The Devil_s Garden

FORTY-SIX

She was handcuffed to the inside of the car door. She held Emily’s hand, tried to focus. There had been many times in her career when chaos ruled the ER, when the waiting room was full, as were the four bays. Blood, bedlam, misery, pain. Dealing with it was a matter of triage, a process of prioritizing the injured for treatment according to the seriousness of their condition.

That’s what she had to do right now. She knew what she wanted – for all of this to be over, for she and the girls and Michael to be safe – but that was the end of things. She had to figure a way to get there.

She had to prioritize.

The horrors were compounding. First Kolya, then Detective Powell. Then the police officers on the street. She had heard the sirens before they had gone a block. She envisioned the next few minutes, the image of the police surrounding them, guns drawn. There was the possibility that none of them – Aleks, Emily or herself – were going to survive.

Barreling down the street, running both stop signs and red lights, sending cars careening, Abby could smell the brute rage coming off Aleks. The steering wheel was sticky with drying blood. He drove quickly but expertly through traffic on 94th Street toward Lamont Avenue.

Abby heard the sirens closing in. Just a few blocks away. When they reached Lamont Avenue Aleks pulled the SUV down an alley, behind a four-story apartment building. He cut the engine.

The police cars passed the alley, the sound reverberating between the brick walls. Aleks got out of the SUV, left the door open, began to pace. His eyes were manic, crazed.

“Where is he going?” he screamed.

Emily started at the sound. Abby put her arm around her daughter. “I don’t know,” Abby said.

“Where is he taking her?”

Aleks swarmed to the front of the SUV. He stared up at the sky for a moment, thinking. The sound of a slamming door behind the building made him spin on his heels. Abby tried to see what was happening, but because of the handcuffs she could not turn all the way.

“He will not take my daughter!” he yelled.

Abby now saw someone walking up the alley. There were two other cars parked in the back. A delivery van for the auto parts store on the corner, and a late-model Lincoln.

As the man approached, Abby saw that he was middle-aged man carrying a bag of groceries. He stopped and stared at Aleks, perhaps debating about stepping in and speaking to this demented man yelling at the woman and child.

In an instant Aleks was across the alleyway. The man went pale. He dropped his groceries.

“What are you looking at?” Aleks screamed. “Do you have business with me?”

“I’m not… I don’t -”

“No you do not.” Aleks looked up the alley, toward the street, back at the man. He pointed at the Lincoln. “Is this your vehicle?”

The man just stared. Aleks drew his knife. He held the tip beneath the man’s chin. Abby could see a slight trickle of blood.

“No!” Abby screamed.

“Last time. Is this your vehicle?”

The man’s eyes rolled back. Abby knew the signs. She feared the man might be going into shock. “Yes,” he said softly.

“Give me the keys.”

The man slowly reached into his pocket. He pulled a few things out: a handkerchief, a pack of gum, a few dollars in cash. No keys.

Aleks spun on his heel, swung his leg around, kicking the man in his chest. The man slammed against the brick wall, and folded to the ground. Aleks took the knife, sliced open the man’s pockets. He soon found the keys, then dragged the man behind the dumpster. He returned to the SUV, pulled all the bags from the back and put them in the Lincoln. He unlocked Abby’s handcuffs, picked up Emily. They got in the Lincoln.

Aleks cuffed Abby to the door handle, then jumped in the vehicle. He started the car, studied the GPS screen on the console. Something seemed to register. He tore open the bag on the seat, pulled out the files he had taken from the house. Abby saw the phases of her life flash by. The deed to the house, her nursing certificate, her marriage license. Soon Aleks took out a photo. He scanned the document, then punched numbers into the GPS.

He pulled into traffic.

Abby knew where they were going. Aleks was not going to give up. Neither was she. She would find her moment.