No Looking Back

  ********

  Marla woke from her nap to yelling voices in the living room of her hotel suite. The yelling was very brief but the argument continued in loud whispers. She decided to lay there and see if she could gather any new information about what was going on, maybe even getting released soon. Something about the conversation had the hair on the back of her neck standing up. One thing that warned her was that one of the voices was female, so she knew someone else was there with her and Dillon. Marla as having trouble making out what was being said, so she silently slipped closer to the crack of the door that had been left open at Dillon’s insistence. She peeked through the crack of the door and was shocked to see Captain Perkins in the arms of Dillon as he tried to console her. That certainly was new! She had no idea that Captain Perkins was romantically involved with Dillon, and she knew Pete didn’t know either, he would have told her something like that. Marla stood and thought for a minute while she tried to make sense of the situation. When Marla heard the conversation ice slid down her spine.

  “Come on baby, she’s bound to remember something soon. Hell, at least the little zombie is talking now.” Dillon reassured Captain Perkins.

  “This is going south fast Alonso and I’m not willing to murder anyone for any amount of money or diamonds. As it is we’re looking at the rest of our lives in prison if they ever find out what we’re up to.” Captain Perkins admitted.

  Alonso! Dillon is really this Alonso character they’ve been talking about! Marla put the thoughts to the back of her mind so she could concentrate on what else was being said.

  “It will never come to that, I promise you. Even if it did, you know I’d take care of it for you. I’d never involve you in murder, you know that don’t you?” Captain Perkins nodded her head yes.

  “Tell me what’s got you so spooked all of the sudden.” Alonso/Dillon asked.

  “That fucking Jensen is snooping around. The bastard even wrote Marla a love letter. What an ass.”

  “Where’s the letter now?” Alonso/Dillon snapped.

  “I burned it and let the wind take the ashes away as I drove out of town. No one will ever find a trace of it, I made sure it was crumpled into tiny ashes before the wind took it.”

  “Good. Now he’ll just think she’s still pissed. Go on with the story.”

  “He suddenly realized that Marla doesn’t have a Canadian accent, so now he’s looking back here to the United States databases again. If he figures out what her real name is, we’re screwed!” Captain Perkins was almost yelling again and Alonso/Dillon shushed her quickly.

  “Is that all? Pete Jensen will never figure everything out and even if he does he’ll have to prove it. We’ll be long gone by then, sipping exotic drinks on some beach somewhere. Relax. We’ve still got plenty of time.” He consoled. “I told you I put password protection on any file that might help him figure out who Marla is. By the time he realizes that we were able to fake all this protective custody shit, let alone the FBI scam, he’ll be retired. He’s not the sharpest crayon in the box and you know it.” Alonso/Dillon reassured her.

  “But Alonso, I’m scared.” Alonso/Dillon suddenly punched Captain Perkins in the jaw, knocking her to the floor. Now Marla saw true evil in his face, red with anger and eyes bulging.

  “Don’t call me that here in this room ever again. Do you want to blow this whole thing? It’s Dillon, you stupid bitch.” He spoke to her through gritted teeth, keeping his voice low but menacing.

  Marla expected Captain Perkins to get up and put him in his place. Instead what she saw was pitiful.

  “Oh, I’m sorry Dillon, I forgot. Please don’t be mad at me, I won’t do it again. I promise. Don’t be mad, please.” Alonso/Dillon was right, she was a stupid bitch, she got up all right but instead of putting him in his place she was groveling and hugging him fiercely, begging his forgiveness. And they thought Pete was stupid?

  “You better go check on our hostage and make sure she’s still sleeping.” Alonso/Dillon ordered as his face regained its normal, ugly paleness. Marla ran back to the bed and laid down, pretending to be asleep, when Captain Perkins peeked into the room. She stood there for several minutes to be sure before going back into the living room. Marla laid there and waited to hear talking in the living room again before she bolted silently back to the crack, now a little wider thanks to Captain Perkins. What she saw next she would never forget for the rest of her life, however short it may be.