Just a Click Away

Chapter 34

After crashing through the window into Leslie's living room, he was stunned to find an oddly familiar, dark-haired man straddling her. The man was wielding a knife clearly intending to plunge it into Leslie's chest. A hot surge of rage and a cold burst of adrenaline propelled him toward the evil man in front of him.

"How dare you, you monster!" His voice sounded strange to his own ears as he grabbed the man's arm in an attempt to wrestle the knife from his grasp. Suddenly, he felt a fist connect firmly with his jaw. Pain radiated through him, but he didn't loosen his grasp. Ignoring the taste of blood in his mouth, he threw several punches of his own one of which caused the miscreant to reel backward. In a split second, Greg pushed him to the ground holding his muscular forearm over his throat.

Seeing a flicker of fear in the scoundrel's brown eyes, Greg loosened his hold; a move that he quickly regretted. He felt the tables turn as he was forcefully flipped onto his back, and the attacker set the knife down out of reach.

A fist hit him heavily on the nose, and he felt a warm, thick liquid spill down the side of his face. Blinking, he tried to clear his head. Another crippling blow to the face left him with the metallic taste of blood trickling down the back of his throat. Swallowing hard, he tried to open his eyes and fight the darkness he saw spinning toward him.

Warm breath tickled his ear as the reprobate whispered, "You should have left when she told you it was over last night, but don't worry, I'll finish you off quickly. I can't wait to have her all to myself." When Greg heard those words and saw the wickedness flash through the eyes of the villain on top of him, he felt strength from an unknown source begin to course through his veins.

"I won't let you lay a finger on her while I have any life left in my body," he growled. Using the unexplainable force to his advantage, Greg shot up to his feet. The sudden movement left his assailant on the ground scrambling for the knife. Rushing to where the knife lay, Greg kicked it far out of reach.

A soft moan came from the corner of the room where Leslie was positioned. Snapping his eyes in her direction, Greg saw that she was stirring. In that fraction of a second, the dangerous man had crawled to retrieve the knife and now stood facing Greg. Making slashing motions in the air, he walked toward Leslie.

"No! Leave her alone!" Greg's heart pounded wildly in his chest as an evil smirk curled the man's lips.

"You know what, Greg? I'm going to give you a choice today." The man chuckled as pure evil shone in his eyes. "Do you want to be the hero? I can make that happen. Tell you what, if you let me kill you I will let your beloved Leslie live."

"Do you honestly think that I trust you to keep your end of the bargain?" Greg trembled with anger as he swallowed another mouthful of blood.

"I give you my word as a gentleman."

"That counts for nothing, since you are a far cry from being a gentleman."

"You hurt me when you say that, Greg, but I'm serious, let me kill you, and Leslie goes free."

With his eyes quickly scanning the room, Greg devised a plan and prayed that God would allow it to work. "Ok. Deal. You kill me, and let Leslie go...I have your word, right?"

"Of course." The wicked grin on his face widened as he slowly and methodically moved in Greg's direction.

As the criminal inched closer, Greg took steps backward. To his dismay, he tripped over a something on the floor and landed solidly on his backside. Horror filled his heart when he discovered that what had tripped him was the cold, stiff body of Waldo who lay in a dry pool of blood. Snapping a look in the man's direction, he tried to come up with a new plan; his old one did not involve him sprawled out on the floor.

Watching the knife-wielding psychopath, Greg found the opportunity he had been waiting for. Sweeping his left leg forcefully against the attacker's legs, he was able to knock him off his feet. Greg heaved a sigh as he heard his enemy hit the ground with a thud. A low, hollow groan was the only sound that escaped the lips of the man who lay at his feet. Turning him over, Greg found that he had fallen on his knife, and had his hands clasped over his stomach where the blade was still sticking out. The man had a significant amount of blood oozing from between his fingers, and his eyes held a look of fright.

Fighting the urge to kill the man who had hurt the only woman he had ever loved, Greg swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"I'm not going to kill you, you disgusting pig, though heaven knows you deserve it. I do have one thing for you though...this is for Leslie!" Bringing his fist back, he gave the man one brutal punch to the face that hurled him into unconsciousness.

As quickly as his aching body would let him, he moved to Leslie's side. The right side of her face was purple, her eye had swollen completely shut, and blood had dried from a cut on her lip. Gently stroking her hair, he grabbed one of her small hands in his. "Leslie, please come back to me." He tenderly kissed her delicate hand, and pulled her limp body into his arms. To his relief, she began to stir and a groan escaped her lips as her eyelids began to flutter.

He couldn't help but smile as her eyes tried to focus on him. "Greg," she heaved a heavy breath, "you came for me." Her words were slurred, but sounded like the most beautiful things he had ever heard.

"Leslie, I will always come for you." He held her closer to his chest.

"But...last night...I said..."

"Don't let that bother you now. Just rest; we will have plenty of time to talk when you are feeling up to it. If you think I'm going to let you out of my sight again, then you're crazy."

"But...Waldo..." Her hazy, green eyes filled with tears and she buried her face against his chest.

"I know, Sweetheart. I'm so sorry."

The distant sound of sirens let them know that help was on the way, but until they arrived, Greg held Leslie against his chest, rocking her back and forth as a flood of tears soaked his shirt.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to @Brownie2day! I'm loving the comments and encouragement!  Thank you so much for your support!!!