by Joyce Nance
***
Esther let out a small sigh of relief when they left the back office. She also could not believe the manager was not cooperative. Every place she had ever worked had always advised their employees to comply with any would-be robber’s demands. It was safer, they said. Esther agreed with that philosophy and felt Mylinh was wrong.
Deciding she needed to keep her eye on two situations at once, Esther moved so she could monitor both Shane and the kids, straddling the back room door frame.
She looked over at her young captives. “Okay, I need you guys to set yourselves on the floor over there and shut the fuck up,” she said, gun pointed at them.
“And do yourselves a favor,” she added, in a rough voice. “Don’t fucking argue. It’s not worth it.”
The minutes ticked by in silence. Esther and her captives cocked their heads whenever the occasional and barely audible conversation drifted in from the front of the store. Esther couldn’t really make out anything that was said. Eventually Shane and a grim-faced Mylinh returned. Shane head-motioned Esther over.
“There’s only one car in the parking lot,” he said in a low voice. “Ask these kids who’s waiting for a ride. Ask ’em who’s coming.”
Esther pushed a strand of hair away from her face and asked Zach and Jowanda if they were expecting anyone. Jowanda shook her head but Zach chewed on a thumbnail and looked pale.
“My grandparents are coming,” he said at last.
Esther’s mouth twisted. “What?”
“My grandparents are coming to pick me up,” Zach repeated soberly.
As he spoke, Esther heard a rumble in the parking lot outside and looked in that direction. Through the storefront’s plate-glass window she saw headlights going from bright to black. She frowned.
“Do they drive a white car?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Shane shifted his stance and leaned his mouth into Esther’s ear. “You need to go outside right now and try and get in that car with those people. Don’t let none of ’em come in here. And for sure don’t let ’em leave.”
Esther hesitated.
“Right now,” he said.
She nodded, trying to remember her own advice about cooperation.
Before she left, Shane asked for the surveillance tape.
In robot mode, she handed him the video cassette. After one last look around, Esther shuffled outside to deal with the grandparents, leaving the employees alone with Shane.
The mood of the room darkened considerably with her departure.
***
Outside, Esther approached a white Buick Skylark, the grandparent’s car. She rapped on the driver’s window and a gray-haired woman wearing smallish wire-rimmed glasses and a brown cloth jacket turned toward her, eyes big.
With a phony smile, Esther pointed and swirled her hand in little circles, motioning for the woman to roll down her window. The woman squinted a long moment before opening the glass an inch.
“What is it?” the woman asked, still squinting.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Esther said, hunched over the small opening, teeth chattering in the cold. “The manager told me I had to wait outside ’til her and Zach finished the money count and I was wondering if you could help me out.”
“How is it we can help, dear?” the woman asked, pushing up her glasses.
“Right. Well, it’s kinda cold out here and since the heater in my car is broke, I was wondering could I wait for them in your car … ’til they’re done?” Esther faked a grin and threw in extra teeth chattering for effect.
The old woman hesitated a moment and then smiled cordially, reaching behind her to unlock the back door. “Of course you can, honey. Come on in. It’s real warm in here. You can visit with us while you wait. We love meeting new people.”
Esther slid in to the back seat, rubbing her hands together, seemingly for warmth. An older gentleman in the passenger seat turned and faced her.
“I’m Pauline and this is my husband George. We’re Zachary’s grandparents,” the woman said, extending a thin hand.
“Marion,” Esther said. She shook Pauline’s hand, then George’s.
“Nice to meet you Marion,” Pauline said graciously. “Have you known Zachary long?”
“Oh, for a while now,” Esther replied.
“Well, he’s a great kid. A really great kid. He just graduated from high school last year and he’s been working at the video store full time to try to make some money to go to art school. He’s a wonderful artist. Just last week he sent his resume to Disney World.
“Zach’s been living with us for a few months. To be closer to his job,” Pauline continued. “We just love having him. He helps us out quite a bit.”
“Yeah, he seems like a good kid,” Esther said. “He doesn’t drive?
“What’s that you say?” Pauline said, putting her hand to her ear. “I didn’t hear you.”
Esther leaned closer. “I said, does Zach drive?”
“No, no. Hasn’t got around to it. That’s why we’re here ... to take him home. Some people say it’s a bother coming this late at night, but it’s no bother. No bother at all. We just set our alarm and come down and get him. We want to make sure he gets home safe and sound.”
Esther tipped her head back and worked on forming her next pseudo question. From where she sat, she could see the store interior, but because the grandparents were turned to face her, they couldn’t. Inside movements caught Esther's eye. First, she saw the rest of the overhead fluorescents go dark. Then, she saw the outline of Shane and Mylinh returning to the front of the store — this time to the cash register. Shane appeared to say something, then Mylinh knelt on the ground, out of view. Esther couldn’t tell what Mylinh was doing, but thought she might be accessing the safe again. In any case, one minute later they retreated to the back office.
Esther didn’t see anyone else come in or go out.
“So how long has Zach worked at this store?” Esther asked, forcing a smile, as she tried to ignore the action inside.
“How long? Since last summer I believe. He likes working here. He's always talking about the girls he works with.” Pauline reached over and put her arm on George’s shoulder. He flashed her a loving smile.
“The girls are great,” Pauline said. “Jowanda and Sheila are young, they’re still in high school. They go to Highland High, right around the corner.” Pauline pointed west. “Jowanda was on the basketball team this year and she was a Homecoming princess, too. She’s a beautiful girl. And the manager, Mylinh, is a very serious person. About a year ago, she came over here from Viet Nam … to get away from the war. She’s a tough cookie and a hard little worker, but nice. Real nice.”
As Pauline spoke, Esther heard something. Something that made her stomach ball up and her mouth go dry. She heard a succession of jarring, booming blasts, then a pause, and then another series of very loud bursts, coming extremely close together. She would later describe the noise as sounding like someone taking a hammer and beating it hard on the concrete.
Esther searched the good-natured faces of the Pauline and George McDougall, trying to determine if they heard what she heard. They showed no signs of reacting to anything out of the ordinary. Pauline was now talking about George’s career in the railroad.
During the ensuing moments, while trying to comprehend what was occurring inside the store, Esther could only murmur canned responses.
“Uh-huh,” she said to all of Pauline’s statements, her mind a million miles away.
At first the entire situation was too much for Esther to process. She was overwhelmed, numb. The half of her brain that understood what had just happened would not explain it to the other half that didn’t.
Then it hit her — she knew what the noises were. She grabbed both sides of her face.
She had just heard a series of gunshots in quick succession, with pauses in between. Her mind spun out of control. What was going on? More importantly, what could she do about it? She scrutinized
the grandparents again but they still appeared unaware. Pauline kept chatting.
Esther didn’t know how she knew, but she knew Shane had done the shooting. She also knew gunfire was not part of the plan. In fact, guns weren’t part of the plan. Not real ones anyway.
Esther belatedly realized that Shane had his own plan and she had better figure one out too — quickly.
She knew that the grandparents were in imminent danger. And most likely she was, too. She had no weapon to fend him off if it came to that. Her BB gun wasn’t going to stop anyone even if it was loaded, which it wasn’t. Obviously Shane had gone over the edge and both she and the grandparents needed to leave immediately. Even though it was possibly not in her own best interest, she thought she might nee to go the police.
But in the split second before she could act, before she could get the words out of her mouth to warn the grandparents, to tell them to start the car and drive away fast, a wild-eyed, over-the-top Shane Harrison ran out of the video store. He stood on the sidewalk, swiveling his head rapidly from side to side, hyperventilating. He held the TEC-9 in one hand and a clear plastic trash bag containing a lot of cash in the other.
Chapter 14
“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”
HENRI BERGSON
Time stood still for Esther. Questions flooded her brain. What was going on? Why did Shane have the TEC-9 in his hand? Why were his eyes going in two different directions? Had he gone insane? Why was he so ramped up? He hadn’t been like that a few minutes ago.
She peered inside the store and saw no movement. Why was her heart pounding so loud? Esther wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, she just knew it was bad.
***
The McDougall's still had their heads turned away from the store, facing Esther. They did not see Shane stuff a bag of cash through the Fiero's open passenger window. Nor did they see him replace the ammo clip on the TEC-9 with a fresh one. They didn’t even see him run over to the driver’s side of their car.
Until he got there.
“Open up,” Shane shouted. Pauline looked at the tall man with the gun in his hand and then fearfully at George and Esther. She hesitated. He began beating on the window with his fist.
Before Esther could say anything, Pauline opened her window a couple of inches. “Stop it,” she said loudly. “You’re going to break my window.”
“Open your door,” he yelled back.
Pauline told him she would not do it. Shane turned and faced Esther. He commanded her to force the woman to open the door. Esther slumped, trying to disappear. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The grandparents looked at each other, realizing at the same time that the monster at the window and Esther were in it together.
“Hey you, air-brain,” Shane yelled at Esther. “I need your help here. Get your fucking gun out and make this old lady open the damn door before I shoot a hole through it.” Shane pointed the TEC-9 at the grandmother.
Esther did not want to get heavy-handed with the grandparents, but she didn’t want to make Shane any madder either. She decided that since he had the actual weapon and she didn’t, she would do what he said.
“Just cooperate, Pauline. Do what he says. Open your door,” she said, half-heartedly pointing her gun at the grandparents.
George, the grandfather, knew something about handguns. He took a hard look at Esther’s weapon.
“That’s not a real gun,” he said and reached out to grab it from her.
“Yes, it is,” Esther said, pulling away. “Open your door, Pauline. It’s not helping you to fight him.”
Pauline’s look of betrayal said it all, but she unlocked the door.
Shane, still breathing hard, leaned into the back seat. His voice deep and brusque. “I want everyone to stay calm. We’re gonna go for a ride now. Esther, keep your gun on ’em and make ’em follow me.”
Esther’s lips barely moved, “Okay,” she said.
Shane got out and walked toward his car but at the last minute, he stopped and came back. “Never mind,” he said. “Esther, you get out. I’m gonna ride with ’em. Follow me in my car.”
Esther didn’t answer. She remained in the backseat, mouth open, the McDougall's staring at her.
“Get in my fucking car, dumbass,” he said in a near shout, then yanked her out. “I don’t have time for you to stare at me like some fucking retard.”
“Where are we driving to?” Esther asked.
“You’ll see,” he said. “Follow me.”
Fire crackers popped in Esther’s head. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Not knowing what else to do, Esther started the Fiero. Shane was in the backseat of the grandparent’s Buick, with Pauline driving.
The Buick merged onto Interstate 40 and headed east towards the mountains. Esther followed.
I need a plan, she told herself. I need to stop him. She squeezed the steering wheel, trying to think, desperately trying to think of something. She considered getting off the freeway and finding a police station, telling the cops. Then she remembered that would involve implicating herself in crimes already committed.
It doesn’t matter, she told herself. I need help. Besides, it was most likely the only chance she had to save the McDougall's — and probably herself — from Shane.
She got as far as turning onto the Eubank Boulevard exit before she swerved back onto the freeway and resumed following the Buick.
If I don’t stay behind them, she realized, how will I know where they are?
Her new plan was to follow him, and when he got to wherever he was going, talk him out of killing the grandparents. Somehow. In less dire times, he had been amenable to listening to her ideas. Maybe he would listen now. Maybe by the time they stopped driving he would have become more rational.
For now, they continued to drive. They had driven through the whole of Albuquerque and were deep into the East Sandia Mountains. Though Esther didn't know it at the time, the East Mountains was an area where some of New Mexico’s most notorious crimes had been committed.
Where is he going? she wondered.
Maybe he was headed to the same location they had test-fired the guns? No, she decided, based on their travel time and the fact that this area was more heavily forested, he was headed somewhere else. Esther followed the Buick when it turned off onto a smaller, darker highway. She stayed close, no further than two car lengths back, so as not to lose them.
After driving about ten minutes more, the McDougall’s car veered onto a rutted dirt road and bounced to a stop. Esther parked behind them and switched off her lights.
***
The area where they parked could be described as uninviting at best. It was dark, lit only by a cloudy half moon, littered with trash, and hidden. At 7,000 feet, the air was thin and cold, most likely below freezing, and Shane was the only person wearing anything close to a heavy jacket. Everyone else was dressed for warmer weather.
It was quiet, too. Any noise created here, traffic or otherwise, would be absorbed by the many trees surrounding them in this isolated location.
***
Though Esther planned to stop Shane, once she turned off the engine, she didn’t get out of the car. Fear kept her glued to her seat. She would get out in a minute, she told herself; but in the meantime, the best she could do was to monitor events from inside the car.
Shane cracked open the door of the Buick and the dome light came on. He must have left the car keys in the ignition because Esther heard the periodic warning tone. Ding, ding, ding. Otherwise, it was disconsolately silent inside the Buick.
She watched Shane's silhouette lean over and say something to Pauline's silhouette.
She felt sick. She knew the grandparents were doomed if she didn’t do something — soon. She rolled down the windows to get a crosswind going, hoping the cold air might snap her out of her inertia.
She saw more movement in the Buick. Shane slithered out of the driver side door and glanced around. Appa
rently satisfied, he stuck the TEC-9 in his pants and lit a cigarette. Esther thought she saw his hand shake.
“Get out,” Shane said to Pauline.
When she hesitated, he reached over and yanked her out by the upper arm.
“You too, old man,” he said in a low voice. “This side. Come out this side. Don’t try anything. I’m watching you all the way.”
George slid across the bench seat and stood next to his wife. They wore only thin jackets.
Rolling his cigarette between his thumb and middle finger, Shane turned his head toward the grandparents. “Stay where you’re at ’til I get back,” he ordered.
Shane slogged through the mud over to the open passenger-side window of the Fiero, and without saying a word, leaned in and grabbed something. Esther’s eyebrows shot up when he picked up a black duffle bag from under the floorboard and pulled it out the window. She gasped when she saw him unzip the bag and take out a shotgun.
“You don’t have to kill them,” she blurted out, almost hysterically. “They’re just old people. Just tie ’em up. By the time anyone finds ’em, we’ll be long gone.”
He paused for a moment, tipping his head. “No, they have to die,” he said flatly.
Shane carried the shotgun around to the other side of the car, to where Esther was, and held it out. “You shoot ’em,” he said. “I shot the other ones. You shoot these ones.”
Esther’s mouth dropped open and she shook her head furiously from side to side. “Shoot ’em? I’m not gonna shoot ’em. You don’t need to shoot ’em either. No one does.”
His upper lip lifted in anger. “I shoulda known better than to bring you with me. You’re too stupid for words.” He dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his toe. “They seen us, don’t you get it? They fucking seen us. They have to die.” His right hand curled and uncurled around the shotgun’s handle.
“Why?” she pleaded. “They haven’t done anything to us. Just tie them up and we’ll get out of here.” She reached out the window and tried to pry the shotgun from his hand.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he said and slapped her arm away. Esther went silent, still frozen in her seat.