by Dennis Yates
There was a long pause in which he only heard the blare of the television in the background. Then Peggy started crying.
“He’s not doing very well… I’m afraid Robert.”
“Did they hurt him?”
“No. It’s just…. He won’t open his eyes… I’ve never seen him like this before. He was so scared when they came into his room last night. It’s like he’s blocking everything out right now, going through some kind of shock. I don’t know what to do other than hold him.”
Robert felt a murderous rage begin to fill him, familiar black waters.
“Listen. You’ve got to keep talking to him, try to get him to open up… Tell him his daddy is coming to get you both back.”
“I’ll try…”
“I love you Peg…”
“I love you Rob…”
“I think that’s enough for today,” interrupted the kidnapper’s cheerful drawl. “We’ve got some business to discuss now Mr. Crain.”
Robert was dizzy with violent thoughts as the man talked. The kidnapper acted so nonchalant that he might as well have been instructing Robert on how to baste ribs over a barbeque.
Had he heard the man correctly? It was all so unreal. So fucking insane…
****
Several hours later the drug was just a distant bass-beat in his head. He had one hell of a headache, but at least he had some control over his flurry of thoughts. He was still tormented by the idea that the morning’s conversation had been a hallucination. The feeling had remained lodged in the back of his mind like a painful splinter.
At midnight tonight he was to go to the upper Mt. Tabor reservoir, located in a city park less than twenty minutes from where he lived. A place where he and his family took Nugget for long walks. There he’d meet his first opponent, a man wearing a bright orange hunter’s cap. If he succeeded in eliminating his opponent, he and his family would be spared another day.
“Excuse me? What do you mean when you say eliminated?”
“Killed, if you need me to be more precise.”
“Listen asshole. You’re out of your fucking mind. If you think…”
“Call me Walker. Please. There are three rules, Mr. Crain. No cops and no weapons, except those which you can improvise from the pre-arranged location.”
“How will you know I’m not bringing anything with me?”
“You will be frisked.”
“And the third rule?”
“You must fight to the death.”
Robert began to tremble. If he’d still smoked cigarettes he’d have finished a whole pack by now. No, two packs at least. Unfiltered.
“You’re full of shit. You know either way I’m dead.”
Walker puffed his cigar and groaned. “Come on Mr. Crain, don’t go underestimating yourself.”
Robert had fallen silent. He knew he’d have to agree to the rules. But it didn’t mean he had to follow them. There had to be a way to play this, some way he could turn things around and still manage to get his family back alive. He had to believe it…
“If I’m the one who gets killed, then what happens to my family?”
“That’s entirely up to the mercy of the winner. The decision will rest with him.”
“And if I survive, I get my family back alive?”
“Not right away. You will still have one more opponent to face. Once you have successfully eliminated him, your family will be returned.”
“What about the cops? You don’t think they’ll be interested when bodies start turning up all over town?”
“My people will take care of things, Mr. Crain. The police won’t find any traces to begin with.”
“What’s this really about? Are you too cheap to pay somebody to kill people you don’t want around? Or are you doing some new variation of a snuff film? Is this what kind of sick fuck you really are?”
Walker let out an impatient sigh. “No sir, this isn’t that kind of thing.”
“Then why? Does this have anything to do with Barney or my father?”
“I can assure you we are not trying to deliver retribution on you in any way, Mr. Crain. We too are simply following instructions.”
“Instructions from whom?”
“This isn’t the appropriate time to explain. You should be getting yourself prepared now, just as your opponent is doing at this very moment. I promise you, he will be very driven to kill you—has been for several days now.”
“Do I know him?”
“No, Mr. Crain. I can assure you you’re complete strangers. He’s just another good man like you who wants to take care of his family.”
Robert had stood up and stared out the kitchen window. Connor’s bicycle lay on the porch, its front tire turning in the wind, spokes clacking against a playing card clipped to the frame. An image of the Joker bent forward and back, as if possessed by a bout of riotous laughter. Robert looked away.
“So how do I know you aren’t just setting me up?”
“Pardon?”
“How do I know you won’t be waiting at the park to gun me down?”
“Gun you down. What for?”
“Hell if I know. Maybe you’re a serial killer who gets his kicks that way. Maybe you like to take out the husband before you do the rest of the family.”
Walker gasped like a shocked old woman, mocking Robert’s suggestion.
“Goodness, it’s not like that at all. I realize it’s impossible for me to prove my sincerity to you, but you will soon see I’m a man of my word. By the way, too bad about your shoulder. However, we do have a tight schedule and can’t allow you any time to get better. I’m sorry Mr. Crain, but I must go now.”
“Wait…”
“Goodbye, Mr. Crain. Good luck.”
And then the man hung up.
It had all happened so fast. And now Robert’s mind was spinning in too many directions at once. What am I going to do? How long do I have to find them?
He’d checked the caller id and wasn’t surprised by what he saw. The number was blocked.
I can’t believe this is happening…
The past was repeating itself in the worst of all possible ways. Like a tropical storm it had blown out to sea and let him be. Now it was returning for round two, and this time there was even more at stake than his crazy father…
Seven years ago he’d met Peggy and Connor and turned his life around. They’d built a wonderful home together. And although Connor missed his real dad at first, he’d bonded with Robert more quickly than they’d expected. Now the two of them were practically inseparable.
As much as he wanted to, Robert couldn’t go to the cops. It wasn’t worth the risk. These guys were psychos, he thought. They’re highly unpredictable.
He realized he’d have to take care of this on his own, his own way. Even if it meant taking another life.
Something he swore he’d never do again…
But you’ve already forgotten how lucky you were the first time. The devil isn’t going to repeat his mistakes.
I’ll take that chance…
He pulled into the vet’s parking lot and slid out of his pickup. When he heard Nugget’s barking coming from an opened window, warm tears filled his eyes and he wiped them away before going inside.
CHAPTER 5
They sat in line at a fast food drive-through. Robert had ordered two cheeseburgers and a coffee for himself and two cheeseburgers for Nugget. She sat on the passenger seat next to him, her chocolate eyes deep with concern. Normally she’d be grinning like a silly happy kid, trying to contain her excitement.
She dipped her gray speckled nose under Robert’s hand, forcing him out of his current daze. He rubbed the top of her head, played with her floppy gold ears. Nugget flicked her tongue affectionately against his wrist.
“I know girl… I know you’re worried about me.”
Nugget stopped licking, scooted closer to his face and stared into his eyes.
“I’m going to get them back. I don’t care what happens
to me. They’ll still have you to protect them.”
The car ahead finished collecting its order and drove off. Robert eased up to the window and paid for their food. A teenage girl with braces smiled when she noticed Nugget sitting next to him. She handed him a bag and a cup of black coffee, did her best not to stare too long at Robert’s black eye.
“Cute puppy,” she said.
“Thanks.” Although she was in her early teens, Robert could still see his own child in her sweet smile. Perhaps it was the freckles and the slight over bite. Whatever it was, it made him hurt.
“She’s not really a puppy,” he said, wondering why he wasn’t driving away. “She’s actually much older than she looks.”
“Really? How old?”
“She’s about four years younger than my son. Connor’s nine and a half.”
“What’s her name?”
“Nugget. She was mostly gold and black when we first got her. But she’s getting more silver every year now.”
“How’d you come up with a name like that?”
“My wife and I were traveling in California. Thought it might be fun to try and pan for gold in this shallow river. An old man who’d rented us the pans said we might get lucky, but we didn’t find a single speck in two hours. Then when we were about to leave, Nugget shows up out of nowhere, scared and hungry. We couldn’t just leave her behind. The old man said he had no idea who she belonged to, never saw her before.”
“Wow…” the girl said, obviously taken by his story. Nugget was usually a big crowd pleaser whenever he took her out in public. He always found it ironic, since she could turn into one hell of a wolf if she sensed her pack was in any danger. The personality she displayed now was what he fondly called her “Disney” side, and Nugget had learned from experience this was the best way to soften up strangers for treats.
Someone honked from behind, startling them both. Robert stared nervously into the rearview mirror. In a fogged-up minivan he made out a haggard looking woman in her early thirties. Three young children appeared to be in the throes of fast food withdrawal, jumping up and down in the backseat and screaming.
“I better not hold her up,” Robert said.
The girl leaned out the window to have a look. She turned to Robert and grinned broadly. “You know what mister? I think when I get old I’m going to stick with dogs.”
“You take care, young lady.”
“Thanks. See you next time, Nugget.”
After Robert pulled away, he found an empty place to park. While Nugget thumped her tail in anticipation, he set down his coffee. He pulled the contents out of the sack and picked out the two burgers minus sauce he’d ordered for her, unwrapped them and set them on the seat. It took her thirty seconds to inhale them both, buns and all. When she finished licking the wrappers, she looked up at him and smacked her mouth.
“Didn’t like the hospital chow?”
Nugget cocked her head, but he could see that her eyes were secretly narrowing on the unwrapped burger sitting next to him.
“Forget it, girl.”
She let out a snort, and when she concluded there wasn’t going to be any chance of seconds she turned her attention to some seagulls fighting over a soggy bag of fries. Robert watched also as he ate his second burger and gulped his coffee. When he saw a patrol car cruise by from behind, he glanced down at the floor to be sure the handgun was out of sight.
The patrol car stopped several spaces to his right. Two officers got out and headed inside, laughing. Robert quickly finished his meal and drove off.
****
Mt. Tabor was partially fog-hidden when he arrived at the entrance. Instead of driving up the road that took you to the crater of the extinct volcano, Robert pulled over and parked as soon as he found an empty shoulder on the two lane road.
Nugget stared excitedly out the window, hoping to spot the usual squirrels zipping between trees. Robert popped the glove compartment and got out her leash. She looked at it unhappily as he clipped it to her collar.
“You know the rules. You can’t eat the wildlife.”
Nugget feigned innocence. But he knew better. Once, when he’d forgotten to put on her leash right away, she’d caught a squirrel no more than five seconds after jumping out of the car. So strange it was, that both he and the dog were surprised when it happened. It seemed as if the poor animal had run purposely into her jaws. He’d yelled at her to let the squirrel go, knowing that it was pointless to try and stop her. And when he’d finally gotten close enough to try and intervene, she’d whipped it back and forth until its neck snapped, just as she’d practiced on his leather slippers while still a pup.
Before they left the truck, he slipped the handgun into a dark plastic bag and tucked it into his jacket.
There was no one around at the moment, except for some runners coming down the road far away.
A light mist was falling, and Robert breathed in deeply. He loved coming here whenever he could to inhale the forest air. After giving up smoking and allowing his acute sense of smell to return, he was amazed by the variety of scents he encountered. It was like he’d awakened part of his boyhood again.
The woods smelled strongly of decayed leaves, fungi and moss. As Robert walked Nugget along a narrow path surrounded by maples, he caught himself imagining Peggy and Connor next to him in the early fall, with engine puffs of steam coming from their mouths while they talked about what they saw along the way.
He recalled an autumn morning when the four of them had encountered a whole gallery of intricately woven spider webs sparkling with frost. Connor was excitedly pointing them out, forcing them to stop at almost every step. He soon discovered if he positioned himself with his back to the sun, the ice particles on the webs would appear iridescent, almost magical.
That’s when you finally stopped being afraid of spiders, wasn’t it kiddo?
Robert’s throat ached as he forced back another wave of scalding tears. He swallowed hard and took several deep breaths. Except for the painfully twisted nerve wirings in his shoulder, his body felt numb and bloodless. It made him feel as if he were floating up the trail rather than walking. Nugget came to a halt to sniff a fungus-covered tree stump. Her leather leash dug into his palm.
“Who’s been here?” He asked.
Nugget leaped up and set her front paws on the stump’s edge. There were piles of chewed up pinecones covering the top. She’d found a squirrel’s dining table. But then something pulled her attention away. She stopped sniffing and cocked her head sideways.
Robert soon understood what she knew. After a few moments, he heard the familiar crunch of gravel as someone came down the trail. He peered up under the dense evergreen bows. On the switchback above he saw a flicker of red.
The runner began to pick up speed as the slope sharpened. Robert pulled Nugget away from the stump and led her behind the trunk of a redwood tree. The thudding footfalls moved closer. He kept his hand in his pocket, gripping the gun wrapped in plastic.
Someone’s following us….
He could now hear the runner’s sharp breaths. Nugget strained to get her head around the trunk so she could see. He bent down and tapped her on the nose, to let her know not to bark.
As the runner went past, Robert shifted to the other side of the trunk. He glimpsed a young woman dressed in red sweats, and trailing behind her was a Doberman Pincher. As the dog passed, it swiveled its head in their direction and sniffed without slowing.
Robert pressed his head against the redwood and laughed. The feeling of it next to his skin was comforting. He shut his eyes and willed away the fears that crowded inside him. He’d discovered how useful the trick was back when he was still a boy, while visiting his grandfather who lived in a cabin up in the Cascade mountain range. Back then a day could feel like a whole summer—an endless series of adventures, dependent only on your willingness to get out and find them. There’d been time to discover things his friends at home would never know. Yet on that evening when he’d found hims
elf clinging to a cedar for dear life, he would’ve traded everything he knew just to be back in town again, riding bicycles with friends and hanging out at the mall.
After a few moments Robert felt the tree trunk absorb his fears and unwanted thoughts. He visualized them being carried up the trunk into the branches high above, then into the needles, and finally out to the very tips of the needles where they escaped into the air and slipped past the threatening rain clouds.
All clear. Blue as far as one could fathom. But how long can it last?
Now that Connor was no longer afraid of spiders he’d have to teach him his trick.
He’d probably get laughed at too...
Nugget tugged on her leash. Robert could tell she was getting anxious to hunt for squirrels, even if it meant pulling him in tow. He glanced down at her, smiling for just an instant.
“Sorry Nug. I promise to do better from now on.”
****
As they walked around the reservoir, Robert looked for a safe place to hide the revolver. Next to the path was a concrete and steel bar fence protecting a reservoir roughly the size of a football field. Portland’s drinking water. On the opposite side of the path was a sharp hillside covered with ivy.
Birds bobbed out in the middle of the man-made lake where a geyser of silver water shot high into the air. When Nugget heard the quacking ducks, Robert let her put her paws up on the wall and stare at them through the spaces between the bars.
Despite a sudden cloudburst, several hardcore joggers slogged their way around. Robert walked in the same direction as the joggers and tried to avoid eye contact. All of them wore headphones, and appeared to be lost in their own worlds. He watched as the hammering rain moved across, causing thousands of miniature quakes. They stood in the doorway of a stone pump house until the shower passed. A fine mist smelling faintly of chlorine rose above the roiling surface of the reservoir. It drifted lazily over the concrete wall separating them from a steeply angled, concrete shore.
At a parking spot not far away, Robert thought he saw someone sitting in a black van watching. But when they’d made their second trip around the reservoir, the van was gone.
