds Lynn couldn’t move or even breathe for the sheer weight of the writhing mass bearing down on her. In the next instant she realized she was being pressed against the back of the couch by two men, not one, and there was a mad scramble for dominance. Someone had rushed into the room and tackled the intruder.
Darko, too, had been caught from behind totally by surprise. With his extensive training and combat experience he knew that he was dealing with someone his own size or even larger. Using his honed martial arts skills, he was able to break the hold the attacker had around his chest as he and his attacker rolled off the couch and fell onto the floor. In the next second he was on his feet, but so was the attacker, who came at him again. This time the attacker had him face-to-face in a bear hug, and with his legs pumping, he drove Darko back against the wall of the room. Darko could now see that he was right. The man was bigger and more muscular. And he was black. But there was a good side: it was apparent the man was untrained in martial arts, as he was relying only on his body mass and strength.
To Lynn’s shock, it was Michael! Oblivious to her nakedness, Lynn leaped from the couch and rushed for the desk. She had never handled a gun, but didn’t care. Reaching the desk, she snapped up the pistol with both hands, slipping her right index finger into the trigger guard. Spinning around, she pointed the gun at the two struggling men and ran over to a point several paces away.
“Stop!” Lynn shouted.
The men ignored her. They were momentarily locked in an embrace and strained against each other. Michael had Darko’s arms pinned to his sides.
“Stop!” Lynn shouted yet again. To get their attention she fired the gun, unprepared and surprised by its recoil. She had aimed at a framed print hanging on the wall and had scored a direct hit. The combination of the suppressed sound of the gun and the tinkle of the shattered glass made the men pause. Michael let go of his hold on Darko.
Darko responded like the professional he was. He delivered a sharp karate blow to Michael and in the next instant disarmed Lynn with a fearsome kick. His foot hit the pistol with such force that the gun shot up and glanced off the ceiling. It ended up near the fireplace with a clatter, snapping off the silencer. In the next instant Darko was gone.
It had all happened so fast that for a second both Lynn and Michael were too stunned to move or even talk. They merely stared at each other. Michael was the first to recover, and he flew out of the room in pursuit. Lynn was momentarily frozen in place, holding her numbed hand with the other.
Within seconds Michael was back. “He’s gone,” he said breathlessly. Lynn threw herself at him, sobbing in relief. The fact that she was naked didn’t even occur to her.
“Hold off, girl!” Michael said. He pulled Lynn’s arms from around his neck and immediately went for the gun. As he did so, Lynn went for the bathrobe that was crumbled in a heap on the couch.
Michael snatched up the gun and checked the magazine. There were still plenty of rounds available. He unscrewed the broken portion of the silencer and tossed it aside. He could tell the gun was operable.
Lynn rushed over and again enveloped him in an embrace. For a full minute she just held on to him and again cried. After what she had been through, she thought Michael was heaven sent. A miracle.
“It’s okay,” Michael soothed. His heart was pounding in his chest. His breathing was returning to a semblance of normal.
Finally Lynn leaned back so that she could look Michael in the eye. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you,” she repeated. “How did you know I was in trouble?”
“I didn’t,” Michael admitted. “But I wasn’t willing to take the risk to let you stay here alone. You were really stressed out on the phone. I called you right back as soon as I got rid of Vlad, but your phone immediately went to voice mail. Considering how stressed out you sounded, I suppose I thought the worst, like maybe you’d do something to yourself. I don’t know. I didn’t agonize. I ran over to the hospital and jumped in a cab.”
“Thank God you did. But how did you know to come storming in here?”
“That was easy. When I got to the front door, I could see someone busted in.”
“That asshole was about to rape me!” Lynn said angrily, fighting back more tears. “You were in the nick of time.”
“Do you have any idea who he is?”
“I don’t! I couldn’t see his face under that mask. But I can tell you one thing that might not be a surprise. He had a goddamned Russian accent.”
“Why would that not surprise me?” Michael asked. He was confused.
“Wait till I tell you why he came in here and scared the hell out of me. But first let’s get the fuck out of here in case he or any of his buddies come back. I imagine he is pretty pissed at you for interrupting his fantasy, the prick. He was going to make me give him a blow job.”
“We are not going to call the police?”
“Hell no!” Lynn said. “This is all a lot bigger than a breaking-and-entering or even rape. I have a lot to tell you, but first, let me get my clothes. Come with me! I don’t want to be alone. And bring the gun.”
Lynn rushed back to the master bath, where she’d left her things, and dressed rapidly.
Michael followed close behind. He kept hold of the gun dangling at his side. “If we don’t report this, we might be considered accessories after the fact,” he said. “I just want you to know. And this gun might be hot.”
“At this point I couldn’t care less,” Lynn said. Then, as she slipped on her shoes, she added: “Did you see Carl’s poor cat in the club chair?”
“No, why?”
“The bastard shot the cat for no reason,” Lynn said. “He killed the poor thing!”
“Probably to intimidate you.”
“Well, it worked. The guy’s a narcissistic sociopath, loud and clear, that much I can tell you. He bragged about how many people he has killed.”
“Should I call a taxi?”
“No! I don’t want to wait around for a cab. We’ll take Carl’s Cherokee. I’ll get it back here in a day or so. But before we leave I want to put the study back together and get the poor cat out of the house. There shouldn’t be any evidence of a struggle. And what about the front door?”
“What do you mean?”
“How bad is it? Will it close?”
“It’s off one of its hinges and the jamb is split near the striker plate,” Michael said, “but I think we can get it to close.”
“It just has to look okay,” Lynn said.
“Wait a sec,” Michael added. For the first time he noticed Lynn’s lip laceration and the welt on her cheek. “He hurt you, the bastard. Let me see!”
Lynn waved him off. “It’s nothing. Let’s clean up the place and get the hell out of here!”