by Cindy Bell
Suzie walked around the side of the motel and noticed a car parked beside and partially behind the dumpster. It looked like someone had gone to a lot of trouble to try to hide the vehicle. As Suzie stepped closer she recognized the car right away. It was the same car that Neil Runkin drove up to Dune House in. She thought he had left town days ago so what was his car doing at the motel? Suzie glanced around to see if anyone might be nearby. When she saw that no one was around she stepped closer to the car. She wanted to be sure that she was not mistaken. The car looked just like the one that Neil drove, but it could have been a different one.
As she walked around behind the car to check the license plate she noticed something strange. The corner of a thick, white towel stuck out of the trunk. It partially blocked the license plate. Suzie picked up the corner of the towel to see the full plate. When she did she brushed her fingers over the tag which had the letters DH embroidered on it. Suzie froze. That stood for Dune House. Why would Neil have one of the towels from Dune House in his trunk? Her heart began to race as she remembered all of the missing towels and the trail of water out of the bathroom.
As her mind began to piece together what might have happened to Priscilla she grew dizzy. She stumbled back from the trunk and right into the chest of someone who stood behind her. She let out a shriek as she spun around to face the person. Neil scowled at her as he grabbed her hard by the neck with one hand. “You just had to snoop didn’t you?”
Suzie struggled against him. She heard the subtle beep of a key fob being pressed then the click of the trunk popping open. Before she could take a breath the hard edge of the open trunk struck the back of her knees. In that moment she realized she was in real trouble.
She tried to get her bearings enough to fight her way out of the trunk, but Neil swung her legs over the edge and shoved her down on top of a pile of towels. Without a single word of explanation he slammed the trunk shut.
Chapter 18
Darkness filled every corner of the small space. Suzie didn’t dare to take a breath as she waited for what felt like hours, but was just a few minutes. Only when she heard the engine start up did she begin to scream. Through the thick metal of the car she was certain that no one could hear her shrieks for help. After some time she stopped in order to conserve her energy. There was no chance of rescue, she had to focus on how to escape. Suzie tried to see in the dark trunk, but it was a struggle.
The damp towels created a musty scent that made it hard for her to breathe. She could feel the movement of the car as Neil drove along. How could she have missed the fact that Neil was the one who killed Priscilla? He had the most to lose from her changing her mind. Without Priscilla’s support the deal would never go through. The only question on her mind was whether Leanne was in on it as well. Had Neil and Leanne forged some kind of alliance in an attempt to end Priscilla’s life? Her muscles felt every bump and curve in the road. Her jaw clenched with fear.
Suzie tried to work out where Neil might be headed. Would she end up at the beach, tossed into the water as Priscilla had been? Would her body be found in a few days with no explanation of what had happened to her?
Suzie squeezed her eyes shut and balled her hands into fists as she mustered all her energy to remain strong. She had to figure a way out of the predicament she had landed herself in. She shifted in the trunk so that her feet would be available to thrust upward into a kick. The only opportunity for escape that she would likely have was the moment that Neil opened the trunk. When the car finally came to a stop Suzie held her breath. What would Neil do with her? Her heart raced. She thought of Mary and what might happen to her once she was gone. Sure, she would manage, but it wouldn’t be the same. Suzie knew she only had a few minutes to think of something to do.
She grabbed what towels she could find and balled them up together. The more she balled them up the heavier the damp towels became. She heard the door of the car creak open. Then footsteps as they rounded the car. Suzie clutched the ball of towels tightly in her hands. When Neil popped the trunk she waited for him to lean in. When he did she slammed the towels right into his face. Neil stumbled back with surprise. She swung her legs over the side of the trunk and jumped out. Right away she was hit with the scent of the sea. She was near the ocean, near enough to hear the crash of the waves.
Suzie wanted more than anything to flee, but she had no idea in which direction to go in. The car was parked in an empty parking lot of what looked like an abandoned building. She could run towards the street or she could run towards the ocean. If she ran towards the street she had no idea what she would run into. If she ran towards the ocean she presumed that it would eventually lead her back to Dune House. She decided to take her chances in the sand. As she ran she heard Neil shout from behind her.
“You’re not going to get away from me! Get back here!” Suzie ignored his warning and ran as fast as she could. As soon as she reached the sand she realized her mistake. The beach was deserted. There wasn’t a tourist or a local in sight. She had no idea where Neil had driven her, but it was nowhere near Dune House. With her decision already made she had no choice but to keep going. Her feet sank deep into the thick sand. Within moments she left her shoes behind.
Neil’s heavy breath was only a few steps behind her. She had no idea if he would get tired before her. As hard as her heart pounded she wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to run. In the distance she saw a beach umbrella. It was bright yellow and blue. She used it as her focus as she ran as hard and as fast as she could. One slip in the sand and Neil would be upon her. Then there would be no escape. The beach umbrella glimmered in the sunlight. When she was close enough that she thought someone might hear, she risked the breath in her lungs by screaming.
“Help! Please help me!”
She reached the beach umbrella, but the chair beneath it was empty. There was no house to run to, no resort or even a restaurant. It was just a beach umbrella in the middle of an isolated beach that someone might have abandoned long ago. Winded, Suzie tried to run again, but her legs trembled too hard to carry her. She collapsed into the sand. A spray of sand struck the back of her head as Neil skidded to a stop right behind her. She knew then, that she was not going to escape. She might have even made Neil’s life easier by wearing herself out.
“Thanks for the work out.” Neil chuckled. “I needed that.” He reached down and grabbed her under the arms. Suzie made a mild attempt to wriggle free of his grip. She became aware that he didn’t seem the least bit concerned about being seen. That meant that he already knew there was no one around to see him. Suzie closed her eyes and waited for her body to be tossed into the water. Instead Neil pulled her back towards the building.
“Let me go, Neil. Let me go.” Suzie looked up at him as he tugged her right through the door of the building. “Please. I won’t tell anyone. I won’t say a word. Just let me go.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” He scowled at her. “It’s not as if I forced you to get involved in all of this. This is not my fault.”
“Please, Neil.” He tossed her down on the concrete floor. Suzie struggled to pull herself up to her feet. She was exhausted. Neil grabbed her arm firmly.
“Look, this isn’t personal. My life is simple. It’s all about numbers and profit. I can’t let anything get in my way. I lost a lot of money on this property and I have some very dangerous people upset with me. I need this deal to go through. I have a lot riding on it. You are going to be a casualty to a great development for Garber, if that gives you any peace.”
“Just let me go, Neil. If I figured this out, then others will, too. Do you want two murders hanging over your head?”
“Eh, what’s one more?” He pushed her towards the wall of the empty building. “By the time they find you everyone will have forgotten about Priscilla. No one will put two and two together.”
Suzie’s heart lurched. Was he right? Just as he pulled the door closed behind him, Suzie heard something in the distance. She drew a sharp breath at the so
und. Was it possible or was it just her imagination? The thought was swept from her mind as Neil approached her.
“I have to make a phone call. Your presence interrupted a very important meeting. Once that’s settled, I’ll take care of you.” He turned away from her as he pulled out his cell phone. Suzie looked around for anything that she could strike him with. There was nothing but dust and sand on the floor. On one wall a large poster was worn and weathered. It depicted what appeared to be a large resort.
It struck her that Neil was holding her captive in the remains of a failed beach resort. No wonder there was no one around. He probably owned everything she could see. Maybe, just maybe, if someone noticed she was missing and figured out by some miracle that Neil took her, they would think to look for her there. But by the time all of that happened, she was sure it would be far too late for her. She heard snippets of Neil’s conversation about the development deal. It took a callous man to settle business matters while his future murder victim waited for his attention.
Suzie summoned all of her strength and started to stumble towards an open window. It was a bit too high for her to just climb through, but she had to try. As her feet shuffled along the concrete she noticed that Neil’s voice no longer filtered through the air. Her heart sank as she realized that he had hung up the phone. Her futile attempt to reach the window ended before she even made it a few steps. He pinned her back against the wall. However, as she was shoved she heard the sound again. She was certain that the chirp was familiar. “Pumpkin! Pumpkin!”
Neil scowled and looked towards the window. “That damn bird!” His grip tightened on one of her arms. He clamped his other hand over her mouth. “Don’t make a sound, understand?” When he met her eyes Suzie nodded. She knew that he was distracted by the bird, she could only hope that would give her an advantage. The bird landed on the windowsill of the open window. When Suzie saw her she wondered if it was all an illusion. But Neil’s tightened grasp told her that he saw the bird, too.
“Pumpkin! Pumpkin!” The bird shrieked. All at once Suzie knew that the bird wasn’t saying pumpkin at all. Benita was saying Runkin. Since pumpkin was more common that was just what people heard. The entire time the bird knew who the killer was. If only Suzie had paid attention she might have been more cautious around Neil’s car. But she knew better than that. Nothing would have stopped her from investigating.
“I’m going to get rid of that bird once and for all.” He kept one hand clamped over Suzie’s mouth and used his other hand to draw his gun. He pointed it towards the bird on the windowsill.
“No!” Suzie cried out against his palm. With her hands free she grabbed at the hand that held the weapon. Neil’s hand dipped in reaction to the pressure. An explosion filled the air. It rocked Suzie’s senses to the point of stopping her heart and stealing her breath. She squeezed his wrist hard to try to get the weapon to drop, but he easily pushed her back against the wall. When he did she caught sight of the bullet hole in the baseboard beneath the window. Benita was gone, but not likely harmed. However, without the bird to focus on, Neil turned the gun back on Suzie.
“You shouldn’t have done that. I’m getting tired of this fight with you. I think I’m just going to put an end to all of this right this second.”
“No Neil, don’t. This isn’t the way to solve things. It wasn’t the way to deal with Priscilla either. You know that. You just didn’t take the time to think it through. You let your emotions get the better of you.”
“Keep quiet! You have no idea what you’re talking about! Priscilla let that stupid girl get into her head! That wasn’t my fault either.”
“You took a mother from her daughter, you…”
Neil scowled at her with such intensity that Suzie winced. “You have no idea what I have endured for both of those women. When Leanne was a girl I tried. She was a wayward, strong-willed kid with no father to guide her. I stepped up as a father figure for her. I taught her everything I knew about business. I gave her an education that was priceless. Did she thank me? No. Of course not. She used everything I taught her to try to take me down in the public eye. What kind of ruthless person does that?”
Suzie just looked at him without responding. If he was talking then at least he wasn’t pulling the trigger.
“Then Priscilla, my sweet, stupid Priscilla, she got caught up in her daughter’s psychosis. For years I managed to keep the two of them apart, but in the end Leanne managed to creep inside of Priscilla’s head. That’s when I knew that I had no choice but to end it. Priscilla came to me and said she wanted out of the deal, the deal that was going to make us both millionaires, the deal that I’ve been working towards my entire life. How could I ever let that happen? I mixed her a drink. I spiked it, then I took care of things. She never felt a thing. She never knew what happened. I was merciful.”
“There is nothing merciful about murder!” Suzie met his eyes with fury in her own. “You’re a selfish, terrible person, Neil, and no amount of justification is going to change that.”
“I’m okay with being who I am.” He shrugged. “I don’t have a choice in the matter. It’s my nature. This building we’re in now was supposed to be my ticket to success. It was going to be the jewel of the coast. Instead, the deal was stopped because of an issue with turtles. Can you believe it? Rats in shells cost me every penny of my investment. It took years of small buys to build my fortune again. Then I turned around and sank it into this deal. I will not let anything stop it from going through. Not Priscilla, not you, and not Leanne if she gets it in her head to try to stop me. I will go and pick off every one of those seabirds myself if I need to.”
“It’s crazy that you can feel this way, Neil. These people were like your family, and this is how you treated them? It’s disgusting. You have to see that none of this can be right. You’re sick, and you need help, Neil.”
“It’s all over for you now. Money is power, and I don’t need family if I’m successful. You consider that woman you live with to be your family don’t you? How about that fisherman you date? And your long lost cousin, a police officer no less? But who showed up to save you? Just some belligerent bird. That’s how far family gets you, Suzie. I’m doing you a favor by ending things for you before you’re forced to learn that lesson.”
He raised the gun and pointed it towards her face. Suzie flinched and turned away but she knew there was no real way to avoid the bullet.
An explosion filled the air. Suzie’s entire body jolted. She felt a heavy weight against her chest. It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. She braced herself for her final breath. But she didn’t feel any pain, or have any difficulty breathing. In fact her heart pounded so hard that she was sure it was getting stronger.
“Suzie? Suzie!”
She knew that voice, it was Jason. She opened her eyes. Benita perched on the windowsill right in front of her. Suzie realized that the heaviness against her chest was Neil’s weight slumped against her. The gun in his hand clattered to the cement floor.
“Jason?” Suzie cleared her throat. She was shocked that she could speak.
“Hold on.” Jason tugged at Neil until he crumpled to the ground. Suzie could see that he’d been shot in the shoulder. His eyes were closed, but his face crinkled in pain. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Jason looked her over from head to toe. “I have the medics on their way in.”
“I’m okay, Jason. I think I’m okay.” She looked up at him with wide eyes. “You saved me.”
Behind Jason, Kirk rushed in followed by a few uniformed officers. Jason looked into her eyes.
“Suzie. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.” Without awaiting a response Jason put his arms around her and held her close. Only then did Suzie realize that tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I’m so glad you came.” She hugged him in return with her arms so tight around him that she wondered if he could breathe.
“Let’s get you outside.” Jason guided her past the paramedics that tended to Ne
il. Kirk retrieved Neil’s gun, then stood watch over him. The sunlight greeted Suzie as she stepped outside. There, in the parking lot, strenuously restrained by two officers was Mary. She pushed past the officers and rushed towards her.
“I know you told me to wait here, Jason, but I heard the gun shot, and I…” Mary hugged Suzie. “Are you okay? Please tell me that you’re not hurt.”
“I’m not hurt,” Suzie said.
“I will kill him!” Mary exclaimed. “I will kill him with my bare hands, Jason, you might need to put me in handcuffs.”
“Oh Mary.” Suzie smiled through tear-filled eyes. “You’re not going to kill anyone.”
“You don’t know that. I might. I sure want to.” Mary pursed her lips. “I got a call from Maurice. He said you let the bird loose and it was shrieking about pumpkins. I knew you would never do that so I tried to call your cell phone. When you didn’t answer I knew something was wrong. Wes and I drove to the motel. We found your purse, your phone, and an open birdcage. Benita was shrieking just like Maurice said she was. Wes threatened Maurice for information, but Maurice insisted he only gave you the key and hadn’t seen you since. Benita kept flying around the dumpster. Wes noticed an oil stain on the ground. He saw the same oil stain at Dune House and put two and two together and we presumed that it was probably from Neil’s car. Since it was fresh, we thought perhaps he saw what happened or was involved. After the paperwork we found, Neil was already our best suspect.”
“And then Benita led you all the way here?” Suzie’s eyes widened.
“No, not exactly.” Mary smiled. “Jason ordered a ‘be on the lookout’ for Neil’s vehicle to be sent out to all patrol cars. Since Neil’s car is pretty noticeable it didn’t take long to track it down. Wes has a police radio so we came here straight away. I did let Benita out of her cage when we got here hoping that she might distract Neil. I had no idea that she would land on the windowsill like that.”