"I’m ready, Daddy."
My seven-year-old daughter Megan stood in the foyer dressed to her nose in a red snow parka, woolen scarf and hood trimmed in white faux fur. She looked like a Christmas elf and her eyes sparkled with anticipation as I zipped my coat and reached to take her hand.
"Megan?" my wife Sherry called from the kitchen, "Simon? Wait please."
A moment later my wife Sherry joined us at the front door with a hand towel draped on her shoulder and spots of spaghetti sauce staining the apron she had received for Christmas. She crouched, tugging at Megan’s parka as if checking the zipper for leaks. "Honey," she said in a cooing voice, "dinner is almost ready. Daddy was late tonight. I think you should wait until tomorrow to practice."
Megan’s face fell like an elevator with a broken cable. "Please Mommy. Pleeeeese?" A tear trickled down and over her scarlet cheek.
"We won’t be long, babe," I said and opened the front door. "Get your snowboard, sweetheart. I’ll meet you in the garage." I gave Megan’s upturned face of dismay a smile and a wink. "Let Daddy talk to Mommy for a second."
A gust of cold air bit my face as Megan slipped through the crack in the door. I kicked it closed and wrapped my wife in an embrace. Her lips had the saucy tang of her homemade pasta sauce.
"Ummm," I licked my lips. "Can we spread that sauce on a few other things later tonight?"
"You’re lucky I haven’t put the spaghetti in the water," Sherry said and shook her finger in my face. "You shouldn’t indulge her like that. Can’t you see it’s starting to snow again?"
"It’s okay, babe. You know this is our nightly ritual since first snowfall. Megan always has to show me how much she's improved her techniques.”
Winter its snowboard and ice skates in our house. Spring and summer roller skates and skateboards.
“Tolliver’s Grade is just up the street, babe. She can try a couple of runs and she’ll take a tumble or two in the snow. After that she'll be ready for dinner and a warm bed."
"You sure?" Sherry stroked my cheek. "Don’t drive, okay? You look so tired."
"I’m sure." I said. "I am tired, but there’s the need for Father/Daughter time and I’ll be looking forward to a little wine and thou in the bedroom after Megan's tucked in."
"Sherry smiled. "Ummm, I’ll save the extra sauce, but be warned ... you will lick up every drop.
Waste not, want not," I said, and gave her bottom a squeeze and a rub.
***
Megan and I stood at the top of Tolliver’s Grade. I shivered as she fooled with the binding on the snowboard. I looked down the hill at the lights of our home two hundred yards away. They looked like flickering flames in the blowing snow. Maybe, I thought, this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
The snow came down harder and through the gloom, I saw headlights appear at the end of the cul-de-sac. They approached the grade at a slow pace. Snowflakes swirled on a slant through the shafts of odd bluish light cast by the car’s halogen headlamps.
Where did they come from? I mumbled
Megan looked up and said, "What, Daddy?"
I shook my head. "Daddy's just mumbling. That's what grownups do."
Megan gave me one of her mischievous smiles. "I think I'll stay a kid."
My mind was elsewhere and I didn't answer. The car was big. A black SUV and it passed at a crawl below us. New snow popped and crunched as the truck-like vehicle's wide tires cut a new path. It almost sounded like the corn we popped while lounging with my little family in front of our leisure-room's fireplace. The path the big SUV's tires left behind filled with new snow as fast as those wide, fat tires could lay down their new track.
Gotta be a Mercedes, I thought.
"Help, Daddy." Megan’s cry drew my attention. She had slipped, stepping into the snowboard binders. I managed to grab the hem of her coat as Megan and her board slid toward the crest of the hill. Already an accomplished skateboarder my daughter was determined now to master the snowboard. "Master" being the operative word.
Her gloved hand found a grip on the bottom of my leather overcoat as she caught her balance. Her quick fingers then made fast work of the binding and she yelled, "I’m okay, Daddy. You can let go now."
"I don’t like the looks of this," I said holding on to the hem of her coat. "I think we better go back to the house."
"Daddy," Megan moaned in her softest, wheedling voice, "just one time. I want to show you what I've learned."
I looked at her eager little face, so red and shinning from the cold and anticipation. I peered in the direction the car traveled. Our road was plowed less than an hour ago. Fresh snow, piled high along the berm of the road formed a smooth, sloping bank curving sharply left as it led back to the manned entry gate of our enclave. I watched as the SUV's taillights, their rosy glow reflecting on the curving snowbank, painted the snow bank blood red. The car had come to a halt past the curve of the road, just far enough to obscure my view of the big SUV. I wondered why, my family occupied the only home on this cul-de-sac.
Why are they stopped? What are they doing out here? How did they get through the gate? Visitors no doubt, I thought. Are they lost? Had to be it ... sure.
"Wait until the car leaves, babe. Okay? Honey-babe you hear Daddy? When the car is gone you go one time and then home, deal?"
"Okay, I promise," she said and giggled. The falling snowflakes made her blink as she looked up at me. I knew what she was thinking. I knew what that little giggle meant.
I smiled as I thought ... damn if she isn't close to the truth.
I held Megan’s shoulder, making sure she waited for the car to move on. Less than a minute passed and the red glow disappeared. I pointed to the plowed snow bank on the left side of the curve. "See the fresh snowbank, sweetheart? Up the side and drop in the soft snow, okay? No nonsense, just make the run ... promise?"
She showed me a pout. "Oh, Daddy, I know how to stop ... you know?" She laughed, so excited she could hardly stand still. "Give me a push. Please? Mr. policeman Daddy?" I complied and Megan crouched on the board like a pro. A quick wave and she picked up speed and disappeared into a curtain of snow. I heard her yell. "Watch me, Daddy."
I tried to pick her up in the beam of the big trouble light I brought along, but it only made my vision worse. She moved away so fast. She leaned this way and that increasing her speed down the hill. The snow was thicker than I guesstimated faster, all these factors contributed to her quick disappearance into the swirling snow.
"I’m watching, honey," I hollered.
There was a break in the wind-driven snow and I caught sight of her, she wobbled, but regain her balance with ease. From the corner of my eye I caught a rosy glow appear and disappear on fresh snow of the curve. An icicle of fear pierced my belly and I lost sight of Megan again. Like magic, she reappeared looking more confident as she neared the bottom of the hill. She headed for the banked curve as I’d told her racing toward a brighter glow of brake lights.
My instincts screamed, this is trouble. They're the lights of that big SUV, they have to be. What the hell are they doing? Where did they come from? Where's our security? Why are they sitting down there?
All those questions squalled at me, screeching for my attention like a newborn babe might screech in the dead of night ... what the hell?
I saw Megan lean right and go up the slope and sweep around the curve in a graceful arc. She was doing what I'd told her to do, but that was before the red glow reappeared. That glow signaled some inner primal fear inside me and I recognized its warning ... it was crying danger ... danger. I blinked a flurry of snowflakes from my eyes, but it did no good. Megan was gone.
"Megan," I yelled.
I heard a faint, hollow echo. In my agitated state it sounded like a surprised little girl screaming. I tried to run, but slipped and went to the bottom of the grade rolling and sliding on the icy snow. Regaining my feet, I shouted again.
"Megan, answer me." A hot hand of terror gripped my heart in vice-like fingers. "Megan." I shrieked.
I slipped, slid, and went down again. A jagged tear opened in my jeans, matching the bloody rip in the skin of my knee. My big light cut a swath through the gloom and falling snow as I came slipping and sliding around the curve. The SUV crouched in the snow for a moment not more than thirty yards ahead. Its bright red brake lights winked off along with the trucks head-lights effectively hiding the license plate number.
A light inside the truck blinked on and Megan's bright red face popped up in the rear window. Tears streaked her cold-reddened cheeks. A larger, ski-masked head, appeared beside her terrified face. The man's hands gripped my daughter's throat. He waggled her head back and forth before she was jerked out of sight. The interior light winked off.
The SUV's back ducked toward the icy roadway as it accelerated away. My brain and body came out of their state of shock and I ran forward a few more steps before falling face first in the snow.
A voice yelled, "Simon Halloran," the words carried to my ear on the wind." Look for the snowboard."
A gusting howl of snow-laced wind cried and screamed in my frozen ears. Any sounds from the SUV were long gone.
"Megan," I screamed. "Megan," I whimpered.
My knees collapsed. I dropped to the snow landing in the icy ruts created by the SUV. My forehead collided with the snow-covered pavement and opened another gash in my forehead. I don't recall how long I huddled on hands, knees. Long enough to lose more skin from my forehead as I jerked my head up and climbed to my feet. My need to find Megan's snowboard broke through the state of shock that paralyzed my body. Blood trickled in my eyes and I staggered backward searching the banked snow for Megan's board. I went down several times, jarring my tailbone on the pavement. I was shaking with cold when I finally saw it through the swirling snow, jammed heel first into the bank. It leaned like a broken fence post to the left. The manufacturer’s logo, a bright orange smiley face wearing a silly black clown hat, mocked me. Above that logo, below the tilt of the toe, an envelope was duct taped to the board. One loose end fluttered in the wind.
Darkness descended on me as I tore the envelope free. The night wind roared Megan's name in my ears. Tears filled and overflowed my eyes adding to the blood running down my face. I looked dumbly at the red snow at my feet. Something told me to move or die where I stood. I was quaking so bad I could hardly walk. I managed to pull the board from the snowbank and like a man with a bad case of palsy, I staggered toward home.
Tonight there would be no Megan to bathe and tuck into bed. No spiced and tangy spaghetti and glass of wine with my wife. Tonight, we would fight the fear and shock of our daughter's kidnapping. Tonight would begin our descent into Hell. There we would feel the terror of waiting for a call. Recriminations would be traded and followed by harsh words of hate not realized until voiced. Words would be said that would cut wide and deep. Words that could in the end murder a once loving and caring relationship with my wife.
I whispered my promise of murder in return to those who threatened my daughter and my marriage ... I stumbled home.
My seven-year-old daughter Megan stood in the foyer dressed to her nose in a red snow parka, woolen scarf and hood trimmed in white faux fur. She looked like a Christmas elf and her eyes sparkled with anticipation as I zipped my coat and reached to take her hand.
"Megan?" my wife Sherry called from the kitchen, "Simon? Wait please."
A moment later my wife Sherry joined us at the front door with a hand towel draped on her shoulder and spots of spaghetti sauce staining the apron she had received for Christmas. She crouched, tugging at Megan’s parka as if checking the zipper for leaks. "Honey," she said in a cooing voice, "dinner is almost ready. Daddy was late tonight. I think you should wait until tomorrow to practice."
Megan’s face fell like an elevator with a broken cable. "Please Mommy. Pleeeeese?" A tear trickled down and over her scarlet cheek.
"We won’t be long, babe," I said and opened the front door. "Get your snowboard, sweetheart. I’ll meet you in the garage." I gave Megan’s upturned face of dismay a smile and a wink. "Let Daddy talk to Mommy for a second."
A gust of cold air bit my face as Megan slipped through the crack in the door. I kicked it closed and wrapped my wife in an embrace. Her lips had the saucy tang of her homemade pasta sauce.
"Ummm," I licked my lips. "Can we spread that sauce on a few other things later tonight?"
"You’re lucky I haven’t put the spaghetti in the water," Sherry said and shook her finger in my face. "You shouldn’t indulge her like that. Can’t you see it’s starting to snow again?"
"It’s okay, babe. You know this is our nightly ritual since first snowfall. Megan always has to show me how much she's improved her techniques.”
Winter its snowboard and ice skates in our house. Spring and summer roller skates and skateboards.
“Tolliver’s Grade is just up the street, babe. She can try a couple of runs and she’ll take a tumble or two in the snow. After that she'll be ready for dinner and a warm bed."
"You sure?" Sherry stroked my cheek. "Don’t drive, okay? You look so tired."
"I’m sure." I said. "I am tired, but there’s the need for Father/Daughter time and I’ll be looking forward to a little wine and thou in the bedroom after Megan's tucked in."
"Sherry smiled. "Ummm, I’ll save the extra sauce, but be warned ... you will lick up every drop.
Waste not, want not," I said, and gave her bottom a squeeze and a rub.
***
Megan and I stood at the top of Tolliver’s Grade. I shivered as she fooled with the binding on the snowboard. I looked down the hill at the lights of our home two hundred yards away. They looked like flickering flames in the blowing snow. Maybe, I thought, this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
The snow came down harder and through the gloom, I saw headlights appear at the end of the cul-de-sac. They approached the grade at a slow pace. Snowflakes swirled on a slant through the shafts of odd bluish light cast by the car’s halogen headlamps.
Where did they come from? I mumbled
Megan looked up and said, "What, Daddy?"
I shook my head. "Daddy's just mumbling. That's what grownups do."
Megan gave me one of her mischievous smiles. "I think I'll stay a kid."
My mind was elsewhere and I didn't answer. The car was big. A black SUV and it passed at a crawl below us. New snow popped and crunched as the truck-like vehicle's wide tires cut a new path. It almost sounded like the corn we popped while lounging with my little family in front of our leisure-room's fireplace. The path the big SUV's tires left behind filled with new snow as fast as those wide, fat tires could lay down their new track.
Gotta be a Mercedes, I thought.
"Help, Daddy." Megan’s cry drew my attention. She had slipped, stepping into the snowboard binders. I managed to grab the hem of her coat as Megan and her board slid toward the crest of the hill. Already an accomplished skateboarder my daughter was determined now to master the snowboard. "Master" being the operative word.
Her gloved hand found a grip on the bottom of my leather overcoat as she caught her balance. Her quick fingers then made fast work of the binding and she yelled, "I’m okay, Daddy. You can let go now."
"I don’t like the looks of this," I said holding on to the hem of her coat. "I think we better go back to the house."
"Daddy," Megan moaned in her softest, wheedling voice, "just one time. I want to show you what I've learned."
I looked at her eager little face, so red and shinning from the cold and anticipation. I peered in the direction the car traveled. Our road was plowed less than an hour ago. Fresh snow, piled high along the berm of the road formed a smooth, sloping bank curving sharply left as it led back to the manned entry gate of our enclave. I watched as the SUV's taillights, their rosy glow reflecting on the curving snowbank, painted the snow bank blood red. The car had come to a halt past the curve of the road, just far enough to obscure my view of the big SUV. I wondered why, my family occupied the only home on this cul-de-sac.
Why are they stopped? What are they doing out here? How did they get through the gate? Visitors no doubt, I thought. Are they lost? Had to be it ... sure.
"Wait until the car leaves, babe. Okay? Honey-babe you hear Daddy? When the car is gone you go one time and then home, deal?"
"Okay, I promise," she said and giggled. The falling snowflakes made her blink as she looked up at me. I knew what she was thinking. I knew what that little giggle meant.
I smiled as I thought ... damn if she isn't close to the truth.
I held Megan’s shoulder, making sure she waited for the car to move on. Less than a minute passed and the red glow disappeared. I pointed to the plowed snow bank on the left side of the curve. "See the fresh snowbank, sweetheart? Up the side and drop in the soft snow, okay? No nonsense, just make the run ... promise?"
She showed me a pout. "Oh, Daddy, I know how to stop ... you know?" She laughed, so excited she could hardly stand still. "Give me a push. Please? Mr. policeman Daddy?" I complied and Megan crouched on the board like a pro. A quick wave and she picked up speed and disappeared into a curtain of snow. I heard her yell. "Watch me, Daddy."
I tried to pick her up in the beam of the big trouble light I brought along, but it only made my vision worse. She moved away so fast. She leaned this way and that increasing her speed down the hill. The snow was thicker than I guesstimated faster, all these factors contributed to her quick disappearance into the swirling snow.
"I’m watching, honey," I hollered.
There was a break in the wind-driven snow and I caught sight of her, she wobbled, but regain her balance with ease. From the corner of my eye I caught a rosy glow appear and disappear on fresh snow of the curve. An icicle of fear pierced my belly and I lost sight of Megan again. Like magic, she reappeared looking more confident as she neared the bottom of the hill. She headed for the banked curve as I’d told her racing toward a brighter glow of brake lights.
My instincts screamed, this is trouble. They're the lights of that big SUV, they have to be. What the hell are they doing? Where did they come from? Where's our security? Why are they sitting down there?
All those questions squalled at me, screeching for my attention like a newborn babe might screech in the dead of night ... what the hell?
I saw Megan lean right and go up the slope and sweep around the curve in a graceful arc. She was doing what I'd told her to do, but that was before the red glow reappeared. That glow signaled some inner primal fear inside me and I recognized its warning ... it was crying danger ... danger. I blinked a flurry of snowflakes from my eyes, but it did no good. Megan was gone.
"Megan," I yelled.
I heard a faint, hollow echo. In my agitated state it sounded like a surprised little girl screaming. I tried to run, but slipped and went to the bottom of the grade rolling and sliding on the icy snow. Regaining my feet, I shouted again.
"Megan, answer me." A hot hand of terror gripped my heart in vice-like fingers. "Megan." I shrieked.
I slipped, slid, and went down again. A jagged tear opened in my jeans, matching the bloody rip in the skin of my knee. My big light cut a swath through the gloom and falling snow as I came slipping and sliding around the curve. The SUV crouched in the snow for a moment not more than thirty yards ahead. Its bright red brake lights winked off along with the trucks head-lights effectively hiding the license plate number.
A light inside the truck blinked on and Megan's bright red face popped up in the rear window. Tears streaked her cold-reddened cheeks. A larger, ski-masked head, appeared beside her terrified face. The man's hands gripped my daughter's throat. He waggled her head back and forth before she was jerked out of sight. The interior light winked off.
The SUV's back ducked toward the icy roadway as it accelerated away. My brain and body came out of their state of shock and I ran forward a few more steps before falling face first in the snow.
A voice yelled, "Simon Halloran," the words carried to my ear on the wind." Look for the snowboard."
A gusting howl of snow-laced wind cried and screamed in my frozen ears. Any sounds from the SUV were long gone.
"Megan," I screamed. "Megan," I whimpered.
My knees collapsed. I dropped to the snow landing in the icy ruts created by the SUV. My forehead collided with the snow-covered pavement and opened another gash in my forehead. I don't recall how long I huddled on hands, knees. Long enough to lose more skin from my forehead as I jerked my head up and climbed to my feet. My need to find Megan's snowboard broke through the state of shock that paralyzed my body. Blood trickled in my eyes and I staggered backward searching the banked snow for Megan's board. I went down several times, jarring my tailbone on the pavement. I was shaking with cold when I finally saw it through the swirling snow, jammed heel first into the bank. It leaned like a broken fence post to the left. The manufacturer’s logo, a bright orange smiley face wearing a silly black clown hat, mocked me. Above that logo, below the tilt of the toe, an envelope was duct taped to the board. One loose end fluttered in the wind.
Darkness descended on me as I tore the envelope free. The night wind roared Megan's name in my ears. Tears filled and overflowed my eyes adding to the blood running down my face. I looked dumbly at the red snow at my feet. Something told me to move or die where I stood. I was quaking so bad I could hardly walk. I managed to pull the board from the snowbank and like a man with a bad case of palsy, I staggered toward home.
Tonight there would be no Megan to bathe and tuck into bed. No spiced and tangy spaghetti and glass of wine with my wife. Tonight, we would fight the fear and shock of our daughter's kidnapping. Tonight would begin our descent into Hell. There we would feel the terror of waiting for a call. Recriminations would be traded and followed by harsh words of hate not realized until voiced. Words would be said that would cut wide and deep. Words that could in the end murder a once loving and caring relationship with my wife.
I whispered my promise of murder in return to those who threatened my daughter and my marriage ... I stumbled home.
