ONE

Elise opened her eyes, wearily. She focused in on me, and then shut them, exhaling a sigh of relief.

“You're safe. I said you'd be safe.”

She opened her mouth, as if to speak, and then froze. She opened her eyes for the second time.

They were now full of horror.

“You... you... you're not going to be able to speak again. The knife sliced your vocal cords.”

Realization set in. She slowly scrunched her face up. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

“It's okay, Elise. You're still here, and I'm still here, so you're safe.”

She sniffled, and started to mouth his name. Her lips curled over her clenched teeth, into the J, and I cut her off.

“He's still out there, but he's got nowhere to run. His face is on the news. The cops are talking to everyone he's ever known. It's a manhunt. He won't last out there, without help.

“I'll be with you until they find him. I don't care how long you're here, or where you go. I don't care what you do. I'm not letting my guard down until he's dead or jailed. You're safe.”

“Once they say you can leave, you're coming back to my house. You're going to sleep in my spare bedroom, and I'm going to be a room away.

“I was so scared.” I added. “But you're safe now.”

TWO

Light through my spare bedroom's window hit her hair, making the usually abyss-coloured locks a dark pine brown.

The large bandage covered her entire neck. Behind it, the vertical gash wept slowly, still weeks away from healing into a permanent scar.

In one hand, she held the whistle. In the other, she held the knife.

I pointed to the knife. "Keep that under your pillow. If he breaks in here, go straight for it, and try to kill him."

She fearfully nodded, sliding it under her pillow - no doubt imagining the scenario in her head.

"Better him than you." I pointed to the whistle: "That-"

She put it in her mouth, and blew into it. It rang loud.

“Put that around your neck. If something happens, blow on it. I don't care if you have a nightmare; I don't care if you break a nail. You blow on that whistle, and I'll be there.”

I could see the gratitude and the hopelessness in her large eyes.

"Are you going to be alright? Is there anything else you need?"

She touched her hands together, palm-to-palm, and pressed them to the side of her face.

"Okay. Get some sleep." I said. "I'll be in my bedroom."

THREE

Elise came in through the front door, after her daily trip out to the mailbox to get the newspaper. She looked over and stretched her mouth into a smile.

I smiled back.

She looked like crap. I could tell by looking at her that she'd barely slept since the operation.

We were both safe for now, though, and that was reason enough to smile.

Leaning against the wall, she unrolled the newspaper-

And froze.

The paper slipped from her hands, and hit the floor with a light slap.

She stood there, looking down at it, paralyzed.

“What?”

I walked over to her, and guided her to a seat at the kitchen table. Then, I went back, and picked up the paper.

On the right of the page was a picture of Jimmy, taken during his coma.

At the top was the heading: “Coma Killer at large, two policemen dead."

“Two policemen are dead after making what they thought would be a routine stop.

“Officers Brad Vern and Trevor Williams parked on the roadside by a lone man, who was walking through the notorious and dangerous Falls View area in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“The officers didn't realize they had stopped Jimmy Mills until it was too late.

“Mills murdered mother and infant, Judy and Ian Gallsworks, late last summer, and Louise Peters, an elderly nurse, just three weeks ago.

“To date, he is the state's most wanted man.

“The shooting was captured on security footage.

"Mills can be clearly seen, overpowering Vern, and killing both officers with Vern's firearm.

"A member of the Mills family has officially identified the shooter as Jimmy Mills."

I threw the paper with all the force I could muster. It broke apart into a hundred double-pages, mid-flight, and they all came floating down like snowflakes.

Falls View was a five minute drive from here. Jimmy was in the area.

FOUR

The doorbell rang.

Elise looked over at me, terrified.

"I'll see who it is."

She shook her head.

I smiled at her. "It's okay. Jimmy wouldn't knock."

In the foyer, I opened the front door to see a scrappy, bearded man, standing under the fluorescent porch light. His face was disguised behind the Adidas baseball cap and sunglasses.

I knew instantly that it wasn't Jimmy, but it took me a moment to identify the visitor as Elise's brother, Chris. I hadn't seen him since he dropped out from two year levels above me in high school.

Elise had confided in me after we'd finished off a bottle of wine together that her brother was practically disowned by their parents after being arrested for drug possession years earlier.

"I sometimes wonder if I'll ever see him again." She told me. "Well, I could go and see him at any time, but if he's not going to make the effort, why should I?"

“You're Elise's brother?" I asked the man.

He shook my hand, and smiled a genuinely happy smile. My eyes were drawn to the hole where his lower row of teeth should have been in his mouth. He said: "You're the man who saved my baby sister's life."

"Ryan is fine. Come in."

He entered, bringing the stench of beer and tobacco with him.

I followed him to the kitchen, where Elise was waiting on the edge of her seat.

"We have a mystery guest." I said.

She stared at him blankly, for a second, but as Chris took off his sunglasses, she recognized the face structured so much like hers underneath the muck and mess.

"I'm glad you're alright." He said, nervously playing with his sunglasses. "I'd have come sooner, but I was busy."

She motioned for him to come close.

He hesitated, and I remembered to say: "She can't speak. Her vocal cords were slashed."

He nodded and proceeded over. They hugged, and she sat him down beside her.

“If anything had happened to you, I don't know what I would have done.” He said. "I was angry, you know. Upset. I thought about you lying down, nearly dead, like the paper described you, and I felt my face all turn red. I want to GET the Coma Killer. I want to hurt him."

She calmly shook her head.

"I had to do something," he said, "so I did."

In my television room, my mobile began to ring out.

"I'll just be a sec." I said, and backed out of the room.

My phone vibrated out on the coffee table. It was Elise's mobile calling.

I picked it up. "Jimmy."

“You goddamn motherfucker.” Jimmy screeched through the line. “I will slit your throat. I will choke that bitch to death.”

“Try it.” I said, and ended the call.

My phone rang again. I answered: “The police are tracing this.”

“Where is she, Ryan?” His voice was no calmer. “Where'd you put her? Where the fuck did you put her?”

“Elise is with me.” I said, “and I'm here waiting for you, so do your worst.”

“My sister! Let her go. You've got a day to do it, or I'm coming to kill you.”

The line went dead.

I turned to the doorway, where Chris and Elise had appeared.

“Was that Jimmy?” Chris asked.

“What's going on?”

“I kidnapped his sister. She's going to tell us where he is.”

CONTINUE