Alone In The Darkness (5 page)

Steven’s hair whipped about in the open window as Jennifer’s phone began to ring. He looked down to see
Grandma
on the screen. Jennifer’s heart raced. This was her opportunity.  She quickly moved to the phone and accepted the call. She screamed out, “Help!”

It was all she could muster before Steven took the phone and threw it out the window. It hit the ground along the grassy swale glowing softly as the car sped on.

“Stupid bitch!” Steven was furious and ground his hands into the wheel. He knew they would be looking for her now. This complicated things even more.

“You promised to let me go. Just pull over and I will get out. Just let me go,” Jennifer cried.

Steven didn’t answer. His anger was crowding out any clear judgment. He was focused on getting to work and having Tyler help solve this.

“She wanted to know where I am. I should be home by now.” His face seethed with anger.

He pressed the gas and the car accelerated forward. The car sped on moving through the columns of tall pines. The road was empty as they crested over small hills. Dark driveway entrances dotted the side of the road.

Jennifer knew she needed to find a way to get out of this car. She looked around to see if there was anything that she could use. Steven’s gun was tucked into his lap. Her phone was now miles behind them and there was a water bottle lying on the floor. The water bottle was hardly a weapon and she began regretting keeping her car so clean. Along the horizon she could see the warm lights of Arlington. She knew that there were lights and roundabouts, and that the car may slow down enough for her to jump.

She looked ahead and saw the soft lights accenting the “Welcome to Arlington” sign centered in the middle of the roundabout. The corner coffee hut was closed but the parking lights were still on. She turned her head softly to the right and saw the door lock. She was locked in, but she could grab quickly and unlock the door. She pretended to itch her right shoulder and leaned over to quietly unlocking her door. She placed her right hand on her knee and eyed the door handle.

Steven pressed the brake as he entered the edge of the roundabout. There were no cars in the loop as he began to make the turn. They reached the right side of the loop and Jennifer could see the coffee hut. She reached over and pulled the door lever as she unbuckled the seat belt. The force of the turn threw the door open and Jennifer leaned out of the car. Her hands reached out and touched the road. The road scraped by and pulled on her jacket forcing her back to the rear of the car. She had an overwhelming feeling of falling. She tucked her head preparing for the impact on the road.

As she fell out of the car a hand grasped her pants and held her back. Her legs began to kick wildly in an effort to break free from Steven’s grasp. The force of catching Jennifer caused Steven to be pulled into the center console. His foot hit the gas and his hand locked the wheel as they continued to drive around the loop. They missed their exit as Steven locked his elbow and began to pull back. Jennifer, desperate to escape the vehicle, reached out for anything to grab. The door was completely ajar and began to smack the bushes that edged the roundabout. Jennifer grasped the leaves and branches leaving behind cuts and welts on her hands.

The car cleared the bushes and Jennifer screamed out for help with her last breath, a single hand holding her back from freedom. The car entered the loop again as Steven decelerated. He locked the wheel with his knees and pulled her belt loop with both hands. Jennifer’s face was inches from the ground and began to return to the car door. Steven lunged back and hit his head against the door jam. Jennifer returned to the car. Her arms bleeding from the bushes and road rash.

She turned to Steven and began to strike at his shoulder and head. She connected twice as Steven exited the roundabout. He lifted his arm to block another shot as the door slammed shut. He smashed the brake and the car came to a stop in the gravel edging. Jennifer flew forward and hit her head against the windshield leaving behind a small crack. She fell back into her seat with a small trickle of blood running down her forehead. She laid in a crumpled mess in the seat, unmoving and still.

Steven turned to her in an effort to block more punches, but she didn’t move. He relaxed and focused on her breathing. She was still alive. He quickly looked in his mirrors to see that the entire loop was empty. He was breathing heavily and took a moment to calm down.

Steven was shaking his head slightly as he could not believe what had just taken place. He reached over Jennifer and locked the door. He took the butt of his gun and slashed at the door shearing the lock off. He connected her seatbelt and continued down the road.

Officer Conners kneeled down in the street with his elbow resting on his thigh massaging his palm gently with this thumb. His eyes stared across the street to the profile of the navy Honda Civic. Blue and red flashing lights danced across the exterior of the bar and drifted into the night above. A misting rain returned falling in front of his eyes and graining his view. Yellow caution tape closed off both street entrances and police officers were moving about carrying vials of evidence between cars.

The sound of steps approached from behind Conners as he fixated on the scene before him. The beat officer spoke, “We ran the plates and they are reported to a Steven Pfeffer. We’ve crossed that against the licensing department and we’ve got his driver’s license image. We’re passing that out to help identify him. ”

Conners stood brushing his hands on his pants, “Is this our suspect?”

“We are taking prints in the car and we’ll cross them against what we find in the house.”

“Did he leave anything in the car?”

The officer let out a deep breath. “We’ve checked the car over but have not found any sign of a gun. We did find drug paraphernalia, a pipe with residue in it. A couple of lighters. No money or drugs though.”

“Do you think it’s a dealer car? Do you think this boy might be involved in that?”

“It is possible. We found one hidden compartment under the driver seat, but no drop phones or baggies. We did find a new but opened container of hand wipes and paper towels. No blood on any of the packaging. We’re bringing it all to the lab now to see if there might be something we can’t see here at night.”

“Any thoughts on him grabbing any evidence before he left?”

“Possibly. We’re not sure when he left. Officers are walking through the local stores asking for anyone named Steven. A couple squad cars are patrolling the area looking for any male on foot fitting his description.”

“So the car is here.” Pointing at the vehicle. His eyes looked up the street, “But where are you?”

“I don’t think we’ll find him accidently walking up here, if he saw the lights he is probably laying low.”

“That is a possibility, or he could be on the move again. My concern is that I’ve got a man who’s killed two people walking around the streets armed and likely a little edgy.”

The officers were lifting the yellow tape from the street and ushering the late night spectators aside. A loud beeping sound came from behind the group as the tow truck began maneuvering through the entrance. It rolled up lowering its rear gate behind the car.

The officer pointed at the truck. “We’ll impound the car as evidence in the shooting.”

Conners said, “Do we have a car going to the registration address?”

“We’ll get someone on that.”

“I want to know if he has been home tonight and where they think he might be going. Let me know if you find anything else.” Conners began to drift towards the yellow tape. Sets of eyes beyond the barrier followed him as he approached. His hand jingled his keys in his pocket as he walked. He turned back to the officer he left behind and pointed to the street corner, “I’d check that bar. He might have gone in.” He walked on around the corner to his unmarked vehicle.

Antonia stood on her porch with one hand pressed against the railing as she gazed down the quiet street. In the distance a dog was rhythmically barking against the silent background. The screen door behind her was slightly ajar. The light was falling out onto the porch from the paused TV screen showing a face frozen mid-sentence staring at the empty chair. A cat moved across the opening, looking outside for a moment, before scurrying helplessly under the couch. She lived in a duplex at the end of a cul-de-sac surrounded by trucks, vans, and cars taking up residence along the street curb.

She hadn’t heard from Jennifer and she was due home. The strain on her face showed as she squinted thinking about what might be happening with her granddaughter. Her eyes hoping to see her car round the corner in the distance. She imagined the car pulling up to the driveway. Her granddaughter would emerging holding a bag of groceries and talking about how her phone fell into a puddle at the store. She would hug Jennifer and tell her she wasn’t worrying at all. She was only out on the porch getting fresh air.

Her hand trembled as she held the house phone. She felt this time her worries were justified, she knew something was wrong. She dialed her granddaughter and the phone rang repeatedly. She was about to hang up when the phone picked up. She knew this voice and it was in pain. The voice yelled to her, “Help!”

The phone went silent but the call did not hang up. She held it to her ear calling out to the cold night for her granddaughter. She screamed at the phone before she fell into a clump against the porch railing. Lights turned on in the neighboring duplex house and a young woman walked out of the door. “Antonia, is everything ok?”

Antonia was in tears as she sobbed with the phone in her hand. The woman came over and held her arms, pleading to know what was going on. Antonia recounted the call and returned to sobbing. The woman’s eyes glistened. She was shocked that something like this could happen to Jennifer. She sprang to action pulling the phone out of Antonia’s hand and dialing 911.

As the woman talked on the phone, Antonia continued staring off the porch down the empty street at the edge of the house on the corner. She stared hoping to see the house light up, but no headlights came.

The rain had stopped to give way to a soundtrack of insects and frogs crying out into the night. Tyler and Kora stood next to Steven in the blue gravel driveway facing the car.

“What’s wrong with you man? Are you not thinking straight?” Tyler shook his head softly. Steven could feel the anger in his voice. He respected Tyler and hoped that he might be able to help. The sound of disappointment stuck in his mind. He had hoped that the pressure would lift once he was free of his debt, but now it was pouring down over his head threatening to drown him.

Tyler had been leading the prep teams for nearly a year, when he pulled Steven out of dealing and gave him a job with his group. Tyler told Steven that if he wanted to survive he would need to give up selling. It was a dangerous job and he was better suited on this side of the transaction. Like any job there were some ups and downs, but even Steven would admit the risk of bodily harm was less. There was just one point that was stressed by everyone in the team, the job required a high level of trust. The trust was a requirement and a necessity. There are two rivers in this organization, the production river and the money river. They would be entrusting Tyler and his team with a well of responsibility. The amount of product they produced on a weekly basis would lead weaker individuals to bad decisions. Every weekend the team would assemble in a new house and prepare for distribution. The organization picked up the cheap houses during the recession. They were carefully distributed their purchases across the counties in order to limit suspicion. This weekend was like all the rest, the expectations the same, produce and then go home.

They all stood staring into the passenger side window. Steven lifted his hand to his forehead rubbing hard and finishing through his hair. Sweat had begun to build on his brow as he let out a strained sigh. An undiscovered cut on his finger trickled blood down the back of his hand.

Kora looked to Steven, “Why did you bring her here? She’s a liability.”

Steven fought back, “She's ’out cold. She doesn’t know where the house is.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re now tied to her. What are you going to do when the cops find out? When they ask what you do for a living? What are you going to tell them? Are you going to rat us all out?”

Tyler lifted his hand and Kora quieted down. They had been seeing each other for over a month, but when it came to work he still controlled the floor. “I don’t give a shit what your excuse is right now Steven. You fucked up real bad. First, you mixed yourself up with Juan which is not good for your health in general and is in conflict with my boss. Second, you work for me and by that fact you also work for my Boss. That means when you jeopardize my operation you jeopardize his.”

“I just needed help. I didn’t know what to do.”

Tyler was calm, “Again you chose to jump into quicksand and now you’re asking me, Kora, and everyone else in this organization to jump in with you.”

“What do you want me to do? Just drive away?”

Kora looked at Tyler, “He’s still connected to her and he’s connected to us.”

“I understand,” Tyler motioned to Kora. He looked at Steven, “Now, we’ve got to take care of this. We need to be able to trust you and this is a big breach of our trust.”

Steven knew that he was in deep and he remained silent. Kora stood with her eyes piercing Steven’s face. “You saw the pool house?”

“Yeah.” Steven replied looking up at Kora.

Tyler turned his head, taking a deep and thoughtful breath. “Are you paid up with Juan?”

“Yeah. But he didn’t like me leaving in a hurry.” Steven looked at Tyler, “Dude, I know I messed up, but I need help. Just tell me what I should do.”

Tyler lifted his hand and pointed at the white facade of the house, “I won't let this woman in this house. Do you hear me?” Steven nodded. “I can't make this decision. This is something my Boss needs to know about. I am not about to jeopardize my job and my life for your mistakes.”

The front door of the house was still open and the lights illuminated the kitchen where tubing, trays, and materials were stacked high on the table. Two other cars sat in the driveway alongside the group. Beyond the house were rows of dormant apple trees, overgrown green grass and a small wooden house alongside the faded red pole barn. A small path was carved in the grass leading from one house to the other and a small well with a hand crank sat as a sentry to anyone passing by.

Tyler looked at Steven, “Are you emotionally attached to this woman?”

“What?” Steven shot back, surprised at the question.

Tyler’s eyes narrowed and a deep breath signaled the seriousness of the response. His voice lifted to a yell, “Are you fucking her you fuck?”

Steven recoiled and shook his head.

“No?” Tyler asked.

“No. I just met her tonight.”

“I’m not trying to be an ass, or splitting hairs, but you two didn’t meet tonight. I wouldn’t define it in the same vain as picking someone up at the bar after a beer and pleasant conversation.” Steven lowered his eyes. “You kidnapped this woman. I don’t give a fuck what you do in your personal life. You want to torture little doggies, get your rocks off by some meth whore, or be a fucking birthday clown because you have an untapped fetish. I don’t give a fuck. I do give a fuck about your stupid ass rolling up in here, in not your fucking car might I add, with a woman who is bleeding from the head and sitting in the front seat. Not to forget we have a Mexican psychopath likely looking for you.”

Steven took a breath to start but was cut off.

“You were supposed to come to work.” Tyler pointed at the car, “This is not work. This is play time. Your play time. I’m going to ask you again and I want an answer. You obviously only meant for this to be a temporary thing, unless you were going to put her in your basement. Are you emotionally attached to her?”

“No I am not,” Steven lied, he felt remorse for the whole night, and regretted it when he rode up to the house. From the first moment Steven told Tyler the situation he knew he had screwed up. He never started the night thinking this is where he would end up. He never wanted this and know it felt like his in more trouble.

There was a pause from Tyler, “Let me be clear once more, are you going to be upset if I shoot her in the head and scatter her body across the valley for coyotes to eat?”

Steven spoke quietly, “We don’t need to do that.”

“Now you step up and speak. Eh? You’re going telling me what I need to do, when you take a shit on my driveway? We are working tonight. We are processing hash and making up balloons. I did not intend to have to deal with this, but now you're forcing me to. You don't get to dictate to me.” Tyler closed the distance and finished inches from Steven’s face. Steven pulled back as the closing words were shouted into his ear, “Do you understand that?”

From inside the car Jennifer began to stir. Her legs shifted and she rolled over. She leaned back in the seat with her head looking up to the ceiling. She took a deep breath and raised her arm up over the welt on the top of her head. The semi-dried blood smeared across her forehead and left a streak on her arm and palm. Her eyes opened slightly looking through the window and across the driveway to the house. She began to take deeper breaths as she slowly regained consciousness.

Tyler calmly stated, “Steven, lock the car.”

Steven looked up and saw Jennifer stirring in the front seat. He reached down and clicked the key. From inside the car Jennifer could hear the doors lock. She turned quickly left and right but saw no one in the car. Movement pulled her eyes to the house as she saw a man quickly walking up to the front steps and stepping through the open the door. She turned and saw a man and woman staring down at her. Horror came across her face as she saw Steven and her memory flooded back. From the kidnapping, to the shootout, to being dragged over the road. Her knees rose up, she lifted her arms, and she began to scream through the window. The sight of Steven was enough to unleash all of her anger and rage. She brought her hand down across the window, blood smearing on each strike and obscuring her vision. Jennifer heard the door from the house slam shut as an angry man crossed the gravel walkway. She saw the rag in his hand and a tin container. She continued to scream as her hand struck the window, “Let me out!”

From outside the car she heard a muffled voice, “Unlock it.”

At that moment she knew this man was coming for her. She scanned the car to look for a weapon. She saw the push lighter and pressed in the button. The pop let her know the heating element as working. She began to crawl across the middle console to the driver side when the doors unlocked. The passenger side door opened as the man lunged into the car to grab her legs. Kora and Steven stood behind him unmoving as they watched the scene play out.

She kicked Tyler as he pulled her back. She grabbed for the door, but it was just out of reach. A click sounded and Jennifer grabbed the lighter and rammed it into the Tyler's arm. He yelled in pain as she kicked again. She lunged and grabbed the door handle and pulled the latch. The driver side door swung open. She kicked again and connected on Tyler’s shoulder. She lunged for the door, her head staring out the open door to the trees in the distance. She began to crawl across the seats with her arms reaching out for holds. She looked up, only to see the face of Steven in the doorway. Their eyes met as Steven’s hand grabbed the door and slammed it shut. She turned back to see Tyler pulling on her leg. As she looked back Tyler smashed a rag into her face. She screamed and her breath gave out. She pulled another breath but her head fell limp. Tyler caught her and dragged her to the seat. He kneeled on the gravel and turned his head back to Kora. He took a deep breath, “Get me some rope. She is going in with the heads.”

“The heads? I don’t think she needs to go in there.” Steven replied.

“Get me the rope, now.”

They dragged her onto the grass and rolled her over onto her stomach. Her arms were pulled back and twine was wrapped around her wrists then slung together forming a bind. A piece of duct tape was pulled and placed across her mouth. Tyler reached into his pants and pulled out his knife flipping the blade. He brought it close to her face and cut a short slit in the tape. They tied twine around her ankles and then bound both wrists and feet with additional duct tape. Steven and Tyler lifted her up onto their shoulders and carried her across the yard following the path that passed by the open well. They walked up the steps to the second house as Kora slid by and opened the door. They entered the dark house. Kora quickly scanned the nearest bedroom pushing papers and boxes around to check for bodies.

“All clear,” She said.

They lowered her onto the old wooden floor as dust plumed up around her body. They slid her towards the open closet. From in the room you could hear the group leave the house, their muffled voices becoming more distant.

The room fell silent as Jennifer breathed quietly. The house creaked under the weight of slow moving ghostly bodies. The soft moans and fingers scratching along the walls could be heard from the living room. Bodies lined up along the wall and slowly trying to escape from their nightmares. The moans gave way to occasional shrieks as a body would leap into the air, its head bobbing under its weight. Its eyes rolled back, sores lining its arms and legs, as its mouth hung open, teeth long gone. Steps would give way to stumbling causing the room to groan under the disruption.

Jennifer’s body laid on floor in peace.