by K. E. Garvey
“Whatever it is, can it wait one minute?”
“Please, tell them it’s Paul. I think they’re putting him in handcuffs,” Amy yelled through the door.
She was still pulling her jeans up as she followed her sister’s frantic pleas through the living room. When Amy swung the kitchen door open, Paul was face down on the hood of a police cruiser while an officer slipped Paul’s wrists into cuffs behind his back.
Sali pulled her shirt over her unbuttoned pants as she hurried off the porch. “Officer, wait. Officer, we know him. He’s OK.”
It was as if her words had been carried off by a bird or a breeze. Neither the officer sent to watch the house nor the one in the cruiser turned toward her as she pleaded for Paul’s release. When she reached them in the driveway, the older of the two grabbed her by an elbow and began to walk her back to the house. “Ma’am, you really shouldn’t be out here. I’m going to have to ask you to go back inside.”
She yanked her arm free and backed up several steps, just out of his reach. “You don’t understand. That is a friend of ours, my sister’s… boyfriend, actually. He’s not one of the bad guys. Why are you arresting him?” She hoped her stumble over the word boyfriend didn’t add to his suspicion.
“Please, let him go.”
They turned toward the sound of Amy’s plea.
“We weren’t arresting him,” he said to Sali. “Detaining him is procedure until we verify his identity and reason for being here.”
“Well then, please allow me to verify for you. His name is Paul Kline and he is not a criminal. As a matter of fact, he is so much of a coward, he ended his relationship with my sister over the phone while she was in Paris. Does that sound threatening to you?”
The officer who had grabbed her by the elbow considered her words and then turned toward the one standing over Paul and gave him a short nod. Within seconds, Paul was out of the cuffs and walking toward Sali.
The officer who had been stationed in the garage waved the cruiser off before turning his attention to the pair in front of him. “Listen, if you’re going to be a regular visitor, I suggest you clear it through the station before coming from here on out.” Paul agreed with a sincere nod. “Next, you can’t park here. The driveway has to be empty at all times. Understood?”
“I parked my car at the convenience store down the road. It’s a bit of a walk, but better than having it seen I suppose.”
“No problem,” Paul said. “Let me use the bathroom first, and I’ll drive it down there.”
The officer looked to Amy who had not left the porch, and then back to Sali and Paul. “OK, but be quick.”
“Thank you,” Paul and Sali said in unison.
Neither spoke as they joined Amy on the porch and quickly disappeared into the house. Once inside, they began to talk at the same time. Once each fell silent, Sali faced Amy and said, “Why am I getting the feeling Paul’s visit wasn’t as much of a surprise to you as it was to me?”
Amy looked in Paul’s direction. When he didn’t say anything, she turned her attention to Sali. “I was going to tell you, but I thought you’d try to talk me out of letting him come.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
“Sal, I’m going crazy here. You’ve been great, but…”
“But I’m not Paul,” Sali said and watched Amy’s shoulders drop in defeat.
“We’ve been sitting here locked up with our own fear, unable to do anything to solve or even help our situation. Had this not happened, I might have called him sooner. You know how things ended between us, and I have questions. I need closure. I’m sorry. I should have talked to you first.”
Aside from the hurt he had inflicted on Amy, Sali couldn’t say she had anything against him personally. She had always thought it wouldn’t have hurt him to cut back on his drinking some, but that wasn’t her battle to fight and Amy never seemed to mind it much. “I get it,” she finally said.
“I’m going to use the bathroom, and then move my car before he comes looking for me.” Just as Paul reached the bathroom door, he turned. “Oh, and Sali, thanks for putting a word in for me out there.”
His smile told her there was no ill will, but she felt the need to apologize anyway. “Listen, I was trying to get him to let you go. It was the first thing that popped into my head.”
He looked between them before disappearing into the bathroom.
Once they were alone, Amy wrung her hands as she offered another apology.
Sali’s words came fast. “Really, I do get it. I’m not trying to get up in your business, it’s just that I wasn’t ready for the surprise. The birds start chirping a little louder, and I think they’re trying to warn me of impending danger. The wind causes a loose floorboard on the porch to creak, and I think someone is standing out there with a crowbar ready to jimmy a window open. When I see headlights passing by the front window slowly at night, I think he’s casing the house. My imagination is running out of control, and my nerves are on the edge. It wouldn’t take much to push them off. So, please, no more surprises.”
Amy agreed and closed the gap between them. She said, “I’m sorry,” and embraced her sister, holding her until the bathroom door opened.
Sali took a step back. “Listen, I know you two have a lot to talk about and… well, this place is only so big. Even if you guys wouldn’t be uncomfortable talking in front of me, I’d be uncomfortable hearing it, so…”
Amy’s eyes grew wide. “You’re not going out.”
“I am,” she said with as much conviction as she could muster. “It’ll be dark soon, I thought I’d sneak out the back and go for a run.”
“He could—” Amy glanced to Paul, and then said, “It’s not safe, and you running around out there alone negates the necessity for police surveillance on the house, don’t you think?”
“Why don’t you take my car to the place down the road you mentioned. This way you won’t have to worry about the cop outside your door giving you a hard time if he sees you leaving,” Paul said.
“What? You’re not helping,” Amy said through clenched teeth.
“Give me your keys.” Sali extended her hand.
Paul offered Amy a sympathetic smile as he dropped the keys into Sali’s hand. Amy stomped a foot and stormed into the bedroom slamming the door shut behind her.
Before he could change his mind, Sali said, “I won’t be long,” and left Paul standing alone in the living room.
~
The commotion at the house had Sali’s heart pounding in her temples. The concentrated breathing she did on the way to drop Paul’s car off did nothing to alleviate it. She wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. Leaving the house, an issue. Visits from friends, an issue. Opening windows, an issue. She felt cornered. On edge. The last few nights she hadn’t even been able to change into pajamas before bed because she worried that they might have to get up in the middle of the night to run from sudden danger, and wanted to be prepared. How pathetic was that? She had been forced into being a scared prisoner in her own life by a dead enemy.
There were only two cars at the store, hers and what she guessed to be the sole employee’s car. She parked Paul’s car next to her own, locked the doors behind her, and pulled her hood up and low over her brow. It wasn’t a chilly night, but goosebumps spread across her skin under her light hoodie. Her instincts came alive telling her to get back to the safety of the house immediately, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Was the house safe? One policeman holed up in the garage was no guarantee. Did she leave for the purpose of giving Amy and Paul alone time? That might have factored in, but the truth was she just needed to put a bit of space between herself and the situation. It didn’t serve to accomplish anything other than giving her time alone with her thoughts, and a chance to exercise her muscles.
There were several races coming up that she had entered, but each day she sat in that house without running was a day of training she couldn’t get back. There was no point in talking to Amy abo
ut how being shut in was affecting her. Amy had never understood her need to run.
The store was well behind her when her thoughts turned over to Steve. How long did he have to be gone before she would begin to miss him, she wondered? Shouldn’t she feel his absence by now, a desire to hear his voice, feel his touch? A month ago, she had agreed to be his wife, and now she couldn’t muster up a shred of longing.
She had probably covered less than five miles when her calf muscles began to burn. What started as warmth deep in the muscle soon became a fiery sensation wrapping its fingers around her calves and squeezing. This was punishment for the weeks of inactivity. Stopping wasn’t an option as she knew they would cramp on her leaving her unable to walk let alone run. She slowed her pace and turned back the way she had come. On a normal day, five miles would be considered a warm-up. But tonight, it would be a grueling trek back, each step a silent prayer her muscles didn’t seize. For the first time since she left the house, she wished she had listened to Amy, and stayed.
Chapter Forty-Five
Warren - 2018
Katherine’s house sat on a quiet street with little traffic, especially into the evening hours. The lack of traffic made it easier for Warren to watch for the unmarked police cars that rode by on the half hour, but it also made his own trips by the house more conspicuous. Although there were no lights on inside, he knew the house was occupied. He also knew it was Gail and Cheryl, or Sali and Amy as they called themselves these days. Who else would feel their way around a darkened house in the evening after the sun went down?
With each pass he made, his heartbeat quickened. His nerves took on an electricity that made him feel more alive than he’d felt in too many years. Even his thoughts seemed to be sharper, come faster, and be more focused than usual. Tonight would be the night. He was sure of it.
It had finally become dark enough to pull the car into his hiding spot on the other side of the road at the edge of the property. The trees on the property stood at the edge, making it easy to see the outline of the house and garage from where he sat. He turned off his lights and backed into the tight spot between two maple trees, keeping the car obscured from view. The fact the old car had no chrome and was terribly faded from sitting out in the sun worked in his favor. Once parked, he got out, and with the toe of his boot kicked the plastic reflector on each side of the front of the car until they lay in pieces on the ground. One less thing to spot.
He slid into the driver’s seat again and opened the glove box pulling out a roll of duct tape and the pocket knife he had found among Rodney’s things. They weren’t his weapons of choice, but they were all he had, so he would have to make do.
He glanced to the house and caught movement. Leaning forward in his seat, he squinted and stared through the darkness. Had he imagined it? The intense way he tried to stare through the night put a strain on his eyes causing them to water. He blinked several times to clear them, and when he opened them, he saw it again. A figure walking from the house to the garage. He wished he were parked closer to get a better look. From where he sat, the form appeared too large to be one of the girls. He waited for a light to shine from the garage, but none did. What could anyone possibly be doing in there in the dark?
He sat still and quiet except for the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears for a good long time, what seemed like hours to him. Whoever went into the garage hadn’t come out. He was sure of it. And that changed everything. The person in the garage was a loose end, an extra piece to the puzzle. A puzzle could be finished, but would not be complete as long as there was a piece unaccounted for. He couldn’t hit the house knowing someone was that close, within earshot. He would have to deal with that issue first. But how? Whoever was in the garage had the definite advantage of darkness, although he had the element of surprise on his side. It was probably a vagabond who had realized the house and garage were empty. Who knows, maybe Katherine’s place had become home to all of the area’s transients. That was a definite possibility, but his gut told him otherwise. His girls were in that house, and he would operate on that premise. He had waited for this day for a long time, and he wasn’t going to let one garage squatter get in his way.
Chapter Forty-Six
Amy - 2018
Amy was surprised to learn Paul was aware of what had happened, although the finer details remained a mystery to him. He had been watching the news and somehow put enough together to know she was in danger, but not where she was until he received her call the previous night. He said he had never been happier to hear her voice.
She led him into the bedroom and closed the door behind them.
“You told me over the phone you were fine, but how do you feel… really?” he asked.
His concern brought a smile to her face even though he probably couldn’t see it in the darkness. She felt her way around the bed and opened the top drawer of the bedside table. Removing what she’d been searching for, she struck the match and lit the jar candle on top of the nightstand.
“I told you the truth. I am feeling stronger.”
She bowed her head slightly before taking several steps toward him. “I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch with you sooner, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to hear from me after the last time we talked. You seemed pretty set on walking away, and I figured if you had wanted to talk you would have called.”
“I was committed to leaving, but not for the reason you think. As for calling you, I wanted to so many times.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“I couldn’t at first. I lost my phone and when I was able to get another I managed to get my old number back, but nothing else. The landline at your apartment was easy enough to find and I tried calling it about a dozen times, but you never picked up. Truth is, I thought you were screening your calls, so I always hung up just before your machine picked up. I didn’t want to leave what I was feeling in a voicemail. You don’t know how happy I was when you called me.”
The candlelight added shadows around his eyes, making him look tired. She took him by the hand and pulled him to a seated position at the foot of the bed. “You said you walked away but not for the reason I think. What would that be? Please tell me because I’m not sure myself what I think.”
“You think I ended things because I didn’t love you anymore. You think maybe there’s someone else. And you might be thinking I’m here now because it didn’t work out with the someone else you think I had. You might also be thinking that making that call to you in Paris came easily.”
“And?” she asked.
“And… you’d be wrong on all counts.”
She shut her eyes tightly. When she opened them, he was still sitting on the bed next to her wearing an unfamiliar look of confidence. “Then why? What was so terrible in our relationship that even if you felt ending it was the only way out, it couldn’t wait until I got home?”
“Me. I was what was so terrible.”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on, Amy. I was a mess. I hadn’t produced a single work worth the cost of the canvas it was painted on in more than a year, my drinking had reached epic proportions, and let’s face it, our relationship had flatlined because of my drinking long before the Paris call.” He took a deep breath and released it. “And if you can believe it, it all got worse while you were away.”
She studied him for a long time. She took in his face and his hairline, his expression and his eyes. Kind eyes. She had always thought that. His eyes had been the first thing she noticed about him when they met, and if this turned out to be the last time she would ever see him she wanted his eyes to be the last thing she saw.
“Then why were you so adamant about coming here? You made a clean getaway, why risk a scene?”
“I didn’t come expecting a scene. And I wasn’t looking for a clean getaway. I simply needed time, and didn’t feel it was fair to ask or expect you to wait.”
“Wait for what?”
�
��The morning after I called you in Paris, I signed myself into Marworth. It’s an addiction treatment facility north of here.”
“And what? You thought I was so unsympathetic, you thought I cared so little I wouldn’t understand or wait for you?”
He stood and walked to the window. She didn’t like that she was now unable to see his face in the dim light.
“Quite the opposite. I knew you’d stand by me had you known. I knew you’d lay down everything you were doing to be there for me, and I couldn’t let you do that. Although I had reached a point where I could admit I had a problem, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be successful at fixing it. I didn’t want you to see me fail.”
After several moments, he returned to where he’d been seated. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if I should be mad at you for shutting me out, or hurt that you thought I might not understand. But you were right. Of all the possible reasons I considered for you doing what you did, that wasn’t one of them.” She reached out and took his hands in her own. Smooth, uncalloused, what she always referred to as the hands of an artist. “I wish you had told me the truth from the start.”
“So do I.” He squeezed her hands. “Now, let’s talk about why we’re sitting in the dark.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Warren - 2018
The moon hung low casting a silvery glow across everything it touched. Warren’s eyes had adjusted to it allowing him to see objects almost as well as if it were daylight. Only the finer details remained shrouded in darkness.
He slinked through the woods on the side of the road where he had parked the car before crossing over to the other side and easing his way back toward the house. When he reached the clearing, the garage sat directly in front of him. Coming at it that way had cost him a half hour or more, but a direct line between the car and the garage carried too much risk.
