by Ali Vali
“Dallas,” Emil said gently as he wrapped his fingers around Bob’s wrist. It didn’t take much to break his hold, but when Dallas took a couple of steps back, Emil still didn’t let go. “Go on inside,” he repeated. “Bob and I need to have some time alone.”
“Don’t tell me you forgot what we were just talking about?” Bob said. His tight mouth showed Dallas he was trying to break Emil’s hold. “There’s only one way to keep me quiet, so think before you throw everything away. And that’s what it’ll be, Dallas, you throwing it away. When Johnny gets back what you stole from him, it’ll be your fault, but I’m sure he’ll take his time with Kristen.”
Every word was like a nail pinning Dallas’s feet to the ground. She couldn’t move but she wasn’t completely still. Bob’s threats were making her shake like she did as a child and saw her father in the doorway of her room. Back then she didn’t make a sound either, not wanting to wake Kristen in case her father turned his attention her way.
“It’s going to be all right.” Emil cocked his head toward the door.
Dallas took a deep breath and let her head fall back. Taking the step Emil was asking of her would free her of Bob, but he would savor taking her freedom away again.
“No, it’s not going to be all right, and you know that,” Bob said, his voice close to a hiss.
“Let me make it easy for both of you then,” Emil said. He smashed his fist into the side of Bob’s head. He fell like pins being hit by a bowling ball. “Sorry you had to see that.”
“I would’ve been more sorry not to see it,” Dallas said, her attention on the rise and fall of Bob’s chest. He appeared to be in a deep, peaceful sleep.
Emil laughed at her observation. “Go ahead and join Remi, and I’ll take care of this.”
Upstairs, Remi pressed her hand to her chest and sat up, pausing when the pain made her light-headed. The phone Dallas had just used was next to the bed and she figured it wasn’t tapped, but she’d keep the call brief on the off chance it was.
“I need something.”
“Name it,” Cain said.
“I’ve got a package I need delivered, and I’ve got a chance to go shopping.”
“I’ll send my best delivery guy. Wrap it up the best you can.”
It took Cain an hour but she got Lou’s nephew, Nick, to the alley behind Dallas’s place. He sat for half an hour after that to make sure Lou didn’t spot anyone watching. Emil brought out the rug from the guest bedroom rolled up on his shoulder and dumped it in the back of the van. Nick then left to follow Emil’s directions, confident that unless he was caught speeding no one would stop the produce van from one of the local markets.
The way Bob was taken out of her house didn’t worry Dallas as much as watching Remi try to make it down the stairs. From the way she moved, Dallas could tell she was in pain, but what had happened had to be finished. She knew that without any explanation from Remi or Emil.
“Do you have to leave right now?” Dallas asked. She took a seat on the sofa, so Remi would have plenty of room if she needed to join her. “Before you go through all this trouble, I want to tell you a few things about myself.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to be honest with you.”
“Katie Lynn, we’ve all made mistakes. They’re what make us smarter and stronger in the end. If you want my help, all you have to do is ask, but if you want me to condemn you, I can’t.”
“You know?” Dallas started crying again.
“Probably not everything.”
“If you know, I’ll understand why you can’t stay. I’m so ashamed.” Dallas couldn’t help but let out all her insecurities.
“I’d be willing to bet your sins don’t come close to mine. Your past is exactly that—your past. You had to invent Dallas Montgomery for a reason, and as soon as I get back we can start on that story.”
“Why go through all this trouble for me?”
Remi couldn’t lift her arms very high so she placed her hand on Dallas’s knee. “If you don’t know, then I want plenty of time to explain it to you. For now I’ll give you the short version. I feel strongly about you. Last night wasn’t about filling some base need, but more like filling one in my heart.”
“Will you come back when you’re done?”
“If it’s okay with you, Emil and I will be your guests for a couple of days, or until Cain and my father find the guy who used me for target practice.”
“That’s good to hear.” Dallas kissed her and helped her stand. By the time Remi and Emil walked out, Remi felt less stiff.
Emil opened the back door for Remi. As they left, Simon went in to stay with Dallas, but her eyes lingered on Remi like she was making sure she was okay. They drove out of the city, and Remi rested her head back and closed her eyes. She’d been to where they were going on a few occasions to help Emil during harvest. The location was remote, making any tail on them stick out like a naked whore at Sunday services.
The marina looked so dilapidated it appeared to be abandoned, but in the middle slip sat a new airboat with an alligator-skin driver’s seat. Emil helped Remi board, and she nodded to Cain and Lou, who were already seated.
“Thank God we’re doing this while it’s still cool,” Lou said.
“What’s the matter? You don’t like mosquitoes?” Emil asked. His laughter as well as that of the others was drowned out when he started the powerful engine.
The fan blade behind the cage at the back started spinning slowly as he backed out but cranked up when he closed his hand around the accelerator control. Two minutes into the trip they were in the blackness of the swamp, but Emil had made this trip thousands of times and swerved around the ancient cypress trees as if gifted with some sort of night vision.
Halfway there they started to see orange orbs glowing at the top of the water, quickly disappearing as the roar of the airboat neared. Remi had learned from Emil that the orange lights were the female gators floating at the top of the water waiting for a late-night meal. According to Cajun lore, only the female eyes glowed because they were the more cunning of the species, so God gave anyone who wanted to mess with them fair warning.
“Thanks for helping me out with this,” Remi said as Emil brought them in slowly to the camp that appeared to be floating above the murky water. The small structure made of cypress wood from the trees surrounding it was built on stilts that raised it fifteen feet into the air.
Cain walked next to Remi as they ascended the ramp to the front porch. They were all dressed in black and blended in well with the worn wood. The two friends sat in rockers outside, and Cain dropped a bag between them.
“I know you don’t especially like getting your hands dirty,” Remi said.
“There’s always an exception to every rule,” Cain said, setting her rocker in motion. “I asked Muriel to put together the papers that would fix this. All we have to do is talk him into signing them. But talking to Bob is probably like that old expression about trying to teach a pig to sing. It’s a waste of time all the way around.”
“I want him out of her life.”
“That’s the wisest thing, but he still won’t answer all your questions unless he’s in a talkative mood. I think you and I should be the ones to get whatever we can out of Bob tonight. I know you trust Emil like I trust Lou, but this is the kind of guy who’s going to talk just to watch you squirm. They won’t forget what he might say, and you don’t need to do that to Dallas,” Cain said. She pointed to the bag. “What’s in there goes with you after we’re done, and to my grave with me.”
“Then I owe you a debt.”
“This is my wedding gift to you,” Cain said with a smile. “At least that’s what my wife tells me is going to happen with you two. The way you look at her predicts the future.” She stood up and offered Remi her hand. “Let’s get this over with.”
Nick was sitting at the table with a gun in his waistband. Even if Bob had tried to run there was no way he’d ever find his way ou
t, since he’d made the trip wrapped in a rug. Cain walked in and sat to his right.
“If you know what’s good for you, tell this idiot to take me back,” Bob said.
“What’s good for me?” Cain tilted her head to the side, trying to decipher what exactly that meant. “I give up. What do you plan to do to me if I don’t?”
“I’m not an idiot.”
Cain knocked on the table with her knuckles and laughed. “That’s negotiable.” She waved Nick outside.
“I know who you are, and the minute I get back I’m sure the authorities would love to hear what you did to me.”
“I’m here doing a favor for a friend, nothing more than that, but I thought we’d have a talk first.”
“This is about Dallas and her trying to get rid of me. I own that bitch, and if you think this intimidation act is going to change my mind about that, it’s not. Like I told that dyke that got herself killed, I’ve faced worse and lived to tell the tale.”
“I’m no stranger to intimidation, Mr. Bennett, but that’s not why you’re here. Dallas happens to be a friend of mine, and you’ve taken some things that don’t belong to you. I think it’s only fair that you give them back. It’s that simple.”
“What things?”
“Just minor things like her house, her money, and some papers, and if you’re cooperative I won’t ask you how you got those away from her.”
“Fuck off.”
“I had my attorney draw up some papers that give Dallas legal right to the list I mentioned, and I’d like you to sign them.”
“Are you deaf? I said to fuck off.”
“Mr. Bennett, let me explain something to you in terms that even you can understand. You’re going to sign. That point’s non-negotiable. You can choose to do it now and save yourself a lot of pain, or you can play the macho role and hold out, which brings its own set of consequences. Those are the only two options. Now I’m going to ask you one more time, do you want to sign or do you choose to wait?”
“I want you to listen to me, fucker. I’m not going to sign those papers now, an hour from now, or a week from now. Dallas may have had some fantasy of your dead friend up on a big fucking white horse saving her from me, but that ain’t going to happen now, is it? If you want an answer then here it is. Kiss my ass. What are you going to do now, beat me to death?” Bob asked, laughing.
“No, Dickey, she won’t beat you, but I will.” Remi’s voice cut through the room, making Bob twist his head around.
“But you’re dead. I saw it on television, you’re dead.” Bob paled considerably.
“You’re not one of those people who believes everything you see on television, are you?” Remi sat across from him and took a cigar out of her shirt pocket. She sat that and her clippers on the table. “Do you smoke?” she asked Bob, who shook his head. “Too bad, there’s nothing like a good cigar.”
“Let me go and I’ll check that out.”
“You wanted to meet with me in the worst way to negotiate Dallas’s new contract. Well, here I am, and there’s no chance anyone’s going to disturb us. Only anything having to do with Dallas’s future is off the table. We’re here for her past dealings.”
“You don’t scare me, so cut the theatrics.”
Cain put her bag on the table. “Funny, she scares the shit out of me at times. You were right, he isn’t very smart.”
“More like an asshole who’s made a living as a leech,” Remi said to Cain, then turned to Bob. “Before we begin let me ask you something. Are you right- or left- handed?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Bob was getting louder and his speech was getting faster.
“Because I can start with your dominant hand or not. The choice is yours.”
“Right-handed.”
“See, that wasn’t too hard, was it? What we’re going to play tonight is like a version of twenty questions my father taught me. It’s a little messy but it gets results, and that’s what we’re here for. I’m going to ask you questions, and if you’re lying or you get it wrong then,” she paused and clipped off the tip of the cigar in her hand with the golden clippers for emphasis, “I’m going to start cutting your fingers off at each joint until you tell the truth or get it right. Any questions before we begin?”
“You’re kidding me, right? I’m not falling for that bluff,” Bob told her with a nervous laugh.
“Remi never bluffs,” Cain said. “It’s what makes her such a good gambler.”
“Ready to play?” Remi asked without any humor. “Don’t worry. I’m going to save your right hand for last so you can sign the papers Cain mentioned. Last chance, Bob. I’m not fucking around. We can skip all this if you sign.”
“You don’t listen very well, do you? This is what I’m going to do. As soon as I leave here, I’m going to drive to the closest rag and give them an exclusive on the past life of one Dallas Montgomery, aka Katie Moores. I’m sure her mug shot from when she got caught shoplifting will make a wonderful cover, and the skin flick she was in won’t make ET, but the copies I own will be worth a fortune.” Before he could continue, Cain placed the mug shot and a copy of the video on the table in front of Remi.
“Is this what you’re talking about?”
“Those are mine. Give them back,” he yelled, sounding like a small child whose favorite toy had been taken away. He moved to grab the stuff, but Cain was quicker. She stood and yanked him back by the hair, but it was the knife biting into his neck that stopped him cold. “If you try that again I’m going to gut you like a fish. Do you understand me?” Cain asked. He nodded his head, apparently too afraid to speak.
“Bob, I’m going to repay you every unkindness you ever heaped on Dallas, and so you know, I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. Are there any other documents I need to collect from you?” Remi asked.
“Yes, bitch, and I’m never going to tell you where they are.” He watched her pick up the clippers and slip her fingers into the appropriate holes. “You don’t have the guts to carry this out.”
“What makes us better than the animals, Dickey?”
“Our ability to forgive and forget.”
“Funny, who knew you had a sense of humor, but sadly that’s a wrong answer. I did warn you what would happen if you answered untruthfully or wrong, didn’t I? The right answer would be opposable thumbs, Dickey.” With that said, she squeezed the blade shut. Just as quickly the agonizing scream that pierced the silence of the ancient swamp scared the sleeping white egrets off the branches overhead with loud squawks.
“Wait,” Bob said, his voice raspy as Remi moved the clippers to his index finger. He seemed to be the only one horrified that his left thumb was sitting on the table. “Just wait.”
“It’s simple, like I said. Give me the information I want and this ends,” Remi said, squeezing the clippers enough to touch the first segment of his finger.
“Why don’t you leave me and Dallas alone? We were fine until you came along.” He screamed just as loud when the tip of his finger landed on the table. “You won’t get away with this.”
Cain grabbed his hand as he tried to pull it back and slammed it back in front of Remi. “Do you think that’s what Dallas would say if she were here?” Cain asked. “That she was fine working to hand over the lion’s share to you? Because from what my people found in your house, that’s exactly what’s happened. She’s worked her ass off and owns nothing in her name, but that can’t be said of you, can it?”
“She wanted it that way. Dallas wanted me to look out for her and her money.” The next segment of his finger came off as he finished, leaving only the nub up from the knuckle.
“That one might be a guess on my part, but I don’t think you were telling the truth,” Remi said as she moved the clippers up close to his palm. “Did you set up anything else for Dallas that I need to know about? Think long and hard, because you have only so many chances to get it right before we move on to the next body part that’ll fit in this hole.” She sq
ueezed the clippers a bit to make him realize what she was talking about. “Like I said, we’ll leave that right hand for last, but the rest is on the chopping block, as it were.”
A few hours later the group took a much slower boat ride with a now-whimpering Bob in tow. Heading out into the blackness of the swamp and into the hunting grounds Emil used, Remi had him finally cut the engines. She slapped Bob on the face a couple of times to focus his attention and have her last conversation with him. “Wakey, wakey, Bob.”
“What? Leave me alone. I told you everything you wanted to know, now leave me alone.”
“One more question.” He was already covered in sweat and started shaking at the question. “Can you swim?”
“Yes,” he answered quickly, since stalling only caused instant pain even if the answer was correct.
“Good, since we had an agreement. I’m not going to kill you, but this is where we part ways. If you make it back to shore you’re free to go, and I’ll let you keep the money you have in the bank. But if you so much as look in Dallas’s direction again I’ll make you pray to die. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, ma’am, we do.”
“Good. Then strip down.”
“You want me naked?”
“It’ll help you stay afloat, trust me.” Bob stood up, holding his hands to his chest, and jumped off the front of the boat.
Emil revved up the motor again but kept it slow enough that Nick could keep up in the mud boat he was steering. At Remi’s feet was the bag with the remnants of a sad little girl born to a sadist. Katie Moores and her sister Sue Lee would finally disappear into the smoke of Dallas’s fireplace as soon as she got back. Cain had put a copy of Dallas’s first acting job on her back in the bag, but she had destroyed the other five hundred copies she found at Bob’s place.
“Remind me never to piss you off,” Cain said in a loud-enough voice to be heard over the engine.
“He got what he deserved.”
“True. He’ll be meeting some of Emil’s future boot material before he has a chance to get his hair wet.”