Someone Else

Chapter 38 (Steph)

The snow had been pushed into eight towering piles scattered throughout the parking lot, the now exhaust-blackened icebergs further staining the aesthetics of the already uninspired strip mall. Navigating around the mounds of grimy black snow, she held her breath. If the snow had been transformed into cold piles of soot, her respiratory system must also be an alarming shade of black, like the lungs of one those Chinese prisoners taken for use in the traveling Bodies Exhibit she saw at the Leonardo.

Steph parked her mom's Passat and glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard before cutting the engine. Only twenty minutes late. Not bad considering she knew Jeff wouldn't be here to give her grief.

Traipsing across the lot, the glow of excitement sparked by running her fingers over half a million dollars still lingered beneath her sleep-deprived exterior. It had taken every ounce of her self-control to not follow Jeff and his new girlfriend out to Wendover. She knew massive set of brass stones would be required to pull off his plan and, when measuring the size of cajones, everyone, including Jeff, knew that she had a much heftier pair than him.

But as she thought back to last night, she conceded that Jeff had been different than his usual nervous self. He actually took command of the situation. One could even say he was confident. She unlocked the front doors and tripped over the small pile of DVDs that had been returned through the slot. Once she reshelved them, she could pop in a Kubrick film, or some other boring old piece of huck Jeff raved about, and take a solid nap for a couple of hours until any customers showed up.

Several of the cases slipped from her grasp as she walked around the store, but she barely noticed. Quality was never job one. Back in the foreign section, she heard the electronic tone go off. Who the H would be here this early? "Be there in half a sec," she called out and jammed a DVD onto a random shelf before walking around the aisle to find out who had entered the store. No one was there. "Hello," she called again and casually sauntered back to the front counter. She was sure she had heard the bell go off, but running on an hour of sleep, her brain was a little hazy. That's weird.

She strolled over to Jeff's cluttered office to pull out the rickety cart with the TV and DVD player. As she began to spin the cart, she felt—more than saw—a dark shadow moving toward her. Before she could look, the man had already wrapped his powerful arms around her.

"Remain calm." A deep voice reverberated in her ear, making her squirm violently. Her flailing feet kicked over some folders on Jeff's desk and several of his omnipresent Post-It notes fluttered to the floor. "Calm down or I'll knock your ass out." The man's tone told her he wasn't bluffing. She allowed herself to relax and felt his grip around her arms loosen, giving her the chance to twist her neck to see her attacker. He was a large black man who remained strangely expressionless. "Where's Jeff?"

Steph felt a hint of shame at her prejudiced assumption of the man's intentions, but mostly relief. Makes sense. The guy's looking for Jeff and that bag of money. "How the H should I know?"

The man's lips curled, as though he knew a secret. "I'm going to ask you one more time, where's Jeff?"

"I already told you, I have no frickin' idea."

She tried to maintain eye contact, but the man's pupils burned with such intensity, she had to turn away, unfortunately shifting her attention to his broad chest and massive arms. She knew screaming for help would be a waste of time and instead, began to search the cramped office for a weapon, when a movement outside the office door caught her eye. Jeff! Coming to save me! But his walk was off. So were his clothes. It's not Jeff. This man wasn't coming to help her. That's Ben Flanagan!