Page 104 of Atlas
“Niklavs’ cousin, Macs, has a bail bond business, but there’s bad blood between them. Niklavs wanted me to talk to Macs and convince him to help. I should have never done it. I see that now.”
“What bail? Surely Niklavs can’t get out on bail when he tried to kill me.”
“If he’d killed you, I don’t think they would let him out on bail, but he didn’t, and according to his lawyers, the jails and prisons are overcrowded, so maybe that’s why the judge set the bail.” Velna’s shoulders drooped. “Anyway, it was two hundred thousand dollars, so we needed help from Macs to pay it. I’m so stupid. I should have said no and stayed out of it, but I felt pressured, so I sorted it out with Macs. But as soon as Niklavs was released, he accused me of sleeping with Macs and punished me for warning you.” She pulled her shirt over her shoulder to reveal angry red marks on her white skin.
I closed my eyes and got up to pace the carpet in front of the sofa. “You’re saying that Niklavs is out on bail now. Then where is he?”
“In a motel room about half an hour from here. After we got there, we had a big fight. That’s when he hurt me.” Velna looked weak and pathetic as she sat on the sofa in her wet jacket with drenched hair and pale cheeks. “He said he had to take a dump and a shower, and that’s when I left to find you.”
“Thank you.” I looked out the window. “I didn’t know he already saw a judge. How come I wasn’t called in as a witness?”
“They don’t do that until the trial. The hearing is just to clarify the accusation and set the bail. That all happened last week, but it’s taken time to raise the money.”
I wanted to scream at Velna that she was an idiot for helping him get out of jail, but that wouldn’t help.
“Maybe the police tried to call you and warn you. I know I did, but you didn’t pick up. Is there something wrong with your phone?”
I didn’t want to tell her more than necessary, so I went with a white lie. “It’s on silent.”
“Okay.” Velna took a sip of her coffee.
“What are you going to do?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“You can’t go back there. What if he punishes you again or worse, kills you?”
“Niklavs wouldn’t kill me.”
“You could go to a shelter for battered women and seek help.”
Velna shook her head. “If I do, he’ll come after you in revenge, and I don’t want more people to suffer. It’s better if I go back. I know Niklavs. He’ll be mad, but it will blow over.”
I sighed. “Do you have money to take a taxi, at least?”
Velna fished a crumpled money note from her pocket. “I have five dollars.” Letting her head fall, she pressed a hand to her eyes and spoke in a brittle voice. “It’s okay. Maybe there’s a bus I can take.”
“Wait here.” Getting up, I left her in the waiting room and walked to my office to find some cash. Returning with my wallet, I fished out two twenty-dollar bills and opened the door to the waiting room. “I’m afraid all I have is forty bucks.” When I looked over to the sofa, it was empty.
I stood baffled, looking around the empty waiting room.
“Velna,” I called out just before I heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the main entrance.
A sense of dread rolled over me, but I didn’t have time to move before the glass door was flung open, and Niklavs walked into the waiting room with Velna right behind him.
“You let him in?” My voice was full of disbelief. “Why would you do that? What’s wrong with you?”
Niklavs had been the monster of my nightmares for so long. Now he was facing me with those deep-set eyes that shone with hatred.
“Move.” He was waving a gun at me.
Holding up both hands, I backed up, unsure where he wanted me to go. My instincts told me to talk to him and pray that by some miracle, someone would show up and save me, but it was unlikely. C.M. Research was in an industrial area of town, and Diane and Brian wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.
Think, Jolene, think!
There were four doors in the waiting room. Niklavs was blocking my access to the exit and the restroom. Behind me, to my left was the door that led to our offices and test rooms. The fourth door was for a small utility room that the cleaners used in the morning. The utility closet wouldn’t help me, but if I could get out of the main entrance, I might escape.
Niklavs was blocking that exit.
