Suitcase

            by Amelia Starr

 

It was a dark and stormy night. Blake approached the large house with caution. He had a job to do, and he knew it, but that didn’t make it any easier. His black trench coat swirled around his long, muscular legs as he strode purposefully towards the foreboding front door. As he walked, he tried to clear his mind of everything but the task at hand, but he couldn’t shake the image of Jacqueline sprawled across the floor, her white-blonde curls spattered with blood.

Liz rolled her eyes and shut her book. It was the last one Emma had recommended, she loved cheesy romance novel mysteries; especially the ones by Nora Roberts.  Leaning back into the worn leather seat, she gave herself the pep talk she knew Emma would have given her if she had still been alive. Liz knew she only had one chance to get the job done. A mistake could cost her life.

            “Southwest terminal!” shouted the shuttle driver. As the large green van pulled to a stop, she climbed down awkwardly, trying not to put too much weight on her broken ankle. The driver handed her her grey metal suitcase, her small backpack, and her crutches. She hobbled to the automatic doors and breathed a sigh of relief when she entered the air-conditioned interior of Oakland International Airport.  Checking her boarding pass, she began the long trek to Gate 27.  The airport was fairly busy for a Monday afternoon, and Liz began to get tired as she slowly approached the gate. Why did he have to be at the last gate in the airport? Her crutches were slightly too long for her 5’8” frame, and carrying a large suitcase was much harder than she had anticipated. By the time she reached her gate, she was panting. She looked around for a seat and headed towards the big windows on the side of the building. She plopped down next to a tanned man, who looked to be in his early 40s, wearing a nicely tailored grey suit and reading The Economist.

            “Hi,” she said, a little out of breath. “It sure is hot today.”

            “Uhh, yeah,” responded the man, not looking up.

            “Are you headed to Arizona too?” Liz asked. “I’m going to Scottsdale.” She pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked at the man; he was trying hard to ignore her. “Anyways,” she continued, “I hope it’s not too hot in Scottsdale; this cast is a pain in the neck when it’s hot.”

            “Weather report said mid 90s,” the man mumbled, still focusing on not paying any attention to Liz.

            “Do you live in Scottsdale?” asked Liz, fiddling with the handle of her suitcase.

            “Yeah,” said the man, finally giving up on The Economist and looking up at Liz. Now he was paying attention; Liz’s long auburn hair and big green eyes tended to have that affect on men.

            “Cool, or hot, I guess,” she giggled. “My friend Emma used to live there too. I visited her once. I really liked it.” Be cool, she warned herself. You only have one shot at this.

            “It’s a nice city,” the man said lightly.

            “Oh you must think I’m so rude!” Liz exclaimed. “I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Elizabeth McCalister. Everyone calls me Liz,” she said, holding out her hand. She watched him for any signs of recognition, but he gave none. That was good.

            “Derek Winston,” as he shook her hand.

            “Nice to meet you” said Liz. “Do you watch Grey’s Anatomy? Derek is the name of my friend Emma’s favorite character. I like Bailey better though,” she said in a rush. Did he twitch when I brought up Emma again? She wondered.

            “Ah, no. I’ve never seen it,” he responded, looking at her curiously.

            “What is it that you said you do?” asked Liz, picking up her suitcase and resting it on her lap.

            “I didn’t, but I’m a stockbroker. What do you do?” he asked uninterestedly, looking longingly at his magazine. Liz leaned forward slightly, hoping her cleavage would catch his eye so that she could keep him talking a little longer.

            “I’m a courier,” Liz replied eagerly. “I take important things places for people, like if it’s too valuable to be shipped or something.”

            “Sounds fascinating,” Derek replied with a hint of sarcasm. She noticed that his eyes were no longer on her face. You make me sick. Unbidden, the image of Emma’s body at the morgue came to Liz’s mind. She had looked so tiny under the white sheet. Liz had come to identify the body; it was Emma alright. Even though she had been beaten badly, there was no mistaking that golden hair and those navy blue eyes.

            “Yeah, this one time, I carried this lady’s Chihuahua all the way from  LA to England.” Where in the hell did I come up with that? He’s going to think I’m nuts.

            “So if the stuff you carry is so valuable, why don’t you have a body guard or a gun or something?” he asked.

            “That would be conspicuous, wouldn’t it?” she replied lightly. “My job is to get whatever I’m carrying from point A to point B with as little fuss as possible, which generally means being inconspicuous. They almost didn’t let me do this job, on account of my broken ankle, but this is a special case, and I know the family. Oops, I’m not supposed to mention any specific details to anyone. Forget what you just heard, okay?”

            “Sure,” responded Derek, finally looking interested. He’s intrigued, thought Liz. That’s good.

            “Thanks,” replied Liz. “So, you’re coming back from a business trip?”

            “You could say that,” Derek replied. Yeah, or you could call it murder, thought Liz, hoping that her anger didn’t show.

            “Have you been to the Bay Area before?” asked Liz.

“Only once, my cousin got married in Berkeley a few years ago. You are lucky to live in such an amazing town.  Cheeseboard pizza is the best I’ve ever had.”

“Oh my gosh! I know. It’s amazing!” Liz gushed, slightly disgusted by how stupid she sounded. “Did you have the one with corn on it?” she asked.

“Corn? Ahh, no. It had potatoes,” he said. “So what are you carrying?” he asked. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Wow, you are dumber than you look, thought Liz.

“Silly! You know I can’t tell you!” Liz answered. “Well, I can give you a clue, I guess. You’ve heard of the Montebello family, right?”

“Yeah. They’ve lived in Scottsdale forever. Lost all their money during the Depression and got it all back within ten years dealing in art. They are big in American Indian art and jewelry.”

“I’m impressed.” He certainly did his research. “This is for the show next month.” Oh shit. He looks worried. Was that too obvious?

“Oh wow! My wife is really excited about that show.” I guess it wasn’t too obvious.  Wait a minute, your WIFE?! Emma said you were divorced. She never would have slept with you if she knew you were married. You really are a bastard.

“Yeah, it’s going to be really cool. I’m hoping I will be able to take some time off to see it,”

“Flight 324 with service to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix has been delayed due to a minor problem with refueling. There is a crew working on this problem as we speak, and we hope to begin boarding shortly.”

            “Uh oh,” said Derek. “I hope we aren’t delayed too long. I have a conference call at four.” Yeah, good luck getting to that on time, thought Liz, smiling.

“Yeah, that would be a bummer. You don’t happen to have any Advil, do you? My ankle is killing me. The doctor didn’t want me working for a few more weeks, but I had to take this job, “ Liz said.

“Sorry, I don’t have any. How did you break your ankle?”

“I fell. I was running in Tilden Park and I tripped over a root. It’s only a fracture though. It was very clumsy of me, but then again, I’ve never been particularly graceful. My best friend was a ballerina. I was so jealous when I went to Emma’s performances.”

“That sounds painful, tripping over a root. You’re lucky it’s only a fracture. Breaks take a long time to heal in adults.”

“That’s what my doctor said, but I don’t feel that lucky trying to drag this suitcase around while on crutches.”

“Thank you for your patience. We have fixed the refueling problems and flight 324 with service to Phoenix is now ready to board. We invite those customers in group “A” and those with traveling with small children or requiring assistance to board the plane at this time.”

“I assume you qualify as someone who requires assistance,” Derek said, “I only have my briefcase, can I help you with your suitcase?”

“Thanks,” said Liz, handing the suitcase to Derek. She picked up her crutches from the ground and stood up awkwardly.  She began making her way to the line that had formed by the jetway. As she and Derek approached the end of the line, Derek turned to Liz and said, “You are as stupid as Emma was.  Didn’t anyone tell you not to talk to strangers? Now I will finally get what I deserve. This art belongs to my family. The Montebello’s stole it from us years ago, but now it’s all mine again. And with that ankle, there is nothing you can do about it.” he swung the suitcase around and hit Liz in the stomach, knocking her over. He turned and ran, dodging people as he sped towards the exit of the airport.

“Are you ok?” a young woman asked, holding out a hand to help Liz up. “Did that man just steal your luggage?”

“Thanks,” Liz said, getting up slowly. “Don’t worry about the suitcase, it was for him,” she watched Derek reach the doors with a grim smile, thinking of the small tracking device located on the faux American Indian art. He would certainly be surprised when he was ambushed by the police. And he called me stupid, she thought with a smile. He should have run away the first time I mentioned Emma. How could he not realize he was being set up?  She slowly began the arduous trek back to the van that was waiting for her outside.

She leaned back into the soft, leather seat and opened her romance novel to the last chapter.

The door opened. Blake stared in shock at Jacqueline.

“You didn’t seriously think I’d let them kill me? Did you Blake?”

“I saw you, you were dead.”

“Nothing could keep me from you, Blake, not even a blow to the head with a blunt object.” They embraced, their bodies fit together perfectly. Her bosom heaved as they kissed passionately and as thunder boomed, Blake shut the door.