Chapter Thirty-One – Molly

 

“You all right back there, Molly?” Bobby asked, his big, bald head shifting a little as he glanced up at me in the mirror. He was the man I’d replaced the night before, the one whose mother was sick.

“Yeah,” I said with a fervent nod as I my hands continued to fidget in my lap. I laughed nervously. “Just a little bit of stage fright, you know.”

“Well, you know, first time’s always rough.” He gave me what I assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile. “Seen girls act way worse than you, promise. You just, you know, try to relax. You’re supposed to be a charmer, get these guys wrapped around your little finger.”

Nodding to him, as much as myself, I swallowed hard as I looked out the window at the passing desert. “Yeah, sure. Got it.”

First time, huh? Was that what this was going to be for me?

Luke was nowhere to be seen, with no text response. No call. Nothing. Back closer to Chuck’s house, I thought for the briefest of brief moments that I’d seen his rental go racing past us. But, if it had been him, he hadn’t stopped, hadn’t braked. He’d just torn by at a shuddering speed. Had he not understood my text message?

What would happen if I showed up there alone, without him by my side? Would I somehow be pressured or forced into performing for this party?

Bobby slowed and took the exit for Prophet. Not much farther now. Fifteen minutes at the most.

I sighed as I stared out the window, a feeling of unease settling within me. Just a little bit longer, and I’d be there, at this so-called Illuminati House. Alone. With Dominic. And somewhere, lurking within, would be the capcaun.

Beyond the tinted windows, the sand and stones were nothing more than a dark blur, the stars above dim and faded. Bobby hadn’t even turned on the radio, had barely said a word to me. I turned on my phone’s screen again, just to check and see if Luke had sent a return message. No service, though.

“Expecting a call?”

“Huh?” I asked as I glanced up from my phone, the world bluish-tinged from the light shining up into my face. “Oh, no. Sent a text to a guy earlier, had to cancel some plans. That’s all.”

“Guy, huh?” He chuckled. “You dating?”

“Um, no, not really,” I replied, not exactly certain why I was even discussing this with the pseudo-pimp riding in the front seat. But what else was there to do? There wasn’t even anything out my window to draw my attention. “Kind of just met.”

“Hit it off then, huh?”

I pinched my lips together. “Sort of.”

“Hell of a time for a career change. Sure you wanna be starting a relationship right now?”

“Not exactly, no,” I said, honestly. “But I’ve got a good feeling about this one.”

He chuckled. “Well, just don’t tell him your day job, right? Most of the girls I’ve worked with, that’s what they always said. Just take the money, make sure the John wears a condom, and you keep the two separate.”

I nodded. “Right.”

Now that I thought about it, Heidi hadn’t really had any kind of relationship over the last year or so. Sure, she’d kind of tried to date early on. But the work seemed to consume her the longer she stayed in.

I thought for a moment about Heidi, and about how Bobby had called out sick the night before. “How’s your mother doing, by the way?” I asked after a moment.

“Ma?” he asked, giving me a look in the mirror. “What d’you mean?”

“Your mother. My friend Heidi said she was sick.”

“Oh, you’re Heidi’s friend?” he asked, his eyebrows practically molding into one with his consternation. He paused for a moment, as if he were searching for the right set of words. When he spoke again, he had so many pauses and ums peppering his words, I just knew he was lying. “Yeah, she’s doing better. She’s recuperating just fine now. Thanks for asking.”

I didn’t believe him for a second, not with the way he was flailing about for the right words. I clenched my jaw as my hands formed into fists. This guy who was supposed to have been Molly’s security and her driver had decided he wanted a night off work, and I ended up getting roped in to replace him. And look where Heidi had ended up.

“What the hell—?” Bobby mumbled as he abruptly pressed the brakes, began to slow the Tahoe down.

Nerves suddenly coming alive, I leaned forward in my seat, craning my neck so I could see better out through the windshield. No way we could be here already, not unless Bobby was practically flying down the road. He hadn’t been going much faster than the speed limit the last time I checked the speedometer.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Are we there already?”

“Nah,” he replied. “Just some guy broke down in the middle of the road.”

Our headlights illuminated a silver SUV ahead, with its hazard lights flashing as we slowly approached. The driver had pulled across both lanes of traffic, and the only way we were going to get around it was by driving over the shoulder. And, out here, the shoulder was a pretty drastic maneuver. We’d already started on the gentle climb up into the mountains, and a steep drop-off occurred right off the road. One tire in the wrong spot, and we’d be tumbling down into the desert.

Bobby brought the SUV to a stop, the tires sounding like they were pulverizing gravel and rocks beneath them.

I squinted my eyes as I looked forward. Was that…?

No, it couldn’t be.

From his slumped shoulders and pushed-out beer belly beneath the outstretched hand blocking the headlights of the Tahoe, I could tell this guy was paunchy and overweight, looking like he hadn’t run more than a cumulative mile in three or four years.

No way…

“Hello?” called a high-pitched voice from outside. “Hey, sorry! Sorry, buddy!”

Bobby glanced back over his shoulder at me, sighing as he did. “Fucking guy.”

I shifted in my seat and leaned forward, nearly putting my face on the side of the passenger seat as I leaned in closer to my driver. “Maybe you should go help him?” I asked. “Or at least see what’s wrong?”

He looked back at me, seeming as if he were about to say something, but thought better of it.

“Come on, Bobby,” I said. “Just get him off the road, at least. He probably just needs some help pushing his car. I’d go do it, but I’ve got heels on.”

He chuckled. “Sure you don’t mind?”

“No, please, go help this guy. Clock’s ticking, and we can’t go around him.”

He nodded. “Yeah, sure thing.” He popped the door handle and pushed the driver’s side open, climbing out. “You all right, man? Need some help?”

“Yeah,” the owner of the SUV nearly whined as Bobby walked closer, his black suit like a void of light in the desert night. He backed up, giving Bobby room as he approached, saying, “I was just driving up here, and I heard something, I dunno, like pop. Steam started coming out from under the hood, so I pulled over as fast as I could. And the engine’s real hot!”

“Sounds like your radiator,” Bobby replied, walking up to the open hood. He got around in front, putting both hands on the edge of the engine compartment as he leaned in. Wisps of steam were still rising into the night air, little tendrils of fog that seemed so out of place in the Arizona night. “You tried adding water—?”

The man, now seemingly back to his normal physique, was on him before he could finish his words, his arms locked around his neck as he dragged him backwards to the ground. It was like the whiney owner of the broken-down car had instantly morphed from some poor milquetoast loser into the Army veteran I’d come to care about so much already.

Bobby tried to cry out, but his words wouldn’t come, and soon his kicking legs were moving less and less.

I jumped out of the backseat and came running with a clatter of heels up to Luke and Bobby. “Luke! What the hell? Did you hurt him?”

“He’ll be fine,” he grunted as he leaned down and hooked his hands beneath Bobby’s arms, starting to drag him down the road, back towards the Tahoe.

“What did you do?”

“Just a sleeper hold. No big deal. He’ll be back at it in just a minute or two.”

“Jesus Christ,” I breathed. “What are we going to do with him?”

“First, we’re going to put him in the trunk. Then, we’re going to take him out in the desert.”

My chest tightened. “The desert? Why the desert?”

“So we can have a nice and quiet place to talk, of course. Now, go get the back door, babe. We don’t have a lot of time here.”