by Jeff Vrolyks
“Yeah, I probably should have taken the keys with me.”
Theo’s fingers wrapped around the metal cylinder. A blunt piece of metal jabbed into his neck. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that it was the gun stolen from Carmen.
“Let go of the gun,” a man said, voice smooth and confident.
Carmen gasped, directed the light to the man standing behind the cart and raised her gun. Gary took aim.
“Put them down or I’ll kill him,” he said.
He had shoulder-length blond hair, greasy and tousled. A beard darker than his blond hair, and big dark eyes. He wore a wool poncho crusted with dirt. Carmen wasn’t sure what she expected him to look like, but it wasn’t this. He wasn’t an unattractive man at all. He didn’t look like sexually depraved, if there were such a look. And most of all, he looked very much in control, relaxed, as if this was second nature to him.
Carmen and Gary didn’t move, guns still aimed at him. She was breathing deeply enough that Theo could hear her. In her tiniest voice she uttered, “Please don’t.”
“I won’t if you lower your weapons. Shoot me and I’m bringing Theo Graham with me.”
That he knew Theo’s name in full wasn’t a surprise, they expected it. If Carmen had checked the recent history of her web-browser, she suspected she’d find that John had done some research on Theo. They lowered their weapons.
“Good. Now drop ‘em.”
They stooped down and dropped their guns, returned erect.
“Get up slowly,” he said to Theo.
Theo returned upright, stood at the opposite side of the cart as the man, stared at the eye of his gun, which was illumined from Carmen’s lone beam of light.
“Drop the gun,” John said. Theo dropped it; it settled beside his foot. “Give me that,” he said to Theo, nodding at the Maglite in his hand. He held his hand out across the cart, gun aimed at his chest.
“Why, John?” said Gary. Theo handed over the light. “Why do this? We mean you no harm.”
“No harm? Really? Is that why you brought a shotgun?” He snickered. “You think I killed that man, and you know what? I did. So fucking what. But that’s not why you’re looking for me, is it? No. You know that I know, don’t you?” He twisted the head of the Maglite and shone it at Gary.
“Know what? Lower your gun and let’s discuss this.”
“That Georgette and Theo killed the other guy.”
Theo and Carmen met eyes.
“Why do you say that?” Gary said, perplexed. “You killed them both.”
“He really doesn’t know?” John said to Theo.
“There’s nothing to know,” Theo replied. “We didn’t kill anyone.”
“Ah, I see,” John said with sudden insight. “It’s a secret between you two. You’ve put the blame on me.” He directed to Gary, “What’s your name?”
“Gary Gerhart.”
“Gary, why would I confess to killing that Michael Gibson guy but not this other one? Does that make any sense to you? I’m obviously being honest here, even when others aren’t.”
“He’s lying,” Carmen said. Theo nodded.
“Oh am I?” John said gamely. “I’m lying, am I? When were you two here, ten years ago? Yes. You said that, I heard it as plain as day. The man died ten years ago. Gary, you know my history, don’t you? I assume so, since you know me by name.”
“Yes.”
“How long have I lived here in Cedar Hills?”
“That I don’t know.”
“Well if you did, you’d know I moved here… oh, about seven years ago. From Minot. I wasn’t here to have killed him. But do you know who was? These two. They killed him, I heard them say it. An accident, but so what, the man’s dead just the same.” John Whitmeier looked down at the cart. “Interesting thing about the cart, it’s not too far from the dead guy. I wonder why that is? I suppose if I got some film developed it would provide quite a bit of insight. A couple of kids playing in a cart, pushing it down the mine…? Splat.” He chuckled.
Carmen remembered her disposable camera, tucked away in a chest in her home. She had mentioned it the other night as they were in the mine and John had been listening, and wanted it. She felt faint. “You stole my camera,” she breathed.
“Guilty as charged,” he said with a grin.
“Is this true?” Gary said to Georgette. “Did you two kill that man?”
The first tear rolled down her cheek. “Yes. Please don’t be mad. It was an accident. We were playing in the cart and it struck him. We were scared and left. I’m so sorry for lying to you, Gary.”
Theo took a deep breath of dank air, felt the already-narrow walls closing in on him. He couldn’t see a possible way out of this that wouldn’t end in catastrophe.
Gary caressed her shoulder. “It was an accident, sweetheart. Let’s stay focused here.”
“Yes, let’s do,” John said with measured merriment. “Let’s do, indeed. I’m not too concerned with you telling the cops. If you were going to, you’d have done it by now. You don’t want this getting back to the community and I totally understand that, Gary. What a big stink that would be, huh?” He smiled widely. “No, this is a matter better left between us four. We’re all guilty of something, are we not?”
“Gary isn’t,” Carmen said defiantly.
“Guilty by association. Who cares. The point is, we all want to keep this to ourselves. Nobody will ever know about the two stiffs rotting in here. But the way I see it, Theo Graham has a lot more to lose than I do. Look at me, I’m homeless! I had a good thing going until you all got self-righteous on me.” He narrowed his eyes on Gary. “Because of you assholes I sleep in a tent! I had to kill that guy to get a little money, because of what your people did to me! So I think it’s a little your fault, too.”
“Don’t you dare blame this on us,” Gary said indignantly. “You were removed from our community because of what you did to those young boys and girls. Don’t turn this around.”
John shone the light at Theo. “Theo Graham, mister quarterback here, wants this to be kept a secret. Needs this to be kept a secret. I did a little research, I know he is big star. Big stars make big bucks. I think we can strike a deal, don’t you? I get paid and you get your camera back and I don’t call the Associated Press.”
“There’s no proof we did it,” Theo said.
“No, there’s no proof. But there would be some circumstantial evidence, wouldn’t there be? The pictures, the cart, the dead man by the cart, the forensics, the time-line. Not enough to convict you, you’re probably right there, but wouldn’t it be enough to throw a huge cloud of doubt over your head for the country to see? How would that affect your career, mister big-time quarterback? I think it’s reasonable to say that a payment of, say, a million dollars would be a lot cheaper than dealing with the fallout this story would have.”
Carmen shone the light from John’s face to his stolen gun (which was in her panty drawer just yesterday). It held steady, aimed at Theo’s chest. Then returned the light to his face.
“I don’t have money,” Theo said. “I’m still in college. I can give you what I have in the bank, about twelve hundred bucks.”
“Twelve hundred?” John scoffed. “You’re lying.”
“He’s not lying,” Gary said. “College athletes don’t get paid.”
“You expect me to believe a guy as famous as you has no money?”
“I swear on my life. I don’t have but twelve hundred and what’s in my wallet. Let us go and I’ll give it to you.”
“I need enough money to move out of here and have a life. Twelve hundred isn’t anywhere near enough. You’re famous. Even if you don’t have it, you can get it. Someone will loan it to you. Your parents. You can come up with it. Look, I’ll be reasonable… give me a hundred grand in cash and that’ll be the end of it.”
“I can’t do it,” Theo said, frustrated. “I don’t have it and I can’t get it. Nobody is going to loan me a hundred grand.”
Joh
n directed the gun at Carmen and said, “I ought to put a bullet in her for that. That’s bullshit and you know it.”
Theo leapt in front of Carmen, hands splayed out in front of him. “Don’t, don’t do that. I’ll get it. Somehow.”
“That’s more like it.” He lowered the gun, still pointing it at Theo. “I want it by tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Theo said. “We’ll meet you here tomorrow morning, and I’ll have the money.” But would he? Theo couldn’t fathom how he’d come up with it. Then he remembered his agent Scotty. If he asked Scotty to borrow a hundred grand, said he was being blackmailed, he’d loan it to him. With interest, maybe. Scotty stood to make many millions off of Theo over the years, and if it meant lending that kind of money to get it, so be it.
Then there were his parents. He wasn’t sure of their financial situation, but it couldn’t have been too bad if Mom had bought him an expensive rod and new truck. If they didn’t have a hundred grand, they could get it on loan. But what would he tell them? That was the whopper, what would he tell anyone? Being blackmailed for what? Anyone willing to lend him that kind of money would expect an answer to that question in return. But Theo didn’t think it would matter because he wasn’t planning on meeting him back here tomorrow. The guy wouldn’t tell anyone what happened or he’d wind up in prison. He just wanted some quick easy money. It was best to placate him, tell him what he wanted to hear, and then get the hell out of Dodge.
“Tomorrow at noon,” John said, pointing the gun at Carmen, “or two dead bodies in the mine become three.”
Theo’s breath caught.
“Not going to happen, John,” Gary said. “The three of us go together and come back together. I give you my word as a devout Mormon man that we will be back here with your money.”
“It’s not your decision to make. She stays here with me. We’ll be just fine, won’t we, Georgette?” He winked at her.
“I won’t stay here with you,” she said shortly.
“I’m not asking!” He raised the gun.
“I won’t stay here with you,” she repeated defiantly.
“Say you won’t stay here with me one more time. Go ahead, say it.” His finger tightened around the trigger.
“John,” Gary reasoned, “we can’t leave her here with you and you know it. Not with your history. Why don’t I stay here and she goes with Theo?”
“I prefer the company of her, that’s why. And I believe Theo is more likely to return for her than you. Don’t worry, she’ll be in great hands,” he said suggestively. “I have a lantern, some whisky… you like whisky, don’t you Carmen? Sure you do. And I have a sleeping bag. It’ll be a little tight for two, but we’ll make it work. There’s no heat like body heat, isn’t that right, Gary?”
Carmen covered her eyes and wept. Theo put his arm around her waist. Gary touched her shoulder, said not to worry, promised that he wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen to her.
“That’s a promise I wouldn’t be making,” John said. “Get my hundred grand and you’ll get her back alive. That is a promise you can take to the bank.”
“Give me your word you won’t touch her,” Gary said.
“Like he’d tell the truth,” Theo said.
“Has he lied once thus far?” Gary said to Theo. “Men in his position have no reason to lie. He has the gun, he has control. Am I right, John?”
“You have my word, you’ll get her back alive.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. Don’t touch a hair on her head.”
“I won’t be touching her head,” he said and humored.
Gary’s fists tightened, lips a thin white line. Through clenched teeth he said, “I’m going to kill you.”
John sobered at the threat and extended his gun. “Try me, old man.”
“I’ll give you a hundred-and-fifty grand if you let all three of us go,” Theo said.
“No. Not gonna happen.”
“A hundred-and-fifty grand,” Gary said, “and you can keep me here in her stead.”
“No. This isn’t negotiable, she’s staying. Now get going. When you return with the cash you better not be armed or I’ll kill her, then you.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Gary said. “I can liquidate some assets and have a hundred thousand in cash for you tomorrow. You can keep Georgette here. But Theo says here also.”
John gave it some thought. That he was considering it released a little tension in all three of his captives.
“Would you like to know how that would turn out?” John began. “You’d come back with my money to find Theo dead.” He considered it another moment. “Yeah, I’m sure of it.”
“Why is that?” Gary said dejectedly.
“Use your imagination. I plan on celebrating this evening, and I don’t imagine Theo will care for the festivities. I’ll be forced to shoot him. Georgette will be fine, though. You’ll get her back. If that’s how you want it, go ahead and get my money alone. Just don’t expect Theo to be alive when you return.”
“You really plan on touching her, don’t you,” Gary said softly, resigned to the idea.
In John’s expressionless face was the answer.
“Can we have a private discussion to confer?” Gary said.
“Fuck no.”
Gary shook his head disappointedly and said, “How did you ever call yourself a Mormon?”
“God and I were never on speaking terms, old man. I moved here for the perks. Family oriented community, no city cops… I love both. Especially family, large families with lots of kids. Now get going.” He gestured them to leave with a wave of the gun.
“I’d rather be shot than left here with him,” Carmen said through tears.
Gary and Theo exchanged a woeful expression. Eyes conveying their unwillingness to leave Carmen here to this monster’s designs. Theo decided he wouldn’t leave. And this was the moment to make his move, if there was a move to make. Once Gary left, John would move them up the mine, the shotgun and handgun left behind. He’d stand no chance of overpowering John then, and would die trying. But at least now, at this moment, there were two guns at their feet. The time it would take to bring them up and take a shot would mean John would get at least one shot off, probably more. Someone would be shot, but that didn’t necessarily mean someone would be fatally wounded. And the plus side to this idea was John would die. Theo didn’t just want John to die, he needed it like uncontrollable fire needs rain. For both satisfaction and for his future, a preserved reputation. As long as this man remained alive, Theo would always worry about blackmail.
Theo’s hand around Carmen’s waist balled up into a tight fist as he contemplated firing a round between John’s eyes. The contraction of his fist dug into her side. My how he would take pleasure in killing him, and the gun which would accomplish it lain at his feet, just a quick reach down would do it. Then this would be behind him. Maybe not all for three of them, but for one or two of them. With a little luck only one man would be killed today, the man who deserved to die.
Chapter Twenty One
Lord Almighty, Gary prayed, give me the answer. Give me the strength to endure this. I know not what to do. Forgive me for putting Georgette in this situation, and grant me the wisdom to get her out of it. If it is your will, take me in her place. I couldn’t live with myself if this man steals her innocence.
And it won’t just be her innocence he takes, will it? In a moment of clarity, as if God implanted the idea in his subconscious mind, Gary knew what was going to happen, saw how this was going to play out if John had his way. He’d rape Georgette as Gary and Theo worked on getting the money. Then once they returned he’d kill them. Of course he would. He wouldn’t want to leave behind anyone who knew his secrets, that he had killed Michael Reese Gibson, then raped Georgette. Secrets to that degree were likely to be told, even if it meant bad press for the community of Cedar Hills, and the result would be a man-hunt for John Whitmeier.
But if Theo Graham went missing, that would also result in a
man-hunt, a search for Theo and the unknown man who abducted him. The news story of Michael Reese Gibson being abducted in Cedar Hills would resurface in the memories of detectives. Quite a coincidence that another man was taken in the same small town of less than four thousand, would it be? No, he wouldn’t kill Theo. He couldn’t, not if he wanted to live his life as something other than a fugitive. He’d kill Gary and Georgette and leave Theo to return to his talent of making millions of dollars, and every now and then when John was running low on cash, he’d hit Theo up for a hundred grand.
Gary resolved to put an end to this now. He was sure John wouldn’t shoot Theo; not today, anyway. He probably wouldn’t shoot Georgette yet, though he could be wrong. If she was dead Theo would have no reason to return to the mine with the money, other than to preserve his reputation, which would seem like his last concern at this moment. But Gary was expendable. He’d be the one taking the first bullet. Killing Gary would serve another purpose for John as well. It would let Theo know that John wasn’t fucking around, that if he didn’t get paid more people were going to die.
Gary saw himself as a man condemned to die, one way or another, and found strength in God to accept this fate. He’d enter the Kingdom of God but would do so alone, with Georgette and Theo alive and well, hopefully to live happy, blessed lives.
There was just one order of business to be taken care of first, and that was to take John’s life, send him to hell. The instrument to achieve this was at his feet.
He glanced over to Carmen. Theo was huddled beside her, consoling her, though his face wasn’t consolatory at all. His eyes were wide and keen, the hand around her waist balled into a fist.
Chapter Twenty Two
She reflected back, wondered what she could have done differently to have avoided this. Fate, that spiteful bastard. Had she not reunited with Theo after these ten long years, none of this would have happened. She told herself she wished she never met Theo. The thought wasn’t fully materialized when she rebuked it, decided that she was indeed glad her path had crossed Theo’s, even amid this crisis. If fate had brought them back together, there was a reason, a purpose. Just when she had found someone in her life to replace Theo’s memory—even as he had replaced hers with football so many years ago—fate or God or destiny or Ka or however you want to see it, brought Theo back to her, as if she wasn’t meant to be with Matthew at all. Her heart had been telling her that all along, but her mind was stubbornly at odds with it. Being with Matthew just made good sense, it was logical. Two twenty-somethings in the same town with the same religious beliefs, attracted to one another physically, mentally, and spiritually. But the heart is unwavering, more powerful than rational thought, and it never stopped craving Theo. Pining for Theo. Pleading for Theo. It never stopped… just admit it, Carmen… it never stopped loving Theo. It was love, even when she was too young to know it, still too naïve to understand it and even identify it, but it was no less than love that she possessed for him. Her love for him had been latent these ten years, but still there, waiting to be revisited. And against her will, against her most cognizant assertions, she had rekindled that love while refusing to accept it. But that time was over. In this darkest moment she embraced that love. Love will find a way, Theo had said the other day. Would it?