The Abduction

31

Kristen Howe woke to a dimly lit room. She lay on her back, staring up at a grimy airduct stain on an old popcorn ceiling. The stiff pillow crackled beneath her ears as she slowly turned her head to scan her surroundings. The double bed beside hers was empty but messed, as if someone had slept there. Atop the bureau rested a color television set that was tuned to CNN, though the sound was muted. Heavy drapes covered the window, while airborne dust motes floated in the narrow rays of sunlight streaming in at the edges. A diagram was posted on the back of the chain-locked door, showing where to exit in case of fire.

Kristen had been awake when they’d stopped late last night at the Motel 6, a typical two-story building with separate outside entrances for each room. Before going inside to register, that Repo guy had laid her low in the back of the car and handcuffed her to the seat frame. She didn’t dare scream for help, since she couldn’t be sure how far away he really was. They’d parked in the back, away from the highway, directly in front of their ground-level room. He’d led her inside without cuffs or a blindfold. She never looked at him, however, and she closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep the moment he laid her in the bed. She didn’t want to see his face—not after what happened earlier, after she’d looked at that other guy named Johnny.
She heard a toilet flush, and the bathroom door opened. Repo was back. She shut her eyes so tightly that her eyelids quivered.
“You don’t have to close your eyes,” he said.
She gulped, afraid to speak. “I didn’t see your face. I promise. I didn’t. I didn’t look last night, either.”
“I’m not going to blindfold you, Kristen. So just open your eyes.”
She made a face, closing them even more tightly.
He smiled halfheartedly. It was kind of cute, the way she thought she could erase her memory by squeezing her eyes shut. He gently sat on the edge of the bed. “Kristen, I know you saw my face last night.”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t see anything.” Her eyes were still shut.
He sighed, shaking his head. “Okay, you didn’t. But it doesn’t matter if you see my face now.”
“You’re going to kill me. Just like you killed Reggie.”
“No,” he said, agonizing. “I promise I’m not going to kill you.”
“Reggie’s dead. I know he’s dead.”
He paused, not sure how much to tell her. “Yes. Reggie is dead.”
Her body stiffened.
“But I didn’t kill him,” he said. “Johnny killed him. That guy who got killed last night.”
“Why did you kill your friend?”
Repo looked away, then back. “Look, we’re both in deep shit, so I want to be honest with you. But you have to open your eyes. I can’t lead you around like a Seeing Eye dog.”
She opened her eyes. Her line of sight aimed at his torso at first, then slowly drifted toward his face.
“There,” he said, “that wasn’t so hard. Was it?”
She shook her head, avoiding his eyes. He shifted on the bed, facing her more directly. “Kristen, I’m involved with some very bad people. People who will do whatever they get paid to do. If a guy gets fired and wants to burn his old boss’s house down, they’ll do it. If some lady wants her ex-husband beat up, no problem. And if somebody wants to kidnap a twelve-year-old girl, they’ll do that, too.”
“What if somebody wants to kill that girl?”
“They’ll do it. But I won’t. That’s why I killed Johnny. We had a disagreement, I guess you’d call it, as to whether we should let you go.”
“Then why don’t you just let me go now?”
“Because you wouldn’t be safe. I know that sounds crazy, but if I just drove you back to Nashville and gave you back to your mom, they’d find you. These people would find you.”
“The police will protect me.”
“They won’t. They say they will, but they won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I know, damn it!” He drew a deep breath, rubbing his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just, when I tell you I know, you gotta believe me. I have experience in these kinds of things.” His expression soured, as if he were suddenly looking inside himself. “Six years ago, I went to court and testified against a guy who was selling drugs in our neighborhood. Not just the jerk down on the corner. The big guy who was supplying everybody. The cops said they’d protect me if I went to court. Said I had nothing to worry about. So I did it. And the minute the trial was over, the cops disappeared. They didn’t do shit for protection.”
“What happened?”
He looked away, sinking deeper into the past. His voice was flat and distant. “I came home from work one night, and I just found them. Laying there on the kitchen floor, blood everywhere. My mother and my sister. They killed them both.”
“This is that sister you mentioned before? The one I remind you of?”
“Yeah. But don’t worry. You’re not gonna get shot. Not if I can help it.”
She paused, studying his face. He suddenly seemed more human to her. “Why do you work for such bad people?”
“It’s not really a choice you make. It’s just survival. I was eighteen years old when all this happened. I figured the creeps who killed my mom and my sister would probably come and kill me next. The cops were no help. So, you know, in my neighborhood if you wanted real protection, you went to work for—” he stopped, deciding not to use names. “Well, you went to work for the man who could protect you. So that’s what I did. It’s been six years and nobody’s touched me. Nobody dares.”
“So, this man you went to work for—he’s the one who’s going to come looking for me?”
“You and me both. I killed his nephew. And for some reason, his nephew wanted me to kill you.”
Her eyes welled with tears. “Why would they want me dead?”
“I don’t know. It has nothing to do with you or anything you did, though. It’s just that somebody, somewhere, decided it was necessary. Maybe it was Johnny. Maybe it was his brother—the other guy who was in the house with us. Maybe it was their uncle. Or maybe it was the person who hired us in the first place. Whoever that is.”
Silence fell between them. Kristen broke eye contact. She was looking right past him. “It’s my grandfather,” she said.
“What?”
She nodded toward the television. The picture was on, but the sound was off. “My grandfather is on the news.”
Repo shook off the confusion. For a second, he’d thought she was confirming that Lincoln Howe had hired him. He turned toward the set and switched on the volume.
Howe was standing at a podium with flags and balloons behind him. The candidate had a solemn look on his face as he spoke into the microphone. “It has come to my attention that the FBI is investigating the possibility that the kidnapping of Kristen Howe was orchestrated by one of my own supporters as a political ploy to elicit sympathy from voters. So far,” he said in an indignant tone, “the only thing political about this kidnapping is the investigation itself—which is being manipulated by my opponent.”
The image on the screen quickly shifted back to the CNN anchorwoman. “General Howe made the remarks earlier this morning at rally on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, Florida. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department has confirmed or denied that the investigation is, in fact, focusing on a Howe supporter. In a written statement, Attorney General Leahy has stated only that it would be improper to comment on an ongoing investigation.”
Repo hit the MUTE button, then looked at Kristen. Her expression was pained and incredulous. She asked, “The FBI thinks my grandfather hired you to kidnap me?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “I guess maybe they do. Honestly, I don’t know who hired us. But the thought has crossed my mind, you know, that maybe your grandfather or one of his supporters was behind it. You wouldn’t know anything about this, since you haven’t seen any of the news. But people feel sorry for your grandfather since you were kidnapped. So sorry that it might even get him elected.”
“But—no, it can’t be him!”
“Maybe it’s not him. I hope it’s not. But we just have to be extra careful for a while until the FBI sorts this out. This is why I can’t just turn you loose. For your own good, I mean. We just have to stay out of sight, at least until the election is over. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She nodded, staring at the television in disbelief. She sniffled and wiped her nose. “I understand,” she said as her worried eyes met his. “I can’t go home.”