by Darla Jones
LynAnn hung her head and rubbed at her eyes. “It was the last time I saw him. Poor Todd, if he knew he was in danger he certainly gave me no indication. I said goodbye to him thinking he would soon be home and our lives would be back to normal again.”
Jeff gave her a quick squeeze, hurriedly dressed, and slipped the disk into his pocket. “Take my car today. I changed the children’s seats to my car last evening. Your tires are very low. I’ll put air in them for you. You’ll be safe now. I’m going to show the disk to Judge Brown, and he’ll start issuing arrest warrants.”
“It’s really going to be over?” She found it hard to believe and pressed her body to his. “Oh, thank God.”
“It’s over.” He grinned and stepped from her arms, running out the door so fast, she didn’t have a chance to say more. After his departure, LynAnn piled her children into his Buick and drove them to daycare and then went on to work.
Her workday at the doctor’s office was quiet. When several appointments cancelled in a row, Dan offered to treat her and Paulette to lunch. To leave the office in the middle of the day was indeed a rare occurrence. He drove them to a diner he frequented on Main Street.
Angie’s Diner was bustling at lunch time and they had to wait for a table. Dan saw someone he knew and left her and Paulette to wait in line.
LynAnn got a chance to talk with Paulette and the receptionist was well aware of her problems. She spoke in a whisper, “I need some sort of protection to carry with me. I have pepper spray in my purse, but spray wouldn’t hold anyone off for long. Jeff thinks the criminals are going to be apprehended soon, but I’m not taking any chances.”
“Oh dear, I’ve been so worried about you.” Paulette gave her hand a squeeze and then worked on the gum in her mouth. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well, I can’t say anything to Jeff because I’m sure he’d disapprove, although I know he is carrying a gun. I saw the bulge in his pants.”
Paulette choked on her gum, howled, and then spoke in a low tone so others nearby wouldn’t hear. “Oh, LynAnn, I thought you knew enough about men to know the bulge in his pants was not a gun.”
She gave her a playful slap on the arm. “Stop it. You know what I mean. I’m serious. I’d be afraid to use a gun. I was thinking of a Taser, but I have no idea where to find one, and I don’t know if it’s legal to carry one.”
Dan headed back their way. “My brother knows about weapons. I’ll ask him and let you know,” Paulette whispered.
The women’s attention shifted to the LaBelle Boutique across the street. They scrutinized every dress in the shop window.
“The red dress is adorable. It would look great on you.” Paulette eyed her figure as if imagining the dress on her.
LynAnn studied the dress and smiled, visualizing Jeff’s reaction if she wore the sexy dress with halter top straps baring the shoulders and fastening behind the neck. At least she thought it fastened behind the neck. She couldn’t see the back from their vantage point across the street.
“We’re in for a fifteen minute wait. Why don’t you go look at it,” Paulette suggested.
“I really shouldn’t,” she protested but then studied the dress again and pictured Jeff’s face when she wore it for him. She had never been in the shop and thought it might be pricy, but she did have a little saved for Matt’s school and she rarely bought herself any clothes. The sexy red dress did not qualify as church wear. The prim church ladies would have her banished from their midst, but their male counterparts would close their eyes in a thanksgiving prayer. “I’m just going to run over and take a peek at it.”
Rejoining the women, Dan removed his glasses and chuckled. “I think I know who the lucky man is you want to impress.”
“Maybe.” She grinned back.
It didn’t take her long to cross the street and go inside the fancy boutique. As soon as she opened the door, the sweet aroma of lilacs drifted to her nose and soft music tinkled in the background. An energetic sales lady found the dress in her size and held it to her body. “This will be a real knockout on you,” she gushed.
LynAnn didn’t need to try it on. She bought the dress and was about to leave when she noticed some red bras and matching panties in the rear of the store. She was sorting through the sizes when she heard someone call her name.
“LynAnn Johnson, what a surprise.” The older woman strutted up to her and sneered when she spied the red bikini underwear in her hand.
It took LynAnn a few seconds before she recognized the woman. “Hello, Andrea. Nice to see you again,” she replied graciously. “Aren’t you working today?”
“I’m on my lunch break.” The other woman sneered again and tossed her head. “If you’re trying to impress Jeff with fancy underwear, you might as well forget it.”
She tried not to be shocked by what she said. “Pardon? What do you mean?” She had no idea what the woman went on about and decided she may not have heard her correctly.
Andrea placed her hands on her hips and gave her big body a wiggle. “I mean”—she stressed her words for emphasis—“if you didn’t consume all of Jeff’s time making him chase ghosts, he might be able to see Judith. They’ve been emailing back and forth, you know. He’s quite taken with her, but you have him going around in circles with your imaginary problems.”
LynAnn felt sick in the pit of her stomach, but she wasn’t about to let the nasty woman know she’d upset her. She busied herself sorting through the pile of skimpy panties, forcing her hands to be steady. “Jeff loves being with me.” She picked up a pair of thongs, closed her eyes, and spoke wistfully. “I bet he’d go wild if I wore these.” She held up the tiny patch of red cloth to show the arrogant woman.
“Hump,” Andrea scoffed as if she didn’t believe a word she said. “We’ll see, LynAnn. He’ll get tired of wasting his time on a woman with screws loose in her head.” She turned quickly, exceptionally quick for the size of her body, and trotted to the door.
LynAnn pretended to sort through the panties, but her mind reeled. Jeff communicated with Judith. Was he waiting to get her problems cleared up so he could be with the beautiful coed? But he’d told her he wasn’t interested in young women. After a few moments, still feeling ill, she made her way to the counter and paid for her purchases. She doubted she’d ever get to wear the sexy red dress.
Back at the diner, she joined Dan and Paulette, forcing herself to smile and make small talk. She tried to erase the mean woman’s words from her mind, but couldn’t. Jeff never mentioned Judith. She was the one who brought her up after the play. She did remember what a fuss he had made over the coed after her performance. He practically drooled over her like a rabid male dog.
The remainder of the day passed slowly, and she had trouble concentrating on her work, and Dan noticed. “Are you okay, LynAnn? I asked for the lab reports twice. You’ve been off your game all afternoon. Is anything wrong?”
“I’m a little preoccupied.” She straightened her shoulders and tried to snap out of it. Her work was important, and she had to give it her full attention. “I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t mean to bring my problems to work. Thanks for lunch. It was very nice of you.” She was surprised when cheapskate Dan picked up their lunch tab. Perhaps he wasn’t so cheap after all…frugal might be a nicer description.
They stood in the hallway between exam rooms and usually Dan hustled between the rooms. Instead he took off his glasses and squinted at her face. “Something’s bothering you. I’m a good listener if you want to talk.”
She mumbled a soft, “Thanks anyway,” and shook her head.
With another squint and a wrinkle in his brow, he lumbered off to his next patient.
The day moved in slow motion, and it was nearly over when Paulette rang her phone, her voice near to panic. “LynAnn, I received a call from your daycare. Cassie’s been hurt, and they’re taking her to St. Luke’s. They want you to meet them there.”
“Did they say what happened?” she asked, stunned with a new sick
feeling knotting her stomach.
“Something about a fall.” Paulette’s gum cracked.
LynAnn grabbed her purse and flew by the receptionist before she had a chance to put her phone down. “Tell Dan I’m leaving,” she yelled back as she raced out the door.
When she neared Jeff’s Buick in the parking lot she pushed the remote control to unlock the doors, but when she tried the doors they were locked. “That’s odd.” She screwed up her face, distinctly remembering locking the doors earlier. She had to get to Cassie immediately. The woman at the daycare had to be very worried to send the girl directly to the hospital. She pushed the key fob for the second time, and the doors clicked open. She jumped into the car, started the engine, and sped out of the parking lot.
The first traffic light at the end of the block was red, and she stopped and drummed her fingers nervously on the steering wheel waiting for it to change and hoping Cassie’s injury wasn’t too serious.
Suddenly, she felt something cold on the back of her neck and her body froze. “Don’t look back. Keep driving,” the man in the backseat commanded, his upper body leaning over the front seat of the car. His icy menacing tone told her he was in control.
LynAnn drew a ragged breath and stole a glance in her rear view mirror. Bart Nathan, the assistant coroner and one of the men who had searched her house pretending to be an FBI agent held a gun to her neck. She slipped her hand into her purse to get her pepper spray, and he shoved it out of her reach. “I have a little money in my purse. You can have it.” She pretended she didn’t know him and thought he was a thief.
“We tried to find the tapes or whatever your husband gave you before he met his untimely death, but you had to get the DA himself in on this. Now, Mrs. Johnson, I’m afraid you have to be eliminated so we get your DA friend off our trail.”
“No matter what you do it’s not going to stop Jeff.” The calmness of her voice surprised her. Inside, she felt like a quivering blob of nerves.
“Hee hee.” The man gave an eerie laugh. “We figured as much, so Kelley has to be eliminated, too. One of my associates already took care of him. Keep driving,” he said as he pressed the cold steel deeper into her neck.”
The thought of Jeff being dead ripped through her heart as though Nathan had fired the gun into her own heart. Oh Lord, Jeff, I’m so sorry. I got you involved in all this. You only tried to help me.
Her mind could barely concentrate on Bart Nathan’s instructions, but she made a right and then a left as he ordered. Her self-defense classes played in her head. She remembered the part about never letting someone force you into a car. Scream and fight because once you’re in the car you were at their mercy. But it was too late now. She drove the car, and he directed her out of Pottersville.
Nathan made it quite clear he intended to kill her. She thought of her children and hoped somehow Jean and Stu would raise them. She thought of Todd. She wondered how much time he had to contemplate his death. She hoped it was swift and over in a second. And then she thought of Jeff. He didn’t deserve to die, but she couldn’t cry; she was in too much shock waiting for her own death. Nathan and his cohorts knew he would never stop until he got to the bottom of her death so they had to stop him, too. When Jeff left this morning, he said her ordeal was over and arrests would be made. He was wrong…dead wrong.
She kept driving until they were miles from the city. She didn’t know how much time had passed. Time had no meaning now. Her pulse thumped like a bass drum in her temples, and beads of perspiration trickled down her back while the cold barrel of the gun pressed into her neck. She tried to focus on a plan to divert Nathan…to use psychology…to say anything to throw the man off his mission, but nothing came to her except the fact Jeff was dead and she soon would be too.
They were in Pennsylvania State Forest Lands. The land was vast and desolate except for an occasional dirt road leading to a hunting cabin. Tall trees surrounded her on either side of the road. Bart intended to kill her and dump her body in the woods. She wondered how long she would lie in the forest before someone found her body. Perhaps Bart Nathan would end up doing her autopsy. He would probably love to cut into her body. In her mind she pictured his sneering face doing her autopsy. He would find some way to declare her death an accident or suicide. The murderous men would get away with their scheme. Jeff had the CD, but he didn’t get to the courthouse with it. She didn’t have much time left. She prayed. She prayed to die quickly. She prayed for her children. She didn’t want to be shot like Todd. She thought about Abby Southern waiting to die. Now she waited to die.
Huge old oak trees with thick trunks and heavy limbs lined each side of the road. Their leaves rustled in the gentle breeze and the branches seemed like long arms with fingers urging her to them. Like a supernatural phenomenon, they beckoned her. A peace filled her body…a euphoric serenity that accompanies death. Suddenly, because she had no other choice, she tramped down on the gas petal as hard and fast as she could and veered for the welcoming trees. She wouldn’t give Bart Nathan the satisfaction of killing her. She’d kill herself and Bart along with her.
Cr-ack. The car smashed into the trees with a deafening blast.
Her head hurled sideways and pressed against the steering wheel. White powder coated her hand and she stared at it unable to shift her gaze. I’m dead, she thought, but where is the tunnel with the light? Surely both Jeff and Todd would be waiting there. Then she heard a raspy gurgle and realized it came from her own throat, and her lungs sucked in air. She opened her eyes and discovered she was able to move and lifted her head a little from the steering wheel. The plastic air bags had inflated and deflated again, and the windshield had shattered. The trunk of the wide oak tree had split and fallen on the other side of the car. The roof of the car crunched onto the passenger seat, and there was no room above her head for her to lift it more than another inch, but she was alive.
She heard moaning, and somehow Nathan had been thrown from the car. Blood ran down his face and he stumbled alongside the car. He tried to open her car door, but fell to his hands and knees beside the car and although the door was caved in, she lunged at it with all her might and miraculously it flung open. Clunk. There was a soft thump as it smacked on Nathan’s broad backside. The big man belly flopped face down in the brush.
She had to act fast, had to find his gun. Crawling out the door, she stumbled over the large man’s body sprawled over the ground. He wasn’t moving, but he was breathing. On all fours now, she scrambled around his body and searched for his gun, but couldn’t find it.
All at once, Nathan grabbed her ankle and gave it a quick jerk. She tumbled on top of him. She was terrified. Although she wasn’t heavy, he grunted at her weight. Then the man rolled over and turned his body on top of hers, reversing their positions. His weight crushed her, knocking the wind from her lungs. She struggled and squirmed, but his heavy weight made it impossible to fight. He drained her breath and strength from her body. She fought wildly and tried to pound him with her fists, but he was too heavy and she could barely move. His big hands found her neck, and he squeezed. He kept squeezing and squeezing. LynAnn felt her body give up and go limp. Her eyes were opened, but a thick black veil covered them as she felt her life draining away.
Suddenly, as if in a dream, his weight was gone, and through the fluttering leaves of the oak trees, she focused on the blue sky and forced air into her lungs. Whack. Thud. She heard smacking sounds and then loud groans.
“LynAnn, are you okay?”
It sounded like Jeff’s voice, but it wasn’t possible. He was dead. Then he gathered her into his arms and she drew deep, shuddering gasps of air into her lungs. As if in a trance, her body and mind were disconnected.
“Are you all right?” Jeff’s chest heaved as he held her away from his body to examine her.
“Jeff…” She found her voice and reached out to touch him. Yes, he was here. It was really Jeff, not her imagination. She panted for breath.
He leaned her against his
body and wrapped his arms gently around her. “You’re safe now. Try to slow your breathing,” he instructed softly.
Although Nathan tried to strangle her, she didn’t seem to be hurt and after a few minutes her breathing returned to normal.
Sirens screamed toward them, and Captain Anderson himself jumped from the police car and ran to them. “Is she okay, Jeff? My God, look at your car.”
It was crushed everywhere except the front driver’s side where she was sitting.
“Oh, your poor Buick,” LynAnn cried out at the sight of the crumpled auto. “I ruined your Buick.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get another Buick,” Jeff responded quickly.
“That’s not a…” Jim Anderson started to say something, but Jeff stopped him.
“It’s time for a new car anyway,” he interrupted. “It’s only a car.” He held her body away from his again and ran his hands along her arms and legs. “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked again.
An ambulance appeared and the EMTs examined her and except for the bruising around her neck, they declared her only shaken. They hauled Bart Nathan away in the ambulance.
“How did you know where to find me?” she finally asked as Jeff helped her to her own Subaru and snuggled the seat belt around her.
“I put a GPS tracker in my car last evening while I was outside. I intended to put it in yours, but your tires were so low, I put it in mine instead and gave you my car.” He weaved his fingers through her hair. “Oh God, it was a close call, too close,” he groaned.
There was something in his eyes, more of his adoring look or perhaps concern and worry. LynAnn couldn’t place it. Perhaps the sheer emotion of the moment had gotten to him.
Chapter 21
LynAnn couldn’t believe she was alive. She placed her hand over her heart, and it ticked away with the steady rhythm of a music teacher’s metronome. She gazed up at the stately oaks and smiled.