Lemons 03 Stroke of Genius (18 page)

“I think you’re bad luck,” Larry said to me.

“Meh, what can you do.” I put down another bet. “Hey, what do you tell a woman with two black eyes?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “What do you tell a woman with two black eyes?”

“Nothing, she’s already been told twice!” I held up both my fists to add a little emphasis. This one didn’t get a laugh, although I did get another fuck-you look. That’s three in like a minute, that’s got to be some sort of a record. Elise must have noticed my struggles and decided to put me out of my misery. She came over to the table and took a seat on the other side of Larry and greeted us both. Larry gave her a friendly greeting in return and I was assuming that Elise just pulled an audible. I had failed and now I should retreat. I grabbed my chips and stood up, excusing myself from the table.

I sat at a slot machine and watched Elise cast her spell over Larry. I could only imagine how disgusted she was, but she is a trooper and will always get the job done. Twenty minutes later she stood up from the table and walked away, signaling towards me to meet her around back. I watched her leave then watched Larry watch her leave. This was a good sign. I stood up and walked outside once Larry’s attention was back on the game. Elise was waiting for me.

“So?” I asked.

“Well, I flirted the shit out of him.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Then I shot him down.”

“What? Why?”

“Because, he’s a rapist. Don’t we want to catch him in the act of attempting to rape someone? Wouldn’t that make it a lot easier on us?”

“What are you…wait. No way, Elise! I’m not letting you set yourself up something like this. No way, out of the question.”

“The gauntlet has been thrown, my friend. We need a new plan.”

“No, we do not need a new plan. I would rather walk away and go home and forget about this whole fucked up case than put you in harm’s way again! No way no how!”

“Not a chance. We can do this! He’s interested! I know he is. I mean, come on, how could he not be?” She smiled at her own witty remark of false modesty. Or whatever you would call that.

“Elise, no way we are-‘

She cut me off, “We’re doing this, Archie. There is no way I’m letting this bag of shit get away with what he did to that girl. And who knows how many other girls he’s harmed.”

There was no winning the argument. She was right, too which just annoyed me even more. Neither of us could live with ourselves if we walked away now. We needed a plan.

“Here, you have all your stuff in the car. All you have to do is wire me up. That way we can communicate. I’ll strut myself around, making sure he sees me, you can track both of us. You still have him on the map and I’ll take your phone. You can watch the screen and know right where we both are so there will be no surprises. In the very least I’ll grab a chunk of his hair and you can frighten him away. Say I was attacked and even have some DNA. It will work. I promise.”

“Fine. Let’s go get you wired. I really don’t want to do this, though. I’m unreliable and…weak…and I don’t-Christ, I’m about to have a panic attack just thinking about this. I don’t think-‘

“Archie. You are not weak. And neither am I. I’m a lot stronger than you think. I’m going to do this. Okay?” She leaned in and gave me kiss on the cheek and I was all hers. We walked back to the car and got the communications devices. We put a small speaker into Elise’s ear and an even smaller speaker taped to her shoulder under her sleeve. I held a small walkie-talkie-like receiver that easily picked Elise’s voice, even in a whisper. I went to the front of the car, out of earshot, and tested the equipment. Everything seemed to be working. Now she just had to get inside before Larry’s dot starting moving and risk him seeing us together. I handed her my phone and told her to be careful. I dug out my gun from the back of the car and tucked it into the back of my shorts. Elise jogged back into the casino as I monitored her on the iPad screen. Larry was still in his same spot. I walked back inside and sat at a table in a little cafe area, pretending to work. I ordered a water. The only visuals I had on both of them were their dots. My stomach began to feel uneasy. I had a really bad feeling about this. I tried talking to Elise, just to test the equipment again. No response. Fucking great, it’s not working. I began to sweat even though I wasn’t warm. A surefire sign of an impending panic attack.

I shut my eyes tightly and tried to calm my breathing. I braced myself on the table and scooted my chair back to give myself a little room. I was nervous for Elise. I hated this. I promised to never put her in harm’s way, but here we are again, for the second time where I have broken my promise. Circles of light formed on the inside of my eyelids and terrifying silence overtook all forms of sound in the room, leaving me completely alone. After a few minutes sounds eventually returned to me, like someone slowly turning up the volume on a muted television. I took a drink of my water and waited out the rest of attack. When it finally passed I looked at the iPad and noticed Larry’s blue dot coming up fast on Elise’s red.

30.

Larry’s desires were overtaking him. He had made small talk with an attractive woman at the blackjack table. He had even tried to ask her for a drink. An offer she rejected. This enraged him. He tried to do it the correct way and it got him nowhere. No matter, though. The sex was only part of the thrill. The rest came from the violence. The empowering feeling of dominance.

He continued sitting at the table playing blackjack, absentmindedly hitting or standing strictly according to the book. His thrills were not gained from gambling. He weighed his risks. He had never before been seen with one of his subjects before capturing her, but then again, she had approached him and simply played a few hands. If any questions were brought up, even the dealer would say she heard Larry ask her for a drink and her decline. He would stay at the table long enough after her departure to clear any suspicion. Besides, he had only about three hours’ worth of business to do tomorrow then he was catching a plane out of this shit hole. Would the woman even be found by then?

A thought occurred to him. He remembered his last encounter when he choked the life from that man. Now that was an empowering feeling. Taking the life of someone with your own, bare hands. He mulled over the prospects of such a decision. That would be a sure fire way of keeping his victims from talking. It would also almost guarantee that he would be long out of town by the time her body was discovered. Yes, he thought, this would definitely be a very real possibility.

He pushed the rest of his chips in the betting circle and took his cards. He hit until he busted then stood up from the table. He had a woman to find.

He walked into the men’s restroom and emerged two minutes later, eager to stalk his prey. The piece of shit casino they had put him up in, (one of the worst hotels his company had ever placed him,) was uncrowded. And rightfully so. They have some nerve even calling this a hotel, he thought, as it’s obviously just a motel with a casino. He continued surveying the floor and spotted her in the corner by an exit. He walked slowly towards her and watched as she opened the door and stepped out back towards the pool area.

“Archie, Archie, are you with me?” Elise whispered in the direction of her mic. She got no response. “Archie, can you hear me? I’m going to step outside and make sure this thing is working. Can you hear me? I’m out here by the pool. It’s totally deserted.” She waited a few seconds more then decided to walk around to the front of the casino and re-enter through there, hoping to avoid being seen by Larry and risk being followed to Archie. “Okay, I’m coming around to see you. I don’t think it is working.”

Larry slowly opened the door, taking one last look around the casino to see if he was being watched. He was in the clear and stepped out into the freezing night’s air. Up ahead he could see his subject walking through the darkness. He quickly surveyed the area, noticing a stairwell coming up on her left. He took off at a sprint towards her. She never heard him coming. He grabbed a handful of her dark black hair, snapped her head back quickly then smashed it into the stucco of the wall next to them, leaving behind little droplets of blood. He pulled her hair backwards and she fell right into his arms. He slung her over his shoulder and headed up the stairs.

His rental car was parked around front and it would be far too risky to chance it by walking with the girl. He needed his suitcase. She looked like she would fit. A bulge wouldn’t matter, it was dark out and no one would pay attention.

He took the stairs to the third floor and entered his room, dropping Elise on the floor with disregard. She moaned a little when she hit the ground then quickly slipped back into darkness. Larry watched her.

When she was still again, Larry opened his suitcase, removed his clothes and put the empty case on the floor. He rolled Elise over the bag then proceeded to fold her contorting her to the dimensions of it. She was a little taller than the usual subjects and it took few hard tugs on the zipper to get it fully closed, but it worked. He walked to the table and grabbed his knife. His heart was pounding with anticipation.

31.

“Call 9-1-1!” I yelled to the woman behind the cafe counter. She gave me a snotty, confused look. “Call the fucking cops! Now!” I grabbed my iPad and walkie and ran through the casino following the two dots that were now right on top of each other. When I reached the end of the room I stopped to look around. The GPS said I should have been right on them, but at this close of range, the accuracy is hard to pinpoint. I looked around some more with no luck then realized she must be outside. The walkie finally crackled to life and I heard a small moan followed by deathly, horrifying silence. I ran out the side exit and began yelling her name. More heartbreaking silence. I withdrew the gun from my waistband.

The bottom floor of the hotel was all casino so I took the stairs up to the second floor, walking slowly, listening for even the slightest of sound. Again, nothing. The two dots still on top of each other. I had to be close. I should have been right next to them; I just had no way of knowing which floor they were on. I headed up one more flight, iPad in one hand, gun in the other.

The hotel was really just a motel, it wasn’t fooling anyone. The walkways to the rooms were dark, the only light coming from the stairs and whatever illumination was pouring out between the gaps of the in-room curtains. I decided to try and peek into every room. I was at the fourth window when two rooms ahead a door open and out walked Larry. The iPad fell out of my hand and crashed to the floor; both my hands were gripping the gun handle, pointing it at the back of Larry’s massive head.

He heard the iPad break and turned quickly to face me.

“Hold it right there, Kobe!” I yelled. Larry just stared at me with cold, emotionless eyes.

“Fuck you,” he said to me with a little nod in my direction. He reached down, grabbed the handle of his suitcase and gave it a hard tug to get it over the door jamb. “You here for her?”

“That’s right, you fat fuck! How about you put your disgusting fucking ham hock arms up and tickle that ceiling.”

He let go of the handle and took a solitary step in my direction.

“What the fuck did I just tell you?! Hands up, Kubiak!”

He took another step towards me. He was about five feet from the tip of my gun, his massive, imposing figure blocking out the entire walkway behind him, light from the parking illuminating his silhouette, making him appear to glow. What I really wanted to do was run away and cry in a dark corner. Another step and he says, “How about this? How about I break your fucking legs and force you to watch me make your girlfriend my slut?”

For such a large man he sure is spry. All I managed to get out of my stupid mouth was, “How about I-,” before he collided with me, lifting me off my feet and slamming me against the back wall that, I thought, was a good twenty feet behind me, leaving my poorly selected choice of footwear for such a freezing-cold night, an eighty dollar pair of Abercrombie flip-flops, sitting on the walkway, sans feet. I hit my head hard and was left slightly dazed. His forearm was pressed firmly against my throat as I gasped for air. His left hand was bracing my right hand, still holding the gun, against the wall above my head. My feet were dangling and I desperately tried to find land. I began thrashing my legs around trying to break free. His grip on me slipped and my toes felt the disgusting, soiled carpet below. He removed his arms from my throat and moved his giant hand to my chest to continue holding me still. He then head butted me in the face, breaking my nose.

He picked me up again, turned me around and threw me down the walkway. I hit my head again and lost my hold on the gun, sending it skidding down the hall towards the suitcase that held Elise captive. I didn’t even have time to regain my wits before the fat man was on top of me, tossing me in the air like pizza dough, sending my back into the underside of the walkway above us then swiftly returning to the ground.

“Time to check out,” he said as he picked me up again. I was frightened for Elise and frightened for myself and for the kids, but in that one flash of a second I couldn’t help but be pissed off at that he came up with a kick ass catch phrase! Where the hell does he get off stealing my-(oh fuck.) He lifted me and nonchalantly tossed me over the railing. I was able to grab on to one of the rails and momentarily delay my earthly departure. I tried kicked my legs to get a swing going. My plan was to pull a John McClane and crash into the floor below, only I guess, without the glass and only about an eighth of the awesomeness. Bare feet, though! Larry watched my struggle and kicked my hand grasping the metal rod causing me to lose my grip and fall. Luckily for me, I had enough forward momentum on my latest sway that I fell on the railing the floor below, totally fucking ribcaging it, knocking the wind from my lungs and causing me to fall backwards into the hallway. Larry leaned over and watched me. I was slow getting to my feet. My lungs were desperate for air as I stumbled towards the stairwell. I took the steps two at a time and when I reached the third floor Larry was waiting for me. I caught my breath and delivered a rather impressive punch to his jaw. He was momentarily stunned and I took the opportunity to run past him in hopes of grabbing the suitcase and making our escape. He reached for me and grabbed the hood of my sweatshirt, slowing me down. I straightened my arms out behind me and the hoodie slipped right off. I continued my journey towards Elise, Stay-Puft chasing after me. I couldn’t see my gun. He must have had it. Damn. I reached the case and grabbed the handle on the fly, pulling it behind me and heading towards the stairway on the far end of the hotel. Motel.