Purple Knot

by Raquel Byrnes

  “Oh, baby,” I whispered. “Oh baby, thank God you’re breathing!”

  I looked at Mona. “We’ll get out of this.”

  She looked back at me but didn’t move. She had a tired, resigned expression in her eyes that scared me. Mona was giving up. Not good.

  I took a better look at my bindings. Crawley or Shane had wrapped rope around both my arm and the arm of the chair. I tried to move, but the rope bit into my arms and left angry streaks of pain along my skin. My legs, tied to the front two chair legs, were also immobile. I took a deep breath and tried to stuff my frustration. OK, I didn’t have duct tape on my mouth, so that was good. I also wasn’t dead yet, another plus.

  I craned my neck and tried to peer through the crack to see where Crawley was. I heard his voice and someone else’s. I guessed that Shane was here also. I wiggled in my seat some more and tried to get my arm loose. The chair creaked.

  Mona started to shake her head frantically. She made desperate, muffled squeaks at me.

  “What are you doing?” Crawley shouted and I nearly fainted.

  I froze.

  “Shane, get over here, now!” He yelled again.

  Relieved Crawley wasn’t yelling at me, I struggled with the ropes some more.

  Mona squeaked again, and I gave her a frustrated look.

  “Hey, shhh! I’m trying to get us out of here.” Something dug into my hip bone and I stopped moving. The GPS tracker from the money case was still in my pocket. It was off, but at least I still had it. I just had to get to it.

  “Mona, can you get up? I have…I need your help.”

  I motioned to Mona with my hands. She looked at me and then shook her head. Tears welled up in her eyes and streaked down the duct tape.

  I bit back the fury rising in my throat. “Where’s the Mona who sends everyone running for cover?” I whispered harshly. “You’re not so tough when I don’t have a bowl of soup in my hand, are you?”

  Mona stared at me shocked.

  I motioned for her to come over again. It was really hard to yell in a whisper, but I gave it my best shot. “I have a GPS tracker in my pocket but I can’t get to it. Now cowboy up, and help me!”

  Something flashed behind her eyes, something like hope. She started to scoot herself over to me. A crash came from the living room, followed by Crawley’s shouts, and Mona froze. She started to back up.

  “Mona, no.” I whispered. Fear prickled the skin on my arms and legs. “He has the money, Mona. There’s no reason to keep us around anymore. If you don’t help me, we’re going to die here. Autumn will die here.”

  She jerked at my words. Her gaze slid over to Autumn, still motionless on the towels. Sobs racked her body.

  I watched her crumble and then felt the tears start down my own face. Hopelessness poured over me and I closed my eyes. Please. I can’t do this on my own. You have to help me, Lord.

  I heard footstep coming toward the room, and I kept my eyes closed and let my head loll to the side. Someone pushed open the door to the room and the creak made my skin crawl. The footsteps receded, and I heard Shane’s voice.

  “She’s still out cold, Crawley.”

  Crawley grunted his answer. “Good. She better stay that way, too.”

  Shane’s voice took on a whiney quality. He sounded scared. “But what if you hit her too hard, man? What if she doesn’t wake up, ever?”

  Crawley walked over to Shane and I watched them through eyes barely slit open. “Could you really be this stupid?”

  “Uh…”

  “It’ll be easier to get rid of her if she don’t wake up, Shane.”

  My heart nearly stopped.

  “Get rid of her?”

  “Well, what did you think we were going to do with them, huh?” Crawley slapped Shane on the side of the head.

  “I thought you’d give’em back. We got the money.”

  “Shane, just…just help me move this.”

  Crawley sounded irritated.

  Shane and he took the ends of a large steamer trunk and lugged it out of my view.

  I turned to Mona and the look on her face told me she’d heard.

  “It’s now or never, Mona.”

  She nodded and scooted towards me again. When she got to the chair, she struggled to her feet. Banging noises from the kitchen covered any noise she made. Crawley barked orders at Shane. They were packing something up.

  “Just pull on the rope around my wrist,” I whispered. “I think I can wriggle free. I just need it a little looser.”

  Mona dug her nails into the rope tied around my wrist and pulled. The tension on my skin lifted a bit. I twisted and wrenched my arm back and forth. My skin tore and bled but I kept pulling until my hand was free.

  Crawley yelled again and something flew past the doorway. He was throwing things. He was losing it. We didn’t have much time left. I shoved my hand into my jeans pocket, felt the toggle and flicked it on. Relief washed over me, but it only lasted a second.

  Crawley’s next words sent chills up my back. “We need to get as much of this stuff as we can in the car. Once we’re done, I’ll come back in and take care of them.”

  Mona froze next to me. I looked up at her, into her eyes the color of Jimmy’s and all of my fear vaporized. I wasn’t going to die here in this filthy house. I just wasn’t.

  Mona and I snapped into gear at the same time. She lunged with her hands at my other arm. The two of us pulled on the rope, and I got my other hand out. She turned around, and I untied her hands. She peeled the duct tape off of her mouth. Her voice was breathless, scared. “Oh, my Lord, Reyna. Look at your arms!”

  I glanced at the blood smeared on my forearms. I’d torn my skin apart.

  “When they come back in they’re going to kill us, we need to get out of here,” I said quickly. “Grab Autumn!”

  Mona nodded and scooped up the baby. She didn’t stir. Her little arms flopped lifelessly in Mona’s grasp.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  Mona clutched Autumn to her chest. “She was fussing, so he made that Shane guy give her cough syrup. She’s been out for hours, Reyna. What if he gave her too much?” She shook as she spoke. Her face pale and mascara streaked.

  “She’ll be all right, Mona. We’ll get her to a hospital.” I reached for her sleeve and pulled her to me.

  Mona tried to smile at me but ended up just grimacing.

  I sneaked over to the door and peered out. Crawley and Shane were out of sight. I turned back to Mona. “Let’s go.”

  We crept out of the room as quiet as we could. The old floorboards creaked under our every step, and I felt sweat pour down my back. My heart rammed in my chest. I kept my eyes on the kitchen door. With Crawley and Shane out front, we had to find the back door. Crawley’s voice thundered in from outside. He yelled at Shane, and I heard Shane cry out. I bit my lip and turned to Mona. “OK, Mona, listen to me.”

  “What?”

  “If I say run, you run, Mona. You got that? You don’t look back. You don’t stop till you get Autumn out of here safe. You got that?”

  She nodded, her eyes boring into mine. “Is he coming back in?”

  The screen door spring squeaked and I gave Mona a shove. “Run!”

  She hesitated, but then scrambled toward the back of the house.

  I followed behind, scanning the floor and the furniture desperate to find something, anything to use as a weapon.

  She turned left and then Crawley’s footfalls behind me stopped.

  I glanced back down the hall.

  He pushed open the door to the room we had been in and then slammed it against the wall. “Shane!”

  He pulled the gun from his waist and I turned and ran.

  “What?” Shane’s voice joined Crawley’s.

  “They’re gone, go, go, go!”

  I ran behind Mona. Up ahead she crossed a living room with Autumn.

  Crawley yelled again. “Check the back!”

  I heard someone run towards us. Mona
was at the door, she clawed at the lock.

  “It’s stuck, it’s stuck!” she cried. “Reyna, do something!”

  Off in the corner, stuck under the couch, I saw a table leg. I dove for it and came up just as Shane ran into the room.

  He lunged for Mona.

  Memories of high school softball flashed through my mind as I swung with every ounce of strength I could. I connected with Shane’s chest and he flew to the side. I watch his fingers just brush Mona’s hair as he tumbled.

  “Move, Mona!”

  I took a step forward and swung the table leg full arc at the door’s bolt. The wood splintered and the lock wrenched open.

  Mona reached for the knob as Crawley ran into the room, took one look at Shane writhing on the floor, and raised his gun. “Stop!” He yelled and fired.

  I flinched as the bulled burst wide, hitting the plaster over the door. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mona running across the dirt lawn with Autumn.

  Crawley aimed again.

  That was all I needed to see. I hurled the leg at him like an African hunter. It helicoptered through the air, clocked him on the neck, and sent him sprawling backwards. The gun flew out of his hand and under a large hutch. He cursed under his breath and gagged.

  I turned to run after Mona, but Shane staggered to his feet in front of the door, blocking my exit. I spun on my heels and ran back through the house. I stomped on Crawley’s ankle on my way past, hoping to get a speed advantage.

  Panting, I tore down the hall through the living room and stopped cold in the kitchen. The overwhelming stench of bitter almonds made me heave. I saw movement to my right too late.

  Crawley tackled me like a football player.

  The two of us tumbled and tangled across the kitchen floor. The wind knocked out of me, I pawed at the counter trying to get to my feet.

  Crawley yanked my shirt, and I went back down.

  I twisted in his grasp and shoved my thumbs in his eyes.

  He howled and let go.

  I crawled under the table and out on the other side. I reached for the front door. It swung open and knocked me against the cabinet. Lights flashed behind my eyes and I staggered.

  Shane stood in the doorway with a gun in his hand. He’d run around the side of the house and come back in. “Freeze!” he yelled.

  I stopped short. Panting, I put my hands up.

  “Give me that,” Crawley said and held out his hand.

  Shane didn’t move. “Wait a second,” Shane stammered. “Wait a second…what’s that?”

  I followed his gaze and saw that Crawley’s jacket had torn in our struggle. The pocket hung open and on the floor lay a paper ticket. It was a boarding pass. I looked at Shane.

  “You are so screwed,” I said slowly. “I only see one plane ticket.”

  “Shut up,” Crawley growled.

  “Where’s yours, Shane? How’re you getting out of this mess?”

  Shane licked his lips and squinted at the ticket.

  “Does…does that say Canada? I… I don’t have a passport, Crawley.”

  Crawley’s eyes shifted to me and then back to Shane. He looked like a deer in the headlights.

  The gun in Shane’s hands wavered. It shifted from me to Crawley and back again. Shane’s face twitched. I guessed it was his thinking face.

  “You know why Jimmy and I didn’t go to the police yet, Shane?”

  Shane looked at me. I chose my words carefully and continued.

  “Because everything I’ve dug up, all the prosecutable things I found were linked to you.”

  Shane’s gaze snapped to Crawley. He licked his lips again.

  “Shane…” Crawley started.

  “Shut up!” Shane yelled. “Just…be quiet. I need to think.”

  “The missing disposal tickets, they were your responsibility to report, right?” I spoke slowly, quietly. “It looks like you stole the pseudo-ephedrine, not Parker. Not Crawley.”

  Shane looked at me astonished. “No, no…Parker said he’d hide the missing tickets.”

  I shook my head. “You’re the chemist, Shane. You had access, direct access, to the chemicals. You have the know-how.”

  Crawley stepped forward but the floor creaked giving him away.

  Shane brought the gun up, aimed it at Crawley. “You’re going to lay this all on me,” he said to Crawley. “Is that why you always used my cell phone to call your buddies? Were you setting me up all along?”

  “No!” Crawley spat. “What’re you listening to her for? She’s just trying to get away.”

  “Did you know the police found the tablet press at your apartment?” I said suddenly. “Why would it be there if everything else is here?”

  Shane’s eyes searched the kitchen and then his face went from surprise to sadness. He seemed truly betrayed. He wasn’t wavering anymore.

  I kept my eyes on the gun.

  “Shane…” Crawley started to speak.

  “It all points to you…he’ll probably say you snatched the baby too.”

  “He did, actually,” Crawley murmured.

  Shane heard him. “You are setting me up,” Shane said, suddenly angry. “What, were you going to kill me, too?”

  “Don’t be stupid, Shane,” Crawley said. “I have a ticket for you.”

  “Then show him,” I countered.

  Crawley shot me an exasperated look.

  “Yeah, show me,” Shane ordered.

  Crawley hesitated, and then his shoulders sagged.

  Shane watched him, and then started to shake his head. He let out a strange moan and waved the gun in a sweeping motion. He looked at me. “Do you know what all of this is?”

  I ran my eyes over the counters and tables crammed into the kitchen and the hair on my arms stood on end. Crowded together on every available surface were glass chemical tubes, burners, and scales. The bitter smell made sense now. I was in the drug kitchen. I was in the heart of the meth lab. Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck. I looked back at Shane.

  “It’s a lab,” I whispered. “You make the tablets here.”

  He nodded. Then he leaned over and turned the knob on one of the burners next to him.

  Crawley made strangled noise next to me.

  “You know, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t gone and killed that lady,” Shane said to Crawley. “There was no need for that.”

  “What lady?” Confusion crossed Crawley’s face.

  I stared at Shane. Past him, through the doorway, I saw the flashing lights of the black SUV’s slash through the night outside. Shane pulled a lighter from his pocket.

  “No one was supposed to get hurt,” Shane said to me. “I trashed your condo, you know to scare you, but no one was supposed to get hurt.”

  “You what?” Crawley asked surprised.

  The lights were closer now, and I shook with the urge to scream for help.

  Shane kept the gun on Crawley, but when I moved, the barrel moved back toward my chest. Shane checked his watch.

  I raised my eyebrows, confused.

  “It’s almost filled,” Shane said quietly. He looked at me. “And I’ll bet those lights are your FBI friends.”

  I nodded slowly.

  “What’s almost filled,” Crawley croaked.

  I knew what Shane was saying. I knew and I was going blind with panic. He was filling the room with gas. My eyes darted to all the chemicals in the kitchen. All the flammable liquids made my heart ram in my chest.

  “Move.” Shane looked at me and motioned with his gun toward the door. “This don’t involve you.”

  I took a tentative step to the right.

  “You’re crazy!” Crawley growled and lunged at Shane.

  The gun went off, followed by a deafening swoosh that tore through the kitchen. The fireball ignited and threw me through the open door and against the porch post. I hit with a bone jarring thrust and then slid to the floor boards. Around me superheated air flared orange and roiled upwards. Inside the kitc
hen I heard someone screaming. Another explosion rocked the house and sent shards of window glass sailing through the air. I rolled into a ball and screamed as the tiny arrows plunged into my back and legs. Black smoke billowed from the house, and I crawled on my hands and knees trying to find the railing, trying to get away.

  Then strong hands pulled me to my feet. Two agents in full battle gear and helmets scooped me out of the smoke like black-clad troopers.

  I coughed and gasped for breath.

  They hauled me down the porch steps and across the lawn. The house raged and flared with the chemical fire. Up ahead, I saw Jimmy struggling with the agents holding him back.

  He yelled my name, but there was no sound, nothing but the ringing in my ears.

  He broke away and ran towards me.

  I reached for him. Broken and bleeding, I reached for the love of my life, happy to be alive.

  Purple Knot

  39

  I sat beside Salem’s bed and stroked his hand. I watched his chest rise and fall with the steady rhythm of someone sleeping. He looked so young and weak. I whispered when I spoke to him as if I’d wake him from his slumber.

  “I wanted to come and tell you everything you missed.”

  I held up my bandaged arms. “You’d be proud of me. I think I got on Mona’s good side.”

  I heard movement behind me, and a nurse pulled back the privacy curtain and smiled at me. “The doctor said he’s cleared to move out of I.C.U.,” she said softly.

  “Will they stop the medicine?”

  She cocked her head to the side and then realized what I was talking about and nodded.

  “Oh, the doctor said they’ll lighten his meds in the morning and try to bring him out of the induced coma.”

  “Try?” I heard the panic in my voice and tried to control my heart rate.

  The nurse smiled and walked over to fuss with Salem’s I.V. tubes. “Don’t worry. He’s a strong guy, right?” She looked at him. “His surgery went well and his vitals are stable.”

  I nodded and wiped the tears from my cheeks. Baby steps, I told myself. He’ll be OK.

  “Hey, ma chér,” Jimmy said from the door. “I’m back.”

  The nurse looked at Jimmy and then at me. “I’ll take good care of him. I promise.”