“He’s gone,” she said, reverently. “He’s already gone.”
“Gone? You mean dead, don’t you? You killed Hank. You murdered my friend. I warned you what would happen if he died.”
Tony leaned in and looked into Hank’s still eyes. “Do something!” he yelled at Natalie.
“I’m sorry but there’s nothing else I can do. He’s gone. Can’t you see he isn’t breathing? Can’t you see the color has left his face?”
“Don’t you know CPR?”
“Even if I did, it’s too late.” She kept her voice calm and even. “He needed a doctor, Rudy tried to tell you.”
“Damn it, I don’t need a lecture.”
“I’m sorry. I know he was your friend. I tried my best to keep him alive but there was just too much damage.”
“Damage you caused, bitch.”
“You’re right of course,” she said, and tried but failed to contain the sarcasm about to spill out. “I should have just let him rape and beat me some more. Who knows maybe between the two of you, you would have killed me already and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Just shut up, shut the hell up. I’ve got to think. Get out of the car.”
She held up her hands to remind him he had her tied. He grabbed her hands pulled her from the seat and let her fall to the ground outside the door. Since it had rained recently, the ground forgave more than she expected but her body began an uncontrollable tremble from the cold dampness of the ground, the night air that bit into her body and the memory of Tony’s promise. As she rolled to get away from Tony’s feet, his words rang in her ears, “If Hank dies your next.” Her heart began to hammer against her ribs and panic engulfed her like an avalanche. She needed to quell her emotions. She grabbed the handle of the rear door and used it for support as she stood to her feet.
Tony, bent at the waist, leaned into the rear seat compartment over Hank. He suddenly withdrew, stood upright, and turned toward Natalie.
Natalie knew this would be the decisive moment. Her life hung in the decision Tony formed behind that angry, acne-scarred face. A decision he might have already made moments before Hank died while he searched the mirror for her. If she could survive the next few minutes, she had hope again of salvation, of escape.
Tony lunged at her and grasp for her throat. She threw herself backwards. Just out of his reach, he slammed into the opened door. She lost balance and fell backward into the mire.
From his hunched position in the front seat, Rudy screamed, “We need her, Tony.”
“And why the hell is that?” Tony asked and grabbed the door for support.
“’Cause, if this doesn’t go down well,” Rudy said, “and the police do catch up with us, she is our bargaining chip.”
“I see and now that Hank’s dead, have you and your girlfriend cooked up a plot to get rid of me, too?”
Natalie needed to take over the conversation as Rudy was no match for Tony’s tongue. She had hoped to drive a wedge between them but this was not the time to exploit this schism. She rolled onto her knees.
“You think I’d make a pact with him?” she yelled, and saw Tony turn his head toward her. “Rudy raped me! I told you last night at the motel you may think it’s your job to inflict as much pain and disgrace on me as you can, but it’s my job to escape. When I said that, I meant from all of you, Rudy included.”
She knew that would sting Rudy and from the edge of her vision she saw him drop his head.
“Despite Hank’s violence towards me,” she continued, “I’ve done everything I can to keep him alive for the last day. There have been so many times I could have slipped my hands around his neck and choked the life out of him, and I would have been justified doing it, but I didn’t. I tried to keep him alive.”
“How do I know you didn’t do that now?” Tony demanded and leaned away from the door.
“You don’t, but I wouldn’t. How stupid do you think I am? You’ve said repeatedly, if he dies, I’m next. Look at me, I’m defenseless here. You keep me tied up worse than a dog. I have no power here at all. Killing him would be sealing my own fate.”
She realized that she needed to divert the attention away from herself and Rudy. She found a place of calm and confidence, and continued, “We need to do something with Hank’s body.”
Tony glared at her for a moment and then she saw the look in his eye begin to soften.
“This isn’t over,” he said. “I’m still going to put a bullet in your head and then feed you to the vultures.”
He reached to Rudy’s door and opened it. “No shit or she’s dead.” With a swift tug he ripped the cloth that tied Rudy’s hands to the seat and then continued, “Get the keys and let’s put Hank’s carcass in the trunk for now. We can’t just leave him by the side of the damn road.”
The irony that Hank was to be confined to the steel sarcophagus like she had been for so many hours was not lost on Natalie. He had let her out of the trunk before she died, but now dead, he would fill the space. She wondered how long it would be before someone freed him from that crude internment.
After Hank was in the trunk, Tony said to Rudy, “Get her in the car.”
Natalie was still kneeling, tied hand and foot, by the side of the road. As Rudy approached, she let out a deep breath and allowed a tentative relief to flood over her. She was glad to be alive but as she waited for Rudy to help her get into the back seat, she renewed her vow to find a way to escape with or without Rudy’s help.
She knew her statement about escaping “Rudy included” wounded him, so to lift his spirits, as he placed her on the back seat, she whispered, “I had to say that, you know. We don’t want him thinking we’re plotting against him.”
“I know,” he said.
Even though he verbally agreed, Natalie sensed that he battled with belief.
_____
©
Jearl Rugh 2012
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