Victim's, Inc.

by A. R. Licht

  Now that she’d had time to sit still without the constant noise of responsibilities, she’d had a chance to think about relationships and the direction her life was taking.

  Phil showing up again felt orchestrated like a play. Kate remembered the first time she saw him. She was barely eighteen, starting college, her head full of dreams and ideas of the shapes of things to come.

  At the rehearsal dinner, Phil had arrived late. It was the first time she’d laid eyes on him, her first thought as she stared at his attractive features was how nice his unshaved face looked. She had wanted to press her palm against the side of his face, to touch it.

  He caught her staring and had been amused. He raised his glass to her, waited for her to raise hers, then he shouted, “To the happy couple!”

  She had laughed, drank to his toast, people on either side of the table confused by the gesture. Some of them trying to get in on it. It was like having an inside joke that never got old; the more people that joined in muttering their agreement, the more the two of them had laughed.

  Over the next two years, they became best friends. They texted when they couldn’t talk, shared videos from youtube, or talked about TV shows they both loved. She confided in him one day about a problem she had with a stalker at school and Phil had responded in a protective way.

  After the problem was resolved, they sat in his car, his hand slid over hers. That was the first time they kissed. It had been wonderful, she would never forget the emotion that rose in the wake of it. She’d nearly said it out loud. A collision of atoms began a series of fireworks within, that Cern would be jealous of.

  But, then Phil had looked away from her as though the kiss had disappointed him. He had apologized and told her he was afraid that making the relationship into something more could potentially ruin their friendship. He never wanted to lose her. He said she was young and he didn’t want to tie her down.

  That inner firework had imploded in upon itself in an instant.

  For months, she’d tried to reconcile what had happened. Nothing logical could make sense of the quiet of the room and the thing within that was a constant scream.

  The windshield wipers flicked across her vision, reminding her of the next time they had been alone in his car, she had grabbed his hand. When he tried to pull away, she tightened her grip their eyes met in the dark.

  Now, she puts the cell phone to her ear listening to the ringing that felt like it had left the ear piece and entered the car, sending it bouncing between the seats and out of the windows into the water vapors beyond.

  “Hello?”

  For a moment she couldn’t speak. There were too many words bubbling up at once that one would not become a voice.

  “Hi,” she said after a beat.

  “Kate?”

  “Yes.”

  She could feel her throat constrict. Images of them like eyelid movies rushing by in an

  infinitesimal second.

  “I’m glad you called.”

  There was hope in his tone. Bolstered by it, she said, “Are you busy right now?”

  “Right now? Uh. No, not really. I was just going over a query letter. Why, what’s up?”

  “I need a drink.”

  “I could use one too.”

  “Remember that place we used to go? The one on Dalton?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Want to meet there?”

  “I can be there in twenty.”

  Not much had changed about him in the last year. He hugged her a little too tightly but she didn’t mind.

  They ordered drinks, found a booth, his hand on the small of her back. She tried to ignore the pain that came with his touch.

  “Tell me, how have you been?” Phil said, his eyes taking her in.

  She didn’t want to complicate the night with her troubles, she just wanted to be with him.

  “I’ve been alright. How have you been?”

  Phil’s eyes seemed to smile, “Only alright?”

  Kate felt herself smile against her will, “Yes, alright. It has been a busy year for me.”

  There was a tightness at the corner of his eyes but he nodded, “I’ve seen. You have been living your dream.”

  The source of their problems. She hadn’t forgotten. She changed the subject, “Still living the boring life?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair and took a long swallow of the amber ale before answering.

  “I still think I live the more exciting life because I get to visit different worlds.”

  “You need a new argument.”

  “Oh, you’re tired of that one already?”

  She laughed softly, “Yes. You see, it's a cliche on the long list of cliches writers aren’t allowed to use anymore. What we at Baker Publishing are looking for are fresh ideas and word choices.”

  “So, you’re rejecting me based off my cliche?”

  “No, it's more that I just couldn’t connect with your story. Its too... what’s the word I’m looking for? Wordy.”

  She was making fun of Phil’s answers to query letters. She had teased him about it back when they were more than friends and she had slept in his bed only to wake in the middle of the night to his desk lamp on, his back hunched over as he read through the slush pile. He liked to read as many as he could, not wanting to miss out on something because an assistant didn’t like it.

  The moment became awkward, that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted them to fall back into their old friendship, but it was harder than it should have been. She downed her drink and stood.

  “Are you leaving?” Phil said, the sadness in his voice cutting her.

  “No. I was thinking we should shoot some pool.”

  “Now that’s some fine thinking.”

  She paid the five dollars to the bartender and took the pool balls to the table. She set them up in a specific order, then picked out a cue stick.

  “Ladies first,” Phil said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “My mother raised me to be a gentleman.”

  She lined up the cue ball and took the first shot. The stick swung wide.

  “Try again,” Phil said.

  She lined up again, focused, hit home. The cue ball smacked into the side of the triangle of numbered balls. Both a striped ball and a solid dropped into a pocket.

  “Solid,” Phil said.

  “Alright, I’ll be stripes.”

  Phil knocked two solids in before missing. She stepped up and shot by shot knocked the rest of hers in.

  “I miss this side of you,” Phil said, leaning slightly, his eyes clearly not where they should be.

  “Are you staring at my ass?”

  “Maybe.”

  “You’re just trying to distract me.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Well, its working.”

  She missed the eight-ball, the cue ball sliding into a pocket.

  “I win!” Phil said, laughing. “Works every time.”

  It only worked because it dredged up memories. “Cheater.”

  “I know. I play dirty.”

  They played two more games, the banter becoming easier over time. Kate drank another beer, then switched to wine.

  They seemed to relax and Kate was transported back to a time before they were intimate. If she could freeze-frame this she would and put it on her fridge.

  “Hold on, I have to visit the ladies room,” Kate said.

  “Okay, I won’t cheat while you’re gone,” Phil said with a devilish grin.

  “Better not!”

  The bathroom was empty. As she relieved herself she couldn’t help but picture a gunmen entering the bar. Hearing gunfire and explosions. Being stuck in the stall, hoping no one found her here and finished her off.

  She washed her hands, splashed water on her face. She stared at herself in the mirror, noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

  Would Terry have poked his head out? If he had, how much could he have seen?

  She had a sudden desire to go
back to Alkin. There was no one to tell her no. She could go back, walk through the hospital. See if what the FBI and the police had said was plausible.

  She dried her hands, tucked her hair behind her ear. She opened the door and walked right into Phil.

  She knew the look in his eyes, god how she missed it.

  He leaned in, pushing her back into the bathroom. She fell back against the wall, his mouth was against hers. Soft and warm, his lips felt familiar. Cern didn’t need an eight mile track in the Earth to find the God Particle, she’d already discovered it.

  His hands on her waist, his chest pressed against hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her cell phone rang. He pulled away, “Do you need to answer that?”

  “I’ll silence it.”

  She pulled it out of her back pocket, hit the volume button. But it was Brian’s number calling. That was odd.

  “I’m sorry, I should take this.” She said, pressing the answer button. “Hello?”

  “Kate! Your sister is in the hospital. She is okay... but, she is hurt.”

  Chapter 18

  Essex, Maryland - April 20th

  Phil hadn’t had as much to drink as she had, insisting that he drive the both of them to the hospital. Kate felt sick with worry. Brian hadn’t said what had happened, only to come.

  Abby is laying on a hospital bed in the emergency room when they arrive. There is a white blanket across her legs, a phlebotomist is drawing blood from her arm. Kate rushed to her side, surveying Abby’s split lip and bruised chin.

  “What happened?” Kate said.

  Brian is seated in the only chair, holding Abby’s free hand.

  Abby’s lips trembled as she told the story.

  “I was at the grocery store, in the pickle aisle. I had a jar in my hands, I turned to set it in the cart when this woman came up behind me. She shoved me hard and I fell forward. My chin hit one of the lower shelves, I dropped the jar, it broke on the tile floor, glass went everywhere. I guess I busted my lip on the way down, but all I could think was about the baby!”

  Tears were streaming down Abby’s cheeks now, Kate felt overwhelmed by emotion. She too started to cry, but in anger and fear.

  “So I braced myself, like this. I held my hands out in front of me and managed to go down on my knees. I couldn’t fall on the baby. The pickle jar sliced my hand open, I was bleeding all over,” she said holding up her bandaged hand. “Two stitches in my lip, six in my hand. But the worst part was that she was still standing there looking at me. She wasn’t sorry at all, just staring until I looked up. She said real calm, ‘tell her to stop.’ Just like that. Tell her to stop. I said, ‘you’ve got the wrong woman, lady,’ but by then people had started to notice and she took off. Who says that? What does that mean?” Abby covered her face with her hand, shaking her

  head. “I just don’t understand.”

  Kate froze. Her hands started to shake. “What did she look like?”

  Abby lowered her hands, “I couldn’t see her face very well. She had a baseball cap on, big sunglasses. This baggy coat thing. That’s all I saw.”

  The phlebotomist had already finished taping a piece of cotton to Abby’s arm. Kate watched as the girl labeled each vial, then bagged them.

  “Thanks, your doctor will know within the hour,” she said and left.

  “What tests are they running?” Kate asked, her head in a fog.

  “They want to see my HCG levels, and something else. I don’t know. I guess they want to make sure I didn’t overtax myself and the baby.”

  “Why did you go to the store?” Kate said. “I would have gone for you.”

  “You have no idea what its like being cooped up in the house. I just wanted to get some pickles and ice cream. I shouldn’t have gone!” Abby said, starting to cry again.

  Kate kissed Abby’s head and posted herself on the opposite side of Brian. The doctor came in twenty minutes later and said that everything looked good. They wanted to keep her overnight to keep an eye on her just in case anything changes, but otherwise Abby and the baby would be alright.

  They gave Abby something to help her calm down, they brought in two more chairs for Kate and Phil.

  It was Brian who noticed that the two had come in together, his eyebrows raised in question. Kate blushed and focused on Abby.

  After, about an hour, Abby fell asleep. Brian motioned Kate out into the hallway. He led her down to the end before he spun on her.

  “What have you gotten us in to?”

  Tears sprung into her eyes, “I don’t know! I’m so sorry!”

  “She pushed your sister down to send a message, Kate. Everyone is telling you to drop it. Why can’t you just listen? You’re so selfish.”

  Phil had come out into the hallway, Kate saw him out of the corner of her eye, she turned away. She didn’t want him to see her like this, crying uncontrollably.

  “I... I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry. I never expected this to happen.”

  Brian leaned in closer, said in a forced whisper, “The fact that this happened, tells me you are on to something. My bet is that you are in danger.”

  This sobered Kate some, “You believe me then?”

  Brian looked around before answering, “Lets say that hypothetically you are right. Hurting my baby would send quite a message, don’t you think?”

  Kate sniffed, wiped her eyes and nodded.

  “I don’t know what sort of ant’s nest you’ve stepped in, but you’d better get out quick while you still can.”

  “You guys should get out of town for a while,” Kate said.

  “Uh uh. I can’t do that. Abby can’t travel, and I can’t take time off work unless it is for the baby.”

  Kate sniffed again, used the edge of her shirt to dry her face, “I’m scared they’ll try again.”

  “I’m scared that next time they’ll actually do something and it will be you!”

  “Oh honey! There you are!” Deborah said, her arms outstretched. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

  “Mom,” Kate said, hugging her back.

  “Where’s Abby? Where’s my baby?”

  “She’s resting right now,” Kate said. “She’s been sedated so she can calm down.”

  “Not with something that will hurt my grandchild!”

  “No, mom. I’m sure the doctor gave her something safe.”

  Deborah pulled back from her, examining Kate. “You look terrible. You’ve lost too much weight. Tell you what, go home and get some sleep. You can come back and be here with your sister tomorrow.”

  Kate protested, she didn’t want to leave her sister alone. Not now.

  “I think that would be best,” Brian said.

  Phil was standing a few feet away now and Deborah turned to him, gave him a hug, then headed down the hall to Abby’s room.

  Rick, Kate’s dad, came over and hugged her. “How are you holding up?”

  Kate kissed his cheek, “I’m alright daddy.”

  “Good girl.”

  He followed in his wife’s footsteps as Brian said, “Did you two come together?”

  “Yes,” Phil said, edging closer.

  “I don’t want to know. Yeah. Don’t tell me. Stay safe, Kate.” Brian pushed past them.

  Kate’s heart fractured a little.

  “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

  “It’s okay, I can catch a cab or something.”

  “I’ll drive you home.”

  Phil gently took her hand and held it. Kate looked up into his eyes, what she saw there

  melted the last of the barriers she had so carefully constructed a year ago.

  Chapter 19

  Essex, Maryland - April 20th

  Phil keeps glancing over at her on the way to her apartment. She knows what he is dying to ask but won’t.

  Things were just starting to be okay again between them, she can’t bear to bring him into all of her problems now. Not after what had happened to Abby.

  She started t
o cry again, trying to hide her face by pretending to be very interested in the sights outside the passenger window. She had caused all of this. Brian called her selfish. It was all her fault that the baby’s life had been threatened.