The Stein Ch. 03

After debating my few options I decided that my best hope was to try and get to the pantry. If I could get the flashlight I could shine it in Parker's eyes to blind him temporarily and then I could use it as a weapon. I was sure that Parker had a gun otherwise I don't think he would have come to the house. I just couldn't understand why he would take the chance to come after me.

I let all of the air out of my lungs slowly and then inhaled deeply just as slowly so that I wouldn't make any noise. Then I stepped into the kitchen keeping my back against the wall and proceeded to move, using small side steps, toward the pantry door. I stopped moving about every foot to listen. I couldn't hear him but I could feel his presence in the room with me.

After what seemed like an eternity I reached the pantry door. Now I was going to have to step away from the wall so that I could open the door. I felt the beginning of a panic attack. I had been taking very small breaths so I wouldn't make noise and now I felt like I couldn't get enough air. I wanted to suck in a deep breath but I didn't dare do that. This just added to my panic. I had an overwhelming urge to scream and run from the house but I couldn't.

I stood still for a moment longer and then reached my right foot forward about a foot and then followed that with my left. I was about to repeat that process when I felt him. We hadn't actually touched each other but I could feel his body heat. I didn't know what to do. Did Parker know I was that close to him? I could smell his breath and his body odor was strong enough to make my eyes water.

I wondered if I should step back quickly or should I take a wild swing at him and hope to connect hard enough that it would allow me time to get out of the house. Before I could make up my mind I felt his hand brush along the side of my face.

"Hello, Eric." Parker said in the most malevolent voice I had ever heard.

I knew instinctively that Parker had only touched me to get a better idea of where I was standing so that he could shoot me. I immediately reached out my hands and pushed him as hard as I could as I took a step to the right. I must have caught him completely off guard because he stumbled backward just as he fired the gun. The muzzle flash blinded me and the noise deafened me but the bullet missed me. I spun around quickly and found the door to the pantry and opened it. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I searched for the flashlight while in the kitchen Parker fired two more wild shots.

I found the large heavy-duty flashlight on the top shelf of the pantry and picked it up. Then I squeezed myself as far into the corner as I could so that if Parker found the pantry door and opened it I would be out of his line of fire. As I leaned my back against the wall I kept my left hand against the edge of the door just for orientation. I thought that if Parker found the pantry door and opened it I would use the flashlight as a club and try and hit him with it.

It was quiet for a few seconds than then Parker began to speak to me.

"Eric, why are you making this so difficult. I have been waiting a long time for this night. Why don't you just give up and come meet your fate like a man," he said.

The temptation was to call out and ask him what this was all about but I didn't think he wanted to talk, he wanted to kill me.

"Come on, Eric, one bullet in the head and it's all over. Then I can go get Nicole and she and I can celebrate your death by fucking each other's brains out," he said. "You know, I have been banging that sweet pussy of hers for more than a year now."

I knew what Parker was trying to do. He want to make me angry enough that I would say or do something that would let him know where I was hiding. It was working. I was having trouble controlling the rage that was building within me. Just then I felt the pantry door move. It wasn't opening it was bowed in. Apparently he was leaning against the door.

"Okay, Eric, where are you?" he said in a sing song voice. "I'll bet that you didn't know that Nicole came to my hotel room while we were in Germany last year and told me that she wanted me to make love to her. She sucked my cock so well that I bought her a nice beer stein the next day. I must have tapped that juicy cunt of hers at least ten times during that trip."

His words were having a definite effect on me. The only good thing was that his talking made it clear that he was leaning with his back against the pantry door.

"While I was fucking Nicole the day before you were supposed to come home from Dallas, she ask me to kill you so we could be together," he said. "I was planning on doing it when she picked you up at the airport that night but you had to come home early. Oh well, the best laid plans of mice and men... I guess Nicole and I will have to skip the country tonight after I kill you."

At that point my rage took over. I prepared myself by taking a deep breath and then charged into the door with all my strength. The door flew open throwing Parker forward and I ran into him from behind. Our momentum carried us into the dinette set and Parker lost his balance and fell over one of the chairs with me hanging on his back. We hit the floor hard and I thought that I heard the gun slide across the floor but in the dark, I couldn't be sure. All I knew was that I was going to have to subdue this bastard somehow. I hadn't realized how big he was until I was on top of him.

The fall had knocked the wind out of Parker, which gave me a moment to try and gain an advantage over him. I switched the flashlight over to my left hand and then put my arm under his right armpit and got my hand behind his head. This immobilized his right arm. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that he was left-handed. I was leaning to the left as I tightened my hold on his right arm when he shot his left elbow up hard into the side of my head. For a moment I thought I might lose consciousness. Instinctively I knew if I passed out I would never wake up.

While I was waiting for my head to clear I felt his body tensing and I figured he was going to try and hit me with his elbow again. I raised the flashlight up and brought it down as hard as I could hoping that it would hit him somewhere on the arm. There was a loud crack and Parker let out a scream when the flashlight made contact. I had no idea how much damage I might have done and I wasn't taking any chances. I lifted the flashlight and brought it down hard again. This time when I made contact the flashlight flew out of my hand and skidded across the floor. Parker let out another painful scream and then he lay still.

I could feel his breathing as it went from ragged to even. I began to wonder if somehow I had caused him to lose consciousness but then he spoke.

"You are going to pay for that Eric," he said. "I am going to cut your balls off before I kill you and then I am going to give your balls to Nicole as a gift. When she sees them she will know you are dead. That will make her very happy."

I could feel the rage building inside me but it was sapping all of my strength. Things were beginning to come into focus for me. I knew that if I didn't remain calm I wouldn't be ready when Parker made his next move. Taking advantage of the fact that Parker seemed to be taking a break from his struggles to regain some of his strength I unclipped my cell phone from my belt and opened it. The light from the display allowed me to see that Parker was laying with his face turned to the right. His left arm was flat on the floor. I couldn't tell if his arm had been injured or if he was just waiting for the right moment to go on the offensive again.

It took me only a couple of seconds to find Tony's number and hit speed dial. Tony picked up on the third ring.

"Tony, Parker is here in the house with me. Hurry." I said and didn't wait for Tony to respond.

"Help won't get her in time to save you," Parker said. "By this time tomorrow Nicole and I will be on the beach in Rio sipping cocktails and laughing about how weak you were. I am going to make you cry before you die so I can tell Nicole what a baby you were."

At that moment a thought struck me. I knew what he was trying to do and I wondered if maybe I could turn the tables on him. It was a gamble but I had to try it.

I leaned down close to his ear and said, "You know, John, Sarah told me that she didn't want to be with you because she heard that you were inadequate in bed. She said she had no use for a wimp and that was why she liked me."

That hit a nerve. "You shut the fuck up about Sarah," he said.

"Sarah told me that girls that knew you called you jingle bells because you balls were so tiny," I said.

"You're dead, you son of a bitch," he said. "You're dead, do you hear me, dead."

In the light from the phone I could see that Parker was practically foaming at the mouth as he made that last threat. Suddenly I began to wonder if my last tactic had been such a good idea.

Things were calm for a few seconds and then the display on my phone timed out and the light went off plunging us back into complete darkness. That's when Parker made his move. Suddenly Parker was on his knees and I was hanging on with all my strength. Somehow Parker made it to a standing position and swung his body around in a circle. I lost my grip and was thrown across the room. I knew I should try and get out of the house but in the dark I had no idea where I had landed so I didn't know which direction to go.

I sat on the floor and remained as quiet as I could be. I listened for any movement by Parker. A few seconds later I heard him. It sounded like he was sliding his hand back and forth across the floor trying to find his gun. I started sliding across the floor away from Parker, hoping to find something that would tell me what part of the room I was in. I kept doing this until I felt my back hit a wall. As I slid my hand along the baseboard to try and determine exactly where I was I bumped into the spring stop for the pantry door. I now knew where I was but unfortunately, my hand had bent the spring stop and then it snapped out of my hand making a loud twang sound. I am not sure if I will ever be able to fully comprehend what happened during the next several seconds.

I knew that the noise from the doorstop gave my position away and that Parker would have an idea of where I was. Before I could do anything about that there was a flash and bang as Parker fired a shot in my direction. The bullet hit just above my head and I felt the bits of drywall fall on me. I figured that he must have thought I was standing up but the flash from the gun would have shown him that I was sitting on the floor. I was afraid the next shot would be on target. My ears were ringing from the first shot so it was difficult to make out the other noises I was hearing. It sounded like someone was shouting and I figured it was Parker yelling at me again. A second later Parker was illuminated in a bright light.

I could now see Parker sitting on the floor facing me. He was only about seven feet away from me as he raised his gun and pointed it at me.

I heard more shouting and then three gun shots. Parker seemed to have been knocked over backward. I was staring at Parker's prone body as a puddle of blood was starting to form on the floor next to him.

As the realization of what happened started to sink in I turned my head to the right and was blinded by what appeared to be three flashlight beams. A uniformed police officer carrying a flashlight, stepped forward and moved quickly over to Parker. He kicked Parker's gun away and then checked his neck for a pulse.

"He's still alive sir," the officer said.

Then another uniformed officer started talking into his radio. I was still in a daze when Tony Trenca squatted down next to me.

"Are you all right Eric?" he asked. "Do you have any injuries?"

"No. He missed," I said, "but I don't think he would have missed the next time. Thanks for saving my ass. Which one of you shot him?"

"We all did," Tony said.

*****

By the time Parker had been taken away in an ambulance I had already told the story of what happened to three different detectives, each of them telling me how lucky I was afterward. As if I didn't know that.

After most of the other police had left Tony and I sat down in the family room and talked.

I looked at Tony and said, "I don't understand this, why was he so set on killing me all of a sudden?"

"It was an obsession. I think that he felt that you took something that belonged to him and he wanted revenge," Tony said.

"This wasn't about Nicky, was it?"

"No. He was using her to get to you," Tony said.

"Sarah Bowden?"

"Yes. Her name came up a couple of times during your wife's questioning so I tracked her down. It's Mrs. Cooper now. She is married and lives in Phoenix. I talked to her by phone just before I came over here."

"What did you find out from her?" I asked.

"I asked Mrs. Cooper if she knew you and she said that she did and she told me the same story you told me about how you met and that you dated three times and both of you decided it was going nowhere. Then I asked her about John Parker. She was quiet for a while and I had to prompt her again to get her to answer the question.

"She said that John Parker was the guy she was with the night you met her at the gas station. She said that after that night she didn't see him for a couple of months and then he called her. He told her he was sorry for the way he behaved and gave her a big speech about how sorry he was and then asked her if he could come over to her apartment just to talk to her for a few minutes.

"She made the mistake of thinking he was sincere and let him come over. She said that when Parker got to her apartment he behaved like a perfect gentleman for a little while and then suddenly told her how angry he was that she had run off on him that night. He told her that she was his and nothing was going to change that. Then she said that he tried to rape her.

"She got away from him and got her phone and was ready to dial 911. Mr. Parker told her to go ahead and call. He said that he would just tell the police that the two of them were about to have sex when she suddenly changed her mind. Since there had been no penetration the police would probably believe him and she might be in trouble for making a false police report.

"Mrs. Cooper said she realized that it would be difficult to prove anything and all she wanted was to get him out of her apartment. She said that as he was leaving, Mr. Parker told her that he was going to take care of her boyfriend and if he saw them together he would kill both of them. Mrs. Cooper said that she wasn't dating anyone at the time so she figured that he was telling her that he didn't want her dating anyone. She said that if she had known that the threat was specifically aimed at you she would have let you know. She said it didn't occur to her because the two of you had stopped dating more than a month before her encounter with Mr. Parker.

"Mrs. Cooper said that Mr. Parker started calling her several times a week so she finally withdrew from school and moved to Phoenix without leaving a forwarding address."

"And he never found her in Phoenix?" I asked.

"No. There was only one person at USC that knew where Mrs. Cooper went when she left school at mid semester and Mr. Parker didn't know her. I found that friend and through her found Mrs. Cooper's parents and they helped me get in touch with her."

"I hope Parker gets locked up for a long time. I would hate to think that he might come looking for me when he gets out of prison," I said.

"I don't expect you will ever hear from Mr. Parker again. The chances of his surviving his injuries are very slim. He already appeared to be in a coma when he left here."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Certainly not happy but maybe relieved.

"Sorry, buddy but your house is a crime seen again," Tony said. "You will have to leave things where they are until we are done. It won't take long. Internal Affairs will want to come by in the morning. It's required after an officer involved shooting. In this case it was three officers involved. You should have you house back by noon tomorrow."

"Can I stay here tonight?" I asked. "I don't want to have to go out and find a hotel tonight."

"I don't think that will be a problem, just don't touch anything in the kitchen until the investigation is complete," Tony said.

"I won't touch anything, I just want to go to bed."

"Did you finish watching the video?" Tony asked.

"No. I was interrupted by the earthquake."

"Oh, right. You did tell me that. Just make sure you never tell anyone I gave you that copy and after you watch it get rid of it. Throw it away or record over it," Tony said.

"What will happen to Nicky?" I asked.

"I don't know," Tony said. "That's up to the DA's office. I wasn't there when your wife was questioned and I haven't seen the tape of her interview yet. I was going to review it last week but didn't have time. She did cooperate. If she told the truth and they believe her she might not be charged with anything," Tony said.

We stood up and Tony said, "I had better go now. I'll let you know if I hear anything about your wife one way or the other."

I walked Tony to the door. "Thanks, Tony. I guess I owe you a scotch." I said.

"At least two," Tony said on his way out.

*****

Standing alone in my family room I thought about the things that Parker had been saying to me. Was any of it true? I had already heard Nicky say that Parker had bought the beer stein for her so he had been telling the truth about that. Did Nicky have sex with him while they were in Germany? Had he really managed to seduce her into having an affair with him in his quest to get to me? It was hard for me to believe that Nicky would have done that but I knew Nicky had lied to me about buying the stein. How many other lies had she told me?

I thought about watching the rest of the video but I was just too exhausted. I decided I would watch it the next day.

That night I slept restlessly. My dreams will filled with images from the past three weeks. Some of the images were of actual events and some were nightmare images of things conjured up by my deepest fears and darkest thoughts.

I awoke Friday morning to the sound of my doorbell ringing. I put on a robe and went down to answer the door. There were two men at the door in plain brown suits. For a moment I wondered if they bought their suits at the same place Tony had bought the suit he was wearing the first time I met him.

The two men identified themselves as detectives from the Internal Affairs Department and that they had come to look at the scene of the shooting. One of them asked me if I or anyone else had touched anything in the kitchen since the shooting. I told them that no one had been in the kitchen since the investigators had left the night before. They asked me to tell them what had happened and when they finished questioning me about the shooting I went back upstairs to take a shower and they finished their investigation in my kitchen.

When I came back downstairs the two IAD guys were ready to leave. They said that they were done and I could clean up the mess now. After they left I called the same company that I called to cleaned my blood off the floor in the foyer and they said they wouldn't be able to get there until after noon on Monday. I told them that would be okay and made the appointment.

By 11:00 AM power had been restored to parts of the city and fortunately that included most of Sherman Oaks. With the power on I decided to make a pot of coffee and then watch the rest of Nicky's interview. I looked around the kitchen but didn't see the video tape anywhere. I tried to remember what I had done with the tape when I came into the house the night before but I couldn't remember. I went out to the car but it wasn't there either. Then it occurred to me that the IAD guys might have found the tape in the kitchen and took it with them. There was no label on the tape so unless they checked it out on my VCR they wouldn't know what was on it. Had I dropped the tape on the floor when I pushed Parker? If the IAD guys had found the tape on the floor in the kitchen they might have thought it was important. The bottom line was that the tape was gone and there was nothing I could do about it. I would have to alert Tony so he could cover his ass. I didn't want him to get in trouble for giving me a copy of Nicky being questioned.