Going Under_ A Bill Roberts Thriller - Silas Payton Page 0,20

crime? In particular, to ties with the Italian Mafia?"

Chapter 21

Bethany Walker

The traffic was lighter than most nights. She took the Mount Pleasant Parkway, the most direct route home. The same she always took heading home from the clubhouse. On a Friday night, her boyfriend Louis wasn't going to be home for another few hours.

Another lonely Friday night.

She wasn't sure where she would end up in life, but for now this seemed okay. Louis treated her well, but it bothered her, him being around beautiful women all the time. She couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't tempted sometimes. She loved him so much, but was doubtful he loved her the same.

They had a large posh three bedroom house off of Lawrence Avenue. Nice house. Nice car. Not a lifestyle she would ever have as a waitress, the only job she ever had. But, as the wife of Louis Duprey, she could have it all. But she had to secure her position at his side.

He has to love me. Why wouldn't he?

She was twenty-nine years old, and he seemed to think she was attractive. Everything she asked for, she got.

He wouldn't do that if he didn't love me, would he?

The insecure thoughts kept rushing through her head. She was soon in an agitated frenzy, analyzing everything he had said to her during the day. Trying to read anything she could from their conversations.

An alarm on her phone started. With one hand, she pulled her cell from her purse. She turned off the alarm, surprised it didn't show a reason for going off. Her cell showed eleven-thirty. She looked at the clock on the dash, also saying eleven-thirty.

Bethany felt her breathing start to settle. Her mind, which had just been racing at a million miles an hour, started to steady. She began to smile and feel quite relaxed, a feeling which did not come naturally to her.

She approached her turn, but felt she had to continue past it. To turn, as she does every time she drives home from downtown, would surely mean the return of her anxiety, her heart palpitations, her impending fear. She didn't understand why, but knew some strong force was guiding her decision to not turn there.

Bethany crossed the intersection and her mind started to settle again. The concerns about her boyfriend that only minutes before, gripped her entire consciousness, were now a part of the past. She had driven away and left them behind. Bethany kept a steady speed on her course, as the little traffic there was, remarkably didn't get in her way. In fact, the other cars on the road felt non-existent.

The car approached a quiet intersection to a residential street, and she felt compelled to turn onto it. The pull was like the subtle attraction on the verge of a magnetic field. At first, on the outermost edge of the field, she could have passed by with only the slightest awareness. However, once she neared, closer and closer, the magnetic field became ever more powerful.

Bethany, feeling more and more content, pulled to the side of the road and turned off the car. She stared out the window at nothing in particular, almost unaware of the houses and parked cars around her. The light cast by the street lamps was just enough to see she was alone. There was a dark field or park beside her that added to the sense of isolation.

She sat quietly and her breathing continued like the constant, unchanging tick of her parent’s grandfather clock she used to sit and watch as a kid. No matter how long she watched the pendulum swing, it never changed. Never altered its course. Never let her down.

She reached over and grabbed her cell from the passenger seat next to her, and dialed 911.

The emergency dispatcher answered, "911. What's your emergency?"

Bethany hesitated.

The dispatcher spoke again, "Hello? You've dialed 911. Can I help you?"

Like a gentle hug comforting her, the voice on the other end of the phone line set the ball in motion. Bethany responded, "Hello, I'd like to report the torture and murder of a young woman at 210 Gerrard Street East, the headquarters of the Darksiders motorcycle gang. I witnessed it myself. The body is still in the building, but be careful, the place is heavily guarded and there are a lot of weapons on hand."

"Miss? Can I please have your name?" the 911 operator said.

"I'm sorry, I can't give you my name."

"I'll need your name and the location you are calling from