The Minnesota Candidate (15 page)

Chapter 12

With the late morning sun baking down on them,
they stood on the patio and watched Shari drive away; neither woman
had showered, and both dressed in yesterday’s clothes. “I thought
the bitch would never leave,” said Marie.

“I know,” agreed Doris. “Do you see what I mean
about her? She acts like she’s better than everybody else. She
hardly said two words to me, all morning. God, I can’t stand
her.”

“Come on, let’s get going. I want to get inside
there before she decides to come back.”

“No, we’d better give her a few minutes. She
might do just that.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s have a smoke and then
we’ll go.”

They had already smoked nearly a full pack
between them, but Doris nodded her head. She was nervous and
excited. She lit her cigarette and puffed, greedily. “Remind me,
there is a box of latex cleaning gloves under the kitchen sink. I
think we should wear them. What do you think?”

Marie nodded her big head. “Yeah, that’s
probably a good idea. They’re going to blame Sam, if they ever find
out, but we should be careful. I thought you said you took some
stuff out of this house.”

“I did take some stuff, but that bitch has so
much stuff that it’ll probably take her weeks to notice.”

“Yeah, she sure has a lot of stuff. Some people
have all the luck.”

Doris didn’t reply, she walked up to the glass
patio door and stared into the dining room. “That’s funny,” she
said, “the lights just went out.” She tossed her cigarette to the
ground and opened the door. Marie followed her. Doris began
flipping switches, but nothing happened. “The power must be out.
That’s weird, isn’t it? It must have stormed in the cities.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s great! I got to
thinking about something when I was doing my business, what if
these are old alarm codes?”

Doris screwed up her face, but then she nodded.
“You’re right, how would we know?”

“With the power off, the codes don’t matter.
Let’s get our asses in gear, sister.”

“The gloves, I have to grab the gloves!”

A moment later, the women were waddling at warp
speed in the direction of the big house. Wearing their pink
cleaning gloves, Doris carried her canvas bag and Marie carried a
crow bar she had found in the garage. Breathless, they nearly
collapsed on the front steps. “I’ve got to quit smoking,” said
Marie. “Those things are killing me.”

“Shut up and give me those keys,” wheezed Doris.
“We don’t know when Shari and Tom will be back.”

Marie dug in her pocket and handed Doris the
ring of keys. One at a time, Doris tried jamming them into the
lock. “Let me do it,” grunted Marie.

“I know how to put a key into a door. Oh my God,
what if these are the wrong keys? I was so sure they were the keys
to this place.”

Marie was about to say something, but she
watched as the last key sank home and turned easily in the lock.
“Bingo!” she cried.

There were two locks on the big wooden door and
the key fit both locks. Tentatively, Doris pushed the door open and
she waited for the alarms to sound. When none did, she turned to
Marie and the women hugged. Inside, the house was dark and
forbidding. A pungent smell wafted out to greet them. “Maybe we
should go back for a flashlight,” said Doris.

“Like hell,” said Marie. “If we need light, I’m
sure we can find some candles. Come on, sister, let’s get in
there.”

And the two women stepped into the darkness.

As the paint and stain dried, the furniture
movers were busy turning Doris’ house into a home. With the clock
ticking down, Chona ordered all hands on deck, including Tom, and
they began unloading the orange moving trailer. The big ticket
items went inside first and then they formed a human chain and
shuttled in the smaller things. Tom had soon worked up a sweat and
an appetite. Clouds had moved in and the morning had turned hot and
humid. When the trailer was empty, Tom walked toward the house to
see if there was anything he could do to help. He was tired, but he
was more excited to see this huge undertaking completed. There were
still cupboards to stock and drawers to fill. “Have you seen Sam?”
asked Shari, from over his shoulder.

Tom spun around and smiled. “There you are,” he
said, giving Shari a quick kiss. “You just missed out on all of the
fun.”

“I saw that. Look, I need to talk to Sam. Have
you seen him?”

“He’s inside the house. Come on, we’ll go and
find him.”

“No, I can find him. I need to talk to him…
alone.”

Tom gave Shari a puzzled look and he shrugged
his shoulders. “What’s going on?”

Shari gave Tom a half-hearted smile and brushed
her hand in his direction. “Nothing to worry about, honey,” she
said. “I just need to see him. Wait out here, okay?”

Tom took a step back and let Shari pass. He knew
something was wrong, but he had no idea what it might possibly be.
He watched her as she disappeared into the house. The joy he had
been feeling only a moment ago had vanished, and it had been
replaced by a dark sense of foreboding.

Shari whisked into the house, her mind a blur of
dark thoughts and ugly scenarios. She found Sam and Chona up in the
master bedroom, kissing, and Shari took a step back and covered her
mouth. Sam held Chona in his arms and offered Shari a smile. “I
guess the cat’s out of the bag,” he said. “We was gonna tell you,
tonight, wasn’t we Chona?”

Chona was also smiling as she nodded her head.
“Don’t ask me how this happened,” she said. “This is so not like
me, but I’m certainly not complaining. Sam and I are moving down to
my home in Rochester. We’ll be leaving after we button things
up.”

“I still can’t believe it,” said Sam. “Am I the
luckiest guy on the planet… or what?”

“I’m the luckiest girl on the planet,” said
Chona, and then she buried her head in his shoulder. Slowly, she
pulled away. “Okay, I’ve got to make a few calls. We’re on the
home-stretch now. What do you think, Shari?”

“Everything looks great and let me be the first
to congratulate you both. I’m so happy for you guys. Chona, would
you mind giving me a few minutes alone with Sam. I need to talk to
him about something.”

Chona was already on her way out the door. “No
problem,” she said. “I’ll close the door and make sure you two have
some privacy. Sam, when you’re done, will you join me in the
kitchen?”

“I sure will… honeybuns.”

Chona closed the door and Shari and Sam squared
off in the freshly painted bedroom. Plastic from the new box spring
and mattress lay shredded on the new carpeting. Shari stepped
across the plastic to stand in front of Sam. “I want it back,” she
said.

Sam’s eyes grew large and he held out his hands.
“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Don’t do this, Sam. I understand why you took
it, but you’re a convicted felon and I won’t allow you to mess up
your new life. Do you want to lose Chona? Do you want to lose your
freedom?”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

“My gun, Sam, I want it back.”

“But I ain’t got any gun and I ain’t ever took
any gun. Not from you and not from anyone else. You better go back
home and keep lookin’.”

“That was a gift from my dad, one of the last
things he ever gave me. I never moved it from under my bed, never.
Are you trying to tell me that you didn’t take it?”

“I ain’t tryin’ to tell you nuttin’. I didn’t
take it. And I would never steal from you and Tommy. For cryin’ out
loud, Shari, you got to believe that.”

“You’re a convicted felon, Sam. How am I
supposed to believe you?”

“This conversation is over. You can go ahead and
believe whatever the hell you want. I didn’t take no gun and I’m
goin’ back to work. You’re nuts, lady.”

Shari raised her hand to stop Sam from walking
out, but he walked past her and the look on his face told her not
to try and stop him. She hadn’t expected this type of reaction.
Shari had always prided herself on her ability to spot the truth,
and Sam had certainly looked as if had been telling it. He had
looked her straight in the eye and his gaze had never wavered. The
more Shari thought about it, the worse she felt. She sat down on
the bed. If Sam hadn’t taken her gun, who had?

“Shari?” called Tom from just outside the
bedroom door. “Can I come in?”

Shari nodded and brushed a tear from her cheek.
“The door is open.”

Tom walked in and shut the door. He then walked
in and stood in front of Shari and crossed his arms. “Will you
please explain to me what’s going on?” I tried to talk to Sam and
he wouldn’t even look at me. What the hell did you say to him?”

“My gun is missing. Did you take it?”

“Did I take your gun? Are you kidding me? Why
the hell would I do that? You didn’t accuse Sam of stealing from
you, did you?”

“Who else would have taken it? I know it was
under the bed. I just cleaned it, last week. I have kept that gun
in the same place since for five years.”

“Oh shit, well, this is just great. When did you
notice it was missing?”

“Less than an hour ago; I hopped in my car and
drove straight here. What, you don’t think your mom took it, do
you?”

Tom shook his head. “No, I don’t think my mom
took it, but I wouldn’t put anything past Marie. She might have
been my dad’s sister, but she isn’t anything like my old man was.
She’s as crooked as a snake and I wouldn’t trust her as far as I
could throw her. Come on, we’re driving back home.”

Shari covered her face with her hands. “I’m such
an idiot,” she groaned. “I have to say something to Sam.”

“We can do that we get back. I want to catch
Marie before she leaves.”

Reluctantly, Shari got up from the bed and
followed Tom out of the bedroom. She could feel eyes upon her as
they made their way out of the house. She saw Chona, but Chona
turned away from her as if Shari were carrying the smallpox. Tears
streamed down her cheeks as she regretted her decision to fly off
the handle.

They took the Mercedes and Tom drove as Shari
wept. Slowly, in the silence, Shari pulled herself together. She
apologized for what she had done and explained why she had done it.
“I don’t care about the gun. I just didn’t want Sam getting caught
with it. I wasn’t even going to tell you about it, if he gave it
back to me. That would’ve been our secret. Honestly, I never
thought your aunt would have taken it.”

“Yeah, well did you check to see if anything
else was missing?”

Shari shook her head. “I saw something about
martial law on television. That’s when I went to look for the gun.
I was going to hide it in the kitchen.”

“Martial law? What the hell are you talking
about?”

“Oh, it was just a couple of these so-called
experts talking about the financial crisis. They were talking about
what they had done to prepare for a worst case scenario. As far as
I know, nobody in the government is talking about martial law.”

“Thank God for that,” said Tom. “Look, from now
on you need to communicate with me, okay? I could have told you
that Sam didn’t take your gun.”

“Yeah, and you might have warned me about your
aunt. Why didn’t you say anything about her?”

Tom pounded the steering wheel. “I know,” he
growled, “I should have told you about her. I just thought my ma
would have kept a better eye on her. I’m sorry, baby, this is
probably my fault.”

“I think we both can take equal blame. Will you
promise to smooth things out with Sam for me? He won’t talk to me,
but I want you to try and make him understand.”

Tom nodded his head as he negotiated the
traffic. For some reason, none of the stoplights were working on
the west side of town. Thankfully, there were few cars on the road.
Tom could see that the lines to the gas pumps had only grown since
this morning, and the parking lots to the grocery stores were
overflowing with cars. He wondered about this as he passed them
by.

Things had happened very quickly after Doris and
Marie had stepped into the house. Marie had closed the door and
then both women had become confused as a small bell began to ring.
The bell rang five times, like an anxious grandfather clock chiming
five. “What the hell is that?” asked Doris as they stood in the
darkness.

“How the hell should I know?” asked Marie, just
before the floor fell out from beneath them. Both women screamed as
they dropped like heavy stones.

The home’s protection system had worked to
perfection, nearly a hundred years after it had been conceived. The
warning bell had done what it had been designed to do, but the
women hadn’t known what it was or why it was ringing. Had they
known, they would have had plenty of time to deactivate the
mechanical system. The women landed in two feet of Lake Minnetonka
beach sand, which broke their fall. And as the sound of heavy
springs and chains echoed around them, the ceiling clicked back
into place and they were swallowed up in complete darkness.

“Oh my God,” moaned Doris. “Are you
alright?”

“Hell no,” groaned Marie. “I can’t breathe. Will
you get your fat ass out of my face?”

In the blackness, Doris staggered to her feet.
“What the hell just happened? Where the hell are we?”

Marie grunted and began brushing herself off.
“How the hell am I supposed to know? Let me see if I can find my
lighter.”

“We’ve got to get out of here!”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

Had the power not have been out, alarms would
have been ringing and the police would have already been on their
way. Frantically, Marie dug her plastic lighter from out of her
pocket. There was a flicking sound and then there was light. “Oh my
God,” groaned Doris, as her eyes adjusted to the light. “What is
this place?”

“We’re in a holding cell,” grunted Marie,
studying the four concrete walls and the high ceiling. “Well, this
ain’t good.”