by Lynn Bohart
The North Mill was equipped with only two small security lights, which did little more than outline the front door. Andrew hadn’t explained why the photo shoot had been changed when he’d called earlier, but Rupert’s blue Ford pickup sat out in front. Somehow he’d gotten the message. Lee stepped out of the car and immediately wrapped her arms around her for warmth. She wore an insulated vest, but there was a distinct chill to the air. She glanced at the sky, which was clear, but the air was dense with moisture. She hated damp cold.
A crisp breeze flooded her nose with the rich smells of sawdust, while sounds of compressed air oozed from the mill like a resting steam engine. Across the yard, the machinery of the South Mill clanked in a muffled cadence, giving Lee some comfort. She pictured the logs being grabbed, turned, and sawn as they proceeded on their merry way to becoming planks of finished lumber.
A scuffling sound from somewhere in the darkness made her freeze.
She turned and squinted into the shadows. It could have been a rodent. There had to be tons of them around here, but the hairs on the back of her neck told her it was time to go inside.
She quickly approached the steel door and pulled it open, trading the darkened parking lot for the shallow light of the mill’s ground floor. Work lights were set high into the ceiling, spilling light only onto the areas directly below them. The monstrous equipment that had been so busy earlier in the day now slumbered quietly. She found a staircase leading to a familiar set of catwalks and started to climb, thinking about how much she wanted to be home and in bed.
Ping!
She stopped and listened.
Where had that come from? She strained to locate the sound’s origin, but could only hear the compressed air escaping into the night outside. Perhaps she’d merely kicked a nail off the stairs. A chill rippled across her shoulders, and she grabbed the handrail to finish the climb. She was anxious now to find Rupert.
A light shone through the window of the filing room, and she opened the door with a rush. One look at the tripod and camera set up at the other end of the room, and she began to chastise herself for magnifying the sounds native to a large factory at night.
But the room was quiet. And there was no Rupert.
Shit! Where was he?
Lee wandered around for a moment, impatient to get the photo shoot over with. A thumping sound drew her attention to the small workroom off to the right. She headed in that direction. Perhaps Rupert was searching for a better place to set up, or maybe someone was working late. Either way, she craved contact with a real person.
She hurried past the open trap door and entered a workroom the size of a single car garage. It was the one she had almost stepped into that afternoon. A wide worktable equipped with a built-in anvil ran down the center of the room. Counters lined opposite walls. A pegboard hung above the counter to her left and was filled with shop tools. At the end of the left hand counter was a tall cupboard that jutted out into the aisle by eighteen inches, its door ajar. There was an office at the far end of the room, with slivers of light peeking out from behind mini-blinds.
Lee didn’t know Rupert well, but didn’t think he’d prowl around someone’s office. She was about to retreat, when a muffled voice made her think someone was on the phone. Perhaps whoever was working late would know where Rupert was. She started up the aisle at a fast clip. Three feet from the office, a man stepped from behind the cupboard into her path.
“Hello, Lee.”
Lee’s hand flew to her chest. “God, Andrew, you nearly scared me to death.”
“Really? I must say, that would have been far easier.” A slow grin spread across his face.
“What?” she muttered.
Andrew’s normally hazel eyes were liquid masses. And his mouth had frozen into a half smile. A long moment passed between them before Lee realized she was in trouble. Andrew was VP of Operations at the hospital. Why was he here for a photo shoot?
“What are you doing here, Andrew?” she whispered, feeling a sour taste in her mouth. “Where’s Rupert? Where’s the nurse?” Lee raised her voice, hoping whoever was in the office would hear her.
“Rupert is indisposed at the moment. And the nurse won’t be coming.”
Andrew hadn’t moved and held his right hand behind his back.
“What do you mean?”
Lee found herself glancing at his arm, wondering what he was hiding. His dark eyes gleamed, and Lee’s body temperature began to rise. This wasn’t the Andrew she knew. His voice was duller than his normal monotone; it was absolutely flat. And there was no animation in his face. And then, there was that dark stare. He hadn’t broken his gaze, and she was sure he hadn’t blinked. She felt she was looking into the face of a complete stranger.
Just above a whisper, he said, “I have to get rid of something.”
Alarms screamed in her head, and she became acutely aware of the small room closing in around her. There were no windows, only the door behind her and the one to the office. If she could make a clean break to the rear, she might get away. Her heart banged in her chest, and she felt her legs might give out at any moment.
“I don’t understand,” she said, stalling for time.
Andrew finally stepped forward, closing the space between them to just a few inches. His expression was anything but friendly. A voice in her head yelled, “Run!”
Lee grabbed the tall cupboard door and swung it open, slamming it directly into Andrew’s face. She turned and lunged for the open door behind her.
But Bud Maddox had just stepped through the door at the far end of the saw room. Lee slid to a stop. She couldn’t handle both of them. Panicked, she shoved the heavy workroom door closed and flipped the lock into place. Without thinking, she whirled around and grabbed one of the picaroons from the wall next to her, and then spun around and pressed her back against the door. Andrew stopped short, only a few feet away, a trickle of blood visible at his left nostril. He used his sleeve to wipe it away.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he scowled. “Closing the door will keep Maddox out, but I’m still here.”
Something slammed against the door, and Maddox called out.
“Hey, bitch! Open up.”
“Go around,” Andrew called out. “I’ll take care of things in here.”
“I don’t think so,” Lee threatened.
She took a step forward, holding the picaroon out and flashing the vicious tip at Andrew. But he merely smiled and brought forward his left hand. In it was a small caliber pistol. Lee looked at the pistol and then at the contemptuous look on Andrew’s face.
“You killed Diane,” she exhaled.
Andrew chuckled. “No, but I am going to kill you. You’re going to have a nasty little accident. Through the trap door in the other room.”
“What makes you think I’ll willingly step through the trap door?” she asked, feeling a giddy sense of power as the adrenalin flooded her veins.
“It’s that or a bullet in your head. At least you have a choice. That’s more than Diane had,” he said, smiling.
That was all it took. Too much caffeine. Too little sleep. And this man’s arrogance. Lee snapped.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” she screamed, swinging the pick fully at his face.
Andrew jumped back and released a round of ammunition that slammed into the wall. Lee charged on, swinging the weapon back and forth like a two-handed sword. She forced Andrew backwards up the narrow aisle. As the pick swung to the left, it hooked a pair of pliers off the pegboard and sent them flying. Andrew ducked, but Lee kept swinging. Andrew couldn’t get off a shot. Finally, as she came to the end of the table, she swung the pick back and it launched a small hammer on its return.
The hammer whizzed across the aisle and hit Andrew right in the face. He cried out and stumbled. With a grunt, Lee turned towards him and swung the pick all the way back in hopes she could finish the job. But she’d moved in front of the long cupboard door, and the sharp tip of the picaroon got caught in the wood, a
lmost yanking her off her feet. Frenzied, she turned and pulled on the long wooden handle, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Shall we take a walk now, Lee?” Andrew slurred behind her.
Lee stopped pulling and glanced over her shoulder. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps. Andrew had regained his footing and held his left hand up to his left eye, which was closed and bleeding. His mouth was also bleeding, and his facial muscles were twisted in pain. But his right hand still held the gun, and it was pointed at her.
“Why don’t you just shoot me?” she asked, breathing hard.
“Like I said, you need to have an accident.” His voice reflected the pain he was in. “Let’s go.”
Lee’s heart raced, and the buzzing in her ears had returned. But she didn’t move. She just watched him.
This horrible little man would not best her, at least not without a fight. Counting on Andrew’s arrogance to blur his judgment, she turned away from him and placed her foot against the cupboard. With a loud grunt, she pulled until her muscles burned. With a crack, the door suddenly broke, releasing the pick. It shot off the wall, swinging Lee in a half circle. The pick slammed into Andrew’s gun hand, cracking his wrist. The gun flew under the workbench on the opposite side of the room, and the pick slammed into the anvil, nearly shaking Lee’s hands loose.
Lee steadied the weapon. Her arms ached, but she raised the pick over her head. As she did, Andrew scurried to the other side of the table, clutching his wrist. She was about to go after him, when he grabbed a ball peen hammer. Even injured, she thought, he was still a threat, and she hesitated.
She spied a door out of the corner of her eye. It was hidden by an overly large cupboard on the far wall to her left. She looked at the door, and then looked at Andrew. With only the flicker of a thought, she was through the new door in a flash and back on the catwalk. Most likely, she was on the opposite side of the filing room and prayed she wouldn’t run into Maddox.
She lurched forward. The metal walkway swayed and rattled as she ran, making her cringe. But there was no way to escape quietly. She had to keep going. She rounded the back corner of the filing room and ducked under a conveyor belt where she encountered a staircase. She didn’t know where it led, but gripped the handrail and propelled herself down, holding the pick in the crook of her elbow. Five feet from the bottom, the pick slipped and caught in the railing. Lee was catapulted the last few feet, landing face down in the sawdust. The pick dropped over the hand rail and out of sight.
Stunned, Lee raised herself to her knees and spit out sawdust and dirt. She glanced around a little dazed. Overhead pipes and machinery surrounded her in deep shadow. A path opened up to her left and extended back into the mill. Perhaps she could find the door she’d entered through and escape to her car. Her fingers touched the pocket of her vest where her car keys lay hidden.
The thought of safety motivated her to get up and sprint carelessly forward. She ran directly into a heavy valve that stuck out from a huge cylinder. It bounced her backwards, and a searing pain shot through her forehead. She teetered for a moment, thinking she actually saw stars. Before she knew it, she was on her hands and knees again, feeling like she might throw up.
She stayed there, trying to swallow the bile that billowed up in her throat. When it subsided, she got her left foot underneath her, and was about to push herself up, when her right hand brushed against something near the bottom step. It was the handle of the picaroon. Her fingers laced around it, just as a voice behind her sent chills to her very core.
“I kind of like you on your hands and knees in the dark,” Maddox chuckled.
Every one of Lee’s muscles tightened at the sound of his voice and an intense feeling of hatred swelled inside her. She remained in a crouched position, one knee on the ground, one foot planted underneath her. Then she twisted away from Maddox and toward the pick. Slowly, she drew the lethal weapon towards her, counting on the fact her movements would be hidden in the dark. She concentrated through her dizziness, trying to calculate the space available to her. She would have one chance at this. That was all. Just then, Andrew called out above and she paused.
“Bud! Where are you?”
Lee could tell that Bud was directly behind her. She secured her left foot, and then reached over slowly with her left hand, using her body to block her movement.
“We’re down here,” Maddox shouted back.
In a single fluid movement, Lee swung the pick around at full force. Maddox had pivoted towards the stairs, and the pick slammed into his back, imbedding itself a good six inches. He froze in place, a wheeze escaping his lungs. His reaction was hidden in the dark, but the gurgling sound that came from his throat told her she’d at least hit a lung, if not other major organs. A moment later, he toppled forward onto the stairs, his head rebounding off one of the steps with a metallic twang.
Lee stood absolutely still, panting, and feeling an odd sense of detachment. She’d just killed a person. A man she detested, but someone she knew. Yet, she had no remorse. She didn’t even feel anger anymore. He was just gone.
“Bud?” Andrew called again.
It was time to go.
She had a raging headache. Blood ran down her forehead, and her vision was a bit blurry. But she knew she had to get moving.
She turned and moved forward, carefully this time, using her hands as buffers. Within a few feet, she came out into an open area with only the barest amount of light. To her right were the stairs they had taken down to the chipper. She tried to picture their short tour that afternoon, and remembered there was a ramp down there that lead up to an exit on this floor. She raised her head and squinted into the darkness. Tucked behind some large mechanical apparatus about a hundred feet ahead of her, was the faint green glow of an exit light. Her heart fluttered. She had a chance.
As quickly as she could, she made her way towards the exit. She was more unsteady on her feet than she realized, and her progress was slow. Behind her, she heard the catwalk rattle, then the stairs. Andrew would find Maddox. She had to speed this up.
The word, “Shit!” echoed behind her.
“Goddamn it…I’m coming, Lee! I’m right behind you.”
Lee tried to run, but the world kept tilting. She had just about made it to the exit, when she banged her left shoulder into a conveyor belt. The noise was loud enough to alert the Fifth Infantry, so she decided to make a run for the door. She willed her legs into a lopsided gate and zigzagged around machinery until she hit the exit bar on the door. No alarm sounded, but she emerged into the foggy night, gulping down the sweet fresh air.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The fresh air filled her lungs, helping to clear her head. She was at the back of the mill. A chain-link fence ran along the property in front of her. Beyond it were two parked cars − a blue Honda Civic and a brown pick-up truck. To her left and right were more buildings and alleyways. She didn’t think it made much difference, so she stumbled down the stairs and lurched to her right. She began to run with more confident strides, practically skidding around the corner.
She headed for the front of the building and her car. Low clouds had moved in, blocking the moon and bringing in a heavy mist that hung between the two buildings. The mist obscured the security light at the far end of the building, so that it glowed like the beacon from a lighthouse. She couldn’t see well, but began to jog toward the light. That’s when the sound of tires on gravel broke the silence, and headlights flashed across the alley. Someone had pulled up to the front of the mill. The sound of a car door slamming confirmed it.
Lee skidded to a stop. Who was this? No one else was scheduled for the photo shoot. That meant it had to be someone Andrew had called out to for help. Lee backed up against the wall of the opposite building, hiding in the shadows. Now what? She could wait until that person went inside and then run for her car. But when a door slammed from behind her, she knew her options had just evaporated. Andrew had followed her out the back door.
Her hands began
searching the walls on either side of her. When her fingers looped around a door jam, her heart leapt. Lee grabbed for the door handle. To her relief, she found the door unlocked. She ducked inside, closing it behind her as quickly and quietly as possible. She moved blindly into the musty interior of a room filled with boxes and metal canisters. She groped in front of her, looking for a place to hide, her feet sliding over a dirty, cement floor. When a shadow flicked past the outside window, she panicked and began to look for another exit.
A crack of light underneath a set of barn-like doors, and the sound of a motorized conveyor belt drew her forward. Maybe someone was working in there. Lee grabbed the large metal handle of one door and pulled it sideways. The door slid open, exposing a two-story room she recognized as the fuel house. At least this was familiar territory. Masterson had said someone in the boiler room operated the crane on a twenty-four hour basis, so with luck, she might get his attention.
A blast of the fragrant fresh bark hit her as she stepped inside and bark chips continued to drop from the ceiling, landing in the huge pile in the far right corner. She searched the wall to her left for the camera she assumed the operator used to move the crane. But the crane was quiet now, positioned in the middle of the room like a dinosaur on display. A momentary panic seized her as she contemplated the possibility she was still alone out here.
Across the room was the door Masterson had used to exit through that afternoon, along with a floor-to-ceiling roll-up loading door. Both exits were closed, but her only chance of escape seemed to lie in that direction. She would have to zigzag around the crane and the end of the chain to the door. Once she made the commitment, she would be stuck. Either the door was unlocked, or it wasn’t. And if it wasn’t, she’d be a sitting duck in here. There was no place to hide unless she wanted to bury herself in the bark pile.