Heartless (13 page)

At exactly six o'clock, Parker pulled into the driveway of
the tasteful house Raiford Gautier had designed for his friends.
After Terry Johnson was discharged from the military, he came
to work for Bertram and Gautier as a construction engineer and
eventually vice president in charge of construction. Parker
called Ray and informed him the second he answered, "Hey.
I'm here. As soon as I get Sheena we're going to the theater. I'll
call you when we get there."

"I'm holding you to it, son," Ray said with authority. The
conversation ended.
Parker knocked and Sheena bounced out the door. Terry
Johnson said, "Excuse me," from the doorway.
"Hello, Mr. Johnson," said Parker. "We're going to a movie
and then back here if that's all right with you. Ray wants us
somewhere safe after last night."
"That's wise. What are you gonna see?"
"I don't know yet. I'll let Sheena choose."
"Score a few points, huh?"
"No." Parker jammed his hands in his pockets and felt the
two foil packs. He jerked his hands out and turned beet-red.
His face felt aflame.
"Relax, Parker." Terry smirked. "I was teasing you. Have
fun."
"We'll probably be back about nine."
"That's fine."
Sheena frowned at her father, grabbed Parker's hand, and
pulled him toward the car.
When they parked at the theater, Parker called Ray. They
decided to go to the new
Star Trek
movie although they had
both seen it. They got popcorn and a Coke to share and sat on
the farthest row in the rear where a velvet curtain brushed the
backs of the seats. They took turns feeding each other popcorn
before the movie started. Since the flick had been playing
several weeks, the theater was not crowded. They had the back
row to themselves.
Shortly into the movie, Parker put his arm around Sheena.
She lifted the armrest between the two seats and scooted closer.
In the dark, he found her mouth and they kissed deeply. He
discreetly slid his hand under her sweater and caressed her
breast through her lacy bra. She slid her hand up his thigh.
Suddenly, someone sat down beside Parker and whispered,
"You need to use the restroom. Don't make a scene and the
pretty little girl will be just fine. I'm happy to see that at least
you're not a faggot."
Parker whispered to Sheena, "I need to use the restroom."
He handed the keys to the car to her and squeezed her hand
hard enough to hurt, hoping she would get a clue.
The person who sat down left. Then, Parker left.
In the lobby Parker said, "Mom, what do you want? Can't
you leave me alone? I'm happy for the first time I can ever
remember."
Mia glared at her son. "Happy? You little traitor! Outside
on the bike now!"
Parker shook his head. "No. I'm staying with my father."
A malicious smirk toyed at Mia’s mouth. "Like the little
family scene, do you? Well, it won't last long. If you don't
come with me, the little redheaded wifey might not see
tomorrow."
"Larkin? What have you done to Larkin?"
"Well, at least you don't call her 'Mommy.' You won't
know what's happened to her unless you come with me."
I'm trapped. I have to make sure Larkin is all right. Sheena
has the car key. Surely she'll understand and call Ray.
"Take
me to her now!" he said near tears.
Parker got on the back of the motorcycle Mia had, and she
drove to a dingy old motel on the outskirts of town. She
unlocked the door to a room on the back and shoved Parker
through.
Parker shouted, "Larkin?"
"Oh, shut up!" snapped Mia. "I didn't do anything to her,
but you sure want to protect her."
"I'm leaving." Parker started toward the door.
"You're not going anywhere. Sit down." Mia pulled a pistol
from under the pillow on the bed. "How could you betray me
like this? Do you have any idea what I've done for you?"

Sheena waited about a minute before she followed Parker.
He was not in the restroom. She had the audacity to walk right
in. He was not in the lobby. Why had he given her the car
keys?

Like a lightning strike, Sheena screamed, "Oh, my God!
That woman. That was his mother."
She pulled her phone out and called home. Terry answered,
"Sheena, what's wrong?"
"Daddy, Parker's missing." She was nearly hysterical. "That
woman came here. She made him go with her."
"What? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. He gave me his key. He was trying to tell me to
get help without drawing attention."
"Okay, honey. You call the police. I'm calling Ray, and,
then, I'll be there."

The Reynolds's house phone rang, and the consummate
telephone operator, Courtney, answered.
Terry Johnson urgently requested, "Courtney, this is Mr.
Terry. Put your dad on now!"
Courtney hollered, "Daddy, it's Mr. Terry."
Ray snatched the phone. "Terry, what's wrong?"
"Get to the theater. Sheena called. Mia has taken Parker."
Ray did not even hang up the phone, and he left without a
word. He had not told Larkin that Mia had ever threatened
Parker's life. For Ray, not keeping secrets extended until he
thought he was protecting his family. Even as the GT flew
down the driveway and Larkin screamed, "Ray!" from the
doorway, Ray called Chris.
Chris answered, "Ray, what's up?"
"Get to my house and pack everybody off to Mom and
Dad's even if you have to tie Larkin up and throw her in the
trunk of your car."
"What's happened?"
"Mia has taken Parker. Get the rest of my family to safety. I
don't trust her not to come after them. She wants me. I'm gonna
give her exactly what she's asking for—a one-way ticket to
Hell."

Ray arrived at the theater at the same time as Terry
Johnson. Both men dashed into the facility. Sheena was
sobbing uncontrollably in the arms of the female patrol officer,
Delta Baines, one of four officers who had responded to the
girl's call.

Sheena fell into her father's arms. Ray caressed her back as
he said gently, "Sheena, honey, you don't have time to cry right
now. You have to help me find Parker. Tell me what
happened."

Sheena took several deep breaths. "Okay. The movie had
just started. Somebody sat down beside Parker. Honestly, we
weren't paying much attention to the people in the theater. We
were sort of making out on the back row."

"Of course, you were. Now, tell me what happened," Ray
snapped.
"Well, the woman sat down and mumbled something.
Then, she got up and left. I thought she was just embarrassed to
stay because we were kissing.
"Almost immediately Parker said he needed to use the
restroom. He put his car keys in my hand and left. I thought it
was a little strange, so after about a minute, I followed him. I
even went in the boys' restroom. I couldn't find him anywhere.
That's when I realized who the woman had to have been and
called Daddy. Obviously, Parker gave me the keys to tell me
something was wrong. From the time Parker left the theater
until I called Daddy couldn't have been more than ten minutes."
Officer Marceau approached the trio. "Chief, the
concessions clerk says she saw Parker talking to an older
woman. They appeared to be arguing, and the kid looked upset.
He left with the woman. I showed her a picture of Mia
Godchaux that was in the court file. She says that's the
woman."
Ray rubbed his head.
Now is not the time for a migraine.

In the seedy hotel room, Mia berated her son at gunpoint.
"Parker, if you had just found your father and stayed with him
a while, that would've been one thing, but you willingly
changed your name. How could you turn on me like that?
You're as heartless as your father."

"He's going to be!" Mia barked. "Stand up!" she
commanded.
"What? Why?"
"Stand up and stop arguing with me. Your father has been a
horrible influence on you. You're back-talking me. You're
being disobedient. You're making out with slutty little girls."
"Sheena's not a slut!" yelled Parker as he advanced on Mia
who slapped him hard across the face.
"Shut up! Put your hands against the wall," Mia hissed.
Parker did as his mother requested. She kicked his feet apart as
she placed the barrel of the gun to the back of his head.
"What are you doing?" Parker asked, his body quivering.
"Searching you. I wouldn't put it past Ray to have given
you a weapon."
"I don't have a weapon, Mom. I was on a date with my
girlfriend."
"Where are your keys?"
"I don't know. I think I left them in the cup holder of the
chair." Parker lied without a blink.
"No, you didn't. You gave 'em to that little girl, hoping
she'd call Daddy. Why don't you call him 'Daddy?' Ah, what's
this?"
"What does it look like?" asked Parker, sinking into
despair.
"A phone. Call him!" Mia commanded shoving Parker back
onto the bed. "Call Daddy."
"No," he replied. "Mom, stop. Please, stop. I'll go with you.
Leave Ray alone. Please."
Mia chambered a bullet on the Glock. "Call him!" she
ordered again.
"No. You're gonna have to shoot me."
"All right." Mia snatched a pillow from the bed, wrapped it
around the barrel of the gun, placed it against Parker's knee,
and pulled the trigger. The sound was muffled, but the bullet
passed through his knee into the mattress.
Parker screamed at the searing pain that burned through his
flesh. "Shut up!" bellowed Mia. "Didn't you notice there's no
one else on this side of the motel? The office is way up front,
and there are only a couple of cars on the other side. Nobody
will hear you scream. Now, call Daddy."
Parker's hand shook as he pulled up Ray's number and hit
send. Ray looked at the number thinking Larkin was calling to
protest. "Parker!" he spoke anxiously into the phone.
"Ray," Parker sobbed on his end.
Mia snatched the phone. "Hello, Ray."
"You bitch!"
"Shut up, Ray, and listen. If you want to see this little
turncoat again, you'll do exactly as I say. Meet me at the
Waffle House on Route 12. I'm sure you remember it. We ate
many late-night breakfasts there. Come alone and unarmed. If I
see a cop, you'll never see Parker again, Daddy." Mia hung up.
She marched to the blind of the room and, with a very
sharp scalpel she pulled from her fanny pack, cut the cord. She
jerked Parker up from the bed. He yelped in pain. "Stop
whimpering, baby," Mia snarled. "You'll live—for now."
She dragged him, hobbling, to the clothing rack by the
lavatory. She tied his hands together and jerked his arms over
his head, knotting the cord securely to the clothing bar.
"What kind of car will he be driving?" she demanded.
"I don't know."
She placed the muzzle of the gun against his other knee.
"Do I have to shoot you again?"
He shook his head. "Maybe an old black Mustang. I don't
know. He has several cars."
Mia stood straight.
Parker pleaded, "Mom, please. It hurts. Please, let me sit
down."
"No can do," she responded coldly as she stuffed a wash
cloth into her son's mouth. "Now, I'm going to meet Daddy. Be
good." Mia patted Parker's cheek a couple of times before she
slapped him hard.

Ray called Dantzler as he jumped into the GT and took off.
"Lawrence, get a fix on my phone signal, and get your people
on my signal. I'm certain I'm going to meet our murderess. Stay
far enough away that she won't see you." He slid the
transmitting phone into his pocket.

Ray pulled into a parking place at the ancient Waffle
House. He took in his surroundings, trying to spot Mia.
Suddenly, she slid into the passenger's seat.

Mia was obviously in control of the situation. She stated,
"The first thing you need to know is there is a Glock .45 in this
fanny pack pointed at your abdomen. Don't be stupid. Is this
that hunk of junk GT you had when we met?"

Ray noted the make and caliber of the Mia's gun, the same
make and caliber used in the four heart-stealing incidents. He
answered cryptically, "Yes."

Ray slid out slowly as Mia hopped out and zipped around
the front of the car with the Glock still pointed at him.
"Take off your shirt and do a complete three-sixty," she
commanded.
He took off his shirt and turned all the way around. "No
wire and no gun, Mia," he said attempting to placate the
woman. "How did someone with your history managed to get a
gun?"
"You know what they say—'Where there's a will, there's a
way.'" She puckered her lips, and then made a clucking noise
with her tongue. "Since we're catching up on what we've done,
lots of scars. What happened?"
"Latrice Descartes happened."
"Read about her." She indicated with the gun, her hand
inside the pack. "Put your shirt back on and pull up the legs on
your pants."
He did as she asked. "No back-up either," he assured.
She got very close to him and put a hand first into his left
pocket. "I'm not groping you, Ray, although you used to like it
when I slipped my hands into your pockets."
Then, she moved to his right pocket. "Ah, what do we have
here?" asked Mia as she terminated transmission on the phone.
"You must think I'm an idiot. I didn't date a cop for two years
and not learn some tricks." She laid Ray's phone on the Waffle
House planter after wiping it clean of prints.
Through the nylon of her fanny pack, she nudged him with
the gun barrel. "The motorcycle. You drive. You're going to the
last motel on Route 12 a couple of miles away. Remember the
gun is in your back."
"No helmets?" asked Ray sarcastically.
"I like to live dangerously. Shut up and drive. When you
get to there, go around back."
Ray kicked the bike into gear. He was determined to find
his son.

"Stop here," Mia shouted over the roar of the motor. Ray
stopped the motorcycle.
Outside the door, Mia handed Ray the key card. "You open
it just in case he's waiting to brain me with the lamp."
He slid the card down the slot and opened the door.
"Parker!" exclaimed Ray as he saw his son tied to the clothes
rack and the leg of his jeans covered in blood. Ray dashed to
him and untied his hands and removed the gag. Ray's thoughts
swirled as the chill in the room reminded him of the night
Latrice Descartes had tried to sacrifice Larkin.
There have to
be evil spirits at work here
, he thought as he lifted Parker into
his arms and carried him to the bed where he gently laid him.
Parker sobbed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish you had shot
her last night."
Ray pushed his son’s long hair from his face. "Shh.
Daddy's here. It's gonna be all right."
"Isn't this a touching sight?" growled Mia. The malevolent
look Ray gave her had no effect on her whatsoever.