Into the Black PART FOUR
Trent Malloy took one final look at the piece of paper in his hands as he powered down his Corvette at the curb of one of Deep Ellum's lesser appealing establishments before setting the paper down and climbing from the car with a sigh. It was only the second place on the list Walker had given him. The first place would not have been as bad had the owner not forced Trent to defend himself by way of a side kick and right hook before he took his leave. Apparently the man had been feeling a bit guilty for nothing.
Giving the little building a brief once-over as he squinted against the late afternoon sun, Trent proceeded inside between the white-washed bricks, the manual doorbell jangling as the glass struck it softly upon Trent entering. He let the outside street noise fade away with the closing of the door before he ambled up to the counter, examining the bit of inappropriate contents before him. This was definitely not a mom and pop store for the entire family. In fact, Trent felt rather uneasy in the atmosphere but knew he had a job to do.
The man behind the counter was rather tall and capped with a balding spot surrounded by a decent amount of hair that appeared rather unkempt. Beneath a wrinkled forehead, his eyes narrowed as he looked Trent over cautiously. Trent couldn't decide if the bags around his eyes and the wrinkles were from increasing old age or simply years of neglect…and substance abuse if his random guess was right.
"What can I do for you?" the man growled with both fists planted firmly down on the counter.
"Um," Trent glanced around briefly. "I'm looking for a man named Darrin. A couple of his friends said he frequented your establishment recently."
"Speak English, boy."
Trent suppressed a chuckle, smiling a bit as he shook his head. "All I'm asking for is some information, sir. I'm not looking for trouble."
"Oh, yeah?!"
Trent nodded, lifting his eyebrows barely above widened eyes.
The man then lifted his fists off the counter, mentally putting Trent on his guard before turning around and checking some sort of records. It was more like a stack of cluttered papers instead of records, Trent remarked silently just as the man turned back around and gave Trent another studying.
The man played with his beard with the tips of his fingers and cocked his head. "You a cop?"
Trent shook his head. "Nope."
"Then why should I tell you anything?"
"Maybe because I asked nicely. You wouldn't want me not to be polite, would you?"
Scoffing, the man sighed after another brief moment of deliberation. "A Darrin came in here a few days ago. He was in a hurry. Said he needed a book for the road, bought it, and left. He was in a mighty fast hurry, I'll tell ya."
"Did he happen to say where he was going?"
The man nearly chuckled but only smiled. "I don't keep track of where my customers go, mister. They come here, they buy something for their pleasure, and they leave. I don't ask any questions!" He then calmed down a bit, remembering back to the man named Darrin and the rather hurried visit. "But—come to think of it, he did say something about an airport."
"An airport?"
"Yeah. Said he was late meeting someone there. I remember it because I had to look in the back for the book he was wanting and all. When I came back, he was a bit angry that I took so long. Must have had some appointment to keep or something."
Trent nodded, pleased with at least that small amount of information. He extended his hand and smiled. "Thank you for your cooperation, sir."
The man crossed his arms at his chest and glared at Trent. Trent drew away his hand slowly and chuckled to himself before he left the store, not desiring to come back unless absolutely necessary.
##
"I've got a confession to make," Carlos breathed as he tried finding a more comfortable position in his sleeping bag on the hard floor. He was finding it difficult to sleep. Nighttime had taken forever to come. But still he couldn't sleep. It was only his own body telling him he was tired since he couldn't see the darkness that surrounded their little shelter. Once he finally did, he continued, "After we came back from the Cherokee reservation last month, I—I thought a lot about you. About us. And a little about the future."
A gentle hint of surprise blanketed Katheryn's face as she turned towards Carlos, his back to her and her mind at ease that he could not read her rather obvious emotions through her expressions.
"And," Carlos finally spoke again. "I realized that my life without you in it was not something I wanted to experience. But, um, things are different now." He hesitated. "I'm sure you'd be better off with someone else. So when we get back home, you don't have to stay if you don't want to. I'll understand."
Katheryn suddenly rose from her sleeping position, the darkness of the room not mattering very much as her face became flushed with anger. For it wasn't seeing Carlos that she was after as she fought the urge to cry. "I'll have you know, Carlos Sandoval, that I came to Dallas for far more important reasons than you! I came to help Alex. I came to help people. I came to make a difference." Katheryn finally managed to get to her feet. She reached for a few small items but tossed them aside instead and started for the door, pausing briefly in the doorway. "And you are wrong if you think I'd ever leave the moment things got too rough." And at that she stormed from the little cabin, the door slamming in place behind her.
"Kath!" Carlos struggled to his feet, feeling his way to the door with only a few minor hindrances along the way. "Kath!" He paused in the open doorway and tried listening for her steps but heard nothing. "Katheryn! I'm sorry. Just—just please come back…where it's safe."
Hearing footsteps in a path of gravel after a few restless moments of wind-filled quiet, Carlos lifted his head towards the noise. "Kath?" Yet he didn't hear an answer. "Who's there?" He then heard the slightest sound of a sniffle. Carlos, now feeling helpless, reached out an arm towards the sound. "Come here. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up like that."
"It doesn't matter," the firm voice answered, shaky and unsure through stifled tears. "I know why you said it. And you're right. It's like Walker said. You're afraid of not being able to be the man you want to be. You don't want to be a burden. And that's fine with me. You just stay here, and I'll head back on my own."
"Kath," Carlos chuckled. "What do you mean?! You can't be serious."
"I am. You can follow when you feel like letting those who love you help you out." Katheryn swiped at a wayward tear, mostly planning to return once she had gathered her thoughts. Katheryn then turned around headed straight for the woods without giving a thought to her necessities as the lake's shimmering waters beat against the shore, their soothing echoes annoying Kath where they had once been an enjoyment to her.
Meanwhile, Carlos remained unmoved, feeling frightened for truly the first time but unwilling to admit it. He turned slowly back into the cabin and shut the door behind himself. Without Katheryn there, he suddenly felt lost. And not just because he couldn't tell where he was going or what was in front himself. She was right. Nothing she said was untrue. And it had caused him to push her away when he needed her the most.
After five restless minutes of contemplation, Carlos finally resolved to make it right. He wasn't quite sure how. Nothing had changed his mind. He was still not the man he needed to be for Katheryn. But pushing her away would not help matters much.
The cabin door made a bit of a thud as Carlos shut it behind him, feeling the evening breeze on his face as he turned left and then right, unsure what exactly he should do or where he should go. He called Katheryn's name a few times before he hurried towards where he had remembered hearing her voice come from. It was a clearing, he hoped, as he made his way slowly through the brush only to be stopped by the sound of a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the woods. Through the instant wave of fear that he tried denying, Carlos prayed that his worst fear had not happened. It couldn't have. Not here. Not now. Not how they had parted moments ago.
##
Katheryn groaned as she pushed herself up from the dirt and debris beneath her amid the darkness. She could hardly see two feet in front of herself as she glanced up at the cliff she had tumbled from moments ago but could no longer see. Except for a few jagged edges and a moonlit patch of overhanging brush, all she could see was her own body, dirtied and smeared from the fall she had taken. It was a miracle she had not broken any bones. Or at least that's what she hoped and prayed as she steadied herself up onto her feet. Besides a pain in her wrist from breaking her fall, nothing was array as far as she could tell. She was tempted to call out to Carlos for help but held herself in check, knowing that he could be in danger if he followed her voice to that same unstable cliff's edge.
All Katheryn could hear as she stood there locked inside this vast pit of dirt and brush was Carlos' voice as she had walked away. She could tell the hint of tenderness in his plea. The regret he had clearly conveyed. Katheryn wanted to believe him. She wanted to climb from the pit with all her might and rush back to him, promising him she'd never leave. But it didn't seem like that would be of much use. She had told him that countless times already. And still he had rejected her. Yet it was something about the last words that came from his mouth that almost convinced her otherwise.
Katheryn wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. She must have fell into a patch of water. Sure enough, her back was soaked by murky water that she was now looking at directly beneath herself. Cringing, she estimated it to have been there for quite some time. Then closing her eyes, Katheryn smiled, trying to comfort herself by some measure and picturing herself and Carlos back home not one week ago as they relaxed on the Malloy's front porch after a long day of work for them both. They spent at least two hours talking about useless things. Some were about their lives when they were apart. Katheryn at the H.O.P.E. center and Carlos as detective on the force. Other topics dove into their life together and what they saw the future looking like for them both. Carlos had been certain to insist he was far from ever considering leaving the force. Being a detective with the Dallas PD had been a dream come true for him. He had already spent nearly two years at a job he loved. His voice proved that he was happy doing what he did to make Dallas a better place. And Katheryn would have it no other way. She wanted him to be happy. And somehow loving a man who put his life on the line daily was not that hard to do when they did it together.
Together. That word became bitter to Kath as the minutes wore on. For she was alone, trapped, and clueless as to how she would be freed. It almost seemed like the exact condition she had left herself and Carlos in when she stormed off not minutes ago.
"Hey, miss. Are you alright?"
Katheryn threw her head back, surveying the darkened outline of a face above her as she abandoned her train of thought. "I—I'm stuck down here," she managed through the increased beating of her heart.
The man seemed to be looking for something as he disappeared for a moment and then returned with a rope in hand. "Let me tie this to a tree. I'll be right back."
Katheryn nodded absentmindedly and turned to give the pit she currently occupied a futile once-over. Soon, the rather uncouth gentleman had returned, stealing her away from her thoughts once again.
"Miss, I'm going to lower this down to you. You just tie it around your waist and give me a holler for me to pull you up. Kay?"
Katheryn nodded. The man had not lowered maybe six feet of rope when Kath finally was able to take hold of it. She pulled it to herself and swiftly tied it around her waist before signaling the man with a soft shout. Slowly, she started to rise out of the pit. No thanks to the darkness, she could never have been able to know that the pit had not been entirely as deep and detrimental to her as she had at first assumed. Instead, it was rather wide with a tree fallen over top of the gulley. As Katheryn steadied herself back on solid ground and untied the rope from her waist, she noticed a long-hanging bunch of branches from the tree trunk, dangling perfectly over the pit as was highlighted by the kind man's flashlight. Had she been able to see it, she could have easily helped herself.
"Any cuts or bruises?" The man asked as he took back the rope from Katheryn and picked up his flashlight. "Broken bones?" He grinned.
Katheryn shook it all off with a laugh. "No, sir. I think I'm alright." She then started scanning around herself in the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of Carlos or the light coming from their cabin. But it was too dark to see anything.
The man noticed her searching and cleared his throat with a touch of curiosity. "You from around here?"
Katheryn shook her head, testing her weight on the ankle she was sure she had twisted when she fell. "No. My cabin isn't too far from here. If I could borrow a light, I can make it back on my own."
"Oh, that's alright. I think my cabin is closer," the man smiled and slipped a revolver out from his inside coat pocket. He aimed it low and straight at Katheryn, causing her to take a step back by impulse, her eyes fixed briefly upon the barrel pointing straight at her before she lifted her eyes back up to the smiling man.
"You're coming with me," he instructed and waved the gun towards the opposite direction.
But Katheryn held her ground. "And if I say no?"
The man scoffed and chuckled aloud. "That's not an option. You see, you came just a little too close to our property. We can't afford you getting away. So come on. Get going. You've got a far mile to walk, missy."
##
Silently, Katheryn crouched low in the corner of the cabin, slowly coming awake and feeling her neck tighten into a sharp pain as she raised her head. She cringed and reached a hand to rub the aching muscle but stopped when she realized her hands were tied securely together with a strong piece of rope. To make matters worse, she could still feel a pain at the base of her neck where she had been struck by the butt of the stranger's gun when she had attempted to make a run back to the cabin. Noticing the slight rip in her jeans, she could only imagine how rough they had been with her when they dragged her to this unfamiliar place. And the subtle aches and pains throughout her body was proof enough.
Katheryn tried listening to the two or three voices she could hear coming from outside but found it a futile effort and instead surveyed her surroundings, immediately deliberating how she would escape. Just to her left a few feet away was a square wooden table surrounded by four chairs that had clearly seen brighter days. Just beyond that was a bench lined with enough artillery to start a small war. Stolen, Katheryn thought silently with a scoff forming on her lips. Just beside that was a makeshift kitchen. A stack of mix-matched dishes were piled high, their filthy edges brimming with mosquitoes and flies. The mere sound of the insect activity made Katheryn cringe further as she turned away, unable to let herself think that she'd be forced to eat from those same plates if she didn't get out of here soon.
On any other occasion, she was sure that Carlos would have come after her. But Kath wasn't so sure he would this time. After all, she had left on her own accord. By now, he knew her so well. He knew about that stubborn streak of hers. He knew that she could take care of herself. As far as she knew, Carlos was sitting in the cabin feeling sorry for and trying his best to convince himself she would be back any minute to make amends.
Katheryn scoffed again, firmly reminding herself that she would not go crawling back to say she was sorry for something she was far from being penitent about. Yet as she nodded and set her sights on her own rescue, she wasn't sure she believed the former entirely. Perhaps she was sorry. Not for what she had said but more because of what she had done. Katheryn still held strongly to everything she had told Carlos. But maybe she could have conveyed the message in a different manner. Katheryn couldn't deny that the entire idea of leaving Carlos was beginning to look quite childish as she replayed it in her mind's eye.
Suddenly, tears welled in her eyes that she tried refusing. She held a straight face and reached up her bound hands to clean them off of her dirt-smeared cheek. She'd give anything to be back with Carlos and helping him…proving to him that she was there for him even at every whim of his to deny he needed the help. But now, it was perhaps too late.
