"This is nice," Linda says cheerily, turning down the radio.
I nod with a smile. I should probably be home in bed, but I felt pretty good today and was already starting to get cabin fever. I haven't heard from Loretta since she started doing whatever she said she was going to do yesterday morning. For now, I'm just going to enjoy some time with Linda, for whatever it might be worth.
"We're going to make a little stop, hon," she informs me. "Have to deposit Bree's check."
"Oh..." I'm totally drawing a blank. Of course, there's no reason to let her know that.
"Remember?" she asks, catching on to my confused tone. "I took those photos for Jim's birthday."
Oh yeah. Linda's a photographer. How could I forget that? "No, I remembered," I cover. "I just thought you had already deposited it, that's all."
Linda's smile dissipates. "I was going to, but something more important came up." She glances at me with the remnants of concern.
I can only nod.
"It's okay, though," she says, the cheeriness returning. "Everything's back to normal."
And here we are. She turns into the bank entrance and takes a second row parking spot in front of the entrance.
"No drive thru?" I ask.
She frowns apologetically. "No deposit slips," she explains. "Want to come in? It should be real quick."
I shake my head. "I'll be fine here."
She grins and leans over to give me a kiss. "I'll leave the car running," she says, making sure the AC is on. It's pretty warm out. "Love you!" she calls as she opens the door.
"Love you too!" I call back.
I watch her step quickly up the walkway and into the bank. She's really attractive. If she isn't real, someone made a pretty nice attempt at making her likeable. Loveable even. I hope she is real. I hope I have a shot at finding her when I get out of this and...what the hell is this?
A gray station wagon pulls up to the entrance and some dude jumps out of the passenger side, runs to the rear of the vehicle and opens up the back. He rifles around back there for a few seconds, then steps back and glances around furtively. He pulls on a ski mask and walks into the bank.
"What the..." I start to say. Linda. I need to get in there. I reach over and turn off the car and exit the vehicle. Trying to look nonchalant, I stride toward the bank. I can't help but glance at the driver of the wagon. He's eyeing me like I just spit in his face, but he doesn't move. Trying to act dumb, I grin at him and nod. He squints at me, but nods back.
Okay... I have to make an effort not to pause at the door. It's bright out, and the tint on the glass doors of the bank entrance makes it next to impossible to see inside. I step into the vestibule. It's much easier to see through the second set of glass doors, and I see there are people on the ground, but no sign of the guy in the ski mask. I walk in as though nothing were amiss.
A little electronic doorbell beeps as I enter. Immediately, I hear a gruff voice say, "Don't move!" At first, I think it's directed at me, then I realize it came from around the corner and was directed at someone over there. I vaguely recall being in this bank before and remember that the vault is down the hall around that corner. I hear some shuffling and a figure steps out from behind the corner. It's the guy in the ski mask. He's got Linda's head squeezed under his arm and a gun pointed to her head.
My heart practically leaps out of my chest. I put my hands up immediately. "Don't...don't hurt her..."
"Get down!" the man shouts, pushing the gun harder against her scalp.
"Ok," I say meekly, getting to my knees. "Just, don't hurt her, Ok?"
"Michael?" Linda weeps.
"Shut up, bitch!" the robber snaps, tapping her head with the muzzle.
She shrieks briefly, then says, "You shouldn't have come in here, Richard."
Loretta! "What should I do?" I plead with her, my pulse racing and sweat forming on my brow.
The crook answers for her, "You should get down on the floor before I decorate the wall with her pretty little brains."
"Ok! Ok!" I say a little more insistently, lying face down on the floor.
"Richard," I hear Loretta call to me from under the man's arm. "No matter what happens, stay there and don't move!"
No one has ever asked me to do anything more difficult. I breathe heavily, my cheek pressed against the lobby's cool tile.
"Remember," she calls out as the thief drags Linda back toward the vault, "none of this is real!"
If it isn't real, why does it have to feel that way? I wish this would all just end. I wish I would just wake up. Wake up, dammit! WAKE UP!!!
A deafening shot rings out. My heart freezes as I hear a thud and footsteps pounding around the corner. I can't help but look up. The thug is running toward me, the gun in his right hand and some glistening red on his left arm.
"Head down!" he roars as he stumbles over me toward the door. He hits me with it as he throws it open and bursts through the second door to the outside. "Go! Go!" he shouts at the driver. Tires squeal and the sound of the car's engine fades into the distance.
I quickly push myself up, ignoring the pain in my still sore muscles. I run across the lobby and around the corner and stop. The bank manager, huddled against the vault door, looks up at me with a terrified expression. I look at the wall next to me. There's a circle of red splatters dripping down toward the floor. My eyes follow their path reluctantly to Linda. She's lying there, still. A red puddle grows larger under her head.
"Oh no, Linda, no, no, no, no..." I sputter as I drop to my knees to turn her. Tears fill my eyes and I breath fast to try to fend off the crippling truth of what I see before me. Linda blinks and her eyes roll back and forth slowly.
"Linda?" I ask, wiping my tears away to make sure they're not fooling me.
"Mike?" she asks weakly. Her face looks ghostly white.
"I'm here, baby, I'm here," I reassure her, tears blurring my vision again.
"Mike, I...I think I'm bleeding," she tells me.
"Shhh," I tell her, my body shaking uncontrollably with sobs as I try to hold her this last time.
"In case I can't say it later..." she whispers.
I shake my head, unable to say anything to stop her.
"...I love you. Remember that."
I nod, tears rolling freely down my face. I try to tell her I love her too, but I can only mouth it. My shaky breath only allows weeping, not speech.
Still, she smiles, though it fades quickly. I can see her eyes trying to keep focus.
"Richard," Loretta's voice says with a hint of sympathy.
"No!" I force out. I can hear sirens.
"Richard," she repeats.
"NO!" I scream.
"I can't imagine how this feels, but try to remember..."
Who the hell is this woman? Making my dead wife's lips move. Talking to me morbidly in the midst of this tragedy as though nothing were happening. You're perverting my wife's memory! Stop it! Stop it!
"STOP IT!" I yell out with all the will I can muster. I stand up, Linda's now lifeless form rolling away. I need to get out of here.
"Stop right there!" a stern voice commands as I stumble out into the sunlight.
Squinting in the brightness, I can see the bank is surrounded by squad cars. Several police stand behind their vehicles with guns pointed squarely at me.
I raise my hands, only now realizing that they are covered in blood. Linda's blood. I don't care anymore. I don't care about anything. The police shout missives at me and I lay down, though not because of anything they're saying. I just lay down. I give up. I surrender. I don't want to do this anymore. Just take me. Take me away. Take me from this world of pain. I close my eyes and remember...nothing.
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