Code PINK_A Novel Of Suspense

by Erica R Stinson

  They hurried out front and scoped the parking lot for Ryan’s grey Saturn and spotted it sitting in a spot, the engine running. They moved stealthily towards their car and they got in, waiting for Ryan to pull out.

  “What’s he waiting for?” Millie asked impatiently after a couple of minutes.

  “I dunno.” Sandy shrugged, as Millie drummed her pink, manicured nails on the steering wheel impatiently, “Maybe he’s warming it up. It’s twenty degrees out here.”

  They watched as the Saturn continued to remain in place and Millie blew out her breath as she leaned forward in her seat, her eyes narrowing as she threw open the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  Millie motioned for him to follow her as she got out of the driver’s seat and headed towards the Saturn.

  “Shit!” she cried as they both looked inside the car and saw that it was empty. The car was running, with the key in the ignition, but it was locked up tight.

  “Son-of-a-bitch!” Sandy swore, pounding his fist on the roof of the car as Millie pivoted on her heel and stalked away.

  “I’m calling it in.” she said, heading back to the station to put out an alert on Ryan Ashby.

  He could be anywhere by now.

  ***

  Ryan got out of the cab in front of the Hampton Inn where he’d left Connie. He had the journal he’d found in their bedroom, the one that Carrie had hidden underneath the area rug their bed sat on. He knew he’d eventually find it, even though she’d hidden it rather well. She mentioned Canada a lot, Montreal mostly, from the quick skimming he’d done.

  He didn’t really have much time to look through it, but he knew that it held the key to a lot of things he was wondering about his wife.

  The most important thing they needed to do now was find Carrie and Joan so he could make sure his daughter was all right.

  As he headed to the hotel, he saw Connie getting out of a silver Toyota Corolla. He had informed her of his plan to ditch the Saturn and told her to rent a car so that they could move around undetected. He was pretty sure, after they discovered his deception, Detectives Chandler and Harvey were sending people after them so they had to move quick.

  “You were gone so long....”

  “Yeah, we hit a bit of traffic on the way back, but I’m here now.” Ryan said, as he got into the car. “Ready?”

  Connie nodded as she got into the drivers seat and they drove slowly out of the parking lot.

  “Are you going to call Carrie?” he asked, almost hoping that she would say no. He had no desire to hear his wife’s voice at the moment.

  “No. Joan calls all the shots.” She admitted, dialing a number on the burner cell she’d purchased while Ryan had been at the police station. “I know that Carrie won’t talk to me.”

  They were silent as Connie waited for Joan to pick up the phone, but there was no answer.

  “I’m going to try again.” She said, redialing Joan’s number and praying that she hadn’t changed it already. Finally someone answered and Connie put the phone on speaker, putting her fingers to her lips to let Ryan know not to say anything.

  “Who is this?” Joan growled into the phone.

  “I need to talk to you, Joan.” Connie said as Joan began to laugh.

  “What do you want?” she said, the hard tone in her voice making them cringe. “Don’t call here again, Connie.”

  “This is serious.” Connie interrupted, keeping her eyes on the road as she drove westbound on the Northern State Parkway, headed towards Queens. “I can’t get a hold of Zach and the police keep coming to the hospital. They know something’s up. I need more money so I can get away.”

  “No.” Joan snapped, and then let out an exasperated breath. “You got your money already and we are not paying you another penny.”

  “Wait...”

  “Just hang up on her, Joanie.” They could hear Carrie urging her in the background.

  Ryan’s mouth turned down sadly, and then his face broke into one of relief as he heard the baby gurgle and then coo.

  His daughter.

  Tears filled his eyes as he tried to hold his composure and remain calm until Connie could finish the call.

  “It’s not enough and I am not going to be left holding the bag. Without me, none of this would have worked! I’m begging you. Begging you, Joan. I need more money so that I can get out of here.”

  Silence.

  “How do we know you haven’t already gone to the police?” Joan asked.

  “I haven’t.” Connie swore. And technically she hadn’t. “You know I wouldn’t do that. I can’t go to jail over this. Tell me where we can meet.”

  “Something’s funny.” Carrie cried as the baby started to cry, “I don’t like this. Hang up, Joan!”

  “If I get arrested over this shit, I will tell them everything I know.” Connie threatened, as Ryan tapped a word on a page in Carrie’s diary and Connie nodded. “Especially about Canada. Montreal, wasn’t it?”

  Dead silence again and then whispers as they argued back and forth, Joan’s hand over the mouthpiece of the phone from the sounds of it. Carrie had spilled the beans about their plans to go to Montreal when Connie voiced her concerns about the plan failing. She remembered the harsh look that Joan had given Carrie, right before she buttoned up.

  “Where are you?” she finally asked.

  “On the Northern State Parkway heading towards Queens.” Connie said, truthfully. “I can’t go home and I want to get as far away from Long Island as I can, for now. The cops are not going to stop, so I need to get out of here. Look, can’t I meet you somewhere?”

  Joan hesitated for a long moment before speaking again.

  “Come to Yonkers Raceway and Casino. Exit two on the New York State Thruway. I’ll meet you in the parking lot there. Just me. Rear parking lot.”

  “Okay, I know where it is. I’ll be there in about an hour, depending on traffic on the RFK and the Major Deegan....” Connie said, and then winced as the phone clicked loudly.

  Joan had hung up on her.

  “Think she’ll really show?” Ryan asked as Connie nodded.

  “She will.” She assured him with a nod, remembering how nervous Joan had been during the meeting that had started this whole thing. Carrie had been the one that was all gung-ho while Joan had been very reserved about it. “She has to. She knows I will go to the police if she doesn’t.”

  “Well I sure hope this was all worth it.” Ryan said, in disgust as Connie kept driving towards Queens.

  “I don’t think you’ll ever know how sorry I am for my role in this.” She said, sincerely, “But all I can do is try to make it right, now.”

  “You’ll probably go to jail, you know.” Ryan informed her, in a surprisingly soft voice given the circumstances.

  “I know.” Connie answered back, just as softly.

  He didn’t bother to tell Connie that he had asked for lenience, not that she’d get it. She had done a terrible thing, out of greed, but his wife had done far worse.

  And he was going to see that she paid for it.

  chapter eleven

  Joan sat in the car, anxiously awaiting Connie to show up. She was sure that bitch had gone to the police anyway.

  As she got ready to pull out of her vantage point in the rear parking lot, Connie suddenly appeared and hurried towards the car. The rain made it look like she was just trying to get out of it, like everyone else was doing, but Joan knew Connie wasn’t concerned about the weather.

  All she cared about was getting more of a cut than she should have for this job.

  Twenty-five thousand dollars was what Joan had originally been prepared to pay, but she increased it to fifty grand at the last minute.

  She needed Connie to disappear.

  She needed Connie to keep her damned mouth shut.

  The redhead shook out her long hair as she got into the car’s passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

  “It’s nasty out there.” She said breathlessly,
as if they were meeting for lunch or something.

  “Here’s your money.” Joan said, tossing a small satchel onto her lap as she opened it, counting the bills. “This is it, Connie. I mean it.”

  “Thanks, Joan.” She said, glancing into the back seat and Joan snapped at her.

  “What are you staring at.?” She spat, nastily. “You got your money. Now, I need your word on this that we will never cross paths again. Got it?”

  Connie nodded, turning to get out of the car.

  “You’ll never see me again.”

  “You’re damned right I won’t.” Joan whispered as Connie felt something tightening around her throat. “No one will!”

  Connie’s scream was cut short as Joan looped a length of bungee cord around her neck, increasing the pressure on her throat and cutting off her air-supply as she squeezed it tighter, twisting it for leverage.

  Connie’s hands scrambled to find the door handle as Joan continued to throttle her with the strength of a full-grown man.

  Suddenly the door was ripped open on the driver’s side and to Connie’s relief she was able to draw in breath again. Coughing violently, she gulped mouthfuls of delicious air as the bungee cord loosened from around her throat.

  Ryan.

  Ryan had come to her rescue.

  “You okay?” he asked, holding Joan’s arms behind her back as she cursed him and tried to get away.

  “Let go of me, cocksucker!” she screamed, thrashing about as Ryan slammed her against the car, stunning her momentarily before he slammed her again.

  “Joan, I will knock you the fuck out.” Ryan threatened and for the first time ever, in all the time he’d known her, she appeared to be afraid of him. “Where’s Carrie?”

  Joan looked away, tightening her lips.

  He’d have to kill her, because she would never tell.

  “Check her purse.” He said, keeping a keen eye on Joan as Connie, who had recovered herself, began dumping stuff out of the ugly handbag Joan always carried.

  “You’re an asshole.” Joan bit out savagely, as he fought the urge to slap the smile off her face. “You’ll never find them. Never”

  “I will.” Ryan pledged, moving closer to Joan as she flinched at the nearness of him, her bravado gone now, “One way or another.”

  His meaning was clear.

  “Here.” Connie said, handing him an electronic key-card bearing the logo for the Hyatt Place Hotel. “There’s one less than a mile from here in the Cross Country Shopping Center.”

  She watched as Joan’s shoulders drooped in defeat and knew that they had hit the nail on the head.

  “In the back.” Ryan said, shoving Joan into the back seat of the car before following her in. “Drive.”

  Connie put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot as Ryan used the bungee cord to secure Joan’s hands behind her back.

  Yes, she was crazy enough to try some crazy shit and he knew it.

  “It’s over Joan.” Ryan said, facing her as she glared at him.

  A moment later he recoiled as a wad of saliva she’d spat at him hit him right in the middle of his face. Joan was grinning now as he fought the urge to wring her damned neck.

  “Fuck you, Ryan.” She hissed, turning her face away from him as they neared the hotel.

  Ryan held up the cell phone to Joan’s lips, Connie having taken it from her purse.

  “Tell her to come down.” He ordered, as Joan glanced at him briefly and then looked away, snorting.

  “Fuck you.” she repeated, petulantly.

  Ryan snatched a handful of Joan’s limp hair, pulling hard enough to make her cry out as he jerked her head back sharply.

  “I’m not fucking around with you, Joan.” He warned her, through clenched teeth. “Tell Carrie to come down here, now. You say anything different, I’ll break your fucking neck.”

  Connie’s hands trembled as she scrolled through the phone and pressed the button next to Carrie’s name on the screen and put it on speakerphone so that they could all hear the conversation.

  “Joanie?” Carrie answered on the first ring, as they heard the baby crying in the background, “Where are you?”

  Ryan nudged her, as he and Connie silently kept their glares on her.

  “I’m downstairs.” She replied, meekly.

  There was a long pause before Carrie replied.

  “You sound...funny...” she said and then hesitated as her voice grew frantic, “.....what’s wrong?”

  Ryan tightened his grip on her hair as she stifled a pained cry, curling her lips into her mouth to keep from screaming.

  “N-nothing. Just come on down. Okay?”

  “No.” Carrie said, her voice taking a hard edge to it that Ryan hadn’t ever heard before. She’d always been a passive type, so this new bold attitude was new to him. “You come up.”

  Ryan’s eyes nearly bulged as he mouthed at Joan to agree, pulling her hair again.

  “I’ll be right there.” Joan managed as her eyes widened, Ryan’s fist only inches from her upturned face.

  He snatched the phone away from her and hung up, letting her unruly hair fall from his hand.

  “I don’t think we should park out in the open.” Connie said, pulling into the car-port where guests usually waited to check in and check out. “I don’t want her to see us from the windows.”

  Ryan got out of the car, tugging Joan’s arm as she got out too and he positioned her in front of him to hide the fact that her hands were bound. He watched Joan as her black eyes darted around, furtively, as she calculated whether or not she could escape him.

  “Go ahead, Joan.” Ryan murmured directly into her ear as she stared straight ahead, “Try something, go on and do it so I can fuck you up. I dare you.”

  Joan didn’t say anything as Ryan shoved her into the artfully decorated lobby with Connie close behind.

  The three hustled past others who were sitting on the plush sofas, having drinks at the nearby hotel bar and the people checking in at the opulent reception desk. Thankfully, there was enough activity in the area that no one really noticed them.

  At least he hoped not.

  “What floor?” he demanded once they got into the large elevator. He shoved her roughly against one of the paneled walls inside the car when she didn’t answer him quick enough.

  Connie cast a nervous look at the security camera in one of the corners of the elevator car’s ceiling. She gave Ryan a look now, one that warned him to take it easy. The last thing they needed was to have anything jump off when they were so close.

  Joan jabbed the number for the top floor and the small white panel glowed softly as the elevator whisked them smoothly upward.

  When the doors slid open, a door halfway down the carpeted hallway opened and they saw Carrie stick her head out and look straight at them.

  “Run!!!!!” Joan screamed suddenly, elbowing Ryan away from her as he groaned and doubled over.

  Carrie’s face registered shock at unexpectedly seeing her husband there and she shrieked, fleeing down the hallway and towards the fire exit, the baby in her arms.

  “Dammit!” Connie cried, throwing herself on top of Joan, who screamed again at Carrie to run.

  Ryan tore off down the hallway after Carrie while Connie tried to hold Joan down against the ground. He could hear the two of them struggling, but Connie had the upper hand since Joan’s arms were bound.

  She would be able to handle herself.

  He had to get to Carrie.

  When he got into the stairwell, he heard the slamming of a door up above a moment later.

  The roof.

  He barreled up the stairs and out of the roof-access door, which had an alarm that was blaring inside the stairwell to alert security personnel that the door had been opened.

  The moment had come.

  Carrie stared at him as she stood near the units housing the air-conditioning system for the hotel. Ryan put his arms out, moving slowly towards her.

  The air was
freezing as the light rain plastered Carrie’s hair to her head as she and Ryan stared at one another.

  The baby began to fuss and squirm as Carrie tightened the grip on the child, edging further back to the roof’s edge.

  “Carrie.....don’t do it...”

  “Why couldn’t you just let us go!” she wept, as the baby started to cry, her bare little feet kicking as she shivered in the chilly rain. “I didn’t want this to happen, Ry. But I didn’t know how to deal with it.”

  “I know, I know.” Ryan said, softly as he still moved towards her as she backed away. “Just give me the baby. Come on back inside and we’ll work it out.”

  “No....No!” Carrie blubbered as she shook her head and backed closer to the edge. “It won’t work. I can’t do this! Leave us alone!”

  It had grown completely dark by now and Ryan could faintly hear police sirens howling down below. The roof access door slammed open with a loud metallic clang and Ryan turned to see if Connie was all right.

  The look of relief that had been there, left his face as he saw his nemesis.

  There stood Joan, her face filled with rage as she maintained her battle stance while glaring at him. She let out a scream, as if she were a wild animal, charging towards him as he braced himself for the attack.

  Like a crazy woman, she leapt at him and wrapped her legs around his torso, clawing his face and neck with her fingernails as she screamed at him to leave them alone.

  “Joan!” Carrie suddenly screamed and then wailed as Ryan finally broke free of the woman, pushing her away from him roughly. “Joooooaaannnn!”

  Carrie was almost down on her knees now as Ryan saw that he had knocked Joan over the edge of the roof, her lifeless and broken body on top of the carport’s roof far below.

  Ryan quickly grabbed Carrie by the arm and got her away from the edge where she had run to look at Joan’s body, the screaming baby dangling precariously from her arms.

  “Come on, Carrie.....” he said as his wife sobbed, trying not to spook her as he led her further back towards the roof access door . She stopped crying suddenly as she stared into the night, making him realize that Carrie was gone. Her stark eyes had dulled now as her arms loosened, the baby squirming as Ryan prayed Carrie wouldn’t drop her.