by Brenda Novak
It seemed he’d thought of everything.
As soon as he turned and walked off, she struggled to get free, but it was no use. The tape wasn’t worth crap when it came to holding down eyelids or keeping mouths shut for viewing, but it sure seemed to work in a pinch if you needed to kidnap someone.
It wasn’t long before he returned with a handful of supplies, and stood again beside her open door, staring her down. “If you keep trying to get loose, I’m going to have to stick you in the trunk.”
“No. Please don’t. I promise to cooperate.” A tear ran down the side of her cheek. This was no joke. He was big and strong and there was nothing to stop him from doing her harm. For now, she would have to do as he said.
He tossed the things he was holding onto the backseat. “I need a map.”
“Nobody uses maps anymore.”
“What do they use?”
“An app on their phone.”
He leaned over, pushing her legs toward the console so he could get into the glove compartment. His forearm rubbed against her breasts. She sucked in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut.
“What is wrong with you, lady?”
She didn’t say a word.
“Listen carefully because I’m not going to repeat this…I’m not going to rape you. For one thing, I’m not a rapist. For another, you’re not my type, so you have nothing to worry about in that regard. Got it?”
Her lips trembled. Tears were flowing now. She didn’t want to die.
He rifled through the junk in the compartment, then held up the map he found.
“Are you crying?”
She tried to stop, but she couldn’t, not with him yelling at her.
“Rob said you weren’t the emotional type. So, could you do me a favor and summon that undemonstrative side of yourself?”
“Excuse me?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She used her sleeve to wipe her nose. “What are you talking about? How do you know Rob?”
“Never mind.” With map in hand, he slammed the passenger door shut, and then walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in.
It took him a moment to get the seat back far enough for his legs to fit, but he managed.
“How do you know Rob?” she repeated. “Who are you?”
He put the key in the ignition and tried to start the engine. Nothing. “Rob called your cell phone and left you a message,” he told her.
“You listened to my messages?”
“Do you want to hear what he said, or not?”
“Where’s my phone?”
“I tossed it.”
“You bastard.”
“That’s it. You’re going inside the trunk.” He started to climb out.
“No. I’m sorry. I’ve had a rough week. Just tell me what he said.”
“I already told you. He said something about you not being emotional, and he knew you were probably fine, but he was worried because you had yet to return his call.”
She visibly shuddered. “Anything else?”
He turned the key again. “He said happy birthday.”
“What an asshole.”
“That’s what I thought.”
The motor sputtered and spit.
“You have to work the gas pedal,” she told him as she dried her eyes.
He tried again. Nothing.
“You’re not doing it right. You have to pump the pedal harder and faster.”
He stopped what he was doing and looked at her with narrowed eyes. “I can take it from here.”
“Are you sure? Because I don’t hear the—“
The engine roared to life before she could finish her sentence, leaving her to inwardly berate herself for telling him how to start the car in the first place. What was she thinking?
He studied the map while she studied his profile. “I wish you hadn’t tossed my phone.”
He ignored her.
“What did you do to end up in prison?”
He said nothing.
“You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”
“No more questions. I need a change of clothes and some shoes. Any suggestions?”
If she could get him to take her home, she might be able to escape. “If you take me to my apartment, there’s a cashmere sweater you can have and whatever else the jerk left in my closet.”
“Are we the same size?”
“Who?”
“Me and lover boy.”
She refused to look at him. “I’m sure his clothes will fit you.”
“What about your neighbors?”
“Most of them work during the day,” she lied. “My place is only a few minutes from here.”
“Okay. We’re going to your apartment. I’ll cut your bindings when we get there but if you pull any tricks, someone’s going to get hurt.”
A long list of ideas ran through her head. Once he undid the tape, she could make a run for it. But where would she go? There wasn’t much on River Street. Maybe she should wait until they were inside the apartment. While he changed his clothes, she could call 911 from her roommate’s bedroom or the kitchen. Or, as soon as they got to her apartment door, she could scream. The neighbor in 313 came over whenever she and her roommate played loud music or had a few friends over. Surely, the busybody would hear her if she cried out.
“Make a left onto Spring Street,” she told him. “At the traffic circle take the first exit onto Main Street.”
It only took five minutes to arrive at her apartment building on River Street. He used the scalpel to cut the tape, then made quick work of getting her out of the car and up to her apartment door.
She was nervous and confused and the seconds flew by. The woman in 313 always shut her blinds when she went out for the day. Damn. She wasn’t home. Before she could decide what to do, she was sitting on the edge of her bed while he taped her ankles to the footboard.
“I’m not going to run, I promise. And I still don’t understand why you’re going to all the trouble of taking me with you unless you’re a killer.”
“I’m not a killer,” he told her. “If I was I would have taken you out at the morgue.”
True, she thought. He’d had plenty of opportunities.
He knelt down, double and triple taped her ankles, then looked up at her. “If I leave you here there’s absolutely no reason for you not to call the police. I need to get to California and prove my innocence. I’m sorry, I really am, but you’re coming with me.”
She sighed.
“I’m not a killer,” he repeated.
“So, you’re a kidnapper then.”
The look in his eyes made her shudder. “This is the only way. After I’ve talked to my lawyer, you’ll be free to go. I’m not spending the rest of my life in prison for a murder I didn’t commit.”
“Who did you kill? I mean, who do they believe you killed?”
“One of my partners—Dirk Taylor.”
Once he finished taping her ankles, he didn’t bother with her wrists. He searched through her closet, found some of Rob’s clothes, and headed for the bathroom. With the door shut, she could hear water running.
She bent down to try and rip the tape off, but he’d used too damn much of it. She couldn’t make a dent. She looked around the room and then remembered that there were nail clippers in the top drawer of the bedside table. There used to be pepper spray in the drawer, too, but she’d given it to her roommate since Julie sometimes had to work late at night.
Angela fell back onto the mattress, stretching her arms above her head, and straining every muscle as she reached for the drawer.
It was no use.
Her gaze fell on the pen sitting on her nightstand next to her alarm clock. She pulled the lamp cord in hopes of sliding the pen closer. The lamp toppled over and crashed to the floor.
The bathroom door shot open.
She sat up.
Their gazes locked.
Seeing him dressed in jeans and a T-shirt was unsettling. He looked human…normal…lik
e a regular guy, except for his eyes. They were dark, and his expression was even darker.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He looked at the lamp on the floor. “You’re definitely riding in the trunk.”
She was claustrophobic. She didn’t do well in dark places.
Frustration lined his face, but he turned and went back inside the bathroom. This time he left the door open. She could see him shaving and then using her toothbrush. Was nothing sacred with this man?
When he came back into the room, she noticed that Rob’s T-shirt and jeans were a little snug, but overall the clothes fit just as she’d thought they would. Nobody would guess he was a convicted murderer.
He grabbed a nylon bag with a zipper that she kept in her closet for short trips and filled it with Rob’s clothes. He also found a pair of Rob’s sneakers that he’d left at her place in case he ever wanted to take a run.
“A little big, but not bad,” he said after slipping them on. “What do you want to take?”
She was sitting on the edge of the bed again. “How long will I be gone?”
“At least a week. Maybe two.”
Her shoulders dropped. “That’s a long time. People will be looking for me. You can’t possibly think you can get away with this.”
“You’ve got two seconds to tell me what to grab or you’re bringing nothing more than what you’re wearing.”
“Geez.” She pointed to the chair in the corner. “I’ll need that bra over there and some more underwear and T-shirts. They’re inside the third dresser drawer. A sweatshirt would be nice, and my favorite sweater. The black one right there, hanging in the closet. You can put it all in the backpack…the one over there by the door.”
While she talked and pointed, he grabbed her things and shoved them in the backpack. He also collected toiletries and a couple of towels. After he left the room to gather food for the long drive, she could hear him rattling around in the kitchen.
“My boyfriend did say he was coming over today,” she shouted. “Despite the message you heard, he’s been begging me to come back to him and I’m pretty sure he’ll be here any minute now.”
The phone rang.
All was quiet. No more moving around in the kitchen.
“Hey, Babe, I mean Angi, it’s me again. I’ve been trying to call you on your cell, but I thought I should try your home phone, too.” There were muffled sounds in the background before he continued. “I promise, this is the last time I’ll call. I just need you to know it was never my intention to hurt you. For months things haven’t been right between us. You can’t deny it. We’re two different people. You never wanted to do anything adventurous and—ow!” It was obvious that someone, Christine, no doubt, was trying to stop the jerk from blabbing on. “Anyhow,” Rob continued, “I mostly just called to tell you I’m sorry.”
There was a beep and then Dead Man Running was back in the room, cutting her ties. Glancing up at her face, he said, “Don’t you dare cry. That guy is a dick.”
“I really don’t know what he was talking about.”
“You’re better off without him.”
“I am adventurous,” she said in a voice that sounded a little squeaky and not at all like herself.
“I’m sure you are.”
“I never saw him trying new things.”
“Hypocrite.”
“I hate men.”
“Understandable.”
He finished with the tape removal and stood up. “Anything else you need?”
She looked around, shrugged.
“Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?”
“A killer with humor. Just my luck.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I know. I know. You’re not a killer.” She grabbed a small blanket and a pillow from the bed, gave him a stoic look, and said, “I’m ready.”
Chapter Five
The first few hours of their drive across the United States were blissfully quiet. But then Angela Chack must have grown tired of looking out the window because she turned the radio volume down and directed her gaze on him. “So,” she said matter-of-factly, “who do you believe killed your partner?”
Jason thought about it for a minute. His inclination was not to talk to her at all, but there were three reasons he decided to go ahead and respond. One, he knew she wasn’t going to stop asking him about the event that led them here until she had answers. Two, they had a long road-trip ahead of them. And three, they both knew he wasn’t going to throw her inside the trunk. “It’s complicated,” he began.
She snorted, an unattractive sound coming from any other woman. “We have plenty of time for you to explain, and maybe I could help you somehow?”
“Why would you want to help me?”
“I have no idea. Crazy, I know, but you seem like an okay guy.”
Now she’d gone too far. “I might not have killed anyone, but that doesn’t mean I’m a nice guy.”
“You called Rob a dick, which I appreciated.”
“That’s because he is one.”
“You didn’t put me in the trunk and you must trust me just a little because you didn’t tape my wrists together.” She did jazz hands in the air between them.
“You shouldn’t mistake a little leniency to mean anything more than it is.”
“Fine. Forget I asked.” She turned to stare out the window again.
He sighed. “Years ago,” he began, “right out of college, me and a couple of friends started a software company. Within a year we had two employees working for us. Within three years, we were making more money than any of us had ever envisioned. We had a difficult time keeping up in the beginning. We moved the business out of our apartment and into a warehouse in Sacramento. By the time we hit the five-year mark, our business was off the charts. It was an exciting time. Colin, Dirk, and I worked well together. We were young and we thought we were invincible.”
His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “It was just another ordinary week when I discovered an offer had been made to buy our company. We were growing way too fast to even think about taking a low-ball offer. Not only that, I had no interest in selling.”
“What about the others? Did they want to sell?”
“I thought we were all on the same page but I was wrong. At the end of the week, we met for drinks. I got the impression that Colin wanted to sell. Dirk was harder to read. He had full custody of a small boy from a previous relationship, a kid with special needs that translated to heavy expenses. We agreed to think about it for a few days. But by the time Monday morning rolled around, Dirk was found dead in his office.”
“How was he killed?”
“Stabbed more than once. It wasn’t pretty.”
“What sort of evidence did they have against you?”
“An easier question to answer would be what didn’t they have on me? My DNA was all over the place, including fingerprints on the murder weapon. After we all left the bar that Friday night, Dirk and I had walked back to the office, had a couple more drinks, and talked about a few things.”
“What sort of things?”
“Mostly, he talked about Sophie.”
“Sophie?”
“Sophie was the director of human resources. Dirk and Sophie had dated for two years before she broke up with him. He missed her and had a lot of regrets. He’d been trying everything he could think of to get her back. Overall, he seemed stressed, had a lot on his plate. After he broke down and cried, I left.”
“You left him alone in his time of need?”
“I had never seen him like that. I figured it was the scotch making him emotional and I thought he could use some privacy.”
“What about other people in the office?”
“Everyone had left hours before.”
“Where did you go after you left him?”
He inhaled. “I met with Sophie.”
“Dirk Taylor’s girlfriend?”
�
�Ex-girlfriend.”
“You were dating your friend’s girlfriend?”
“Not until they broke up.”
“But they had a child together.”
“I told you I wasn’t a nice guy, but if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t make a move until after she left him. And, like I said, the kid was Dirk’s from another relationship. Still, Sophie worried about the boy. She’s one of the most caring people I’ve ever known.”
“Did your other partner know about your relationship with Sophie?”
“Our company had gotten a lot of media attention over the years. The bigger we got, the easier rumors spread. Anyhow, Colin said he suspected, but didn’t know for sure until after Dirk was killed and the media got wind of the fact that Sophie and I were spending time together.”
“What about Dirk? Did he know when he was alive?”
“According to Sophie, he had no idea. She didn’t leave Dirk because of me. She broke up with him because their relationship had run its course. If not for the kid, she would have left long before.”
“It must have bothered you that Dirk was trying to win Sophie back.”
“She met him for coffee every once in a while, just to get him off her back. She also spent a fair share of time talking to him on the phone, doing her best to calm him down whenever he called her after trying to drown his sorrows in alcohol. But I trusted her.”
“It sounds to me as if you had motive to do away with the guy,” Angela said.
“That seems to be the consensus. I’ve been truthful from the beginning. I was in love with Sophie. But I’m a patient man. I would have waited as long as it took for her to get things in order.”
“But are you a jealous man, too?”
He shook his head. “I can’t say I loved the idea of Sophie spending time with Dirk. Overall, I was more upset about the way he had treated Sophie while they were together. He was a player. Being in sales, he had a different woman in every city he visited.”
“Hmm.”