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Chapter Fourteen
Be
She hollered and pounded on the lid. Something was scratching on the lid. Just then she heard growling. It had to be an animal. Frantic, she pounded on the lid to scare it away, but it kept growling and scratching. The rumbling got louder and the shaking stronger. She kept pounding and screaming and fighting. She refused to die this way, spent, crying, broken, bleeding.
The growling and scratching grew frenzied, faster. It sounded as if the animal was trying to get away from the noise. She pounded harder, her heart hammering, her chest heaving, the wood shaking on all four sides.
Suddenly the scratching and the growling stopped, leaving only the rumbling, deafening. The animal had gotten away but she couldn’t. The box shuddered like an earthquake.
She screamed at the top of her lungs as the box shook, rattling her teeth, jolting her bones. She gave way to a terror she could never have imagined, the unknown. She had no idea what was coming toward her. It had the force of a tornado, the power of an express train. The clamor intensified to ear-splitting levels. Her head slammed against the box. Her shoulder banged against the side. Roaring surrounded her, obliterating all other sounds. She didn’t know if she was still screaming, because her cries disappeared into its unearthly maw.
Swallowing her whole.
Chapter Fifteen
It was a su
She headed down the Parkway to the business district and in no time approached Be
“Hey, Be
“How’ve you been?”
“Great! Nice article in the Journal!”
“Don’t believe a word of it!” Alice shot back, and the lawyer laughed and kept walking.
She powered ahead, cha
“Big Ben!” shouted a voice behind her. “Where’s my hello?”
Alice glanced back, uncertain about the nickname. Behind her, an old man in a turquoise street-cleaner uniform was leaning on a pushbroom, and she waved at him, like Be
“I hear that!” he called back, gri
“Take care!”
“You, too!” Alice suppressed an eye-roll. The test-drive was going well, but she was feeling like a combination Mayor, Girl Scout, and Lawyer Barbie. She crossed the street, and next to the doors of the small building, a discreet brass sign read 1717, so she made a beeline for the entrance, opened the doors, and hit the lobby. A security guard, an older man with bifocals and a blue uniform, sat behind a wooden desk, reading a newspaper.
“That air-conditioning feels good, huh?” he called out, looking up.
“Sure does.” Alice managed a smile, but remembered that Be
“We shoulda taken vacation this week.”
“Agree. I feel like Cinderella.” Alice sneaked a glance at the guard’s nameplate, STEVEN PALMIERI. She didn’t know if he went by Steven or Steve, and she’d have to get the details right. “You want my license and registration, Officer Palmieri?”
“Nah, you’re above the law, boss.”
“Thanks.” Alice walked past the desk.
“But sign in for me, will you?”
Alice froze. She had forgotten what Be
“Need a pen?” he asked, handing her a Bic.
Chapter Sixteen
Mary was too nearsighted to read the bedside clock, but it was morning, she guessed around nine o’clock or so. The bedroom was bright, with the curtain over the air conditioner trying vainly to block the sun. Anthony snuggled with his back to hers, and she stayed still not to wake him up. They hadn’t made love last night, and she knew why.
She’d been thinking of Mike, ru
Her gaze wandered over the neat modern dresser, bookshelf, treadmill, and a rack of free weights. It was a man’s bedroom, and she felt like a hypocrite, in bed with one man, thinking of another. She heard Anthony turning over, and in the next minute, he ran a palm along her bare shoulder.
“You up, babe?” he asked, his voice soft.
Mary considered not answering. She could pretend she was asleep. She had done it before. “Yeah,” she answered after a minute.
“You hardly slept. You still thinking about that witch?”
No, that ghost. “Not really.”
“Is it work?”
“Yeah.” Mary went with the easy answer. They had been house-hunting, and that played into it, too. Everything was coming to a head at once, but she couldn’t tell him that. The truth would cut too deep, and sometimes a lie was merciful.
“What’s up at work?” Anthony threw an arm around her, drawing them together. “What’s bugging you, the partnership thing?”
“Yes.” Mary’s thoughts turned to the office. Be
“Sure. You going in today?”
“Yes, I have to. Sorry, I know it’s Saturday.”
“I figured. Will Be
“She usually is, but I’m not sure. She never tells anybody anything, you know that.”
“So if she’s in, ask her. Go for it.”
Mary shuddered. She was still intimidated by Be