I couldn’t remember her
name, but I recognized her face from the last time I was at the restaurant with
Billy.
“Our maitre d’ is new and
he didn’t know who you were. Dr. Nesbitt and his wife would like you to join
them for lunch.”
I followed her back inside
and was led to a table by the window. Adam and Beth greeted me with a friendly
smile.
“How are you, Jesse?” Beth
asked, motioning for me to sit down.
“Tired,” I responded. “I’ve
been Christmas shopping all morning. What a madhouse. The mall was hopping. I
think everybody has the Christmas spirit. It was kind of nice.”
“Would you like something
to drink?” the waitress asked, placing a menu on the table in front of me.
“Yes, I would like iced
tea, please,” I answered. I took off my coat. “I don’t need a menu, just bring
me a salad, please.”
“So,” Beth got right to the
point. “Mom says you’re pregnant.”
“That’s what I hear,” I
muttered.
“You don’t know for sure?
Haven’t you been to the doctor?”
“Come on, Beth,” Adam
butted in. “Give her a break. Can’t you see she’s tired and doesn’t want to
talk about it?”
“It’s not that I don’t want
to talk about it,” I said, “but I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.
I’m not pregnant.”
“That’s what I said both
times the chief told me the good news. He’s always the first to know. You might
want to give some credence to his words.” Beth giggled.
“I’m sorry, Beth, but I
find it a little hard to believe that the chief can predict such things.”
“Oh, don’t be surprised if
he’s right. You just never know sometimes.”
“How are things going at
the clinic, Adam?” I changed the subject.
“We’re busy as usual,” he
answered. “How’s Thor?”
“He’s recovering, thanks to
the chief. Of course, he’s such a whiner. He demands way too much attention.
He’s always been such a needy dog, but now that he’s been injured, he’s really
bad. He wants every minute of my time. I walk out of the room, and when I look
down, he’s right there beside me. It’s as if he doesn’t want to let me out of
his sight.”
“It could be that he senses
what the chief sees,” Beth said. “Dogs can be very perceptive and protective.
Thor wants to protect you but he feels like he can’t because he’s been injured.
He’ll stay on your heels because he wants to be close by in case anything
happens, and then he can run for help. Once he’s better, he’ll give you some
space.”
“You sound just like
Billy,” I said.
“We are alike in many ways;
all of us are.”
Actually, I didn’t quite
understand how she could interpret the feelings of a dog, but who was I to
question her ability? I understood the meaning of her assessment. I believe
that dogs were meant to share their lives with humans. They live for the
companionship.
“I heard he was a real
hero,” Adam said. “Billy says he probably saved your life. He was first on the
point. That shows that he’s a true protector.”
“Yeah, and he’s also good
at distractions. If he hadn’t come around the corner when he did, I don’t know
what the outcome would have been. You should have seen the way he tore into
that guy. The whole scene was unreal. One minute everything’s fine, and the
next thing I know, I’m staring down the barrel of a gun.”
“Speaking of which,” Adam
said, “how are you holding out? If you need someone to talk to, I have a friend
who is a psychologist. After a traumatic experience, sometimes it helps to talk
about it with a professional. You need to release your pain.”
“Thanks, but I have
everything under control. I’ve had a couple of bad dreams, but other than that,
I’m doing okay.”
“Well, if you change your
mind, her name is Dr. Tanessa Rose. She has an office on
Rio Road
.
Billy has talked to her a couple of times.”
“Billy has talked to her?”
I asked. My heart skipped a beat.
“Yes,” Beth blurted out.
“He needed to talk to someone when Ruth left him. He was so upset.”
Needless to say, the
conversation slowed down after that statement. The thought of Billy seeing a
shrink because of a broken heart, broke my heart. The food arrived, and the
rest of our lunch was spent with the three of us making small talk. Pleasant as
it was, I was glad when the meal was over. I dug into my purse for my wallet so
I could pay my share, but Adam wouldn’t hear of it. He insisted on paying for
my meal.
“If you need help with the
wedding plans, don’t hesitate to call,” Beth offered. “I love weddings.”
“I’m sure there will be
plenty to do,” I muttered, and then thanked them for lunch, before hurrying out
of the restaurant. For some reason, I was getting claustrophobic. I had to get
out of there. Something inside was eating at me, but I couldn’t figure out what
it was. That’s what I kept telling myself as I sloshed through the snow to get
to my car. The truth is, I had one more stop to make before heading home. I was
tired and still had to go to the drugstore. It was time to do the deed. I stood
by the car door fumbling for that little black gadget on my key chain to unlock
the door, when a stranger walked up.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” the
young girl said. “My car won’t start and I was wondering if you could give me a
ride to the car lot where my boyfriend works. It’s only a couple of blocks down
the road past Wal-Mart, but in this weather, it’s just too cold to walk. I’d
really appreciate it.”
She looked to be about
seventeen or eighteen years old and in desperate need of a helping hand. Blond
ringlets of hair spilled out from around the hood of her jacket and her nose
was red and runny. At any minute, I thought she was going to cry.
“I have a cell phone, if
you want to call him,” I offered, digging into my purse. “I know it’s in here
somewhere.”
“No, thank you,” she said.
She lowered her head and whispered ever so sadly. “That won’t help. You see, I
don’t have the money to have it fixed. It’s just going to have to sit for a
while. All I need is a ride to the dealership to get my boyfriend’s car.”
“Sure, jump in,” I said.
I was going in that
direction, but I’d have to backtrack to the drugstore. I wasn’t about to take
her with me. This was private. Call me old-fashioned, I don’t care. There are
some things a person has to do alone and this was one of them.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“I was afraid I was going to have to walk. Nobody wants to help someone they
don’t know.”
“Yeah, I know just what you
mean.”
I hit the button on the
remote and the door locks clicked open.
“Thankfully, not everyone’s
like that.”
Once we were inside the
car, her attitude changed. “Maybe they should be. They probably would be better
off.”
Confused, I looked at her
as I put the key in the ignition. “Why would you say that?” I asked.
Her hand came out from
inside her big, bulky handbag. She pointed a small handgun at me and made a
snorkeling sound.
“They thought I couldn’t
pull it off. I guess I showed them. Start the car and let’s get on down the
road.”
My first thought was to
jump out of the car, but after a quick assessment, I decided against it. A
teenager with a gun was not someone to mess with. They were young and
impetuous. They had no idea what the consequences of their actions were, or if
they did, they just didn’t care. No, I would play along with her for the time
being; just long enough to gain control of the situation.
“I guess we’re not going to
the car dealership after all, huh?”
“Hey, you learn fast. Get
moving,” she said, waving the gun in my face. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
I started the car and
backed out of the parking space, my mind racing.
“Will you at least tell me
where we’re going?”
“Just get on Rt. 29 and
head south. You don’t need to know anything else. You’ll find out all in good
time.”
“It’s my life; I think I
have a right to know. Why are you doing this, and what did you mean by they
didn’t think you could pull it off? Who are you talking about? Don’t you
realize you could go to prison for what you’re doing? It’s called kidnapping.”
“I’m not kidnapping you!
I’m just hitching a ride.”
“Oh, is that what they told
you?” I pulled up to the stoplight and made a right hand turn onto Rt. 29. “How
many people at the restaurant saw you get into my car? Have you considered that
possibility? If anything should happen to me, it’s the first thing the police
are going to ask. They aren’t stupid. They know how to handle situations like
this.” I tried to reason with her by putting doubts in her mind. She was young
and I knew that young people could be easily swayed. Unfortunately, that makes
them such easy targets for predators.
“The people I had lunch
with were sitting by the window. I’m sure they watched me leave. You’ll never
get away with it. If you let me go, I’ll forget this ever happened. You can go
your way and I will go mine. That’s the best offer you’re going to get. It’ll
keep you out of jail.”
“Shut up, and keep
driving,” she demanded, fidgeting with the gun.
She was getting nervous,
and I could tell she might be having second thoughts. I kept plugging away.
“You’re young and have your
whole life ahead of you. Don’t mess it up by doing this. It’s a crime to hold
someone against their will. The crime becomes really bad when you use a gun. If
you kill me while you’re in the process of kidnapping me, you’d get the death
penalty.”
“That’s a load of crap,”
she hissed. “I’m not going to kill you unless you make me. I can say it was an
accident. The gun accidentally went off by itself. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Boy, are you in for a real
jolt. The cops won’t buy that bologna! What I’m trying to tell you is that
you’ve already committed one felony. Don’t add another one to the charge. How
old are you? I bet you’re not a day over sixteen.”
“I’m eighteen. I’m an
adult.”
I shook my head in
disbelief and said, “That’s too bad. A young, pretty girl like yourself and all
you’re doing is flushing your life down the toilet. You’ll be tried as an
adult. You’ll get the gas chamber for this one.”
“You’re just trying to
screw with my head,” she cried. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. They
don’t have the gas chamber anymore.”
“You’re right, they don’t.
Now they stick a needle in your arm and you die. It’s called lethal injection.
It’s quick, simple, and easy. You go to sleep and never wake up. Is that what
you want?”
“That ain’t going to
happen. You’re full of crap.”
“Yeah, that’s what they all
say... all the way up until they die.”
My ploy was working. She
was getting visibly upset. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead as she
squirmed in her seat. She held the gun close to her chest as her eyes darted
back and forth. She was about to crack.
“I hope you’re getting paid
well for this job. You’re going to need a lot of money to get out of this mess.
Kidnapping’s a felony. The FBI will be called in on this one. They’ll hunt you
down like a dog, and when they catch you... and they will catch you... they’ll
make your life horrible. I hope you have a good lawyer.”
“You’re crazy,” she said.
She tossed her head back and laughed. “They told me you would say all kinds of
stuff to try to scare me. They said you would threaten me. But Larry told me
not to worry because he would take care of me. I don’t need a lawyer because I
haven’t done anything wrong. We’re just out for a friendly ride.”
“You might want to listen
to reason,” I said.
“There’s nothing you can
say to get me to change my mind. I have to do this so Larry will buy me a new
car. He said if I pulled this off he would buy me anything I wanted. And see,
I’ve done it!”
“Who is Larry?”
“Oh, I see what you’re
doing. You think if you keep after me, I’ll tell you everything. But you’re
wrong. I ain’t saying nothing else. Just keep on driving and keep your mouth
shut. I don’t want to get mad.”
“Have you ever hurt anyone
because you got mad?” I asked, trying to get a feel for how far she could be
pushed. I didn’t want to go too far and have her shoot me.
“Only once,” she whispered.
She dropped her head in shame. “But I didn’t mean to do it. It was an accident.
I said I was sorry.”
“What happened? What did
you do?”
“What do you care?” She
turned to face me. She leaned over and put her face as close to mine as she
could without actually touching me. “You don’t give a rat’s patootie about me.
All you want to do is catch me not paying attention. Then you’ll grab my gun.
I’m not talking about it to you anymore. I know what you’re doing. I watch TV.”
She was mine... that
statement told me so. She would not get away with her plans. My ploy had
worked. Shortly, I would be in control. We had been on the road about ten
minutes when the girl looked at me and ordered me to turn right at the next
light.