XXII

Emma supposed it was not long after she had fallen asleep when she heard a click. Groggily, she stirred and rolled over, but felt Woody sit upright beside her. He felt around for his gun by the bed but before he could take aim at his potential enemy, he was upon him and with a blunt object struck his head. Emma heard the dull thump and something fell upon her body. She bolted up, covering herself with the bed sheet, and fumbled for Woody's hand, which held the gun.

"Don't move," she said forcefully, her voice trembling slightly.

She could feel Woody's head upon her lap, she wondered if he lay dead but was too afraid to take her hands off the gun and her eyes off Henry Mercer to check for fear of Henry taking the moment as an opportunity to strike her as well.

"Oh my dear," he croaked, his scarred face coming into the light through the window. "You don't want to shoot me."

"I will if I have to Henry, or Greg or whoever you are!"

Her heart beat madly inside her chest. She told herself to calm down by taking, slow, deep breaths. She was thinking clearer as he took a small step toward her, his weapon, which looked to be a two-by-four piece of wood, raised in the air.

"I told you not to move, you bastard!" Emma screamed. She was so angry she could have shot him right there.

"I won't hurt you Emma, you're too beautiful. That is why I watch you. That is why I have come to get you. I could never hurt you, my dear."

"What were those pills all about, if you didn't want to hurt me," she exclaimed, shifting her body so that she could reach the phone.

He smiled sincerely, "They were never meant to hurt you, Emma. They were to make you understand. You need to understand how much I need you."

"You almost got me cut up on an autopsy table! Alive!"

"I could never hurt you Emma." She took his words to mean that he would never personally cause her harm, but he would do what he had to in order to protect himself and if getting her killed was the only way, then so be it.

At that moment, the phone rang beside the bed. Emma jumped but did not take her eyes off her fanatic pursuer.

"I'm answering the phone Henry,"

"If you answer it, I'll kill him."

"If you kill him, I'll kill you," she promised in return.

RING. Archie contemplated the situation for a moment. He could not reach the detective in order to kill him, though he wanted to so badly. The cop had touched Emma in ways that, from his window perch, he could only watch.

RING. Emma had a gun and could shoot him no matter what happened. She could not possibly aim and pick up the phone at the same time. He could make his move then. However, in that order, the person on the phone would know what is going on and send more police before he could make his escape.

RING. If she did not answer the phone, the person on the other side could become suspicious and send the police anyway.

RING.

"Answer the Goddamned thing!" He commanded as if he were in complete control of the situation, "but if you say anything a bad girl would say I'll hit you in the head too."

"Hello?"

"Emma?"

"Oh, h-hey Jordan," her voice shook. She cradled the phone on her shoulder still holding the gun with two hands. This made it difficult to aim, but she hoped that if he made any move, aiming the gun for the center of his body would hit something debilitating.

"Where's Woody?"

"He's sleeping."

"Wake him up, this is important," Jordan said.

"I can't, he looks too… Peaceful," it hurt her that she needed to make up stories when his condition was so bad but she feared for both of their lives. She hoped that Jordan asked the right questions.

"Peaceful?" She was infuriated, "Don't be an idiot; this is about your little stalker Emma!"

"Oh, he's here, don't worry, he's just sleeping,"

"What?"

"I said, he's sleeping," Emma hinted forcefully. She hoped it did not sound too much like an insinuation.

Jordan was trying to make sense out of her words. "Calm down Jordan, if you're lucky, you can see him tomorrow at the office."

At first, Emma made no sense but as her words tossed uselessly in Jordan's mind she saw the light, "Is he hurt?" She asked calmly. Silently she cursed the traffic and the red lights she seemed to be hitting. Every moment was of the essence. She wondered where Matt and his group were. "Is Dalton there? I mean Mercer, is he there?"

"Jordan, calm down," Emma said, she sounded impatient and slightly vindictive, "He's here."

"Well then, he'd better answer the door when I get there because I'm going to kick his ass!" she exclaimed, hanging up the phone while applying a little more pressure to the gas pedal. She was almost there.

Jordan understood; Emma had gotten through to her. She dropped the phone onto the bed. Her heart gave a leap when Woody stirred slightly in her lap. Henry made his move. While she was shortly distracted, he attacked her with the slab of wood. His scars conformed to wrinkles, creating new creases on his face. He let out a yell while Emma screamed, instinctively pulling the trigger on the gun.