46

 

Though Beth and Randy stumbled outside, Beth’s words lingered and penetrated Mark. It was in his mind. And she’d forgiven him. A weight dropped from his body. Dear God, help me. Warmth flooded his feet and his legs. A miracle. Thank you, God.

He struggled twice to gain his balance then stood up. Staring at the notebook Randy had left behind, guilt riddled him, and he began to stumble again. Mark closed his eyes and replayed Beth’s words. His mind might be weak, but his legs were able. He opened his eyes, ran to the desk, grabbed the gun from the desk drawer, and dashed outside.

Randy was gone—and Beth with him.

He dialed 9-1-1 and gave the operator the details. What now? Sit back and wait for the cops to find Randy and Beth? Not good enough. One thing was certain. Randy would take Beth back to his place, wherever that was.

Mark sprinted inside and shook the mouse to wake up the computer. Logging on, he soon accessed scans of receipts from the vending company that contained Randy’s signature—Randy Smith. Mark snorted. Smith? Like that was the man’s real last name.

Mark opened an Internet browser. An hourglass icon lingered on the screen. “Ugh. Come on.” He slammed his hand on the desk. The screen remained frozen for a moment but then loaded, one useless graphic at a time. Using the mouse, he moved his cursor to a search bar and began to type. His fingers moved faster than the letters appeared on screen. He clicked on the search button. Nothing. He clicked to stop loading the browser. The page stopped loading just as the search results began to appear on the screen. “Noooo!” He shoved the keyboard away then rubbed his forehead. “Get a hold on yourself, Corporal.” He reloaded the page then removed his fingers from the keyboard. As the hourglass again turned on the screen, he fought the urge to throw the computer against the wall. Instead he turned away, clenched and unclenched his fists, and then swung back to the screen. His breath came out in a swoosh. “Randy Smith, Riversdale, 1312 Kumquat Court.” Bingo. He removed a notepad from the desk drawer and jotted down the address.

Keys in his pocket, Mark scrambled toward his van and punched the address in the GPS. With a bit of cloud cover, the GPS unit took a few minutes to acquire a strong signal. More precious time wasted.

He used his Bluetooth to call Bill. “You were right, I’m afraid. Someone else told her my secret first.”

“What do you mean?”

He quickly explained to his friend what had ensued.

“Hold on.” Bill spoke in the background. “OK, Tim’s dialing 9-1-1 and asking them to send some officers to that address you gave me.”

“Don’t hang up. I need you to keep talking with me. Do what my therapist said. Stay on the line and remind me that it’s all in my head. Can you do that?”

“You got it.”

Mark accelerated the vehicle as the light turned green. Time was of the essence. Extra minutes could cost Beth her life. Dear God, please protect her. I don’t know how, but please make time stand still. Maybe he could reach her before the police could.

 

****

 

Beth stared out the car window. Randy had locked the doors using the master control. His gun sat on the console between them.

He caught her eyeing it then moved it to the driver’s side door storage bin. “Tsk, tsk. And don’t think about trying the doors. I have child safety locks. It’s for your own good…to help keep you safe.”

No way out, at least not at the moment.

He glanced at her. “It’s OK now, Beth. You don’t have to see him anymore.”

“You don’t understand. I forgive him for what he did.”

Randy grunted. “Please. My stepfather beat me. Mark caused your brother’s death. You can’t forgive stuff like that.”

“But God forgives us.”

“I hate to tell you, but God doesn’t exist.” Anger inflected in his voice.

Oh yes, He does. Not like she could explain that to this lunatic.

Randy pulled onto another street, this one less populated than the last. “Now, I just need to go home and get a few things before we head to my other apartment. I have more of those books with funny signs. I know how much you liked the one I let you borrow. We also need to stop by the cemetery to say good-bye to a friend, and then we can head out of town. Soon, we can put this all behind us.”

Cemetery? Chills spread over her. God, give me peace. A sense of calm washed over her. No matter what happened, live or die, she had God.

A car in front of them blew exhaust in their direction. Beth sneezed.

“You have to watch out for germs. It’s very important.” Randy grabbed a box of hand wipes from the side compartment and handed them to her. “Clean your hands, then toss the offending wipe outside.”

Doing as he instructed, she wiped down her hands and forearms thoroughly.

Randy let the window down. “No funny business. It’s my job to protect you.”

She tossed the wipe outside, hoping she’d sloughed off some skin cells during her cleaning. Maybe someone might find her DNA.

The car came to a stop. Randy put her window back up. She studied her captor. This man feared germs. Maybe she could use this to her advantage. Sure he had a gun, but perhaps she could wield a different weapon.