No Reservations

by Natalia Banks

  A big German shepherd came running across the park chasing a Frisbee, its eyes on the novelty flying disk and not on Jeannie until just before they made contact. The dog howled and Jeannie screamed, the two rolling on the grass. Lorraine turned and ran over to Jeannie, the dog’s owner doing the same thing.

  The man, tall with shaggy red hair and a beard, ran to his dog. “What’s wrong with you,” he shouted at Jeannie, “why don’t you look where you’re going?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry … ”

  Lorraine arrived, helping Jeannie up. She turned and looked back to see Dennis Douglass striding toward them, a gun in his hand.

  Lorraine tried to pull Jeannie away, but the dog’s owner grabbed Jeannie’s other arm. “Hold on there, we gotta go see the vet. You’re payin’ the bill!”

  Jeannie screamed, “Lemme go!” She wrenched her arm free and she and Lorraine kept running.

  The guy cried, “Come back here!” but they were already gone.

  Lorraine and Jeannie charged through the park, running over a slope of rock to one of the winding streets cutting through the seemingly endless green. A black car skid to a halt, cars honking around them as the door opened and Ki Fong ran out of the driver’s seat toward them.

  Lorraine muttered, “Ki?”

  Lorraine and Jeannie cut and ran in the other direction, to the north and away from both adversaries.

  Gotta call for help, Lorraine’s inner voice cried out, gotta call Griffin!

  But, there was no time. All Lorraine and Jeannie could do was to keep running and run fast. Not in a straight line.

  Lorraine grabbed Jeannie’s hand and pulled her to the side but still running forward, then drawing her into a zig-zag pattern in the other direction.

  Bam bam!

  Lorraine’s heart was pounding, sweat rolling down the crevice of her spine. Lorraine reached into her purse and grabbed her handgun.

  Don’t, Lorraine warned herself, you could kill an innocent person, and you have to save your bullets!

  Bam bam bam!

  No choice, Lorraine had to decide, pulling the gun out and shooting twice upward blindly behind her. They kept running, no shots returned from behind them. Still cutting through the park in a chaotic pattern, a glance behind them told Lorraine that Ki had stopped and doubled back to his car.

  But, they weren’t out of the park yet.

  Lorraine and Jeannie ran into the zoo, a crowd of pedestrians not yet alerted to the panic. Lorraine and Jeannie ducked down behind one of the animal cages, Lorraine looking around nervously as she dropped her gun back into her purse, pulled her smartphone out and swiped the screen.

  Police sirens leaked into the distance. But the entire park was a mass of panicked pedestrians and Fifth Avenue was probably a chaotic parking lot, Lorraine reasoned. The odds of the cops finding us in the middle of all this, and doing so in time, are pretty slim … next to nothing.

  Jeannie said, “You carry a gun?”

  Jeannie ignored her, barking into the phone, “Griffin, we’re in Central Park, in the zoo! Hurry!” That was all she had time to say before turning to Jeannie. “Jeannie, what the hell is going on here?”

  “Ki and Dennis were ripping off the company,” Jeannie said. “I didn’t know, I swear I didn’t. It was the Westmorland thing. When I found out, I told them I wouldn’t have any part of it. They were going to kill me back in the parking lot, or drive me off somewhere, bury me in the Jersey swamps or something.”

  Lorraine gave it some thought. Most of her story makes sense, Lorraine knew. But wasn't she having an affair with Dennis? Could she really not have known what he was up to?

  A handsome cab’s horse began to panic, the carriage shifting back and forth near the zoo entrance, creating another frenzied crowd and blocking Dennis from getting to them for a few precious moments.

  Lorraine urgently wondered, Where are the police?

  Lorraine grabbed Jeannie’s hand and led her deeper into the zoo, a terrible feeling that Dennis was fast on their tail.

  The two ran into the zoo, people already scrambling from the nearby gunshots, pouring out of the zoo while Lorraine and Jeannie ran against the tide of terror and deeper in.

  Bam bam bam! Another roar of panic rose up from the crowd as people poured out of the administration building. An armed guard came out with a gun in hand, looking around in confusion. Lorraine reached out for him, ready to call for his help. But, a bright red wound burst in his chest, then a second.

  Bam bam!

  The guard fell to the concrete walkway, the gun still in his hand. Lorraine and Jeannie ran further into the zoo, employees running out of the cafe, the ticket booth, police and ambulance sirens got louder fast as rescue came streaming into the park.

  Whether it would arrive in time to save Lorraine and Jeannie was another matter. The sirens were close, but Dennis Douglass was closer, and getting even closer by the second.

  Chapter 18

  Lorraine and Jeannie ran between the Dancing Crane Cafe and the long building that had the restrooms. Lorraine peered around, Dennis had been joined by Ki, and both were holding big, black handguns. Lorraine pulled her own gun out, slick in her sweating palms.

  “Hurry up,” Jeannie rasped, “kill ‘em, kill ‘em both!”

  “Shut up, Jeannie!” Lorraine peeked around the corner, but she saw Dennis pointing right at her and she retracted, the bullets digging into the stucco wall, digging out chunks with every close shot.

  Bam bam bam!

  “Oh Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus — ”

  “Jeannie, stop!” Lorraine popped her head out again then pulled it back to avoid another three shots.

  Bam bam bam!

  Then Lorraine pulled around again and fired in the precise spot where she remembered Dennis being, hoping she’d luck out and he’d still be there.

  Bam bam!

  But, Dennis had moved, and Lorraine caught sight of him in the corner of her eye and pulled back again, putting three more shots into the wall, digging away at their protection. As soon as he paused, Lorraine peeked out again, shooting twice. Bam bam!

  Dennis fell back, the gun falling out of his hand.

  “I got him,” Lorraine said, a rush of adrenalin coursing through her.

  “Which one?”

  “Dennis.”

  “Dennis,” Jeannie repeated, panting. But sorrow seemed to overtake her fear. “Oh, my poor Den … ”

  “Jeannie, he was gonna kill you!”

  “I … right, I know, I know.”

  Lorraine peeked out, not seeing any sign of Ki. “I lost the other one, Ki. Probably snuck around the other side … ”

  Bam bam! Jeannie snapped, her warm blood splattering Lorraine’s dress, her lifeless weight falling over Lorraine, knocking her to the side. Lorraine instinctively pointed down the stretch of walkway on their side of the bathrooms. Bam bam click click click.

  Jeannie lay heavy on Lorraine, slumping to the side. Lorraine looked over the see Ki Fong approaching. He pulled the clip from the handle of his handgun, tossing the empty clip away and pulling a fresh clip from his pocket.

  “You really fucked this up,” Ki said to Lorraine.

  “You were in with Dennis the whole time.”

  “So was she,” Ki shrugged, snapping the clip into the handle. “She didn’t know I was in. Once she figured that out, things got … complicated. But, without her or Dennis, I won’t have to share any of the Westmorland money.”

  Lorraine sneered up at him, Jeannie staring up from her lap, the faintest pulse thumping against Lorraine’s thigh.

  “Just gotta finish up here and get to the airport. Sorry about this, I know you got a new kid and everything. But hey, that’s life in the big city, eh?”

  Lorraine sat there, certain of her own imminent death. Her blood ran cold, hairs standing up on the backs of her arms. She clutched Jeannie's body, knowing it wouldn’t be any help to either of them.

  I was afraid some
thing like this would happen, I knew it from the start! I got lucky in Denver, but that kind of luck just can’t last. I suppose it was just a matter of time.

  Lorraine’s heart froze as Ki raised the gun, point blank range. She could see into the little round hole in the front of the barrel, a dark tunnel, her conduit to the next world. Her body flinched with the memory of that indescribable pain, burning, sizzling, iron tearing flesh and shattering bone, bile running wild through her bloodstream, bacteria flooding her brain. She wouldn't survive a second shooting, she knew it; she knew it after surviving the first.

  Lorraine thought of Griffin, of Ashe, of poor Kayla.

  I hope they don’t suffer too terribly, was all she could think just before that gun went off.

  Bam! Bam bam bam!

  Lorraine’s body shuddered with the blasts, eyes clamping shut, jaws locked tight. But, a clack and a thud grabbed Lorraine's attention. Ki hit the ground, dropping his gun, chest already black with his blood.

  Lorraine looked down at herself, untouched, Jeannie still staring up at her. Lorraine looked up and over to see Griffin standing at the edge of the building, a gun in his hands, face bent in a hardened grimace. Certain his adversary was down for good, Griffin pocketed the gun and fell to Lorraine’s side.

  “Oh Griffin!”

  He knelt next to her, wrapping his arms around Lorraine as she leaned into his embrace. “I’m so glad you’re all right, baby, so glad — ”

  “We’ll always be together,” Lorraine said, “that's the deal.”

  “That's right, baby, that's right. Nobody’s ever coming between us, ever.” He glanced down at Jeannie, putting two fingers against her neck.

  “How is she?”

  “Fading fast.”

  Jeannie looked up from Lorraine’s lap, her eyes shifting. A long rattle crawled out of her throat even as the blood drained from her face. “I … I’m so … sorry … ”

  Lorraine said, “Shshshsh, Jeannie, save your strength.”

  Jeannie arched her brows, a sad frown bending and twisting her pretty lips. “For what?” was the only answer she could offer, and her head feel back into Lorraine’s lap, unmoving. Lorraine reached over and closed her eyelids, Jeannie still and lifeless in her lap.

  Several uniformed police officers appeared from around the side of the building, their legs splayed and their guns drawn, aimed immediately at Lorraine and Griffin, huddled with Jeannie’s dead body.

  “N.Y.P.D.,” one said in a commanding voice.

  “Easy, boys, easy,” Griffin said, “I called you in … well, me and about a hundred other people, I'm guessing.”

  The officer eyed them, then looked at Ki laying dead just a few yards away. “You do that?”

  Griffin nodded.

  The officer caught sight of Lorraine’s empty handgun, gesturing to it with his own deadly weapon. “What about that?”

  “It’s mine,” Lorraine said. “It’s empty.”

  He aimed his gun straight at Lorraine’s head, the other officers backing his play. “Get away from the gun.”

  “I can’t go anywhere.”

  “Get away from the gun!”

  “She said the gun’s empty,” Griffin said, holding his hand out, palm flat to calm the officers. “This guy was coming after them. Look at what happened to this one, she’s dead!”

  The officers glanced at each other, tension swelling, guns still pointed at Lorraine and Griffin. It would only take a split-second of misjudgment, even just a twitch of the wrong nerve, to let loose a shower of hot bullets at close range, and neither Lorraine nor Griffin would have a chance.

  “All right,” the officer in charge said, “okay, let’s get an ambulance here. But, we’re all going downtown, get this straightened out.”

  “Sure, officer,” Griffin said, “of course. Thank you, officer.”

  The cops lowered their guns as a pair of paramedics wheeled a gurney up and lifted Jeannie off of Lorraine’s lap. She could stand, and that’s what the officers expected of her, but Lorraine’s legs were useless, numb from fear and relief, from running and crouching, from having given up to despair and abandoned the notion of ever moving again.

  Griffin stood and his hand wrapped gently but firmly around her arm and her waist, pulling her up with him. Lorraine focused all her strength into simply standing up. Once she did, Lorraine knew she’d be okay. By Griffin’s side, clinging to him, drawing his strength, she could walk anywhere, do anything, face anyone.

  She’d grown a lot since meeting Griffin, developed strengths and sensitivities she didn’t know she had. Lorraine still needed him, still relied upon him, and she still wanted to. She needed to know that he’d be there, and he always would be. Their family would be together again that night. Lorraine would be looking into the loving eyes of her sensitive stepson, feel the grasping hands of her little daughter. She would sleep in her loving husband’s arms and wake the next day to do it all over again, every day for the rest of her life. Nothing else mattered, and nothing ever would.

  Chapter 19

  Lorraine looked over the crowd gathered in front of the new PEEC project learning center. It was a much smaller crowd than the library rally of almost four years before, but the memories were still fresh in Lorraine’s mind. She couldn’t help but wonder who might be out there, what bizarre logic would propel them toward some public display. Last time it was Donal, Lorraine silently reviewed as she scanned the crowd, who will it be this time? Some faces seemed familiar, others entirely new. The grim expressions that greeted her at Albert's funeral were plentiful among the otherwise smiling citizenry. Griffin had hired extra security for the dedication, with armed guards at both sides of the podium in front of the learning center entrance.

  Ashe, at thirteen, was looking even older and more mature, scanning the crowd with a discerning eye, looking more like his father every day.

  This time, Larry and Sally Devonshire were standing with Lorraine and the others at the podium, Kayla with Jeremy in the crowd. Jeremy was also looking shrewdly around the mass of people around him. He’d come against his own better judgment, insisting on holding Kayla and staying in the crowd in case he needed to run her to safety.

  Neither Lorraine nor Griffin could argue with his logic or question his commitment.

  A familiar sweaty, balding man in a red flannel led a second man carrying a camera, taking pictures of everything and everyone.

  Lorraine said, “Dorian Gale, the Denver Post, and your photographer, Stu Jeffers.”

  Dorian smiled. “You remembered me.”

  “Of course,” Lorraine smiled, “you were there from the beginning.”

  “The interview in the library, that’s right. You’ve been keeping busy, I see. Any words for our readers?”

  Lorraine gave it a little thought. “Honestly, Dorian, most of what I have to say, I’ll say to the crowd. But, specifically for your readers, I would say that they should all keep subscribing to The Denver Post, and to subscribe to any reputable news agencies they can. Now more than ever we need honest reporting from real news reporters. The Post was instrumental in our campaign to save the public libraries, in fact, without The Post there wouldn’t have been any campaign at all. We have to save the free press the same way we had to save the libraries; urgently. We can't rely on our government to take care of us anymore, we have to take care of ourselves … and each other.”

  “Awesome,” Dorian said, lowering his mic. “You’re really good, Mrs. Phoenix. Ever thought about running for public office?”

  “No, actually, I haven’t. I’m too busy getting things done.” They all shared a chuckle.

  Lorraine spotted Jeremy nearby and crossed the crowd to him, cooing with little Kayla. “How’re you holding up, Jer?”

  “Fine, I’m good, I’m … it’s all good.” he mumbled.

  “It’ll be okay, Jeremy, really.” Lorraine said trying to persuade him.

  “Well, that is what you said the last time.”

  “Jeremy
… ”

  “Okay, you’re right, you’re right, I guess I’m just jumpy. Where’s my husband?”

  Lorraine looked around. “I don't know.” He wasn't a hard figure to spot, tall and dark with long, black dreadlocks and a colorful knit cap. He strode toward them, waving with big, flat hands at the ends of long, black arms. “Here he comes.”

  Jeremy said, “Where you been, Anton?”

  “Breathe easy, level,” he said in a heavy Jamaican accent as he approached. “A yasso nice.” Anton arrived with a hot dog in one hand, wrapping the other arm around Jeremy and giving him a kiss.

  “Glad you’re having fun,” Jeremy said. “It’s impressive, right? My Lo’ knows how to throw it down!”

  “Big tings,” Anton said, “naah mean?”

  “No,” Jeremy said, “but I really don’t care.” The two shared a kiss, Lorraine and Griffin shared a hug.

  “Guess it’s time,” Griffin said to Lorraine. “You ready?”

  Lorraine looked around, took a deep breath and sighed, nodding. “Yeah, let’s do it.” She looked down at Ashe. “You’ll wait here, help look after your kid sister?”

  Ashe nodded. “I will, Lorraine.”

  “Thanks,” she said, turning to walk toward the podium.

  “Lorraine?” Lorraine turned, Ashe taking the few steps required to reach her. “Would it be okay if … if I called you Mom from now on?”

  Lorraine’s smile twisted on her face, brows arching, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She was almost afraid to speak, lest she break out in tears. She gathered her strength, brushed a lock of Ashe’s blond hair from his forehead. “That would be wonderful, Ashe.” They shared a smile and she gave him a little kiss on the forehead before turning to join Griffin on their trip to the podium.

  The crowd clapped as they took the podium, news crews gathered, cameras and microphones fixed on them.

  Lorraine cleared her throat. “Welcome to the grand opening of the pilot location of the Phoenix Enterprises Educational Center project, or PEEC,” she said, pronouncing it peace and inspiring another spattering of applause.