The Christmas Surprise

by R. R. Banks

  “You sure are splashing out a lot of money to get your hands on this woman,” I said.

  Lucille glared at me, her hands planted on her straight hips.

  “I had a very good prenuptial agreement and my lawyer ensured that it was upheld after my divorce. At least most of it.”

  There was vitriol in her voice and I wondered if I had stumbled on the reason that she was after Eleanor.

  “Is that it?” I asked. “Did Eleanor have something to do with your marriage ending?”

  Lucille scoffed, her hands falling away from her hips as she looked away and then glared back at me as if the entire concept was so preposterous she couldn’t even believe I would suggest it.

  “Are you serious?” she asked. “That old biddy?”

  “She’s barely middle-aged,” I pointed out, feeling suddenly uncomfortable about the way that Lucille was talking about Eleanor. “Besides, if it didn’t have to do with your marriage, what could it be? She seems like a fairly run-of-the-mill rich lady. Obnoxious and pretty well useless in anything even slightly outside of her comfort zone, though she did make a valiant attempt at some baskets and fruit-picking, but nothing that I would think would warrant this kind of treatment.”

  “Well, you really don’t have any idea what you’re talking about do you?” Lucille snapped. “And who do you think you are, anyway? You have no right to ask me questions about my motivations. You don’t need to know why I want you to do it, you just need to know that I want you to do it, and then to do it. You are being paid, very well, I’ll point out, to get her and bring her to me. Not to know my personal business and not to know what happens after you hand her over.”

  “You’ve already given me half my pay,” I pointed out, “and like you said, even that’s a handsome amount. Your deposit is enough to keep me going for months, so you don’t really have any leverage. I do. I know which island she’s on. So, let’s level here. You tell me what it is about Eleanor that has pissed you off so much, and I’ll make sure you get to her. Then you pay me and we’ll go about the rest of our lives as if this wonderful little relationship that we have going here never happened. How does that sound?”

  I told myself that I wasn’t going to do this. This time was going to be different. Mouthing off at my client is what had landed me unable to work for months and I wasn’t really looking to have that happen again. I wasn’t lying when I said that the money she had already given me would carry me through for quite some time, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t want to get the rest of it. Something about Lucille got under my skin, however. I had dealt with some of the lowest, slimiest people I could imagine, and yet few of them had even come close to creating the repellant feelings in me that this woman did. I just couldn’t take any more of it.

  Lucille drew in a breath and let it out slowly. I had a sudden flash that it was like someone who had been through extensive anger management therapy. She cocked one hip and tilted her head at me, shaking it slightly. There was the hint of a smile on her lips and it seemed to hold more amusement than I’d ever seen in her.

  “I think you’re going to be disappointed,” she said. “It’s really not that interesting a story.”

  “Then why are you so determined not to tell me?”

  “Fine. It’s not really Eleanor who I’m concerned with. I don’t even know the woman. The only reason I would even be able to tell you who she was if I ran into her in a dark alley is because I met her once during an extremely awkward and uncomfortable cocktail party at my now-ex-husband’s house. Of course, that was before I found out that her brother was the man who was going to snatch my then-husband’s company out from under me and hand it over to her nephew.”

  “So, is that it? They took your ex’s business so you’re pissed at her family?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “That would be ridiculous. If there was anyone in that situation who I would want revenge against, it would be my ex. No, I’m after Eleanor because of Snow.”

  “Snow?”

  Is this some sort of reverse global warming activism that I don’t understand? Was Eleanor a bad environmentalist? A good environmentalist?

  “Yes. Snow Whitman. Well, not Whitman anymore. She has been the bane of my existence from the time that we were in school together all the way through thwarting my career at every turn and up until she had me ousted from my position running the advertising agency and then marrying the man who took my place.”

  “She married Eleanor’s nephew?” I asked, making sure that I had gotten all of the strings of the web in place.

  “Yes. She just keeps finding new and creative ways to destroy my life.”

  “Let me get this straight. You hired me to kidnap a woman because she is the aunt of the husband of a woman who you think got married as some sort of plot to ruin your life?”

  “If it wasn’t for Snow, I would be married, wealthy beyond my wildest dreams, with the career that I have always deserved. She has done nothing but make me suffer for most of my life. So now it’s time to make her suffer.”

  The deadness was evident in her eyes again and was now creeping into her voice.

  “By kidnapping her husband’s aunt?” I asked.

  “Don’t you see?” she asked. “Eleanor is the most important person in Noah’s life. Other than Snow, now. I get to Eleanor, I get to Noah. I get to Noah, I get to Snow. If something should happen to Eleanor, it would devastate Noah, and he couldn’t possibly make his spoiled, self-centered wife happy if he’s not thinking about her every moment. They’ll get divorced, she’ll be out on her ass both in her personal and professional life, and I will finally have my revenge.”

  I was sickened by what Lucille had just said. Eleanor had done literally nothing to her, but Lucille was willing to put her through hell just to get to a woman who she was brutally envious of. Lucille was climbing into the helicopter, but I stayed where I was standing. She looked out and me and held out her hands in a questioning gesture.

  “What are you waiting for?” she asked. “Get in so we can leave.”

  “No,” I told her.

  “What do you mean ‘no’?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

  “I know that’s not a word you’ve heard very much, except from your husband and, of course, this woman Snow, but when I say ‘no’ that means I’m not going to do what you want me to do. I’m not going to be a part of this.”

  “You are already a part of this,” Lucille said. “You can’t get out of it.”

  “I’m not going to be a part of it anymore. What you’re doing is disgusting.”

  “Seriously?” Lucille scoffed. “You’re judging me? How do you think I was able to hire you? Where do you think I got your name? Does ‘Asher Roux’ sound familiar to you?” I felt all the muscles in my body tense at the sound of that name. I had never wanted to hear it again. “That’s right,” she said with a sneer. “He told me everything that you’ve done, and from the sound of it, you don’t have place calling other people disgusting. Now get your ass into this helicopter and show me the island. Earn the money that I know you so desperately need.”

  That was enough. I stepped back from the helicopter and shook my head.

  “You go on without me,” I said. “I’m not involved in this anymore.” I took a few steps away from her and then turned back. “And I’m not your subordinate. You have to be in a position of respect to have someone below you.”

  The sound of Lucille’s indignant gasp in my ears, I climbed back down the rocks and into the trees, setting back toward Edwin and Sophie’s house.

  Chapter Twenty

  Hunter

  I woke up with a smile on my face for the second time in the same day. Eleanor was beside me where we had laid down beside the river on a bed of soft ferns, stretched out on her belly with her head rested on her folded arms. Her back rose and fell gently with deep, even breaths and the sun filtering through the leaves above her dappled her naked body with points of light.

  I could d
efinitely get used to this.

  I reached over and ran my fingertips down her spine. Her skin was so soft, delicately golden now after all the time that we had spent in the sun. She cooed at my touch and turned her head toward me. Her eyes were just starting to flutter open when I heard a sound behind me. I went still. Eleanor’s eyes snapped open, staring over my shoulder. She had heard it, too. I strained for the sound again and heard it, the distinct sound of footsteps coming through the undergrowth.

  “What is that?” Eleanor whispered.

  “Maybe it’s an animal,” I whispered back.

  Eleanor shook her head as she pulled herself up to sit.

  “No,” she said. “That’s no animal. Listen to the rhythm. It’s only walking on two feet.”

  The sound was getting louder and I felt my body tensing up defensively. The sound paused for a brief moment and then I heard it again, this time layered as if it was the same sound repeating several times over.

  “More than one,” I said.

  I got to my feet, reaching for the pair of pants that I had brought to the river with me, and just as I turned, I saw a dark figure step through the trees toward us. Behind me I heard Eleanor gasp and felt her hand grab at my back.

  “Virgil.”

  My ears burned with the sound of the name and I could feel my eyes boring into the man that was walking toward me now, flanked on either side by two other men. It took me only a few seconds to recognize them as the men who had chased Eleanor through the cruise ship that night. I reached behind me, touching my hand to Eleanor’s hip to try to push her behind me so that they couldn’t see her. I knew by the look on Virgil’s face, however, that my attempts were futile.

  “Hello, Eleanor,” he said, the edge of his voice slimy and insincere. In an instant, the fake smile that he had been wearing melted away, replaced by a look of hatred so pointed I felt it cutting through the air. “Look at you,” he spat toward us. “I always knew that you were a slut. Out here in the middle of nowhere fucking a guy young enough to be your son. You should be disgusted with yourself.”

  I lunged toward Virgil, but Eleanor grabbed me to stop me, yanking me back toward her as she shouted my name. Virgil’s mocking laugh reverberated around the jungle and I felt it rolling along my skin like putrid oil.

  “That’s right,” he said. “Defend her. Protect the gleaming virtue of the Hamptons harlot. It’s really no wonder why you were such an epic failure as a wife. It’s so clear now. You couldn’t cook. You never lifted a finger to clean the house so I had to double up on the housekeeping staff. You were always so incredibly humiliating when were in front of anyone, I couldn’t bring you anywhere. And in the bedroom, you were like a cold, rancid fish. It makes sense now. You couldn’t actually be at home doing the things that you were supposed to be doing because you were too busy out strolling the schoolyards for playmates to make you feel like you aren’t well past your prime.”

  “You know none of that is true,” Eleanor said from behind me. She pressed against my back, only leaning her head around his side enough that she could speak without revealing all of her body to him. “You know that I did absolutely everything that I could possibly do for you and for our marriage. The cook only came when we were entertaining. I prepared every other meal that you ate in that house. You wouldn’t allow me to clean. You told me that it was embarrassing to think that the wife of a man of your stature would lift her finger to clean.”

  I felt my mind spinning. Something about what they were saying wasn’t adding up. It wasn’t making sense.

  Cook? Housekeeping staff?

  “So, what’s your excuse now?” Virgil asked. “What brings you out to this island with this child?”

  “I’m not a child,” I seethed at him.

  “Oh, really?” Virgil asked. “Why don’t you think of it this way. If the little squeaky toy that you’ve been playing with had been a real woman and actually been able to give me a baby to follow in my footsteps he would be a teenager right now. High school. We’d be looking at colleges and thinking about internships at my office.”

  “Do you actually have an office?” I asked, not allowing the taunts about our ages to get to me. “From what I hear, actually working isn’t something that you are too fond of.”

  Virgil’s eyes darkened and I knew that it had occurred to him that Eleanor may have shared with me what he had done. Though she had still only been sparse with the details and I had only the most basic of information to build on, I knew that he was a white-collar criminal who had done enough that the entire government was interested in getting their hands on any evidence that they could that would let them finally bring him down.

  “And who are you?” Virgil snapped.

  “My name is Hunter,” I said.

  A flash of recognition went across his face.

  “Hunter,” he said. “I know who you are. You’re Noah’s paper jockey. That must be so fulfilling. Spending all day every day licking the shoes of a man who is so far above you, so far beyond anything that you could ever even hope to achieve. I bet your parents are just so proud.”

  I felt like my blood was boiling, the heat searing my skin and making my heart pound so hard that I couldn’t get it under control. This man was the reprehensible waste of breath who had put Eleanor through so much and somehow, he had found us, confirming that it had been him who had sent the men on the ship.

  “How did you find us?” I asked.

  Behind me I could feel Eleanor bending down to take up the pieces of fabric that she had brought with us to the river so that she could tie them on as clothing.

  “When you have power like I do, nothing is beyond your reach,” Virgil said. “But it wouldn’t have been so easy if it hadn’t been for the incompetence of ship security. It’s incredible how quickly someone can forget the name of a crime boss. They called me as her next of kin and alerted me to the fact that she was missing. From there, my men pinpointed where you had made your little swan dive into the ocean. A few very good friends of mine were willing to do some hacking for me and found records of a satellite call that came from this area and then images of your precious HELP sign. That really is adorable, by the way.”

  “Satellite call?” I asked. “No one made a satellite call. Does this place look like it has a phone?”

  “Don’t give me that,” Virgil spat. “The call was made and it just so happens that one of the investments that Eleanor gifted me during our marriage served me beautifully. By some strange coincidence one of their copters had been chartered for a last-minute flight right into the heart of where that call came from.”

  “Copter?” I asked, confused.

  “Airborne Tours,” Eleanor murmured from behind me. “It’s a company that gives tours of historical and natural points of interests by helicopter.”

  She sounded gutted, as though the words that she was saying to me weren’t really being said, but rattling around inside the shell of what she once was. A terrifying thought settled into my stomach and I took a barely perceptible step back so that I was pressed more closely to Eleanor. I could feel that she had managed to get the fabric in place and I reached back to give her hand a squeeze. I waited until Virgil started talking again, not caring what he was saying, before I turned my head just enough that she would be able to hear me.

  “Run.”

  I broke off from her the instant the word was out of my mouth and started running away from the river, taking a sharp diagonal path. I was relieved that she didn’t question me or hesitate, but shot off from the river bank the same moment that I had, having the forethought to go in the opposite direction. I hated the thought of her being alone in the jungle, vulnerable to the men, but I knew that running together would have slowed us down and actually made it easier for them to find us. Instead, going in opposite directions, using the knowledge of the island that we had built up over the days that we had spent there to weave through the trees, would create confusing paths that would be extremely difficult to follow.


  Behind me I could hear the infuriated shouts of Virgil and the men, and I kept running, occasionally taking a path that would loop me back slightly to throw them off if they did happen to catch sight of me. My heart was pounding in my chest, each beat like a silent prayer that Eleanor was alright. Finally, I turned and started running in a direct path toward the beach. I shot out onto the sand and whipped around, trying to see any sign of movement in the trees.

  “Come on,” I muttered. “Come on. Where are you, Eleanor?”

  ****

  Eleanor

  Why again? Why fucking again?

  The rough undergrowth of the jungle stung at the bottoms of my feet, the occasional rock or sharp branch pressing up into my skin until I was sure that I was going to be hemorrhaging by the time that I made it to the beach. This was just ridiculous. For nearly the entire time that we were married I tried to convince Virgil to take up running with me. ‘ We should train for a marathon, Honey. It would be such an amazing bonding experience. ’ ‘ Just a few loops around the block, Sweetheart. The neighbors aren’t going to care. ’ ‘ Let’s run up to the hill and watch the sunrise together. It will be such a romantic start to our day. ’ ‘ Side-by-side treadmills. We could get side-by-side treadmills and run together during your nightly news.’ I even went so far as to buy us coordinating jogging suits embroidered with our names and cute little headbands to match. But no. Virgil flat-out refused and told me that a woman of my station should never be seen sweating or doing something physical like running. It diminished my standing.

  Yet, here I was. The last two times that I had had any interaction with Virgil he had me running like I was running across the border. I could hear the men chasing behind me and I knew that somewhere in the jungle Hunter was running, too. I wished that he was back by my side like he had been in the cruise ship, but I knew that it was better this way. It gave a better chance that at least one of us would survive and be able to lead the authorities to recover the other one.