by Curry, Edna
Then his expression hardened, and he said, “Yeah, well, I’m sorry about that. But Sammy will be okay with his mother. Maybe someday, when he’s older, I’ll send him the money to join me.”
She let out a sigh. She’d lost. As he started to close the door, she begged, “Arthur, please don’t do this! I’ll freeze in here!”
“No, you won’t. It’s only thirty-two degrees in here. The others will let you out in only...” he looked at his Rolex, “about nine hours. So long, boss.” He closed the door.
Lili immediately threw herself against the safety lever that opened the heavy door from the inside. Although it unlatched, the door would open only a crack. Then it slammed shut again as she heard Arthur drop something heavy against it to block it.
Although she knew she was no match for his strength, she had to try. She put her shoulder to the door and shoved as hard as she could.
The door gave a little. But he merely slammed it shut again, and she heard more heavy thuds as he added more weight against the other side of the door. Now, try as hard as she could, she couldn’t move it.
Then all was quiet. He had left her here. She was trapped.
The odors of fresh meat, smoked sausages, and sawdust assailed her nostrils in the dark meat cooler. The only light switch was outside the cooler, and Arthur had not turned it on, whether on purpose or not, she didn’t know. Luckily, she wasn’t afraid of the dark like her friend, Tami, she thought irrationally, then shivered and rubbed her arms.
Darkness wouldn’t harm her. But the cold would. She stood and felt around for something to cover herself with. She was wearing only her thin work uniform. If only Arthur kept his aprons or a jacket in here. She ran her hands tentatively over boxes and shelves in the dark, but could find only food.
There was little room to move, since they had just received a large shipment of boneless beef from Allied, and the huge cardboard boxes were piled high. The other walls were lined with shelves filled with smaller boxes of bacon, wieners, and various luncheon meats. Only a small area in the center had been left open for the meat department workers to move things in or out. This cooler was used for storage only, all the work of cutting and wrapping meats was done out in the cutting room.
Fighting the urge to scream, Lili tried to assess her situation. Sitting on a box, she allowed herself the luxury of frustrated tears, as she thought back over what Arthur had said.
She got up and tried running in place to warm herself, then realized doing that would use up the limited oxygen faster.
Sitting down again, she realized that she might never get out of here alive. She might never win her battle for Adams’ Foods. In fact, the whole effort now seemed ridiculous.
She loved Ken. So why had she been fighting him instead of trying to make him fall in love with her? Now it might be too late. If she didn’t get out of here, he might never even be sure what had happened.
When Arthur disappeared, Ken would guess that he had done this to her. But he would wonder forever how Arthur had pulled off his scheme. Ken might even think she’d helped him.
What a fool she had been.
Exhausted, she curled up into a ball and leaned against the cold, wooden wall, letting the tears flow.
***
Saturday afternoon, Ken had just returned home and begun to relax when his sister, Jill, called him. Ken had always been close to his sister, though they seldom saw each other anymore.
After the usual family update, she said, “Ken, I’m flying through Minneapolis tonight, and I have a three hour lay-over. How about coming down and going out for a late supper? I haven’t seen you in ages.”
He hesitated, thinking of his vow to watch Adams’ Foods while Curtis was off duty. But he reasoned, Curtis had seen nothing in three weeks of surveillance. He couldn’t refuse Jill a visit just to sit in a dark car for hours. “Sure, Sis.”
“Great. I get in at eight. Pick me up at the gate.” She gave him her flight number, and rang off.
He drove into the city and spent a pleasant evening with Jill. Her eleven o’clock flight was an hour late in taking off, so he waited at the airport with her to prolong their visit. By the time he’d put her on the plane and driven back to Landers, it was two in the morning.
The little town was eerily quiet as he entered it. The quaint street lights didn’t provide a whole lot of light, but did add character to the town’s main street. Only one rusty brown car sat on the street, and even the bars were closed.
Exhausted after the long day and drive, he wanted nothing so much as a hot bath and bed. But something urged him to check on Adams’ Foods. Everything seemed as usual as he drove past the front of the store.
He swung around in back, and stopped in the alley across from the back door where Curtis had said he’d parked, suddenly determined to take up his duty of night watchman in spite of his fatigue.
Stopping the car, he surveyed the alley and parking lot. A lone car sat way at one end and somewhere a dog barked, otherwise all was quiet.
Yawning, he settled down in the seat, wishing he had a hat to pull down over his eyes, like the detectives did in the movies.
Nothing happened. Minutes slid by and his eyes grew heavy. He called himself a dope for doing without sleep for nothing.
Restlessly sitting up to ease his aching muscles, he let his gaze roam around the area again. Suddenly he sat up straight and really looked at the lone car at the end of the parking lot. Wasn’t that Lili’s small red Chevy?
Opening his car door, he raced over to it. Yes, it was her car. It was empty and locked. It seemed all right; no sign of a flat tire or any visible damage.
What was it doing here at this time of night? Had it refused to start, so that she’d had to catch a ride home with someone else? She knew everyone here. Surely she’d have gotten safely home.
He considered driving by her house. But how would he know if she was there without waking her? And her mother had returned last week, hadn’t she? She’d think he was nuts stopping in the middle of the night. He’d have to explain why he’d been at the store to see her car there. No way.
Chewing his lip, he considered his options. Another possibility was that Lili was still in the store. He’d been able to see only night lights from the front, but she could be in the office. Maybe she’d fallen asleep at her desk, or...what if she’d surprised another burglar?
Cold fear slid down his spine like an icicle. His throat felt tight as he made up his mind. He could check out those possibilities anyway. He ran to the back door, pulling out his key ring and searching for the right key.
Inside, he became cautious once more. The pungent odors of onions and green peppers mixed with the clean smell of freshly waxed floors filled his nostrils. Snapping on lights as he went, he searched the aisles in the main part of the store. Nobody. Silence except for the hum of a compressor.
He walked back to the office. When he found the door open and the light on, his heart contracted in fear. “Lili? Lili!”
Her purse lay on top of her desk, lipstick, billfold and keys spilling out haphazardly. Something was wrong. She’d never leave without her purse. Calling her name, he searched every spot big enough to hide her. The back hall and storeroom were as empty as her office.
Panic gripped him. Had someone kidnapped her and carried her off? Carefully he walked each aisle again, then checked the break room and the basement from one end to the other. Nothing. Returning to the main part of the store, he headed for the nearest phone in the meat department to call for help. Stepping past the large old-fashioned wooden meat block, he noticed an odd stack of canned goods in front of the meat cooler door. What an odd place to put them.
Suddenly he knew where she was. He grabbed one case after another, tossing the heavy boxes aside as though they weighed nothing. “Lili! Lili, are you in there? Can you hear me?” Panting, he yanked open the door.
The smoky aromas of ham and bacon carried on the chill air that surged out. In the shadows he saw an odd mound o
f cardboard in the middle of the cooler. It didn’t move. He reached back outside the cooler door and snapped on the light. The mound was torn meat boxes wrapped around something. Quickly he pulled the cardboard apart and saw her red-gold curls inside it. “Lili!”
He found a pulse, but she seemed to be asleep or unconscious. “Lili. Oh, Lili!”
Pulling away the rest of the cardboard, he tried to wake her. She was so pale and cold. Hypothermia!
She stirred in his arms and relief raced through him.
“Ken? Oh, Ken, you’re here.” Her voice was slurred. She groaned and snuggled closer to him as he pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her. He had to get her to the hospital. He considered calling an ambulance, but decided driving was faster.
Picking her up in his arms, he locked the store and carried her to his car, asking grimly, “Who did this, Lili?”
She didn’t answer. He eased her into his car and wrapped the lap robe around her. Revving the powerful motor, he took off with a squeal of tires back to the main highway, desperately looking for the usual blue “H” signs for “hospital.” At last he spotted the signs and followed them at top speed.
Lili stirred. “No! No, Arthur, don’t lock me in! Arthur, please. Let me out!”
Ken stared at her. Her eyes stared wildly, then closed again. Arthur! Arthur did this to her, Ken thought angrily as he drove. The meat manager was their thief, too, then? But how had he pulled it off? He hadn’t seen any discrepancies in the meat department figures large enough to explain this.
Somehow, Lili must have found out, though, or Arthur wouldn’t have done this to her. It also probably meant he’d left, and locked up Lili so he could get away.
Which also proved, he realized, joy surging through him, that she had nothing to do with it!
And it certainly explained Arthur’s love of expensive things, like that red Jaguar he had driven Renee around in.
Good Lord, Renee! She’d been dating Arthur. Could she have been involved...No, not Renee. Ken would bet on that. He wished desperately for the cell phone his secretary had begged him to get. If he had one now, he could be calling ahead to the hospital, or talking to the police. Damn, what a stubborn idiot he’d been!
He barely made it passing another car and tried to keep his mind on traffic. He’d get some answers soon enough. If Lili knew anything. If only Lili was okay. Dear God, if anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.
Chapter 14
Perhaps she’d never forgive him for the cold, suspicious way he’d been treating her anyway. Even if she wouldn’t, she just had to be okay. If she didn’t love him, he’d have to sell the store back to her. With the thief out of the way, she could make it financially. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stand being so near her all the time without being able to make love to her. These past weeks had been hell.
It was only a couple of minutes, but seemed much longer before he saw the brick buildings of Memorial General Hospital glowing in the street lights. He pulled up to the emergency doors, rang the bell for help and went around to pick up Lili in his arms once more. Almost immediately the door opened. A nurse directed him to the emergency room where a white-coated doctor took over.
“Put her down here.” He indicated a padded table. “What happened?”
“She’s badly chilled. She was locked in a meat cooler for...I don’t know how long. Hours, probably.” After a few more questions, they sent him out to the waiting room.
Ken paced the hall, kicking himself for not realizing something was wrong as soon as he’d arrived back in town. Why hadn’t he stayed and guarded her? He should have been guarding Lili, not the damned store. And he’d get rid of that bald headed bastard, Arthur, if it was the last thing he did.
Then he spotted a phone on the wall down the hall and jumped up to report the incident to the police. “He’s probably already at the airport, heading out of the country. Driving a new red Jaguar.” He described Arthur as best he could, then hung up and went back to pacing the waiting room.
Finally a nurse poked her head out and signaled that he could return to the examining room.
Lili was sitting up on a table, sipping from a steaming cup. Her eyes widened when she saw him. “Ken! Thank g...goodness you’re here.”
He gazed at her pale face, and shivering body, now wrapped in warm blankets. “Are you okay, Lili?” He moved to her side and took her free cold hand in both his, needing to touch her, to know that she was safe.
She frowned at him, and said slowly, “I’m fine, just so...c...cold and tired. Tell him to let me go home.”
“Is that all right, Doctor?”
The doctor shrugged. “She’s a lucky girl. Hypothermia can be fatal. But, yes, if she doesn’t want to be hospitalized, and there’s someone to stay with her, I suppose she can go home. Put her in a tub of warm water, not hot, and help her to warm up gradually. Drinking some hot fluids would help, too, but no alcohol. Then some rest in warm blankets.”
“I’ll see to it personally.”
At that the doctor sent Ken a surprised glance, then looked back at Lili. When she made no objection, he grinned and shrugged. “Fine,” he said, turning to write on her chart.
“We’ll take the blanket. Put it on her bill.” Ken picked her up and carried her to his car, relishing the feel of her safe in his arms. He kissed her, tucked the blanket snugly around her, then got in, and turned the car towards his house.
Lili lay back against the seat with her eyes closed. Her hand still clenched the blanket and she was still shivering.
A million questions sped through Ken’s mind as he drove, but this was not the time to ask them.
“Your house?” she asked as he helped her from the car.
“No sense upsetting your mother. I promised the doctor I’d take personal care of you, remember? Come on, up the steps, don’t trip on the blanket.”
He unlocked the door and helped her inside, then locked it again behind them. He didn’t want to add that he had lots of things to clear up with her, and her mother would give them no chance to talk if he took Lili to her house.
Picking up Lili in his arms, he carried her up to the master bathroom, and put her down in the chair, still wrapped in the blanket. He turned up the thermostat to keep the central air conditioning from kicking in and began filling the tub, carefully checking the water’s temperature, then said, “Come on, off with those clothes and into the warm water. It’ll make you feel better.”
She flushed as he eased the blanket from her clenched fists and tossed it aside, then began to undress her.
“K...Ken,” she said, still shivering. “Did someone tell the police that it was Arthur? He said he was leaving the country. Maybe they can still catch him at the airport.”
He caught his breath as he unhooked her bra and uncovered those soft, round globes, trying not to think about what he’d like to be doing to them. “Yes. I told the police what you said. I’ll call them again to see if they’ve found him as soon as I get you in this warm water. First things first.”
“But he’ll get away. Arthur told me that he did it.”
“Yes, I know. You told me.”
“I did?” Lili stepped out of her panties.
He again checked the temperature of the now full tub. “Is the water too hot?”
She stuck in her bare toe and shook her head.
Satisfied he said, “In you go,” and helped her into it.
She slid down in the tub until she was covered with the warm water except for her face. “Mmm.”
“I’ll make you a hot drink. What would you like?”
“Do you have any cocoa mix?”
“Cocoa it is. Will you be all right? You’re not going to fall asleep there before I get back?”
Lili laughed. “I’ll stay awake.”
He went down to the kitchen, and started two cups of water heating in the microwave, deciding that was the fastest. By the time he’d found the cocoa mix, the water was hot. He stirred in the
powder quickly and carried it back up the stairs.
His heart sank as he saw that Lili’s eyes were closed, but she opened them and smiled as he entered.
“Are you okay? Is the water temperature all right?”
“It feels heavenly. I thought I’d never be warm again.”
“You scared me half to death. I couldn’t imagine what had happened.”
“I couldn’t believe it was happening either. I’ve known Arthur all my life, and I’ve never been afraid of him. But when he blocked that door, leaving me in that cold, dark cooler....” She shuddered. “I’m still having trouble accepting that he could do this.”
“Don’t think about it. Come on, can you sit up for a minute to drink this? It’ll warm your insides.”
“Okay,” she said, sitting up and taking the cup, oblivious to her nakedness.
He handed the cup to her and leaned down to stroke her wet hair back from her forehead, then kissed her.
She smiled and sipped the cocoa.
“I couldn’t believe it was you under that pile of cardboard until I saw your red-gold curls.”
Lili grinned. “I remembered that paper of any kind is a good insulator. It was the only protection I could find in the cooler. So, I dumped out the meat, flattened out the boxes and wrapped myself in the cardboard.”
Ken nodded. “I’m sure it helped preserve your body’s heat. Thank goodness for your quick thinking.”
She shook her head. “No, Ken. Thank goodness you found me. I don’t think I’d have survived until morning. How did you find me anyway?”
Sheepishly, he explained about hiring Curtis to watch the store. He told her about taking Curtis’ place tonight, and about having to go into the city to see his sister. “If only Jill hadn’t called tonight,” he said. “I might have seen your car and looked for you earlier.”
She merely nodded and sipped more cocoa thoughtfully.
Watching her, he realized he’d seen her hair wet numerous times, but never seen any other color at the roots. He’d known several other women who bleached their hair, including his sister, Jill. They all had dark roots part of the time.
