“And the Bulldogs are lined up on their own ten yard line,” Foster switched to his best Larry Munson announcer voice. “Three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Dawgs are down by five. The Gators have possession. They’re third down and goal. The Bulldogs have to stop the Gators and score a touchdown to win. Come on, Dawgs. Hunker down!” Foster shifted and bobbed, then lunged forward as if tackling someone.
Foster stopped playing imaginary football as quickly as he had started. He looked around the room as if he wondered how he got there. He looked at Theia, ran over to her, and with great remorse, cried out, “Oh my God! Did I do this to you?” He knelt in front of her, crying. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Then untie her and let her go,” Jack suggested softly.
Foster’s head snapped around, and he flew into a rage at the sight of Jack. “You! You did this to her. I’ll have to kill you so you don’t ever hurt her again.”
“No, Foster! Don’t! Jack didn’t do this. You did this, not him. Now please, just let us go.” Tears rolled down her face.
“Us? There is no us. And if I can’t have you, no one will. When I am done with you, no one will be able to stand the sight of you. If you dare to walk down the street, people will scream in horror at your disfigurement. You’ll beg me to kill you.”
The deputy called out again. Foster became irritated at the distraction. Too many voices. “Shut the fuck up out there or I kill them now. Just shut the fuck up!” He held his hands over his ears and drew a shaky breath. He forced his hands to his sides and paced back and forth, struggling for self-control.
Theia worked one hand out, but kept very close to the rope so Foster would not notice. She used her freed hand to work on the rope holding her other wrist.
Foster stopped in front of Theia, and looked at her as if he had not seen her there before. “How did you get here?” He looked from side to side, frowning. “What are we doing here? And why are you dressed like that? Where the hell are we?” Foster asked, and shook his head to one side, as if trying to get water out of his ear. He looked over at Jack. “You? What are you doing here?”
“Foster, you did this. Now please untie us. I’m very tired and I want to go home,” Theia said, keeping her voice calm as if this were an everyday occurrence.
“But I couldn’t have done this to you. I love you. Why would I do this?” Foster asked, agitated and pacing. He ran around the room, slamming open the doors to the side rooms, and ran back. “No one else is here. You two are tied up, so I must have done this. Oh Theia! What have I done?” He kneeled at her feet and lay his head in her lap. “I’m so sorry! I never wanted to hurt you. Please forgive me. Tell me you’ll forgive me.”
“Of course I’ll forgive you, just untie me.”
“And then we’ll be together? I’ll buy you a beautiful house, no, a mansion. And you’ll have servants, so you won’t have to lift a finger. And we’ll spend every day together. Tell me that’s what you want, Theia. Tell me. I need to hear you say the words.”
“Foster,” Theia began.
“Tell me!” he insisted, tears running down his face. “I can’t live without you, and I can’t stand the thought of you with anyone else. Tell me we’ll be together forever.”
“Sure, Foster. We’ll be together. Now please untie me,” Theia said quietly, losing hope.
“But if I untie you, you’ll leave me. You can’t leave me, Theia. You can’t ever leave me. There are bad men in the world, men who only want one thing. They don’t love you the way I do. No one loves you the way I do. You can’t be around those other people, Theia. One of them might steal you away from me. And then,” his eyes grew large and crazed with rage. “I would have to come after you again. I loved you, and you left me! Why did you leave me?”
“Because you scared me.”
“How did I scare you?” Foster demanded.
“Seriously? You sat around in cemeteries for hours, you watched those horrible videotapes of people being tortured to death, and you kept telling me exactly how you were going to kill me. And you wonder why I left? I left because I wanted to stay alive.”
“You wanted to stay alive,” Foster said, snidely. “You left me and moved away and forgot all about me. Then you committed adultery with this man!” Foster pointed at Jack.
“Foster, you and I are divorced,” Theia said, wearily.
“Then we’ll get married again,” Foster said, his face bright. “Hey deputy!” he yelled. “I know what I want. Get me a preacher. And make it quick!”
“No, Foster. I will not marry you.”
“Give me one good reason why not.”
“Because I don’t love you,” Theia said softly.
“But you used to. You used to love me, didn’t you, Theia? Isn’t that enough?”
“No, Foster. You killed everything I ever felt for you. Scaring the hell out of me has a way of doing that.”
“Not good enough. Give me another reason.”
“Because I love someone else.” Theia was surprised to hear the words tumble out of her mouth. Had she said that out loud? She had suspected for a while, but certainty had only struck her in that moment.
“Who? I’ll kill the bastard!” Foster raged. “Who is he?” Foster sat down on the chair and hung his head in his hands. “I love you Theia,” he croaked. “Why can’t that be enough? I want to take care of you, and put you up on a pedestal. Is that so wrong?”
“Foster,” Theia began. “Do you love me?”
“Yes, of course,” he replied, surprised. “More than my own life. Who do you want me to kill to prove my love for you?”
“Love is not about killing people. I don’t want you to kill anyone, not to prove anything to me, and not for any other reason.”
“Then how can I prove my love for you?” Foster asked, baffled.
“If you truly love me, you’ll want me to be happy. Do you really love me?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Do you want me to be happy?”
“Of course.”
“Even if the thing that would make me happy is to be with someone else?”
“No! You’re mine! I want to shelter you and protect you.”
“I don’t want to be put up on a mantel, Foster. I want a life, a normal life. I want to marry a good man, settle down, have a couple of kids, take them to Disneyworld, go to their parent-teacher conferences, and grow old. Peacefully and quietly. I don’t want to be a princess. And I don’t want to go to sleep every night wondering if I’ll wake up with my husband’s hands around my throat. I just want normalcy. Can’t you see that?”
“So I offer you everything anyone could ever want, and you spit in my face?” Foster asked, the volume in his voice escalating. “I’m generous, yet that’s not good enough for you. I offer you the world on a platter, a beautiful house, clothes, jewelry, everything. You would never have to work again. Tell me where you would like to visit, anywhere in the world, and we’ll go there. Do you want to go to Paris? Acapulco? Rio? Tahiti? If you don’t like the emeralds, I’ll get you rubies. How silly of me. Rubies are your birthstone. I should have gotten you rubies. But the emeralds made me think of your eyes. Say you love me, Theia. Say you love me, damn you!”
Foster paced and stomped. He whirled around and strode over to Jack. “This is your fault! You’re the reason she doesn’t love me any more.” His face lit up with a sudden realization. “If I kill you, then she won’t love you any more, and she’ll love me again.”
Foster went over to the tray and picked up a large scalpel. “Since she says she loves you, I’ll let you choose. How shall I kill you? Do you want me to slit your throat? Your wrists? Pike you in the temple? Your choice, my man. How will you die for your lady?”
“No!” Theia screamed. “Foster, if you kill him I swear I will never ever love you. If you ever want to have a chance with me, you had better not shed one drop of his blood,” she said in desperation.
“So I do have a chance with you! I knew there was a chance. Let’s get a helicopter and fly away, dollbaby. Over time, you will grow to love me again. I know I can make you love me.”
Theia closed her eyes and hung her head.
“Forget the preacher!” Foster yelled to the deputy. “I want a helicopter. And money.”
“Theia, don’t do this,” Jack said. “I know what you’re trying to do, and please don’t. Don’t go away with him in order to save me.”
“Ha!” Foster exclaimed. “Who said anything about saving you? I’m going to kill you and make her watch. Just in case you have second thoughts down the road, my dear, about coming back to him. If he’s dead, you won’t have anyone to come back to, now will you?”
“Foster, listen,” Jack said. “I’m worth much more to you alive than dead. My employer will pay a lot of money to ransom me. I work for a government contractor with the military, and I have highly specialized training. They have a lot of money invested in me, and ransoming me is cheaper for them than training someone new. Just tell the deputy how much money you want.”
Foster looked out the window. While Foster’s back was turned, Jack mouthed silently to Theia, “Trust me.” She drew a breath, and nodded. Even more backup had arrived. Foster saw at least twenty emergency vehicles there, with lights flashing. The flashing lights hurt Foster’s head. He held his hand up to the scar on his temple.
There was a different sound outside, first faint, then gradually getting louder. “Is that a chopper?” Jack asked. “Foster, tell them how much money you want. Get the money and have them take you wherever you want in the chopper. Get a few million bucks and safe passage to anywhere you want. Spend the rest of your life on a tropical beach sipping pina coladas.”
“I’m taking Theia with me,” Foster said gruffly.
“Aw, you don’t want her. She’s high maintenance, and she’ll slow you down. You’ll be able to move around much easier without her. Besides, a man and a woman together will be much easier to find than a man going solo.”
“What, and leave her with you?” Foster asked. “You can’t have her. I know you screwed her, I was watching the two of you for days. You want me to leave her behind so you can have her.”
“No, man. I can’t wait to get back to my job, my real life. She was just entertainment while I was on furlough. You couldn’t have been watching us too closely if you missed the big fight we had. That’s when I found out what a spoiled brat she is. She’s neurotic and completely self-centered, incapable of loving anyone except herself,” Jack went on, while working loose the ropes that bound his wrists. “I don’t want her, man. Neither do you. And the way she blows through money, all that ransom money will be gone in no time. I say, cut and run while the going is good. You can get laid all you want on a tropical beach.” He had gotten both hands untied, but kept them behind him. “Besides, my furlough’s almost over. I was going to dump her when I went back to work anyway. Who needs a ball and chain when you can get as much sex as you want overseas? And from women without complications or baggage. I don’t need to tell you, my friend, this one,” he nodded in Theia’s direction, “comes with way too much baggage. She’s a mess. Who needs all that drama?”
“You didn’t seem to mind the baggage or the drama when you were fucking her,” Foster said, suspicious.
“Well of course not. I was getting some,” Jack said callously. “I’m not stupid. Doesn’t mean I want to marry her.”
“You bastard,” Theia said to Jack, shaking her head as tears rolled. “You fucking bastard. I was finally able to trust someone again, and this is what you do. God, I was stupid.”
“Well,” Jack shrugged, “Your words, not mine. But you don’t see me correcting you.”
“If we live through this,” Theia said evenly. “I swear to God you will suffer. I’ll break every bone in your body, one at a time. And then, I’ll be done with men. You’re all bastards.”
“Oh, please,” Jack taunted. “Hey Foster, untie me so I can play a violin for her sob story.”
“Kiss my ass,” Theia replied.
“So you’re done with men?” Jack asked. “And what are you going to do when you get horny?”
“As long as they keep making batteries, I’ll be just fine,” Theia said, lifting her chin. “And besides, I want something with endurance for a change.”
“You bitch!” Jack retorted. “You spoiled brat of a bitch.”
Theia smirked.
“What do you see in her?” Jack demanded of Foster. “You’re a doctor and you can make a lot of money. You could get plenty of women, younger and better looking than her. I don’t know why you are wasting your time on the likes of her.”
“Well, if you don’t want her, then you won’t mind if I do this,” Foster said. He pulled Theia’s head back roughly by the hair and kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She turned her head from side to side to get away from his mouth, and he slapped her.
Foster looked over at Jack, triumphantly, but was disappointed, as Jack had a bored look on his face. Time to up the ante. Foster ripped the bodice of Theia’s dress and groped her breasts hard. He looked over at Jack. Still no reaction. Furious, Foster straddled Theia’s lap and pulled up the full golden skirt.
Jack lunged, swung his chair over his head and broke it on Foster’s back. Foster roared in pain and rage, losing his balance and falling to the floor where Jack tackled him.