Shampoo and a Stiff (9 page)
“
So you fought,” Bekki suggested and tried to hide the fear that his anger was summoning in her. “Like brothers will.”
“
We did,” Steven admitted reluctantly. “He knocked me into some of the boxes. Some of the bottles spilled out onto the floor. It made me so angry, because that was more money, more work, and he just didn't get it. So, I hit him back and then...” his voice stuck in his throat. He had to swallow before he could speak again. “The next thing I knew, my hands were around his throat,” he whispered and held up his hands. They hovered right in front of her neck, as he stared at them with shock. “Squeezing, just squeezing,” he mumbled. His hand began to tremble. “I just wanted him to understand, to agree, to straighten out.”
Bekki
was silent and stood perfectly still. She was waiting for just the right moment.
“
I was just going to hold him still, just force him to listen to me, and then, he went limp,” he shook his head slowly back and forth as if he still couldn't quite comprehend it. “It all happened so fast. He showed up here, and we fought, and he was dead, all in ten minutes or so. It was insane...” he looked up at Bekki and frowned. “But it was an accident.”
Bekki
arched a brow and did not point out that strangling someone could not be an accident. She began to turn the doorknob of the storage room.
“
Bekki, you believe me, don't you?” Steven asked as he stood right in front of her, his cold eyes boring down into hers.
“
Sure,” Bekki nodded a little. “But what I don't understand is how did you cover it up?”
Steven
clenched his jaw and then lowered his voice. “I knew that no one would understand that it was just an accident. So, I knew I needed to get an alibi for myself. I grabbed some brinwood just in case I might need it. I had been studying it for some time. I knew it could make people dizzy, make them forget, not be able to focus. So, I left Brad's body there in the truck and drove as far as I could get in a reasonable amount of time. I ended up at Doug’s Bar. It was perfect. Crowded, noisy,” he smiled a little at how clever he was.
Bekki
struggled to restrain herself. She thought of her father and his friends just trying to have an innocent night of fun. She was silent as he continued to explain. “So, I bought everybody a round and I laced the drinks with the brinwood. Pretty soon they had no clue who was who, and were too far gone to notice when I slipped out the back. I drove back to the factory and put Brad’s body along with the last of the boxes in the delivery truck. Then I drove back to the bar, and stayed long enough to make sure people remembered seeing me there. When I left, everyone was being shuttled away in cabs. I knew that none of them had seen me leave, and everyone would attest to my presence. I hoped it would be enough. And,” he smiled triumphantly. “It was.”
He paused and leaned closer to
Bekki. “Until you started asking too many questions. I've got too much to lose, Bekki. I hope you understand.”
Bekki
nodded as if she did, but she turned the knob on the door all the way. She jerked the door open and stepped aside. As she suspected, Jack was trapped inside. He barrelled out of the room and lunged towards Steven.
“
How could you do that to your own brother?” he demanded as he wrapped his own hands around Steven's throat. Steven gasped and grabbed a large paperweight from his desk. He slammed it hard against Jack's head. Jack wavered for a moment, and then collapsed. Bekki's eyes widened as she realized she was now completely unprotected. She hadn't even bothered to tell anyone where she was going.
“
Bekki,” Steven said as he rubbed at his neck and stepped over Jack's body. “I think I would have liked you in different circumstances. I think that we would have shared a lot of interests. But that's not how this worked out.”
“
Steven, you're not going to get away with this,” Bekki insisted as she glowered at him. “You're going to be caught. So, how many murders do you want to be convicted of?”
“
Murder?” he chuckled a little as he gestured towards the open door of the storage room. “I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to lock you in this room. But, since the factory is closed, and it will take time for the transfer of ownership to go through, I can't be held responsible for the lack of food and water you'll be faced with.”
He pushed her backward
s into the storage room. Bekki reached up and grabbed a bottle of the shampoo that was on the shelf. She squeezed the bottle hard causing the top to pop off. She sprayed the shampoo directly into Steven's face.
“
Ah!” Steven gasped and wiped the shampoo from his eyes. While he was busy doing this, Bekki slammed her foot hard into his stomach, knocking him a few inches backwards. She had trained in martial arts when she moved to the big city, to keep herself safe. It was coming in handy at that moment.
A
s Steven started to lunge for Bekki, she grabbed his arm and propelled him into the shelving inside the storage room. Several boxes fell down and struck him, causing him to cry out in pain. Bekki was right on top of him, ready to land a punch to his face, but before she could he grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her leg out from under her. Bekki gasped as she went flying backwards. She tried to get her footing but her shoe swept through a pile of the shampoo she had sprayed and she continued to fly through the air. She landed hard on her back, and the back of her head struck the concrete.
“
Ugh,” she gasped and her vision went black for a moment. When it cleared again she was staring up at Steven. He was wiping the shampoo from his face with a clean towel. She realized she must have been out longer than a moment as she discovered her arms and legs were snugly bound with masking tape.
She struggled to get free of it, but there was no way for her to move.
“Help!” she screamed out. Steven just laughed. He crouched down and pushed the towel into her mouth to stifle her screams.
“
You should have stayed out of it, Bekki,” he murmured. “Now, you're going to pay the price for not making the right choice. Just like Brad had to.”
He stood up and walked out of the storage room. A moment later she heard scuffing against the floor. Then she saw Jack's body being dragged into the storage room with her. She winced as she wondered if he was alive. He wasn't bound, so she guessed he wasn't.
“Now, you two play nice,” Steven requested as he started to step out of the storage room. He paused and for just a moment Bekki thought he might release her, or at least offer some sentiment of regret. Instead he just gathered his oils from the shelf. Then he closed and locked the storage room door behind him. She heard his footsteps as he walked away. She heard the larger door of the office close and lock as well. What followed was a silence so loud that it was painful.
Bekki
glanced around the room for something, anything that might aid her escape. She wriggled against the cement but only managed to move an inch or two. She was sure that she had got herself into a bind that she couldn't get out of this time. At some point she must have fallen asleep. She awoke to the sounds of sirens. She heard them coming from all directions. At first she thought she was dreaming. Then she realized that she wasn't. The sirens were coming from outside of the factory. She was stunned. How could they have known she was there?
Then she smelled it. The sirens weren't there because of
her, they were there because someone had started a fire. It was Steven again, trying to cover his tracks. Bekki could barely breathe as the smoke was filling the storage room. She struggled more against the tape. She noticed that when she shoved Steven into one of the storage shelves a large glass bowl had fallen, shards were scattered everywhere. Bekki managed to squirm towards one. She worked at the tape as quickly as she could. As soon as her hands were free she took the towel out of her mouth and then she freed her feet. The room was still filled with smoke so she stayed low to the ground. She heard a quiet groan.
“
Jack?” she called out.
He groaned again.
Bekki was relieved that he was alive, but she knew that neither of them would survive for long if she didn't get them out. She grabbed onto Jack, but no matter how hard she tried to pull, she couldn't move his massive frame.
“
Help!” she screamed out, but the sirens were so loud she was sure no one could hear them. As Bekki started to lose hope that she would ever get free, she heard a pounding on the outer office door.
“
Help!” she screamed out again. “We're in here! In the storage room!”
The pounding grew louder. She heard the wooden door burst. Then she heard the storage room door being unlocked. She looked up expecting firemen, but it was Nick that she saw. His face was smudged with soot. He rushed toward
s her.
“
Bekki,” he gasped out and swept her up into his arms.
“
No,” Bekki protested. “I can walk,” she said firmly. “We need to get Jack!”
Jack was slightly awake but not enough to get himself out of the bui
lding. Nick eased him up off the floor and Bekki drew his arm around her shoulders. Together they made their way out of the office and into the vast space of the warehouse. Once they were out of the office area the smoke cleared. The fire had been started in a waste paper basket inside the office, and hadn't even spread, it had just smoked. They met fire-fighters in the middle of the warehouse, and two of them took Jack outside. Once Bekki was outside she breathed in the fresh air greedily. She leaned heavily on Nick.
“
How did you know?” she asked as she looked up at him with admiration.
“
Let's just say, reporters aren't always a nuisance,” Nick replied. “When I got here I noticed the smoke so I called it in. I couldn't get the office door open. I'm sorry Bekki, I should have got to you faster.”
“
Nick, you saved my life,” Bekki pointed out.
“
I'd do anything for you, Bekki,” Nick promised and looked deeply into her eyes.
“
Then I need to ask one more thing of you,” Bekki murmured and pressed her cell phone into his hand. “This has Steven's confession on it. I want you to get him.”
“
Don't worry, Bekki,” Nick said as he kissed the top of her head. “We're going to catch him.”
As the pa
ramedics walked over to check the back of Bekki's head, Nick headed off to the gathering of police officers. Within two hours they had Steven in custody and behind bars. Bekki was relieved when she curled up next to Nick that night. They hadn't been able to save Brad, but at least Jack was back home with his wife and kids, Tom was a free man, and Steven was going to pay for what he had done.
***
The next day Bekki insisted on going into the salon. She had missed her appointment with Minnie, and wanted to set things right with her. As she blended her color into the strawberry blonde shade she desired, Minnie chatted with her.
“
Oh, did you hear the news?” she asked with glee in her tone.
“
What news?” Bekki asked, still a little dazed from the ache in her head.
“
Well, it turns out that Brad was more than just talk. In his will he left his half of the company to the employees of the factory in the event of his death.”
“
Really?” Bekki asked with amazement. “That's wonderful.”
“
Yes, and because Steven is going to jail, he can't sell the company. So the entire company, the factory, everything, is going into the hands of the employees.”
Bekki
smiled to herself as she styled Minnie's perfect, strawberry blonde curls. Brad might not have been able to survive his brother's greed, but even from his grave he had been generous and made the right choice.
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