try to escape.”
“No, see, this isn’t about you anymore, Alex. That time is long gone. Right now this is about me. It’s about me doing whatever I want to you. How about I show you?”
He stormed off into the kitchen. I yanked on the handcuffs, more frantically now, but he returned seconds later with a butcher knife.
“How about I give you a little slice on the cheek, huh, Alex? How does that sound? Sound good?”
“Okay, you’ve made your point.”
“I don’t think I have.” He slashed the tip of the blade across my cheek. I winced and felt a warm trickle as he cut my other cheek even deeper. “You like that? Huh? C’mon, asshole, fight back! Try to kick me. See what I do.”
“I said okay, you’ve made your point! Now get that knife out of my face!”
Darren stepped away. He looked a trifle embarrassed as he wiped the blade off on his pants leg and set it on the couch. “Just remember who’s in control here,” he said, softly.
“I won’t forget.”
“And don’t patronize me.” He sat down on the couch. “I don’t even remember what I was saying. Oh, yeah, this isn’t about you. It’s about me. And pretty soon it’ll be about Tracy Anne.”
I stiffened.
“She’s got what you had, you know. I can see it when I look at her. I could always sense it before, but I could never really see it before, y’know? It’s beautiful. Just look into her eyes.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You always fought it. I don’t think she will.”
“My daughter is not a killer.”
“Not your choice. You can see it if you look. It’s like a black fog. A beautiful black fog. You ever see it?”
“There’s nothing to see.”
He leaned back on the couch. “You’re just not looking. Doesn’t surprise me. Where do you think Melanie and Tracy Anne are right now?”
“Somewhere safe.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure they are. But I can wait. That’s where I screwed up with you. I was way too impatient. I thought that you’d see what you really were after you murdered whatever-her-name-was, but I messed that all up by rushing it. The fog wasn’t completely there yet, not like it is with your daughter. I bet you it’ll be even thicker the next time I see her. Hmmmm, I wonder when that will be?”
He got up off the couch and retrieved his own glass of iced tea. He took a long swig. “Ah, that hits the spot. You’ll really wish you hadn’t thrown that glass at me, because that means no refills, and you’re going to get thirsty.”
Darren set the glass back on the tray, and then bent down and grabbed a corner of the rug. He pulled it to the side of the room, exposing a small trapdoor. He winked at me and pulled it open. “I dug this all out myself,” he said. “I’ve learned patience, but damn, it took forever. This ground is hard as a freakin’rock. Sorry there isn’t much room, although it should be better than the trunk of my car.
“What’d I do with my gun?” he asked. A moment later he reached inside his jacket. “Oh yeah.” He took out his set of keys, removed one from the ring, and tossed it to me. Then he pointed the gun at my face. “Unlock the cuffs.”
I did so.
“This is the part where you really don’t want to make any mistakes. Get in the pit.”
“Listen to me, Darren. We can work something out.”
“No, we can’t.”
“We can. I’m sure we can.”
“You’re getting dangerously close to making a mistake.”
“If you shoot me, the neighbors will hear.”
“There aren’t any neighbors. That was a joke. And if there were, that’d be my problem, not yours.”
“Darren, please…”
“Get in the pit!”
I stood up and walked over to the trapdoor. If the pit was bigger than the trunk of his car, it sure wasn’t by much.
“Darren, you’ve got to listen to me. There’s no reason for this. We can be friends again!”
“Treating me like I’m stupid is about as big of a mistake as you can make right now.”
I was completely helpless. I couldn’t let myself get locked down there, but I couldn’t very well protect my wife and daughter lying dead with my brains splattered on the floor.
“I’ll bring Tracy to you.”
“What?”
“If you swear that you won’t hurt her, I’ll bring her to you.”
“See, now, if I believed you, that would be a great little offer. Nice bluff, but sorry, no. Now please get moving.”
I