The Repairman 19

The Repairman 19

Raines and Burma were nearing John’s house when they heard commotion over the recorder. It was apparent that John had found the device but as they could no longer hear what was going on inside the home. They knew Sarah would now be in trouble and hoped they could get there in time to save her. John had upped the ante by the violence of earlier in the evening. Thus it was no longer safe to have Sarah doing what she had apparently already attempted. It was not how they had planned it but none of that really matter now as she was there with him and he found the devices. They just needed to get there and make themselves part of the equation before it was too late. Raines drop as fast as she could and Burma now made sure his seatbelt was on properly as he no longer wanted to be sent flying towards the dashboard or window with his partners erratic driving on this night. She was on a mission and he wished to join her in seeing it through to the end. They turned down the twisting roads leading to John’s home and turned off their lights and siren to make sure they would not be giving away their arrival quite yet.

John looked into Sarah’s eyes as he felt his heart sinking. She threw herself in his arms and began to cry. “John it isn’t what it looks like. The Detectives met me tonight and told me you were some monster. I wanted to prove them wrong John.” John grabbed her by the shoulders and thrust her backwards towards the bed. She landed hard against the side of it knocking the wind out from her lungs. He stood just looking at her and not quite sure which feeling to believe among the many that were fighting inside of him for control. If she was telling the truth then he needed to play this cool to keep her love and yet if it was a sinister as he felt then she needed to pay the price. Then he needed to get out of town even sooner than he thought. What happened to the girls at the hospital would no longer matter in the scheme of things. John put his hands to his face and slid his hands into his hair and screamed loudly. He was trying to vent the rage and the noise coming from him seemed to grow with every second. Sarah sat shaking against the bed as her breathe came back to her slowly.

Greg was just beginning to head down the stairs to the garage to look for the exit when he heard a loud scream of a man. Then scream only seemed to grow and fill the house with each passing second. It was growing louder and louder till he began to wonder if it was some sort of a recording. He turned and began to walk towards the noise when a light caught his eye from behind the closet. He opened and saw a slew of monitors that seemed to cover everywhere within the home. He looked through them and then saw Sarah on the floor. He could feel tears in his eyes as he stared at the screen just looking at her. Then he saw that someone else was in the room and Sarah seemed to look afraid. He looked again and new his wife was in fact afraid. He knew he needed to get to her and interrupt whatever it was that was going on upstairs. He began to turn and then one last screen caught his eye. He looked and saw a woman in a room. He looked closer and she was strapped to something. He could not tell but she did not look happy either. He decided she was not his problem and he turned away towards the kitchen to look for something to use when he made his way upstairs. He saw a cutlery set and decided to grab the Butcher’s knife from it. He then headed towards the front of the house assuming there would be stairs there that led to the second floor. He was right and began to cautiously make his way up them. As he neared the top he could see a light coming from a room off to the side. He decided that was the place he would go. As he rounded the corner he could see slightly into the room. Sarah’s shoes were in his sight and he knew she must be in there with this crazy man. He would save her and get her back. He was not a fighter by any means but he had the knife and that would be his advantage right from the start.

John slowly let his hands fall back to his sides as the noise from within came to an end. Sarah sat shaking against the bed and John walked towards her in a very calm controlled way. He hoped it would ease her fear and that he could get more information now that he was calm enough to think a little more clearly. He knelt beside Sarah and began to talk gently to her, “Sarah, I am sorry I just lost my temper for a second. I did not mean to shove you like that honey. Please forgive me. It is just that these police have invaded my privacy for months now and they don’t seem to understand that I am not the one they are looking for in these disappearances. It has just totally worn me out. They try to sneak into my house and watch me. I just kind of lost it when I saw they brought you into this as well. I thought for a second that your love and kindness towards me was just an act for them. That you were trying to help them prove something crazy!! I am sorry.” He looked at Sarah with true sadness in his eyes as he really wanted to believe her and did not want to hurt her either. Sarah looked at his eyes and could tell he was really sorry. He did look very scary then though but she wanted to believe it was just out of frustration like he said that is was. She spoke to him as she looked in his eyes, “John, I am the one who should be sorry. I brought them devices in here and forgot to tell you. That is what I had planned to do and then to let you decide what to do with them. I do not believe the crazy stories the detectives told me. I don’t think they are looking at the right guy. You didn’t even go to my High School John but those other missing girls did and that is the theory the police has tied it to. That the person was getting some kicks or revenge on girls from his high school. Please forgive me John. I love y.” she suddenly screamed as Greg burst through the door with the butcher knife high over his head. John quickly moved as he saw her eyes change before the scream even made its way out of her mouth. He stuck out his leg and the on rushing Greg tripped over it and landed face first into the bed. John quickly moved towards the man on the bed and Sarah screamed. John was on top of Greg before he knew what had happened to him. The butcher knife was stuck in the mattress and not easy for either man to grab. John drove to hard punch into the back of Greg’s headed and the lights went black quickly for Greg. John flipped the man over and before he moved away Sarah was leaning over the man and touching his face tenderly. John asked Sarah who this was and she quickly explained to him that is was her husband. She did not know how he had got here or what he was going to do although she figured just like john that a man with a knife who is charging probably doesn’t have the friendliest thoughts on his mind. Then Sarah remembered the lump in her back seat and told John that must be how he had gotten in. John went to his drawer and searched for a few moments and then came back with a pair of handcuffs. Sarah moved to a spot where she was blocking John and he stopped before her. His blood was rising again but he was trying to hold it back. There was no way he could just leave this guy who tried to kill free to get up and try it again. He looked down at Sarah and she looked up at him. He was about to physically move her when a loud crash was heard in the distance. It startled both of them briefly and John quickly turned and went down the hall to a room he had set up with the security features. Alarms began to go off now as well and the sounds of a car racing down the driveway was becoming louder. John saw the car on a monitor and quickly knew that it was the police. In fact, he knew it was Burma and Raines paying him a visit. He knew he needed to leave and fast. He looked at the buttons before him and found the one with the plastic case over it. He lifted and pushed it quickly. The place would begin to burn immediately and then eventually it would blow to a billion pieces to make sure nothing was left behind. He did not care who was left in the house as long as he wasn’t in it. He left the room and could see the downstairs was filling with smoke and flame already. He headed back to his room and grabbed Sarah by the arm. “Sarah, this is the choice before you right now. There is no time to make this decision. The crazy police are going to frame me. They broke through my gate and now have set my home on fire. I need to leave and want you to come with me. I love you and will take care of you.” Sarah looked at him, “But we can’t leave Greg here he will die and he is still my husband and I love him. I can’t just leave him to die.” John leaned and gave her a kiss gently on the lips and then turned towards the hall. He left the room and headed to the stairway that led to the 3rd floor. Sarah went to Greg and tried to wake him by shaking him and then saw the glass of water near the bed. She grabbed it and dumped it on his face. He woke and looked around but was still a little groggy. “Greg, I loved you but I don’t love you anymore. You abandoned me. This house is on fire!! Hurry up and get yourself out of here!!!” Sarah turned and ran towards the hallway. Greg stumbled after her and got to the door as he saw her disappear up a pair of stairs. The smell of the smoke and the heat from the growing flames gave him a sudden surge of adrenaline that brought him fully back to the present. He chased after Sarah who was chasing after John.

Detectives Raines and Burma climbed from their car and headed towards the front stairs. The windows on the first floor exploded from the heat and glass was sent everywhere. The two detectives dove to the ground to avoid the flying shards bound for them. They scrambled back tot heir feet and continued towards the door. Raines was in front of Burma and reached the door first. She turned the handle and an explosion from underneath he sent her flying backwards. She crashed into Detective Burma who broke her fall. They lay side by side on the grass trying to recover from the concussion of the blast and the hard landing. Burma looked at Raines and she was covered in blood. He reached over and felt for a pulse. He found one just before she grabbed his hand, “Moe, I ain’t dead!! So let’s get this bastard. He just tried to blow me up!!” said Raines as she scrambled to her feet. Moe laughed and hurried behind her towards the now open door.

John heard foot steps behind him and saw Sarah closing in on him in a dead sprint. She got to him and told him to keep going. That they needed to get away and she was going with him. She professed her love to him and they kissed briefly. John closed to the door behind them moments before Greg made his way to the third floor. He heard the door close but had no idea what door it could have been. Flames and smoke were starting to appear here on the third floor and he thought it was too quick for that. He needed to find Sarah. He couldn’t just let her go with him. He began to try and open the doors but they were locked so he kept trying until he felt dizzy and weak as the smoke was overtaking him. He became disorientated and no longer knew what he had or had not tried. Raines and Burma heard the footsteps way up above and scrambled through the fire towards them. Burma knew he was a little more nervous right now then his partner who had taken this to heart and had it set in her mind she would get John. And in doing so no price was too high. They found a small stairwell on the second floor leading to a third and then they bumped into a man who was in rough shape but mumbled something about Sarah was up there. Raines placed his hand in Burma’s and told Moe to get him out of here. She was going to check and see if she could find Sarah. Detective Burma did not want to leave his partner but also knew this man needed to get out of here and that was not going to happen without someone helping him out of there. So headed back outside with Greg in tow despite what he wanted to do. The flames were too high already and there was hardly any room to get through the smoke and fire. Both Greg and Moe’s hair was getting singed and their clothes were getting hotter by the second. Raines searched the doors and stayed low as possible while trying to find one she could go into. She found a knob and it turned, the door opened and she could hear muffled screams. She found Miranda strapped to the swing in the middle of the room. She grabbed her utility knife from her belt and cut her free. They headed towards the door and then down the stairs towards the second floor.

John and Sarah had taken a back route from the third floor to a tunnel that led away from the building. There was no smoke in the staircase they used as John had made it fireproof after he knew the plan would be to burn and explode the house should he ever have to escape from it. In the tunnel the kept moving till they were halfway through it. John stopped and opened a panel on the wall. He flipped two switches and then headed for the door at the end. Sarah did not know what was going and just followed John. She was not sure what happened to Greg and everything was happening so fast that she simply did not know what to think about anything. Following John seemed like the best option to her and that was exactly what she was going to do. The reached the doorway and on the other side Sarah was surprised to see and sports car parked. John clicked the alarm off and escorted Sarah to the passenger side of the car. She got in and sat with a stunned look over her face. John drove down the path and through new hole in the wall created by an explosion he had set off in the tunnel. They were on the street and past the slew of cruiser and fire trucks now down the road near his home.

Moe pulled Greg along as they reached the bottom of the stairs on ground level. Miranda and Raines were on the second floor and heading towards the stairs. Then a large EXPLOSION erupted from under the building. It lurched upward and then multiple explosions followed and the building feel apart with pieces flying everywhere but the majority of it fell inward into a huge fireball. Moe and Greg were covered with debris. Miranda and Raines never felt a thing as their bodies were ripped apart by the blasts and now lay amongst the burning ruins. Rescue works and fellow officers quickly began to get Moe and Greg out of the debris that was covering them now. As soon as Moe could move he got to his feet and saw that only a pile of burning debris was left of the house. He asked if anyone had seen Raines make it out of the house but he knew the answer before he asked the question. There was no way she had made it that far down that quick through all the smoke and fire. She was gone and his heart filled with grief. He fell to his knees and just looked at the mess before him. He shouldn’t have left her in there and should have made her leave with him. They would both be alive then but he knew there was no way she would leave with the possibility of someone still inside. Greg looked at the debris and then at Detective Burma, “Did my Sarah make it out? Please tell me she made it out. SARAH!!!” Greg walked towards the fire sobbing. An officer ran over and pulled him away. Moe got to his feet and headed down to the command center at the end of the driveway. The walk seemed like it took forever and as he neared he saw the Commander looking straight at him. “Detective I want an explanation!!! What the hell happened here? Where is your partner?” Moe looked into the eyes of the Commander and then turned pointing to the burning fire behind him, “My partner, she is still in there Commander!!! She was going after the prick that did that to those women. Then we saw this man inside and I got him out. Detective Raines was heroic as she tried to save another woman that was supposedly in there. She didn’t make it out. And with any luck neither did the prick.” The Commander was speechless and then yelled to Detective Burma as he entered an ambulance. “Burma make sure every detail gets into a report. I want that report on my desk by asap!!!!!!!!!!!”

It would be days before the forensics team could get into the rubble to look for bodies or any parts that may be left. They searched for days and found only a few bones which likely would not lead them to an new information. I t was likely they would never know how many people died in the fire. They knew that Detective Raines was a victim for sure. However, they did not know what happened to Sarah, John, or the other missing woman named Miranda. The local police Commander closed the cases a few months later as he said it was the department’s belief that all had perished in the fire and that John Teaberry was no longer a threat to anyone. It had been a sad outcome and the City had lost a great Detective but the job was done and the monster was off the streets.

Janet and Melissa recovered slowly but eventually would be back to full health. That both believed there was another woman with them in the house but did not truly know for sure as maybe what they heard was only each other. They signed a book and movie deal while still in the hospital.

Detective Burma handed in the report to the Police Commander and a month later he filed his retirement papers. He had no interest in continuing his career after this case. It had taken a lot out of him and losing his partner was just more than he felt he could get over. He wanted to be away from the job. He didn’t agree with the department on closing the case either. He wanted proof that his partner died for more than a belief that John Teaberry was gone. He needed proof for her and he kept poking around in hopes of finding something somewhere to give him closure.

Greg had a hard time letting go of Sarah and could not accept that she had died that day. He just felt somehow she was alive and he just would not let go of her. He was struggling to move forward in his life. He had made a new friend in former Detective Moe Burma. He still lived in the same place and left Sarah’s things exactly as she had left them. He did not have a funeral for her either. He just refused to believe she had died.