Illusion of Luck (15 page)

“
No need to beat yourself up
over it,” said Sandy.

“
I should have known
better,” she said.

“
So, we can just go around
to all the parking lots looking for that car,” said
Greg.

“
It’s a 2007 XK with black
interior,” she said.

“
Whoa,” said Sandy. “Those
things go for like 90K.”

“
Well then it should be easy
to find,” said Greg.

“
Actually,” said Rebecca,
“The Woodlands has a pretty high per capita income from what I’ve
read. So, you might see several of them around town.”

“
We can write down all the
apartment names and addresses and split up,” said Greg.

“
Okay, fine,” said
Sandy.

**********

“
Well, how do you like it?”
said Larry.

“
Very nice. Looks more like
a house than an apartment.” Cynthia was still playing along, hoping
for an opportunity to get away. She had not given him the least bit
of trouble since trying to leave a message in the bathroom stall.
She had sat patiently and pleasantly in a Starbucks for two hours
while he worked at his laptop.

But she wondered if he was lying about the
watch. Was it even possible to put enough explosive material in it
to do any damage? Maybe it was fake. But she couldn’t afford to
call his bluff. If she could just get the remote away from him
somehow…

“
It’s nearly 1,600 sq.
feet—not including the garage,” he said. “Look at that widescreen
flat-panel. It’ll be great for movies. You like movies, don’t
you?”

“
Oh, sure.”

“
And the two spare bedrooms
are in there. They share a bathroom. But the most important room of
the house is over there—the
master
bedroom. You and I need
to make up for a lot of lost time, Honey.”

Cynthia felt a surge of vomit at the back of
her throat.

“
So, why don’t we get to
it?” he said.

“
No.”

He frowned.

She smiled. “I mean…let’s not rush it, Baby.
I’m so tired, and I want the first time to be special.”

“
Well, okay. Me too. Why
don’t you go take a little nap? Just let me know when you’re ready
for me.”

“
Okay.”

He took her in his arms and kissed her hard
on the lips. “That’s just a preview, Baby.”

She wanted to gouge his eyes out. “Can’t
wait.” She walked to the master bedroom.

“
Yeah, me either. Can’t wait
to bone you.” He laughed.

How romantic, she thought,
as she closed the door and stretched out on the bed. She’d like
to
de-bone
him.

**********

Cynthia pretended to still be asleep when
she felt him unhooking the front of her bra. While sleeping, she
had been stripped to her underwear.

He gently lifted each cup, laid them to the
sides and admired her perky breasts.

She wanted to peek, but did not. She was
under his control.

He slipped his fingers under the waist of
her panties and carefully slid them down her toned legs, and off
her feet.

She still dared not look. Would he
eventually quit and go away if she kept pretending to sleep?

He took her left leg in his warm hands and
moved it slightly to the left. Then he moved her right leg to the
right.

She could feel his naked body sliding into
place between her smooth legs. She couldn’t stop him, could
she?

She felt him begin to kiss her right breast
and then circle the nipple with his warm, moist tongue.

She suddenly felt herself getting wet for
him and realize she had no control over her own body.

He moved up higher on her and she knew entry
was imminent. Then he slid a hand under each butt cheek.

“
Oh, Greg…” She wanted him
so badly.

“
Uh, let’s get the names
straight.”

She jerked herself free, and jumped up from
the bed. Larry was standing on the other side. He was wearing
clothes. So was she. Thank God.

“
What were you doing?” she
said.

“
Just waking you up with a
nice butt massage.”

Gross, she thought. Her head was still
spinning.

“
I’m sorry. I thought you’d
like it,” he said.

Time to get back into character, she
thought. “I was just having a weird dream. That’s all.”

“
So, are you all rested now
and ready to go?”

“
Maybe.” She smiled
seductively.

“
Come here,
Baby.”

She walked around to him.

He reached out and grabbed her, and she
started kissing him.

Clearly, he was surprised that she had
initiated the kiss.

Her left hand slid down to his butt and
began to rub it.

He got more excited.

Then she worked her hand around to the front
and began to explore. She could tell he was on the verge of losing
his mind as she brought her right hand around, and unzipped his
pants and put her hand inside. She also felt the remote in his
pocket.

As she teased him with the super-slow
progression of her right hand into his boxers, she slipped her left
hand into his pocket and carefully extracted the remote with two
fingers. He didn’t even notice.

He was just about to throw her onto the bed
and rip off her clothes when her knee slammed into his crotch like
a sledgehammer. He fell to the floor, groaning in pain.

She ran out of the room to the front door.
In five seconds, she would be too far away to catch. She would call
the police. They would throw him in jail and the bomb squad would
get this horrible thing off her wrist.

But then she realized the deadbolt was
locked. Where was the key? She didn’t have time to look.

Maybe she could get out through the garage.
She turned to run.

“
Stop or I’ll
shoot!”

Larry was crouched over in the bedroom
doorway holding a pistol.

So close, she thought. Where did he get that
gun?

Now she would pay for trying to escape. He
would be judge and jury.

So, would she be sentenced to death…or
worse?

Chapter
20

“
Greg, did you ever eat
lunch?” said Sandy.

“
Yeah. I drove through
McDonalds.”

“
We did Burger
King.”

Greg opened the door.

“
This is nice room,” said
Rebecca.

It was 3:45 PM. They had driven all over The
Woodlands in their two cars, checking the parking lots of apartment
complexes for the dark green Jaguar. Sandy and Rebecca had
convinced Greg that they all needed to stop and get some rest. So,
they got a room at LaQuinta Inn.

“
I don’t know about this,”
said Greg. “I feel like we need to keep working at it.”

“
But we’re all so tired we
can’t strink thaight any more. I mean, think straight,” said
Rebecca.

Greg was too tired to laugh. “I guess you’re
right.” He sat down on one of the beds. “Well, I’ll lay down for a
few minutes, but I doubt I’ll sleep.”

“
That’s okay,” said Sandy.
“Just try to relax for a while. You can have that bed to yourself.
Rebecca and I will take this one.”

“
Oh, really?” she said.
“Rebecca and I?”

Sandy stammered. “Well, I mean if it’s okay
with you.”

“
As long as you don’t touch
me.”

“
Oh, sure. No problem.”
He
wanted
to
touch her. He wanted to touch her all over—but he
didn’t
want a bloody
nose.

After Sandy had turned off the lamp, the
room was black, except for the faint rectangular glow outlining the
heavy drapes.

**********

“
What’s this?”

“
I wanted to do something
special tonight,” said Crow.

“
Why?” Chaucey had expected
to plop down on the couch with a paper plate of Domino’s pizza and
watch a movie. The usual.

“
Don’t you remember? It’s
our anniversary.”

Chaucey gave him a blank stare.

“
We met one year ago
tonight. And you invited me over to your apartment for
pizza.”

“
Oh, okay. Has it already
been a year?”

“
Sure has.” He pulled out
the chair for her. “Please have a seat, Young Lady.”

Young
lady?
He’s only two years older than me,
she thought. Intellectually,
she
was much older than
him
. But that was
okay. She enjoyed his company. “So, what does the chef recommend
for this evening?”

“
Huh? Oh, the chef
recommends homemade vegetable pizza, Caesar salad, and garlic
bread.”

“
Wow, you made all that for
little ole me?”

“
Yes, I did—because you’re
so special. And because I happen to know that vegetable pizza is
your favorite.”

“
So, what kind of vegetables
did you put on it?”

“
All your favorites:
mushrooms, green peppers, onions, black olives…”

“
Sounds great.”

“…
and carrots, cucumbers,
bananas, apple sauce, mustard—“

“—
you’re kidding,
right?”

Crow suddenly looked worried. Then his lower
lip began to quiver and he looked like he was about to cry.

“
I’m sorry. It’s okay,
Crow—it’ll be fine.”

His sad face morphed into a big grin. “I’m
kidding. What do you think I am—an idiot?”

No, she didn’t think he was an idiot. Of
course not. She laughed. “Very funny. I’m gonna get you for
that.”

Crow brought the pizza to the table.

“
Looks
delicious.”

“
Just like you.” He gazed
into her eyes.

Even after a year, she wasn’t quite sure how
to take those kind of remarks. But she knew he wasn’t trying to be
crude—sometimes it just came out that way. “How was work?”

“
Fine. The store’s on track
for a record profit this year.”

“
Really? Is that what your
dad told you?”

“
No. That’s what
I
told
him
. I study the
books every day, you know. And I’m getting pretty good at
understanding them.”

They ate in silence for a few seconds.

Crow suddenly got excited. “Oh, and I caught
a robber.”

“
A robber? Somebody tried to
rob the
grocery
store
?”

“
Yep. It was a young
guy—about 20. He had stuffed four DVDs in his shirt. I saw him
doing it. And I hoped he’d change his mind and put them back—but he
didn’t.”

“
So, you stopped him as he
was going out the door?”

“
No. I had been keeping an
eye on him. But then a lady asked me where the flax seed was, so I
was telling her it was on aisle eight. And then she wanted to
know—“

“—
so, what
happened?”

“
Well, I looked up and he
was gone. He was already in the parking lot. So, I ran out, and I
saw him at his pickup, fumbling with his keys, trying to get the
door unlocked. I think he got nervous ‘cause he saw me running at
him. I was running as fast as I could.”

“
So, you got there before he
could get the door open?”

“
Not quite. He got it open,
and got halfway in. And that’s when I slammed into his door at full
speed.”

“
Ouch.”

“
Yeah. He told the police I
nearly cut him in half.”

She started laughing.

“
But that was a lie. He was
definitely in one piece. He was just real sore.”

“
You’re a hero,
Crow.”

“
Nah. Just doing my job.
What about you? Anything exciting happen today?”

“
No. Just the usual.
Although, there was one guy who really got me ticked off. He made
me so mad I just wanted to tear off his head and stuff it up his
butt.”

Crow started laughing loudly. He couldn’t
help it—he was a loud laugher. “I’m sure he deserved it.” He
wondered which part would hurt worse—the tearing off or the
stuffing up? He laughed even louder.

“
The jerk wanted me to do
his first job free so he could
evaluate
my skills.”

“
Doesn’t he know you’re the
best?”

“
That didn’t matter. He just
wanted to con me into working for free.”

“
But that boat don’t fly.
Right, Chaucey?”

“
Yeah. That boat
don’t
float
.”

Crow took a bite of pizza and thought about
how beautiful Chaucey was—even when she was mad.

When they had finished eating, she helped
him clear the table and wash the dishes.

“
Thanks for your help,
Chaucey.”

“
No problem. Now let’s get
the movie going.”

“
Okay.”

As she turned to walk toward the couch, he
was right behind her. He couldn’t resist. He sniffed her hair.