Lethal (Lee Coburn)

And there he was, lying facedown, partially on his left side, his face turned away from her, his left arm outstretched above his head. He lay motionless. Honor didn’t even detect movement of his rib cage to indicate that he was breathing.

Quickly she turned and gently pushed Emily back through the door. “Sweetie, go into Mommy’s bedroom. My phone is on the nightstand. Bring it to me, please.” Not wanting to frighten her daughter, she kept her voice as calm as possible, but hurriedly took the steps down off the porch and ran across the dewy grass toward the prone figure.

When she got closer, she saw that his clothing was filthy, torn in places, and bloodstained. There were smears of blood on the exposed skin of his outstretched arm and hand. A clot of it had matted a whorl of dark hair on the crown of his head.

Honor knelt down and touched his shoulder. When he moaned, she exhaled with relief. “Sir? Can you hear me? You’re hurt. I’ll call for help.”

He sprang up so quickly she didn’t even have time to recoil, much less to defend herself. He struck with lightning speed and precision. His left hand shot out and closed around the back of her neck, while with his right hand he jammed the short, blunt barrel of a handgun into the slight depression where her ribs met. He aimed it upward and to the left, directly in line with her heart, which had ballooned with fright.

“Who else is here?”

Her vocal cords were frozen with fear; she couldn’t speak.

He squeezed the back of her neck and repeated with sinister emphasis, “Who else is here?”

It took several tries before she was able to stammer, “My… my dau—”

“Anybody besides the kid?”

She shook her head. Or tried. He had a death grip on the back of her neck. She could feel the pressure of each individual finger.

His blue eyes cut like lasers. “If you’re lying to me…”

He didn’t even have to complete the threat to coax a whimper from her. “I’m not lying. I swear. We’re alone. Don’t hurt us. My daughter… she’s only four years old. Don’t hurt her. I’ll do whatever you say, just don’t—”

“Mommy?”

Honor’s heart clenched, and she made a feeble squeaking sound, like that of a helplessly trapped animal. Because she still couldn’t turn her head, she shifted only her eyes toward Emily. She was several yards away, standing in her endearingly duck-kneed stance, blonde curls wreathing her sweet face, chubby toes peeking out from beneath the pink silk flower petals that decorated her sandals. She was clutching the cell phone, her expression apprehensive.

Honor was engulfed with love. She wondered if this would be the last time she would see Emily healthy and whole and untouched. The thought was so horrible, it brought tears to her eyes, which, for her child’s sake, she rapidly blinked away.

She didn’t realize her teeth were chattering until she tried to speak. She managed to say, “It’s okay, sweetheart.” Her eyes shifted back to the face of the man who was only a trigger pull away from blowing her heart to smithereens. Emily would be left alone, and terrified, and at his mercy.

Please. Honor’s eyes silently implored him. Then she whispered, “I beg you.”

Those hard, cold eyes magnetized hers as he gradually eased the pistol away from her. He lowered it to the ground, placing it behind his thigh where Emily couldn’t see it. But the implicit threat remained.

He removed his hand from around Honor’s neck and turned his head toward Emily. “Hi.”

He didn’t smile when he said it. Faint lines formed parentheses on either side of his mouth, but Honor didn’t think they had been grooved there by smiling.

Emily regarded him shyly and dug the toe of her sandal into the thick grass. “Hello.”

He extended his hand. “Give me the phone.”

She didn’t move, and when he snapped the fingers of his outstretched hand, she mumbled, “You didn’t say please.”

Please appeared to be a foreign concept to him. But after a moment, he said, “Please.”

Emily took a step toward him, then drew up short and looked at Honor, seeking permission. Although Honor’s lips were trembling almost uncontrollably, she managed to form a semblance of a smile. “It’s okay, sweetie. Give him the phone.”

Emily bashfully closed the distance between them. When she was within touching distance, she leaned far forward and dropped the phone into his palm.

His blood-smeared hand closed around it. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Are you gonna call Grandpa?”

His eyes shifted to Honor. “Grandpa?”