Grabbed

R eva uttered a choked gasp.

Pam laughed.

She raised the letter opener and pushed the blade two or three more times into Reva’s chest. “Gotcha,” Pam cried, her green eyes sparkling with excitement in the bright store light.

Reva took a step back, her eyes still wide with fear. She stared at the fake letter opener, realizing that it had a sliding blade. The blade slid into the handle when it was pressed against anything.

Still grinning, Pam pushed the blade into the palm of one hand. “Do you believe this joke letter opener is the biggest seller in the stationery department this Christmas?” Pam declared, shaking her head.

“It’s... very funny,” Reva said weakly. “Glad you’re having fun, Pam.”

“It beats last Christmas,” Pam remarked, eyeing Reva meaningfully.

“For sure,” Reva muttered.

Reva said goodbye to her cousin. Then she walked as slowly as she could back to the perfume counter, thinking about Victor.

• • •

After work Reva made her way up to the executive offices on the sixth floor to meet her father. She passed the luxurious reception area with its leather couches, fresh flowers in tall glass vases, and fabric-covered walls studded with modern paintings.

Following the hall to her father’s office in the corner, Reva paused as the balcony came into view. The balcony from which she could look down on all five floors to the first one. The balcony where she had almost met her death.

Feeling a cold shiver down her back, Reva held her breath and jogged the rest of the way, her eyes straight ahead.

Mr. Dalby was standing in the doorway to his office, a stack of files in his hands. He smiled as Reva approached. “How’s it going?”

Reva’s father was a trim, handsome man who worked out every day and took very good care of himself. He was forty-six but appeared younger. The only signs of age were the creases at the corners of his dark eyes and the sweeping trails of gray on the sides of his black, closely trimmed hair.

“How’s it going? Not great,” Reva complained. She followed her father into his office and sat down in front of his wide blond-wood desk.

She turned the photo in the Plexiglas frame on the corner of the desk to peek at it. She had seen it at least a thousand times, but it still made her feel sad. It was a snapshot of Reva, her little brother, Michael, and their mother on the beach at the Cape. It had been taken five years earlier, just six months before Reva’s mother had died.

What a photo, she thought, turning it back. So happy and so sad at the same time. She always wondered how her father could bear to keep it in front of him all day.

Mr. Dalby sat in his chair and leaned over his desk, studying Reva’s face. “Ms. Smith complained about you this morning,” he murmured.

Reva shrugged, as if to say who cares. “I really don’t want to work here this Christmas, Daddy,” she said, not meaning to sound as whiny as she did. “I mean, it’s not like we need the money.”

Mr. Dalby frowned. He tapped a pencil on the desktop as he continued to stare at her thoughtfully. “I really want you to work,” he said softly. “For your own good, Reva. I know it brings back bad memories. But I feel you have to get over them.”

“I really need a rest, that’s all,” Reva insisted. “Why can’t I go to Saint Croix with Michael?”

“Because the Harrisons didn’t invite you,” her father answered bluntly. “They only invited your brother.”

Reva blew a strand of red hair off her forehead. “Bummer,” she muttered.

“Tell you what,” Mr. Dalby said, tossing down the pencil. His expression brightened. “Stick it out here in the store this Christmas, and we’ll go somewhere warm in February.”

“Really?” Reva pulled herself up from her slouching position in the chair. Her blue eyes brightened.

“And you can take a friend along,” he added. “You can’t get a better offer than that.”

Reva laughed. “Is this what you might call a bribe?”

Mr. Dalby nodded. “Yes. It’s definitely a bribe.”

Reva jumped up, leaned over the desk, and kissed his cheek.

His dark eyes grew wide with surprise. He wasn’t used to receiving much affection from his daughter.

“Okay, so I’m letting you bribe me,” Reva said, smiling. “I love being bribed, actually.”

“And you’ll keep the job in the store?” he demanded.

“Yeah. Sure,” Reva replied.

“And I won’t get any more complaints from Ms. Smith that you’re being rude to the customers?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Hey—don’t expect miracles!” Reva exclaimed. She started to walk over to the coat closet against the wall. “Are you coming home?”

Mr. Dalby sighed and pointed to the stack of files on his desk. “I can’t. I have to work late. I have all these inventory reports to go over.”

Reva pulled on her coat. “Okay. See you later.” She stopped at the door. “Thanks for the bribe, Daddy.”

“Any time.”

Humming to herself, Reva made her way down the hallway toward the two service elevators that were for store employees. Most of the offices she passed were empty. The desks out front were empty too. The secretaries went home promptly at five.

Her voice sounded hollow in the silent hallway. She stopped humming.

She didn’t like being out there all alone.

Feeling her heart pound harder, Reva stepped up to one of the employees’ elevators. The doors were shiny aluminum. She could see her reflection in them. Two Revas stared back at her, slightly distorted, both a little anxious, a little frightened.

She pushed the button.

The doors to the elevator to her left slid open.

She started toward it.

But a loud voice behind her uttered a sharp cry.

And strong hands grabbed her arms from behind.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20