Crying Wolf

28

Was luck still with him? Bottom line: yes. The expression bottom line pleased him; the kind of expression he was going to need in the future. A golden future. He’d asked for a break-who deserved one more? — and maybe he’d gotten one, maybe the breaks would finally start breaking his way. The kid from the flats, on his way to the big time. For one thing, he had the girl.

Drop-dead fuck-you, and he had her! Had one of them: they were twins, of course, not just sisters, he knew that now, had figured it out, maybe a little late; twins, so one couldn’t be bigger than the other, none of that big-sister-little-sister shit. And the one he had probably wasn’t as good-looking as the other one right now, not after their little-not fight, he didn’t want to say fight, more like a dust-up. But any-he didn’t want to say damage, more like nicks and scratches-any of that was probably temporary, and even if not, she was still drop-dead fuck-you, the best-looking girl ever in his life, bar none. Wouldn’t trade her for a million bucks.

Just joking.

“Babe,” he said. They had funny names, these twins, names he had never really grasped, couldn’t relate to. He just called this one babe. “Babe?”

She wasn’t answering.

Freedy could live with that. They both, he and she, needed a little breather, were both a little banged up. His right arm was still funny, not dangling useless anymore, but not right. That was one of the reasons his initial encounter with the girl hadn’t gone smooth as planned. He hadn’t been 100 percent, but take nothing away from her. A girl, and she’d given him a bit of trouble, more than Saul and his big boys. Amazing. Was it possible that at one point he’d even been lying on the floor while she climbed that rope ladder, almost to the top, almost free and clear? And those scratches on his face, and one eye half shut, not as bad as hers, but still. She was amazing.

She was amazing and he liked that. “Babe?” he said.

Not answering. He liked that too. He was getting more mature. A man, a diesel, buff, ripped fuckin’ animal such as himself needed a woman to match. That was the revelation that had hit him while he lay beside her in the spyhole room between F tunnel and the dollhouse, both of them just breathing for a while. He liked her. And would he answer in her place? Hell no.

Having a woman of your own power, making the right match-it went back to Adam and Eve. Had he ever had a woman like that, an equal, in his life? Not close. Nothing against Estrella, he’d learned a lot from her, especially practical things, like how to make dreams come true, but she wasn’t close.

“Going to need some information from you,” he said.

Not answering. No sound in the spyhole room but the dripdripping, nothing to see but total blackness.

Needed information, to make this dream come true. He’d already made-didn’t want to say a mistake-not the best moves once or twice, no fault of his own. Like forgetting to write a ransom note at first-maybe not the best move. Had to give people guidance, right? Had to provide leadership. Meant he’d had to leave the spyhole room, go all the way back, down F, into N, over to the trapdoor, down inside again, retracing the whole route he’d dragged her, just to write that note like he should have in the first place. He needed a-what did they call it? — detail person. He hadn’t dragged her all the way back with him, of course, hadn’t had to since she’d still been, not unconscious, more like sleeping, or whatever.

“Need that information,” he said.

Not answering.

And maybe there’d been one or two other-glitches, that was it-glitches, too, but how could they be blamed on him? Want to grab a million bucks as it flies by? Have to act fast. He’d acted fast, pounced on her as soon as he knew what was happening, soon as the other sister had left. Hadn’t expected that much resistance, who would have? That, and forgetting the note, two glitches. What if no one came down again and saw the note, or came when it was too late? Too late? A funny thought: how could it be too late?

Wasn’t like him to fret this way. He felt in his pocket: one andro left, two hits of meth. Sampled the meth, felt a little better. And not to fret, because the next moment, or not long after, Freedy heard people moving again on the far side of the wall. That meant they’d be seeing the ransom note. It also meant she could maybe hear them too, maybe cause a little trouble. He lit a candle-all he had, one little candle, her flashlight all busted during the dust-up-looked over at her, lying nearby on the dirt floor. Oh yeah, slipped his mind: her face, the mouth part anyway, was taped up with electrician’s tape from the utilities room in the sub-basement under building 31.

Mouth taped up, probably the reason she’d hadn’t been answering him, because she wasn’t sleeping anymore. Her eyes were open; eye, actually, the one that would open. Open and on him, but she was listening, he could feel it. He put his finger to his lips, letting her know it wasn’t a good time for talk, and rose-slowly, even painfully-to look through the spyhole.

Freedy saw a flashlight beam pointing at the back of the painting with his note. On track. He heard a voice, the other sister: “I suppose you’re going to say that’s her own writing.”

“No,” said someone else; the college kid. The college kid started shining his light here and there, right into Freedy’s eyes for a second. Freedy shrank back, blew out the candle. And the moment he did, the girl, the sister that was his, made a thumping sound. How? He’d thought of everything, had her arms and legs taped tight to the utility pipe. So she had to be doing it with her head. She was banging the floor with her head to get their attention. Freedy was on her with all his weight just as she did it again, a muffled thump on the dirt floor. Could they have heard? He listened; no sound came from the other side of the wall.

Freedy lay on her with all his weight. She was amazing: imagine doing that, with the way her head must be feeling after that sleep, or whatever. He lay on her, subduing her, kind of. Could have forced himself on her right there, felt like it in a way. But was that how he wanted it? No. A man like him didn’t need to force himself on a woman; all he had to do was give her a taste of what he was about, and she’d be forcing herself on him. Was it unreasonable to think that given time to forget all the unpleasantness, this drop-dead fuck-you American dream girl would see what a good match they were? He’d been joking when he’d had that thought about not trading her for a million dollars, but why did he have to make a choice at all? Wasn’t-yes! — wasn’t the hero supposed to get the money and the girl at the end?

Freedy rolled off her, got up, felt along the wall till he found his spyhole, peered through. The room was silent and dark. They were gone. That meant he had work to do.

“Need a little help here,” he said. A detail person: what he’d always been missing. “We have to plan this out.”

He relit the candle, gazed down at her. She was awake, the one eye that could open, open. It was pure gold in the candlelight, which was kind of cool, pure gold, fixed on him like that.

“We got some thinking to do,” he said. “You know how it works, right? Start with an idea, make a plan, stick to it.” He liked talking to her, liked the way his voice sounded talking to her, quiet, casual, close, like they were soul mates. Potential soul mates: he didn’t want to be unrealistic at this stage. “The idea we already know,” he said. “A million dollars. Now we just have to figure out the plan and stick to it.”

They watched each other, watched each other by candlelight. Women had a thing for candlelight. Candlelight, flowers, candy: what the hell was that all about? A man likes that kind of shit and he’s gay. So did women want their men to be gay? Made no sense.

“You like candlelight?” he said. “Flowers? Candy?”

No answer, what with the tape job. The gold eye just watched him, blinking now and then.

The idea: a million bucks, a cool million. The plan: the money would appear in that room on the other side of the wall, less than ten feet away, by dark. He’d take it, leave the girl, be in Florida the next day. Sounded good, better than good. The life he had ahead of him-he went cold, actually went cold thinking about it.

Were there any holes in the plan, any weak spots? He lay back on the dirt floor, tried to think of some. Couldn’t come up with any and was ready to stop, to just enjoy that feeling of success around the corner, when one cropped up. What if they did call the cops? Then came another: what if they didn’t call the cops, but brought fake money, too well made for him to tell? And a third: what if he wasn’t ready to give her up? And there were others. He could sort of see them, shapeless dark things slouching in his mind.

“A situation like this”-Freedy didn’t want to use the word kidnapping — “turns out to be complicated. Hell if I know why-there’s only two parts to it. You and the money. So how come everything’s so…” He couldn’t think of the word. The gold eye watched him. Whatever the word was, she knew it.

Freedy sat up. His shoulder gave him a twinge. Maybe that made his voice harsher than he’d intended when he spoke to her. “I’m going to take the tape off your mouth, babe. But any glitches and it’s right back on, good and tight. Comprendo?”

Comprendo: could he have picked a better moment to slip in a foreign word?

No response. The gold eye watched him. She was something else. Made for him. He pinched a corner of the tape between thumb and index finger and ripped it off. She didn’t make a sound. Made for him in heaven.

Her lips parted. Some blood, not a lot. She took a deep breath. He could hear it, like a warm breeze. He seriously considered leaning over and giving her a kiss.

She spoke; real quiet. She didn’t have a strong voice like her sister, shouting through the walls. “I need a doctor,” she said.

“Me too,” said Freedy.

The gold eye watched him.

“Won’t be long,” Freedy said. “First I need that million.”

“Let me go,” she said, and paused for breath. “Let me go and I’ll make sure you get it.”

“Think I’m stupid or something?”

“No.”

“The fact is I own my own business.”

She was silent.

“Built from scratch. You wouldn’t understand. College girl. College girl up on College Hill, everything handed to you on a silver spoon, if you see where I’m coming from.”

No answer. Now maybe it wasn’t quite so cool, this silence of hers. He leaned over, went and did it: kissed her on the lips, real light, but sending a message. She didn’t move a muscle.

“No more bullshit, that’s all. Promise?”

Pause. A real long one.

“Say yes or the tape’s back on.”

Another pause, but not as long. Then: “Yes.” He could barely hear it.

Her lips were warm. That feeling lingered on his own lips. He knew for a fact: life, his own life, was going to be sweet.

“Familiar with the flats?” he said.

“No.”

“Why would you be, right?”

“I need a doctor.”

“Why would you be? That’s the whole point. Even though the flats is this whole town, except the goddamn college. Say hello to the kid from the flats.”

She didn’t. The gold eye closed. He closed his own eyes, went over the plan. What if they did call the cops? He’d hear them coming, of course, hear them in the tunnels, but what good would that do? He’d be trapped. Have to kill her then-that’s what it said in the note. Then what?

He opened his eyes. “Time for a little…,” he began. What was the word? The gold eye opened, watched him. A little what? He knew the word, had heard it a thousand times on the infomercials. Something about thunder, lightning: “Brainstorming!”

Maybe he’d said it a bit loud. He lowered his voice, back to that intimate level he liked to use with her. “Time for a little brainstorming,” he said. “You understand what I mean by that term? It’s an entrepreneurial kind of thing.”

“Yes.”

“This friend of mine, she and me used to do a lot of brainstorming. Back when I was just starting out.”

Freedy got the feeling she was going to say something. He waited, heard the dripping sounds. She spoke: “What happened to her?”

“Happened to her? Nothing happened to her. She’s out in California, leading the good life. Why would anything happen to her?”

“No reason.”

He heard that warm breeze breath again, slow and long.

“Been to California?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Whereabouts?”

“Heavenly Valley.”

“What the hell’s that?”

No answer.

“Been all over the fucking state, from Tijuana to LA. Never heard of it.”

“It’s a ski place.”

“A ski place?”

No answer.

“A ski place, I said.”

“Yes.”

“That’s what you do in California? You ski?”

“I did.”

“The college kid go with you?”

No answer.

“I asked you a question. The college kid, you know who I’m talking about, who the two of you are so hot for-what’s his name, again?”

No answer.

“That was another question.”

Nothing, zip. Couldn’t allow that. But what to do? All he could think of was kissing those lips of hers again. Weird: what kind of reprimand was that? No explaining some things. But it was what he wanted to do, and he started to do it, rolling over, lowering his face to hers.

“Nat,” she said.

He paused. “Huh?”

“His name is Nat.”

The answer to his question, but not what he wanted to think about right now. “Don’t tell me. He owns a condo out there.”

“No.”

“But he’s got money to burn. I know the type. Never worked a day in his life.”

That got her angry. Was it possible? “He works right now.” Another long slow breath. “And in the summer he works in a mill.”

“What kind of mill?”

No answer.

“His old man probably owns it.”

“His old man’s not around.”

Freedy felt another twinge, more than a twinge, but he’d call it a twinge, in his shoulder. He rolled over, lay on his back. They lay there, breathing together. Shadows made jittery motions on the ceiling. Water dripped. Sleeping would be a bad idea.

Blackness.

“You awake?”

Candle out.

“Babe?”

He had a horrible thought-she’d escaped somehow-and as he had the thought his good arm lashed out. Struck something sort of soft. She screamed, like in agony. He jumped a mile.

“Hey,” he said. “That wasn’t even a hit.”

She was already quiet. Then she took one of those breaths. “I need a doctor,” she said.

“Me too.”

They lay there. Freedy tested his bad arm. Hey! Felt better, a lot better. What a little sleep would do, especially when you were a fuckin’ animal. “Me too,” he said, “but you don’t hear me complaining.”

He relit what was left of the candle, had a look at her. Nothing wrong that he could see, beside the obvious, that eye, one or two other things. “That was a nice little siesta.” Comprendo, siesta- he was on a roll. “Now we’re feeling refreshed, how about we get back to brainstorming?”

No answer, just that warm breezing breath.

“You know that word, siesta?” he said.

Zip.

“It’s a spic-Spanish-word for, like, sacking out.” He thought: a cool million, the girl, siestas in the Florida sun, maybe by the rooftop pool of Agua Group HQ. “You like pools?” he said.

No answer.

“Swimming pools.”

Zip.

“I asked you a question.”

No reply. Maybe she was going to say something, but before she could, Freedy heard a little scratching sound. It came, it went, a rat probably, or something like that, not important. But it got him thinking.

“We got to think,” he said.

Silence.

“Say ‘About what, Freedy?’ ”.

“For God’s sake,” she said.

He liked that. Breaking in a horse: he’d seen it in the movies. “We got to think about our plan. There’s…” He wasn’t sure exactly how to put it, about those problems slouching in his mind.

Time passed while he thought. At last, she said: “What is the plan?”

“Like I said, there’s you, there’s the million.”

Another long breath. “Do they know?”

“Now they do. They saw the note.”

“What does it say?”

“The exact words? Can’t give you the exact words. Something about the money, where to leave it and such.”

“Where?”

“In the room down there.”

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“What time is it now?”

“Don’t have a watch.”

“I do.”

He rolled over, held the candle near her wrist. Her watch was all smashed up.

“No you don’t,” he said.

The gold eye watched him. “And if the money doesn’t come?”

“Like, worst-case scenario? That’s what we say in business.” He waited for her to speak. When she didn’t, he said: “No need to talk about that. It’ll come. The cops is what I’m-not worried-more like, you know.”

“What makes you think they’ll be involved?”

“Hey. Exactly right. I wrote it in plain English, what would happen.”

“Which was?”

“That’d be a deal breaker.”

The gold eye watched him.

He watched her back, let her get a good look at him. “Ever seen a man like me?” he said.

The eye closed. “No.”

Freedy smiled, his first smile in a long time. There was pressure, oh yes, but he could handle it. Pressure was part of the big time, one thing they didn’t mention on the infomercials. “Babe?” he said.

No answer.

Breaking a horse, but a valuable one, and a horse he liked. He reached over, put a hand on her tit. The gold eye opened. She tried to move away, but couldn’t, of course.

“The plan needs work,” she said, real quiet.

He stopped what he was doing. “Yeah?” he said. “Like what?”

She-that eye of hers-watched him.

“I asked you a question.”

“Why should I help with the plan?”

“I’m asking the questions here.”

Silence. He had an idea. “You know why you should help?” he said.

She watched him.

“Because we’re in this together,” Freedy said.

She laughed. Cut off real quick, with a gasp like she was in pain or something, but still: an actual laugh.

“What’s funny?” he said.

“Nothing.”

“You laughed.”

No answer.

“Come on,” Freedy said. “I’ve got a sense of humor.”

“I know you do.”

He liked that. He looked at her, so close. Soul mates. Only potential right now, but the potential was there. Couldn’t he just see it: the two of them walking out of his HQ, his beautiful blue HQ down in Florida, at the end of a working day, climbing into the coolest car in the world, peeling off to somewhere. “What time do you think it is?” he said, real relaxed, real intimate, like man and wife.

“No idea.”

She had a great voice. Had he noticed that before? She was worth a million bucks. Should he say that? Why not, since she knew he had a sense of humor, had just finished saying so? The hero gets the money and the girl, and everyone else stands around like assholes. That was what he found himself saying, instead of the joke: “You know the way the hero gets the money and the girl and everyone stands around like assholes?” he said.

The gold eye closed, opened, watched him. “The plan needs work,” she said.

“You already said that.”

“The money and the… hostage can’t be in the same place.”

“Huh?”

“They can’t be in the same physical place.”

“How come?”

“You can’t figure it out?”

He couldn’t believe he’d heard that. “What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Nothing? He was back on top of her, not as quick as usual, but still quick enough that she hadn’t finished saying nothing. She made that gasping noise again, this time ending with a high-pitched little note. He felt her breath, warm on his face. “Think I’m a loser?” he said.

“No.”

“Then don’t talk down your fucking nose.”

“I need…” She didn’t finish it.

He felt her tits under him, saw those lips, undamaged so far, inches away. They were perfect. His own lips parted. This would be a good time.

“You don’t have any control unless the money’s in a separate place,” she said.

He paused. “I don’t?”

“If you’re with the hostage,” she said, “that makes you a hostage too.”

Had he ever heard anything as smart in his life?

“Especially in a place like here,” she added, nailing it down.

“How do you know all this?” he said.

She watched him, watched with the gold eye. The other eye, the closed one, had some kind of liquid seeping out.

He rolled off her, sat up. She took one of those long slow breaths, making that gentle breeze sound.

“But I already wrote where to bring the money,” Freedy said, seeing a problem right away.

“You’ll have to change it.”

“How?”

“By calling them.”

“Who?”

“My sister. Nat. I’ll give you the numbers.”

Freedy didn’t like it. “What if no one answers?”

The gold eye watched him. He got the feeling the next thing she said was going to piss him off. But it didn’t. “Leave a message,” she said.

“Saying what?”

“Where to leave the money.”

“Where’s that?”

“This is your territory, isn’t it?”

Freedy thought. His mother’s: no. Ronnie’s: no. The high-school parking lot: no. “What kind of place?” he said.

“The woods.”

“With all this snow?”

“A vacant lot, then. An empty building.”

“I don’t know anywhere like…” But he did.

She watched him. “You’ve thought of something.”

“Maybe.”

“Where?”

“Tell you later. Just give me the numbers.”

She did. Pen, yes, paper, no; he wrote them on his hand.

“Now,” he said, “what about you?”

“You have to leave me here. Especially if it’s still daytime.”

“Do you think it is?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have to keep you taped up to the pipe.”

“I know.”

“And gag you again.”

She was silent.

And what else? There was something else, something important. “There’s something else,” he said, hoping she’d tell him what it was.

She watched him.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “What if someone comes down while I’m gone?”

“I’ll be tied up and gagged.”

“But-” This was the point: “What about the head-banging thing?”

“Why would I do it?” The gold eye closed, opened. “They didn’t hear.”

“Still,” Freedy said.

Still. Which was why he had to do something. He checked out the way she was, the tape job, the pipe. Going to need some adjustments.

“Babe?” he said.

No answer.

“Have to untape your hand for a sec.” He tore at the tape, unwound it. Her arm, one arm, came free. She sort of groaned. The rest of her, legs and the other arm, remained taped tight to the utility pipe. “Have to lean your head a little this way,” he said. He was looking at the pipe, reaching in his pocket for a roll of tape, not really watching, not really noticing that her arm, her free arm, was feeling around under her. “Let’s have that arm,” he said.

The arm came up, came up with something glinting in it, came up quick, even by his time scale. A sharp thing, goddamn piece of glass from that fucking aquarium, stabbed him right in the neck. Not in the neck, exactly, because he was even quicker, but in his shoulder, the one just starting to feel better, deep. Had she known it was under her, that piece of glass, even brought it somehow, waiting for a chance? That hurt most of all. Why? Because of the money and the girl thing, the hero’s reward, now gone and wrecked.

He let her have it. Let her have it but good, as they said, and Freedy knew why: because of how good you felt, doing it.

Freedy taped her arm, now limp, back up to the pipe, taped her head to it too, to prevent that head-banging shit. He popped the last andro, tweaked the last of the meth, stopped the bleeding; his bleeding. New plan. Action central.

Peter Abrahams

Crying Wolf