Illusion of Luck (30 page)

“
Are we going to try to get
a key or just break down the door?” said Rebecca.

“
I can do it,” said Crow.
“I’ll knock down the door.”

“
But what if it’s a solid
door, and you have trouble getting it opened?” said Greg. “We need
to surprise him.”

Sandy knew that Greg had not read the latest
chapter about how Larry wanted to get Cynthia pregnant. But there
was no reason to add to his worries. They were getting there as
fast as they could.

Chaucey said, “If the desk clerk is a man, I
can get the key.”

Rebecca said, “I’ll bet you can, Honey.” Men
could no more resist a woman like Chaucey than they could resist a
fine sports car, she thought. And this one was fully loaded.

The taxi dropped them off in front of the
lobby.

“
Y’all wait out here,” said
Chaucey.

The desk clerk was male and in his forties.
Piece of cake, she thought. “Hi.”

“
Good evening.”

She giggled. “I feel so silly. I’m afraid I
went off without my key. I was in a hurry when I left for dinner.
It’s sitting right there on the TV in my room.”

“
No problem, ma’am. If
you’ll just show me some identification, I’ll be glad to give you
another key card. What’s the room number?”

“
343.” She dropped her purse
on the floor and several items fell out. “Oh, my.”

The clerk watched with great interest as she
turned around and her long, silky hair flung around too, seemingly
in slow motion. She bent over while pulling her skirt up just a
bit.

A little higher, he thought,
as he leaned his head down close to the counter for a better view.
It was taking quite a while for her to gather everything. He could
almost see her panties. Please take longer, he thought. His head
was resting on the counter, as though he was taking a nap. But he
wasn’t. His eyes were
wide
open.

She suddenly turned her head and saw him
gawking at her butt.

He jerked his head upright and nearly pulled
a couple of muscles. In an instant, the key card was in his
outstretched hand. “Uh, here you go.”

Chaucey stepped up to the counter. “Thank
you.” She smiled warmly, as though she didn’t even realize his
dirty thoughts were burning a hole in his pants.

After Greg and the others saw that she had
succeeded, they walked in and joined her at the elevator.

**********

“
It won’t work, you know.
You might as well put on a condom. I could have a disease. You
might as well be safe.”

“
I don’t even
have
a
condom.”

“
And you’re wasting your
time, because I’ll just have an abortion.” She knew the rape would
happen anyway, unless she could stall long enough for Greg to find
her.

“
No, you won’t. You
would
never
have an abortion.”

This is good, she thought. Keep the
conversation going. “Yes, I would. Because there’s no way I’m
having your baby.”

“
But what about your
mom?”

“
Huh?”

“
And what about
Jennifer?
”

“
I don’t know what you’re
talking about.” But her eyes told him otherwise.

“
You really miss her, don’t
you?”

Cynthia began to tremble.

“
Yeah, it’s too bad about
your sister. You really think she can hear you when you talk to
her?”

Tears began to run down Cynthia’s face.

“
All these years…she could
have been there for you…if you’re mother hadn’t—“

“—
stop!” Her eyes were red
and her cheeks were drenched. “How did you know about
Jennifer?”

“
Oh, that’s right—I forgot
to tell you. I spent a few hours at your house yesterday.
Comfortable bed, by the way.”

“
You animal.”

“
And I enjoyed learning so
much about you. You women really open up when you write in your
diaries. So, you see, I
know
you won’t have an
abortion—like your mother did when she killed your big sister,
Jennifer.”

“
My mother was
raped!”

“
Right. But you still hated
her for having the abortion, didn’t you? She killed your
sister.”

“
Jennifer wasn’t really my
sister—she was never born.”

“
But she
would
have been. And your mother
must have at least
considered
keeping the baby
since she gave her a name.”

“
You are the most cruel
person I have ever met!”

“
Well, I’m sorry to hear you
say that about the future father of your firstborn. Now quit
stalling!” And with one quick stroke of the hand, he torn her
blouse open.

Larry was so consumed by the
sight of Cynthia’s breasts, barely contained in her lacy red bra,
that he didn’t hear someone unlock the door behind him. But
he
did
hear
the hinge squeak as the door opened. He spun around, as he pulled
out the pistol.

Greg ran at him like a madman.

Before Larry could swing the gun completely
around, Greg grabbed his arm.

Larry squeezed the trigger, and the bullet
went into the wall.

Greg wrestled the pistol from Larry’s hand
and it flew into the air.

Larry tripped Greg, threw him down, and then
jumped for the gun, which had landed on the floor, near the
bathroom doorway.

Chaucey tried to beat him to it. She reached
down, and was about to pick it up when Larry grabbed her. So, she
kicked the pistol out of the way, and Rebecca snatched it up.

Larry put his left arm around Chaucey’s
waist and held her so tightly she could barely breathe.

Rebecca pointed the gun at him. “Let her
go!”

“
You think you’re in control
here?” He reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a large
pocketknife, opened it and held it to Chaucey’s neck. “Think
again.”

“
No!” yelled
Crow.

“
I’m going to walk out of
here with Chaucey, and you people are not going to try to stop me.
And you’re not going to call the police. Because I really don’t
want to cut up her sexy little body. So, don’t make me.”

“
Noooooo!” Crow ran at
Larry.

Larry had less than a second to make a
decision. This was the same meathead who had attacked him in
Chaucey’s apartment. Didn’t the idiot see the knife? Doesn’t he
know I’ll kill Chaucey? He’s crazy!

Chaucey sensed Larry’s uncertainty and felt
him pull the knife away from her neck. So, she let her body go
limp.

Larry couldn’t hold her up with one arm.

Chaucey fell to the floor and roll away from
Larry.

Now he was exposed. But he still had the
knife. Just as Crow reached him, Larry slashed, nicking Crow’s left
arm.

Crow clamped onto Larry’s hand and squeezed
with all his might, until Larry released the knife and it dropped
to the floor. Then Crow picked him up and ran toward the balcony.
Larry felt no heavier than the cockroach he was, as Crow rammed his
head into the French doors, which broke open to the balcony.

“
You’ll never touch Chaucey
again!” Crow held his body upside down above the
railing.

“
Stop, Crow!” Chaucey ran to
the balcony.

But it was too late. Crow released him.

“
No!” cried Chaucey. A fall
from the third floor would surely kill him.

Somehow, Larry was able to grab onto the top
of the railing. His body flipped over and slammed into the side of
the balcony. But he was still holding on, facing them.

Chaucey breathed a sigh of relief. “Let’s
help him up.”

Crow stopped her. “No. Why should we help
him—after all he’s done? He’s a murderer.”

“
But if he falls,
you’ll
be a
murderer. And you’ll go to prison. And I love you!”

“
You do?”

Larry grinned. “Well, now. Isn’t this sweet?
But I don’t need your help anyway. Remember? I’m Lucky Larry.” He
pulled his feet up to the bottom of the railing and pushed off as
he let go and fell into the darkness.

They looked down, but saw nothing.

Sandy and Rebecca joined them on the
balcony.

“
He’s probably okay, right?
Maybe he fell in the pool,” said Crow.

“
I didn’t hear a splash,”
said Chaucey.

“
That’s because there’s no
water in the pool,” said Rebecca. “It’s being renovated. I saw the
sign in the lobby.”

Sandy stepped up to the railing and looked
down.

“
I guess ‘Lucky Larry’ is
not so lucky after all.”

Chapter
40

“
Sweetie, I’m so sorry you
got hurt.” Cynthia kissed Greg on the forehead. “Are you in a lot
of pain?”

“
Just a bad headache. I must
have blacked out for a second. What happened?”

“
Well, Larry threw you down,
and I think you hit your head on the arm of this chair.”

“
What happened to
Larry?”

“
Crow threw him over the
balcony. And somehow Larry grabbed onto the railing. But then he
jumped.”

“
He jumped or
fell?”

“
I didn’t actually see it. I
was in here with you when it happened.”

Chaucey approached them. “He definitely
jumped. Crow and I were going to help him, but he told us he didn’t
need our help, because he was ‘Lucky Larry.’”

“
So, what did he do—fall
into another garbage bin? No—I’ll bet he jumped into the swimming
pool,” said Greg.

“
There
is
a pool down there, but it’s
being renovated,” said Chaucey. “Rebecca saw the sign in the lobby.
And we didn’t hear a splash.”

“
You can’t
see
him?” said
Greg.

“
No. The lights are
off—maybe because the pool’s closed. If you strain real hard you
can see the outline of the pool, but that’s about it. Rebecca
called the front desk and explained what happened, so I’m
sure—”

“—
they turned the lights
on,” Rebecca shouted from the balcony. “Where
is
he?”

Chaucey ran out to the
balcony to join Sandy, Rebecca, and Crow. “He’s
got
to be down
there.”

“
The pool has
some
water in it,”
said Sandy.

“
Looks like it’s less than
half full,” said Rebecca. “They must be in the process of refilling
it. But that’s not enough water to keep him from killing himself.
At the very least, breaking some bones.”

“
Wait—what’s that?” Chaucey
pointed to a dark green rectangle located almost directly under
the balcony.

“
I’m gonna go find out,”
said Rebecca.

“
I’ll go with you,” said
Sandy.

Rebecca looked at Crow and Chaucey. “You two
better stay here.”

Crow and Chaucey understood that the police
would be there soon with questions—especially for Crow.

After Rebecca and Sandy went out the door,
Crow turned to Chaucey. “Did you really mean what you said?”

“
What I said earlier?”
Chaucey stepped in closer, but hesitated to say it.
“Yes.”

“
So, you do love
me?”

She put her arms around him
and looked up into his eyes. Why fight it? She finally had a man
who loved her for who she was—and not just for her body. A guy who
would want her even if she wasn’t beautiful. She had once thought
only a
blind
man was capable of doing that. “Yes, Crow, I love
you.”

Chaucey expected to see the familiar Crow
grin. But instead, he looked very serious, and his eyes began to
water.

“
Chaucey, I love you with
all my heart. You’re my best friend—the best friend I’ve ever had.
After I met you and we starting hanging out, everybody at the store
was saying, ‘Hey, Crow, how come you’re smiling all the time now?’
And it was because I knew I’d see
you
in a few hours.”

“
You’re a wonderful, caring,
funny, big lug-of-a-man.”

He smiled, and the tears rolled off his
cheeks.

Chaucey pulled him closer.
“Kiss me, my cro
magnum
man.” She didn’t know
quite what to expect. Crow probably didn’t have great kissing
skills. But, oh—he
does
, she thought, melting into
his powerful arms.

Greg looked at Cynthia’s torn open blouse.
“Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine. He didn’t really
hurt me.”

“
But he was
about
to.”

“
Yeah. But you saved
me—again.” She smiled and gave him a light kiss.

“
I’m never letting you out
of my sight again.”

“
Oh, Baby, it wasn’t your
fault. And if he did manage to survive the jump, it’s just a
matter of time before the police catch him. Hey, did somebody call
the police?”