Part 13

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Cassandra brought the heel of her left shoe up and stamped it down as hard as she could on the instep of Chad's left foot. She could feel him loosen his grip on her waist as he pulled away cursing. He bent his body over slightly in pain. Cassandra seized the moment to run towards the screen door.

She was at the door getting ready to slide the screen open when Chad grabbed her upper left arm, yanking her back and shoving her up against the kitchen wall. His face was contorted in anger as he spat out, " Okay Bitch, you want to play rough? We can do it that way. I think I’ll like it better that way." The statement was followed by a backhanded slap to Cassandra's right cheek. The force of the blow was hard enough to leave a red mark on her face.

Mackenzie got out of her car after fifteen minutes and walked up to Alex's’ front door. She listened for a moment and then tried the knob. It was unlocked. She eased the door open slowly and stepped into the living room.

Sparky was pacing back and forth on the porch and was clearly agitated now. He knew it was his job to protect Cassandra when Alex wasn’t there. He knew Chad was hurting her

and that he had to get back inside.

Bud put his cell phone in his shirt pocket. He had just talked to the Sergeant at the precinct and had explained their concern that something was not right at Alex's’ house. The Sergeant said she would send a police cruiser right over to met them at the house.

Alex's attention was on driving safely and quickly to her house. She knew in her gut that something was wrong. That Cassandra was in danger. She just had to get there before Chad hurt her.

Mackenzie closed the door gently and then heard Chad's raised voice and a loud slapping sound. She moved towards the sounds and they led her into the kitchen. When she got there she saw Chad and Cassandra. Chad had Cassandra pushed up against the wall and his hand had just connected with her face . The sound was the same that she had heard when she was in the living room.

Mackenzie screamed, " What the hell do you think you’re doing?" Chad turned his body towards the voice and his face was distorted with rage. " Shut up or you’ll get some of the same! This bitch wants it rough and it is going to be my pleasure to give it to her." Blood ran from Cassandra's lip where Chad's blows had split it open. Mackenzie's raised voice said, "This wasn’t part of the plan. You’ve got to focus on the plan if it is to work and then we both get what we want!" " You bitches are all the same! You don’t know what you want. You think another woman can love you better than a man. Well, you haven’t had the right man yet. When I get done with Cassandra, I’ll be more than glad to service you. Now shut up and let me introduce her to Mr. Dick!"

Sparky was frantic by now. He had been pawing at the screen trying to get back inside. Sparky backed up and made a charge towards the screen.

Cassandra wasn’t sure what was happening. She knew Chad had been slapping her in the face. He had taken her two arms and tied them together behind her back with a kitchen towel. She thought she heard another voice and then he had stopped hitting her.

Sparky broke through the screen and slid on the kitchen floor. He lunged in the air and his jaw clamped down on Chad's’ right forearm with all the strength that was in him. Chad screamed in pain as he diverted his attention away from Mackenzie and Cassandra. He tried shaking Sparky off his arm, but he held on tightly. He started to punch him wherever he could connect with fur.

Cassandra slumped to the floor almost losing consciousness. Mackenzie ran over and bent down next to her saying, " God, this wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to beat you. It was just supposed to look like you had slept together, and have Alex walk in on you both. I thought it would be enough to break the two of you up. Chad would have his revenge on Alex and I thought maybe I’d have a chance with her. Christ he’s a lunatic! We have to get out of here!"

Alex was cursing and banging her hands on the steering wheel. " What the hell is the hold up? Come on!!", Alex screamed. Bud spoke in a calm voice to Alex, " Alex, getting crazy isn’t going to get us there any quicker. There must be an accident up ahead of us." Alex looked at Bud and said, " Fine. I’m not waiting here any longer" and with that said she jumped out of the Explorer. She turned to the window and said to Bud, " I’m walking the rest of the way. I can’t wait here Bud. You bring the car when traffic clears up." "Alex, wait!", Bud pleaded, but it was too late. Alex was jogging down the sidewalk towards her home.

Mackenzie helped Cassandra stand up. She was pretty wobbly on her feet and she told her to lean on her until she got her bearings. They had to get out while Sparky was distracting Chad. They couldn’t go out the screen door. They would have to sneak back into the living room and go out the front door.

Bud had gotten into the drivers seat after Alex left. The traffic snarl was finally moving. He prayed that the police cruiser would beat Alex to her place. No telling in Alex's state of mind what she would be foolish enough to do.

While Sparky was distracting Chad, Mackenzie and Cassandra slowly edged their way out in to the living room. If they could only get to Mackenzie's car, this nightmare would be over. Mackenzie cursed to herself for leaving her cell phone in the car. Sparky wouldn’t be able to stop Chad for much longer.

Alex could see down the street. Chad's truck was parked in front of the house and a car was parked in back of it. She had decided to approach the house from the rear, go up the fire escape and into her bedroom window.

Chad had lost his patience long ago with Sparky. Christ! He had to get rid of this dog before it did some real damage to his arm. He saw a vase filled with flowers on the kitchen counter and reached over and grabbed it. Chad raised it up and smashed it down on Sparky's head. Sparky immediately let go of his grip on Chad's arm and fell to the floor lifeless.

Mackenzie and Cassandra had made their way into the living room without Chad seeing them. Cassandra's head was starting to clear some and she whispered to Mackenzie, " Let’s go upstairs to Alex's room. We can lock the door there and call for help. There’s an old fire escape off one of Alex's bedroom windows and we can leave that way. It may buy us some time." Mackenzie replied, " Okay, you head on up. Let me just open the front door a crack. That way he may think we left the house." Cassandra pleaded, " Please hurry!"

Bud was making good time now that he had gotten past where the accident scene was. He was worried about Alex. If Alex got there before the police and Chad had hurt Cassandra, he knew she would lose it. He prayed to God the police were already there.

The police cruiser pulled over to the curb. The officer got out and looked at the tire. He had a flat. Getting back in the cruiser, he radioed dispatch and they were sending a tow truck out to him. He was to wait there and ride back with the truck. Another cruiser would be dispatched to Alex's house.

Alex edged her way along the side of the firehouse. She hoped no one had seen her. Alex stopped when she got to the fire escape and took off her shoes. This way she wouldn’t make any noise climbing them.