PAM’S DEAL

“H uh?” Reva gasped in shock. She struggled to turn toward Pam, but the effort sent a lightning bolt of pain up her arm. She narrowed her eyes at her cousin. “You—you made a deal with them?” Her voice revealed more shock than anger. Shock and hurt.

Pam avoided Reva’s eyes. “Sure. Why not?” she muttered. “Hey—Diane—wait!” she called desperately.

Ignoring her, Diane disappeared to make her call.

“Come on, you guys! Let me go. You promised!” Pam wailed.

Pres and Danny ignored Pam too. They huddled in the corner, talking rapidly in low tones. Pres had a hand on Danny’s shoulder. Danny was still gripping the silver pistol in one hand.

“You helped them?” Reva cried in disbelief, her voice a shrill whisper. “How could you, Pam? How could you?”

“Easy,” Pam replied, turning to Reva with a sneer on her face. “Why do you think they let me go?”

“Because you—you—” Reva was so shocked and upset, she could barely speak.

Pam’s eyes burned into Reva’s. “You broke my heart, Reva,” she said bitterly.

“Huh? I what?” Reva felt the room tilt again. “I don’t understand, Pam. You’re my cousin. I can’t believe you’d agree to—”

“You knew I was in love with Victor,” Pam said, her green eyes flaring, her features tight with anger.

“Huh? Victor? But—”

“You knew I was in love with Victor,” Pam repeated through clenched teeth. “And you didn’t care. You went out with him anyway. You sneaked out with him. You knew how much I cared, and you sneaked out. You tried to steal him. You—”

“What are you talking about?” Reva asked, careful not to meet her cousin’s eye.

“Don’t lie to me,” Pam warned. “I know about you and Victor. The minute you said he broke two dates with me, I knew. I told you about only one of those dates. You knew because you were the one out with Victor!”

“But, Pam, it wasn’t anything serious!” Reva protested.

“That’s even worse!” Pam cried.

“Hey—keep it down over there,” Danny ordered from the corner, glaring at them. “You want me to put the gags on now?”

“That’s even worse,” Pam repeated to Reva in a whisper.

“But, Pam—”

“You did that to me, and it was just some kind of joke to you?” Pam whispered shrilly. “Just some kind of casual joke? That’s worse, Reva. Much worse.”

Reva winced in pain. Her arm was throbbing more. The pain tightened the back of her neck. She was having trouble focusing her eyes.

“Why did you do it, Reva?” Pam demanded. “Why? Why did you want to hurt me like that?”

“I—I don’t know,” Reva whispered.

I really don’t know, Reva thought. I don’t know why I was so eager to steal Victor. It was just a game, that’s all. I really wasn’t interested in him. I didn’t even like him very much.

“When I found out,” Pam whispered, raising her eyes to Pres and Danny, who were still huddled against the wall, “when I found out about you and Victor, I wanted to kill you, Reva. I really did.”

“I’m... sorry,” Reva replied, lowering her eyes.

“Then I was kidnapped. Because of you. Because you practically forced me to take your shift in the stockroom. The kidnappers never wanted me. They wanted you, of course.”

“I know,” Reva replied, shutting her eyes. “I know.”

“Then your father refused to pay any ransom money for me,” Pam continued bitterly. “Uncle Robert wouldn’t pay a dime for me. He had his precious Reva home safe and sound. Why should he pay anything for me, a lowly niece?”

“Pam, really—” Reva tried to interrupt.

But Pam was determined to have her say. “When your father refused to pay, that’s when I realized I had nothing to lose. I... I was so hurt, Reva. And so angry. And I didn’t want to die. So I made a deal with them.”

“They offered you money?” Reva asked.

Pam glared at her scornfully. “Money? That’s all you can think about, isn’t it, Reva. Money and other people’s boyfriends.” She scowled. “No. They didn’t offer me money. They didn’t have to.”

“You mean—” Reva started.

“They offered to let me go. They offered to let me go home safe and sound—if I agreed to help them grab you. And I thought, why shouldn’t I? Why shouldn’t I think of myself for a change?”

“But, Pam,” Reva said in a trembling voice, “I’m your cousin. I’m your family. How could you—”

“How could you?” Pam snapped back furiously. “Besides, I knew nothing bad would happen. So Uncle Robert will have to lose a million or two. Big deal. That doesn’t mean anything to him. And you—you’ll be home in time for Christmas in front of the tree and all the hundreds of presents your father showers you with every year.”

“Yeah. I’ll be home. With a broken arm,” Reva muttered.

Pam glared at her but didn’t reply. “You don’t care about me, so why should I care about you?” she said finally.

“But you—you betrayed me!” Reva cried.

“No. You betrayed me,” Pam replied sadly. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “You betrayed me, Reva. You promised last year that you were going to change. You promised we’d be like sisters. You promised—” Her voice broke. She uttered an angry sob.

“I tried,” Reva said softly. “It’s hard to change, Pam. It’s hard to—”

“I don’t want to hear about it,” Pam snapped. A tear ran down each pale cheek. She raised her head to Pres and Danny. “Untie me,” she shouted. “Come on. Untie me.”

The two brothers turned to stare at her, but neither replied.

“I’m going home now,” Pam insisted, straining at the cords that held her to the folding chair. “I delivered my cousin. Now, let me go. We have a deal.”

Danny shook his head. Pres snickered. “You should’ve gotten it in writing,” he said with an amused sneer.

“Let me go!” Pam shouted angrily. “Let me go!”

“Hey—shut up!” Danny ordered, taking a few steps toward the two girls.

“No! Let me go! Let me go!” Pam screamed. “I’m going to shout till you do it! Let me go!”

“She’ll bring a guard!” Pres warned his brother, panic creeping into his dark eyes.

Danny moved with surprising speed.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Pam chanted at the top of her lungs.

With an angry groan Danny pulled his hand back—and swung it hard, slapping Pam across the face.

The slap was so hard, it sounded like a gunshot.

Pam’s head snapped back.

The chair tilted and nearly toppled over.

Danny leaned over her, breathing hard, his big stomach heaving up and down.

Pam’s eyes were open wide. Her head rolled on her shoulders.

She didn’t utter a sound.

“Pam!” Reva cried in fear. “Pam!”

A gurgling sound escaped from Pam.

Then her eyes closed and her head slumped forward lifelessly.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20