by David McLeod
Shannon woke up early and felt like hell. She’d had a fitful sleep with dreams and nightmares flooding her mind throughout the night; it had been exhausting. As she lay in bed and sparked up a cigarette, her thoughts started to play back the moment she’d first found out about DC.
‘It’s okay, you’re fine.’ The nurse was standing over her, holding her hand.
She was shaking violently and covered in sweat. ‘Where am I? What’s happening to me?’ Shannon asked, her voice trembling.
‘You’re safe; you’re in a hospital,’ the nurse comforted.
‘Hospital? What do you mean hospital? Why am I here? What are you doing to me?’
‘It’s alright … calm down. You’ve overdosed, but we’re going get you through this. I’m right here for you.’
‘Where’s DC? I want to see DC!’ She was raising her voice between shakes.
‘DC?’ The nurse asked.
‘Daniel, my husband, Daniel. Where is he?’
‘I’m sorry,’ the nurse answered solemnly, ‘he wasn’t as lucky as you two. I’m afraid he’s dead.’
‘Dead? He, he can’t be.’ Shannon was beginning to cry uncontrollably.
The nurse gripped her hand tightly. ‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated as she let her sob. Slowly the crying began to ease.
‘Two?’ Shannon asked.
‘What?’ the nurse asked.
‘You, you said two.’ Shannon said again.
‘Oh — I thought you knew… You’re pregnant.’
The whole medical team at San Francisco Memorial Hospital had been amazing. They’d managed to bring her and her baby back from the brink of death, stabilized her, and then recommended she be transferred to a rehabilitation clinic and put into a methadone program. Later, she was moved on to a woman’s refuge institute in Belmont, South San Francisco. With such a traumatic start to its life, the baby had been regularly monitored and tested throughout the pregnancy, and seven months later, against less than favorable odds, a slightly premature but healthy boy was born. He was immediately named Daniel.
Shannon knew she wasn’t going to get back to sleep so she got up and shuffled towards the bathroom; she stopped to look in on Daniel, who to her surprise, was already awake.
‘Can’t sleep either?’ she asked him.
He smiled and shook his head.
‘You put the coffee on while I go and freshen up.’
Daniel jumped out of bed and stepped over to the kitchen while Shannon continued on to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, carrying a freshly brewed cup of coffee and a cigarette, she joined Daniel in the living room so they could continue their chat.
‘Where is DC now?’ Daniel asked.
‘He’s not with us anymore,’ Shannon replied sadly.
Shocked, all Daniel could say was, ‘What happened?’
Shannon looked down at her coffee as she thought back.
In less than a year, her life had changed dramatically. She’d gone from living a relatively lavish lifestyle of fine dining, expensive clothes, and first-class travel and accommodation to living in a hostel and rearing a child — alone. There was only one person she blamed for her reduced state, one person who had made her life crumble all around her — Old fucking Ginger.
She thought back to the night he’d burst into their home. The triumphant look on his face as he explained how he’d fooled them into believing he was a weak and easy prey. How easy it had been to follow them. Then his look had turned to anger. ‘Not only did you take money from me once, but then you came back for more. Thought you were pretty clever with the Gingerbread house drop-off point too, didn’t you?’ His face was so close to theirs as he spoke, his spit made them blink. ‘Trying to ruin my life — and all for what? Just to get fucking high. Well, I’ll tell you what — you want to get high, then let’s get you high.’ He nodded over to his friend who had found their stash of drugs.
DC started to speak, ‘We didn’t mean anything by…’
‘Shut it!’ Ginger screamed. ‘Your time for speaking is over.’ DC tried to get up, but the man with the black evil eyes pinned him down with his knee as he prepared the needle. Fear filled Shannon; her whole body went weak as she watched the man grab DC’s arm near the bicep. His vice-like grip making the veins in DC’s arm jump out to meet the needle that he held in his other hand. Unable to look away, she stared helplessly as he jabbed the needle into DC’s arm and discharged the entire contents. Instantly, DC’s eyes dilated, and then rolled back. Both men then turned their attention on her.
Maybe they used too much of the smack on DC, maybe they didn’t hit the right vein, or maybe the ambulance got there too fast — whatever the reason was, she’d survived. Then — as she thought of all that old Ginger had taken from her — all she wanted was revenge.
‘Are you okay?’ Daniel asked bringing her back to Vegas.
‘Yeah,’ she smiled. ‘What did you ask me again?’
‘I asked you what happened to DC.’
Shannon paused a beat and then said, ‘A man with evil eyes took him from me.’
‘Evil eyes? A man with evil eyes took him?’ Daniel repeated as he thought back to what the school principal in San Francisco had said.
Shannon nodded her head.
‘He came to the orphanage! He tried to take me,’ Daniel blurted out.
‘How did you… Who told you that?’ Shannon snapped, shocked that Daniel knew about him.
Daniel recoiled, ‘The Director of Schools told me about him a few days ago. Who is he?’
‘He’s not important. He was just a guy doing a job for someone even worse than him.’
Shaking, Shannon stood up and went to the bathroom to collect herself. Standing in front of the mirror, images of what she’d done to Ginger filled her mind.
Over the first few months following the birth of her son, her mood swings had increased. Daniel filled her with joy, but because he reminded her so much of his father, DC, he also plunged her into fits of depression. The drab-colored walls and disjointed furnishings of the hostel were a constant and stark reminder of what her life had become and how much she hated it. The only thing that was guaranteed to put a smile on her face — however sadistic — was when she thought of the things she wanted to do to Old Ginger.
Baby Daniel had been up all night crying again and she had no idea why. Diaper was clean, he’d been fed, burped, and watered; he wasn’t too hot or too cold — she was at a loss. Tired, depressed, and at her wit’s end — Shannon began to cry too.
‘Are you okay?’ Jackie, a neighbor from a room across the hall had poked her head around the door.
‘I just can’t take it anymore,’ she said as she dropped her head into her hands and sobbed.
‘Do you mind?’ Jackie asked as she picked Daniel up in her arms and walked around the room. Daniel’s crying quieted and then stopped.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Jackie asked as she continued to step and bounce, step and bounce.
Shannon took a moment to settle herself before offloading some of her frustrations. When she finished, Jackie spoke.
‘Wow, I didn’t know you were holding in so much —you poor thing.’ With Daniel pacified and sleeping peacefully, Jackie and Shannon continued to talk. At the end of the conversation, Jackie made a suggestion that left Shannon lost in thought.
‘A while back, I had a friend who was going through similar struggles to what you are now, particularly when it came to bringing up her child. She had no support network, and just wasn’t mentally ready; she’d get more and more annoyed at her child, resenting it for — how did she put it… ruining her life. Anyway, she found out about a place in the city — a place that took in kids with no questions asked.’
‘Oh, I could never,’ Shannon quickly said.
‘I’m not saying you could, or would. I’m just saying that regardless of how you feel, you still have control of your life — you still have choices.’
They finished talking, and Jack
ie left the room.
Days turned into weeks and weeks slipped into mundane months; Shannon couldn’t stop thinking about what Jackie had said. Even the fun they had at Daniel’s first birthday party with the cakes, streamers, and happy poses for photos did little to quell the feeling that without him she would be able to get on with her life. The very next day, she went to talk to Jackie and tell her of her plan.
With Daniel safely housed in the orphanage, the first thing Shannon wanted to do with her new-found freedom was ruin the life of someone else – namely, Old Ginger. Exactly what she wanted to do to this man was deeply ingrained in her mind; after all, there had been times over the past eighteen months when she’d thought of little else. With this as her goal, she packed her few meager belongings and moved to a tiny bedsit in the city.
Minimum wage work was, of course, easy to find; getting into the right minimum wage job was slightly harder. Shannon hated cleaning at the best of times, and to clean up other people’s mess in a low-paying job was borderline ridiculous. But it was all part of the plan, the plan to get as close as she could to Old Ginger without him knowing until it was too late.
His office was a lot different than what she’d expected; it was modern and minimalist, quite impressive in fact rather than grotesquely large and ostentatious. She moved around the office with what looked like a rocket pack on her back, vacuuming under low, leather, European couches and around the frosted-glass-topped desk. When she was sure her work colleagues were out of the immediate area, she started to snoop around. She was looking for one thing in particular — his personal diary with all his daily and weekly appointments and schedules — and with luck, his home address.
Working as many hours as she could, and living frugally — even on a minimum wage, she managed to accumulate a fair amount of cash, and soon it was time to move on to the next stage. She hired a car from a small independent agency and drove to Ginger’s house for a basic recon mission. As she expected, the house was impressive. Not mansion-size huge, but certainly large enough to warrant a second look by anyone passing by. A short bush-lined drive led to a double garage that Shannon assumed had an automatic opener. She drove past twice as she let a plan form in her mind; it was basic and simple, but she wasn’t planning on taking this up as a career, so it would do. Then, it was off to the local Mall to pick up supplies. With everything she needed safely stored in the trunk of her rental car and the sun beginning to set, she took a slow drive back to Old Ginger’s house.
Not sure of when he was due to return, she emptied the equipment from the trunk and relocated it to the passenger side foot-well. Happy that all she needed was close at hand, she reclined the seat back slightly and poured herself a coffee from a newly purchased flask before she unwrapped a chicken sub sandwich she’d picked up on the way. Time ticked by slowly, but she didn’t care; this moment had been a long time coming; there was no need to rush it; she wanted to enjoy the journey as well as the main event. Slowly and methodically she changed into the new dark clothes she’d bought: black running shoes, pants, and a sweater all topped off with a ski mask that she left rolled up on her head like a hat. Each article increased her heart rate and released tiny amounts of adrenaline into her blood stream — she felt good.
It was just after one A.M. when the lights of Ginger’s Cadillac filled her rear window and then turned into his driveway. She responded instantly, pulling the ski mask down over her face, grabbing her bag of tricks off the seat, and rapidly leaving the car. Ginger’s Cadillac drove slowly towards the garage and the door burst awake from its slumber, its mouth yawning open before the lights inside flicked on. Shannon crept up behind the car, slipping unseen between the hedges, closer and closer to the garage entrance. With the door fully open, Ginger drove his car inside and put his car into park As the door changed direction and began to close, Shannon crouched down and snuck up to the car’s trunk, unzipped her bag and pulled out the crowbar. She waited for Ginger to exit the car and walk towards the internal door before she struck. More by luck than judgment, she hit Ginger with the perfect amount of force — enough to knock him to the ground and daze him, but not enough to render him unconscious or dead. From her pack, she pulled out a roll of duct tape and a rope. Quickly, she turned him on his side and secured his arms, then tore off a strip of tape and covered his mouth. Ginger looked like he was starting to focus, so Shannon swung the bar and connected with his right knee, smashing the bone. Ginger’s eyes flew open wide and his face contorted; she knew he was screaming in pain as she smiled happily then smashed the bar down on his other knee. Ginger was writhing in pain, but unable to go anywhere, she then moved her attention onto his arms. With all limbs broken, she bent down to his face.
‘Now that I’ve got your attention, you probably want to know who’s doing this to you.’ She pulled off the ski mask and looked right into his terror-filled eyes.
‘Now, I’m going to give you a chance to pay me for some of the discomfort you’ve brought to my life, something to help me with the grief of losing my husband, something to keep me away from a life of crime. Being the generous and compassionate man that you are, you’d like to help me, wouldn’t you?’ she said as she went through his pockets to find his wallet. Ginger was nodding frantically. Locating the wallet in the front of his pants, she pulled it out, opened it wide, and stared at the wad of hundreds it contained.
‘This will do for a start,’ she said stuffing the notes into her pocket. ‘You have one shot at this, so you’d better pay attention… I’m going to ask you a question and if you answer it correctly, I’ll let you live; but if you lie to me, not only will I kill you, but I’ll kill the rest of your family too. Do you understand me?’
Once again, Ginger nodded.
‘I’m gonna pull the tape back a bit, if you try to call out you will die — okay?’ Ginger was still nodding from the last question.
Shannon peeled the tape back a fraction, enough for Ginger to speak, but nowhere near enough to scream out.’
‘I’ll pay you what you want — I swear,’ he forced out ‘Just let me up and get me a doctor. You have no idea how much pain I’m in — please…’
‘You think I give a shit?’ she spat. ‘Just answer this question and you can get your own damn doctor.’ From the wallet she pulled out his Platinum Amex card and held it up to his face. ‘What is your four digit code?’ She asked.
Ginger thought for a second then told her the number. ‘Eight, four, three, seven.’
‘That wasn’t so hard now, was it? See how easy things can be when you’re honest and charitable,’ Shannon said as a look of relief flashed over Ginger’s face.
‘Now, I’m going to take some cash from your account, and then we’re even. I will take the money and disappear simple as that. A word of warning: if I hear that you’re making an attempt to try to find me, I’ll be back — and believe me, you will not want to see me again — do we have a deal?’
‘Okay,’ Ginger said meekly.
A knowing smile came across Shannon’s face. ‘I forgot to ask one more thing… tell me the code backwards.’
Ginger’s face sank: he knew he’d been found out. Before he could think about calling for help, Shannon was already swinging the crowbar down towards his head.
Back in Vegas, staring into the bathroom mirror, Shannon checked her watch.
‘Oh shit!’ she said out loud, ‘I’m gonna be late.’
Chapter 27
The three of them were left stunned by the way detective Rodriguez had rushed out of the house.
‘What was that all about?’ Malone asked the others.
Taylor and Erin shook their heads and said in unison, ‘No idea.’
‘I still think we should go up Mulholland and have a look; sitting around here and waiting for a call will drive me crazy,’ Erin announced.
‘I couldn’t agree with you more!’ Malone said, and Taylor quickly agreed.
The blue Ford made its way across the city to the foot of Mulholland Driv
e at what could best be described as a painfully slow speed. Traffic was diabolically gridlocked due to an accident on the Freeway, and the side streets were no better.
Erin nervously chatted the whole way there and her voice had verged on torture for Taylor. ‘Why did I agree to come?’ she wondered. For the last twenty minutes, she’d been taking deep breaths and looking out the window at the store fronts in a desperate attempt to tune Erin out, but Taylor was now at boiling point.
‘How about we keep our mouths closed and our eyes peeled as we make our way up the hill? Maybe we’ll spot something the LAFD missed.’ It was Malone’s attempt at tact. He’d been concerned about Taylor and recognized the look of annoyance creeping up on her face; with all the arguments they’d been having about their living arrangements over the past few months, it was becoming a familiar sight.
Erin immediately took the cue, sat up in the back seat, and quietly looked left and right out of the windows. Taylor smiled to herself and continued to stare at the buildings as they changed from stores to homes. Malone was just happy to have averted a crisis.
They pulled up between the open gates of the house driveway and stared open-mouthed beyond the police tape at the blackened ruin that had once been a building.
‘What the hell happened here?’ Erin said, disbelieving her own eyes.
‘They said it was a fire, but this is so much more than that. This, this, is a bombsite,’ Taylor added.
The three of them exited the car, ducked under the tape, and walked slowly towards the wreckage. They stepped over and around debris that littered the driveway as they walked ever closer to where the house once stood. Pieces of wood, stone, and steel grew in size as did the acrid smoky scent of burnt timber the nearer they got to the charred open shell.
‘No wonder the detective said it wasn’t worth coming up here; there’s nothing left,’ Malone said as he kicked over some unidentifiable part of the house. Once again, the three of them looked at the house. It really was a wasteland. What was left of the cremated outer walls was only thigh height, the internal rooms were impossible to identify due to high-stacked piles of burnt wood and soot. The once beautiful pool and deck had dropped away down the hill leaving a few splintered poles, some twisted steel, and more shattered concrete.