Chapter 2
Nicole looked back one last time and there was a moment of hesitation where she wanted to turn around and go back to the man that she loved. She had just received the coordinates for the meeting that was going to change her life for the better or for the worse.
The ride over was ripe with tension and she was half expecting to see Randal riding to the rescue. The time for indecision was over and seeing the whites of the eyes of the devil was a good indication that she probably should have thought this through a lot harder than she did.
Caleb was standing by the car looking smug and folding his arms over his chest. He was still wearing the white suit that made him look like the good guy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He liked to play on that part and make people believe that he was there by the goodness of his heart. He was self destructive, manic and a little psychopathic, but at least he had found an outlet to direct most of those tendencies.
Caleb knew that he could’ve gone down a different road and lived a relatively happy and productive life. What was missing was the excitement and he had gotten that from the moment that he had first seen the fear in somebody’s eyes of losing it all. It was during a business transaction and one that shaped and defined who he was, as a man. The fear and the way that the man’s hand shook while signing over his business was like a light bulb going off over Caleb’s head.
It didn’t take him long to figure out that humanity was its own worst enemy. He saw the devastation and the destitution. He wanted to play on that like some sick guardian angel. The first time that he had seen the light in somebody’s eyes that was this close to ending it all was that thrill that he was looking for. He had to wait five years to get his just desert, but it was worth it in the end. Every month he showed one person heaven and then five years later, he would show them what hell was all about.
“I see that you have come alone. Do you have some idea that you want to deal with me permanently. If you look around, you’ll notice that I didn’t come alone. There are three sharpshooters in various locales. They have a gun trained you at this very moment. They’re being paid quite handsomely for their services. If they see anything that is out of the ordinary or makes them feel that I am in danger, then you won’t be standing there and breathing very much longer.” Caleb had his fair share of those that wanted to hurt him. The scar on his cheek was from that one and only guy that had gotten close enough to try something.
“I was going to kill you. There’s no point in lying to you, because you already pretty much know the writing on the wall. I decided on my way over here that you weren’t worth it. I would only go to jail and even if I didn’t, I would always have your death hanging over me any time that I closed my eyes. Even in death, you would still haunt me and that is something that I can’t allow to happen.” Nicole couldn’t see the sharp shooters and wasn’t even sure that they were there in the first place. This could’ve been his way of keeping things cordial. “Seeing you walk around and making people think that you’re their savior is wrong. You’re their funeral and once they sign on that dotted line, you’re practically guaranteeing that suicide isn’t far from their thoughts after the five years.” “I still want to wipe that smug look off his face, but I can’t do it the way that I was intending. He’s not exactly an easy man to reach and he will disappear without a trace after negotiations are completed.”
“I told you when I first met you that I like you. You have this way about you and maybe there is some way for you to save face. You obviously did this to protect the man you love, but I really don’t think that he’s worthy of your kind of protection. Standing up for him is only going to make you drown. I’m going to be right there to push you under with my foot. You probably thought that by being a woman that I would go easy on you, but I’ve had several women that have taken the chance with those five years. I can’t deny that I get a thrill every time that they have that pen in their hand. There’s indecision in their eyes and then finally that sense of triumph that comes from scribbling their John Hancock on the document. That may not be my Christmas, but it certainly is my birthday.” Caleb knew that his Christmas was the day that he pulled the rug out from underneath them.
“You can’t stand there and tell me that you think that what you’re doing is right. There has to be a small part underneath it all that knows that this is wrong. Do you have any humanity or has that been burned out of you from some unknown source in your childhood.” “The life that I was leaving behind me was cold without Randal by my side. He made it all worthwhile and I didn’t feel like I was just amongst all the other sheep. I have to find a way to get underneath Caleb’s skin. I have to find a way to reveal to him the underlying reason for the reason why he’s like this. If I don’t ask any questions, then I won’t get any answers. I have to strip away what I see on the outside for what’s going on in the inside.”
“It’s interesting that you would try to fixate on my humanity. I’ve never thought of myself as a good guy or bad guy. I’m just the guy that has your fate in the palm of his hands. It’s that power of good over evil that makes it too damned delicious to stop any time soon. I even think about having a prodigy and passing on everything that I know to the next generation. Anything that comes from my genes will be cursed by the need to hurt others. By doing this, I give them what they need, instead of trying to take somebody’s life and then landing in jail for many years to come. I know that I’m damaged and that I’m not right in the head, but I’ve learned to accept it. The kind of love that you share with Randal is something that I’m not capable of. I don’t even know how anybody could get that invested in another human being. Even my child when it’s born will not have the kind of love and nurturing that it needs to take its first steps into the world.”
“I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry that you won’t know what it’s like to be in love and truly happy for the first time in your life. I feel sorry for the man that you have become. You don’t know any different and this is the only way that you feel alive. It’s not so much the things that you have said to me, but it’s the things that you do. It’s how I feel every time that you’re close to me. It’s like somebody is walking over my grave and spitting on everything that I believe in. I don’t know if you truly have these sharpshooters out there waiting to gun me down in cold blood. It could be just a bluff. You wear that suit like it’s your own personal armor. You project this kind of innocence, but you can’t hide what’s in your eyes.” “I wonder when the last time that he saw a piece of his heart that wasn’t black as night. Did he even have his humanity when he was born? He speaks like he has always been this way and that in itself makes me pity him, but also fear him at the same time.”
The only thing that Nicole could hold onto was that feeling of her secret admirer. The little gifts and the furtive glances from the man that had turned out to be more than she expected was something to cherish. He stared down this man that couldn’t stop smiling like this was the best thing that he had ever done in his life. Nicole took out the gun and had it in her hands before laying it on the table with both hands draped over top of it.
“If you’re trying to scare me, then you’re going to have to do a whole lot better than that, Nicole. You already know that by bringing that with you that you have sealed your fate. You either die here today, or we come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. I’m more than happy to leave Randal out of it. He has already paid for his life of luxury. He won’t be able to live without somebody else keeping him in the lifestyle that he has grown to love. He’s accustomed to the finer things and you may not believe this, but I seriously don’t think that he’s able to live without it.” Caleb took out the pen and laid it alongside the gun that was partially hidden underneath Nicole’s hands. That pen was a family heirloom that had been passed down from generation to generation. It was made of solid gold.
He took out a document and opened it flat on the table, before turning it in her direction. He motioned with his head for her to read and to find out exactly what she was getting herself into.
Nicole could almost see the blood dripping off the pointed end of the pen. Those that had used it to sign in the past were most likely not amongst the living anymore. Dying at their own hand was more satisfying than having to live on the streets begging for food. Any money that they accumulated would be taken away from them. They could try to hide a small meager amount, but that wouldn’t be enough for those that had felt what it was like to have people admire and envy them from afar.
“You really expect me to pick up that pen and sign my name on the dotted line. To do that would mean giving up whatever life I have left. I would enjoy everything that there is that comes from having money, but those five years will go by just like that. Before long, I would be standing right here again looking at you with a bit of gray in your beard and your hair. You would still have those cold and deadly eyes. Caleb, don’t you see that by doing this you are committing a circle that cannot be broken. It’s this destructive cycle that needs to be put to rest. I’m seriously considering picking up this gun and shooting it. I don’t know if I will live by doing that, but it might be that satisfaction that will be something that I can hold onto walking through those pearly gates.” “I’ve always believed that people were capable of change, but Caleb makes me think otherwise. I thought I saw something a moment ago, but it was like this fleeting image. The glint of a scope now extinguished. I have to wonder if god himself has now chosen to act on the behest of the human populace. Could I really believe that a higher power was at work here and was that the only thing that I could hold onto in my last minutes on this earth?”
“I had no idea what I was up against it. I actually believed for a moment that you were capable of picking up that gun and going out in a blaze of Glory. I was born this way and I grew up thinking of how I could make other people’s lives miserable. I would look into their eyes and I would know that they would be, so much better off taking their last breath. I’ve tried to wear a million masks, but I can never run away from the one that I wear every day like a badge of honor. There’s no escape from the grim reaper and there’s no escape from the IRS. In that same a guard, there’s no escape from the final bell and that tick of the clock that makes you think that I’m coming.” Caleb tapped his finger alongside the pen.
All the losers and the winners made no apologies for how they lived their lives. Caleb looked in the mirror and could see a man that was born for devastation and destruction. He liked that feeling of making people suffer without putting the gun to their head himself. He had actually had a couple of old clients sit in that very chair and blow their brains out right in front of him. The arterial spray against his face and the warm droplets of blood on his skin made him laugh out loud.
“I have to tell you that you’re trying my patience little girl. You really should have come here and been prepared to take my deal. You can pick up that gun, but I don’t think that you’re going to get a chance to use it. Once you lift it off the table that will be where you will hear the bullet coming out of the chamber. Your finger won’t land on the trigger and the life that you hold, so dear will be snuffed out with one motion of my hand. They know where their bread is buttered. You should come with me for a moment and I have something to share with you that might make you change your mind about what you plan to do it here today.”