Chapter 8 – At the Riverside
"Are you sure there aren't any other exits?" Tru asked for the third time.
"No," Harrison answered, not taking his eyes off the door. They had been there for hours but nothing seemed to draw his attention away from the entrance.
"Is that a no, there are no other exits, or a no you aren't sure?" Tru asked.
"There aren't any other exits," Harrison clarified. "She's been hassling the landlord about fire safety since she moved in."
"Hassling him enough for him to..." Tru suggested, knowing that she was clutching at straws.
"I doubt it," Harrison shook his head, his eyes still glued to the entrance.
"You okay?" Tru asked.
Harrison shrugged in response.
"It'll all work out?" she said in the hope of bolstering his spirits enough for him to be of use when the time came that evening.
"Like it did with Luc?" Harrison asked bitterly.
"Cassie isn't Luc," Tru pointed out.
"But neither of them exactly jumped to believe us. And we never actually told Cassie the whole story."
"Let's just get today over with," Tru sighed and turned back to the building. Her mind still on Harrison, she nearly didn't see the smartly dressed man entering the building. She gasped as she recognised him as Cassie's date from the restaurant.
"What is it?" Harrison asked as Tru jumped up from her seat.
"That was Cassie's date from last night," she explained, wondering whether to move over the road or not. They were on the same side of the street as the river at the moment. If the day played out the same as it had yesterday then sooner or later Cassie would end up crossing the road to them. Harrison had no such hesitation however and Tru grabbed his arm to stop him running across the road and into the building.
"It might be a coincidence," Tru cautioned. "Maybe he lives in the building himself."
"He looks too well dressed to live there," Harrison pointed out.
"But you said yourself, Cassie's fairly new in town, she had to meet him somewhere, maybe he does live there, or perhaps he is meeting a mutual friend."
All her arguments died in her throat however when the man came back out of the building with Cassie at his side. They crossed over the road and were heading straight towards Tru and Harrison. Tru took hold of Harrison's arm and pulled him into a nearby alley.
"Can we make this quick?" they heard Cassie ask as they passed by. "I have plans this evening and considering that disaster of a date last night..."
"Last night you made a fool out of me," the man hissed. "There were people I know in that restaurant. Important people."
"Hey wait a minute Matt," Cassie came to a stop just a past the end of the alley. Tru and Harrison waited silently.
"No, you wait," the man, Matt, continued in a vicious voice as he grabbed her arm in a harsh grip. Tru grabbed hold of Harrison in a similar fashion to stop him jumping in. The man was twice his size and she didn't want to be visiting him in hospital again any time soon. Reaching into her pocket she grabbed her cell phone and signalling for Harrison to keep a watch on Cassie, she moved out of earshot to call the police. Directing them to the street corner she told a small white lie in that they were heading to the river, where she of course knew Cassie would end up sooner or later.
Finishing the call she saw that Harrison was frantically waving her over. Rushing back to him she saw the reason for his agitation. Cassie and Matt had started to move away and were indeed heading for the river. Following after them as discreetly as possible neither Tru nor Harrison could hear what was being said. But from the expression on Cassie's face she was not liking the conversation one bit.
Tru had to hold Harrison back every couple of paces to stop him from intervening. "Be careful," she cautioned. "Let the police handle it."
"What if they're too late?" Harrison whispered. "They were yesterday."
"They didn't have me call them yesterday," Tru pointed out.
"I can't just leave it," Harrison said as he tried to wrestle his arm free of his sister's fierce grip. "I know you're scared of losing me since...but you can't keep me safe forever."
"Harrison," Tru pleaded. "Please leave it for the police, they'll be here any minute."
"You don't understand," Harrison argued. "He's taking her to the river, she's scared of the water, I have to stop him."
"She can't swim?" Tru asked.
"No," Harrison replied, quickening his pace to follow Cassie and Matt who were nearing the path leading to the river.
"Damn," she jogged after Harrison just as Cassie and Matt took a turn around the corner and out of sight down the riverside path.
Cassie and Matt had moved off of the main path. The trees obscured Tru's view for a moment. Harrison who was a pace ahead of her raced ahead as the sound of the crack of flesh against flesh rang out in the quiet evening air. "Hey," he called out, drawing as much attention as he could, but there was no one about to hear him.
"This isn't your business," Matt said. "Get on your way."
"Leave her alone," Tru said as she caught up with Harrison. Cassie was on the ground nursing a bruised face. Matt moved towards Harrison when he didn't leave.
"This isn't your concern," Matt said again. "This is between me and the bitch." He swung a meaty fist at Harrison and connected with his stomach. He fell to his knees and Tru sank down beside him. Where were the police?
"Hold it there?" Matt called out. Tru looked up and saw that Cassie had backed away from him and was working her way to where she and Harrison were sitting on the ground.
"Run Cassie!" Harrison gasped once his breath had returned. "Get away from the river."
Tru watched Matt move towards Cassie who turned to run, leading Matt away from herself and Harrison, but instead of moving back towards the streets she was heading directly towards the river.
"Damn it," Tru said as she jumped to her feet.
"She doesn't come down here," Harrison said, suddenly remembering. "She hates the river, she'll have got turned around in the trees."
They ran after them. A loud splash sounded and Harrison raced forward, diving into the river from one of the small jetties.