Fatigue did not encourage
sleep to come easy for Katie. She lay awake wondering what all of
this meant.
I have a grandmother—okay. She
wants me to live with her in this beautiful house. What else does
she want? Life has never been easy for me, why should it be now?
Well, why shouldn’t it? Other kids have families and live in houses
with real bedrooms and food in their stomachs. She asked me to call
her Gram—said that she always wanted her grandkids to call her that
one day. Maybe she needs me as much as I need her? I want to make
this work. I’ll try to watch my language and practice better
manners. I won’t know how to carry myself around Gram’s friends or
what to talk about with them.
Katie
frowned and turned over in bed.
Go to
sleep!
***
Katie sat up in alarm as
she heard a light tap on her door.
He
found me!
She looked around the room for a
place to hide.
“
Are you
awake?”
Gram’s voice came through the door,
calming Katie’s nerves a bit. She pulled back the covers, slipped
the thick cotton robe over her silky pajamas and opened the
door.
“
I’m sorry to wake you. I
just couldn’t stand to wait one more minute. I had to see that you
were still here and all right,” Gram said. She was fully dressed in
a plum blouse and tan slacks.
“
What time is
it?”
“
A little after noon. Are
you hungry?”
“
Noon? I can’t believe I
slept so long. I’m sorry.”
“
No need to apologize. You
must have been exhausted. I’ll give you time to shower and dress
before lunch. Do you eat meat?”
Katie smiled. “Yes.” She shut the door
and found a pair of jeans and T-shirt to lay on the bed, then took
a shower.
Twenty-Five
Pete was waiting in Garrison Ford’s
apartment. After unscrewing all but one light bulb, he sat in the
tan recliner facing the door.
With the click of a lock and turn of
the knob, Garrison entered the unlit space alone. Pete studied the
man’s outline, making sure he was Garrison Ford, and waited for him
to try each light unsuccessfully. Once he shut the door and walked
toward the kitchen, Pete flicked on the lamp beside him.
Garrison jumped back, noticeably
shaken, and demanded, “Who the hell are you and how did you get in
here?” He started to pull something out of his jacket when he saw
the gun in Pete’s hand. “Whoa.” He lifted his hands. “What do you
want?”
“
I’m here as a favor for
someone.” Pete’s voice remained calm and collected as he twisted
the silencer onto the end of the pistol.
“
A favor . . . who sent
you?” Garrison backed up until he felt the wall behind
him.
“
You’ll get your answers,
in time.”
“
Listen, I can get
whatever you need. Girls . . . drugs . . . money—” His legs
threatened to give out.
“
Why don’t you take a
seat?” Pete nodded to the chair adjacent to him. “I’ve poured us a
drink.”
Garrison’s eyes darted toward the
drink then back at Pete. He walked to the chair, his legs unsteady,
like a fawn learning to walk. Beads of sweat gathered on his
blanched forehead. He took a seat and looked at Pete.
“
Drink.” Pete held up his
own glass of Crown Royal and took a swallow.
He had trouble gripping the glass,
slippery with condensation. His hands trembled, causing the ice to
clink together until he brought it to his lips. Consuming the drink
in one gulp, he slammed the glass back down on the side table and
scrunched his face, biting back the bitter aftertaste. “What’s this
about?” he asked, emboldened by the effects of the
alcohol.
Pete was in front of him within
seconds. Before Garrison could flinch, he landed a right hook
across his nose, knocking him backwards onto the floor. Pete jerked
him, along with the chair, upright and squatted down to his eye
level.
“
I think you broke my
nose!” Garrison held his hand over the mangled protrusion, warm,
red blood spilling down his lips and onto his shirt. “What the
fuck?”
“
Did that hurt? Hmm, maybe
I should’ve added an extra dose to your drink. You’ve probably
built up a tolerance to most drugs. I thought for sure . . .” He
watched Garrison’s lids grow heavy, taking a moment longer to blink
than usual. “There it is. I hadn’t given it enough time to work.
Sorry about that. I’m sure you give your girls plenty of time to
receive the full effects of the drugs before brutalizing them. My
bad.”
“
Guurls . . .” he began,
his words sluggish and garbled. “I can get you
—
”
“
I don’t take things that
don’t belong to me, Garrison.” Pete interrupted, letting Garrison’s
name roll of his tongue slowly. He traced the length of the gun
with a leather glove-laden finger. “I am, however, here to take
your life.” He waited for the expected reaction, and wasn’t
disappointed. Garrison lifted his head, eyes wide with fear. A bead
of sweat escaped his forehead, mingling with fresh blood as it
traveled down toward his quivering lips.
“
What the fuck did I do to
you, man?” Garrison started to stand, but Pete shoved him back down
in the chair.
He backed up, each step measured,
without losing eye contact. “I’m here to take your life, just as
you took the life of an innocent girl.” He lifted the gun, aimed it
at Garrison, and pulled the trigger.
***
Seth Morgan arrived home at three in
the morning with a woman. He began to quickly undress her as they
made their way down the hall and into his bedroom. He lifted her
up, wrapping her legs around his waist and made his way to the bed.
When he leaned back for the bed, they both plunged to the floor.
“What the—” The bedroom furniture had been rearranged, bewildering
him. He pushed the girl off of him and walked to the light switch
on the wall. When he flipped it on, nothing happened. He flipped it
up and down, but no light illuminated the room.
“
Hello, Seth.” Pete sat in
a corner chair, dressed in black.
Seth whipped his head around to the
corner and tried to let his eyes adjust. “Who the hell are
you?”
“
Send the girl away, we
have something to discuss.”
“
Go on, go home.” Seth
nodded for her to leave.
She picked up her dress and shoes and
backed out of the room, mascara staining her cheeks as she
whimpered in fear.
Seth waited for her to shut the
apartment door, hoping she was smart enough to call the police, and
turned back to face the dark stranger in the corner. “Okay. What,
do I owe you some money or something?”
“
No, Seth. I’m here about
a girl—beautiful, long dark hair, green eyes . . .”
“
Katie. Haven’t seen her
in days. No one knows where she is.”
“
I do.” Pete
smiled.
“
Wait!—” Seth held his
hands up in surrender. “Please!”
Pete fired the silenced gun only
once—between his eyes.
***
Chase Morris’s body was left behind a
dumpster in the alley by the liquor store. Pete hadn’t planned on
the knife Chase pulled, but after a brief struggle, Pete was able
to complete the task at hand. He placed the gun in Chase’s hand
after lacing his fingers with gunpowder residue, and meticulously
covered his tracks.
***
James Durand woke up in a haze. He
tried to rub his eyes to clear his vision, but his hands and feet
were bound to a chair. Looking around, he saw the familiar
surroundings of his living room. He was startled when he saw a man
standing across the room holding a gun.
“
Who are you?” James
groaned. “What do you want?”
Pete spoke in a calm and even voice.
“I’m here about a girl. Let’s see how long it takes for you to
figure out who I’m talking about.”
“
I can get you any girl
you want, man. Just untie me,” he pleaded.
Pete ignored him and tried to evoke as
much fear as he could, attaching the silencer to the pistol. He
thought about how frightened Katie must have been. “She has long
brown hair.”
“
Do you know how many of
my girls fit that description?” James spewed. “Tell me her name and
I’ll get her for you.”
“
This is my favorite gun.”
Pete finished attaching the silencer before turning it over in his
hand, admiring the shape and feel. “It’s a Walther PPK. It’s smooth
and weighted with just the right balance. Did you know this is the
same gun that James Bond uses?” Pete gave him a lesson on the gun,
letting an ounce of hope settle in before firing a shot into
James’s left knee.
“
Agh!” He screamed out as
the mind-blowing pain raged through his knee and up his leg. “Fuck!
What do you want from me?”
“
Let’s try again. The girl
was about thirteen when you took her and forced her into this
shit.”
“
Fuck, man. I didn’t take
anyone! All of our girls come to us. Mm—maybe it was Chase. I can
help you find him.” He watched as Pete lifted the gun higher,
aiming it right at him. “Please, don’t!” James screamed out as he
felt the bullet rip through his right shoulder, sending a blinding
hot pain.
“
Here’s your last clue.”
Pete stood and walked toward him. James’s face was ashen and moist
with sweat.
I wish Katie could see him
now,
he thought. “She has green
eyes.”
James sat up taller, knowing exactly
who he was talking about. “Katie! Her name is Katie. I can get her
for you!” Desperation was revealed in his expression.
“
No, James, you can’t get
her for me because you don’t know where she is. You haven’t seen
her in days, have you?” He watched James’s body shake with fear.
“Do you know why you haven’t seen her in days, James?” Pete paused
for effect. “Because I took her home.” He slowly circled around
James as he spoke. “She has more money than you’ve ever seen in
your lifetime, and she’s happy.” He finally stopped in front of
him, squatted down to his eye level and explained. “You can’t get
her for me, but I can get you for her.” Pete smiled sadistically
before he stood and aimed the gun.
James’s head lolled back immediately
when the bullet penetrated his forehead.
Twenty-Six
Gram ran down the hallway toward
Katie’s room when she heard a blood curdling scream. Katie was
curled up in a ball, hugging her knees, stuck in a horrific
nightmare. “Katie! Wake up, honey. Gram’s here—I’ve got you.” She
hugged Katie to her chest and rocked her softly. “You’re all right,
angel. It was just a bad dream. Do you want to tell me what it was
about?”
Katie shook her head and wiped her
tears. “No. I’m okay.”
Gram stood and started to leave. She
paused in the doorway and turned back around. “Katie, no one knows
you here in Maine. You can forget your past and be whoever you want
to be—a fresh start. We’ll hire a tutor over the summer to catch
you up on everything you’ve missed.”
Katie nodded and smiled, uncertainty
evident in her eyes. “Will you help me figure out who I’ll
be?”
“
I already know who you
are—a beautiful, smart, compassionate, strong girl. You just
haven’t figured it out for yourself yet.” Gram looked into Katie’s
eyes. She didn’t know how one could love another so deeply after
only knowing them a few weeks, but she did. She would do anything
in her power to protect her granddaughter, and help her grow into
the magnificent young lady she knew she would one day
become.
***
Katie stood on the edge of the small
cliff looking out at the ocean. As the waves crashed into the cliff
below it sprayed up stark white foam like a rabid animal hungry for
her flesh. The wind sang a lonely tune in her ear as it whipped her
hair around her face and implored her to jump into the raging water
below.
“
Katie,” Gram shouted,
breaking her gloomy trance. “Will you join me for tea,
love?”
Katie slowly turned away from the
ocean and walked back to the house.
“
Katie-dear,” Gram said as
if it was one word—a nickname perhaps. “Would you like to see a
psychologist? I know someone here in Maine. She’s the best around,
and I think she can help. You don’t have to tell her anything you
don’t want to, but I think it’s time you sought some
healing.”
“
I thought I was supposed
to forget about the past?”
“
I thought it would be
easy, but I underestimated what you’ve been through. I just can’t
bear hearing these nightmares wake you one more night, love—it’s
breaking my heart not being able to help you. Please, give it a
try.”
“
Just talking, right?” The
bond between Katie and her grandmother had quickly grown over the
past few months. Usually relationships were built on time and
trust, but something about Gram drew Katie in. She wanted to please
her, make her proud. Maybe it was because she had saved her, or
perhaps it was because she was the first person to show her love.
Gram sat on the edge of Katie’s bed each night, telling her how
much she loved her and how happy she was they found each other. Of
all the doubts that filled Katie—would she ever be a normal girl,
would she make friends in her new school—Gram’s love wasn’t one of
them.