The Border Part Seven (5 page)

“It’s lovely,” Candy said, forcing a smile as she held up the ugly, silver and gold necklace in the shape of some kind of beetle. She turned it around, frowning as she briefly considered that it was meant to be a rabbit, before deciding that, no, it was definitely a beetle, which was a shame. She liked rabbits. “It’s… really lovely.”

“I just saw it and thought of you,” Bob replied with a cautious smile. “Happy Christmas. I know it’s not much, but you know what they say, it’s the thought that counts.”

“I didn’t think to get you anything,” she replied.

“Well, that’s okay. You give me lots of things, all year round.”

Leaning closer, he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Do you want me to help you put it on?” he asked.

“Um, sure,” she said, letting him take the necklace and then turning her back to him. “I really have to get back soon, though. My parents -”

“I’m sure they can wait a few more minutes,” he replied. “After all, I’m keeping my entire family waiting.” Feeling his phone vibrate, he pulled it from his pocket and sighed. “Speaking of which, I have to take this. It’s the old ball and chain.” Chuckling, he answered the call. “Hey, I’ll be home in a bit. I tried your Dad -”

“Where are you?” Beth asked, sounding stressed.

“I’m…” He glanced at Candy. “I’m just on the other side of town. I’m outside the garage on Bleeker Street, but -”

“Oh God,” Beth replied, interrupting him. “You have to get home. Bob, I need you to get home right now!”

“I’ve got a flat tire.” He smiled. “I’m just changing it now and -”

“Get home!”

“Beth -”

“You have to get home!” she said firmly. “You have to -”

“Someone’s coming,” Candy said, frowning as she watched a man walking toward the car from the direction of the closed and shuttered garage.

“Bob?” Beth asked, sounding worried. “Who are you with?”

“Um, no-one,” he told her, waving Candy away as he turned to face the man. “Honey, I’ll be right back in an hour or so. Wait, I have to go, there’s someone stopping to -”

Before he could finish, the man punched Bob square in the face, smashing his phone at the same time and sending it crashing to the ground. Grabbing Candy’s shoulder, the man twisted her around and clamped a hand over her mouth.

“One word from either of you,” Luke said firmly, “and you’re both dead.”

***

“I don’t have a lot of money,” Bob said a few minutes later, terrified as he drove the car away from town, “but everything I have, I can give to you. Please, if you’ll just let us go -”

“Keep driving,” Luke replied, watching from the passenger seat with a gun aimed at Bob. After a moment he glanced at Candy, who was sitting petrified in the rear. “What’s
your
name?”

Too scared to speak, Candy simply stared at him.

“I asked your name,” Luke continued, fixing her with a firm stare. “Tell me.”

“Candy,” she stammered. “Please don’t hurt me! It’s Christmas!”

“Candy?” Luke frowned. “For real?”

“I don’t want to die,” she whimpered. “Please, I want to go home…”

“Do you want the car?” Bob asked, checking in his wing mirror for a moment. “I can give you the car. I won’t even report it missing, I promise. I’ll just -”

“Drive,” Luke sneered, leaning over and pressing the gun against the side of Bob’s face. “I swear to God, you’re the most irritating man I’ve ever met, and I only met you five minutes ago. No wonder -” He caught himself just in time, and after a moment he leaned back in his seat. “Just drive. I’ll tell you when to stop.”

“I’m nobody,” Bob continued. “Really, truly… I mean, are you sure this isn’t a case of mistaken identity? Maybe you’ve got me mixed up with someone important?” With tears in his eyes, he struggled to keep from sobbing. “I have a wife and a child, Do you realize that? You can’t kill a family man on Christmas Day, it’s inhumane!”

“You’re a family man, huh?” Luke replied with a faint smile. “Then who’s this beautiful young lady I found you with, huh? Just a friend you were helping out?”

“Absolutely,” Bob said. “We’re colleagues, that’s all. We work together at -”

“I know where you work.”

“I’m just -”

“I also know what you’ve been up to. I know a great deal about you Mr. Bob Hague.”

“So…” Bob paused. “So this isn’t some kind of random carjacking?”

Luke smiled. “You’ll find out soon enough.” He glanced out the window. “In about two miles, you’ll see an abandoned gas station at the side of the road. Pull in there.”

“Why?” Bob asked.

“Because if you don’t, I’ll shoot you in the goddamn face.”

***

Letting out a cry of pain, Bob fell to the ground. He winced and rolled onto his side, but already the searing pain in his chest told him that the punch had broken a couple of ribs. When he tried to get to his feet, the pain doubled and he gasped, and finally he looked up and saw Luke towering over him, blocking out the sun.

“This man is nothing,” Luke said after a moment, before turning to Candy. “You’re a beautiful woman, why are you fooling around with someone who is more worm than man?”

Too scared to speak, Candy simply stared at him from the car’s back seat, where she had sections of rope around her wrists and ankles.

“What a world we live in,” Luke continued, looking back down at Bob. “How is it that a piece of garbage has two women, huh? A beautiful wife, a beautiful mistress… I mean, it doesn’t seem fair, does it? Look at me, I’m a handsome man and I haven’t had a steady girlfriend in years, whereas a miserable wretch like you… God, no offense, but I’m really starting to question my faith in the universe. I just feel sorry for your wife, having to put up with you.”

“Leave my wife out of this,” Bob stammered, even though the pain in his ribs was worse every time he took a breath. Somewhere deep inside, a broken section of bone was jabbing at his meat. “Please, for the love of God, what do you want with me?”

Luke aimed the gun at his face and grinned, exposing a gold filling set into one of his teeth.

Candy screamed briefly before turning and hiding her face with her arms.

“This is nothing personal,” Luke explained, staring at Bob, “it’s just about money. Money makes the world go round, yes?” Smiling, he moved the gun around in circles before aiming once again at Bob’s face. “Someone wants you dead, and I was engaged to carry out the final act. Now, to be fair, that side of things is
very
personal, but this part, with you and me, is not personal at all. Think of it as a business deal, but one that leaves you at a significant disadvantage.”

“Who hired you?” Bob asked. “I don’t have any enemies!”

“You have one.”

“But -” Pausing, Bob desperately tried to work out who it could be. “Is it Tom? Is it Tom Lanegan and those people at that club? Oh God, it makes sense now. They want me silenced so I’ll never tell anyone what they’ve got going on down there.”

“I cannot reveal my client’s identity,” Luke replied.

“You don’t have to, I know it was them.” Sighing, Bob looked up at the sky. “I swear, I only wanted to try it out. I probably wouldn’t even have gone more than once. I’m not a religious man, but God if you’re up there now, please listen to me! I swear, I was only curious. Is that so wrong?”

“We should get this over with,” Luke continued. “I don’t know about you, but I have better things to be doing with my day.” He paused. “Well, I suppose you don’t.”

“What about her?” Bob asked, looking over at Candy. “You’re not going to kill her too, are you?”

“I don’t kill beautiful women,” Luke replied. “She will be quite safe, provided I can be sure she won’t talk.”

“Oh God,” Bob said, closing his eyes. “Please get me out of this. Please, I’m not a bad person. I make mistakes, but my wife and daughter need me. For their sakes, just -”

“Stop!” Luke shouted suddenly.

Opening his eyes, Bob saw to his horror that Candy had climbed out of the car and was running around the side of the gas station, making for the road. A moment later, a gunshot rang out and she fell to the side, hitting the corner and then dropping to the ground.

“No!” Bob shouted, stumbling to his feet and taking a step forward before Luke pulled him back. “What have you done!”

“I only hit her foot,” Luke replied, watching Candy and waiting for her to get up. “Didn’t I?”

Bob stared for a moment, but Candy remained motionless on the ground.

“I only hit her foot,” Luke said again, as if he was trying to convince himself. “Relax, I’m a good shot, I swear I only got her in the right foot.”

He waited, before pushing Bob back down to the ground. “Wait here,” he said firmly, before making his way over to Candy and looking down at her. After giving her a gentle kick in the belly, he rolled her over.

“Is she okay?” Bob asked, his face white with shock. “Oh God, please tell me she’s okay.”

“She banged her head against the wall,” Luke replied, looking down at Candy’s foot and seeing a bloody wound on her right ankle, exactly where he’d aimed. “She’ll wake up eventually. She shouldn’t have run, though. Why do people run when they’ve been specifically told to stay still? This is something I find happens with me quite a lot.”

“You have to let her go,” Bob continued, stumbling to his feet. “She’s young, she doesn’t deserve to get caught up in all of this. Please, if you have a heart -”

“If I have a heart?” Luke replied, stepping toward him and raising the gun again. “
If
I have a heart? What do you think I am, some kind of monster?”

“No, of course not,” Bob said, raising his hands in surrender and taking a step back. “I swear, I didn’t mean to insult you, I was just trying to appeal to your better nature. She’s innocent, and I’m sure she won’t even remember what you look like. She’s very good at lying and deceit, that sort of thing. Let her go, please, whatever else you do, let her go.” He paused, before another idea struck him. “Or let
me
go,” he continued, “and keep her. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? You’re right, she’s very beautiful, and maybe she’d fall for you if you just spent some time together. I think you’re her type.”

“Her type?”

“Rugged, manly, strong… Tough.”

“She’s been dating you,” Luke replied. “I think she has another type.”

“She could learn,” Bob continued. “Please, if she was willing to settle for someone like me, imagine how grateful she’d be to have
you
in her life!”

“Huh,” Luke muttered, with his gun still aimed at Bob’s head. “You truly are a freak of a man. You don’t care about her at all.”

“I…” Bob paused, watching Candy’s unconscious form over by the wall. “I care about a lot of people, sometimes that just means the amount I care for each of them is slightly diluted. It’s a failing of mine, I know, but I swear I can work on it. Please, let me go so I can continue to care for them. That’s all I ask.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Luke said, starting to walk around behind him.

“What are you doing?” Bob asked, shuffling on his knees so that he was still facing his kidnapper.

“Just stay still,” Luke replied, still circling him.

“Why? Why are you trying to get behind me?”

“Will you just stay still?”

“No come on, please,” Bob stammered, reaching into his pocket and taking out his wallet. With trembling fingers, he starting rooting through the contents, before pausing. “If I had my phone,” he said after a moment, “I could show you a photo of my daughter. She’s so young and so beautiful, and she deserves to grow up with a father.”

“Your wife will remarry, maybe.”

“No!” Bob shouted. “I’m Lucy’s father and I have to be there for her!”

“Toss me the wallet.”

“Please -”

“Toss me the wallet or I shoot it out of your hands, along with your fingers.”

Bob paused, before throwing the wallet at Luke’s feet. Reaching down and picking it up, Luke turned it over in his hands for a moment and then threw it over his shoulder and started once again to walk around Bob.

“Stop doing that!” Bob shouted.

“No.”

“I don’t like when you go behind me!”

“Shut up!” Luke hissed, stepping toward him and grabbing Bob’s shoulder, spinning him around and then forcing him face-first down against the ground. “I’ve had enough of your whining already. Jesus, I can’t imagine what it must be like to be married to a man like you. There’s just something about you that’s pathetic and worm-like, it’s as if you radiate inadequacy and duplicity from every pore in your body.”

“Please,” Bob sobbed, his face pressed against the dirty ground, “let me go. Tell me why you’re doing this.”

“Why I’m doing this?” Luke paused, before placing his heel against Bob’s cheek and pushing has face harder. “I’m doing this because the wheels of the universe, the hidden gears that regulate right and wrong, have finally turned and are ready to punish you, Mr. Bob Hague. I’m here because you ruin lives, not in big, grand ways, but by a thousand cuts. I’m here because this, in truth, is how the world really works.” He paused, aiming the gun at Bob’s head. “I’m here because we now live in a world in which weak, stupid men are kept alive by a system designed by other weak and stupid men to support their own kind. It’s natural selection, Mr. Hague. You are going to die now. If you have any last words, speak them quickly.”