Sunlight and Shadows

by Christine Cross

  He began to write down an address. “Great, great thanks. I’ll come round right away.”

  “Was that her brother?” Esther asked, as a glimmer of hope appeared in her heart. “Does he know where she is?”

  “He didn’t exactly say over the phone. I think he wants to eyeball me first. So, he’s given me his address saying because he doesn’t know who I am he feels he would prefer to meet me first before giving me any information about her.”

  “Well, that’s fair enough. But you’ll have to go alone, Jesse. For all we know Nita could be living with him, and if she sees me with you, that will give the game away. I might just do some sight-seeing around the shopping malls. I’ve never been to New York before.”

  “That’s a good idea, Esther. Here take some spending money. You’ve earnt this over the last two weeks. Go and buy yourself something nice.”

  “Thanks, Jesse,” she said as he gave her hand a tender squeeze. “I really appreciate what you are doing for me. I could never have done this without you.”

  Pulling her towards him in a gentle hug he whispered, “It’s because I really care about you Esther.”

  Esther’s heart missed a beat as she felt him close to her, comforting her with his embrace. Oh, Jesse, thank God you’re here! I have needed someone like you all my life!

  ***

  Esther took her time in the Manhattan Mall looking in the various women’s clothing stores and the perfume shack where she was sprayed several times with different fragrances by a very eager salesgirl. “Maybe you’d like more of a floral fragrance? The ones we’ve tried have all been a citrus fragrance.”

  “Well, I do need a perfume, actually. But I really like the musky ones. Do you have anything like that?”

  After purchasing a bottle of a delicate herbal musky scent, Esther decided to order a coffee in Starbucks. The place was alive with diners and the chatter of busy shoppers’ keen for a break from walking around the many stores in search of a bargain. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw them.

  It was Nita and Tom walking quickly past Starbucks. There was no mistake about it. Shrinking back into her booth she prayed that they hadn’t seen her. Then she ran outside trying to see where they had gone. Nita’s large designer label handbag disappeared around the corner, just as Esther decided she should follow them.

  Keeping a safe distance back, Esther tailed them for four blocks before they suddenly arrived at a very expensive looking block of condos. As they entered she could make out the girl at reception saying, “Oh there are no messages today, Mrs. Reynolds.”

  Mrs. Reynolds! That is Tom’s last name! Nita is his wife!

  As Tom and Nita disappeared into the elevator, Esther couldn’t curb her curiosity. She had to find out more.

  “Oh, excuse me,” she said to the receptionist, once she felt sure that they weren’t coming back down into the foyer. “I’m trying to find some old friends of mine…Nita and Tom Reynolds? I believe that they live here and I wanted to surprise them. It’s Apartment 7 isn’t it?” she asked hoping to bluff the receptionist into an answer.

  “No, dear, but you’re almost right. It’s Apartment 17 on the fourth floor. Such a lovely couple, aren’t they? They bought here ten years ago, but they’re usually away overseas. You’re lucky you caught them. Can I let them know you’re here?”

  “No,” Esther gulped, knowing that these condos in Manhattan cost over a million dollars to buy. “I want to surprise them.”

  *****

  Something instinctively told Esther not to knock on the door of apartment 17. She felt danger hovering around her like a thick dark cloud. Maybe she should leave and call Jesse? Or at the very least text him to tell him where she was, now that she knew where Tom and Nita lived.

  How on earth did a receptionist in Portland and a junior auditor acquire this much money ten years ago to buy this condo and travel overseas? It doesn’t add up!

  Just as she was about to dial Jesse’s number after pressing the elevator button, a familiar voice called out. “Well, what do we have here? Esther White of all people! You must come in and have a drink with us. Nita is just making us a great martini! We always have a few drinks at this time of the day! Welcome to happy hour!”

  Suddenly, Tom was forcefully dragging her inside the apartment while Nita glared on in anger. She heard him lock the front door after them. Then he roughly threw her onto the floor.

  All she could think of was escaping. Her heart was pounding in her chest as Tom pulled her up from the floor to a couch and Nita began to talk rather quickly.

  “You know, Esther, I just got a phone call from my brother. And he said that someone had visited him asking all kinds of weird questions about us. Now, I should have known it would be you snooping around trying to find out where we live. But why, Esther, why? Why are you snooping around in our business? What good would it do you knowing where we live, and that Tom and I were married. We were married even before you knew us back at the firm!”

  “Married!” Esther glared at Tom. But why were you always asking me out for coffee and dinner, Tom, if you and Nita were married?”

  “Because you were in the way of all of our plans, Esther. You had control of company money and we needed it. Here, have a martini, because you are going to be here for a while. Maybe you’ll need more than one by the time we are finished with you!”

  “What do you mean?” Esther asked, fear rising in her voice.

  “Well, it’s obvious to me,” Nita said, “that if you’ve done ten years for a crime you know you didn’t commit, and then you send people up here to snoop around in our business and find us, then we can never let you go. You are too much of a threat to us now that you are here. What would you have done? Gone to the police and had them look into our business? We can’t afford for that to happen! We have been getting away with stuff for years. Stuff that you would never even dream about. And we’re not going to let you, little Miss Nosey, ruin our lifestyle!”

  “So, is this how you make your money, Tom?” she asked trying not to cry. “By stealing off those you work for and then having other innocent people take the fall?”

  “Yes!” spat out Nita. “We do, and we’ve become experts at it! Every time we get a job together somewhere, we screw over the dumb little finance people and each time we’ve managed to make and more money!”

  Esther felt disgust and pity for them as she realized that they were nothing more than professional career criminals who should be locked up in jail. Instead she had spent ten years of her life paying for a crime that they had committed. She looked around the room hoping that there was another way of escape. Tom had put the front door key in his pocket, so there was no use trying to run out the front door. Shaking in fear, she frantically looked around for any large windows that might be open. But it’s three floors to the ground from up here, Esther realized as panic set in.

  “You should have minded your own business, Esther,” Tom said, pouring another martini. “You did your ten years. Then you got your freedom. Now it looks as though you’ve lost it again!”

  “Are you threatening to kill me Tom? Because if you are I’m not afraid! You see in prison I found God and I have a relationship with Him. Where I am going is freedom. It’s eternal life in Heaven with my Father, God. Something you’ll never know, since all evil doers will go to eternal damnation and hell! But I will pray for both of you. And I will ask God to have mercy on your poor souls. And, by the way Tom, I forgive you both, because you know not what you do!”

  “Oh, we know what we’re doing alright! It’s you who doesn’t know what you are doing! If you did you wouldn’t have ended up here spending the last few hours of your life drinking martinis! Or we could tie you up and gag you if you don’t want to join in on our little farewell party to you! It’s your choice. Since you have interrupted our afternoon when Nita and I enjoy a few drinks together, you can put up with us or shut up! And enough of your fairy stories! God doesn’t exist and neither does hell!”


  Esther felt righteous anger rise within her. God was the only reason she stayed sane in that prison, and her only hope in this current situation. She silently prayed that Jesse would call soon, or that God would intervene somehow.

  “Tom, you are entitled to believe what you want, but I know God is real. I met Him in prison!”

  “You’ve always been a naïve little fool,” Nita said with a smirk. “Where’s your God now, huh?”

  Just then, as if in answer to her prayer, her cell phone rang from inside her handbag.

  “My God is with me always, and if I don’t answer that cell phone, my God will send my friend Jesse to find me, and when he does you will be looking at the inside of a prison cell for the rest of your lives!”

  “Right!” screamed Nita, angrily. “Give her the cell phone, Tom. But not one word about where you are, Esther, or I will kill you right here and right now, on the spot! And your so called friend Jesse or anyone else for that matter will never find your body!”

  Tom grabbed Esther’s handbag and found the phone just as it stopped ringing.

  “Damn!” cried Tom. “You had better call him back with some nice little story about how you are sorry you missed his call. Tell him you were busy shopping!”

  “And what do I tell him when he asks to meet me in ten minutes, Tom? If he doesn’t see me soon he will call the police!”

  “Just tell him you are sorry but you made a hairdresser appointment and will meet him later tonight for dinner!”

  “But then he’ll want to know which hairdresser it is, and he’ll come up there and wait until I’m finished. You’ll have to come up with a better story than that or both of you are toast!”

  “You are impossible!” screamed Tom, beginning to lose control. In frustration he smashed his martini glass against the wall. “Now look what you’ve made me do!”

  “Listen to me!” Nita screamed. “We are both running out of patience! Hand over that phone and I’ll text him to say that you have gone to the movies and will call him later. That’s it! He won’t call back for a while if he thinks you are in the movies because most people switch their phones off at the movies which is what I am going to do after I text him!”

  Nita grabbed Esther’s phone just as it started ringing again.

  “Give me my phone Nita. Jesse will get very suspicious if I don’t answer it again!”

  Reluctantly, Nita handed over the phone. “Tell him you are going to the movies,” Nita hissed. “Or else!”

  “Oh, hi Jesse. Sorry I just missed your call. I was at the cinema buying a ticket to go to the movies as I didn’t know how long you would be. Oh, what did you say? What movie? Oh, it’s called Danger in Paradise. I have to go, the movie’s just starting. I’ll call you when it’s finished.”

  Oh, please God, please let Jesse check the movie guide. There is no such movie! Surely he will understand that it is me who is in danger. God, help me!

  “That was better,” said Nita. “Now, have another martini while Tom and I decide what the hell we’re going to do with you!”

  It seemed strange and surreal to Esther that here she was in real danger of her life and Tom and Nita were trying to get her intoxicated. Maybe they want me to fall asleep, or maybe they are putting drugs into my drink? She tipped her martini into the potted plant next to the couch fearing it was laced.

  “Oh, that was quick,” said Nita, noticing her empty glass and smirking at her. “You obviously like my martinis. Here, let me make you another one.”

  And as Esther watched in horror, she saw Nita pour the white powder into her drink and stir it.

  “Here, drink this. It will help you relax!”

  *****

  The minutes seemed to stretch out before her as Esther tried to stay calm, inwardly praying and slowly sipping on the martini which she now knew was spiked with some kind of drug. She began to feel sleepy as she thought that alcohol was something she normally avoided as it went against her Christian beliefs. But right now Nita was watching her every move. She pretended to sip the drink which now was like a sedative to her senses. I need to get out of here! An inner voice cried.

  “Nita, I need to use the bathroom,” Esther said, in a groggy voice, wanting to desperately escape from the room she was in. She noticed that anger was increasingly brewing in Tom. Everything around her was starting to become blurry and out of focus.

  “I’ll take you down there, but I’ll be waiting right outside the door. So don’t try any funny business. It’s a long way down to the ground from the bathroom window!”

  By now, Nita was half tanked on several martinis. She mixed a few more as Tom paced the floor feeling the anxiety of knowing that now Esther knew the truth. And that there was no other option other than permanently disposing of her somehow.

  “Just take her down to the bathroom, Nita. I need time to think about this without listening to all her smart remarks.”

  Despite her brain becoming foggier and foggier, Esther knew she had to somehow grab back her mobile phone which Nita had placed on top of the bar. Both Tom and Nita were too preoccupied glaring at each other to notice anything. She slid the phone into her pocket just before Nita grabbed her roughly by the arm and escorted her to the bathroom. Please God, don’t let them notice the phone is gone!

  Once she was safely locked inside, Esther wasted no time in texting Jesse. She felt that any minute now she could lose consciousness. Somehow, by the grace of God, she managed to text the words: Help! I’m being held captive by Tom and Nita. The address is 44 Washington St., Appt 17. Come quickly!

  Then she immediately turned off her cell phone and found a place to hide it inside the small rubbish bin in the corner. Just then her body felt as though it was becoming limp and her head began to swim.

  “Hurry up Esther!” Nita yelled. “Tom is getting cranky! You’ll be sorry if he loses it!”

  Esther emerged from the bathroom door and immediately crumpled into a heap onto the floor. She somehow managed to crawl back into the living room as she heard Nita say, “The drugs are working Tom. She’ll be fast asleep soon.”

  Through a foggy haze, Esther noticed that Tom was now flaked out in a leather chair leaning back with his eyes shut, as if thinking.

  “Tom!” Nita screamed. “Cut down on those martinis. I need you to stay awake! What the hell are we going to do with her?”

  “Cool it, baby, I’m awake! How about we just take her for a little drive, and dispose of her in the bay.”

  Esther prayed that she could stay awake long enough to see Jesse arrive. Jesse, where are you? Come quickly!

  “Why don’t we just kill her here Tom, and then tonight we’ll wrap her up in blankets and toss her in the bay!” Nita said as she became more desperate and agitated. She picked up a sharp knife from the bar and came towards Esther. “How I’d love to cut your throat, but you’ll only scream the place down!”

  “Put some more sleeping pills in her martini Nita, and force her to drink it. That’ll shut her up!”

  As Nita went to return the bar knife she noticed the missing phone. “Where is that phone, Esther? What have you done with it?”

  “I have no idea, Nita,” Esther mumbled, groggily. “You and Tom have drunk so much alcohol you probably forgot where you put it.”

  Just then Nita struck out and slapped Esther with full force across her face. “How dare you say that! I don’t lose things! Even if I am drunk!”

  “You had better help us find that phone, Esther. Or you’ll be more than sorry!” Tom said, as Esther felt the side of her cheek swell up and begin to throb with pain.

  Seeing her wince from the slap, Tom picked up a vase in anger. “You had better tell us what you’ve done with that phone or…”

  Suddenly there was a loud pounding on the door. “Police!” a voice yelled. “Open up!”

  But before anyone had a chance to respond, the police had already broken down the door. And there, behind five armed officers, was Jesse running towards her as the police rus
hed in to arrest Nita and Tom.

  ***

  Sobbing uncontrollably, Esther lay in Jesse’s arms as he rushed in to embrace her, just as Nita screamed in outrage at being arrested. Tom glared at her as the police forcefully escorted him out of his luxury condo and into a waiting police van.

  “It was them all along, Jesse,” Esther said, slurring most of her words. “They stole the money and set me up! And I’m not their only victim of crime. They bought this condo using that $300,000 they stole from my work as a deposit. And they have been doing this to other people so this condo is paid off now! They are criminals and they were married all along!”

  “I know Esther. Nita’s brother told me that Tom had married her twelve years ago. That was when alarm bells rang and I insisted that he give me their address. I think he may have called Nita to ask if she knew me. Nonetheless, the family don’t have much to do with them anymore because Tom avoids them most of the time. Also, they are hardly ever around as they are often traveling overseas. He ended up reluctantly giving me this address but I had no idea you were here until you sent me that second text. I was suspicious when I got your first text about going to a movie that doesn’t exist, so I called the police fearing something sinister must have happened. That was before you texted me the second time giving me the same address that Nita’s brother had given me. Do you think I wouldn’t have found you, my darling? God knows that I would do anything and everything possible to protect you from harm’s way. Come on, grab your things and let’s go back to the hotel. The police need you to make a statement soon, but I insisted we would come in to the station tomorrow. I think you’ve had enough drama for one day.”

  And it was then that Esther succumbed to the drugged martinis and passed out knowing that she at least was at last safe and in the arms of the man she loved.