SERIAL UNCUT (16 page)

"
Scamp. Loveable little guy. Hates it
when I'm away. But I'm away a lot. I'm a courier. Right now, I'm
headed up to Idaho Falls to pick up a donor kidney."

Her eyes flitted to the backseat, to a
cooler with a biohazard sign on the lid.

"
Don't worry," he said, taking off his
hat and rubbing a hand through his thinning gray hair. "It's empty
for the time being."

The girl nodded, started to get in, then
stopped. "Would you mind if I sat in the back? I don't want to make
you feel like a chauffeur, but I get nauseated riding up front
unless I'm driving."

Donaldson paused. "Normally I wouldn't mind,
Miss, but I don't have any seat belts back there, and I insist my
passengers wear one. Safety first, I always say."

"
Of course. Can't be too careful. Cars
can be dangerous."

"
Indeed they can. Indeed."

The front passenger door squeaked open, and
the girl hopped in. Donaldson watched her buckle up, and then he
accelerated back onto the highway.

Grinning at her, he rubbed his chin and
asked, "So what's your name, little lady?"

"
I'm Lucy." She looked down at the
center console. A Big Gulp sweated in the drink holder. She reached
into her pocket and looked at the man and smiled. "I really
appreciate you picking me up. I don't think I caught your
name."

"
Donaldson. Pleased to meet
you."

"
Is that really your last name, or are
you one of those guys who have a last name for a first
name?"

"
No, that's my first."

They drove in silence for a mile, Donaldson
glancing between the girl and the road.

"
Highway's packed this time of day. I
bet we'd make better time on the county roads. Less traffic. If
that's okay with you, of course."

"
I was actually just going to suggest
that," Lucy said. "Weird."

"
Well, I wouldn't want to do anything
to make you feel uncomfortable." Donaldson glanced down at Lucy's
pocket. "Pretty young thing like yourself might get nervous driving
off the main drag. In fact, you don't see many young lady hitchers
these days. I think horror movies scared them all away. Everyone's
worried about climbing into the car with a maniac."

Donaldson chuckled.

"
I love county roads," Lucy said.
"Much prettier scenery, don't you think?"

He nodded, taking the next exit, and Lucy
leaned over, almost into his lap, and glanced at the gas gauge.

"
You're running pretty low there. Your
reserve light's on. Why don't we stop at this gas station up ahead.
I'll put twenty in the tank. I also need something to drink. This
mountain air is making my throat dry."

Donaldson shifted in his seat. "Oh, that
light just came on, and I can get fifty miles on reserve. This is a
Honda, you know."

"
But why push our luck? And I'm really
thirsty, Donaldson."

"
Here." He lifted his Big Gulp. "It's
still half full."

"
No offense, but I don't drink after
strangers, and I um...this is embarrassing...I have a cold sore in my
mouth."

The gas station was coming up fast, and by
all accounts it appeared to be the last stop before the county road
started its climb into the mountains, into darkness.

"
Who am I to say no to a lady?"
Donaldson said.

He tapped the brakes and coasted into the
station. It had probably been there for forty years, and hadn't
updated since then. Donaldson sidled up to an old-school pump--one
with a meter where the numbers actually scrolled up, built way back
when closed-circuit cameras were something out of a science fiction
magazine.

Donaldson peered over Lucy, into the small
store. A bored female clerk sat behind the counter, apparently
asleep. White trash punching the minimum wage clock, not one to pay
much attention.

"
The tank's on your side," Donaldson
said. "I don't think these old ones take credit cards."

"
I can pay cash inside. I buy, you
fly."

Donaldson nodded. "Okay. I'm fine with doin'
the pumpin'. Twenty, you said?"

"
Yeah. You want anything?"

"
If they have any gum that isn't older
than I am, pick me up a pack. I've got an odd taste in my mouth for
some reason."

Lucy got out of the car. Donaldson opened
the glove compartment and quickly shoved something into his coat
pocket. Then he set the parking brake, pocketed the keys, and
followed her out.

While Donaldson stood pumping gas into
the Honda, Lucy walked across the oil-stained pavement and into the
store. The clerk didn't acknowledge her entrance, just sat staring
at a small black-and-white television airing
Jeopardy
, her chin propped up in her hand and a
Marlboro Red with a one-inch ash trailing smoke toward the
ceiling.

Lucy walked down the aisle to the back of
the store and picked a Red Bull out of the refrigerated case. At
the drink fountain, she went with the smallest size--sixteen
ounces--and filled the cup with ice to the brim, followed by a
little Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, and Orange Fanta.

She glanced back toward the entrance and
through the windows. Donaldson was still fussing with the pump. She
reached into her pocket and withdrew the syringe. Uncapped the
needle, shot a super-size squirt of liquid Oxycontin into the
bubbling soda.

At the counter, she chose a pack of Juicy
Fruit and pushed the items forward.

The clerk tore herself away from a video
Daily Double and rang up the purchase.

"
$24.52."

Lucy looked up from her wallet. "How much of
that is gas?"

"
Twenty."

"
Shit, I told him just do fifteen.
Here." She put a Jefferson on the filthy counter. "I'll send him in
with the balance, 'cause this is all I've got."

"
Don't be trying to steal my
gas."

Donaldson was screwing on the gas cap when
Lucy walked up. She said, "They still need five bucks. I'm sorry.
It came to more than twenty with the drinks and gum. I'm out of
cash."

"
No ATM?"

"
Here? Lucky they have electricity.
I'll get you next stop." She flashed a shy grin, sashaying her
fingers through the air. "Cross my heart and hope to
die."

He just stared at her for a moment, then
turned and started toward the store. Lucy opened the front
passenger door and traded out Donaldson's Big Gulp for the fresh
drink. She tossed the bucket-size cup into a trashcan between the
pumps and climbed in.

Donaldson was at the counter. Lucy glanced
into the backseat at the cooler with the biohazard sign. She looked
into the convenience store, back at the cooler, then spun quickly
around in her seat and reached back toward the lid.

Empty. The inside a dull, stained white. She
closed it again.

Donaldson's footsteps slapped at the
pavement. She settled back into her seat as he opened his door. The
chassis bounced when he eased his bulk behind the wheel.

"
Sorry about that," Lucy said. "I
thought I had another ten. I could swear my snowboarder friend gave
me some cash." She stuck out her lower lip, pouting. "I got you
some gum. And a new drink."

Donaldson frowned, but he took the Juicy
Fruit, ran it under his nose.

"
Thank you, kindly. Fresh soda too,
huh?"

Lucy cracked open the Red Bull and
nodded.

"
Cheers. To new friends." She took a
sip. A trail of pink liquid dribbled down the corner of her mouth,
hugging her chin and neck, dampening her shirt.

Donaldson shifted in his chair and reached
for the cup. He sipped on the straw and made a face.

"
What flavor is this?"

"
I didn't know what you liked," Lucy
said. "So I got you a little of everything."

Donaldson chuckled his approval, then turned
the key and put the car into gear.

The winding county road ahead was pitch
black, like driving through ink. Donaldson sipped his soda. Lucy
watched him closely, taking periodic nips at her energy drink. The
cool, dry air seemed to crackle with electricity as they climbed
into the mountains.

"
So is that really a guitar in that
case?" Donaldson asked after five miles of silence.

"
What do you think?"

"
I'll be honest with you, darlin'.
You're a bit of a mystery to me. I've been around, but I'm not sure
what to make of you."

"
How so?"

"
You're young. But you've heard of
Vietnam, I'm guessing."

"
I loved
Platoon
."

Donaldson nodded. "Well then, you were
practically there in the rice paddies with me, going toe-to-toe
with the Cong."

He drank more soda. Lucy watched.

"
Took some shrapnel in my hip in Ca
Lu," Donaldson said. "Nicked my sciatic nerve. Biggest nerve in the
body. Pain sometimes gets so bad I can chew through a bath towel.
Do you understand pain, little girl?"

"
More so than you'd think."

"
So you should know, then, opiates and
I are friends from way back." Donaldson took a big pull off the
soda. "So spiking my drink here hasn't done much more than make me
a little horny. Actually a lot horny." Donaldson turned to Lucy.
"You're about as musical as I am Christian. So you want to tell me
what your game is, or do I take you over my knee and spank you
right now like the naughty girl you are?"

Lucy said, "It's Oxycontin. Did they have
that back in 'Nam, gramps? And you being one fat bastard, I
squirted two hundred and fifty milligrams into your drink. I'm not
some frat boy trying to roofie up a chunky freshman. I gave you the
rhino dose."

She tested the weight of the Styrofoam cup.
"Jesus, you've already gone through half of it? I'm actually more
concerned you're going to die of a drug overdose instead of the fun
I have planned."

She reached across the seat and squeezed his
leg. "Look, you will be losing consciousness shortly, so we don't
have much time. Pull the car over. I'd like to take you up on that
spanking."

Donaldson stared at her, blinked hard twice,
and stomped the brake pedal.

Lucy's seatbelt released and she slammed
into the metal-reinforced dashboard. Donaldson shook his head, then
swiped the zip tie from his pocket. He grabbed a handful of wool
cap and the hair beneath it and yanked Lucy up off the floor. She
fought hard, but weight and strength won out and he cinched her
hands behind her back.

Donaldson glanced through the windshield,
then checked the rearview mirror. Darkness.

Lucy laughed through her shattered nose and
ran her tongue along her swollen upper lip and gums--two front teeth
MIA.

Donaldson blinked and shook his head again.
Pulled off the road onto the shoulder.

"
We're gonna have some fun, little
girl," he said. "And two hundred and fifty milligrams is like candy
to me."

He ran a clumsy paw across her breasts,
squeezing hard, then turned his attention to the backseat.

The guitar case had two clasps, one on the
body, one on the neck.

Donaldson slapped the left side of his face
three times and then opened the case.

A waft of foulness seeped out of the
velvet-lined guitar lid, although the contents didn't seem to be
the source--a length of chain. Four pairs of handcuffs. Three
carabiners. Vials of liquid Oxycontin. Cutlery shears. A
creepy-looking instrument with six blades at one end. A spotlight.
A small spray bottle. Two coils of climbing rope. And a
snowboarding helmet.

The front passenger door squeaked open and
Donaldson spun around as Lucy fell backward out of the car. He
lunged into her seat, but she kicked the door. It slammed into his
face, his chin crunching his mouth closed, and as the door
recoiled, he saw Lucy struggling onto her feet, her wrists still
bound behind her back.

She disappeared into the woods.

Donaldson took a moment, fumbling for the
door handle. He found it, but paused.

He adjusted the rearview mirror, grinning to
see the blood between his teeth.

"
Should we let this one go, sport? Or
show the little missus that there are things a lot scarier than a
guitar case full of bondage shit?"

Donaldson winked at his reflection, tugged
out the keys, yanked up the brake, and shoved his door open. He
weaved over to the trunk, a stupid grin on his face, got the right
key in on the third try.

Among the bottles of bleach solution, the
rolls of paper towels, the gas cans, and the baby wipes, Donaldson
grabbed the only weapon an upstanding citizen could legally carry
without harassment from law enforcement.

The tire iron clenched in his hand, he
bellowed at the woods.

"
I'm coming for you, Lucy! And there
won't be any drugs to dull
your
pain!"

He stumbled into the forest after her, his
erection beginning to blossom.

She crouched behind a juniper tree, the zip
tie digging into her wrists. Absolute darkness in the woods,
nothing to see, but everything to hear.

Donaldson yelled, "Don't hide from me,
little girl! It'll just make me angry!"

His heavy footsteps crunched in the leaves.
Lucy eased down onto her butt and leaned back, legs in the air,
then slid her bound wrists up the length of them. Donaldson
stumbled past her tree, invisible, less than ten feet away.