A Stalker vs. A Serial Killer 01 Ch. 03

When she made it to the front door she ran straight into a massive rain storm, the thunder light up the night sky. She didn't hesitate and ran straight into the storm. She made it to the street when a familiar car pulled up and the two men who she knew now were friends of Jacob's shot from the doors. "Where is he?!" Carl shouted over the crack of thunder.

Jacob must have called them on his way home.

"Upstairs!" Rachel cried. "Jake is hurt!"

"You and your daughter stay here." Carl said firmly and then raced toward the house.

Carl didn't get more then five feet before the crack of another thunderclap was matched by the sound of two loud gunshots. The bald man in the shorts hit the window of the bedroom and with a smash it gave way and he fell to the pavement below. A pale body hit the ground two feet from the cops feet. Rachel shielded Lily's eyes from the sight of the blood. Rachel stared at the body of a naked man wearing only a pair of shorts lying dead on the pavement.

The officer checked him and then nodded to his partner who lifted his radio for back up and for a EMT. The first two units were on scene almost immediately. She guessed they had been stationed nearby for her protection, then she saw Jake. He stumbled out the door, barely able to support his own weight. He had a Beretta in his right hand. She set Lily down and whispered staring at Jake. "Stay here."

Rachel took two steps toward him when Jacob reached the doors of the house. Jake two two more steps onto the pavement and fell to his knees, the weapon clattering from his hand. Rachel ran to him just as he began to collapse and was able to catch him in her arms just before he hit the pavement. "Jake....baby?"

"Is...he....dead?" Jacob whispered softly.

"Yes." Rachel cried and nodded. The flaming red hair now drenched and dripping down on his body. Her hands gripped his and held on tight. "You stopped him."

"Thank you...."Jake whispered and she could see the blood coating his lips. "...You believed in me..."

"Jake no...." Rachel cried. "You can't leave us....not now."

"In another life." Jake whispered and his grip slackened. The light that she had just begun to notice in his beautiful eyes faded and she knew, somewhere inside, she wasn't holding him anymore. Just his body.

"In another life." She agreed and laid her forehead against his chest. "Yes....in another life."

Rachel felt a little tug at her arm and found Lily kneeling next to her, and she knew then she didn't mourn alone. Lily patted Jake's chest softly and then she stood and ran into the house. Rachel called but Lily kept running. She was just about to go and find her when her little blond haired daughter reappeared in the door holding the white teddy bear tightly to her.

"He....can't stay with us...can be momma?" Lily whispered when she reached her mother again.

"....No baby." Rachel cried and shook her head. "He saved us though...."

"Like a superhero?" Lily whispered.

"Yes baby....like a superhero." Rachel agreed. "Like a Superhero."

The next hour was hectic. The EMTs tried to revive Jacob, but the multiple stab wounds had drained so much blood. Jacob Lawrence and the man who has been identified as Ryan Jermaine Haley were both announced dead at the scene. The gun she found out had been in a drawer in the bedroom. Jacob hadn't told her about it she realized because he was afraid she wouldn't trust him.

Had she just been more open to him when this started she would have known about it and been able to use it herself before Jacob ever got home. He had been afraid he would lose what little chance he had, and it had taken his life.

Carl drove Rachel and Lily back to her apartment, Rachel slept with Lily that night with Jacob's white teddy bear resting between them. Both of them held it as a symbol, both wishing that it was Jacob between them.

Jacob's funeral was three days after that. Rachel and Lily both attended. Rachel and Lily were given a place of honor with Carl and the others officer who had served with him in his old precinct. Carl stood up first before the gathered people and cleared his throat.

"....Jacob Lawrence was more then just my partner. He was my friend. He always put others before himself and...died the way he lived. He gave his life to protect someone I believe he loved, in his own special way. Jake was....different after his accident and I am thankful that for a few days he got to live the happiness he never thought he would have again."

Carl looked at Rachel and smiled sadly. She had given him a chance, made his last two days on earth the most wonderful of his life. He looked then back into the open coffin as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "We'll miss you Jake....i hope you found peace brother. See you again I promise."

Rachel, who wasn't asked to speak stood up and walked to the front of the group, but she didn't face them, she faced Jake. She looked down and just whispered. "Why....why dammit...why didn't you just...ask me to lunch?" She cried out as she looked down at his handsome face. "I love you Jake....Thank you....for everything."

Rachel looked over and found Lily next to her. Lily stood up on her tip toes and gently placed the bear next to him. "Bye Jake." Lily cried softly. "I'll miss you."

Rachel picked Lily up and they walked out of the funeral home alone. By the door a small elderly woman with long gray hair stopped them. "Excuse me....i think these were yours...."

In her hands she held out a brown teddy bear holding a little heart in one of her hands and in the other a tiny golden locket with the words "Hope" carved across the case. "....What are these?" Rachel asked.

"The night Jake...." The old woman sighed and nodded. "The night he died he came to my shop. He picked up a bottle of red wine and these. I think....they were meant for you."

"I didn't bring my purse..." Rachel whispered. "I can't pay for them."

"Jacob was my friend, he bought them with years of friendship. Please....i want you to have them." The old woman said with a smile.

"Thank you." Rachel said simply and took the two items. She placed the locket proudly around her neck and handed the small bear to Lily who hugged it tight to her chest as she wept softly. She picked up her daughter and left without looking back, afraid if she did she wouldn't have the strength to leave at all.

~{Part 7}~

A constant reminder.

6 years later

Rachel May Pierson was sitting on a bench overlooking the beautiful Folsom Lake and enjoying the afternoon air. When she was a little girl she had always been full speed ahead. They joked that she had run before she learned to walk. She had joined sports that the boys told her she had no business playing and during her senior year in high school when she got pregnant and her boyfriend got scared, she forged ahead without looking back. Who needed a man, she could raise her child without him. In short, she had no first or second gear.

Now however she was a different woman. She stopped and smelled the roses. Her life's new motto was live in the moment, because you never know when it will end. Today she sat by the lake watching Lilly play with a little sad smile on her face and just remembered it all. How it had happened, all of the events. It was like a brief time of out someone else's life.

She remembered clearly a few weeks ago while she was hanging out with a friend. Her friend was the kind of guy who liked to create fantasy battles for his friends to discuss. Who would win, Lebron James or Micheal Jordan, who was the better player Joe Montana or Peyton Manning, that type of thing. Her friend had turned to her and asked. "What do you think would happen if a Stalker took on a Serial Killer."

And all Rachel could do was smile. She knew the answer to that question. She had lived it. She still thought about Jacob Lawrence every single day. His smile. His laugh. The way the light seemed to shine in his eyes. She could never forget if she wanted to, she had a constant reminder to look at every single day.

By the lake her 12 year old daughter Lily dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a little tank top played with her little brother. Jake Teddy Lawrence was 5 years old, five years and change. Lily adored him, she never said no when he wanted to play and whenever he wanted to know about his father, it was Lily who would tell him.

She would tell him about the wonderful man who we had mistaken as a bad guy. The man who had shown their mother that not all men needed to be disdained. Last year on his birthday Lily had given him a very special present. A brown teddy bear with a little pink heart between his paws. It had been sitting on her night stand like a silent guardian for six years. She just told him, it belonged to our daddy.

Lily had always called Jake that, ever since. Because she told her mother, a daddy is someone who will protect you no matter the cost, like daddy did. Rachel had only smiled, but that night she cried herself to sleep. Even years later she missed him, it seemed she missed him more every year and she regretted all the wasted time.

She looked down at her chest at the locket with the word "Hope" carved into the case. She never took it off. It was a constant reminder never to judge a book by it's cover, for sometimes the nastiest cover, holds a brilliant piece of art.

And now as she sat on the banks of that river she looked up at the sky and smiled. "In another life. I love you Jacob. We'll be together again."

And she knew it was just the wind and wishful thinking, but she could swear when she said this the wind picked up blowing her hair around, gently caressing her face and she swore she heard his gentle laugh and him whisper. "In another life my love."

She remembered sitting on her friends couch when he asked that question. "What do you think would happen if a Stalker took on a Serial Killer."

Rachel only smiled her little smile, Jacob's personal smile and whispered. " Stalker, hands down. Every single time."

"You think?" Her friend asked.

"I know." Rachel whispered. "I lived it."

With a smile she told him about the time a stalker had stolen her heart and gave his life to save her and her daughter from a Serial Killer.

He was the greatest man she had ever known.