A Beautiful New Life (7 page)

They all sat down and ate the wonderful dinner Grandma had made for them. She even made an apple pie for dessert and the boys devoured every bit
e
. After
dinner,
she herded them off to get their baths and once tucked in bed she went into the kitchen to help clean up the supper dishes.

“Here,
Arlin,
let me do that.” She took the dish out of his hand that he had been holding. He did not know how long he had been standing there with it in his hands. The events of the day w
ere
catching up to him
.

He turned to his mother. “Thanks Mom for being here for me, for us.” He hugged her tight against him.

“No thanks needed dear. Before you know it, she will be home and this will all be behind you. I’m here for you as long as you need me to be.”

He let go of her, wished her goodnight and headed off to bed. He was exhausted and for the first time since Louise had not come home he fell asleep with
out the help of Jack or Valium, b
ut his dreams would not let him rest peacefully. He would wake throughout the night not sure what woke him. He had thoughts of Louise lost, alone, and afraid. He would see her running, crying out for help. Her beaten and battered body bruised and cut almost beyond recognition. Her chest falling as she exhaled
;
she was gone. Her body snatched away by an unseen force. Arlin wakes with the feeling of not knowing; is she dead or alive?

Chapter Five

Louise woke up from her interrupted sleep. When the alarms stopped fazing her, they played blood curdling screams and flashing the lights. She finally closed her eyes and held her ears as tight as she could. Now awake and the quiet taking charge, she realized what they are trying to do to her.

“It won’t work. I
won’t
let it. I won’t let you win.” She yelled out to no one. She got up from where she lay and started to run around the small room. “I have to stay physical. Stay in shape. They will not beat me.” She ran until she tired, but pushed herself some more by doing crunches and pushups. The work out made her feel good but the lack of food soon took its toll. When she could not pick herself up from the last pushup, she lay on the floor face down letting the cool concrete penetrate her hot sweaty body. She did not even move when the door opened.

When she realized that no one had walked in, s
he looked up and saw the light from the hallway shining in but no one was around. She lay there a moment longer. Was this a trick? Trick or no trick, she could not pass up a chance to get out of the room. She pushed herself up and made a run for the door. As she got closer the door started to close, she pushed herself harder and as the door was about to close she reached out with her right hand.

The pain was excruciating. Her fingers hung awkwardly on her hand. She fell to her knees and screamed out in pain. The door had slammed shut just as she slipped her hand between it and the door jam. She had screamed out and the door popped open just enough for her to pull her hand out and then it slammed shut again. She rocked back and forth on her knees, the tears darkening the gray t-shirt she wore.

“HELLO!
SOMEBODY!
I hurt myself. Someone please help me!” She yelled out. The door opened and she remained seated. Was it a trap again, she thought. A man entered with the same slow movements as before and Louise got up and ran to him.

“Please help me. Get me out of here.” He stood staring at her, saying nothing. “Are you from the resort? What is your name?”

“W-Why so many questions?
J-Just do what they w-want and things will be f-fine.”

“But I don’t know what they want. Please! Help me. At least tell me your name.”

“H-Henry, my n-name is Henry. N-Now I’m g-going to get you s-some help for your h-hand.” He pulled her hand up to take a closer look. “You s-sure did do
a
n-number on that.”

“Just get me out of here. I can get this fixed later. It doesn’t even hurt much now.”
She just wanted to get out of the room and go home.

“I c-can’t, they are c-close behind.”

“You keep saying that but I never see anyone else.” The door flew open.

“Now Megan you know that isn’t true.” Louise took a step back and stood behind Henry.

“Oh, now don’t be like that.
Don’t
you want to know my name too? It’s Vince.” He extended out his hand. “Ouch! What did you do?” He looked down at her hand.

“V-Vince
don’t
start, I n-need to get her some help for her h-hand. Let us pass.” Henry’s voice shook as he spoke.

“L-let us p-pass.”
He mocked him.
“
What are you going to do if I don’t?” Vince stuck out his chest but Henry stood there staring back. “You’re such a wimp.” Vince turned and walked out.

“He is always f-following me around. I think
he
s-suspects I’m trying to h-help you.”

Louise moved to face him.
“Are you from the resort? Why am I here?”

“Come on you p-probably want t-to clean up.” He walked out the door and when she did not
follow,
he turned back to her and waved her to follow.

“You didn’t answer my questions.”

“I, I don’t have t-time to explain, n-now come on.”

She walked out into a poorly lit hallway. The hanging lights swayed from an invisible breeze. The swaying and flickering made Louise nauseous and she stopped for a moment to swallow the vomit that threatened.

“G-get m-moving!”
He said to her impatiently. She proceeded to follow him down the hallway and up a flight of stairs where they continued in their original direction down another hallway to the shower room. He stepped aside to allow her to go in first and then stepped in behind her. He stood at the doorway
that
opened up to a room with four sh
owers. There were no stalls,
just one big room. Henry did not bother to turn around and give her any privacy. She pulled off her clothes and turned on the shower. As soon as the water hit her, the tears flowed; she grabbed the soap and started scrubbing until the water turned cold and Henry walked over and turned the water off.

"L-let's go." He ordered and walked back to his post by the door. Shivering Louise turned around and walked over to the edge of the shower room where she found a stack of towels. She dried herself off quickly and wrapped the towel around her.

"F-fresh clothes are over there." He pointed to the locker a few feet from the towels. She opened the locker door and found a set that would fit her and pulled them on. She walked over to Henry and waited for further instructions. He did not say anything; he just walked out of the shower room into the hall again. She followed behind him and looked around trying to see an exit if she was given a chance to run. They continued down the hallway a few feet and from the sanitary smell and stainless steel counter
,
she knew they had walked into a medical clinic. She looked up now and saw a nurse waving for them to come forward. She was plump, with a bright smile and eyes that twinkled. Was she someone who was going to help her escape?

"Who do we have here Henry?" Her voice matched the motherly look. It was soft and gentle.

"This is M-Megan Strauss, B
-B
etty. We n
-n
eed to have her h
-h
and
looked
at." He stepped aside for the nurse to examine the arm. Louise stood there
;
s
he thought Henry was helping her and
but
he called her by the name that Vince had called her earlier. She was not this Megan Strauss. They had the wrong person.

"Excuse me." She said
,
but no one acknowledged that she had spoken. She said it louder this time. "Excuse me!" When they did not acknowledge again she continued. "My name..."

Betty interrupted. "Yes dear, your name IS Megan Strauss.
It's
okay
,
I know you don't remember.
That’s
what we’re here for,
to help you with your memories.
Come sit over here." She patted her hand on an exam table.

“I remember my name, it is Louise Gilab
; and
w
hat
do you
mean, help me with my memories?” She said but both Henry and Betty acted
as if
they did not hear her.

"I’m going to give you a light sedative so I can fix your hand and get a cast on it.” As she prepared the
shot,
she asked. “How did you break your hand?"

“NO!” Louise took a step back from her but ran into Henry. If she had
to,
she could take the wimp and as she tried to run, Henry grabbed her and held her down. His strength surprised
her,
as did his stutter-free response.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He picked her up and
put her down on the procedure table, holding her there
while Betty gave her a shot. After a few moments Louise relaxed and slipped into unconsciousness. 

“She is going to be trouble.” Betty said as she prepared to set the hand. “Do you have her tracking chip?”

“Yes, here it is.” Henry handed her the microchip.

“I’m telling you she is going to be trouble, I can feel it.” She proceeded to cut an eighth-inch slit in the web between her thumb and index finger. “The cast will cover it up and let it heal. Otherwise I’m afraid she will ask too many question.” She wrapped the wet material around the set hand and Henry took Louise back to her room.

Chapter Six

Arlin sat waiting for Detective Sheldon to update him on what he had found
out about Louise. It had been three days
since
Louise
should have been home.

“Arlin, thanks for coming.” Arlin looked up and there stood Detective Sheldon with his overpowering presence, broad shoulders and hands that could crush a boulder. “Let’s go to my desk and we can talk about what I found out.”

Arlin followed Detective Sheldon to his desk where he did not find the normal clutter-free desktop. Instead
,
there were piles of receipts and pictures. Arlin could see that the top picture was of Louise and one he
had not seen prior to now
. He took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. His heart was beating fast.

“Well. On first glance this doesn’t look good for you.” Detective Sheldon started out

“Like what do you mean doesn’t look good for me?” If he was trying to get a reaction, he was well on his way for one. Arlin’s heart beat even faster. 

“I’m not done investigating, of course, but it looks like she may have run off with another man.” He sat forward in his chair resting his clasped hands on top of the pile of evidence.

“No! You’re mistaken.” Arlin
said with conviction.

“Well let
’s start from the beginning.” Detective Sheldon
handed
Arlin
the account statement showing charges made to
his
account. It showed the charges to the spa that Arlin had purchased. The name of the spa was Genesee.

“Yes, I told you I made that purchase. I just couldn’t remember the name of the spa.” He did not understand what point Detective Sheldon was trying to prove.

“We found this resort. It was very secluded.” He paused and looked at Arlin. “Did you know this?”

“Know what? I only purchased it because I had seen it on her computer and thought it would be nice
if
I bought her something for her birthday that I knew she would enjoy.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand where you are going with this.”

“Did you pick the date?”

“No, Louise did. It was a saved itinerary. I figured she chose a date that she knew would be a good weekend for us to get away. “

“I’m still investigating but my thinking is you weren’t supposed to go on this trip.” 

“What? Yes I was.”

Do you know who this
person
is? Detective Sheldon now handed him a picture of a young man with a military haircut.

“No,
I don’t know him
. Who is
it
? What does it have to do with Louise?

“Well on first glance I would say she was having an affair?”

“No, that’s not right.” Arlin squirmed in his seat. This cannot be happening.

Detective Sheldon showed him the rest of the pictures he had collected from her weekend trip. There were pictures of her crying and
a young man consoling her, the same man with
her at dinner, and then a picture of him and her again with him leaning in for what was obviously a kiss.  Arlin tossed them back on the desk.