I laughed, setting the dog food down next to the plastic-shrouded couch and sitting down. Eli and Wallach both stopped and sat down, looked up at me with their big doggy eyes. Eli promptly yawned, his blood hound tail thumping on the hardwood.
“Hey Karen?” I called as I began to scratch my dogs behind their ears.
“Yeah, hon?” she called from the kitchen.
“Which bedroom am I staying in?”
“Pick one,” she said. “One downstairs, three up. Whichever one you want, hon, that’s yours.”
I sank back into the couch. Even with the plastic covering, it was still incredibly comfortable, supportive. If I wasn’t careful, I’d fall asleep right there. Right then, though, my bladder reminded me that it had been hours since I’d used the restroom.
“One more question,” I called, laughing. “Restroom?”
Karen laughed. “Third door on the left. Can’t miss it. There’s a couple upstairs, too, if you decide to stay the night up there.”
With a grunt of exhaustion, I heaved myself up from the too-comfortable couch and went to find the bathroom. I wandered down the hallway, my brain finally deciding that this was shutdown time. Maybe because it knew a bed was close by? That I could finally have a well-deserved rest? Whatever the reason, I clearly wasn’t working at one-hundred percent, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I chose the second door instead of the third.
Instead of the bathroom, like I expected, I found the garage.
At first, I was surprised that I’d accidentally stepped foot in there. Then, I was even more surprised by what I found.
A truck. An older model, one of those bigger work trucks.
I reached up with my left hand, found the light switch. It wasn’t just a big, older work truck. It was a black one with New Mexico plates. “Jessica, hon?” Karen called from the kitchen. “You want a glass of wine or anything? I know it’s late, and all, but might help take the edge off things.”
My mouth dropped open and my throat seemed to close.
“Jessica?” she called again, this time closer than before.
I swallowed hard, trying to remember how to breathe, how to bring myself to action.
“Oh, hon, you silly, that’s the garage,” Karen said from behind me, “not the restroom.”
I turned around, my mouth opening and closing.
She had a rag in one hand and an amber bottle in the other. She opened and closed her mouth, making fun of me, then giggled. “What?” she asked, taking a step forward towards me. “Surprised?”
I shut my mouth, my teeth clacking together, and took a step back, away from her. “You?”
“Me.” And then she lunged, the rag held up and in front of her like a weapon.
I was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and my reactions were slow. I stumbled back, my arm flying up to try and fend her off, but she easily overpowered me and stuffed the sweet-smelling rag over my face.
“Breathe it in, hon,” Karen purred in my ear as she shoved me back against the truck with surprising strength. “Breathe deep.”
The world darkened, faded away like all things do in the end. This was it, I thought. This was what my life had come to. I heard Eli and Wallach both begin to bark, heard Eli growl.
The garage, and Karen, seemed to tilt on their side as the world went entirely black, and I slipped away into unconsciousness.
Just before the whole world disappeared, though, I heard Karen scream, and I heard Eli yelp painfully.
God, I should have known this getaway cabin was too good to be true.
Chapter Forty-nine
Richard
As soon as I jumped out of the Jeep, the strangest of smells hit my nose. I knew I recognized it from somewhere, but it was so faint I couldn’t precisely place it. Where did I know it from? It was just on the tip of my nose, like a word you say everyday of your life, but you forget how to precisely choose it from your mental dictionary. I shook my head, trying to shake that feeling of how important it was.
In the meantime, though, I spotted Sheila’s little Lexus and stomped over to where she was sitting on the driver side with her the door open, her legs swung out so both feet were planted on the broken pavement.
“Where is she?” I asked as I approached. “Where’s Jessica?”
Sheila looked up at me, the dried remains of tears streaking her face.
“I-I-I don’t know,” she said. “She was here one minute, then I came back out to grab my wallet, and she was gone when I came back out.” As she finished speaking, though, a pensive look came over her face, a look as if she’d just swallowed a bug.
“What is it, Sheila?” Jake asked as he came up beside me. “Spit it out, lady.”