Lottery (40 page)

“Stop,” Ling cried, clawing at his hand. “You’re hurting me.”

Caleb tossed the phone to the back of the boat and yanked her head back. “Liar.” He let go of her hair, turned her around so her back was to him, and shoved her to the stairs. Ling slapped her hands against the walls on either side of the stairway so she wouldn’t fall as he pushed her down into the stateroom. Tripping on the last step, she lost her balance and fell forward. She quickly rolled over on her back and wrapped an arm around her ribs. “Oh, God, Caleb, please … I just wanted to tell Jenee I was alright. I would never—”

He bent over and grabbed her arm. “Shut up!” Caleb jerked her to her feet.

“I didn’t … think you’d care if I … called Jenee,” she said, weeping as he dragged her by the arm to the bedroom.

“You’re weak. Like my mother. Like all women,” he shouted angrily. He could barely contain himself from wrapping his hands around her throat and squeezing the life out of her.

“Stop … Caleb … please,” she pleaded, sobbing.

When they reached the bed, he turned her around to face him and pushed her down on the mattress. He saw the tears streaming down her face; her eyes swollen from crying; he wasn’t falling for his wife’s drama. Not this time.

“Think about Ahna … Sammy,” Ling implored.

“Leave them out of this,” Caleb demanded.

“She’s a beautiful woman,” Weber said.

Caleb turned his head and saw Weber staring lustfully at Ling.

Weber licked his lips. “Maybe I should make love to her myself.”

“Get your filthy eyes off my wife!” Caleb turned his attention back to Ling.

“Great ass,” Weber commented.

Caleb stomped toward the wall. “I’ll kill you, you son-of-a-bitch.” He pulled back his fist, his teeth clenched.

Weber crossed his arms over his chest. “You’d only be hurting yourself.”

“Caleb.” Caleb heard Ling say, and turned back around. “There’s no one here but you and me.” She pulled the bedspread up around her.

Caleb turned back toward Weber, but found he was gone. He pointed an angry finger at Ling. “Don’t you fucking move.”

“I won’t, Caleb,” Ling whimpered. “I won’t.”

Caleb stomped to the door and into the stateroom. He needed a drink. “I can’t believe she deceived me,” he mumbled. “Should have known better than to—”

“I tried to tell you,” Weber said, casually walking to the white leather sectional. “She can’t be trusted. Get rid of her. She’s extra baggage.”

Caleb picked up the open bottle of gin on the countertop and poured the liquor into a glass. “Why are you always trying to
make me hurt people? Kill them?” Caleb brought the glass to his lips and took a long swallow.

Weber laughed sarcastically.

Caleb slammed his glass down and swung an arm toward the open bedroom door. “Everything I’ve done has been for her. And what do I get in return?”

“You tell me,” Weber said smugly.

“Nothing!” Caleb could hear Ling’s muffled cries.

Weber leaned forward and slapped his hand on his knees. “Now you’re talking.” Weber paused. “I’m your better half, O’Toole, so you’d better get used to me.”

“You’re a slime ball.” Caleb smirked. “You’re
nothing
like me.”

“Pour yourself another drink and let’s have a chat. Weber patted the cushion beside him. “Come on. We’ve needed to have this talk for a long time.”

“You fuckin’ with me?” Caleb glared at Weber.

Weber put his hand over his chest. “If I was, I’d be fucking with myself.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Caleb nodded at the bedroom door. “In there, you said something about that if I hurt you, I’d hurt myself. And now you say I’d be—” Caleb scoffed and shooed Weber with his hand. “Go back to being dead.”

Weber leaned forward and let out a sigh. “I’m not Jack Weber.”

“Bullshit.” Caleb sneered. “You’re sitting right there.”

“We’re the same.” Weber’s dark eyes met Caleb’s. “You and I—and you know it.”

“Now who’s nuts?” Caleb downed the rest of the liquor in the glass.

“I look like Weber because that’s who you want me to look like. You can’t deal with who you really are.”

“Go screw yourself” Caleb slapped a fist over his chest. “It’s
you
who needs me. I keep you alive.”

Weber stared at Caleb, not blinking an eye.

“You take away lives,” Caleb shouted and began to pace. “Greedy, selfish bastard.”

“You just needed a little push to do what you wanted to do.”

Caleb put his hands over his ears, and shook his head back and forth. “You’re not here … you’re not here—.”

“Quit being so childish. Everybody has another person inside. You’re not special.”

Caleb took his hands off his ears, walked back to the counter and poured a few of ounces of gin into his glass.

“We all need someone who will protect us. Those people you killed,” Weber said and shrugged his shoulders. “They needed to die. They were rubbish.”

“They wanted to ruin me … my marriage. I couldn’t let it happen.”

“And you
didn’t
let it happen.”

Caleb glanced at the bedroom. “She doesn’t love me anymore.” He paused to down the gin in the glass. “She’s my everything. You don’t get it.”

“Ah … but I do. If anyone gets it, I do,” Weber said calmly.

“I can’t make sense of anything.” Caleb tossed his arms up in the air. “
Anything
,” he shouted.

Weber nodded. “I understand.”

“I couldn’t kill anyone.”

“I wouldn’t call it killing.” Weber cocked his head to the side. “More like eliminating a potential problem.”

“My wife is
not
a potential problem.” He stared at Weber, his left eye twitching.

“You know better,” Weber chastised.

“Caleb.” Caleb’s eyes went to door of the bedroom and saw Ling.

“What do you want?” Caleb glared at Ling. “You want to kill me?” He tore open a cupboard drawer and took out a gun. “Here.” He strode to her and held out the pistol with a shaky hand. “You want me dead, then do it.”

Ling took a few steps backward. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Playing with you,” Weber said. “Big time.”

“He says you’re playing with me.” Caleb bent over from the waist toward her. “Are you?”

“No.” She looked to the couch. “I think it’s Jack Weber who is playing with you.”

Ling flinched when Caleb laid a hand gently on her cheek. “You’re so beautiful. So very, very beautiful.”

She looked down at the gun. “Please … put that away.”

Head down, he walked back to the bar and set the gun back on the counter. “I’m useless,” he whimpered. “Totally fucking useless.”

“Let’s go up on deck,” Ling said. “We’ll enjoy the view. Like we used to.”

Caleb turned around slowly. “Really?”

“Give me a break.” Weber crossed his arms over his chest.

Caleb pointed at Weber. “You go away, God damn it.”

“No problem.” Weber stood at attention and gave Caleb a two-finger salute. “I’ll leave you two love birds alone,” he said. “Just be careful,” he warned. “Very, very careful.”

“Come on.” Ling walked to Caleb, took his hand, and led him to the steps to the upper deck. “I think it’s time we toast our new life together.”

“You won’t try to get away?” Caleb asked, child-like.

She shook her head. “No. I want to stay with you.”

“Are you finally starting to understand how much I love you?” Caleb slurred.

“I am,” Ling answered. “I just didn’t realize how much you really cared.”

When they reached the helm, Caleb asked, “Would you like a glass of wine?”

“Whatever you’re having, I’ll have.”

“Gin? You’re kidding, right?”

“What the heck?”

Her smile melted him. Caleb took the two steps up to the bar, holding onto the railing for support. When he finally found the cupboard that held the glasses, he took out two tumblers, and filled each glass half full of the clear liquor. Caleb turned around, started for Ling, and then froze in place. Something wasn’t right. She was acting strange. Was Weber right? Was she playing with him? His anger started to rise. “You’re trying to get me to do what you want,” Caleb said in an angry monotone.

“Huh?” Ling asked.

“You’re trying to fool me into believing you want to be here.” His eyes filled with tears. “Are you lying?”

She walked up the steps to him. “I’m trying to apologize for not being a good wife.” Ling reached up and pushed his hair off his forehead.

Caleb looked down. “I couldn’t take it if Weber was right about you.”

She stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him lightly on the lips.

“Oh, God,” Caleb’s voice broke. “I love you so much.”

“Me, too.”

He handed her the glass and watched her take a sip.

Ling put a hand over her throat. “Burns going down.”

“Just the first couple of sips.”

Caleb followed her down to the cockpit, seeing the dark clouds roll across the setting sun through the clear plastic window in the tarp. Not an island or a coast could be seen. They were alone on the endless, dark blue sea, just as Caleb had hoped they would be.

Ling glanced to the back of the boat. “Looks like we’re going to get a storm.”

“We’ll be fine.” Caleb sat down in the driver’s seat. “I wanted to keep the cover over the cockpit in case it starts to rain.” He patted his leg. “Come sit on my lap like you used to.”

She scooted up into his lap and nestled back into his chest. Holding his drink in one hand, Caleb crossed his other arm over her chest.

She took a sip of her gin, then turned and looked at him. “You were right. The gin doesn’t burn anymore. In fact, I’m feeling kind of silly.”

Caleb pushed the throttle down to reach a comfortable speed. His wife was back. Maybe the reason Weber wasn’t talking anymore is he knew he was wrong about Ling. Caleb knew when Ling was lying. Feeling her press into him—there was no way Ling was acting. And maybe her call to Jenee had been innocent, and she’d just wanted to tell her friend that she was okay. He closed his eyes and thanked God for a new beginning with Ling.

Ling snuggled into Caleb. “It’s getting a little chilly.”

“Want a blanket?” Caleb asked.

“Maybe I should.” She stood.

Caleb put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get it.”

“Thanks.”

He set his drink down in the holder, and weaved to the stairs. He was drunk, but then the past few months, Caleb didn’t know what it felt like not to be inebriated. After three attempts, he finally found the right drawer with the extra blankets and pillows inside. “You want a pillow, too?” he called up to Ling.

“No, thanks,” she called back. “I’ll just lean against you.”

He hurried up the stairs with the blanket, holding onto the wall so he wouldn’t stumble.

“You promised we’d toast together.” Ling stepped up to the bar, grasped the bottle of gin and brought it back to him. “I don’t want this night to end.”

Caleb refilled his glass and her empty glass, and then put the bottle in one of the cup holders next to the driver’s seat.

He wrapped the blanket around her, sat down, and pulled her up onto his lap. The wind had started to come up, and the boat rocked with the swells of the waves.

“Are we far from somewhere where we could dock in case a storm gets bad?” Ling asked.

He glanced at the GPS. Twenty miles out of LA,” Caleb said, as a flash of lightning cut through the skies.

Ling held up her glass. “Cheers.”

Caleb clicked his glass gently against hers. “The last time we toasted was with your parents. Remember? When we got engaged?”

“I do,” she whispered.

He downed the rest of his gin and set the empty glass in a holder next to the gin bottle.

“Want me to get you another drink?” Ling asked.

He shook his head. “Nope. I’m perfectly content holding you.”

“Me, too.”

A half hour later, Caleb blinked open his eyes. “I think I fell asleep.”

“You did.” She smiled. “But I didn’t want to wake you.”

“How ‘bout we go downstairs?” he asked and scooted her off his lap. “Get a little shut eye?”

The wind gusted, and the boat jolted when he stood.

“Whoa!” Ling said, catching hold of Caleb’s arm before she fell.

“We’ll both feel better if we get a little shut eye.” He took her hand, and looked toward the back of the boat and up at the sky.
Everything looked fuzzy, but then everything looked blurry right now. “Might be a little bumpy, but I think I could sleep through anything.” Caleb rubbed an eye and turned off the ignition. “Don’t need to set the anchor as there’s nothing out here we could bump into.”

“Think we should pull the tarp over the back?” Ling asked.“Just in case it starts to storm?’

Caleb yawned. “I’ll get up and do it if it gets bad.”

She stood in front of him and turned around. “Put your hands on my shoulders so you won’t fall going down the steps.”

When they reached the bedroom, Caleb turned off the light and slid in beside Ling. With her back to him, Ling took Caleb’s arm and pulled it over her, sighing when she did.

“This is how it was meant to be.” Caleb yawned and nestled into her. He couldn’t keep his eyes open.

“I think so, too.”

“Fool,” Caleb heard Weber say, but was too tired to argue.“You stupid, crazy fool.”