Over Her Dead Body
Page 21
“Turn around slowly and put your hands in the air.” One of the uniformed officers shouted. Both officers turned around breaking off their stare with the man in the suit. The man in the suit quickly turned and began walking the other direction. “Put your hands in the air!” The man repeated again to Frank and Gary.
Frank and Gary slowly raised their hands and began a verbal exchange about being police officers. Michael wasted no time ushering the girls in the opposite direction the man in the suit had gone. A crowd had begun to form in a circle around the scene unfolding by the water. Michael, April, and the girl entered into the crowd and disappeared behind a building.
“What do we do?” Asked April.
Michael looked around the corner at the crowd and then back at the two girls. “We need to get out of the park. If I’m right, there will be people looking for us at the entrance and probably more on the way. We need to get to my car. They won’t be looking for it.”
April was about to ask ‘what car?’ when she decided against it and nodded her head. He could explain later. “How?” She asked instead.
“I’ve got an idea. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s worth a shot.” Michael said. “There is a gift shop near the entrance right?”
“Yes, I think so. Or at least there used to be.” April said.
The other girl nodded. “Ya, I was inside it earlier trying to stay cool.”
Michael nodded. “Ok, you lead the way.” The girl led Michael and April to the gift shop at the front of the park. They were inside for maybe two minutes and all three emerged from the building.
April opened a sack and passed out hats and sunglasses. “I don’t know how this is going to help us Michael. They’re still going to recognize us.” April said as she pitched the empty bag in the trash.
“Ok, don’t put your sunglasses on yet until I tell you. Tuck your hair under your hat.” He nodded to the other girl. “You, turn your hat around backwards.” The girl turned her hat around and so did Michael. Michael looked out and saw two large groups of people heading toward the gate. There was another group even further back. “I hope this works.” Michael said. And led the girls out circling around the third group. “Ok, after I say the word 'gun', April you shout out ‘he’s got a bomb’ then you…” he pointed at the other girl “you yell ‘run!’ got it?” They nodded. “All right, when everybody starts running, toss on your sunglasses.” Michael took off running toward the group and the girls followed.
“Run! He’s got a gun!” Michael yelled at the group.
“He’s got a bomb!” April yelled.
“Run!” The other girl shouted. “Run Now!” The whole crowd had stopped and then their faces went from puzzled to panic and they began running toward the entrance. As they caught up to the other two groups they were all yelling about guns and bombs. Within seconds, all three groups were yelling and running toward the entrance. There were guards up front trying to stop the crowd and what looked like two officers and a couple that may have been undercover. Michael and the girls tossed on their sunglasses and blew right through security with the rest of the crowd screaming and running. Soon they were in the parking lot and the girls followed Michael to the white SUV.
April climbed in the front passenger side and the other girl hopped in the back seat. “How’d they know to find us here?” April asked as Michael put the key in the ignition.
“I don’t know. They must have been following you.” Michael said. “They probably knew you would lead them to me. Do either of you have cell phones on you?” Michael asked. The girl in the back said no and April nodded and took hers out of her pocket. Michael took the phone and separated the battery from it and tossed it in his bag. He put the SUV in reverse and took off.
April took off her hat and sunglasses and stuck her head around the seat. She put out her hand. “Hi, I’m April by the way.”
The girl in the back took off her glasses but left her hat on backwards. She shook April’s hand. “Amber.” She said.
“I have a feeling we have a lot to talk about.” April said.
Amber laughed. “You have no idea.”
April smiled and stared at her for a moment and then turned around in her seat. “So where to now?” She asked. “We can’t go driving back into Angel Falls. They’ll be looking for you there. And me too.”
“And me three.” Piped in Amber.
April stuck her head around the seat and looked at her. “Why would they be looking for you?”
“Because I saw who shot my sister. They will want me to point him out in a line up.” She pointed at Michael.
“What? Are you saying Michael shot your sister?” April asked half panicked and half confused.
“No, he didn’t. But they think he did. That’s why they’re looking for him right?”
“Yes, but..how did you know that?” April asked as Michael made a hard right hand turn onto a ramp that lead to highway 84.
“Duuuh-uuuh! It’s all over the news.” She said sarcastically.
“Well that’s how we fix it. We go back and you tell them it wasn’t him!” April said.
“Um…No! Are you crazy? They will kill me if I get anywhere near there. When I went down there to report my sister’s murder, they were waiting for me when I got outside. I just barely outran them. I’m not going back there. No way. No how.” Amber said matter of factly.
“Michael? Are you catching any of this?” April asked looking at him.
Michael nodded. “Mhmm.” He said as if he wasn’t worried.
“Mhmm? What do you mean mhmm? Michael, the entire city is on a manhunt for you and will shoot you on sight. How can you sit there and say mhmm?” April asked.
Michael looked over at April and back at the road. They passed a sign that said Lamier 5 miles.
April looked at the sign and back at Michael. “Why are you going in the opposite direction? We should be going back and getting this thing straightened out.”
“Because they will be looking for us that way. And we would increase our chances of bumping into any one of them."
“Oh.” April said and sat back in her seat. “So what’s the plan?”
“Are you hungry?” He asked her.
“Are you kidding me? How can you think about food after what we just went through?”
“It’s not the food I’m thinking about. We need time and we need to figure this out. We haven’t even heard Amber’s side of the story. Maybe if we figure this out, we can come up with a plan.”
April didn’t say anything. It made sense. Besides, she really was hungry; she just couldn’t believe he was hungry. She hadn’t eaten for nearly two days.
After about another nine minutes, Michael was pulling into a little restaurant called Chung Mahoney’s Diner a couple miles off the highway in Lamier. There weren’t many cars there and it was late so they were hoping to get a little privacy while they ate and discussed the events that had led them to where they now found themselves. The sign inside read ‘please seat yourself’ and they found a cozy booth with few people in the area. A young blonde waitress greeted them and took drink orders with a promise to be right back. Michael and April sat to one side of the booth and Amber sat on the other. April was staring awkwardly at Amber. She couldn’t get over how much she looked like herself at that age.
“What?” Amber said growing uncomfortable at April’s stare.
“Nothing. It’s just…nothing.” April wasn’t sure how to say it without sounding stupid.
“You look like she did fifteen years ago.” Michael said.
“Oh,” Amber said, “that’s weird.”
“Well, it gets weirder than that…” April said.
Amber crinkled her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“According to the police, you are our daughter.”
Amber had a shocked expression. “What? You’re our biological parents?” She asked.
“Not that I know of.” April said.
Amber was confused. “What
do you mean 'not that you know of?' You either gave birth to twins or you didn’t.”
“Then the answer to your question is no. We aren’t your biological parents.”
Now Amber was even more confused; her emotions were bordering on anger. “Then why do the police think you are my parents?” She asked.
“Because our DNA matches. Michael’s DNA and my DNA have a ninety-nine percent match with your DNA. According to the detective working the case, you have a ninety-nine percent probability that you are our daughter.”
“And you know that’s not true because…”
“Because I have never given birth. I didn’t even lose my virginity until I was sixteen. So you see, it’s impossible. You can’t be my daughter because I would have gotten pregnant at fourteen.” April said.
The waitress appeared with drinks. “Are you guys ready to order?” She asked politely.
“Um..can you give us a few more minutes?” Michael said picking up a menu. The waitress nodded. April and Amber picked up their menus, silently agreeing to put the conversation on hold. For the next five minutes they all discussed the menu and what each one was going to order and what kind of food they liked. The waitress eventually made her way back over and took the food order.
After she had left, Amber took a sip of her Coke and looked at April. “So?” She said.
April looked at Amber. “So what?” She said back.
“So, how do you explain the DNA if you never gave birth? Are you suggesting that I am the 1%?”
“Well, actually it was 99.9%, so I guess that would make you the .10%.” April said. “I guess that is like one in a thousand…I don’t know. Michael, you’re the Biology teacher. You must have a theory…How is this possible?”
Michael took a drink of his sweet tea. “I don’t know,” he said, “It doesn’t make much sense. I think we need to hear Amber’s story. Start with everything you can remember up until right now.” Michael said.
Amber looked away from the table and stared out over the counter where the waitress was busy working. She had already told the story to the police; she didn’t want to relive it. She didn’t want to see her sister die again in her mind. Find our parents. Tell them about me. Amber’s eyes welled up with tears a little.
Michael reached out and took her hands in his. “I’m sorry Amber. If it’s too painful…”
Amber shook her head. “No, I need to. Maybe you can make sense of all of it. I’ve tried and I sure can’t.” April grabbed a tissue and handed it to Amber. She took it and dabbed her eyes. “Thanks.” She said.
Amber took another drink of Coke. A courage shot. She took a deep breath and began. She told them about being adopted and about the man and woman who raised her. She told them about leaving and moving in with her roommate. She told them about going to school and working at the diner. And she told them about Maria and how she had found her there. Then she went through all that had happened since. Their food came and sat on the table getting cold while Michael and April listened intently about meeting the doctor, then getting kidnapped, and finally her sister being murdered. She told them about how she had escaped and had gone to the police only to be almost killed after coming out of the building. She had been living with a friend and hiding out since then, not wanting to be seen. She was afraid to go outside. Then there were the dreams. She kept dreaming of Michael, April, and her sister. She recognized the amusement park. She had spent three days out there walking around and looking. She felt compelled to. Like she was supposed to find something there. Or someone. She was about to give up when she had spotted Michael and recognized him from her dreams. “And you know the rest.” She finished.
Michael and April were staring at her, lost in thought. Michael finally broke the trance first and picked up his fork and started in at his food. April and Amber followed suit. They all ate quietly reflecting on what Amber had just told them.
“So this doctor…,” Michael said between mouthfuls, “Dr. Wimm…Wimmon…”
“Wimonowski.” Amber helped him out.
“Right. Wimonowski. What did he tell you?” Michael asked.
Amber shrugged. “Nothing important. He just said that we had been dropped off on his doorstep twenty one years ago and that it was in the newspaper. He asked some questions about how we were doing. I asked if he knew anything about our birth parents and he said he didn’t. We said our goodbyes and then I left. He seemed nice.”
“But then you were kidnapped right outside his door?”
“Yep.”
“And you think the guy who took you knew who you were?” Michael asked.
“Ya, I overheard him on his cell phone. He said ‘I got’em’. Which made it sound like that was his whole purpose. Like he was supposed to grab us. It wasn’t just random.” April gasped and shook her head.
“Do you think he meant to kill you or was it because you tried to escape?” Michael asked.
“No, he meant to kill us. He had already stopped out in the middle of nowhere. He was going to kill us both.”
“Why would somebody want you dead?” April asked.
“I don’t know. We didn’t really have any enemies and we weren’t even in the same town as we were living. That’s why I said, I just can’t make sense of it.”
“What had Maria been doing right before she found you?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know. She said her parents had been killed in an accident. She had been trying to find our birth parents and she found out about me.”
“Do you think it has something to do with her parent's accident?”April asked. “I mean, maybe she saw something she wasn’t supposed to.”
Amber nodded her head. “I doubt it. It was a drunk driver. She was arrested and plead guilty. Case closed as far as I know.”
“No, I think this may have something to do with her poking around looking for her birth parents. I only say that because you were kidnapped outside the doctor’s house. I think he may have something to do with it. Something doesn’t feel right about it.”
Amber looked at him puzzled. “I don’t follow you.”
“Well, you were dropped off on his porch twenty one years ago. Why? Why his porch?”
Amber shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I just assumed my birth parents must have known him.”
“But you said they never figured out who your birth parents were? I would think the doctor would have known if one of his friends were pregnant. It doesn’t make sense. He should have known something.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Amber said.
“I say we go there.” Michael said.
“Tonight?” April asked.
“Why not? We’re kind of running out of time. We could stay here tonight but what then? We can’t use credit cards and we can’t stay on the run forever. If we have even the slightest chance at figuring this thing out, I say we go for it.” Michael said.
Amber looked fearful. “I…I don’t know. That’s where that guy kidnapped us. I don’t think I can go back there.”
Michael was about to offer a rebuttal but dropped it. If it was going to do more harm than good, he didn’t want her going back there. “Ok,” he said, “I see your point. I wouldn’t want to go back there either.” Michael sighed and leaned back. He took another long sip of tea.
“So what do we do then?” Asked April.
Michael shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. That was the only place I could think of to go. I guess we turn ourselves in and Amber can go back to her friends.” Michael said. “I don’t know what else we can do.”
Amber shook her head. “No, that’s no good either. Maria wouldn’t have wanted that. I made her a promise that I would find our parents. I’m not going to let her die in vain and I don’t want you in jail while her murderer walks free.” Amber said. “You’re right. The doctor is all we have that might lead us to some kind of an answer. I say we do it.”
Michael was relieved. He didn’t really want to turn himself in but he didn’t wa
nt to stay on the run either. Finding the truth was all that remained. Michael wiped his mouth with a napkin and fished out his remaining money so he could pay the bill and leave a tip. “Alright,” he said, “Let’s do it.” They all three headed back out to the SUV, somber and nervous about having to head back into Angel Falls.
Chapter 40
It took just over an hour to get back to Angel Falls and pull into the driveway. Amber had given Michael specific instructions on how to get there. Now that she was back in the driveway where her and her sister had been kidnapped, she wished she hadn’t. Amber looked out each of the windows half expecting to see her sister’s killer. It was dark. There was a dim light that could be seen through the window blinds. Michael put the SUV in park and shut off the ignition. They all sat in eerie silence for a moment, either contemplating or reconsidering. Or maybe both.
“Well, he must be home.” April pointed out. “There’s a car in the carport and a light’s on.”
“I’m not sure if he’s going to give us the answers we need. It might be best if I go in,” Michael said, “You can be the getaway driver. If there’s any trouble, I’ll come out and you can take off. It won’t matter if they get the plates; they won’t trace it back to me.”
“Michael, where did you get this car?” April asked having completely forgotten to ask earlier. “You didn’t…tell me you didn’t steal a car Michael Bander…” April put her hand over her face and shook her head. “Oh my God, we are all going to jail.” She said.
“Relax, I didn’t steal the car. But if it’s not returned tonight, it will be called in stolen.” Michael said.
April was momentarily relieved. Then as it dawned on her that they weren’t likely going to be able to do that, she began to get nauseous. “I think I’m going to puke.” She said.
“I’m going in with you.” Amber said from the back.
“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Michael said. “What if the doctor did have something to do with you getting kidnapped?”