Chapter 18: Showdown
Liz's eyes grew big after hearing what Donald had just said. This couldn't be true…. Was Don her stalker? Had it been one of her friends all along?
Liz felt faint at this realization and leant against the wall for support. She looked at Don, still standing extremely close to her, almost pushing her against the wall with his body. He had a crazy look in his eyes.
Okay, Liz thought, I need to distract him so I can get out of here and get Ray.
"Look, Don, I understand the fact you don't approve of Ray but he's a really nice guy. You just need to get to know him better"
"What?" Don hissed, putting a hand around Liz's neck. He didn't squeeze but he could at any moment. "Do you think that I'll ever be okay with you being with him?" The way he had said 'him' was like he was talking about something disgusting.
He was so close now that his lips almost touched Liz's. She had to suppress the urge to move her head.
He continued, "You won't be happy with him, Liz, trust me. I can give you everything you want. You belong with me, can't you see that?"
"Ehm, look, why don't we watch a movie, huh? Just relax a little and then we can talk about it later" Liz said, while trying to move away from the wall and thus her vulnerable position. But Don wouldn't let her move and tightened the grip around her neck.
"Not so fast, princess" Don whispered close to Liz's ear, "We're not done yet"
Ray walked up to the window again to check on Liz and Don at the poolside but when he looked down he couldn't see them anymore. He didn't panic immediately but he did feel uncomfortable and a strange feeling started to form in his stomach.
He walked downstairs and went to the kitchen first, thinking that maybe they went for something to drink or a snack. When he didn't find them there he checked the living room. Also empty.
"Liz?" Ray yelled, "Don?" When he didn't get an answer he decided to check the cinema before seeing if they'd gone somewhere outside. He was growing a little worried now because he knew Liz would never leave without saying anything. He walked out of the living room through the hall when he stopped dead in his tracks.
On the floor, against the wall there was a backpack. Don's backpack. It was black and had the letters SF on it. Ray felt a chill go through him, the hairs on his body standing on end. His worst nightmare had just became reality. Liz was alone with her stalker….
Ray was on edge when he opened the door to the cinema. He didn't see anyone sitting there. "Liz?"
He popped his head around the door to check the back of the room and felt his heart drop.
Don heard the door open and in a split second he had produced a knife from his pocket and had pulled Liz in front of him, one arm around her, grabbing her shoulders and one hand pressing the knife against her throat.
They watched as Ray looked inside the cinema. Liz would never forget the look on Ray's face when he saw them. When he saw her, a knife against her throat. The desperation and shock that she saw was real and she was yet again reminded of how much Ray loved her.
"There he is, mister bodyguard. Took you long enough to get here" Don said sarcastically.
"Please don't hurt her, Don. Just put down the knife. We can talk about this"
Don laughed out loud. It almost sounded inhuman.
"Talk about this?! Really? There's nothing to talk about!" the anger and frustration was clear in his voice, "Liz belongs with me, not you, it's that simple" he spat.
"And what do you hope to achieve by doing this?" Ray asked, slowly making his way to the back of the room. He needed to be closer to Liz.
Don just stood there, watching Ray intently as he inched his way towards them.
"That's far enough!" Don yelled as Ray got to the open space behind the chairs at the back of the room. Ray was about 15 feet away from them now and he looked at Liz, giving her a quick, reassuring smile before getting his attention back to Don.
"If I can't have Liz, no one can" he growled and pressed the knife harder to Liz's throat, drawing some blood.
Liz whimpered as she felt the knife cut through her skin. How had they not seen this coming? She was still having a hard time believing that all this time it had been a friend who had been threatening her.
Ray became even more worried when he saw blood trickle down from where Don had the knife pressed to Liz's throat.
"Don, please, the last thing you want is to hurt Liz, am I right?"
"Of course I don't want to hurt her!" Don yelled, "But you guys leave me no choice! You don't want to listen"
Liz thought it was time for a different approach, something she'd seen on television once. She lifted her hand and softly started stroking Don's arm, the one he had around her shoulders.
"Look, Don, I have to admit that I've always found you very attractive"
Ray raised his eyebrows at seeing and hearing what Liz was doing but he soon caught onto her plan.
"Back in school, I always had my eyes on you but I never felt like you were into me as well" she continued.
"What are you talking about?" Don asked suspiciously, "I always liked you, Liz"
"Well, if that was the case, I never noticed. And where were you when I got together with Tom? He treated me so badly. I'm sure you would never have done that to me" she tried moving her head a little so she could look up at him. He wouldn't let her at first, still holding the knife firmly in place but after a while he loosened his grip and looked at Liz.
"I wanted to hurt that bastard so bad…." Don's voice sounded like a whisper now. "He didn't deserve you and took advantage of you"
His hand that had a tight grip on her shoulder now moved up to stroke her cheek. Liz almost flinched but she didn't. She knew that if Don realized that she was playing him, it would all be over. She glanced at Ray who was still standing where Don had told him to stop. She wasn't sure where to go from here and was hoping that Ray would know.
Ray made a nudging motion with his elbow that was barely noticeable but it was enough for Liz to understand.
She kept stroking Don's arm and she felt him loosen his grip around her shoulders.
"You're right, he didn't deserve me", she whispered close to his cheek. When she felt him loosening his grip even more and he was lowering the knife in his other hand just enough, she gave him a hard elbow between his ribs before ducking towards the floor.
Simultaneously Ray dived forward and grabbed Don's arm that was holding the knife, pushing him against the wall with his other hand. Don let go of Liz's wrist, which he had managed to grab and Liz crawled away. Don tried to stab Ray with the knife but Ray was able to keep it away from him. He threw a punch and it landed on Don's cheek and he cried out from pain. Ray had gotten his gun out the moment Liz had tried to free herself but the situation had been too dangerous for Ray to fire a shot. During the struggle with Don, the gun had been knocked out of his hand.
Ray looked behind him to see if Liz was okay and saw that she was sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees, rocking back and forth, tears streaming down her face.
The split second that Ray had his attention on Liz, Don saw his chance and managed to push Ray backwards and he swung the knife. It sliced through Ray's shirt and left upper arm.
Ray felt the stabbing pain but was able to grab Don's wrist before he could cut him again.
They wrestled and finally Ray was able to get the knife out of Don's hand and it fell to the floor. Both men were throwing punches now.
Ray felt the warm blood run down his arm but he ignored the pain and continued the fight. Ray couldn't remember ever being so angry with someone for all the pain and angst he'd caused. Don had put Liz and Sam through hell and he was going to make him pay for that.
Ray was stronger and after Don missed a punch, Ray was able to grab his arm and twist it behind his back, pushing him hard onto the floor. Don was unable to move with Ray pushing him down with a knee in his lower back.
Don was squirming underneath Ray so Ray gave him another punch in his side before he looked up at Liz.
"Lizzie, sweetheart…. It's okay", he said. All he wanted to do was to get up and wrap her in his arms and hold her. To kiss her tear-stained cheeks and tell her it was over. But he couldn't just yet.
"Lizzie, darling, could you please go to my room and get my handcuffs? Could you do that for me, honey?" Ray asked in the calmest way possible.
Liz nodded and got up. She walked out of the cinema, slowly at first but as soon as she was near the door she started running.
Ray was looking after Liz and waited until she disappeared from view.
"Okay, now it's just you and me, buddy" he said before turning Don around onto his back. He punched Don in the face, "This one's for Liz" he said before punching him in his gut "And that's for Sam"
Don was squirming underneath him and crying out in agony. He threw one last punch before turning Don back onto his stomach saying "And that's for hurting the woman I love"
Liz came back with the handcuffs and Ray cuffed Don before getting him on his feet. They walked to the kitchen and Ray sat Don down in one of the kitchen chairs before calling the police.
After Ray got off the phone with the police, Liz called Sam.
The moment Sam picked up, Liz broke down crying, too upset to even say a word, so Ray took the phone from her and explained to Sam what had happened.
Ray could hear the immense relief in Sam's voice and he promised he'd be home early.
Ray hung up the phone before taking Liz in his arms. "Shhhh, it's okay sweetie, it's all over now", he said while kissing her temple before turning to her cheeks, kissing her tears away.
Thirty minutes later the police were at the house to arrest Don. Ray gave a quick statement at the kitchen table, not wanting to go to the station. An ambulance had also arrived and they checked on Liz. Ray was sitting next to her, stroking her back and whispering sweet words in her ear.
"Ehh, sir, you're bleeding" the paramedic stated dryly and Ray looked down at his arm. He'd forgotten about the knife wound as he was too focused on Liz.
The paramedic cut his shirt open to check his wound. "I'm afraid you'll need stitches, sir. If you could come with us please?"
"No, just do it here" Ray answered.
"Sir, we can't. We need to take you to the hospital for that"
"Listen, I'm not going anywhere. You'll need to do it here, because I'm not leaving her. You either do it, or I'll do it myself" Ray said as he pulled Liz onto his lap and wrapped his free arm around her. Liz put her head on his shoulder and wrapped both arms around Ray's neck and they hugged while the paramedic stitched Ray's arm.
After everyone had left, Ray and Liz went to the living room and sat down on the couch, still in a tight embrace.
Ray got up to grab a blanket from the other couch and draped it over Liz's shoulders before taking her into his arms once more. He heard her muffled cries against his shoulder and held her even tighter. He felt his throat tighten at hearing Liz's sobs and had to swallow hard to keep his own tears at bay.
He slowly rocked her back and forth, giving her light kisses wherever he could reach, "Shhh, you're safe now, sweetheart"
They sat like that for minutes, just holding each other. Both letting the events of that day sink in.
"Are…are you okay?" Liz eventually asked after she had calmed down a little. She sat back and took Ray's arm in her hands, softly stroking his hand, "Thank you for saving me…. again" she said before bending over and kissing his wound.
"I'm fine, sweetie. And you're very welcome. That's why I'm here, remember", he said, winking at her.
"True. But now it's all over….."
