The Darkness - Jason Pinter [2]
Ted Allen called to request a ride home for you."
"Is that so," Paulina said, barely hiding her smile. She
knew months ago that she had Ted by the balls. Things
like this proved it. Keeping her happy and pumping out
pieces was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
to the Dispatch, and the publicity she received raised the
paper's profile more than their "crackerjack" investigative team ever could. That Ted would extend an olive
branch so quickly surprised her at first, but if she ran the
company she'd want to make sure her star reporter got
home safe, sound and dry.
The Darkness
11
"Please," Chester said, "come with me."
Chester opened up a much larger umbrella and held it
out. Paulina smiled at him, a big, bright, toothy smile, and
stepped under the umbrella. He led her to a Lincoln Town
Car which sat double-parked at the curb. Holding the
umbrella to shield her from the rain, the driver opened the
door. Paulina thanked him, picked up the hem of her skirt
and climbed into the backseat of the car. The driver shut the
door, and Paulina watched as he walked around to the front.
Two sealed bottles of water were set in a pair of cup
holders, and crisp new editions of that morning's newspapers were folded in the pocket in front of her. The rain
pattered against the windows as Paulina unscrewed one
of the bottles and took a long, deep sip.
The driver flicked on his blinker and pulled into traffic.
He headed uptown. The only sound Paulina could hear
was the rubber squeaking of the windshield wipers. The
only smell that of the car's leather.
"Good day, miss?" the driver asked.
"Better than some, worse than others," she replied.
Traffic was bumper to bumper, and the car inched along.
Paulina began to grow restless. As much as she hated taking
the subway, she probably would have been home by now.
"You think there might be a faster route?" she asked,
leaning forward slightly when the car stopped at a red
light. The driver turned around, grinned.
"Let's see what we can do."
The driver made a right turn, and soon the car was
heading east. When they got to First Avenue, Paulina
could see signs for the FDR Drive north. He pulled onto
the on-ramp and headed uptown. The FDR tended to get
flooded during heavy rain, but Paulina didn't mind chancing that to get home quicker. She watched the cars out-12
Jason Pinter
side, eyes widening as she saw her exit, Sixty-first Street,
appear in the distance. Yet instead of slowing down and
pulling left toward the exit ramp, the car sped along, bypassing the exit completely.
"Hey!" Paulina said, leaning forward again. "That was
my stop. This isn't NASCAR, pay attention."
"My apologies," the driver said, "I must not have seen
it."
"No kidding, Stevie Wonder." Paulina cursed under her
breath. The next exit wasn't until Ninety-sixth Street,
and then he would have to loop all the way back downtown. Just like Ted Allen to hire a car service and get a
driver dumber than a pile of bricks.
Traffic moved along steadily, and Paulina sighed as
they approached the Ninety-sixth Street exit.
"Exit's coming up," she said, making sure to remind him.
"Got it, thanks, Miss Cole."
As they approached the exit, Paulina noticed the car
was not slowing down at all.
"Hey, will you slow down? What the hell is wrong
with you? You're going to miss it!"
The car drove right by the exit without slowing
down one bit.
"Where the hell are you going?" Paulina yelled. The
driver did not answer. "I'm calling Ted. You'll work as a
brain surgeon before you ever work our account again."
"Put the phone down, Miss Cole." The driver's voice
had lost all of its pleasantries.
"Screw you. Now I'm calling the cops. Forget our
account. Your ass is going to jail." She took out her cell
phone and flipped open the cover.
"If you ever want to see your daughter with all her
limbs intact, you'll put the phone down right now."
The Darkness
13
Paulina's mouth fell open in a silent scream. Her
daughter...how did this man even know about her?
Paulina's