by Tim Waggoner
“She’s still there?”
“Yeah. She often stays late to finish up some work. Why?”
“No reason.” Caroline was silent for several seconds, and Aaron had the impression that she was mulling her response carefully. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully you’re right and nothing will come of it. So … see you at the club tonight? Twelve midnight, sharp?”
This is it; your last chance to say no.
“Sure. See you then.”
Caroline sat in her Infiniti in the parking lot of a chiropractor’s a block away from Aaron’s veterinary clinic. She turned off her cell phone, lay it on the passenger seat beside her, then looked out the windshield and waited. A moment later, she saw Aaron drive by in his Lexus. After he was gone, she waited a full minute before turning on her car’s engine and pulling out of the lot. She drove onto the street and headed south — toward Aaron’s practice.
CHAPTER TEN
Diane pretended to work for a full ten minutes after Aaron left. Finally — having accomplished next to nothing for her efforts — she stuffed the delinquent accounts paperwork back into its folder, returned it to her desk drawer, then shut down her computer. Aaron should be gone by now, which meant it was safe for her to leave. Telling him about her affair had been difficult, and she didn’t think she could face him so soon afterward. She knew she shouldn’t have been ashamed to tell Aaron the truth. He was in the same situation, and he was the closest thing to a best friend she had since Walter had passed on. But she was ashamed, deeply so, and she wanted some time to pass before she had to look Aaron in the eye again, so she could look him in the eye.
She gave the office a quick once-over. The cleaning people were due in tonight, and she liked to take inventory of the place before leaving, so that if anything turned up missing the next day, they’d know when it had disappeared and who’d taken it. A lot of the drugs a vet kept on hand were similar to a physician’s — though the names and dosages often differed. After all, PCP’s intended use was as an animal tranquilizer. Some of the substances could be used to make street drugs and reasonable facsimiles, if someone knew their way around a basic chemistry set.
When Diane completed her rounds, she was tempted to do it all one more time, just to be thorough. But she knew there was no real need, that she was just looking for excuses to postpone going home. She lived for her work because she honestly didn’t have anything else to live for. She and Walter had produced no children, and though they’d discussed adopting or even fostering some, nothing had ever come of it. She often thought that was the reason she felt so close to Aaron. Though he was a bit too old to be her biological child, he was like the son — or perhaps the younger brother — she never had.
Diane straightened the magazines in the reception area, then turned off the lights. She stepped outside into the humid evening air, which actually felt rather good after being cooped up inside in the air-conditioning all day. She locked the front door, turned the knob to check it, then headed for her car.
She wondered if she’d done the right thing by listening in on Aaron’s phone conversation with Caroline Langdon. Technically, it was a sneaky thing to do, but she’d only done it out of concern for Aaron. She’d had to know whether her suspicions about him and Caroline were correct before she said anything more to him about the situation. But even if she could justify her actions to herself, that didn’t mean Aaron would view them the same way. He had every right to feel betrayed by her, and she wondered if he’d ever trust her again. Who knows? She supposed it might even be possible that he’d fire her, though she had a hard time imagining Aaron doing anything that extreme.
Like Aaron, she parked her Accord near the rear of the lot. She was only halfway to her car, her shoes clack-clack-clacking on the hot black asphalt, when sweat began to bead on her forehead. She decided she’d been an idiot to even think the hot summer air had been refreshing, and she was already looking forward to getting into her car and turning on the air conditioner full blast.
If she’d lost Aaron’s trust today, even if she lost her job, it would all be worth it if she’d helped save his marriage. She didn’t know Kristen all that well, but she knew she was a good woman. Diane didn’t want to see her get hurt. Even more, she didn’t want to see Aaron ruin his marriage and end up alone. She knew what it was like to be alone, night after night, with nothing but your memories to keep you warm in bed. It was a fate she hoped to help Aaron avoid.
As she drew near her Accord, she noticed a white Infiniti parked several spaces from it. She didn’t recognize the car, but that didn’t bother her. What did bother her was when the driver’s side door opened and Caroline Langdon got out. The woman wore a simple black blouse, old jeans, and worn, grass-stained shoes — the kind of outfit a person would wear for working in the yard. It was quite a contrast to how she’d been dressed yesterday.
Caroline started walking toward Diane, but before the other woman could get too close, Diane said, “I’m sorry, but if you’ve come to see Dr. Rittinger, I’m afraid the office is closed and he’s left for the night.” She knew Aaron’s home phone number of course, but she wasn’t about to give it out to a client — especially this one.
“I didn’t come to see Aaron. I’ve come for you.” Caroline smiled, but her eyes were cold as ice chips.
Diane noted the woman’s choice of words. Not I’ve come to talk to you, but rather I’ve come FOR you. The same instincts that had told her that Aaron and this woman were having an affair now warned her that Caroline intended her harm. Diane had a vial of pepper spray attached to her key ring, but her keys were in her purse. Could she open it and retrieve the pepper spray before Caroline intercepted her? The other woman had already closed to within twenty feet of Diane, more than near enough to make a dash for her the moment Diane reached into her purse. Still, she had no other weapon, and she was too old and out of shape to outrun the younger woman. Maybe if she casually reached into her purse as if she simply intended to take out her keys so she could unlock her car …
Diane started to open her purse, but then Caroline stopped, and reached behind her back. When she brought her hand forward again, she was holding a handgun. One that she’d presumably carried tucked inside her pants against the small of her back, just like in the movies.
“Don’t move and don’t say anything. I borrowed this from a friend of mine, and while I’m not a crack shot with it, I doubt I’d miss at this range.” Caroline spoke in a calm voice, as if she pulled guns on people every day. That tone, more than anything else, convinced Diane that Caroline meant business. The barrel of the weapon was pointed at Diane’s chest, and Caroline’s hand was rock steady. Diane knew that Caroline would indeed shoot her if she didn’t do exactly as the other woman said. Diane stopped walking, and though she didn’t try to raise her hands — for Caroline hadn’t asked her to — she made sure to keep them in plain sight.
“Good girl. Now I want you to keep walking toward me and go around to the passenger side of my car. Get inside, sit, put the seatbelt on, and buckle it.”
Diane nodded to show she understood Caroline’s instructions and then started walking slowly toward the white Infiniti. Caroline kept the gun trained on Diane the entire time she walked, and Diane knew that if she took so much as a single step to one side or another, Caroline would fire.
As she walked toward the Infiniti, Diane struggled to understand what was happening. She felt certain it had to do with her eavesdropping on Aaron and Diane’s phone conversation, though she had difficulty understanding why and how it could drive Diane to take such drastic action. It wasn’t as if Diane intended to expose the affair, so why should Caroline feel so threatened?
Caroline followed Diane back to the Infiniti and kept the gun pointed at her while she got in and buckled her seatbelt as instructed. Caroline then closed the passenger door and hurried around to the driver’s side. She got in, closed the door, and locked it, though she didn’t put her own seatbelt on.
Doesn’t want to restrict her range of motion in case she needs to use the gun, Diane thought. Smart.
Diane supposed she ought to be scared, but right now she didn’t feel much of anything beyond bewilderment. Perhaps she was in shock from having a gun pulled on her and, evidently, being abducted. Or — and this was a far more disturbing thought — perhaps on some level she actually welcomed what was happening. If nothing else, at least it was a change in the dull, predictable routine of her empty existence.
Caroline turned to her and in a cold, no-nonsense voice said, “Sit on your hands.”
“Pardon me?”
“Sit on your hands,” Caroline repeated, louder this time.
“Oh, I see. So I won’t be able to make a grab for your gun.”
“Just do it,” Caroline said, nearly growling.
Diane did so, feeling as if she’d somehow walked into the middle of a bad television crime drama. Caroline reached up with her free hand and removed her keys from behind the visor. Another smart move, Diane thought. This way she didn’t have to struggle to pull them from her pants pocket, but she hadn’t needed to risk leaving them in the ignition where Diane might have gotten hold of them.
“You’ve done this before,” Diane said. “Abducting someone.”
Caroline inserted the proper key into the ignition and started the car.
“Once or twice.” She switched the gun to her left hand then put the car into reverse. She backed out of the spot, put the Infiniti in forward, and pulled out of the lot and onto the street. Caroline turned the air conditioner on, and Diane was grateful. Bad enough to be kidnapped in summertime; all the worst to have to ride in a stuffy, sweltering car.
“Why no rope?” Diane asked.
Caroline flashed her an angry irritated look. “What?”
“To tie my hands. And shouldn’t you have gagged me? Don’t get me wrong: I’m grateful you didn’t, but it seems like you’re taking an awful risk by not doing either.”
Caroline glared at her and then smirked. “Aaron had you pegged. You really are a meddler. You can’t even resist interfering with your own kidnapping.”
The comment hurt, all the more so because she knew it was true. She’d always been a butt-insky, as her mother put it. She just couldn’t help herself, even when she knew better. Like now.
“I’m just nervous, I guess. Yesterday you brought your cat in for a check-up, and today you’re abducting me at gunpoint. Why?”
They drove in silence for a few minutes after that. Diane wanted to glance out the passenger-side window and get a sense of where they were, in hope that the knowledge might give her an idea where Caroline was taking her. But she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the gun. The blackness inside the barrel seemed to swell in size until it encompassed her entire field of vision, as if there was nothing else in the universe except her and it.
“Because if I didn’t have a gun pointed at you, you’d never had come with me,” Caroline said at last.
Diane couldn’t argue with that. “Where are we going?”
Another pause, but not so long as the last. “There’s something I want to show you. Something that I think will help you understand about Aaron and me. Maybe you won’t be so quick to judge us after you see it.”
Diane had no idea what Caroline was talking about, but she didn’t like the sound of it. She wanted to tell Caroline that she hadn’t judged them, how could she after what had happened between her and her own husband? But she said nothing because she knew that she was lying to herself, if only partially. Maybe she hadn’t judged Aaron, but fairly or not, she’d judged Caroline as a conniving, manipulative slut. She supposed she could now add criminal to the list of the woman’s shortcomings, and probably psychotic as well.
“If you just want to show my something to help me understand, then the gun’s not necessary. I want to understand, so I can help Aaron, if for no other reason. Why don’t you put the gun away before either of us gets hurt?”
Caroline didn’t take her gaze off the road, and the gun appeared steady in her grip. “I say what’s necessary. Now shut up until we get where we’re going.” Caroline’s voice was loud, though she didn’t quite shout, and her tone was one of angry irritation.
Diane nodded and said no more. She sensed she’d pushed Caroline as far as she could, though she’d learned precious little in the process. Still, she couldn’t take her eyes off that gun, and she continued staring at the darkness hidden within its barrel until the Infiniti slowed and turned into a parking lot.
Diane finally risked a glance out the window and saw Caroline had brought her to the Valley View Shopping Center. Diane was confused; she’d expected to be taken somewhere isolated and disposed of, like a sick old dog whose owner takes behind the barn and puts a bullet through its brain. She had not expected to be taken shopping. Diane rarely came here. She lived on the other side of town and besides, this shopping center was a little too rundown for her tastes.
Instead of continuing into the lot and finding a place to park, Caroline swung her Infiniti past the bar on the building’s corner and drove around behind the shopping center. Back here there was nothing to distinguish one business from another. Just featureless back doors, rain gutters, pipes, Dumpsters, and scattered bits of trash and cigarette butts. Though the sun was still up and would linger in the sky for a couple more hours yet, it rode close to the horizon, its light thick and orange. Because the front of the shopping center faced west, the back alley was draped in shadow, making everything seem fuzzy, soft-edged, and unreal.
Caroline stopped and parked the Infiniti next to a Dumpster. She removed the keys from the ignition and closed her hand into a fist around them.
“I’m going to get out the car now. You’re going to sit where you are and not move a muscle. I’ll come around to your side of the car — keeping the gun pointed at you all the way — and then you’re going to open your door and get out. If you look like your even thinking about making any sudden moves, I’ll shoot you. Do you understand?”
There was a hell of a lot about this situation that Diane didn’t understand, but Caroline’s instructions were perfectly clear. She nodded.
“Good.” Caroline then got out and walked around the car until she stood on the passenger side of the Infiniti — far enough back so that Diane couldn’t hit her leg opening the door too fast, but still close enough that she could get off a good shot at Diane if she had to. Caroline gestured with the gun, and Diane knew it was time for her to get out of the car. But for the first time since Caroline had confronted her outside Aaron’s practice, terror gripped Diane and she began trembling. Maybe it was a delayed reaction, or maybe it was because the reality of what was happening had finally hit her. Caroline had brought her to an isolated place where all she’d have to do was put a couple bullets in Diane’s head, toss her body into a Dumpster, hen get the hell out of here. It might not be the perfect murder, but it would be close enough.
Diane started when Caroline tapped the gun barrel against the window.
“Get out.” Caroline’s voice was muffled by the window glass, but otherwise intelligible. “Now.”
Diane was trembling so much that she didn’t think she could make her body obey her commands. She would end up being shot through the window for the simple reason that she was too scared to move.
There’s something I want to show you. Something that’ll help you understand about Aaron and me.
Caroline’s words came back to her, and with them came a tiny spark of hope. Maybe, just maybe, if she did what Caroline wanted, let the woman show her whatever it was, then maybe Caroline would let her go. The rational part of Diane’s mind knew that she was succumbing to the same foolish hope that endless victims before her had clung to in vain throughout human history. If I please my tormentor, I will live. But like all the others who had come and gone before her, she had nothing else left but a foolish hope. And so she opened the door and got out of the car. The hot, humid air hit her like a physi
cal blow, and she felt suddenly weak and nauseated. She thought she might faint, but she managed to stay conscious.
“Hold out your hand,” Caroline ordered.
Diane did so, ashamed to see how much it shook, angry at displaying weakness before her captor. Caroline had pocketed her car keys, but now she held out a single key and placed it in Diane’s palm.
“See that door?” Caroline nodded and Diane turned to look in the direction she indicated. She saw a featureless gray metal door, just like all the others on this side of the building. Except someone had spray-painted a white smiley face with X’s for eyes, and beneath it the words Only the Dead. The image sent a cold shiver through her body, and she had to close her trembling hand around the key to keep from dropping it.
“Yes,” she answered.
“The key I gave you opens that door. Use it.”
Diane tried to swallow but it felt as if her throat was filled with concrete. She had never considered herself a very imaginative person, but now her mind went wild, conjuring one horrible image after another of what might be behind the metal door. Maybe it would be better if she refused to open it and let Caroline shoot her right here. Maybe a swift, clean death was preferable to what waited for her inside. But there was that spark of hope, however infinitesimal, and she stepped forward, inserted the key into the lock, and turned it. As badly as her hand shook, Diane feared she might not be able to unlock the door. But the lock turned easily, as if well maintained, and opened with a clear, crisp snick!
“Good. Now turn around slowly and hand the key back to me.”
Diane did so and Caroline tucked it into her jeans pocket.
“Open it.”
Up to this point, Caroline’s voice had been firm and dispassionate. But now a note of eagerness crept into her tone, and that frightened Diane more than anything that Caroline had done since first pointing the gun at her. The spark of hope grew even fainter, but it was still there, so Diane reached out, took hold of the cold metal knob — how could it be so cold if it was so damn hot out? — and turned it.
