The Promotion

by Nan Dale

  Chapter 29

  At six thirty, Herr and Frau Schroeder arrived at the hotel but decided to go and grab a coffee at the corner deli on Forty-third and Seventh so as not to draw too much attention to themselves. They looked like standard New Yorkers, having chosen their clothing carefully. Herr Schroeder wore a white cotton shirt, a rugged jacket, and some dark pants; and Frau Schroeder wore the standard black pants and black jacket that was typical of the city. They had done this before; the wait was always the most exciting part. The Frau said that she felt like a lioness hiding in the long grass of the Mara, studying her unsuspecting prey and getting closer and closer slowly, before eventually pouncing for the kill. They had stood purposely on the corner of Forty-third and Seventh so that they could see Vanessa and Patrick in the crowd coming out of the train station. Vanessa had phoned at ten past six, so Frau Schroeder thought it would take about thirty minutes for them to arrive at Times Square. At five to seven, Frau Schroeder could feel her husband tensing up and becoming a little impatient. They had been inseparable for the last thirty years and were so connected that she often felt the beat of his heart and could read his mind. It was as though she lived within him and he within her. As she looked at his tense face, she thought of how much she loved him and what a good team they made. This was their fourth kidnapping. The first two had gone unnoticed, but the third time was close, as someone had traced a piece of hair to hers and was able to place her at the scene of the kidnapping at the exact time. There was no proof of her guilt, of course, so she was let go—but she and Herr Schroeder were shaken up a bit. They had decided to leave town and move to a smaller village, and to maintain a low profile. It was during this time that they first noticed Vanessa in a park. She looked uncertain, young, and vulnerable.

  A lot like the first girl they had taken in, Lynn.

  Lynn had also been an orphan, very mousy and unnoticeable. She had been the perfect bait for their third kidnapping. Frau Schroeder felt a hint of sadness when she thought of how they had arranged to have her killed. Her brother was always in and out of jobs, a bit rough around the edges, and constantly in need of cash. He was the perfect person to “off” her once she returned to Germany and got off her flight in Frankfurt. Frau and Herr Schroeder never asked Boris for the details, knowing that he was a gruesome individual, and she was not able to come to terms with the fact that she was responsible for the death of a young girl. Boris brought her the girl’s ashes for her forty-fourth birthday.

  It was five past seven now and they were nowhere in sight. Perhaps they had taken a different train, and not the A train as originally planned.

  “Let’s go to the hotel,” said Herr Schroeder. “I think we are going to miss them if they come in. I don’t want to lose this opportunity.”

  Frau Schroeder was a little uncertain. Something wasn’t right. Yet she couldn’t put her finger on it. Vanessa hadn’t checked in last night and then this morning. Was this a trap? Had she said something to someone? And not only that, but she proceeded to call them on a stranger’s cell phone half an hour before to confirm the plan was still on? Hmm, it didn’t make sense.

  “OK,” she finally said. “OK, but we have to be very careful. I say that we stay in the hotel lobby until quarter past, and if we don’t see Vanessa, we should split up and head for the subway. We can meet at the apartment later. Agreed?”

  Her husband shook his head. She was always the brains of the operation, but her husband had a strong logistical sense, which was crucial in this business. At ten past, there was still no sign of Vanessa and Patrick. However, she did notice three men at the bar, having a drink but also seemingly waiting for something or someone. One of the men was relatively stocky, bald, and with glasses. The second was a lot younger, probably in his early thirties. And then there was an elderly man in his seventies who looked somewhat familiar but was hidden behind dark glasses.

  “I don’t like this,” said Frau Schroeder.

  “Let’s give it a couple more minutes,” said Herr Schroeder. “The train was probably delayed.”

  Frau Schroeder paused and then happened to look up at the big TV screen in the lobby. A breaking news announcement crawled across the bottom third: Train delays on the A, C and E lines as girl steps out in front of A train at Jay Street Metrotech Station in Brooklyn.

  “Scheisse,” Frau Schroeder said under her breath. Herr Schroeder looked at her and then followed her gaze to the television.

  “Give me one second,” said Frau Schroeder as she pulled up her phone and checked her NY1 Twitter feed. “‘Train delays after girl steps out in front of train.’”

  “Scheisse,” repeated Herr Schroeder. “I knew it! I told you that Vanessa was unreliable and that we should have gotten rid of her last week.”

  “Hold on,” said Frau Schroeder. “How do we know it is her? Her train could be delayed because of the accident. But……on the other hand, if she told Patrick about our plan, then he would be upset with her and being a hopeless romantic, would she actually try and commit suicide?”

  “Let me think about it for a minute, YES. I told you she was getting too attached to him” said Herr. “We can continue waiting here if you don’t believe it or we can spend our time, finding out the identity of the victim”.

  Well, if she’s still alive and has been rushed to a hospital, we should be able to figure out where since the media is all over this story. Why don’t we head back to our apartment and we can strategize once we know where she is. I agree. Our first step is to kill her. I am pleased she did half the job herself. This will make our story cleaner.”

  As Frau and Herr Schroeder started walking out of the hotel, they noticed that the two of the three men from the bar also seemed to be paying and following suit. The third elderly gentleman stayed inside.

  “I just suddenly remembered why the older man looks familiar. That’s Tom Yates, Patrick’s father! The cat is out of the bag,” said Frau Schroeder. “Somebody else knows about the plan. Let’s split up. I'll meet you at the apartment and we can regroup. Are you armed?”

  Herr Schroeder nodded and began a slow jog along Forty-third Street toward Seventh Avenue, and Frau Schroeder headed in the opposite direction to Sixth Avenue. They had discussed what they would do before, but Herr Schroeder had poor health. At fifty-five, he suffered from high blood pressure and arthritis and could barely walk long distances. As she walked quickly toward Sixth Avenue, she suddenly had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She turned around. There was another man trailing her at a quick pace. She crossed the street to Forty-second Street, when two loud gunshots went off a few blocks off toward Seventh Avenue. Frau Schroeder froze. The second man was gaining. Feeling nauseous and weak, she skipped down the steps to the platform. A train was at the platform. She managed to squeeze through its closing doors. As she held on to the railing, her eyes filled with uncontrollable tears. She could feel Herr Schroeder’s spirit was leaving the earth.

  Chapter 30

  Patrick had always taught Vanessa to stand at the far end of the platform away from the train. This was not an accident. He had noticed that Vanessa had a terrible habit of stepping right to the edge of the platform, and she would lean out to see whether there was a train coming. It really unnerved him, and whenever he mentioned it to her, she would throw her head back and laugh. “Are you afraid that I am going to fall in?” Even though he knew that she was merely teasing him, he started to read up on the New York subway to understand whether his fears were unwarranted. Little details like how many people fell into the NYC subway each year, and the survival rate of such an incident. What proportion of those were pushed onto the tracks and what proportion of those individuals deliberately chose to step onto the tracks?

  Patrick became obsessed with the details of the New York subway: how it was built, the distance between each station, and the length and width of each track. It was the small details that drew him in. Why were some parts of the track made with wood and others made with metal? What was the role of
the pillars in each station? How about the indentations in the wall?

  Vanessa had heard the train coming and had stepped onto the tracks. Instinctively, Patrick leapt on after her. In a flash, he saw John at the side of the platform, screaming "Lie in between those two tracks with Vanessa on top of you". Patrick did as instructed, bear hugging her from underneath and folding both their arms in front of her chest. Vanessa did not resist. She seemed shocked and compliant, suddenly acutely aware of the danger that she had just placed herself and Patrick in.

  “Shhhh. Don’t move, honey. Whatever happens, I love you,” Patrick whispered into her ear.

  “I love you too,” returned Vanessa, with tears streaming down her face. “I am so sorry.” The next three seconds crawled as the train pulled to a halt in front of them. Patrick and Vanessa held their breath, their arms folded across Vanessa’s chest, and their eyes closed shut. The sound of the train was deafening as it screeched to a halt directly on top of them. And then it stopped.

  Patrick and Vanessa lay still. They could hear the voice of the conductor. “Due to a sick passenger, there will be a slight delay before we open the doors.” What remained were the deafening screams from the people on the platform above: “HELP!” and “The ambulance will be here any second!” The train started and slowly backed up so that it was no longer directly above them.

  Patrick started to cry in relief and disbelief. “Vanessa, I think we are going to be OK,” he said. Vanessa said nothing. Although she was still breathing, she had suddenly gone unconscious. “Vanessa?” Patrick called. “Vanessa! Vanessa! Vanessa, hold on!” His voice broke as he continued to call her name. “HELP!”

  Chapter 31

  Patrick awoke in a hospital bed with an IV in his arm, hooked up to a few machines. His heart and blood pressure were being monitored and there was a nurse taking his vitals.

  “Ah, you are awake,” said the nurse with a kind smile. “How are you feeling?”

  Patrick shook his head. He had a bit of a headache and felt a little nauseous.

  “You are a very brave and lucky young man,” the nurse continued with a smile.

  “Is Vanessa all right?” Patrick asked. “Where is she?”

  The nurse gave him a blank stare and said, “I’ll go and get your father. He has been worried about you.”

  Patrick felt anxious. What had happened to Vanessa? Was she all right?

  “Patrick,” said his dad.

  Patrick gave his father a long embrace. His father was noticeably moved by his condition and looked a lot older than normal. “I don’t know what I would do without you, son. Your mother is on a flight over; she will be here in the morning.”

  Patrick was so thankful to see his father, and he continued to hold on to his dad’s warm hand. In the last few days, he had realized how important his family and Vanessa were to him. More important than anything else in his life. “Father,” Patrick said weakly. “Is Vanessa OK?”

  Tom Yates’s face became very grave. “Vanessa was not harmed by the train,” he said slowly. “The nurses keep saying that if you had been one second later, neither of you would have made it. We owe a big thank-you to John Beard, who followed you and was able to think quickly about how to save you.” Tom was interrupted by a knock on the door, after which the emergency doctor on call appeared.

  “Hi, I am Dr. Farr. How are you feeling, Mr. Yates?” he asked.

  “Hello. I am feeling a little weak and dizzy, but I think I am OK,” said Patrick.

  “You are doing amazingly well and your vitals look fine. It appears that you broke your right foot when you bravely jumped onto the tracks after that girl. But, otherwise, your vitals look fine.”

  “Vanessa,” Patrick interrupted. “That girl is Vanessa. She is my fiancée.”

  Dr. Farr looked at Patrick with sympathy. “I am so sorry; I didn’t know. You must be terribly distressed.”

  Patrick looked away. “How is she doing?”

  “Well, not great at the moment, but we seem to have stabilized her condition.”

  “Stabilized?”

  “Yes. You see, Vanessa has a weak heart. She must have had this from childhood. While she was lying on the subway tracks, she suffered from cardiogenic shock, which is a condition where the blood flow to the heart becomes insufficient. Some of the symptoms of shock include loss of consciousness, which is what happened to Vanessa.”

  “Is Vanessa going to be all right?”

  “We currently have her in critical care while we attempt to restore the blood flow to her heart. We think that she will be just fine. It is important that she remains here for a few days, because if this condition is not treated immediately, then she can suffer long-term damage to her organs, or her memory, etc. We are doing the best that we can and will give you periodic updates on her condition.”

  “Is she safe at the moment? Who is with her?” asked Patrick.

  “Her host father, John Beard, is currently responsible for her. Per policy, we have contacted her adopted parents, who are also legally accountable for any major decisions.”

  “Her adopted parents? Where is John Beard? And what major decisions?” demanded Patrick.

  “Yes, so, Vanessa remains unconscious and we are keeping her that way until we are comfortable that we have restored the blood flow to her heart. However, in the unlikely event that we are unable to wake her up, her adopted parents will have the right to make a decision as to whether we should continue to keep her alive artificially or not.”

  Patrick felt a deep lump in his throat and a huge sense of guilt. None of this would have happened had he been mature enough to listen to her pleas for forgiveness. But he had felt so mad and betrayed at the time. Vanessa must have felt completely helpless and hopeless and taken the decision to try to end her life in the subway station. It was unfathomable. Patrick couldn’t imagine how life would ever be the same without her.

  Chapter 32

  When John awoke, he was hooked up to an IV, and there were monitors everywhere. It was a miracle that he was safe. Growing up, John had been obsessed with the subway, knowing how long it took for a subway train to come to a full stop. He was also aware that if you were ever pushed in front of the train, your best bet was to stand in between the pillars or to lie down in between the tracks with your arms folded. He knew that there were about nine inches between the train and the floor. But running in front of the train? Well, he’d taken a big chance there. He figured that if the train saw him running, it would slow down much faster. He also knew, through having spent many years living in New York and taking the subway, that the train would stop several feet before the end of the platform. That said, he was still taking a risk.

  Thinking back, after his meeting with Tom Yates, Patrick, Vanessa, and Charles in the apartment, he had instinctively decided to follow Vanessa and Patrick to the train station. Vanessa was young and fickle. She had looked slightly disturbed and his gut told him that she did not have the strength to carry this through. Feeling uneasy, he had followed them and taken the F train, standing in the carriage next to theirs. At Jay Street Metro Tech station, they got off the train, and he had trailed twenty steps behind them as they walked to the front of the platform, waiting for the uptown A train. Vanessa’s body language was odd. She seemed to have given up on life. Patrick walked a distance from her, stiff and angry. The dynamic between them was so different from the joviality of the day before.

  John had turned on his phone to text his work to let them know that he would not be able to make it—but in a split second, he had seen Vanessa dive onto the train platform with Patrick behind her.

  In his shock, he took off his white shirt and started yelling, “STOP—PERSON ON TRACKS!” as the train started to speed along toward them. John sprinted ahead and started screaming instructions to Patrick.

  In the background, the entire platform was yelling, “STOP! PERSON ON TRACKS!” The chant caught on and everyone started to repeat it. The train started to approach the station slowly.


  Noticing the oblivious expression of the conductor, John looked ahead and calculated that it would take eight seconds for the train to come to a halt. Too close. John jumped onto the tracks and ran ahead of the train as fast as he could. The image of his family and parents flashed in his subconscious. The conductor, in complete shock, pulled on the brakes immediately as he saw John running ahead, and the train came to a screeching halt, covering just the top of Vanessa’s and Patrick’s faces, about one inch in front of John.

  John stopped running.

  Relieved and feeling slightly shaky, John threw up and lay down on the tracks.

  He waited a few minutes before the paramedics arrived. Feeling nauseous as they lifted him onto a stretcher, he whispered, “Call my wife, Ruth,” while unlocking his phone with his thumb. “Please take all three of us to NYU downtown hospital.” He then passed out.

  Chapter 33

  Ruth would be upset that he had taken such a huge gamble, but he’d only done what he had to do.

  He clicked the buzzer for the nurse and she came in immediately. “You are awake, Mr. Beard. Thankfully. And you are a hero. Your wife was just in here. She must have left to use the restroom.”

  “Thank you,” said John. “What happened to the other passengers?”

  Ruth returned at that point and gave him a huge embrace. She looked a lot older, and her face was stricken with tears. There were no words to describe the next few minutes.

  The nurse paused and allowed them to reconnect for a couple of minutes. “The other two passengers are also in intensive care. The young man seems to be in better shape than the girl. The girl suffered from shock, and we believe she had a weak heart. That said, she is in a more critical condition.”