Package Deal (69 page)

“You must have moved it—my stuff,” he
grumbled
.

“I thought you left town, Carlton.
I don’t know what you’re looking for.
” Her voice came out like a squeak as she sought to stay calm, to figure out how to
escape.
Why
did I rearrange the office today?
What had felt so cozy hours before now felt like a prison. But i
f he
move
d
to the other side of the room
, near the file cabinets
,
she might be able
to
push
the
chair out of the way and open the door
.

“Maybe what you’re looking
for is in the filing cabinet. Why don’t you g
o ahead and check there,” she suggested.

His cheek was twitching, something
she
knew
happened when
he was nervous. He laughed under his breath. “I know what you want, Amanda.
And I’m too smart for that.”
H
e pulled her to her feet and shoved her in the direction of the file cabinet. “
No. Y
ou check
for me
. You open the drawers. After all, you know what’s in there.”

She opened the top drawer. “There’s nothing in here but my papers, for my classes—from last quarter.”

“What do you mean? Those top drawers are mine.” His voice had
taken on
a whining quality, or was it fear?

H
e
stood
so close to her
, one hand on her shoulder
. S
he could feel his
breath slid
ing
past her neck, a hot cigarette-laden odor that made her want to
gag
. If only
she could escape
.

“Maybe Beatrice sent your things to you already. I think she said something about that.” She glanced down at her watch. The girls. They were supposed to be here soon. She had to get away.

H
e
pulled her back toward the chair. Her stomach knot
ted,
pressing against her lungs, making it hard for her to catch her breath.
Her legs felt wobbly,
as though
her bones were turning to
overcooked strands of spaghetti
.
He pushed her into the chair.

He
pulled
a pencil with Cecelia’s name on it
out of the center drawer.
Her daughter had won the pencil at the street fair, her first outing after her leg cast
came
off. Amanda bit her lip as she looked back at
Carlton. Her
breath
caught in her throat and her heart pounded faster
when she saw
him
stroke
the pencil
with the knife
blade
, back and forth, back and forth, like a deadly metronome counting away the seconds before the girls arrived.

Carlton’s gray eyes dart
ed
about the room. He
brought
the knife
up
to her throat
again and gave her a skeletal smile
.
Her heart
banged against her ribs as she slid
back in the chair.
He glared at her and then
the expression on
his
greasy
face softened as he brought the knife closer to her face.
Except his eyes.
They never softened.
Cold and hard and darker than
before
. His eyes
track
ed
her
small movements
like
an animal intent on
terroriz
ing its prey.

“Carlton, it’s getting really muggy in here. Why don’t we open the door—so we can get more air?”

“It is kind of warm.”
He nodded, his voice
suddenly
normal.
“I can do that.”
He
backed away from her and
opened the door.

But her chair was
still
too far away
from freedom
—behind the desk.
If only she
had left
the room
the way it was
before
.She rose suddenly. “I’m feeling faint, Carlton. I need to use the washroom.”
She moved around the desk, intent on leaving, but as soon as she
thought she
had a clear shot
to run
through the open door, he
stood and
blocked her way.

“Oh
, no
you don’t,” he said, his voice grating
.
“You’re staying with me. Right here. Until I’m done. Until I’ve found my things.”
Those dead eyes focused on her
face again
.
“
Where’s
your kid?
Is
n’t
she coming here
today, like she usually does
?
How is she?
I want to see her. She likes me.
”
His eyes seemed to glitter when he mentioned Cecelia.

She looked up at him
,
willing herself not to show her terror
.
Don’t come here, Cece. Not u
ntil he’s gone.

Carlton
looked down at Cecelia’s pencil
again
, still lying on the desk,
and began to
fondle it
.
Abruptly he pulled his fingers away as if aware
that
she was watching him.

Amanda cleared her throat, tried to imagine herself in front of a class
, calm, in control
, strong, even though
her stomach had turned to jelly and all she cou
ld think of was getting out of her office
, away from him
. She had to call
the police
.
“I think it’s time you left, Carlton.”
S
he
glanc
ed at her watch.
“
I’m sure
Beatrice removed your things,
after you didn’t come back. You might want to call her.” She reached for
Cece’s
pen
cil
, her hands
trembling
, hoping her voice sounded firm
,
just as w
he
n
she was in front of the class
. “Let me give you her phone number.”

But
Carlton
grabbed her arm and
angl
ed
the blade
toward her throat
.

“
You’re not going anywhere, Amanda.
” His voice rose in pitch.
“
I want you
here until I say you can leave
.
”

She tried to
lean
away from the knife he was waving in front of her. Her heart
lodged
in her throat.
She
was running out of time
before
Cecelia and Sam arrived.
Why did his eyes look so strange
—his pupils so large, the whites of his eyes standing out in his unshaven face
?
She tried again
, her voice sounding hoarse to her own ears
, desperate
.
“Carlton. Why don’t you
let me
leave?
Y
ou can look through everything on your own.
Take as much time as you need.
I
won’t tell anyone you were here.
”

He shook his head
, his cheek jumping
faster now
, sweat standing out
in beads
on his forehead
, across the bridge of his nose, on his upper lip
. “You’re
not
like th
e
other mother
s, especially that last one
. S
he was
afrai
d of me. You
never were
scared,
were you?
No,
I can’t have you talking a
bout me. That’s why I came back,
to find out what you’ve been saying about me.”

She shook her head.
“I haven’t
said
anything about you.
And
hardly anyone
knows
what happened
…
to Cece
.
We
…
don’t talk about it.
”

“
About what? What happened?
I don’t believe you. Women always talk
,” h
e panted
heavily
, “
about their kids. You told people, didn’
t you? I know you did!” He waved
the knife at her again.
Sweat now ringed his shirt under his arms, down the center of his chest.

Her pulse
was racing so fast
she felt light-headed
.
“No, Carlton. I haven’t talked and neither has
Cecelia. We haven’t said a word
.”

He stared at her with bloodshot eyes
, more agitated than before, his hand squeezing the blood out of her arm
.
“I don’t believe you—not after that newspaper article. I saw it.
That
j
ournalism guy
wrote it, didn’t he?
Marcus
Dunbar
?
He
wanted to get Cecelia to
like him so you woul
d like him. I saw through him right away even if you didn’t.
I know that’s what he was after
. Disgusting.
His behavior—trying to get to Cecelia so he could get to you—it was so offensive. Why couldn’t you see that?
” His voice
, previously a deep growl,
took on a
higher-pitched
whine
.
“And h
e
was so disrespectful
. H
e
…
he kept calling me Carl,
even
after
I told him not to
.
How woul
d he like it if I call
ed
him Marky
?
”

The tic in his cheek made
visible the pink of his lower eyelid, a gruesome
erratic wink
Amanda couldn’t seem to stop watching
.

“
I’m sure h
e was just trying to be friendly, Carlton,
using your
nickname.” If he w
ould just
move closer to the filing cabinet
…

“I don’t
have a nickname—not
anymore
—
not since I left home
.
Not since…
anyway,
don’t call me that. I
never liked that name!”
The
distant
echo of a
door slamm
ing
far
down the hall
startled him
.“What was that?” He
looked
around then
moved
the knife
closer to her chest
.

Trying
not to panic
in the silence that followed
, she
gulped then choked out,
“I’m sure it was
just
someone
going
in
to
the history d
epartment.
Ian
i
s proctoring a make-up exam.
It was probably
his student
.
”
Maybe he hasn’t left.

Carlton
released her arm,
brought
his
hand to his face
and pressed it
against his
jumping
cheek
as he
stood
between Amanda and the door
.

H
e grimaced and
looked
toward the outer door
.
“
That little girl of yours…s
he was nicer than you—
she
never argued or talked back to me
,
except
that one time
when
—when
I
—
” He
reach
ed
for
the smaller chair and
sat down
close to her
,
blocking her way
again
and
waving the knife in random circles,
s
o close to her
neck
.