Diana Richards was barely listening to Ed Hood's voice drone on about how they could save each other if only she'd walk away from her husband and come to him. She was fighting the waves of nausea that kept washing over her every time the bastard would intimate that he knew they'd be good together if only she'd give him a chance.
Suddenly, a feeling of calm settled in the pit of her stomach and there was a prickling sensation on the back of her head. She almost gasped aloud when she heard Charles' voice in her head.
I'm here, pretty lady. I'm right behind you. Look down if you can hear me...
Diana almost shook her head...wondering if she was just imagining his voice. Then she heard it again.
Charles concentrated harder and tried again.
Oh, God...please let this work... Diana, I'm right behind you...outside the window. If you can hear me...or just sense me, look down or do something...anything...
If he didn't get a response this time, he would just work his way back to the other side of the dining room window again and try to get Lynda or Barbara's attention.
Charles was about to give up when he saw Diana's head lower to look downward. She gave an almost imperceptible nod. Had she really heard him? He tested it again.
If you're really hearing me... lift your head again...
Her head came back up slowly.
Charles sent her the last of the message, telling her what to do.
She lowered her head again in assent, letting him know that she understood.
He moved to hide just inside the back door of the garage that led onto the patio and waited. He hoped it wouldn't take her long to convince the bastard holding her and her girlfriends hostage that he could try to escape down the hillside.
Ed Hood nearly jumped in surprise again when Diana stood up and turned to him.
"You've been very compassionate with your offer to give me another chance. I've decided you're right... I'm not worthy of Charles Richards. And you may very well be the man that God had chosen to save my soul. So, if your offer still stands, I'm ready to accept it.
"But how will we be able to redeem our souls by sharing our lives together if we can't get away from here? The police aren't just going to let us walk out the front door! I'm not your prisoner any more, but they won't see it that way. So what are we going to do?"
Hood's eyes narrowed at her.
Do you really mean what you're saying? Are you really going to just walk away from your husband and turn your life over to me? I don't know whether to trust you...
She was staring up at him with a very clear expression in her eyes. He saw no fear, no loathing, no recrimination... nor did he see any pretended love. If he had, he would've known the bitch was lying...
I can't possibly hope for that this quickly after what I've been putting you through. But I've only been doing what's best for both of us...
He took her at her word.
"We can still try to escape through the back yard. I know a trail that leads down to the road about a half-mile from here... wait. The police said they'd already found my car and they'd surely be waiting to see if I showed up there again."
Diana made a suggestion.
"We could try to escape down the hillside at the back edge of the yard. It's kind of dense with brush, but I'm sure we could work our way through it. I'm not sure where it leads, but it's away from here and I don't think they'd know where to look for us. It's probably our only chance... What other choice do we have?"
"Diana, what are you saying? Are you really buying into this lunatic's sickness? What is wrong with you?" Lynda Seldon exclaimed after watching the strange exchange between them.
Diana gently put her hand on Hood's gun hand when he swung it toward her best friend in anger.
She stared into his eyes as she said, "It's OK, Lynda. I know what I'm doing. Don't hurt her, Ed. She's just confused. She'll understand later why I have to do this. Come on, let's leave now, before the police get too curious and try to find out what's going on... OK?"
Hood gestured with his gun and said to them, "All of you get up. You're coming outside with us. I can't have any of you go running out the front door to tell the police what we're up to."
He motioned for all of them to move to the sliding door. He opened it and gestured for them to go out. He moved them as a group to the outer edge of the patio and told them to stay there.
Hood put his gun to Diana's right temple and wrapped his left arm around her waist. He started to move them slowly backward across the yard to the hillside.
"Ed, you don't need to keep the gun on me... I'm coming with you willingly," Diana said nervously.
"I know that, my dear. This is for their benefit... so they won't try anything foolish. If they make a move, I will have to shoot you—even though I don't really want to. So you better hope your friends really care about you."
Lynda, Barbara and Dawn didn't move a muscle.
Hood stopped moving about halfway across the yard. His gaze was drawn to his left when he saw Charles Richards emerge from the side garage door onto the patio and walk toward the yard.
"Where do you think you're going with my wife?"
Charles kept his right hand holding his cocked gun hidden behind his thigh.
Hood casually threw at him, "Hey, buddy, I'm doin' you a favor. She's no good for you. She was only going to drag your soul into the depths of hell with hers because of her sinfulness. I'm the one who was sent to redeem her... she's MY soul mate... not yours."
Charles brought his gun up and aimed it right at Diana.
"Well, if she's so sinful, then maybe we ought to just kill her right now! What do you say?"
John Wayne's nerves nearly went into panic mode.
What the fuck are you doing, Richards? OK, OK... you're just trying to distract him... There's got to be some way I can help...
Diana's dream from a couple weeks before suddenly popped into her head. Charles with his gun aimed right at her and a man's arm wrapped around her body. The only thing that hadn't happened yet was...
"EDWARD HOOD!!!" The big man's voice boomed from somewhere to the right of them.
The strain of the last few hours, the eerie reality of being mentally connected to Charles and then seeing her dream play out in real life were too much for Diana. Her brain shut down. As she went limp and faded into blackness and silence, a loud gunshot rang out from all around her.
When Ed heard his name called from the edge of the woods, he jerked his head and his gun hand in that direction as Diana limply sagged out of his grasp.
All six men had their guns trained on Ed Hood. As soon as Diana hit the ground, six shots rang out almost simultaneously. Hood fell just behind Diana. He was dead before he hit the ground.
