Hostage (2001) (15 page)

'Look in the garage. Look in the kitchen. Mars, you find something, okay? You know what we need. This turd doesn't know anything.'

Mars disappeared toward the garage. Kevin took the girl's arm as if he was afraid that she would hit him, but she stood without resisting, her face working and the tears coming harder.

'What about my father? You can't just leave him like this.'

Her father was cold to the touch; every few seconds a tremor rippled through his body. Dennis took his pulse like he knew what he was doing, but he couldn't tell a goddamned thing. He didn't like how the man looked, but didn't say anything about it because there was nothing to say.

'We'll put him on the couch. That way he'll be more comfortable.'

'He needs a doctor.'

'He's just sleeping. You take a head shot, you gotta sleep it off, is all. My old man used to beat me worse than this.'

Dennis had Kevin help lift her father onto the couch.

When Mars returned, Dennis told them to take the kids upstairs. He was tired of thinking about them. He was tired of thinking about everything except the money. He needed a way out.

Mars opened the door to her room, then stepped aside so that she and Kevin could enter. He had come back from the garage with extension cords, duct tape, a hammer and nails. He gave two extension cords to Kevin.

'Put her in here. Tie her to the chair, and tie her tight. Tie her feet. I'll take care of the windows and the door when I finish with the boy.'

Mars looked at her with unfocused eyes, as if he were waking from a deep sleep and she was the memory of a dream.

'I'll check how you tie her when I come back.'

Mars pulled Thomas away as Kevin brought her into the room. The lights were on because she never turned them off; she fell asleep with them on, either talking on the phone or watching TV, and woke with them on, and never thought to turn them off when she left to start her day. The shades had been pulled and the phone was on the floor against the wall, its plug smashed so that it couldn't be used. Kevin dragged her desk chair into the middle of the floor. He avoided her eyes, nervous.

'Just let this happen and everything will be okay. You gotta pee or anything?'

She felt a flush of embarrassment. She had to use the bathroom so badly that she burned.

'It's in there.'

'Where? You got your own bathroom?'

'Uh-huh. It's right there.'

'Okay, come on.'

She didn't move.

'You can't come with me.'

He stood in the bathroom door, waiting.

'I'm not going to leave you alone.'

'I'm not going to the bathroom in front of you.'

'Would you rather pee on yourself?'

'I'm not letting you watch. I don't have guns or anything in there, if that's what you're worried about.'

He seemed annoyed, but she didn't care. He stepped into the bathroom to look around, then came back.

'Okay, I won't go in with you, but you can't close the door. I'll stand over here. That way I can't see you.'

'But you'll hear.'

'Look, piss or don't piss. I don't care. If you're not going to go, put your ass in the chair before Mars comes back.'

Jennifer had to pee so badly that she decided to go. She tried to pee quietly, but it seemed louder than ever. When she was finished, she returned to her room too embarrassed to make eye contact.

'You're disgusting.'

'Whatever. Sit here and put your hands behind the chair.'

'I don't see why you can't just lock me in. It's not like I can go anywhere.'

'Either I'm going to tie you or Mars will tie you.'

She perched on the chair, tense and wary.

Kevin had two long black extension cords. She cringed when he touched her, but he didn't treat her roughly or twist her arms.

'I don't want to make this too tight, but I got to tie you. Mars is going to check.'

His voice held a regret that surprised her. She knew that Kevin was scared, but now she wondered if he felt embarrassed at what they were doing. Maybe he even had a conscience. He finished with her wrists, then moved around in front of her to tie her ankles to the legs of the chair. She watched him, thinking that if there was a friend to be found among them it was him.

'Kevin?'

'What?'

She kept her voice soft, scared that Mars would hear.

'You're caught in this just like me.'

His face darkened.

'I've heard the three of you talking. You're the only one who seems to know that you're making it worse by being here. Dennis doesn't get that.'

'Don't talk about Dennis.'

'Why do you go along with him?'

'Things just happen, is all. Don't talk about it.'

'My father needs a doctor.'

'He's just knocked out. I've been knocked out.'

'You know it's worse than that. Think about what you're doing, Kevin, please. Make Dennis see. If my father dies they'll charge you with his murder, too. You know that.'

'There's nothing I can do.'

'You knew better than to rob that minimart, didn't you? I'll bet you tried to talk Dennis out of it, but he wouldn't listen and now you're all trapped in here and wanted for murder.'

He kept his face down, pulling at the extension cords.

'I'll bet that's true. You knew it was wrong, and it was. Now you know this is wrong, too. My daddy needs a doctor, but Dennis is just being stubborn. If you keep following Dennis and Mars, the police will kill you all.'

Kevin leaned back on his heels. He seemed tired, as if he had been worrying the problem for so long without solution that the worrying had worn him out. He shook his head.

'I'm sorry.'

A shadow moved behind Kevin, catching Jennifer's eye. Mars stood in the door, staring at them, his face blank. She didn't know how long he had been there, or what he had heard.

Mars didn't look at Kevin; he was staring at her.

'Never be sorry.'

Kevin stood so quickly that he almost fell.

'I tied her ankles too tight. I had to tie them again.'

Mars went to the windows. He hammered heavy nails into the sills so that the windows wouldn't open, then came back to stand in front of her. He stood very close, towering over her in a way that made him seem to reach the ceiling. He squatted between her legs, then tugged at the bindings on her ankles. The cord cut into her skin.

'This isn't tight enough. You tied her like a pussy.'

Mars wrapped the cord more tightly, then did the same at her wrists. The wire cut into her flesh so hard that she had to bite her tongue, but she was too scared to complain. He tore a strip of wide gray duct tape off the roll. He pressed it hard over her mouth.

Kevin worried his hands, fidgeting, clearly frightened of Mars.

'Make sure she can breathe, Mars. Don't put it so tight.'

Mars ran his fingers hard over the tape. She was so creeped out at his touch that she wanted to scream.

'Go downstairs, Kevin.'

Kevin hesitated at the door. Mars still knelt in front of her, pushing at the tape as if he wanted to work it into her pores. Pushing and pushing. Rhythmic. Pushing. Jennifer thought she might faint.

Kevin said, 'Aren't you coming?'

'I'll be along. Go.'

Jennifer looked at Kevin, pleading with him not to leave her alone with Mars.

Kevin left.

When she finally looked at Mars again, he was watching her. Mars brought his face level with hers, then leaned forward. She flinched, thinking he was going to kiss her, but he didn't. He didn't move for the longest time, staring first into her left eye, then into her right. He leaned closer, and sniffed. He was smelling her.

Mars straightened.

'I want to show you something.'

He pulled off his shirt, revealing a flabby body as pasty as an unwashed bedsheet. Tattooed across his chest in flowing script was:

A Mother's Son

'You see? It cost two hundred forty dollars. That's how much I love my mom.'

Looking at him grossed her out. His chest and belly were specked with small gray knots as if he were diseased. She thought they might be warts.

She suddenly felt the weight of his eyes and glanced up to see him watching her. She realized that he knew she had been staring at the lumps. He touched one of them, a hard gray knot, then another, and the corner of his mouth curled into a smile that was almost too small to see.

'My mom burned me with cigarettes.'

Jennifer felt sick. They weren't lumps or warts; they were scars.

Mars pulled on his shirt, then leaned close, and this time she was certain that he would touch her. Her heart pounded. She wanted to turn away, but she couldn't.

He placed his hand on her shoulder.

Jennifer jerked against her binds, twisting her head, arching her back, feeling the bite of the extension cords in her wrists and ankles as she tried to scream through the tape.

Mars squeezed her shoulder once, firmly, as if he were testing the bone beneath her flesh, and then he drew away.

Mars made the little smile again, then went to the door. He paused there, staring at her with eyes so empty that she filled them with nightmares. He turned off the lights, stepped out, then pulled the door closed. The sound of his hammer was as loud as thunder, but not so loud as her fearful heart.

Dennis was at the window, watching the police, when he heard the pitch of the helicopters change. That was the first thing, the helicopters repositioning themselves. Then one of the patrol cars out front fired up. The lead car swung around in a tight arc, roaring away as a new Highway Patrol car arrived. He couldn't tell if Talley was still outside or not. The cops were up to something, which made Dennis feel queasy and scared. They would have to leave soon or they might not be able to leave at all.

Mars settled onto the couch by Walter Smith. He put his hand on Smith's head as if he was stroking the soft fur between a dog's ears.

'They didn't give you the helicopter because they don't believe you're serious.'

Dennis paced away from the window, irritated. He didn't like Mars's smug I-know-something-that-you-don't smile. Mars had egged him on about robbing the minimart, and Mars had shot the cop at the front door.

'You don't know what you're talking about. They've got rules about this stuff. Fuck them anyway. I never thought we'd get a helicopter. I just thought it would be worth a try.'

Mars stroked Smith's head, running his fingers slowly over the man's scalp as if he was probing the contours of his skull. Dennis thought it was weird.

'You don't see the big picture, Dennis.'

'You want a picture, Mars? Here it is: We've gotta find a way out of here with that cash.'

Mars patted Smith's head.

'Our way out is right here. You don't understand the power we have.'

'The hostages? Jesus, they're all we have. If we didn't have these people, the cops would be all over us.'

When Mars looked up again, Dennis thought his eyes were brighter, and somehow now watchful.

'What we have is the fear they feel. Their fear gives us power. The police will only take us seriously if they're scared we'll kill these people. It isn't the people that we have to trade, Dennis. It's their death.'

Dennis thought he was kidding.

'Okay, dude. Mars, you're creeping me out.'

'The police have no reason to deal with us unless they take us seriously. All they have to do is wait until we get tired, and then we'll give up. They know that, Dennis. They're counting on it.'

Dennis felt his chest expand against a tight pressure that filled the room. Mars continued to watch him, his eyes now focused into hard, dark beads. Dennis had the vague feeling that somehow the power between them was shifting, that Mars was leading him somewhere and waiting to see if Dennis would follow.

'So how do we convince them?'

'Tell them we're going to let the fat boy go as a sign of good faith.'

Dennis didn't move. He could see Kevin from the corner of his eye, and knew that Kevin was feeling the same awful pressure.

'We send the fat boy out the front door. We don't go with him, we just open it and tell him to go. He just has to walk across the yard here and out to the cars, and he'll be fine. Your pal, Talley, he'll probably call the kid over, saying something like, "C'mon, son, everything is fine." '

Dennis's back felt wet and cold.

'We wait until he's about halfway across the yard, then we shoot him.'

Dennis heard his own heartbeat. He heard his breath flow across his teeth, a faraway hiss.

Mars spread his hands at the simple beauty of it.

'Then they'll know we mean business, and we'll have something to trade.'