The Girl with Bare Feet - L. Avery Brown (fiction book recommendations TXT) 📗

he’d found the knife, an extremely sharp knife, he used to filet fish.

 

Even though he didn’t have his phone in hand, Janelle heard the backdoor open could hear Liza crying “Daddy please put me down. Please. Daddy.” Janelle yanked the light off and ran to the corner where Allison had been hiding, praying Wade wouldn’t see her when he opened the door because she knew he would.

 

He was coming to get her because she knew his secret. Everything clicked in Janelle’s head. The nightmares were Allison trying to warn Janelle of the monster who shared her bed; who had spilled his seed into her womb. She didn’t know what he was doing with Liza whatever it was, he’d probably kill her when he was done.

 

Janelle pressed END then dialed 911. Within seconds a voice on the other end of the phone said, “911, what’s your emergency?”

 

Janelle whispered, “My husband… he’s coming to kill me. He’s got my daughter. I think he’s going to hurt her, too.”

 

“Ma’am, are you saying your husband is threatening to kill you and your daughter?”

 

“Yes. Oh, God, he did something… something horrible and I found out. Now he’s got my daughter and I think he’s going to kill us both. Please hurry.” Janelle heard several voices coming from around the 911 operator. Apparently when an imminent danger call comes in, the people at the 911 office went into scramble mode.

 

“Ma’am, I’m working to confirm your location.” The operator asked Janelle where she was per a map then asked, “That’s a different county. But don’t worry. We’re contacting them right now. Do you know where your husband is?”

 

“He’s looking for me. I’m in a little space under the house behind some bushes and oh, shit… I hear him. I have to go. He’ll hear me.”

 

“No, no. Ma’am don’t end the call. Turn the volume all the way down. Don’t turn it off. We need it on to find you. Put it somewhere I can hear you, okay.”

 

“Okay, okay. I’m turning down the volume now. I’m going to put the phone on… on the shelf. Please hurry. If you don’t get hear soon, you’re going to hear my husband killing me and my daughter.” Janelle’s eyes had barely adjusted to the darkening room but she made a quick dash to the shelf where an assortment of garden tools was and placed the phone in the middle so it couldn’t be seen. She said one last time, “Hurry.”

 

“Janelle? Janelle? Where are you, Honey?” Wade was in the laundry room. He tapped on the wall; the wall where he’d so passionately made love to her the other day. “Hey, Honey, are you over there? I think you are.” He hit on the wall with his free hand. “Remember how I banged you right here? Want to know why I was so turned on? He hit the wall harder. “Want to know why, Janelle? It’s because that’s where I did it. Right there in that little space. Allison was my first and if I had to pick a favorite, it would be her.” He pounded on the wall like a madman. “Are you listening to me, Janelle?”

 

Janelle could hear Liza crying. “Please Daddy put me down. Please.” Janelle didn’t know what to do. She was terrified. But all she could do was crouch down in the corner and cover her ears in a fool’s attempt to not hear what her husband was telling her. Tears streamed down her face

 

Janelle could hear Liza struggling with Wade. She screamed for Janelle, “Mommy! Mommy! Help me!” And then it was quiet; very quiet for about fifteen seconds. Janelle heard the dryer door slam shut after which Wade pounded on the wall with both his hands.

 

“Janelle, guess where Liza is? Guess, come on, guess.” Silence. “She’s in the dryer. Who would’ve thought a six year old would fit so well in a dryer. I think I’ll turn it on. Want me to do that, Janelle? Want me to turn on the dryer so I can watch Liza on the heavy duty tumble cycle?” Silence. “Goddamn you, Janelle answer me or so help me God, I’ll fucking turn on the dryer.”

 

Janelle yelled out, “No! Please No.” She ran out of the little room and towards the laundry area. Wade was waiting for her. He grabbed her before she cleared the bushes in front of the door that had been locked with a key he kept on his keyring with his car keys.

“Where you going, Janelle?”

 

“Liza. Liza, where is she? Please Wade, please don’t hurt her.”

 

Wade grinned. “She’s right where I said she was. But don’t worry, she’s not being tossed around like… shoes. You were right I do like shoes.” He put the knife to Janelle’s throat and dragged her back to the little room. Once they were inside, he threw her down, grabbed the light and turned it on. Wade pushed a slide lock that Janelle hadn’t noticed when she entered. “Don’t want to be disturbed, do we?”

 

Janelle ran to the far side of the space and Wade laughed. “Damn. I guess the rabbit thing is innate in all females. That’s where they all ran to. Right there. That exact spot. Only once they got there, they were stuck. Just like you.”

 

Janelle, on her hands and knees, inched forward from the corner. “Wade, please, please. I… whatever you did, we can get over it. I know we can. No one has to know. I promise. I won’t tell. I won’t.”

 

Wade got on his knees and stared at Janelle as he held the knife out where she could see it. “How’d you figure it out? I’m dying to know.”

 

“What?”

 

“How’d you figure out about my girls? At first I thought maybe it was just the porn mags you found but then I thought about how weird you’ve been acting. And how you wanted yesterday to yourself. Were you snooping yesterday? I hate snoopers. Is that how you found my room?”

 

“No. It was… Allison.”

 

“Allison? Really? That’s a good one, Janelle. Now how’d you really do it? I assume you found my stash in my office bathroom. Right? Those are some of my favorites. I loved the one with the little green shoes. She was so good. Tracy. That was her name. She was eight and such a screamer.” He grinned.

 

“Please, don’t. I don’t want to hear this. Please.” Janelle glanced around the room hoping she’d hear the sound of sirens or something. But it was silent. She trembled.

 

Wade reached out and grabbed Janelle by her neck and yanked her towards him. “No. I want you to know everything Janelle because confession is good for the soul. And after I tell you, I’m going to kill you. Then I’m going to kill Peter. Then I’m going to do to Liza what I did to all my other girls. She’s a little small but it’ll be the perfect ending because when I’m done, I’ll kill her then myself and we’ll all be one happy family again.”

 

Janelle was crying so hard she couldn’t see anything in front of her except the light overhead. She tried struggling against Wade but he was strong and he was in a better position than she. He held her close, in an almost loving fashion, and brushed his head against her head. “You know, I love the smell of your shampoo. Being in here it makes me so…”

 

He glanced around the room and smiled when his eyes fell on the box that held his mementoes. “You know I honestly never thought anyone would come in here. This is my space. I was so worried when Dad remodeled the cabin that I was going to lose this little space. Thank God, he didn’t. It really is because of the support beams. Go figure.” He nuzzled Janelle again. “It’s cozy in here, isn’t it?”

 

Janelle tried to be calm and kept listening for the sound of sirens. She took a deep breath and tried to reposition herself but was stopped by Wade. She had to catch him off guard or something; get him to move so she could get in a better position so she could run if given the opportunity. “When you told me about the day Allison went missing did you bring her here?”

 

Wade laughed. “You are so smart. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you, Janelle. Smart, smart, smart. And yes, that’s right. I was working on the lawnmower and Allison did want me to bring her out here. And that girl, she could get me to do anything she asked. So I brought her out here to work on her diving but oh my God, Janelle, she was wearing this little bathing suit and she was just so beautiful.”

 

Janelle could taste bile in her mouth. She had to keep it together. And she knew she had to keep him talking if her phone really was on hopefully the 911 operator was getting his confession on record and Janelle could die knowing the truth was out there. “So when you said you fell into the briars in the woods, you didn’t did you? It was Allison wasn’t it? She fought against you, didn’t she?”

 

“Yes. The first time she fought like mad and I’ll admit I was scared someone might hear her. For ten year old, well, she almost eleven, she had a lot of fight in her.”

 

“You raped Allison, didn’t you Wade?”

 

“You know, I swear I think you’re getting off on hearing about it. Is that it?” He ran his hand up her chest and fondled her breasts. “It’s okay if you do. Thinking about her and how it felt is enough to wind me up. So, yes, Janelle, I did make love to her. Six maybe seven time, I can’t remember but then people started looking out here near the lake so I had to kill her. I’ll bet you think I wasn’t upset by her death but I was. I was so torn up by it.”

 

Janelle closed her eyes because she thought she heard a siren somewhere in the distance. “How did you kill her?”

 

Wade pulled Janelle closer to him. “Do you honestly care? Or are you just trying to keep me talking? I’m thinking you think if I talk long enough I’m going to let you go. Sorry, Baby, that’s not going to happen. But if it helps any I feel much calmer now. I’m still going to kill you. But I think I’ll enjoy it more now that I’m all calm. So thank you.”

 

Wade laughed in her ear then turned her head and kissed her. “Where were we, how did I kill Allison? It was about three o’clock on the third day of the search. Mom and Dad thought I was searching for her. But she was right here in this room. I wanted to make love to her one last time.”

 

“Stop.”

 

“Stop? But I thought you wanted to know? What is it Janelle? Huh? Do you want to hear all about it or do you want to go ahead and let me kill you? Because I’m feeling so good right now, I’m thinking instead of killing Peter after I kill you, I’d slice you a few times so you can’t more and then I’ll bring Liza in here and make love to her right in front of you. Then I’ll deal with Peter. So what did you want me to stop for?” Wade took his fileting knife and sliced Janelle just behind her ear.

 

Janelle winced but didn’t say anything about the pain. “I said stop because I want you to stop saying you made love to Allison. You raped her Wade. You’re a monster. There was no love involved in it.”

 

Wade wrapped his hand around Janelle’s throat and squeezed. “Shut up. I have never raped anyone. They all wanted it. So did Allison. She loved me. She told me she did. She loved it. She loved me.”

 

“No she didn’t. You’re a sick son of a bitch. And if she