Obsessed (9781617732393)

by Gibson, Jo

  “Thanks for telling me, Berto. I’m just sorry that poor Ramon will be hurt. From what you told me, he sounds like a really nice guy.”

  Berto nodded. “He is. Say, Judy . . . maybe I should . . . ”

  “No way.” Judy interrupted what was sure to be an offer to set her up with Ramon. “I hate arranged dates. And I’m already interested in someone.”

  “Anybody I know?” Berto grinned at her.

  “As a matter of fact, you know him quite well.”

  Judy didn’t realize how that sounded until she saw the pleased expression on Berto’s face. Oh, great! Berto thought she was talking about him! Judy tried to figure out some way to let him down easy, but everything she thought of sounded too cruel. She guessed it wouldn’t hurt to let Berto think she was interested in him, at least for today. She’d straighten everything out later, when she wasn’t so preoccupied with Nita and Michael.

  “Here, Judy . . . I’ll take your tray.”

  Judy barely noticed as Berto got up and carried their trays to the trash container against the wall. She was too busy trying to decide what to do about Michael and Nita. They really looked as though they were falling in love. Of course it wouldn’t last. Judy knew that. Nita wasn’t right for Michael at all. They didn’t have a thing in common. Michael would be truly miserable if he married Nita, but he wasn’t thinking clearly enough to realize it. It was up to her to save him from Nita’s clutches. But how?

  Suddenly Judy began to smile. She’d show Michael just how unsuitable Nita was, and the American History exhibit was a good place to start. Michael was a Civil War buff—that was why Judy had memorized the whole time line of Civil War battles in her encyclopedia. All that work was about to pay off. She’d get Michael talking about the Civil War, and ask him some pertinent questions. He’d realize that she could carry on an intelligent conversation, and Nita wouldn’t be able to say a thing.

  “Are you ready to go?” Berto came back to the table and held out his hand to her.

  “I’m ready.” Judy took his hand and stood up. “Do you know much about the Civil War, Berto?”

  “Sure. That’s my favorite time period.”

  “Really!” Judy smiled happily. Berto was bright, and she had no doubt that he could hold up his end of the conversation. They would have a three-way discussion which would leave Nita out in the cold . . . she hoped. Judy held her breath as she asked the question. “How about Nita? Is she a Civil War buff?”

  “Nita?” Berto’s mouth dropped open, and he began to laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding! Nita hates history. Remember that television miniseries about the Civil War?”

  “The Blue and The Gray?”

  “That’s the one.” Berto nodded. “Nita read the title in the T.V. Guide, and she asked me who was playing.”

  Judy was puzzled. “I don’t get it.”

  “Neither did Nita. She thought blue and gray were the colors for a football team!”

  “Isn’t that fascinating, Nita?” Judy had the smile of a predator as she turned to face Nita. “I just love those colorful stories about Jefferson Davis, don’t you?”

  “They’re very interesting.” Nita smiled right back. She knew what Judy was trying to do and she was determined to turn the tables on her. Judy wanted Michael to think she was stupid because she knew nothing about Civil War History, but her little plan wouldn’t work. Judy might not realize it, but she’d met her match.

  “You’re not bored?” Michael slipped his arm around Nita’s shoulders and led her to the next exhibit.

  “How could I be bored?” Nita gave him her best wide eyed look. “I just wish history class had been this interesting. Then maybe I wouldn’t have slept through the lectures.”

  Michael nodded. “You must have had a bad teacher. That’s too bad, Nita.”

  “I know.” Nita sighed deeply, and played her ace in the hole. “You make history come alive for me, Michael. And now I realize how much I missed. I don’t suppose you could . . . but, no, that would take so much of your time. It’s too much to ask.”

  “What is it, Nita? Ask me.”

  Nita sighed again. “Oh, I was just wishing you’d tutor me in history. I feel like a real dummy, especially since the rest of you know so much about it. Do you suppose you could explain the exhibits to me? If you wouldn’t mind, that is . . . ”

  “I’d love to!” Michael hugged her tightly. “And there’s no reason for you to feel like a dummy. Now look over here . . . ”

  Nita smiled triumphantly as Michael led her over to a glass case where several uniforms were displayed. She knew she was in for a long, boring explanation, but it was worth it to beat Judy at her own game.

  The dinosaur exhibit was great. Even Nita had to admit that. It had been built for kids and each model of prehistoric beast had a button you could press to make it move and hear the sounds it had made. Luckily, Nita’s eyesight was excellent. She’d managed to read the descriptive plaques from all the way across the room and she’d used the information written on them to join in the conversation. But how many times could she say, “Oh, look! There’s an ankylosaur. They think it’s an ancient relative of the armadillo.” Or, “The ornithischians look dangerous, but they were herbivorous. Do you think the early cave dwellers kept them in cages like we do with parakeets?”

  At last it was over, and Nita walked out of the dinosaur room with her head held high. She’d managed to hold her own, but she knew she couldn’t fake it forever. Berto and Michael seemed fascinated by a display of rocks and minerals against the wall. If she could just get a couple of minutes alone in the hall of dioramas, she could cram for those exhibits just like she’d crammed for her tests in school.

  “Michael?” Nita tapped him on the shoulder. “I need to make a trip to the ladies’ room. Shall I meet you back here in a couple of minutes?”

  “That’s fine with me.” Michael grinned at her. “Take your time, Nita. If we’re not right here, we’ll be in the pre-Columbian room. It’s right through that archway to your left. Judy says they’ve built a model of an Aztec temple in there, and I’d like to take a look. Then we’ll go to the dioramas, okay?”

  Nita nodded. “I’ll join you at the Aztec temple. I’d like to see it, too.”

  As she walked down the marble hallway, Nita gave a huge sigh of relief. She’d been a little afraid that Judy would offer to come to the ladies’ room with her. But she hadn’t. She was more interested in staying with Michael and impressing him with how much she knew about Aztec Indians. It was a lucky break for Nita. She’d make a quick stop at the ladies’ room, and then she’d choose a couple of dioramas and study them carefully. She’d memorize all the information on the plaques, and then she’d be sure to make points with Michael.

  The ladies’ room was deserted. They seemed to be the only ones left in the whole museum. They’d only seen one tour group today, four adults and a bus load of Sunday school children, but they had already left. Nita combed her hair, put on a bit more lipstick, and walked out into the marble hallway again.

  Her footsteps echoed hollowly, and Nita shivered. She’d never liked stone buildings. They always felt cold and forbidding. The museum might be fun on a day when it was crowded, but she felt like the only person left alive as she entered the hall of dioramas.

  Suddenly Nita thought of it. She was alone, completely alone. And all the other girls had been murdered when they were alone. She hesitated at the doorway. Should she rush straight back to the safety of their group?

  No. Nita made up her mind. Even though it seemed like it, she wasn’t really alone. There were docents wandering around, and a guard at the door. No one could get in without a ticket. Since the museum was almost deserted, the woman at the counter would be sure to remember anyone who’d come in today. The killer would be a fool to risk that kind of exposure. She was perfectly safe as long as she didn’t leave the museum.

  Nita shivered as she walked forward. Everything here was dead and stuffed. They tried to make the animal
s look alive by painting the background to resemble their habitat, and they’d filled the display cases with things that would have surrounded them in nature. It was a remarkable illusion, but the leopard’s eyes were lifeless as he sat on his real tree branch, and the hyenas were frozen in place, laughing forever at a painted sky. And everything was behind glass, everything except one exhibit. And that exhibit was absolutely wonderful!

  Nita gasped out loud as she reached the end of the long hallway and sat down on a bench which had been placed directly in front of the huge diorama. This exhibit was immense, covering the whole end of the wide hallway and extending back for what looked like at least forty feet. It was an African watering hole, with huge elephants and giraffes and even a lion. And it had sound effects. There were monkeys chattering in the trees, exotic birds singing their strange, throaty calls, the distant roar of a lion, and even the sound of water splashing as the animals waded and drank. Nita had never seen anything so lifelike before. The person who had designed this diorama could get a job making sets for the movies, no problem. There was only one thing that spoiled the illusion, and that certainly wasn’t the designer’s fault. A door at the side of the hallway was propped open, and Nita could see the delivery dock at the rear of the building, and beyond it, Judy’s car in the distance. The sight of Judy’s car made Nita frown. Michael had told her that Judy owned the expensive Volvo, free and clear. He’d also told her that a brand new Volvo, with all the options, sold for over fifty thousand dollars. Judy was rich, and she could buy anything she wanted. But Judy wanted Michael, and he was one thing she couldn’t buy.

  That thought made Nita feel much better. She was going to end up with Michael, and there wasn’t a thing Judy could do to stop her. Nita got up and read the plaques at the side of the diorama. She’d prove that she was every bit as smart as that spoiled little rich girl!

  As Nita read, she memorized the important facts. Elephants were the largest living land mammals, and they came in two species, Loxodonta africana, the African elephant, and Elephas maximus, the, Indian elephant. The elephants at the watering hole were African elephants and they could grow to twelve feet tall and weigh more than six tons. They lived in herds and fed on grass and foliage.

  Another plaque described the giraffes. Nita learned that Giraffa camelopardalis was the tallest living land mammal. The males could reach eighteen feet, and over a third of their height was neck and head. They lived by grazing, often on trees, and they were speedy runners who were related to the deer.

  It took only a few more moments for Nita to memorize everything on all of the plaques. She’d always been able to memorize rapidly, and her teachers had often chastised her for not applying herself in school. Nita guessed they were right. She knew that if she took the time to study, she could get excellent grades. Today, she wanted to memorize everything so that she could impress Michael. It was a great incentive. If she’d gone to school with Michael, she might have been a straight ‘A’ student.

  A glance at her watch told Nita she’d been gone for only five minutes. They were probably in the pre-Columbian room by now, looking at the model of the Aztec temple. There was no need to hurry. Michael had told her to take her time. She could sit on the bench for a few minutes and rest her aching feet.

  Nita walked over to the door, closing it firmly. That was better. Then she sat back down on the bench, slipped off her sandals, and smiled. Now that the traffic noise was gone, she could hear the sounds of the African jungle much more clearly. She was surrounded by monkey chatter, calling birds, and the trumpeting of an elephant in the distance.

  Looking at all the exhibits had been exhausting, and Nita shut her eyes for a moment to concentrate on the bird calls. They were strange and exotic and wonderful, so different from the birds she heard in Los Angeles. She could hear the squawking of something that sounded like a parrot, but there was another call that was delightfully musical. The birds in the barrio weren’t very musical. They screeched at the tops of their lungs from the high tension electrical wires, and the sounds they made weren’t music. The barrio birds sounded as if they were protesting all the crime and violence on the streets. Maybe they were. There were times when Nita wished that she could sit up on a high tension wire, far away from the gangs with their knives and guns, and the young taggers that invaded her neighborhood to scrawl their names on fences, and walls, and mailboxes. She tried to avoid any contact, but that was almost impossible. There were dope deals going down on her corner, and she woke up to the sounds of gunshots almost every weekend. It was so dangerous that when the man next door had suffered a heart attack, the ambulance had refused to come without a police escort.

  Nita heard the faint roar of a lion, and she shivered. The jungle seemed peaceful, but there was violence in its depths. Down in the barrio, she was living in a concrete jungle, but she wasn’t stuck there like the giraffe or the elephant. She had a way out, and that way was Michael. He might not make it big in show business, but he would never have to live in a slum.

  What time was it? Nita opened her eyes and glanced at her watch. Fifteen minutes had passed. It was time to get back to Michael and Berto, and that bitch, Judy. She didn’t want to give Judy too much time with Michael. That would be asking for trouble.

  Nita was just slipping on her sandals when she heard it, a small mewling sound from the depths of the diorama. At first she thought it was some kind of jungle noise, but it sounded very familiar. There it was again! Nita got up and moved forward, leaning over the velvet ropes. It was a kitten, she was sure of it, and it sounded real. The door had been open and kittens were naturally curious. It was possible the poor thing had wandered in and climbed into the diorama. It was probably frightened because it couldn’t find its way out. Nita loved kittens. They were adorable little balls of soft, warm fur. She couldn’t just leave it there.

  Nita hesitated, wondering whether she should go and notify the guard. But the guard would probably toss the kitten out of the museum, and it sounded too young to get along on its own. It might try to run across the busy street, and get hit by a car. Or if it was lucky enough to stay out of the traffic, it could still starve to death!

  A thought flashed through Nita’s mind and she grinned as she stepped around the velvet ropes. She’d find the kitten and take it home with her. Her mother wouldn’t mind. They still had the litter box they’d used with their old tomcat, and it would be nice to have a pet.

  The kitten cried out again, and Nita held her breath as she walked straight into the diorama. She just hoped she could find the kitten before anyone caught her. She’d be very careful not to touch anything unless she absolutely had to. Walking into the diorama was bound to be against the rules.

  “Here, kitty-kitty-kitty.” Nita called out softly. If anyone spotted her, she’d probably be kicked out of the museum for life. But then she heard a scratching behind the trunk of the huge baobub tree. The kitten was back there, and it sounded even more desperate. She had to hurry. It could be tangled up in the vegetation, caught helplessly as it fought to get loose. She had to find it and free it quickly before it strangled itself.

  The big bull elephant looked very real as Nita inched carefully around it. And the jungle noises were louder, now that she was actually inside the diorama. It was so real, Nita actually felt a prickle of fear as the lion roared, and she chided herself for being foolish. She wasn’t really in a jungle. These were dead, stuffed animals and there was no way they could hurt her.

  But the illusion was very compelling and Nita held her breath as she slipped past the giraffe, and headed for the trunk of the massive tree. It even smelled like a jungle in here, moist and green and sweaty. Of course she’d never been in a jungle, so she couldn’t possibly know how it smelled. It just seemed as if it would have to smell like this, from the pictures she’d seen.

  As Nita stepped deeper and deeper into the display, the shadows grew darker and more ominous. The vegetation was thicker, and she had to be careful not to trip over the tangle of
vines. The lights didn’t shine back here, but it was still very hot. Hot and airless, like being stuck in a boarded-up warehouse in the middle of a heat wave.

  Nita paused to let her eyes adjust to the dark. It was scary back here, and she could feel cold drops of perspiration dripping down her back. What if she’d been wrong? What if the cry she’d heard was only part of the jungle sounds? It could have been a baby lion mewing, or a newborn leopard crying for its mother.

  But there had been a scratching noise. She hadn’t imagined that. Of course, they’d probably taped the jungle noises in a real jungle. And big cats sharpened their claws on tree trunks, didn’t they?

  No. There was something back here, something alive. Nita was sure she could hear it breathing. Animals panted when they were afraid, and this poor little kitten must be terrified. She had to find it and rescue it. She’d come too far to give up now.

  Just as she approached the massive tree trunk, Nita heard that desperate cry again. She stopped and looked up, expecting to find the terrified little animal clinging to a tree branch, but there was nothing there. No kitten in any of the branches. No kitten caught in a hanging vine. But she could still hear the breathing and it seemed to be coming from behind the tree trunk.

  Nita took a step forward and parted the vines. She saw a dark shape, massive and looming, so still it looked like part of the tree trunk. But even in this dim light, Nita could see that it had a human shape. Legs. Torso. Arms. And one arm was raised high in the air.

  Time seemed to stand still as Nita’s mind spun in horrified circles. The kitten had come in through the open door. And so had the shape, the human shape, with its arm raised in the air. But there was no kitten. It had all been a trap to lure her back here.