A Big, Brave Girl

  It was an hour before the appointment. Dan was ready to walk out the door, though he knew it was still a little too soon. He needed to move, to do something! The thought of handing his baby girl over to this scum bag bastard… correction. Alleged scum bag bastard. If Nicole had banged the gavel on this character, he’d already be dead. So, beginning again. The thought of leaving his only daughter in the clutches of this possible slime-sucking bottom-dwelling douche was not sitting well with him.

  Thus, the need for motion. He balled his fists. What he really wanted to do was break something. Anything. It was an irrational urge, but somehow, he felt it would give him some sense of release. It wouldn’t keep his daughter safe, however, and that had to be his only concern.

  For her part, J.J. was making some adjustments to her hair. Looking into the mirror, she noticed that the little-girl side-ponies that she’d tamed her curls into were slightly uneven. She reached to fix them, but stopped. The seemingly amateurish style faux-pas would add to the effect of “Britney” looking younger even than J.J. did naturally. Her light cotton sweat suit was a girlie shade of pink, further rounding out the look of innocence. But at the last minute, J.J. pulled the zipper of the top down about three inches. There was no cleavage visible, but she thought that if this guy was as full-on pedo as everyone was thinking he was, the more exposed skin in the area might induce him to give her mother the proof she was waiting for.

  “Okay. I’m ready,” she said at last, spinning away from the mirror to face her father.

  Dan looked up at her and saw the deeply undone top. Before he was even able to speak, his index finger was wagging like a puppy’s tail. “Oh no!” he managed to say at last. “Nope. Zip that sucker up, young lady. I don’t think this fu- fellow is going to need you to get his motor running.” His side-to-side finger motion had now morphed into an upward flick of the finger meant to indicate the direction in which the zipper was to travel.

  J.J. smiled in a way that made Dan shiver a little, but she zipped her top. “No problem, Daddy,” she said sweetly.

  Dan just stared at her for a moment, like a hypnotized mouse. Then he shook his head and said, “Do you have your ear-thingy in?”

  She pushed the device a little further into her right ear and nodded.

  “Alright. We roll.”

  He checked to see that the parking lot and the adjacent area was clear, and when he was sure that it was, he beckoned for his daughter to follow him. They walked quickly around the building and got into the Rogue. As Dan pulled around into the parking lot, he scanned the area a final time, then pulled onto the road.

  As he drove, he kept sneaking glances at his daughter. While he did his very best to push the thought down, he kept catching himself thinking it could be the last time he saw her alive. He’d quickly scold himself, remembering that Nicole would never have suggested this plan if she felt J.J. would be in any danger. Or at least any danger that Nicole couldn’t extricate her from in a heartbeat. No. It will go fine, he told himself.

  Still, he kept peeking. He was impressed by the calm upon her face. A thought made him laugh.

  “What’s funny?” J.J. asked.

  “I was just remembering when you were little how much you hated going to the doctor.”

  “Ugh! It was the worst!” she said, laughing. “I’d start crying exactly as long after waking up as it took me to remember I had to go.”

  “I know. And I used to have to talk you down. Telling you the whole ride to the pediatrician, ‘It’s okay, Jayj, because you’re…’”

  “A big, brave girl!” she said, completing the sentence. “Yes, I remember. By the time we got to the doctor, you usually had me believing it.”

  Dan looked at the car’s clock and saw that it was almost nine o’clock. Ahead, he saw the entrance to the office building. There was one other car in the lot. He blinked his eyes. It seemed like he’d just pulled out of the motel five seconds ago. Who was he kidding? It seemed like he’d given J.J. her last pre-doctor pep talk five seconds ago, but that had happened a little over ten years ago, when he’d started to say it, and she’d held up her hand and said, “I’m fine, Daddy. Really.”

  How could it have gone by so fast? And now this might be the last… NO! he shouted as loud as he could… in his head. He refused to allow that thought to bubble up into sunshine one more time. He pulled into a parking space to the driver’s side of the other vehicle. In an effort to stave off the negative thinking, he praised himself for the tactical positioning of his parking job. From here, he would have time to fire off several shots should the crazed doctor make a break for the car. Then, remembering J.J.’s rescue, he thought he’d probably need several shots.

  He killed the engine and they walked toward the front door of the building. While still twenty feet away, Dan said, “You can still bail. No one will think poorly of you.”

  J.J. looked up at him and put her arm through his as they continued to walk. “I would, Daddy. I would think poorly of myself.” They reached the glass and metal doors, and J.J. reached with her other hand and pulled the door open, stepping through ahead of her father. She looked at the hallway as they entered, knowing that Dr. Lewis’s office suite number was 122. She saw a sign with an arrow pointing left to numbers 100-119 above a second arrow point to the right, indicating numbers 120-130.

  “This way,” she said, almost happily, as she moved down the right side of the hall. They found Suite 122, and before Dan had time to say anything, J.J. had opened the door and was inside. He hurried to follow her before the door closed on him.

  Inside waited Dr. Nathan Lewis. He was dressed in an expensive gray suit, over which he wore a white lab coat, complete with his name embroidered in blazing crimson. Every hair on his head was held in place by some glistening product, giving the impression that the hair stayed completely motionless, even when the head moved beneath it. His waxed moustache reigned above a smile so perfect it had to be manufactured. He was bent slightly at the sizable waist, as if he were bowing as he spoke.

  “Britney Darrow, without question! I saw your photograph in the documents your team trainer sent me. Very thorough. And you would be…?” He held out a limp-wristed hand to Dan, who took it and fought the urge to quiver in disgust at his touch.

  “Vernon Darrow, Brit’s dad. Drove her all the way here from Jackson County. You know… the college?” Dan realized that he was starting to sound like an idiot. So, in typical Dan fashion, he took it all the way. “So, anyway, let me get you my insurance card and…”

  “No, no, Mr. Darrow. All taken care of. The college has paid the fee already,” Dr. Lewis said, holding up his hand as Dan reached for his wallet. Seeing the hand made him want to shiver all over again.

  “Well. Alright, then! Honey, I’m just going to wait for you in the car. Got a couple of calls I need to make.”

  J.J. seemed relieved that Dan was finally about to leave, but just as she started to turn to follow the doctor, Dan caught her by the arm and he looked into her eyes. “Remember, you’re my big, brave girl.”

  J.J. wanted to be angry, both that he was acting like she was ten again and that he wouldn’t just go to the car. But the truth was that as brave a front as she was maintaining, hearing the words were reassuring. She smiled at him, and he left the office. When she turned and looked at Dr. Lewis again, he was wearing a Cheshire-cat grin that was definitely too wide for his face.

  “Alright, then,” he said. “Let’s go see what a big, brave girl you really are, shall we?” He turned on his heels and walked down the corridor to the exam rooms. Hearing him say her father’s famous phrase had the exact opposite effect of hearing Dan say it. The words sounded polluted coming from his mouth.

  J.J. saw that there were two rooms, but only one had the door open. Lewis stood to the side and indicated that she should enter. He followed, leaving the door open. He walked to a small cabinet and pulled out a hospital gown, then he drew out a second. Handing them to her, he said, “Go ahead and put these on, Britney. Put the first one on so that it opens in the front, then the other so it opens in the back. That way, you’ll be all covered when we get started. Take your time. I’ll be back when you’re ready.” He smiled again, a little less insanely this time, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  Nicole had heard everything from the time Dan and J.J. had entered the office, as the earpieces came within range of one another. She’d winced at Dan’s inept patter, smiled when he’d called her brave, and shook her head when she heard Lewis give her daughter two gowns to make sure she was covered. She hadn’t counted on that.

  J.J. had been instructed not to say anything directly to her parents, so she remained silent, but Nicole could almost hear the gears turning in her daughter’s head as well. If she had the instinct Cole believed that she possessed, that should have seemed odd to her also.

  She continued to wait and listen, even as she rubbed her legs to quell the ache that had built up in them after several hours in the same cramped position.

  In his private office, the only light the coming from the screen of his laptop, he watched the girl undress. She kept her bra and panties on under the two gowns. No matter. In a few moments, he’ll have dispensed with all of it. When she had pulled both gowns into place and sat down on the end of the paper-covered exam table, he stood and walked to a built-in wall-cupboard and unlocked its door. He extracted an old-school apothecary bottle with a glass plug, which came out with a grating sound. Pulling a handkerchief from the pocket of his lab coat, he held it to the open mouth of the bottle and tipped it, saturating the cloth with the fluid inside. He quickly pushed the monogrammed square back into his pocket and walked back to the exam room. He knocked twice and waited politely for the girl to welcome him. It wasn’t important that she asked him into the room. But he wanted her to think it was.

  “Come in,” she said in a small voice. He smiled.

  Opening the door, he poked his head through and said, “All decent?”

  “Yes,” she said in a voice so quiet it sounded as though he was still listening to her from the hallway.

  “Excellent!” he said, coming all the way in. He left the door open. No one would be disturbing him.

  “Alright, then. I’ve been over your case notes thoroughly. It’s a hamstring that seems not to be responding to treatment, yes?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” J.J. said.

  “Of course it is. Well, well, well. Let’s start by seeing your range of motion with the good leg first, and then the injured one. I’m going to adjust the table so that your top is reclined partially and your legs are out straight. I’d like you to lift your… lift your… oh, bother.” He repeatedly pushed the button, which should have raised the back of the table, causing it to make a half-hearted clicking sound, but no tilting of the table.

  “This old thing!” he said, moving around to the top of the table. “Half the time, I have to lift it by hand. I need a new one.”

  J.J. looked over her shoulder as he manually adjusted the table until he had it at the angle he wanted. “Go ahead and move this way. Lean back and I’ll hold the pillow so that it doesn’t slide before your head is rested on it.”

  She did as he said, and as she reclined, she thought she caught an odd scent, nothing she could identify, but one that seemed oddly familiar. Her head rested against the pillow, and he removed his hand from it. But then in a motion so quick, she had no time to react, to say the code phrase, or even to scream, he pulled the handkerchief from his pocket while holding her head down with the other hand.

  Before J.J. could make a sound, she drifted heavily into unconsciousness, managing to think two words, just before the blackness was total. “Not again…”

  Nicole heard Lewis instruct J.J. to lean back, and then for several seconds, there was no sound other than a slight rustling and crinkling of the paper with which exam tables were always covered. After that, the room grew even quieter, it seemed. Nicole had expected him to begin giving her instructions, as he’d indicated he wanted to test her range of motion. But there were no instructions. There were no sounds at all.

  She stood up, careful not to make any noise. She quickly pulled the ski mask back on, less careful about hiding her hair this time. There had been no sound for nearly a minute, and she was beginning to feel like something had gone very wrong. She whispered, hoping that Dan had parked close enough for his comms to remain in range. “I think something’s wrong. I’m going in.” She drew her weapon from its shoulder harness, the gun having been too large to fit into the utility pouch. She carefully depressed the lever and lightly pushed on the door, wanting to open it just a crack so that she could see if Lewis was silent because he’d left the exam room for some reason. She didn’t want to walk right into him if he’d just gone out to get an instrument from another area.

  But the door did not move. Tapping the mask’s lights on, she looked at the latch to see if she’d accidentally turned a lock handle, but she saw that the closet had no lock. She pushed harder this time, but still, the door did not budge. Risking discovery, she tried a third time, banging against the door with her shoulder. All that gained her was a sore shoulder.

  “What the fuck!” she whispered. “Dan, I’m trapped in the closet. I have no idea how…” Then she remembered the cleaning cart. Perhaps the fastidious Lewis had pushed the unsightly cart further into the alcove, so that it was resting against the closet. It had looked heavy, but she should be able to roll it with the door, if only enough to shimmy out. It didn’t make any sense. With a start, she wondered if the cart was the sort that had locking wheels. If so, she was in serious trouble.

  Dan sat in the car, watching the front door for any sign of the fat, greasy bastard trying to make a run for it. As time passed, he began to realize he couldn’t hear anything from the ear piece. In fact, the last thing he’d heard had been the doctor calling J.J. a big, brave girl, and it had taken every ounce of restraint in him to keep from storming back in and belting him in the mouth.

  “Cole,” he said at a conversational volume, “can you hear me?”

  There was no response. He gave himself a tap on the head as he realized she was probably maintaining radio silence so Lewis didn’t hear voices from his supply closet. Clever.

  “Nicole, if you can hear me, just tap the earbud. I’ll be able to hear that, but no one in the office will.”

  He waited, expecting to hear the tapping right away. But there was no sound, other than a very faint static-hiss that he’d been trying to ignore the whole time. Eventually, he assumed, rightly, that they’d underestimated Dan’s distance from the other two devices, and apparently, overestimated their range.

  As he sat, trying to decide whether to go back in or stick to the plan, he noticed a few other people walking into the building. This was to be expected, as Lewis wasn’t the only doctor in the place. A brown-haired woman in her thirties entered first, and Dan could see that she turned left upon entering. A few minutes later, a mother and her young son went inside, and Dan began to disregard people entering the building. After all, he was there to make sure Lewis didn’t come out.

  So the scrawny little man wearing the baggy flannel shirt didn’t even register with him as he nearly jogged into the building.

  He put his hand on the car’s door handle, but then he pulled it back. He’d operated outside of Nicole’s instructions last night by taking J.J. to Sonic. And while that had turned out okay, he remembered that it was Cole who was the expert. It was Cole who was in charge. He didn’t think it would be wise defy her twice. She told him to guard the front.

  He’d guard the front.

  Nicole was just about to begin kicking the door in a desperate attempt to move the cart, no longer concerned about being discovered. She drew back her leg, aiming the heel of her boot right by the door handle, when she heard voices in her earpiece. The first voice was not the doctor, but she recognized it immediately.

  “Jesus Christ, Doc! You need to get the fuck out of this building right now!”

  “Davis, what do you want? I told you I had an appointment today.”

  Davis! She could not mistake that voice. It was a little weaker than she remembered it, but the nasally weasel-tone was coming from none other than Uncle Clyde.

  She still had her foot ready to attack the door, and at the sound of Uncle Clyde’s voice, she put all of her weight and strength into the thrust and kicked the door for all she was worth.

  “You hear that? Someone’s coming, Doc. Let’s go. We’ll go out the side office.”

  “What about the girl?”

  “Throw something over her and bring her. Christ, you got her stripped naked. She looks pretty good lying there, but we ain’t got time.”

  “What are you doing?” asked Lewis.

  “We’re gonna have her arms around our shoulders. The blanket’ll cover her top, but she gotta at least have some pants on.”

  “Fuck,” said Lewis, the vulgar word sounding foreign coming from his well-tailored mouth. “Alright, here.”

  It sounded to Nicole like they’d left the exam room, which should have meant them moving toward her. She kicked the door repeatedly, hoping that one or the other of them would be curious enough to see what was causing the noise and open the closet. She no longer gave a shit about collecting evidence. If Uncle Clyde was dealing with Nathan Lewis, then she had all the confirmation she needed. And whoever opened that door would find out just how much she didn’t care, as demonstrated by the holes she was going to put into his body.

  But no one opened the door. She didn’t even hear them pass. A wave of terror passed over her as she recalled Uncle Clyde mentioning a side office. She remembered that the end of the building opposite where she’d broken into the basement had a dental office with its own entrance, separate from the main entryway near which Dan was posted. She now got the sick feeling that the dentist and perhaps all the other offices in the building were just for show. Maybe this whole block had been chosen and modified just for Lewis’s disgusting pastime. She strained to listen for a sound, any sound… but there was only silence. In desperation, she attacked the door of the closet with everything she had; hands, feet… she even considered firing a shot through the door. But even in her frantic state of mind, she knew it would do no good.

 

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