Falling Into Place (3 page)

On the video, Myles finally calmed himself and studied the door for a moment. He then went back to his bag, searching for a specific tool. Linda’s dread grew with each passing second. Suddenly, Myles stood up and began looking around the room frantically, pulling his shirt over his nose and mouth. He noticed a vent on the ceiling out of reach as his legs started to buckle. He tried to steady himself against the far wall of the closet, but it was a losing battle. Linda felt her heart sink as she watched the love of her life slide down the wall and collapse into a heap. Was he dead? Good God, did this bastard poison him in there?

“The rest of the video is rather boring unfortunately,” Joshua said, clicking off the television. As the lights in the room slowly grew brighter, he removed Linda’s feet from his lap and stood up again. “It’s a security feature of my own design, used exclusively in this house. Rather clever, wouldn’t you say? The code allows access to the closet, but without the biometric analysis, the room seals itself after 30 seconds. Then, an analgesic gas sedates whoever is unlucky enough to still be inside.”

Linda felt a rush of relief as she realized Myles hadn’t perished inside the closet; he was merely sedated. She suddenly felt like there was a chance of them escaping, of leaving this house and forgetting everything about Joshua Constantine. Linda noticed that Joshua had left the wine closet door open for the entire video. With any luck, Myles would regain consciousness soon.
Then you’ll get yours, you pompous asshole!
She gained courage from that delicious thought.

“I would’ve made another fortune manufacturing the design if it wasn’t for bleeding heart liberals calling the gas a ‘cruel and unusual’ security measure. Can you imagine?” Joshua said with disgust as he paced in front of her. He locked his menacing gaze on Linda again as he continued, “Doesn’t a man have a right to defend what’s his from lowlife scum and petty con artists?”

Joshua’s rage seemed to have reached a boiling point. Linda recognized the signs from years of dealing with her own abusive father. She feared Constantine might do something rash so she quietly said “I’m sorry, Joshua. Truly and deeply sorry.” She hoped her
mea culpa
would diffuse his anger.

Joshua instantly raced to the couch and sat on the ottoman again, this time with his face barely an inch from hers. Small droplets of spittle rained across the bridge of Linda’s nose as he screamed, “Sorry? You’re sorry! Don’t you dare apologize!”

Joshua turned away, rubbing his hands over his face and through his golden hair repeatedly. When he finally regained his composure, he spoke in a quiet, controlled tone.

“I had such high hopes for you at first. I thought you might be the one woman who could be my equal, who could challenge me and accompany me to greater heights. I’ve been looking for so long, so very long.” Joshua looked past her as if searching for something on a distant horizon. His eyes glazed over, and his demeanor turned to that of a wistful child dreaming of a faraway land. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask. All I’ve ever wanted was someone to whom I can give all my attention, to whom I can show my special love. No one ever lives up to my expectations. Why can’t I find her? Why?”

Joshua was close to tears and, for a brief second, he looked like a man who’d lost his only friend. Linda felt a pang of sympathy for him. But then, his eyes went dark, and his face twisted into a mask of pure hatred. It reminded Linda of
The Incredible Hulk,
when the comic book character lost all control.

“I genuinely hoped you were special, Linda.” He spit the words out like they were poison pellets in his mouth. “But there’s nothing special about you is there, Linda? Linda. Linda. A common name for a very common woman.”

Joshua stood, and Linda was sure he was going to beat her to death right there in his immaculately decorated living room. She strained to raise her head, trying to look at him, but she was still not in control of her body. As she struggled, she heard a bemused sigh escape Joshua’s lips.

He reached down, grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Not to worry, my pet. Despite your rather jejune nature, you still deserve at least some of my singular attention.”

Joshua walked back into the wine closet, leaving Linda immobile on the couch. She prided herself on being a survivor, but she couldn’t see any way out of this nightmare. She was completely at his mercy and it was obvious Constantine was about as stable as a house of cards during an earthquake. Her only chance was to keep him talking until the drug wore off enough for her to put up a fight or until Myles could offer some assistance.

When he returned, Joshua was wearing surgical gloves and tinted goggles.
That’s not a good sign
, she immediately thought. He helped Linda to her feet and put her left arm around his neck while putting his right arm around her waist. Linda’s head rested on his shoulder, and he positioned her head to look straight ahead as they moved forward. “Come now, my dear. You can’t be late for the party,” Joshua said without a hint of emotion.

Linda could feel her feet dragging behind as he carried her into the wine closet. The first thing she saw was the vault door. It was wide open. She could smell the faint remnant of whatever gas Joshua had used on Myles. It reminded her of the dentist office after her root canal. Myles was nowhere to be found, at least not in her immediate field of vision. A mixture of anxiety and confusion swept over her.
Damn it
, she thought.
Why all these games? Where the fuck is Myles?

As they entered the stygian darkness of the vault, Linda felt her feet drag across an obstruction on the floor. Joshua led her to the far end of the enclosure before turning her around to face the entrance again. It was cold, and she could feel the air quality diminish; the vault had all the ambience of a mausoleum. She feared that was how he intended to use it: as her final resting place.

“Lights,” Joshua said, and a bank of high intensity lights flashed on, blinding Linda. Whatever drug was in her system made it impossible to close her eyes fast enough, so she was forced to wait until her vision cleared. As it did, she could make out a large shape on the floor directly in front of her. At first, she though it was a chaise longue like the one she’d had in her backyard growing up. Was it a pile of clothes? A duffle bag? She forced herself to blink, and finally she started to make out recognizable forms.

“My God! Myles!” Linda screamed as she was finally able to see her husband’s limp body lying before her. He was on his back with all four extremities splayed out around him. Myles’s eyes were wide open with his mouth agape. Then she saw it. His neck was at a grotesque ninety-degree angle. It was broken. He was dead. Myles was gone.

“No, no, no, no,” Linda muttered over and over as her eyes filled with tears, her head spinning from the realization that Joshua had killed her husband.

A wave of adrenaline hit her, and she was able to push away from her demented host. It took all her strength, but she fell with a “thud,” unable to break her fall. Linda had landed directly on top of Myles, and her face was less than a foot from his tormented visage. His dead eyes looked at her without any of the love they once shared. She felt weak all over, and light flickered about her eyes as she struggled to understand what was happening. Finally, overcome with emotion, she lost consciousness.

Linda awoke with a start as Joshua again used smelling salts to expedite her return to consciousness. “Welcome back, dear. I hope you like your new accommodations,” he said. He waved his arms to show off the surroundings. As Linda regained her bearings, she soon realized she’d entered an entirely new level of hell.

Linda was in a room she’d never seen before, strapped to a chair at her wrists and waist. Despite her severely limited motor functions and blurry vision, Linda could see all of the incredibly bizarre scene unfolding before her from where she was sitting. The room was enormous and decorated in a fashion befitting a cotillion or some sort of insane masquerade ball. A hardwood dance floor was surrounded by 7 oval-shaped dining tables replete with fine linens and ornate centerpieces. The simple white of the tablecloths and napkins were counterbalanced by large, festive tapestries and huge floral arrangements festooning three walls. The fourth wall, directly opposite the tables, had a seventy-two-inch flat-screen television playing the local news channel with the sound muted. Underneath the TV was a modest, black entertainment center, filled with a vast collection of DVDs.

At each table sat an odd mannequin of some kind, looking more like the doll from
Lars and the Real Girl
than any department store dummy. The “girls” were unique with their own hair colors and styles, ethnicity and body types, each adorned in an individual ball gown. Linda was situated at the seventh and final table, nearest to the door. The room had no visible windows. Linda assumed she was in a sub-basement or bomb shelter. The entire scene was so surreal, Linda couldn’t help but wonder if it was all just a bad dream after too much Thai food. Then she remembered Myles’ empty face in the vault, and knew it was all too real. She was in the clutches of a murderous lunatic with a major grudge against her. She began to scan the room for a weapon in case she ever got free. Just then, Joshua stepped into her line of sight and squeezed her face hard with his hand.

“Now, now. I think introductions are in order, don’t you? We must always remember our manners,” he said, retreating to the center of the room. “From left to right, we have Cynthia at table one, a remarkable concert cellist. Rachel is seated at table two. She’s a wonderful dancer. Tamara, our resident mathematician, is at table three. Table four is occupied by the lovely Nicole, a very talented journalist. Martina, hailing from the Baltic State of Latvia and a world class sculptor, occupies table five. Directly to your right, at table six, is Sophie, Seattle’s preeminent civil rights attorney. Ladies, this is Linda, a grifter, con artist, and all around drain on society. Linda and her dearly departed husband concocted a rather pedestrian plan to steal from me. As you can see, it didn’t quite work out the way they planned.”

Linda stared in disbelief as he went from table to table chatting up his imaginary friends. Joshua stroked their hair, caressed their cheeks, and kissed their hands as he flirted with each “lady.” When he got to the table next to her, Linda lost sight of him, but she could still hear what he was saying.

“Don’t worry, my spectacular Sophie, this changes nothing. You’re still very, very special to me,” Constantine said with all the charm at his disposal. “Have you been watching the news for any new information? Don’t worry, my darling. I’ll always be here for you, just as you’ll always be here for me.” Linda wasn’t able to hear the rest of it as Joshua lowered his voice to a whisper. But after a few minutes she could hear him kiss Sophie passionately.

My God, he’s certifiable
, Linda thought. He actually believes he’s some kind of “Mr. Wonderful” to these life-size Barbies. Suddenly, Joshua was before her again.

“Linda, I hope you weren’t eavesdropping on my conversation with Sophie,” he said through gritted teeth. “That’s rude and unacceptable behavior in my court, but what else would I expect from a lowlife criminal? I have to admit it will take some work on your part to make me forgive your transgressions. I won’t lie.

There will be punishments, but I’ll try to make you enjoy them as much as I will.” He grinned now like the Joker from Batman, and the look in his eyes chilled Linda to the core. She knew any sort of protest would only incense him further, so she decided to keep quiet.

Joshua kneeled down before her and began to massage her calves. After a minute, she could feel something cold on her legs. It felt like the wax she used for hair removal, only cool instead of warm.

“Don’t be alarmed. I’m simply applying a very special organic polymer of my own design to your legs. It’s being introduced into hospitals nationwide next month, and it will make plaster casts completely obsolete. Once it hardens it has a tensile strength five times that of plaster, yet fully allows the skin to breathe, helping with the healing process. And unlike the old molds, this conforms to the patient’s natural body shape. Think of it as a plastic stocking or glove. It’s really quite a discovery, if I do say so myself.”

He stood up and stepped back, admiring his handiwork. “That looks very nice; very nice indeed!” Joshua turned with a dramatic flair and walked to the entertainment center. He picked up a remote, pushed a button, and the room was filled with the unmistakable first notes of Cindy Lauper’s “Time After Time.” He walked to table two, bowed, and said, “Lady Rachel, would you honor me with this dance?”

Joshua picked up the life-size doll and held her close to his body, placing her feet on his. Then he began to dance around the room, his cheek pressed against hers. Linda watched this absurd tableau play out in front of her, unable to look away. A series of spins brought them directly in front of her, with Joshua facing the other direction. Suddenly, Linda realized that Rachel’s eyes were filled with tears.