Package Deal (70 page)

“She’s not here today, Carlton.”
Please, God, don’t let her be on time.
She might risk trying to shove him out of her way, so she could run and call for help. But he had at least fifty pounds on her and looked a good deal stronger.
Would she even be able to budge him?
What time
is
it?

Less than a minute later, the
door at the far end of the building
bang
ed
.G
irls’
laughter
floated down the
long
hall
, gradually becoming louder
.
Sam and Cecelia
’s
happ
y
chatter preceded them
as
every step b
rought
them
closer to the outer door of the department
.

Oh God.
Amanda couldn’t take her eyes off Carlton.
I have
to get away from him.

He must have heard the girls, too. He
smiled
and stood up
. “You lied. She i
s here.
She’
s coming
now
.
Good. I like her.” He
pressed the tip of his knife to her chest, touching the silver necklace she wore.
“You stay
here—so I can talk to her. Her and her friend.”

When
Amanda
jerked involuntarily, the knife slid against her skin, cutting her.
B
lood
ooze
d
from the
scratch
. She
brought her hand up to her neck.

“
Oh, no!
” Carlton’s grin crumpled.
“
I
didn’t mean to do that, Amanda.
You’re bleeding.
Oh,
I hate blood.
I’m
so
sorry.
” H
e started to weep, his tears creating pale tracks through the dirt on his face. Suddenly, his
countenance
darkened
again
, his moods swinging unpredictably from sympathetic to threatening
. “
Now you’ve don
e it.
Sit down and don’t move!”

Instead of sitting, s
he j
ump
ed when
her
phone rang.

“Don’t answer it!”
h
e shouted.

One ring, two rings
, three rings
.
She
reached
across the desk and
knocked the
receiver
off the cradle
when
Carlton
jerked
her hand
away from the phone.
Amanda’s
heart
climb
ed
into
her throat
.

The outer door
to the departmental offices
opened.

Her heart in her throat,
Amanda
yelle
d,
“
Cece, Sam
,
get out! Carlton
’s here
. Run
away! Go
!”
Screaming
out
her fear and frustration
,
she
shoved
Carlton
as hard as she could. He
fell
ba
ck toward the extra chair and filing cabinet
. She kicked
at his left shin and
his feet
slipped. He crashed
to the floor as she ran past him and out of her office.

“
Amanda
!”
h
e yelled
.
“Stop!
Come
back
!”

She
was almost to the outer door of the department
, desperate to reach the
hallway when she felt a hand
clamp down on her
left
shoulder.
He whirled her around to face him
and shoved her into
a nearby
wall. She
hit her head and
slid down to the floor, stunned.But the girls were gone.
They were safe.
She could hear them running
down the hall
away from Carlton, away from her
.
Both
of them
were
screaming
for help
.

“Get up!” Carlton ordered.
He pulled on her arm and she
rose
, still shaky
, as he brandished the knife
in front of her face.

“
Get them back! Get them back!”
h
e shouted
.

“
Never!
I won’t let you
near
them!”She
didn’t care that she was crying as she
tried to wrench her arm out of his grasp, but he was so strong.
Her
pulse
was beating
so loudly in her ears she was
sure
she wouldn’t have been able to hear a firecracker if it went off in the hallway. Yet she thought she sensed movement on the other side of the main door
.
S
he
looked toward
it
and took a step
in that direction
.

The door swung open. “Hello, Carl, old man,” Marcus said as he stepped into the room.

Amanda’s relief was palpable, but short-lived. Carlton
brought
the knife
to
her throat
,
as his other
arm
circled her
waist
, holding her next to him
.

“Don’t call me that!” h
e screamed at Marcus
, shielding his body with Amanda’s
.

“If you don’t want me to call you that, act like a man and let
Amanda
go. If you want to cut someone, cut me
, Carl
. I’m more your size.
Carl,
Carl, Carl,
” he taunted.

Carlton
releas
ed
Amanda
and
turned
toward Marcus, anger suffusing his face, his
cheek
twitch
ing
rapidly
as he looked first at Amanda and then at Marcus
.
“My name is Carlton! You know that! Why do
you
keep calling me that other name?!”

Amanda
ran for the phone in her office.
She
tri
ed 9-1-1 and when she got a funny buzz, realized she had misdialed, her hands were shaking so hard. She tried
the
two-digit
campus police number,
b
ut
the line was busy.
She
found
Ian’s
extension
and tried it
, too—busy
.
When she looked toward the men
, Carlton
was advancing on
Marcus, moving the knife in a circle
in the air near his face
.
She
was afraid not to watch
as the men
circled each
other. She
re
dialed
9-1-1
without looking.

“What is your emergency?” A tinny voice answered.

“Um, oh, God. Two men fighting. Wit
h a knife. Come to the English d
epartment. Buckley College. Hurry!”

“What is your name, ma’am?”

Amanda
put down the phone and edged out of her office.

Marcus
reached for
the knife. “
Who were you going to cut
, Carl
? Amanda’s little girl? Why didn’t you p
ick on someone stronger
, bigger than
you—or do you always go for
little girls,
the ones who can’t defend themselves?”

Carlton swiped
at
Marcus
, who
danced around the man. “Come o
n, Carl, answer me. Do
you always
go after
little girls—like that one in Wisconsin who di
ed? Was that your handiwork,
Carl
? Did you cut her
, too
?”

Amanda
looked around for a weapon, anything she could throw at Carlton to distract him, but nothing was within reach.
Carlton sw
ung
at Marcus, who blocked the thrust and reached
again
for the hand holding the knife.

Carlton roared
,
lunging at
Marcus as he
backed toward
the outer door of the department. Carlton swung again, this time slicing across Marcus
’
s
arm, cutting
through
his sweater.

Amanda gasped
when
a lin
e
of red
bloom
ed
on
the fabric
.
She
slid
along the wall farthest from the men. If she could just get
out
—get he
lp, find the girls.

Marcus
turn
ed
in a half-circle
,
waving his hand, directing her to leave and
placing himself between
her and Carlton. He
shoved
the man
back, away from
her
. But w
hen Carlton
thrust forward and
jabbed again
at Marcus
,
their feet tangled with one another,
and Carlton lost his
balance
.

As he
fell
backward, Carlton
grabbed
for
Marcus
’
s
arm
, pulling the taller man toward him
.
Carlton’s
other arm
thrust out as he f
ell
.
Hi
s
head
hit
the
shiny
stone statue of Shakespeare
at the entrance wall
. T
he
statue
teetered for a moment
then
tumbled downward
, shattering
as it crashed
onto the floor
.

Amanda
screamed
then
ran
back
toward
both
men, now
sprawled
on the floor.
Carlton was unconscious.
She
kne
eled
down next to Marcus, who lay on his side
.
He
groaned and
rolled
onto his back
, blood sliding
from
a
wound in his lower chest
. He brought one hand over it and Amanda watched
in horror
as the blood
oozed between his fingers,
covered
his
hand,
and
dripped
onto the floor
in a widening pool
.

He
looked
up
at
her
and
gave her a half-
smile
. “
The phone—
I
heard him
when I tried to call
you
.
”
H
is eyes rolled back in his head.

Chapter 19

Amanda
was kneeling at Marcus’ side when
Ian
slammed open the outer door of the department
. He
took one look
at the
rapidly
spre
ading stain on Marcus’s sweater
and the floor
,
Amanda’s
trembling
hands
and her stricken
expression
,
and pulled off his shirt.

“
Here. Use this
as a pressure bandage.
Wad it up
,
p
ress hard.
I
’ve
called
9-1-1 and
campus
police.” He looked at Carlton
and the knife lying between the two men. He
kicked
it
into the corner
. “
Isn’t that Carlton Winslow? I thought he left last spring.
”

Amanda nodded, her
heart still racing
, not sure she could stand up
.
“
Did you see two
little
girls?”

“
M
y
office
.
”
Ian
kne
eled
down next to
her
.
“
They
said
a man was
here
with a knife.
Before I
left
,
I
calmed them down some and
told the
m
to lock the door
behind me.
They’re safe.
”

“T
hey
must be
scared
to death
.”
Her teeth started to chatter.

“
You g
o
see to them
. I’ll stay here
with Marc
.”
He
re
placed
Amanda’s
hand
with his own, and
then
reached for Marcus’ wrist and checked his pulse.

Amanda stood up
, surprised her legs were still working
. “What about him?” She pointed to Carlton, who lay crumpled against the outer door, shards of the Shakespeare sculpture scattered near his head and shoulders.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t go anywhere, though it looks like Marc took care of that.” Ian
pressed
both
hands against Marcus’ wound
.
“Hang in there, buddy. Help’s on the way.”

Amanda
raced down the hall, unmindful of the blood on her b
l
ou
se and neck.
W
hen she
reached
the door of the history d
epartment,
she could see through the glass pane
s
that
the two girls
were
sitting on a small couch,
staring at the door
,
h
ugg
ing
each
other
tightly
.
She
knocked and
both girls
ran to let her in.
She
gathered
them
into her arms
, as sirens
g
rew
l
ou
der and then cease
d
.

Cecelia sob
bed
and pointed to her b
lou
se and her neck.

“It’s ok
ay
.
”
She kissed Cece’s forehead. “Sh
h.
I’m ok
ay
.”

“
But y
ou’re
hurt
,
you’re bleeding
.
That bad man. He
hurt you
.”

Amanda shook her head. “No
…
Marcus i
s the one who
’
s hurt
.” S
he sat down on the couch
, suddenly aware that she was
trembl
ing
. She
clung
with one arm
to Cecelia, whose sobs
finally
quieted
as she rocked her
,
and
kept
her other
arm around Sam
, who just looked at her, her eyes wide
.
When her own heart had slowed
and she no longer felt
as though
the room was spinning
, she said,
“Sam,
see that phone next to you?
I want
you to call your mother
.
Dial nine and then your number.
”

Sam
nodded and
called her mother
.

Amanda spoke briefly to
Joan
. Then
s
he
turned to the two girls
,
pulling them close again.
“
Cece
, you and
Sam
were very brave.
I’m so glad you ran away.
”

“Coach made Cece a forward when Sunny missed practice today,” Sam said.

Amanda gulped. “Good.” She couldn’t think of another thing to say.

“Mrs. Gardner, are you
sure you’re
okay?”

She so
wanted to close her eyes and lie
down
to forget it all
. “I’m
fine
, Sam. Really.”

When Joan arrived
several minutes later
, she hugged
the two girls
then
pointed to
Amanda’s
neck
.

Amanda
put a
hand to her throat
and
realized her necklace was gone. “It’s just a small scratch.
But, Marcus, he
…” She glanced in the direction of her office
at the end of
the
long
hall.

“Would you like me to take Cece home with us?”

Cecelia shook her head.
“No, I want to stay
with Mom
.”
Her daughter
squeez
ed
Amanda’s
hand, tears
filling
her
blue
eyes.

“Thanks, Joan, b
ut not right now. I’ll call you
later.”

Several m
inutes
after
Joan and Sama
ntha walked out of the building,
Amanda turned to Cecelia,
whose
face
was
still white. “Cece. Look at me
, sweetheart
. I’m ok
ay
.”

“No, you’re not. H
e
hur
t you
.
That bad man
…
he came back.
” Her hands fluttered in the air, as if she was trying to wave Carlton’s image away.
“
He was bad
.
I don’t want him here.
He wasn’t s’posed to come back.
” S
he started to cry again.

“
Honey,
we’re safe
. A
nd a
ll I need is a B
and
-A
id.
Marcus
stopped
Carlton
from hurting me
.
But w
e
have
to find out
how—how badly he’s been hurt.”

“
No!
I don’t want to go back there.
I want to go home!” Cecelia sobbed
l
ou
der
, shaking her head
. “That bad man
’s there
.”

“
No
, he’s not
.
I’m sure t
he police
t
ook
him away.
Ian called them.
Didn’t you hear those sirens? Carlton
can’t hurt us any more—not you
,
not me
, not anybody
. And we will go home. But I
have
to see about Marcus. Will you come with me
,
or do you want me to
call
Janet
to
come
take you home
?”

Cecelia clung
to her. “
No
.
I want to stay with you.”

“
T
hen
, let’s go
together
—now
.
Come on. Give me your hand.
”
She took a deep breath and willed her legs to work.
With one arm around her
daughter’s
shoulders and the other clutching her hand,
Amanda
walked Cecelia
out of
Ian
’s office and back to hers. The only sign
s
of the struggle
w
ere
the broken statue, its pieces still scattered on the floor, and
the
blood stains from Marcus’ wound
in
two large pools
.
Two members of the
campus police
were
placing crime tape around the area.

“Where’s—
”

“
If you’re asking about the guy who was bleeding, the a
mbulance went to the hospital with him,” one of them replied.
“Professor Berrima
n went with him.”

“What about—”

“The other one went there, too, but
two of the city cops
are
with him—I
’
spect he’ll be sleeping in
jail tonight
,
after what Berriman told us
. Are yo
u okay, Professor Gardner? You look
kind of pale.
”

She looked at the blizzard of papers strewn about
her desk and on
the floor
of her office
before the men
motioned for
her to leave. “
I’m okay
…
better than my office.”
She looke
d once more at the blood
stains then
turned. S
he and Cecelia
rushed
to
her car
.

When
they
arrived at the emergency r
oom,
Amanda
was told
Marcus
had
been taken
in
to surgery. The nurse at the desk ask
ed a second time
if she was
a
family
member
.

Cecelia
surprised her by
forcefully
answering
for
them both
. “Yes, we’re family!
He brought me
Eeyore
when I
was here. Only family does that,
”
she insisted
, her voice
dissolv
ing
into
noisy sobs
, mirroring Amanda’s mood.

A
nurse took them to
the surgical waiting area
. When the
doctor
finally
came out to speak to them, Cecelia had fallen asleep
, her head i
n Amanda’s lap
.
Her
b
l
ou
se, now stiff with dried blood, bore mute testimony to why she was there.