Franky Is Lucky

CHAPTER 4

MY LIFE ISN'T JUST A PICKLE IT IS A BIG DILL

"I have a plan. First thing first, you need to leave." Amy opened her mouth to protest but I interrupted her for once. "Listen, you have already spent a lot of time around me and I can not have you spend more time than necessary and I can tell you probably would like to change and stuff. Also, you need to pack some clothes and things because you may end up having to stay here. Seriously Amy, the less time you spend around me the better. Also, if you wouldn't mind picking up some coffee on your way back I would appreciate it. I am going to go shower and stuff and then start researching to see what I can find out. Okay?" She nodded and got up to walk towards the door.

"Be careful stop for no one and watch your back. Got it?" She nodded again and I let her outside.

I locked the door behind her and set the alarm system for the first time in maybe two years. I barely remembered how but once I finally managed to set it I trudged up the steps to the bathroom. I shed my clothes and forced my weary body into the warm stream of the water. I took about a thirty minute shower even though I craved more. I had to get to work before Amy got back. I brushed my teeth again and went to the bedroom and put on some clean clothes. I walked across the hall to the study and turned my MP3 player on full blast, logged onto the computer and started searching.

Problem was I didn't know what to search for. Not only had it been five years but also there was not even a shred of evidence as to where to begin. As I sat the song switched, Wolf Parade came on, once again I got lost in the lyrics.

"I got a hand, so I got a fist, so I got a plan, it's the best that I can do, now we'll say it's in God's hands but God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he?" I sat there in thought for a few moments as the song played out. I didn't have a plan. I had no idea where to even start.

And then I got angry. How could Brent do this? Had I really made him that angry that he would hang me out on a limb like this? And what about Amy? Who the hell does that to a person that has helped them?

Then, for the first time ever, I felt an iniquitous feeling of joy that Brent was no longer living. However, the second the thought crossed my mind I felt instantly guilty and that made me angry all over again. Why was I guilty for thinking the worst of Brent? He had clearly screwed me and Amy.

I was snapped back to reality when I heard the alarm go off and glass break at the same time.

I instantly wrenched my desk drawer open and looked for my gun. Shit where is it?

It wasn't there so I grabbed the next best thing a can of condensed air. I tipped it upside down and shaked it as I briskly crept down the hallway. I stuck to the wall and as I cautiously stepped down the stairs I poked my head around the corner. There in the living room stood a man in a black suit.

Shit. He was turned around luckily but he wasn't going to be for long. I decided to take action I came out from my hiding place and crept up behind him. I figured the can had a five foot range so once I was in five feet of the guy I took aim and said

"Who the hell are you?" Probably not the most graphic novel thing to say but I am not a superhero and he is not my arch enemy.

He swung around and as he did I sprayed the compressed air can at his face, he shrieked in pain as the frozen difluoroethane hit his skin. His face was burning. I had a flashback to Brent but I shoved it out of my mind and kept spraying. Despite the fact that the can was freezing my hands I stayed focused. Then the man lunged at me to try and knock the can out of my hands but I got his hand with the liquid stream instead and he screamed again, this time in anger.

I realized that the compressed air wasn't going to last much longer. So I turned and ran up the stairs to my room. If the gun wasn't in my study then it had to be in my end table. I blundered into my room and barricaded the door closed. The best thing I could do for myself was create time to prepare. My socked feet slide across the hardwood floors of my room. I slide to the end table and grabbed the gun box. Thank you God.

I loaded the clip into the gun and stood up and took aim. I knew I was a sitting duck here but I figured since I had barricaded the door and since I attacked him with such crude means to begin with he wouldn't be prepared for me to have a gun. I waited, and waited.

As I stood there my body started to shake from the adrenaline and my heart felt like I was going to have coronary failure. Finally, I realized I must have been standing there for over five minutes. I decided that what I did next was probably not the best action to take but I did it anyway. I reached for the chair I had used to barricade the door and silently pulled it away. I pressed my ear against the door to see if I could hear anything all I heard was the alarm going off in the main room. I held the gun steady with my right hand and stepped to the left of the door, my back to the wall and turned the knob with my left. I took a deep breath and swung the door open and removed my hand from sight as I did. With the door now open, I listened again and when I still did not hear anything but the alarm, I stuck my head out to peer on the other side of the door. I did not see anyone so I crept out of the room and into the hall way. I thanked my laziness for not putting shoes on because my sneakers would have made being stealthy a lot harder. I slinked down the hallway. I reached the stairs and repeated the process of earlier. What I saw took me by surprise. The man that had attacked me was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, there was a gaping hole in his back. What the hell?

My mind raced through a million possibilities in just a few seconds and then I came to one that seemed appropriate. I didn't hear a shot. Who killed him? Over the sound of the alarm I heard the wailing ring of the phone and went to answer it. I picked up the phone and held it to my ear. I had to yell to hear myself over the alarm.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Onni this is David from SecureX calling, your alarm has been tripped is everything okay?" Shit what do I say? Do I tell him I need the police? Do I tell him I don't. What do I do? I realized rather quickly that I couldn't tell him that I needed help.

"Hello Ms. Onni?"

"Oh sorry, Yea, everything is fine. I just accidentally broke a window. Everything is fine."

"Ms. Onni if you need the police you can say something maybe just give me an 'uh huh' or say something out of context that you can say. We will send someone right over." Well at least he was thorough.

"Everything is totally fine. I am just a klutz." I was out of practice at making up stories so I was hoping that Dave dropped it.

"Alright ma'am as long as everything is okay. Call us if you need anything." He still sounded leery.

"Thanks David. Bye" And I hung up the phone.

I knew that he was going to call the police so I had to figured out what to do with the big body taking up my living room. I figured I only had a few minutes. So I grabbed the throw off of the couch and draped it over him, I rolled the body over so that it would be on top of the blanket and I grabbed an end of the blanket and pulled with all my might. The body slid rather easily. Well the wood floors were a good idea after all.

I dragged the dead man all the way to the sun room and then grabbed the mop from the kitchen. I mopped up as much blood as I could and then moved the area rug over to cover up what I couldn't get up right away. I hope this doesn't seep through. I also went over the trail from the dragged body with the mop and then pushed the couch to be realigned with the area rug. This whole process had taken about seven or eight minutes. I decided the next best thing to do would be too check myself over for blood. I looked and applauded myself for not getting a drop on me. I inspected the room and it looked normal which was a relief.

I then put on my shoes and headed to the back door. I unlocked it and crossed the yard to the shed. I grabbed some plywood, nails and a hammer and dragged them to the front of the house and then I saw Amy's car.

The doors were left open. I set the plywood and hammer down and ran over. I looked inside my heart throbbing, Amy was not there. I did a general sweep of the yard to see if I could see her and then I ducked my head back into the car and saw inside on the passengers seat there were two spilt cups of coffee and an envelope sitting on the dash. Her keys were in the ignition turned to the off position.

My heart wrenched, she was gone. I didn't see any blood so she hopefully wasn't hurt. I had no time though I couldn't be standing here looking into the car when the cops arrived. I stood up shut the car door and took a deep breath. I trudged over to the plywood and nails and hauled them to the window and I started hammering it over the opening. I had to choke back tears as I hammered away. Just then I heard someone pull into my driveway.

I turned around to see a cop car with two policemen inside. I stood up setting the hammer down as I did. I turned to face the two men who had both stepped out of the car. I put a smile on and said "Hello sirs what brings you out here?"

"Ma'am we were called by the security company. We had a report of suspicious conditions. Is everything alright?"

"Yea I just broke the window here. I was moving around furniture and well I got a little hasty and ran the coffee table into the glass and it shattered. My alarm went off and I couldn't hear the phone over the noise. I told the guy who called that everything is fine. Sorry for the trouble." The men didn't look convinced. Well at least they were doing there job.

"Ma'am may we ask to see your I.D." Dammit. That meant going into the house.

"Yea no problem it's just inside, let me go grab it." I walked to the front door and they followed. Of course they were going to follow. I pulled out my keys from my pocket I had left the front door locked and I wrenched open the door. The alarm didn't sound, I must be draining the two men to get that stroke of luck. Great two more people to weigh on my conscience. I grabbed my satchel from it's usual hook by the door and I pulled out my wallet and got out my drivers license. I handed it to the officer closest to me. The other was looking through the door into the living room. I hoped that he didn't find anything but I was pretty sure that for once my curse would play out for the best. Hadn't it already? I had after all had enough time to clean up the blood, hide the body and I had found Amy's car and been able to nail the board up most of the way. I must have done more damage than I thought. I snapped back into reality as the cop handed me back my driver's license. He reached out his hand to shake mine.

"Well Ms. Onni looks like everything is in order here. Sorry for the trouble."

"No problem officer. Thanks for coming out." He lightly backhanded his partner on the arm to signal that they were leaving. The other cop who I noticed was much younger and thinner was still peering into my house. But he shook his head and turned with the other policeman to walk away. I waited for them to get in the car and pull out before I moved a muscle.

Once they were out of sight I ran over to Amy's car and wrenched open the door. I grabbed the envelope off the dashboard and ripped it open. Inside was a note written in hasty handwriting. It read:

We have your friend she is fine but she won't be for long. You have five hours. Contact us in that time if you want her back.

At the bottom was a phone number.

I sank into the front seat of Amy's car. Dammit. What do I do now?