A Terrible Thing to Have to Do

She looked great, her long blond hair in soft waves, dressed in a nice conservative gray business suit. Sonny was completely proud of his little girl.

"When does Mom get home?" She asked, heading instantly for the fridge like all kids do.

"Around 7 tonight." Sonny told her.

She found the Jello and fruit that Mary Ann had made and set there deliberately for her, got a bowl and plopped down in a chair.

"Late shift for Mom, huh?" She asked, stuffing a spoonful of the Jello into her mouth and squeezing it back and forth between her teeth like she always did.

"Yes, 12 hours today, then we will both be off for two weeks."

That was as far as he got, there was a sudden loud crash from out in the garage.

+++

"What in the hell was that?" Sonny exclaimed, getting up.

"I don't know, it sounds like something fell over?" Samantha set down the bowl.

Sonny went to the window, he couldn't see the garage door from his vantage point but he saw the white van still parked down there. Their driveway was nearly 100 yards long, he didn't see anyone around the vehicle.

Just then there was another noise, Sonny walked quickly to the drawer, unlocked it and picked up his Italian made F.llipietta .45. It was a heavy revolver, he liked it, taking it to the firing range often.

It wasn't loaded, he never kept loaded guns in the house, a habit he had developed from when the kids were little. But whoever was in the garage wouldn't know that.

The rest of his firearms were in the main locked case, except for the .22-250 he had been working on. He kept all of his customer's firearms behind a false wall in the hallway closet, that was locked, too. That was another habit from when the kids were little, he had built the false wall in such a way that a person could look at it and see nothing but the back of the closet.

Down low near the floor was the simple lock that kept the sliding panel secure, operated by a square cut key stock wrench which he had in his pocket.

Sonny walked over and quietly opened the side door to the garage.

"Who is there?" He called out. He heard a sudden gasp from Samantha, then his head exploded.

The first thing he saw when he woke up was Samantha.

She was sitting on the floor, her hands behind her back, her face was bloody. She looked at him, a terrified expression on her face.

All she had on was her blouse, it was torn open. Her gray skirt and underwear were gone. She had her legs held tightly together, knees pulled up. Tears were streaming down her face. Sonny tried to get up but realized his own hands were restrained behind his back.

Looking down, he realized his artificial leg was also gone.

He turned his head, a slender woman with long dark hair was sitting in his chair, eating some of the Jello. She had on a tank top and filthy looking blue jeans, her arms were covered with tattoos. She looked over at him when he moved, her expression blank. She was wearing a mask, but it was pulled up onto her forehead so she could eat.

"What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Shut up!" She told him flatly, stuffing another spoonful of Jello in her mouth.

"I can't get the motherfucking thing open! Did you find the keys?" Sonny heard a voice, looked over and the tall slender man came into the living room. He also had several tattoos, and he was wearing a mask.

"Quit stuffing your face, bitch! I need the fucking keys!" The man yelled at the woman.

"Shove it up your ass, Mike! The asshole is awake, ask him." She took another bite.

"Fuck! He can see your fucking face! You said my damn name!" The man yelled at her.

"Aw, so what?" She retorted.

The man looked at Sonny, then he shrugged.

"Hey, we ain't gonna hurt you, bud. We just want the guns, tell me where the fucking keys are and we will leave." He pulled the mask off, then actually smiled, although it looked more like a scowl. Conrad could see his teeth were yellow, dirty looking. His long stringy hair looked unwashed.

"The keys aren't here." He told the man, instantly getting slapped across the face.

"I will cut your fucking throat, you lying bastard!" He screamed in Sonny's face, a blast of stench wafting from him.

Sonny didn't answer, his head was spinning.

"What do you want?" He asked finally.

"Give us the money, credit cards, The fucking guns, tell me where the god damn keys are!"

"No!"

The man got an expression of rage on his face, he turned and walked over to Samantha, pulled out a small knife and drew the blade down her chest. Sonny saw the instant line of blood on her chest, shuddered as she let out a scream.

"I will cut this bitch up if you don't tell me!" He had her hair by one hand, the blade to her throat. Then he reached down and slashed her blouse off the rest of the way, cutting her again in the process. He stopped, looked at her, then reached down and squeezed her bare breast.

Samantha let out another scream.

"Nice tits, I will fuck this cunt right in front of you if you don't tell me!" He snarled.

"Don't hurt her! Leave her alone! They are in the bedroom!" Sonny gasped.

"In the jewelry case." He added. It was locked too but he knew it could be broken open. There was no way in hell the man could break into the gun case without a cutting torch.

The man let go of Samantha, turned and walked into the bedroom. The woman got up and stood in front of him, Sonny realized she had a large butcher knife in her hand. It was one of their inexpensive blades from the kitchen that Mary Ann used to chop vegetables for salads, it was very long, the blade was wide.

He was trying to reach whatever was holding his hands with his fingers but couldn't.

"Please, just take what you want and leave." He told her.

"Quit wiggling, motherfucker. We are gonna anyway." She said, the same flat expression on her face. That was when it hit him, the man had been wearing a mask but she wasn't.

Then he had taken his off.

Just then the man came back in. He had Sonny's .45 revolver in his hand, was loading it with shells he had found. It was a single six action so he had to align the shell chamber and was having a hard time doing that. His hands appeared to have a nervous twitch. He kept dropping the rounds, not bothering to pick them up, just reaching into the box and grabbing some more.

"I got the fucking keys, grab what you can find and let's get out of here." He ignored Sonny sitting there, shoved the heavy pistol into his belt.

Sonny was sure then. They were going to kill him and Samantha, and Mary Ann was due home any minute. He had no idea what time it was, but it had to be close. He looked over at Samantha, her eyes were closed. She had apparently passed out, and she was bleeding heavily from the cuts, a sheet of blood was flowing down over her bare chest. He looked carefully with his practiced eyes, saw the cuts were not deep.

Sonny said a little prayer that they would be done and gone before Mary Ann got there. He wanted it to be quick.

The man went into the other room, he was back in seconds.

"Go get the van, back it up to the porch." He told the woman. She gave Sonny a sidelong look, then went out the front door after handing the man the huge blade which he also slipped into his belt. The man went back into the side room, came out with an armload of his firearms, then he went back in and got the rest.

The front door opened, the woman came back in.

"Start loading!" He ordered, she walked over and picked up several rifles, went back outside. In a few minutes they had them all, the woman also had an arm load of Mary Ann's clothes, she went outside with those.

"We are taking the broad." He told her when she came back in.

"Why the fuck do that?" She asked.

"Because I want to! Besides, she is insurance!" He yelled.

"Asshole, you just want to fuck her."

"Yea, so what?"

"Fucking asshole!" She yelled at him, but she went over to Samantha. She tried to drag her limp body, but it was impossible.

"I'm not going to carry this bitch all by myself!" She said.

"Don't! Leave her alone, just take what you want and go!" Sonny yelled at them.

"Yea, just a minute." The man reached into his belt, pulled out the pistol.

"Hey, don't! You will have every cop in the fucking State over here!" The woman snarled at him.

He thought about that for a moment, stuffed the pistol back into his belt. He walked over, took the heavy knife from his belt. He walked up to Sonny with a grin on his face, leaned down and drove the blade into his stomach. Sonny felt the shock as the man shoved as hard as he could, then the handle broke off.

"Fuck!" The man looked at the handle in his hand, threw it down.

"Jesus! You really stuck him!" The woman said, her eyes big.

"Hell yea, that should do it! Fucker sure as hell can't walk." Then he laughed, went over and the two of them dragged Samantha out the door by her arms. She was completely limp.

Sonny heard the van door open, then slam shut.

Sonny felt his mind begin to fade, then he passed out.

He came to moments later, hearing a steady throb. It took him a a few seconds, then he knew it was the engine in the van running.

He tried to roll over, his side felt wet. He knew that was blood, oddly the huge blade didn't hurt that badly, it was more like a bad shock than pain. Then he felt something behind him. The blade was jammed solidly into him, the point sticking out the back.

Pulling his arms up, he could feel the tip of the blade cut into his wrists. He turned his hands as far as he could, feeling for whatever was holding them. The sharp tip of the blade caused whatever was holding his wrists to part instantly. Glancing down, he saw the zip tie lying on the floor.

He tried to reach behind himself but he could barely touch the tip of the blade, it was sticking out his back a full two inches. He threw himself backwards on it, shoving it out the front.

Reaching down, he started to pull it out, gashing his fingers to the bone in the process. Then he thought better of it. For a few seconds his head spun again, he fought to remain conscious.

The engine in the van stalled, then started up again and sat there, idling. It wasn't running well, he heard the engine rev several times.

Mustering his strength, he rolled over onto his stomach, feeling the heavy blade shift again when he did that.

The van was still idling, he could hear it through the open front door, smell it's exhaust. He began to crawl towards the closet, his mind spinning. Reaching into his pocket with his bloody fingers, he found the two inch long bent rod that turned the lock that was down close to the floor.

He dropped it several times, finally managing to turn it. He slid the panel back, fighting with everything he had to keep from passing out.

The van idled with an unsteady throb outside. He heard the engine speed pick up as he was crawling back towards the open door. It started down the driveway. Sonny moved as quickly as he could on his elbows, still fighting to not pass out.

Reaching the doorway, he swung the rifle around, levering a round into the chamber, grateful that he had not removed the cartrides.

Normally he would have, but he had simply put it away in his haste to be there to meet his daughter.

All he could see was the rear end of the van as it rolled down the long driveway. For a moment he thought of firing through the rear of the van, to save Samantha from the terror he knew was coming.

But he couldn't see her, and he was unsure of where she was exactly. He sighted on the rear doors, thinking of placing several rounds a few inches apart. She would be right there, probably near the center.

He started to fire, then hesitated.

The van slowed at the end of the lane and stopped, began to turn to the left. The side window and the man came into view, he was looking to the right. He swung his head back towards the left as he started to pull out.

Sonny quickly shifted his sight, found the man's head in the scope, set the dot on it and squeezed the trigger. He didn't see the effects of the round striking but saw the side glass explode, for a terrible moment he thought he had missed him.

He opened his left eye to look.

The van suddenly swerved to the right, went over into the ditch, the left side tilted up, the rear tire spinning crazily. He rammed another round into the chamber just as the woman crawled out of the passenger side.

She stood up, looked up towards the house over the top of the van just as the cross hairs of the scope settled on her face.

He saw the expression clearly, it was shock, fear.

Sonny squeezed off the second round.

That one he saw hit.

Her head snapped back, then she fell out of sight.

Sonny turned to try and crawl to the phone, losing the battle, he passed out.

+++

Mary Ann was driving the new Acura briskly towards home, eager to see Samantha. She made the turn down the main road towards their house, then she saw the white van. It was tilted into the ditch, the rear tire spinning. She stopped, startled. The drivers side window was shattered, but she saw no one behind the steering wheel.

She got out and cautiously approached the driver's side door, glancing in was a shock. There was no doubt at all the man was dead, his body was leaning over to the right. Little remained of his head, the rest was spattered across the window and dash.

She ran back to her car, touched the button for the car phone, saying "911!" when the operator answered. She gave the location quickly, then ran back to the van, ignoring the operator telling her to stay on the line. Standing on tiptoe, she could barely reach the ignition through the broken window, she shut it off. It shuddered and hissed for several moments, then stopped.

She saw the passenger side door was open, realized someone was lying there on the ground. She hurried around the back of the vehicle, a woman lay there.

She was obviously also deceased.

"My God! What in the world?" She thought, in shock as she glanced up towards their house up the hill. She realized their front door was standing open. It took her a moment, then she saw someone was lying in the doorway.

Next she spotted Samantha's little red Honda parked up there.

In sudden panic, she dropped her purse, took off at a dead run.

+++

Sonny lay there not moving. The rifle lay by his right side, the stock covered in blood. She touched his neck, felt a pulse. Glancing down at the pool of blood, she saw the end of the blade sticking out of Sonny's back.

Then her training kicked in. She had the bleeding partially stopped when she heard the sirens down by the road. She ran through the house looking for Samantha, she wasn't there.

Mary Ann ran back outside, waving her arms and yelling at the emergency workers down below. They looked up at her, not understanding. A police cruiser sat there with it's lights flashing, the officer was standing by the rear of the van looking at the woman's body.

She ran down the driveway as fast as she could go.

Sheriff Henry Morgan pulled up just as she got to the road.

"Sonny is up there, he needs help and I can't find Samantha!" She told him as he got out.

"What's that over here?"

"Two people, they are both dead, Sonny is hurt badly, I think he shot them."

Henry said something to the ambulance crew, they went up the hill. Then he walked over and opened the rear door of the van.

"We have another one in here..Oh God, it's her." He climbed inside.

"She is unconscious but alive, I need you in here, Mary." Mary Ann was already climbing in.

"In my car, the case. I need it!" She told Henry. He quickly retrieved the medical kit from her car. She began stopping the blood flow.

"The cuts aren't deep, but she has lost a lot of blood." Mary Ann watched as the crew loaded her into another ambulance. Then she made it to her car before she broke down.

Sheriff Morgan took the lead on the trip to the hospital, sirens blaring. They were driving very fast. She would have been moving much faster but the big police cruiser was in the way, and the Sheriff slowed at each intersection, being cautious. The ambulance was far ahead.

Samantha she knew was going to be fine, the tip of the blade had sliced up her chest when the man had slashed her garment open, but the cut was not deep. She had several other cuts on her chest, one smaller one on her neck. There were no cuts on her lower body, just bruises where they had roughly removed her clothing. The Doctor shook his head no when she asked him if she had been raped.

She was grateful for that. Sonny was in surgery for over four hours, finally they came out and spoke with her.

"He lost a huge amount of blood, we have done the best we can. It's up to time and God now."

She was sitting by the side of the bed when Sonny woke up the next day. He was pale and confused, then finally he became more aware.

"Is Samantha all right?" Were the first words out of his mouth.

"Yes, she will have scars, but she is doing fine."

Sonny smiled and nodded, closed his eyes and slept.

Samantha, Mary Ann and Skip were all sitting there when he woke up again the next day. He was still very weak but they had reduced his condition to guarded.

They all talked quite a bit, there was no mention of what had happened though. Later, Henry Morgan came in. He asked them to allow him to speak privately, they all left to get something to eat.

Sonny told him the story, Henry sat and listened, nodding.

"We were looking for that pair, they did a home invasion over in the next County. They killed one couple, and they had enough weapons to outfit an army in that van, besides yours. Bad ones there, you did us a favor."

"It doesn't feel good." Sonny felt his eyes getting damp.

"I know. Believe me, I know. But you saved Samantha, maybe Mary too. If that pair had gotten away with her...?"

"I know. But my first thought was to...to..." Sonny choked up at the thought.

"Samantha?" Henry walked over and put his hand on Sonny's shoulder. His eyes were wet, too. He understood, Sonny would have killed his own daughter before he would let them get away with her.

"Well. That is the end of it, I am glad you are healing." He got up to leave.

"Hey, Henry?"

"What, Sonny?"

"See you at the next competition, I will beat you this time." He tried to force a smile.

"We will see about that!" The Sheriff grinned back.

He stopped at the door, looked back, concerned.

"Yep. We will see about that. You are going to be all right, aren't you?"

"Yes." Sonny answered quietly.

He wasn't sure of that.

He closed his eyes, the vision of the woman's face in the scope filled his mind. Taking out the man did not bother him, he was totally evil.

The woman? She was evil also, he had no other option. He knew he had been forced to end it there.

But her face. Looking up at him, her expression burned into his mind.

He felt an involuntary shudder, opened his eyes again.

The vision faded, returning again as he closed his eyes.

Sonny knew it always would.