First Class to Portland

by Aj Harmon

  Janie hung up from Matt and dialed the hospital. They transferred her to the floor Katy was currently assigned to and she asked for Katy.

  "May I ask who's calling?" asked the voice on the other end.

  "This is her friend, Janie Anderson."

  "Oh Janie, hi! This is Ted."

  "Hi Ted! How are you? How's the truck working out for you?"

  "Love it! Thanks so much for the great deal."

  "You're welcome," she smiled. "Hey, I was looking for Katy. Is she working today?"

  "Well she was supposed to be, but she didn't show up this morning. Everyone has tried calling her but nobody's gotten through."

  "Oh!" Janie was now really worried. "Well she must be sick or something. I'm heading over to her place now. I'll tell her to give you a call."

  "Good idea. It was nice to talk to you. Bye," said Ted.

  Patty pulled up to the curb and Janie threw her bag in the backseat and slid in the front next to her mom.

  "Where's Katy?" Patty asked.

  "Don’t know," Janie frowned. "Could you just take me to her place, please? That's where all my stuff is anyway."

  "Sure, honey." And they pulled out of the airport and headed for Katy's house in southeast Portland.

  Patty dropped off Janie at Katy's and pulled out of the driveway. Katy had given Janie a key, so she was able to let herself in. She dropped her bag on the dining room table and yelled for Katy. There was no response. Janie checked the bedrooms and outside and there was no sign of her. Her purse was gone and so was her car.

  "I don't get this," she said out loud. "Where is she?"

  Janie paced around the house not knowing what to do. Should she be worried? Really worried? Katy had never gone more than a couple of hours before returning a text, email, or phone call. Janie wanted to call Matt but decided she should wait a bit longer.

  Trying to keep busy, Janie went to the guest room, where she stayed when in Portland the last few weeks, and pulled the large suitcase from the closet. She may as well start packing up all the stuff she wasn't going to need again.

  *****

  By seven o'clock that night, Janie was frantic. She had called Matt twice and in the second call he suggested she call the police, just to make sure she hadn't been in an accident or anything. Janie did just that and after being transferred three times, she was able to speak to a kind officer who listened to her story and did a little checking for her.

  "I don't have any reports with that name attached to it. And unfortunately, you can't file a missing persons report until she has been missing for twenty-four hours."

  "Stupid rule," she muttered.

  Officer Robbins agreed with her but said there was nothing he could do until tomorrow. Janie thanked him for his help, relieved there were no accident reports, but still very worried about her friend.

  She took a long hot shower and tried to calm her nerves. Maybe she's with a new guy, thought Janie. They hadn't spent a lot of time talking about what was going on in Katy's life recently. Everything was about her wedding. Janie suddenly felt quite guilty that she had been so self-absorbed that she hadn't really asked Katy anything about her work, about Derek her son, or about her social life.

  Great friend I am, she thought.

  Because of the fact her body was completely screwed up from flying between time zones every week, Janie was exhausted. She pulled the t-shirt she stole from Matt’s drawer over her head and crawled into bed. Hopefully by morning, Katy would appear and tell her all about her adventures, or at least text her to let her know she was okay.

  *****

  The sun streaming through the window woke Janie at seven the next morning. She had surprisingly slept remarkably well. She jumped from the bed and ran to Katy's room, but the bed had not been disturbed and her car still wasn't there.

  Janie grabbed her phone and dialed Matt.

  "She's still not here. There's something wrong, I'm sure of it!" she said the second Matt said hello.

  "Okay, take a deep breath," he soothed. "Call the police officer you spoke to yesterday and file the report. I'm on my way. I'll be there as soon as I can."

  Janie hung up the phone relieved he was coming but scared to death by the unknown whereabouts of Katy.

  As soon as Matt hung up from Janie, Mark, who was sitting in Matt's office asked what was wrong. Matt filled him in and called in Angela.

  "I need to get to Portland ASAP. Chartered plane will probably be quickest. And I want to leave in thirty minutes."

  "I'm coming with you," Mark said as they both stood and headed to pack a bag.

  *****

  Instead of calling the police, Janie drove to the station and sat with Officer Robbins and filled out the report. She had casually texted Katy's son to see if he had heard from his mom but Derek hadn't talked to her since the previous week. Janie's hands were shaking as she wrote her contact information down so the police could get a hold if her if they found Katy.

  It took much longer than she had thought it would. Janie walked out of the station to her car, desperately trying to think of anywhere she might have gone. In a daze, she drove out of the parking lot and headed for the freeway out of habit.

  When Janie pulled into her old driveway, she had no recollection of how she got there or why she was there. This was her old house; her home with Robert. The house she had sold two months ago. Why on earth did I drive here? she thought and put the car in reverse. As she started to back out of the driveway something caught her eye next door. Danny's garage door was two-thirds down but Janie caught a glimpse of a black car under the door. He drives a red car, not a black one… Unless of course he bought a new one, he certainly could have, she thought.

  But, it didn't sit right. She put the car back in park and ran across the lawn to his door, noticing the corner of a bumper sticker on the black car that looked an awful lot like Katy’s. She knocked on his door.

  "Danny? Danny! Are you home?" Janie pounded on the door. After a few minutes he opened the door wearing shorts and a wife beater.

  "Uh, hi Janie. What are you doing here?" He stuttered.

  "Can I come in for a minute? Did you get a new car?"

  "Uh, no, why?"

  "I thought I saw a black car in your garage," she said, studying his weird reaction.

  "Oh, yeah, well, a friend of mine was going out of town for a while and so she, uh, they are keeping their car here."

  Janie looked around the living room. The curtains were drawn and no lights were on.

  "Did I interrupt something?" she asked suspiciously.

  Danny took a step towards Janie and she sidestepped him, noticing a pair if women's sunglasses on the coffee table.

  Oh shit! They look like Katy's. Bile rose up in her throat and she started sweating, subconsciously knowing that Danny had her friend in the house.

  Remain calm, she told herself over and over again.

  "Danny?" she smiled. "Could I use your bathroom please?"

  "Umm," he was obviously thinking, "Okay. Just let me make sure my clothes aren't in there," and he disappeared down the hall.

  Janie grabbed for her phone and only got one word of the text message typed in before he returned. She hoped it would be enough.

  *****

  It was the longest flight Matt had ever been on. Angela had miraculously got them a chartered flight out of New York in record time and he and Mark sat on the plane; Mark working on his laptop, Matt rubbing his forehead, his nervous habit.

  "I'm sure everything's fine," assured Mark. "By the time we get there those women will be sunning themselves on the deck with a drink in their hands."

  Matt sighed and hoped his brother was right.

  The flight attendant offered them another drink before they started the descent into Portland, which they declined. He fastened his seatbelt and stared out the window, willing all to be well when they landed.

  As the aircraft taxied in to the terminal, Matt switched on his phone and tried to call Janie. It we
nt straight to voicemail.

  "That's weird," he said and tried her number again. He immediately heard Janie's voice asking him to leave a message.

  "What's wrong?" asked Mark.

  "Her phone is off," he frowned, serious concern forming. "She never turns off her phone. Never!"

  As the two brothers got off the plane, Matt's cellphone dinged in his pocket. He whipped it out and read the single word on his screen.

  "Fuck!!" he yelled, and began running through the terminal. Mark, scared for his brother, followed close behind.

  *****

  Janie stood in the bathroom of Danny's house shaking uncontrollably. How do I find her? she wondered. She had never been so scared in her life but she knew she had to get it together if she was going to save her friend. How could I have been so stupid? Both Matt and Katy didn't like Danny but she had assured them both that he was harmless. Look where that had got her!

  She pulled out her phone and started to dial 911 but the door burst open and then everything went dark.

  *****

  Matt was yelling at the police officer through the phone in the car. "I can't remember her last fucking name! My fiancée filed the report this morning. Her name is Janie Anderson. Yes, I'll hold." Matt hit the steering wheel with his fist for the third time in a mile.

  After a minute or two, a voice came back on the phone. "Mr. Lathem? I'm Officer Robbins. I'm the one who spoke with Janie this morning."

  "Finally!" said Matt. "I got a one-word text from Janie when I just arrived in Portland. It was sent this morning. It just said 'Danny', but he's the fucking peeping tom she used to live next to so that's where I'm headed now."

  Matt gave Officer Robbins the address and said he would meet him there. He weaved through the traffic on the freeway and Mark was worried they wouldn't make it at all.

  "Matt! It's gonna be fine. She's fine."

  "She'd better be," he said with fists clenching the steering wheel. “I will fucking kill him if he’s hurt her."

  *****

  Janie awoke with a throbbing pain on the side of her head. She tried to reach up but couldn't; her wrists were tied together with rope. She opened her eyes and saw she was leaning against the wall of the bathroom and Danny was standing over her.

  "Why did you have to come here Janie?" He looked like he was about to cry. "I like you. I liked Robert."

  "Well we always liked you Danny," she whispered. "Have you taken out the kayak yet?" She realized he had obviously hit her with something and tied her hands but maybe she could talk to him and convince him she was on his side, that he could trust her.

  "No!" he spat back. "It's a two-person kayak. How do you think I'm going to take it out?"

  "Well I'm sure there's someone that would like to go with you," she tried to smile.

  "She wouldn't go with me! She wouldn't go anywhere with me! So I made her come here and I'm going to keep her here forever."

  Oh shit! She's here. I knew it. I've got to find her! Janie's mind was racing trying to picture the layout of Danny's house. There wasn't a basement so she must be in one of the three bedrooms. She very slowly tried to slide her back up the wall so she was in a kneeling position. If she could just keep him talking at least he wouldn't be hurting Katy.

  “So, you've got a girl, huh? That must be wonderful for you. Tell me about her," she asked.

  Danny lips curled into something that should have resembled a smile but instead it made her physically ill.

  "Oh, she's perfect," he began.

  *****

  Matt pulled onto Janie’s old street and slowed the car down. He and Mark drove past Danny’s house but did not see anything unusual until they passed Janie’s old house and saw her car parked in the driveway.

  “That’s not good.” Mark shook his head.

  Matt did a U-turn and parked on the opposite side of the street. They got out and looked for any sign of the police, but they weren’t there yet.

  “I’m not waiting,” Matt growled and stalked towards the house. The curtains were closed and he couldn’t see inside. They quietly walked around to the back. The kitchen door was glass and so they were able to peer in but couldn’t see anything except beer cans scattered all over the counter. Matt turned the door handle very slowly. It was unlocked.

  “What if I go knock on the front door and try to distract him?” Mark suggested.

  Matt shook his head. “He’ll just think you’re me. We look too much alike.”

  Very cautiously, Matt opened the door and could hear a man’s voice. They guessed it was Danny. And suddenly Matt’s heart sank as he heard a woman’s voice.

  “So, you've got a girl, huh? That must be wonderful for you. Tell me about her."

  Matt stepped inside the kitchen and tried to find where the voices where coming from. He mouthed to Mark that they were down the hall. There wasn’t another door so they were going to have to figure it out as they went.

  Matt and Mark would be a force to be reckoned with for sure, but it was the unknown that scared them. Did he have a gun? A knife? Was Janie hurt? Where was Katy? But Matt didn’t care about any of it except getting Janie out of there and away from Danny.

  Matt took two steps down the hall and could see shoulders leaning in a doorway. Janie must be in there. Mark was right behind him. Matt took two more steps and Danny was finally within arm’s reach. He took a deep breath and lunged for him, grabbing Danny around the neck and yanking him into the hallway. He swung like a caged animal but was no match for Matt. Matt had him against the wall and was smashing his head into the sheetrock and Mark got in two good blows to the kidneys before Danny crumpled to the floor. Matt kicked a couple of times for good measure and then turned to see his sweet Janie kneeling on the floor, wrists tied together and a blood dripping from her head.

  “Janie!” he cried and fell to the floor in front of her.

  “Katy!” she screamed. “Find Katy!”

  Mark disappeared further down the hall and a large smash came from the living room as four Portland Police officers entered the house, guns drawn.

  Matt threw up his hands as the gun was pointed in his face and Janie yelled that Danny, the one on the floor, was the one who had kidnapped her friend. Office Robbins pushed his way into the bathroom and confirmed with Janie who Matt was and that his brother, Mark, was looking for Katy.

  *****

  Mark pushed open the door and saw her. She was tied to the bed eyes red from crying. She was gagged. She was naked and petrified. The sight turned his stomach and he closed his eyes as he made himself speak.

  “I’m not here to hurt you,” he whispered. He grabbed a blanket from the end of the bed and laid it gently across her body. He sat down next to her and removed the bandana from her mouth.

  “I’m Mark, Matt’s brother. It’s okay now.” He gently untied one hand just as two police men charged into the room.

  “Katy? Everything’s going to be fine. Danny is in custody. He’s not going to hurt you anymore.”

  Mark stood and stepped back from the bed as one of the policemen walked around to untie her other hand. Mark backed out of the room and watched as the officers dragged Danny out in handcuffs, still unconscious. He walked back out through the kitchen and into the back yard where he fell to his knees and violently vomited.

  *****

  Matt sat next to Janie on the bathroom floor and untied her wrists, the police taking the rope from him and leaving them alone.

  “Oh God, Janie. I have never been more scared of anything in my life,” he whispered, a tear falling from his eye.

  “I knew you’d find us,” she smiled. “I knew you would.”

  Matt engulfed her in his arms and kissed her head, remembering she’d been hit when she winced.

  “Fuck! He hurt you.”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Where’s Katy?”

  She tried to stand but her legs had gone to sleep. Matt helped her up and he helped her down to the room where Katy was still on the bed.
<
br />   “Katy!” she cried as she ran to her and embraced her.

  Katy was sobbing and buried her head into Janie’s neck as Janie tried to soothe her.

  More commotion in the hallway was heard as the paramedics arrived. They pulled the two women apart and began asking them each questions at the same time. Matt suggested he take Janie outside and they could tend to Katy first.

  Janie nodded at her best friend and told her she would wait for her out the front. Matt took his fiancé and picked her up, cradling her head on his chest as he marched through the chaos in the house and out the front door.

  The paramedic checked Janie’s head and recommended a trip to the Emergency Room to make sure she was okay. Janie shook her head and said she was fine but Matt insisted. Janie gave in and agreed to go as long as she could ride with Katy. Just at that moment, Katy was wheeled out on the stretcher and Janie ran to her side, grabbing her hand.

  “I’m coming with you!”

  Katy nodded and squeezed her hand as the two women entered the back of the ambulance. Officer Robbins came and stood next to Matt, patting his back.

  “You should have waited for us,” he said.

  “Fuck that!” said Matt. “That’s my fiancé. We are getting married on Saturday. You think I was going to wait?”

  Officer Robbins snorted and said “Nice job on the perp by the way. Although I wouldn’t have minded the extra paperwork if you’d killed the bastard.”

  “I need to follow them to the hospital. Where are they going?” asked Matt.

  “I’ll find out,” he said.

  Matt turned and went back into the house and asked the officer for Janie’s purse. They located it in the bathroom and gave it to Matt. He started to head back out but saw Mark through the dining room window kneeling on the grass in the back.

  “You okay?” he asked, stepping out the door.

  “Shit, no.” Mark was pale and sweaty.

  “What is it?” Matt’s voice full of concern.

  “You should have seen her Matt. No! You shouldn’t have seen her! It was the worst thing you could ever see,” he shuddered.

  Matt put his arm around his younger brother, not knowing what to say.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he managed. “Katy’s going to be okay.”