by Sal Conte
“You see that? That’s one of the things I love about you. You are so sweet.” Molly pointed down one of the passageways. “She’s down there. Two lefts, a right and another left. Reverse it coming back. Don’t take too long.”
“I won’t,” Peter replied. “I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again.”
Molly was smiling as he headed down the passageway to the left.
*
Peter followed the directions and wound up in another cavern adorned with beautiful hanging stalactites. The light reflecting off the cave walls gave many of the crystal structures a rainbow glow. But Peter had no time to admire the beauty. Emma wasn’t where Molly said she’d be.
“Emma!” he cried out, his voice echoing off the walls.
“Peter? Peter, is that you?” came her voice from behind one of the cavern walls. Pater saw that she was trapped inside a tight cave. A boulder had been pushed in front of the opening, keeping her from getting out.
Molly had lied to him, saying Emma wouldn’t find her way out because she was too stupid. She wouldn’t find her way out because she was trapped.
“I’m here. I’m here, baby,” Peter said, speaking into the narrow opening. “I’m going to move this rock and set you free.”
“Where are the children?” she asked.
“They’re safe. I left them with Tommy Nixon’s mom. I told her you had a nasty fall and went to the emergency room. She agreed to watch them overnight if need be.”
With those words, Emma began to weep. “Thank you,” she called.
“It’s okay.” Peter put his back to the boulder, and tried pushing. The boulder wouldn’t budge. “This thing weighs a ton. How did she get it into place?” he mused out loud.
“She had a lever of some kind,” Emma called.
Peter began scanning the area for what Molly may have used. He spotted a smaller boulder and a long plank lying nearby.
“Got it,” he said.
In moments he had the fulcrum in place. Despite the flaming pain in his hand, he and was able to gradually move the boulder enough for Emma to squeeze through the opening.
She emerged covered with dust. The bandage on her arm, once white, was now a deep, dirty brown.
“Emma,” Peter said, and breathlessly threw his arms around her, clinging to her, thanking God for allowing him to see her again.
“You came for me,” she whispered.
“Of course I came for you. I’d go to the ends of the earth to find you,” he whispered back. “I think I did,” he said, and chuckled lightly.
She pulled away. “You’re sleeping with Molly?” The tears were still on her cheeks, yet the accusation fell from her lips.
“Of course not. You can’t possibly believe that.”
“I didn’t want to, but I had to hear it from you.” Fresh tears began streaming from Emma’s eyes. “This is all my fault,” she said, once again falling into his arms.
“No, no,” said Peter. “When the going got tough in our marriage, instead of toughing it out, I looked for other answers. I tried telling myself I wasn’t cheating because it was a dream… but I was.”
“I am guilty as well. I never told you the job I was interviewing for was in Palo Alto. I kept telling myself I would tell you tomorrow. But I never did.”
“Palo Alto?” This caught him by surprise.
She was crying like a baby. He again cradled her in his arms.
“You would have told me. You just didn’t get a chance. Look, from now on, no more secrets, everything in the open.”
“Y..yes,” she said, whimpering as she tried to stop the tears.
He pulled back and looked into her tear filled eyes. “Are you ready to go home?”
“Yes, oh, yes,” she replied, her voice a cracked whisper.
“Get yourself together, babe. I have a plan.”
*
A few minutes later, Peter walked back into the opening where Molly sat on the large boulder, waiting.
“That was a fast goodbye,” she said. She seemed pleased. She stood, dusted herself off.
“I didn’t want to draw it out,” he replied. “How did you get that boulder in front of that cave opening? I couldn’t budge it.”
“If I am anything, I am resourceful,” she said, smiling. “That’s one of those crannies I told you about. You’re not mad at me, are you?” she asked, sounding like a child fearing punishment.
“No. No way. That’s what she deserves. Anyway, I knew she’d start begging for her life, and I didn’t want to hear it, so I kept it short.”
Molly fixed him with an odd expression. “Since when did you turn so cold?”
“I’m not being cold,” Peter said as he approached her. “I’m being realistic. I just want to get my life started with you, sweetheart. And I’m sorry I’m calling you sweetheart again, but that’s what you are. You’re just going to have to get used to me saying it.”
He smiled. She smiled.
“You can call me sweetheart all you want,” she said, nearly breathless. She moved into his arms. “I love you… sweetheart.”
They kissed. Peter felt disgusted, his lips on hers, their tongues touching, but he had to convince her he’d left Emma behind. He was an actor, pretending passion while he felt like throwing up.
Click.
Something snapped around Peter’s wrist. He looked and saw his injured arm had been handcuffed. Before he could react, Molly clipped the other end of the handcuff to a bolt driven into the large boulder.
“Sweetheart, what are you doing?” he said as Molly stepped away. He yanked against the bolt.
“Somebody betrayed me a little while ago, Peter. Should I round up the usual suspects? Oh wait, there’s only one suspect. You.” Her eyes narrowed. “Did you think I’d let you go down there all by yourself without checking up on you?”
“Molly,” Peter said, again yanking at the handcuff. It was anchored tightly to the boulder. “I don’t know what you think happened down there, but we have to go now.”
“This is what they did to runaways back in the old days,” she said. The look in her eyes was frightening him. There was a quiet madness in them.
“Runaways? What are you talking about?” He yanked on the handcuff once again.
“Back in the old days, the runaways would hide in these caves. The ones that they caught, they’d clip to boulders like this one here, or lash them to the cave wall. That bolt there is left over from the old days. Isn’t that something?”
“Molly, I don’t know what you think you heard, but nothing happened down there. You have to release me. We have to go. We have to get on with our lives.”
“I want that, Peter, I really do. I want nothing more, but you need to be punished first.” She was tearing up now. “The slave owners punished their runaways here in the caves where no one could hear them scream.”
Peter’s heart jumped when she said scream. He knew something horrible was about to happen.
“Molly, please—”
She stepped away to the far side of the boulder. When she returned, she was holding the axe.
“I knew she’d try to brainwash you down there,” Molly said as tears began to fall. “I was hoping she wouldn’t succeed.” She dried her eyes on her sleeve. “To keep the runaways from trying to escape again, the slave owners chopped off all the toes on their right foot. It was very effective.” She hoisted the axe onto her shoulder, and moved in closer.
“No, Molly. Think of what you’re doing,” Peter said, panic ringing in his words. “I’m not a runaway. I’m your lover.”
“Yes, you are. But it has to be this way,” she said as more tears fell. “You need to know you cannot lie to me, Peter. You will never lie to me again. Ever. We will still be able to practice law. We will still be able to save the lives of the innocent who are wrongly convicted. You will walk with a distinguished limp. Now hold still.”
Chapter Twenty Five
Emma waited the several minutes Peter had asked. Then she fol
lowed the directions he had given her: a right, a left, and then two rights.
As she made her way back through the cavern, she counted her lucky stars. She had given up the thought of ever seeing her children again, but Peter had come to her rescue despite how cruelly she’d treated him.
She knew it was her pride and her guilt that had driven their relationship to where it had gotten to. She’d almost given up the man she loved rather than believe him, rather than allow him to show her the proof he wanted to offer. Instead, she was ready to toss him out like yesterday’s trash. Heck, she did toss him out.
She’d convinced herself that Peter had taken her freedom away. How selfish. How foolish she’d been.
“Never again,” she vowed softly. “Never again.”
It was obvious he loved her. He came for her. In that moment she realized she never stopped loving him. If only she had been able to see beyond her pride.
She was approaching the final turn when Peter’s terror filled voice crackled through the silence in the cavern.
“No, Molly. Think of what you’re doing. I’m not a runaway. I’m your lover.”
Then Molly’s voice: “Yes, you are. But it has to be this way. You need to know you cannot lie to me, Peter. You will never lie to me again. Ever. We will still be able to practice law. We will still be able to save the lives of the innocent who are wrongly convicted. You will walk with a distinguished limp. Now hold still.”
“Don’t.” Peter cried out.
Emma rushed around the bend to witness Molly holding the axe above her head, the same axe she’d attempted to use to kill her. There was a crazed look in Molly’s eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“It’ll be over soon, sweetheart,” she said.
The axe started down in a violent arc.
“Nooo!” Emma cried out.
Clomp!
The axe struck hard, clanging against the earth as it cleaved off the front of Peter’s shoe.
Peter released a blood curdling scream as blood came spurting out the front of his shoe as if from a fountain.
Molly wheeled around to face Emma, the axe above her head, crimson drops of blood dribbling from its blade. The look of a mad woman was on her face. “Yooou” she said in a tone seething with contempt.
Peter grabbed hold of the axe handle, and yanked it from her hands.
Molly wheeled back on Peter. “Give that to me.”
“No,” he cried out. “Emma, run! That way,” he said, pointing the blade of the axe toward one of the passageways.
“Not without you,” Emma called back.
“See how stupid she is? She doesn’t even know how to save her own life. Do you really want to spend your years with someone that weak?”
Molly grabbed for the axe.
Peter was holding the axe in his one good hand. As Molly reached for it, he swung, clipping her on the arm.
“Idiot,” she cried out, as a tiny stream of blood jumped against the blade, and began to seep from her arm.
The slashing didn’t stop her. She reached for the axe with both hands. Peter swung again, and missed. Molly caught the axe on the downside of the strike. She yanked it away from him.
She looked dispassionately at the blood seeping from her arm. “I’m going to kill her, and then I am going to come back here and kill you,” she said.
Before Molly could carry out the threat, Emma ran down the passageway Peter had indicated.
Molly eyed Peter with a knowing expression, and shook her head. “Now she runs. So stupid.”
*
Emma may have been running away, but she had no intention of leaving Peter behind. She’d deserted him enough these past few years. She didn’t know how, but she knew she was going to go back and rescue him.
“Emma!” Molly’s voice echoed off cavern walls behind her. “You can’t get away from me, Emma. I know these caves like the back of my hand.”
Emma ran silently on. She reached a fork in the passageways. There were two directions she could run. She had to make a choice. She ran to the right.
As she proceeded down the passageway, the light grew dim as fewer torches were in the walls. There were a greater number of crystalline stalactites and stalagmites. They created a beautiful maze that she navigated around.
Another passageway. Right or left? This time she chose the cave to the left. She was convinced she was no longer headed toward freedom, but freedom wasn’t what she wanted. She was buying time until she could figure out how to stop Molly and save her husband.
“Emma,” Molly called in a playful tone. “Poor little lost girl needs someone to help her escape.” Molly’s taunt came as a teasing sing-song. She was getting closer.
Emma ran on.
She moved around another turn. This corridor had a huge draft spilling from within. The air was cool, and refreshing after being in the stifling humidity of the other caves. As she moved ahead, she discovered why the area was so airy. There was a large opening before her. The cave ended in a huge crevasse in the earth. Cool air came sweeping up from the chasm below.
One way in, one way out.
Emma turned, hoping to double back to the fork in the road before Molly caught up to her.
“There you are, little girl lost. I found you,” Molly said sounding pleased with herself. Hefting the axe onto her shoulder, she started forward.
Emma began backing toward the crevasse.
“Aren’t you going to plead for your life? Aren’t you going to at least beg me to let you see your children one more time?” Molly taunted. “It feels more satisfying when they beg.”
“I don’t waste my breath on cray cray,” Emma said.
“I’m not crazy,” Molly said, her voice dripping contempt. “I’m just a woman in love.”
“If you say so, Charlize Manson. And by the way, I didn’t buy those cookies to fatten you up. You were already fat.”
Emma had backed her way nearly to the crevasse. She didn’t know why she was taunting Molly the way she was. She didn’t have a plan. It just felt good.
Through the corner of her eye, someone appeared directly behind Molly. A woman was creeping up on her. It was Kim, the woman she knew as Shay. Kim held a silencing finger to her lips.
“I’m going to kill you, and then I am going back to that boulder your husband is handcuffed to, and kill him, too. You know, he and I could have been very happy together if it wasn’t for you.”
At the mention of killing Peter, Kim’s expression darkened.
“Tell yourself another lie. My husband doesn’t love you. How could anyone love a fat pig like you?” Emma said, continuing to egg her on. She kept her eyes fastened to Molly not wanting to give away Kim’s presence.
“You stupid, bitch,” Molly said. She slammed the axe into the earth. The sound of the steel blade hitting the ground echoed throughout the tunnels. “Scared?”
Emma had reached the precipice of the cliff. She looked over her shoulder. One way in, one way out. It was a long way down. She turned back. Molly was grinning at her.
“Looks like you’ve run out of time and space,” Molly said.
Kim shot Emma a look of hope, or perhaps it was friendship.
“True. But the one thing I haven’t run out of is love. My family and… friends will always love me. No one will ever love you.”
“Bitch!” Molly cried out. She raised the axe and rushed at Emma.
“Excuse me.”
Molly stopped and turned just in time to see Kim barreling toward her. Her eyes went wide in disbelief.
Kim hit her flush in the midsection, driving her backwards—a defensive end driving the quarterback into the turf.
The axe went flying. The two women went over the precipice, plummeting to their deaths below.
*
Peter was slumping against the boulder when Emma dragged back into the opening carrying the axe. She looked a mess, but she was alive.
“Emma? Emma,” he cried out, jumping to his feet.
S
he ran to him, and they embraced.
“Where’s Molly?” he asked as he held her with his free arm.
“Gone,” is all she said. “I followed her blood trail back to you. I never would have found you if it wasn’t for her.” Emma hefted the axe in her hands. “Put the handcuffs against the rock, and hold still—very still. I’ve never done this before.”
Peter did as he was told. Emma swung the axe. Her aim was true, and he was free in one stroke. With both hands free, he corralled Emma into his arms.
“We’re both alive. It’s a miracle,” he said, clinging to her.
“Can you walk?” she asked.
A slow trail of blood continued to pump from the jagged opening in the front of his shoe.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Do you know how to get us out of this nightmare?” she asked.
“I think so.”
“Then let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty Six
Peter spent the next few days at Cedars Sanai Hospital in Los Angeles. Doctor Feinberg said he was lucky. Because Emma surprised Molly when she did, the axe missed its target, only chopping off the tip of his big toe. There was a lot of blood, but very little damage. He’d need some plastic surgery to replace what was missing, but in a few weeks he’d be good as new.
“Another inch and she could have crippled you.” Doctor Feinberg had said.
His broken hand was set in a cast. Peter was told he’d be home in a few days.
*
Peter awoke with a start.
He was in the hospital room. Despite the drugs they’d given him, his foot and his hand hurt like hell.
“Hello darling,” Kim said. She was standing by the bed, looking down on him, and smiling.
“Am I dreaming?” Peter asked, sitting up.
“Perhaps,” she said, her smile widening. “It’s the only way I could check on you.”
“I’m a mess,” he said, and chuckled.
“I can see that. But you’re alive.”