Carol's Image

by Jordan, Maryann

  Cal followed them out, telling Sylvie, “I got shit to do. Make sure she gets back in that room and get her more food that you don’t eat. Gonna send someone up to check on you in a bit.” With that, Cal headed down the stairs at the end of the hall.

  Walking into the bathroom, Carol continued to pretend to be sick, so she headed into the first stall. As she passed the sinks, she noticed a small window on the side of the room that appeared to be just wide enough for her to fit through. Oh, thank Jesus. Now to get rid of Sylvie.

  Making gagging noises in the stall, she then came out and walked to the sink. “Sylvie, can you get some more water and food for me?”

  Sylvie, standing at the sinks, had washed some blood off of her face but left the bloody paper towels in the sink. Sylvie, in her drugged state, just shrugged and sauntered out of the bathroom. Carol felt a quick pang of guilt, knowing that Sylvie would suffer the consequences for leaving her alone, but she had to think of herself first. As soon as I can get out of here, I’m getting help for these girls. Jesus, he must keep them all drugged to stay in this dump.

  Running to the window, she found that it was the old fashioned type that opened from the top and the glass pane leaned back toward the room. She eyed the opening, then looked down at her body. God, let me fit. Please, let me fit.

  *

  Tom and Jake rendezvoused with Shane and the others from the Richland Police Department in a run-down, industrial area of Richland that had seen better days. A few bars, liquor stores, and stripper joints were mixed among the other shops trying to eke out a business with the economy down. By now, the evening was descending and the few street lights that were working gave off very little illumination for the rescuers.

  Shane strolled over to Jake’s truck as soon as they pulled into an empty parking lot down the street from the Pussy Club. Just at six feet tall, Shane was a large man, barreled chested with his Kevlar vest in place. His short dark hair was tipped in blond spikes and with his plain clothes on, he looked like he belonged in one of the seedier bars along the strip. Quickly shaking hands, Shane got down to business.

  “We’ve been watching the building since you contacted us. We haven’t seen the car that Cal was described as coming in, but he could have changed vehicles again. It has a garage in back with a metal gated door. Several vehicles have gone in or out, so he could have been in one of those.”

  Another officer came jogging over with a piece of paper in his hand. “Got the search warrant.”

  The group gathered around, reviewing the plan for surrounding and entering the building. The police had a picture of Carol from her hospital ID that had been faxed over, but Tom had a more recent one on his phone. Shane glanced at Tom’s phone, then looked back up at his friend’s face.

  “We’ll get her, Tom,” Shane said.

  Tom found that once again, he couldn’t speak. Anxious to get inside, he saw a look pass between Shane and Jake. Instantly, he knew that look. “Oh no. You are not leavin’ me outta this. I’m cool. I got this.”

  Shane looked him over. “Puttin’ my job on the line lettin’ you go in. You stay focused. You look for your girl and leave Cal to us.”

  “Got it. All the fuck I want is Carol,” Tom answered.

  “All right. Let’s do it.” And with that, Shane led the others toward the club.

  Chapter 24

  Putting one foot up on the sink to gain height, Carol pulled her head up to the window and pushed the top half of her body through the narrow opening. Looking around quickly, she could see that she was on the third level of a four-story, brick building in what looked like a run-down industrial area. An old, rusty fire escape ladder ran down the side of the building, just a few feet from where she was. Using her hands, she grasped the outer edge of the window to continue to pull her hips as far as she could. Goddamn it. The metal sides of the window panes dug into her hips as she wiggled back and forth. The thin material of her hospital scrubs ripped on the sides as she continued to force her body through the opening.

  Looking to the right, she realized the ladder was not as close as she thought. She was just going to be able to grasp it with her hands, but that was going to take a lot of strength to keep her from plunging down to the concrete below.

  “Why the fuck did you leave her alone?” Cal’s voice rang out from a distance.

  Shit! He’s coming back.

  With her legs still dangling inside the bathroom, she stretched as far as she could, managing to grab hold of the ladder with her right hand. Just then she felt someone grab her foot.

  “You fuckin’ bitch, get back in here,” Cal barked out, grabbing at her feet.

  Carol kicked out as hard as she could, feeling her shoe come off in the process. Hanging on to the ladder with just her hands, she swung her body toward it, scraping her front across the brick wall. She felt her fingers slipping just as her feet found their way to one of the ladder rungs.

  Catching her leg on a long metal spike that formerly helped anchor the ladder to the brick wall, Carol felt the stabbing pain as her leg was sliced.

  “Where the fuck do you think you’re goin’,” Cal yelled, as he stuck his head through the window. “I’m just gonna get you on the ground, you stupid cunt, and then you’ll wish you hadn’t caused me this much trouble.”

  Carol looked at him, and his eyes locked onto hers. Cold. Dead. Serious. No sympathy. Killer.

  Oh, Jesus, help me. Her limbs still shaky with the effects of the drugs in her system, she began to descend. The metal was cold and rusty in places. She couldn’t go as fast as she wanted…it was as though her hands and feet could not answer the call of her brain to hurry. He’s going to go down there. He’s going to be there when I land. He’s going to get me again. She turned her eyes upward. The roof.

  *

  Shane led his team, along with Jake and Tom, through the front of the Pussy Club, with others surrounding all of the exits. Waving the search warrant, they fanned out through the front lobby and into the bar area. Several strippers stopped dancing and stood numbly on stage, not knowing what was expected. The few patrons left jumped up and attempted to leave, but were quickly stopped. The bartender, a huge man with a shaved and tattooed head, glared out at the police. “Ain’t doin’ nuthin’ wrong. Got a legit license.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Shane growled. “Cal Penski here? He bring a woman here earlier?”

  “Don’t know no Cal,” the bartender answered. His eyes shifted slightly, before landing back onto Shane’s eyes.

  If Shane hadn’t been watching closely, he would have missed the movement. Fucker’s lyin’.

  Before Shane could react, Tom reached over the bar grabbing the bartender by the front of his shirt, jerking him halfway across the bar. Wrapping his other hand around the bartendar’s throat, he began slowly squeezing. “Not fuckin’ around, asshole. Cal’s here and he brought someone with him. Cough him up or you’re gonna be suckin’ your food through a straw for the rest of your life,” Tom said with deadly calm.

  The bartender tried to grab Tom’s arms, but found them pinned down by Jake. His eyes shot over to Shane, and he choked out, “You gonna…let…’em do…this?”

  Shane, looking bored, just glanced at the bartender. “Do what, man? I don’t see nuthin’.”

  The bartendar’s face turned red, then purple, and he began gasping. “Up…stairs. Her…up…st.” Tom let go suddenly, and the bartender’s face landed heavily on the bar as he tried to breathe. Jake handed him off to one of the other officers and rounded the bar.

  Shane looked up on stage at the girl closest to him. Thin with fake tits, she had the hollow-eyed look of a user. Speaking softly, he said, “Can you show us where Cal took the girl? Which room?”

  Confusion then fear showed in her face, as she shook her head. “He won’t like it.” Her eyes wide, she looked around desperately, as though to find someone to tell her what to do.

  “Girl, he’s not here to help you now. You know somethin’ about this girl
he brought in, and you don’t help us, that makes you a party to a kidnappin’. You want that?”

  The dancer chewed her lip, still looking around. Her eyes finally fell back onto Shane’s. Speaking softly, she mumbled, “She’s on the third floor, back room.”

  Shane’s eyes gentled momentarily. “Thanks doll. You did good.”

  Tom was already pounding up the stairs with Jake right on his heels. Rounding the last landing to the third floor, he could feel his heart in his throat at what he might find. Several girls had come out of rooms to see what was going one. As more police followed Tom and Jake, they screamed and ran back into their rooms, pushing their clients in as they went.

  Bursting through the stairwell door to the third floor, Tom plowed into Sylvie, knocking her to the floor. Jake grabbed her quickly, assisting her up as he scanned her bloody face. “Where’s the girl?” he asked her gently, seeing the signs of drug use on her arms.

  Sylvie stared emptily at the men gathering around. “She was in there,” she said pointing to the room at the end of the hall. As Tom sprinted off towards the room, she continued, “She ain’t there anymore. She went out the bathroom window.” Sylvie pointed to the door behind her and would have been knocked down again by Tom, if Jake hadn’t pulled her out of the way. Jake handed her off to one of the other policemen as he and Shane followed Tom into the bathroom.

  By the sinks was a small, open window. The men saw blood in the sinks and Carol’s tennis shoe on the floor. Tom’s heart sank. Oh Jesus, help her.

  Running to the window, he leaned out, looking quickly to the left and to the right. Seeing blood on the window, he noticed the ladder. “She went out here,” he shouted back, looking down toward the ground. “But I don’t see her on the ladder.”

  Looking up, his heart nearly stopped. Carol was clinging to the rickety ladder trying to move upwards towards the roof. “The roof,” he shouted. “She’s going up.” Turning, he and Jake ran out of the room towards the staircase.

  Shane looked at Sylvie. “Where is he? Is he still after her?”

  Sylvie barely nodded as her eyes raised upwards.

  Shane nodded, and headed after Tom and Jake, shouting for the rest of his men to follow. Radioing down to the men on the outside, he told them that Cal was up on the roof, and he wanted his men in place.

  As the three men got to the top of the stairs leading to the roof, Shane grabbed Tom’s arm, swinging him around. Tom reacted by advancing on Shane, anger and fear pouring off of him.

  “What the fuck, man?” Tom roared.

  Jake, understanding both sides, stepped in between of the two men. “Tom,” Jake spoke quietly.

  Tom’s eyes quickly shot over to his partner, friend, brother. Taking a shaky breath, he let it out slowly. “I got it.” His eyes landed back on Shane’s. “I got this.”

  Shane stared for just a second in Tom’s eyes, then nodded his head toward the roof door. “Let’s get your girl,” he stated. “And that asshole.”

  *

  Carol, sweating and shaking, managed to move up one slow rung of the ladder at a time. Afraid of heights, she refused to look down, but she didn’t have to look to know she was almost five floors above the hard concrete street.

  Clinging to the ladder for fear of slipping, she was so weary she could only manage to hang on. The effects of the drugs had not worn off and with her leg bleeding, she realized that the effort of trying to move up the ladder was depleting what little energy she had left.

  Looking up toward the roof, she knew she didn’t have much farther to go. Come on. You can do this. You are strong. You can do anything. You can do this. Chanting this mantra over and over in her mind, she climbed up one more rung.

  “Hey Blondie. How’s it going?”

  Hearing that dreaded voice above her, Carol halted in her progress. Fuck. Cal went up and not down to the ground. Glancing down, she realized she would never manage to get down before him. She was trapped. Trapped on a ladder clinging to the side of a building five floors above the ground. With a killer just a few feet away.

  Shaking, she wrapped her arms around the rusty metal as tight as she could, giving way to the tears threatening to fall.

  “I was gonna give you everything, you stupid cunt. You were gonna be my woman. My number one. Do you have any idea how many woman woulda wanted that, bitch?” Cal mocked. “So guess what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna sit right down and just wait. You’ll either make it up here where you’ll go in my stable – I’ll make a killin’ off of you, blondie – or, you’ll get tired and fall way, way, way down.”

  Carol couldn’t stop the tears from falling. She wasn’t going to make it. She couldn’t hold on much longer, and she couldn’t move up the ladder either.

  Shaking, bleeding, clinging to the ladder. Holding on for her life. Tom. His face filled her memory. I love him. I wish he were here. Will he ever even know what happened to me? He loved me for me. He loved me just as I am. Not some image in his mind of who I should be. But he just loved ME. He saved me from the image in the mirror. If only I could tell him one last time. Her arms began to shake as she felt her muscles weakening.

  *

  Tom, Jake, Shane and the other members of the police force quickly and silently crept onto the roof, revolvers drawn, ready for battle and rescue. Fanning out, shielding themselves with the large air conditioning units, they positioned themselves.

  Hearing shouting and cursing to the left, Tom and Shane peered around the barrier. Cal. Alone. Where’s Carol? Jesus, is she still on the ladder?

  Shane signaled for his men to surround Cal, but warned them not to shoot. Creeping, they made their way closer to Cal without alerting him to their presence. They could now see that he is leaning over the ladder, waving a gun and shouting obscenities at Carol, still trapped on the ladder.

  “Cal Penski. Drop your weapon,” Shane’s low growl rang out along the rooftop.

  Cal whirled around, eyes narrowing as Shane walked out from behind a barrier with his revolver pointed directly at Cal’s chest. Cal’s eyes darted quickly around as Jake and Shane’s men approached as well.

  “You fuckers. You think you’ve won. This joint ain’t nothin’. You want the man. You need me to get him. You shoot me now, you ain’t never gonna get ’im.” Looking Shane directly in the eyes, he grinned. “And I know you want the big man, you prick. I’m worth a lot more to you alive.”

  Tom rounded the corner of the barrier, holding his revolver at Cal’s head. Cal’s eyes widened at the sight of him and he licked his lips nervously.

  “You ain’t gonna shoot me over some piece of ass, are you man? Nawh. You need me. You need me too much.” Eyes darting back and forth between the guns trained on him, his mind raced.

  Shane spoke up. “You think we need you to get to the top of this shithole chain? You think you’re that goddamn important? You’re no more than a shit stain on the bottom of their shoes. I’ll get them, asshole, and don’t need you to do it.”

  Cal, sweating profusely, shook his head. “I know my rights, fucker. You can’t just shoot me.”

  Shane jerked his head toward Tom. “Maybe I can’t, but this here is just a man looking to get revenge on whoever’s been fuckin’ with his woman. And you happen to be that fucker, so I don’t suppose there’s anything stoppin’ him.”

  Cal, still standing on the edge of the roof, lowered his gun down hoping it would look like he was surrendering, while aiming it toward Carol.

  Having heard shouting but unable to make out what was said, Carol continued to cling to the ladder. She spared a glance down just to look at her leg to see if she was still bleeding but was unable to do so without also seeing the ground five stories below.

  Jerking her head back up, she clung to the ladder even tighter. How long can I hold on? Her muscles began to shake with the exertion and adrenaline. Please God. Save me.

  Glancing up, she saw Cal standing on the edge of the roof…with the gun pointing down…directly at her.

 
; *

  Tom’s hands were shaking as he held his revolver pointing directly toward Cal. Focus. Hold it together for Carol’s sake. Impatient, knowing that Carol was clinging to the ladder, he knew that they had no more time to spare. “Shane,” he said on a low growl.

  “Got it, man,” was the response.

  Shane advanced a couple of steps toward Cal. “Step off the side Cal and drop the gun. We’re through fuckin’ around. Already told you, you’re not needed. We’ll shut down the drugs comin’ in with or without you. You got five seconds, or I give the order to shoot.”

  Cal knew his life wouldn’t be worth living once he hit prison. Hell, if he even lived that long. That goddamn girl. If she had just come along willingly, he wouldn’t be stuck up here on this fuckin’ roof. Sweat pouring, he made up his mind. Better to go out quick than be stuck in jail after rolling over on the bosses. But I ain’t goin’ alone. A shit-eating grin split his face as he whirled around firing off a round down at Carol before the bullets slammed into his body from all directions.

  Hearing shots, Carol’s eyes watched in horror as Cal’s body flew passed her on its way down to the ground. Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. She began to shake violently as her body gave way to the adrenaline rush.

  Tom ran to the edge of the roof with Jake and Shane right at his back. Peering over the edge, with his heart in his throat, he saw Carol still clinging to the ladder just out of his reach.

  “Carol!” he shouted, his voice tight with emotion. “Angel, can you climb up?”

  Carol’s eyes shut tightly, she shook her head. In the distance, she heard Tom’s voice. He found me. He came for me. It washed over her in relief, but her body would not move. She clung tighter to the ladder terrified of plummeting down as well.

  Tom started to haul his body over the side to climb down the ladder to her, but Shane grabbed him back. “What the fuck?” Tom roared out. “Let me get to her.”

  “Tom, that ladder may not hold both of you,” Shane answered, looking at the rusty ladder.