The Power to Live

by Thomas Porter

  Elizabeth, are they hurting your arm?

  That clicking is so loud. Loud! I can see it outside my window. Click! Click! Click! It's making the mushroom cloud move.

  "You want me to put bullets in this gun, senor? It will make more than a click, you know."

  Why is that funny? Why are they laughing again?

  "No. Okay. Okay."

  Okay? What is okay, papi?

  "Take my daughter. She's upstairs. Very beautiful. Just let me live."

  "What are you saying, papi?"

  "She is very beautiful. Go look at her. You can have her. Just don't kill me. I'll trade her for my life."

  I wish those men would stop laughing. They are laughing again.

  Elizabeth is talking. "What are you saying, papi? Are you giving Lozen to these men?"

  These men are making you choose between your life or me? You are giving me to these men to save your life?

  “No!” Elizabeth is crying out. “Take me. I won't fight you! I won't. But don't take my sister! You can take me instead!”

  “Yes, take this one.” What are you saying papi? “Take this one instead. She is beautiful too. Look at her!” Don't say that, papi! Don't say they can take Elizabeth.

  “That will work good, senor. That is a deal, this one here for your life.”

  “Thank you! Thank you. Take her and let me go. Please.”

  A gun shot!

  “Papi! No! You shot him! You killed him!”

  "We want more than just one girl, senor. This one and the one upstairs and we let you live. Oh, sorry. Too late to let you live!"

  Laughing at my dead papi!

  A yellow Toyota SUV pulled up behind the Mercedes and an overweight woman in a business suit and heels got out. She walked to the passenger side of the car, away from the traffic, and knocked on the window.

  "Are you okay in there?" She asked.

  Lozen's mind returned to her and she opened her eyes.

  "Are you okay? Do you need help?" the woman asked again. Lozen looked at her, surprised by her sudden appearance. She pushed hard on the brake, pulled the gear shifter into drive, then pressed just as hard on the gas pedal. The car jerked forward onto the road and within seconds it was up to 50 mph and flowing with traffic. As it gained on the car in front, Lozen eased up slightly on the gas pedal. At that moment, as if hit by an object dropped from an overpass, she was hit in the chest by Elizabeth. By the feeling of Elizabeth. Here in Denver. Elizabeth! Lozen cried out loudly, "Elizabeth! I knew it!" She jerked the steering wheel to the right and skidded to a stop on the shoulder. The woman who had stopped to help stood on the shoulder several hundred yards back, watching. Lozen pushed the gear shifter into park, clasped her hands together, right over left, and held them to her chest. She could feel Elizabeth, feel her someplace close. A force tugged them up, then to the side, then down, then back up. Again and again, as the feeling in her chest grew, her hands moved. They were guiding Lozen, guiding her somehow to Elizabeth.

  She tentatively loosed her right hand's grip on her left and pulled it away slightly. Her left hand continued its dance of discovery and Lozen cried out again, "Yes!" With her right hand, she reached down, pulled the gear shifter into drive, and then grabbed onto the steering wheel, all the while moving slowly, slowly, as if reaching into a wild animal's cage. But all the time, her left hand continued its circles, guiding her.

  Much more carefully than before, Lozen pressed the gas pedal and eased back onto Santa Fe Boulevard. Cars passed closely to her left, some honking as they went, while Lozen kept the Mercedes down to around 35 mph. Her left hand continued to circle and the feeling in her chest continued to press outward. In several minutes, the feeling led her past a sign which read, "Evergreen Estates. From the $500s." The red rocks of the foothills rose in the distance, framing the snow-capped mountains, and Lozen pulled the car onto the exit ramp and toward Elk View Drive.

  Chapter 29

  The skinny man with the gray skin and sunken cheeks pushed the cooler into the back seat of the Ford Expedition. He retrieved the end of a cord and plugged it into the cooler, lifted a six-pack from the floor, pulled six cans of Budweiser from their plastic rings, and dropped them in next to the freezer bags. He closed the door, walked around the back of the vehicle to the other side, and sat in the driver's seat. O'Groghan got in the other side.

  “Beer's in the cooler, boss,” sunken cheeks said. Wheeze.

  “Is it still cold?”

  “Should be, boss. I took it out of the fridge just before I came over.”

  The power cord connected to the cigarette lighter snaked between the seats to the 12V cooler. O'Groghan reached back with his left hand and blindly reached in. At first it landed on a cold, soft freezer bag before he felt a can and retrieved it. As he took his first sip, sunken cheeks backed down the driveway.

  “Why you buy this swill for me is beyond my comprehension,” O'Groghan said.

  “That's what you said you want stocked,” sunken cheeks said.

  “Don't remember saying that. Don't think I'd say that. Can't you put a lid on your wheezing?”

  “Sorry, Boss.”

  “Just call Ray.”

  Sunken cheeks pressed the brake and stopped the Expedition as it was angling onto Elk View Drive, half in and half out of the driveway. He pressed a couple buttons on the center console touchscreen and the vehicle's speakers said, “Yo.”

  “Ray?” O'Groghan said.

  “Yeah, boss. What's up.”

  “I need a new shirt when I get there, 15 minutes. This one Eddie brought might be dirty. I think it hit the wall when he threw it to me.”

  “You got it. That it?”

  “No. We're gonna need to pick up another cooler in around 6 hours. Plus bring 4K cash for the nurse.”

  “She's asking us for money now?”

  “She's okay. Deserves it really, putting up with that Dr. Broughton. We might need to find another doctor soon, though. I'm not sure I can tolerate this one much longer myself.”

  “Say the word and he's gone, boss.”

  “Will do. Thanks Ray,” O'Groghan said and pressed the end call button on the touchscreen. He took another sip of the beer, turned to Eddie and asked, “Is there a reason our ass is sticking half into the road, beyond driver stupidity?”

  “No, boss,” Eddie said. He lifted his foot off the brake and the Expedition rolled backward. He turned the wheel and the vehicle straightened onto Elk View Drive. He shifted into drive but before he lifted his foot off the brake again the vehicle's phone rang. When he answered it, Eddie said, “Who played center field for the 1969 Mets?”

  “Center field?” the caller asked.

  “What year did George Brett hit the pine tar homerun?”

  “This is Bowery, you jerk. Since when do I have to answer your dumbass questions?”

  “Since always,” Eddie said and opened his mouth to ask another question, this one about the Edmonton Oilers, but O'Groghan cut him off.

  “How's your boss, Bowery?” O'Groghan asked.

  “I wouldn't know, Mr. O'Groghan. Haven't seen him since yesterday,” Bowery said.

  “Sorry to hear that. You may not be seeing him tomorrow either. Or the next day. What do you want?” O'Groghan turned to Eddie and said, “Can you at least drive? That lady who's always messing around her mailbox is looking at us again. We may need to put her in the same box with Broughton.”

  “What?” the Expedition's speakers asked.

  “I said, what do you want?” O'Groghan said.

  “I'm looking for someone. I think she's coming your way,” Bowery answered.

  “Hold on, Bowery,” O'Groghan said to the dashboard. Then to Eddie, he said, “Pull to the curb. I want to hear this.” O'Groghan didn't rise to control this organization in Denver by being careless. Two of the three girls lost in that wreck is one thing. That happens. Then Marcos tells him to me
et at the airport, then then the girl's sister shows up, and now he's getting a call from Marcos' security. O'Groghan wanted to hear what else might be on the way before making a move.

  Eddie eased the Expedition over to the curb and O'Groghan continued, “What's this about someone coming my way?”

  “One of Marcos' girls. She laid me out with an iron and lit up The Taurus. Burned it to the ground as far as I know. I'm after that bitch. You bought her younger sister and some other girl. You know them, I'm sure. Very, very fine both of them. Extra fine. I think that bitch is going after them.”

  “The no-shows. Is that who I was supposed to buy?”

  “You didn't exactly buy one of them. Traded her for the Bugatti. The other you paid cash and cocaine.”

  “Yes, I know them. They're no-shows, you know that? Just processed their traveling companion though. Scarred up face but good organs. Even got the eyes. The other two never made it, you hear that?”

  “What do you mean, never made it?”

  “I mean they were not delivered. Never made it. They wrecked and they got away.”

  “So how did Samantha get there?”

  “Scar face? Your man Chase got a rental and drove her here,” O'Groghan said.

  “What about the other guy? Serio?” Bowery asked.

  “Don't know. Don't think he survived the wreck.”

  “Mr. O'Groghan, I did not know about all that. Swear. All three girls were packed up and shipped yesterday morning, then that bitch I'm after lays me out with an iron. I woke up in a frickin' ambulance for Christ's sake.”

  “Where are you now?” O'Groghan asked.

  “Driving past Greeley. We were telling the girls that Samantha was going to work for you, and the three of them were in the same van. So Elizabeth probably put two and two together and now she's coming.”

  “What were the names of those two no shows?” O'Groghan asked.

  “Lozen and Napolita. Lozen's the younger sister.”

  O'Groghan took a gulp of beer, smiled and looked over to Eddie, who shrugged his shoulders. Eddie's face asked, “What?”

  “No problem, Mr. Bowery. I think we found the girl you're looking for. Very fine herself.”

  “Where at?” Bowery asked.

  “Inside my doctor's house. I just saw her five minutes ago. You'll be glad to know we're collecting her product in around six hours.”

  “There? Now?” the Expedition's speakers said. “Damn, that girl's good. How'd she find you so fast?”

  “Don't know. It seems we've taken care of your problem, yeah?”

  “Outstanding!” Bowery said.

  O'Groghan looked over at Eddie and frowned. He tossed the empty beer can into the back seat, retrieved another, and scanned his new T-shirt for smudge marks it may have picked up when it hit Honey Rider's photo during its toss downstairs.

  “You're not too far behind her. Very impressive of you, Mr. Bowery.”

  “She was gonna be mine one way or the other.”

  “You don't know it, but you need a new employer.”

  “Why you say that?”

  “I had to put Marcos down. Very bad businessman and his skinny ass knew too much.”

  “Put him down? When?”

  “Never mind when, Bowery. You want a job, stay here in Denver and work for me.”

  O'Groghan took a long drink and waited. The Expedition speakers remained silent. The vehicle's interior was quite except for the purr of the engine and Eddie's labored breathing.

  After about 60 seconds of silence and Eddie's rhythmic wheezing, Bowery's voice jumped back through the speakers.

  “I can work for you on one condition, Mr. O'Groghan.”

  “Yeah? What's that?”

  “When I get there, you get me some pants.”

  Chapter 30

  The old woman pulled another flower bulb from a bag and dropped it in a hole. She scooped some dirt from a second bag and ladled that on top of the bulb. As she reached into the first bag for another bulb, a Mercedes rolled toward her slowly. She looked up at the driver, a girl in her teens with long black hair, very beautiful, but very disheveled. Her left hand was held tightly to her chest and her head swiveled from side to side, examining each house. Very pretty, the woman thought. As the car rolled past, the woman recognized her. Didn't this girl come by earlier? In a taxi? No, she was different. Maybe older. This girl seems a bit younger, but still beautiful. Is she in trouble? She's all rumpled up. If she stops at that crazy doctor's house I'm going to tell Rodger to go over there and have a talk with him right now.

  Chapter 31

  Lozen relaxed her left hand, which she had pulled closely to her chest, and began tapping slowly. Here, close, I can feel it. This thought crowded out all others. Up on the right, she saw the Ford Expedition pulled to the side. As she kept the Mercedes rolling forward, she followed the Expedition with her eyes until she was directly next to it. She pressed the brake and brought the car to a full stop. Her left hand stopped tapping and pulled in tightly against her chest. She stared at the driver's side window, straight across from her, but could see nothing through it.

  Elizabeth is here. But not here.

  Lozen's arms tightened and her mind tunneled in. The two men in that big car were with her. But she's not in there with them now. That man sitting right there, right behind that window, is going to die soon. He should die soon. He's a bad man.

  Chase is near too, but not in there with the sick man.

  Why do I feel Samantha? She is in there with the sick man, but not in there.

  Lozen's mind then drifted to the second man. Cold! Hurt! Cruel! Her arms tensed more as she tried to pull her mind off that other man. Wake up! Wake up! She told herself. But she couldn't wake up, she couldn't pull her mind away. Her thoughts were pulled into the maelstrom of his mind, pulled in like driftwood on the tide, until she cried out, “No!” and she broke away. The daylight hit her eyes and she blinked. That man has killed a lot of people. A lot of people and now he's killing Elizabeth, but where is she?

  Under the house. In the basement.

  Lozen pulled the door handle and pushed the door open. As she stepped out of the car it rolled forward and to the right, still in drive, until it pushed against the front of the Expedition and stopped. She ran around behind the car, then behind the Expedition, and toward the curb, toward the dark basement window where she knew Elizabeth was. When her feet stepped up on the grass her left arm was immobilized, stopped as if hit by a bullet. Her feet slipped and she was momentarily suspended at the end of O'Groghan's grip. Still pulling her left hand into her chest, she landed on the ground.

  “Where you going so fast?” he asked in a low, calm voice as he pulled up on her arm. Her hand pulled away from her chest as he lifted until she stood on her feet.

  “Elizabeth is here,” Lozen said.

  “Yes, she is here,” O'Groghan said.

  In Lozen's long journey from the van accident in Nevada, her mind was driven to find her sister. She pushed toward Elizabeth despite the danger and the damage, as if controlled by 10,000 generations of selective breeding. Like a reindeer that herds in the fall and runs, like a Canada goose that flocks in the spring and flies, she was pushed by a force that no conscious thought could overcome.

  But also like a reindeer she paid little attention, could not pay attention, to the voice in the recesses of her mind that said wolves await, and will strike when your guard is weakest.

  Now, as she balanced on her feet and pulled in futility against the granite grip of O'Groghan, her eyes widened into the empty look of the captured prey that knows it's about to die.

  O'Groghan had seen that look before.

  “She's right inside. Want to see her?”

  In the grip of this malevolent presence, she could not force herself to wake up and pull her mind away and she could not run. It had her and now it was going to kill her.

  “Y
es, I want to see her,” Lozen said.

  “Is Elizabeth your sister?”

  “Yes, she's my sister.”

  “How'd you know she's here?”

  “I just know.”

  “Walk with me. Don't make me carry you or I'll snap you in half.”

  Arm held tightly by O'Groghan, Lozen walked herself awkwardly to the front door of the house. The door opened and Dr. von Broughton stood just inside the house, grinning.

  “Say what they will about you, Paddy, but you are good for business,” he said.

  “Shut up,” O'Groghan said. “Did you start on the other one yet?”

  “Not yet. We're just putting her on the table. What's up?”

  O'Groghan pushed his way past von Broughton and went into the house.

  The old woman at the mailbox, standing now, watched the scene from several houses away. Yes, she thought, next time she's definitely going to tell Rodger to do something about that crazy doctor.

  Once inside, O'Groghan's grip on Lozen's left arm tightened and she cried out in pain. He pulled her across the living room and into the kitchen. As she passed by Chase asleep on the couch, she realized the feeling she had outside was right. Samantha must also be here. Maybe sleeping in another room? With his free hand, O'Groghan opened the basement door and led Lozen down the stairs to the landing, followed closely by Dr. Broughton.

  “Elizabeth!” Lozen cried out when she saw her, unconscious, on the autopsy table. Nancy was pulling on her legs to straighten them.

  Nancy looked up and took in the scene that had just descended the stairs.

  “Who is this now?” she asked angrily.

  “Another payday for you, Nancy,” O'Groghan said.

  Nancy stood staring at O'Groghan for several seconds, then released Elizabeth's feet and turned to face him head on.

  “No way, you bastard. You're paying me an extra 4K. Great and thank you for that. But you've got to quit bringing girls down here like that. Who is this now?”

  “What? What's going on?” Lozen asked her. Somehow, she felt she could talk to this fat woman at Elizabeth's feet. At least she didn't feel the unrestrained malevolence that buckled her knees when she first felt O'Groghan.

  Although the question was directed at Nancy, O'Groghan answered. “This is our little operation. Meet Dr. von Broughton, who will cut you open and pull your heart out between pouring himself drinks.”

  “Thank you, Mr. O'Groghan. Our little operation. Yes!” Dr. von Broughton said from the staircase landing.