Page 106 of Atlas
I scrambled to the side, using the table with brochures, coffee, and tea as a barrier between Niklavs and me. “Stop! Killing me will only make things worse for you. Do you want to spend the rest of your life locked up behind bars? I’m not worth going to prison over, am I? Where’s the satisfaction of killing a defenseless woman who was just doing her job? Do you want to be executed?”
Niklavs’ face was scrunched up in a grimace as he leaned over the table to catch me. I moved the table, using it as a buffer between us for a few more sidesteps until I could reach the door to the utility room.
“Get her!” Velna hissed behind him, and the moment he lurched forward, I pushed the table hard against him.
A stream of cusswords escaped him, but I didn’t stay around to argue further. I opened the closet door behind me and slid in. There was no lock on this side of the door, but I managed to barricade it with two broomsticks that made it impossible to use the handle.
Niklavs was cussing and pounding on the door.
“Just shoot through the wood!” Velna ordered him. It made me push back and make myself small in the corner, holding a bucket up in front of me as worthless protection.
“I’m not going to shoot in blind. There’s only six bullets.”
“Why didn’t you shoot her when she was right in front of you? What kind of loser lets his enemy go twice?”
My heart was hammering as I whispered a prayer. “Dear God, please help me. Please help me. Don’t let them kill me. Please, God.” My eyes were wet with tears, and my lungs were cramping from the panic I was in, making it hard to breathe. If only I’d had a cell phone on me, but I had left everything in my office. It was only a matter of seconds before Niklavs would tear through the door. Looking up, I hoped to see a ventilation shaft that I could escape through, but there was nothing but a blank ceiling. I was trapped with nowhere to escape.
Fight back!my inner voice screamed, but buckets and window cleaner would be no match for a boxer with a gun.
You have only one chance; keep using your words.
Drying my eyes, I called out loudly, “Niklavs, why do you let her use you? Don’t you see that you’re the one who will be going to prison for life while everyone thinks Velna is innocent? Did you know that she made me believe that you beat her too? She told me she was terrified of you and that you’re a monster.”
Velna raised her voice. “Don’t listen to her. I only made her think that to win her trust. Just knock down the door already, or are you going to let that bitch get away with destroying our family?”
“Stop shouting at me. I can’t think!” Niklavs groaned. “Why the fuck is it so hot in here?”
“You’re not supposed to think. I told you; a real man wouldn’t let her get away with this. She took away Benjamin and our pride. Do you have any idea how our neighbors and my colleagues look at me? The shame. The humiliation. Do you?”
I could hear Niklavs pacing the floor outside.
“What about the cockroaches?” I called out. “That wasn’t you, was it?”
“What cockroaches? What the fuck is she talking about?” Niklavs hissed.
“Velna sent me a cake full of cockroaches, she slashed my tires and scratched ‘die bitch’ on the side of my car. I always thought that was you.”
Niklavs' answer came late and didn’t sound convincing. “Yeah, well, maybe it was.”
His admittance was a lie. What worried me about it was that it showed he still felt a sense of loyalty to Velna. I had to push harder.
“If Velna loved you, she wouldn’t want you to go to prison, would she? She’s using you, Niklavs. Everyone is going to think of you as the monster and her as the innocent one. She wants to get rid of you so she can marry your cousin Macs. She told me before you got here. How do you think she got you the bail money?”
“It’s a lie!” Velna screamed.
She was right, but I was fighting for my life, and couldn’t afford to have principles right now.
“Did you sleep with Macs?” Niklavs growled.
“No. The bitch is manipulating you. If I wanted to be with Macs, I wouldn’t have bailed you out.”
“Of course she would. Velna and Macs need you to kill me so they can be together.”
The door banged from a hard kick, and Velna gave a scream of frustration. “I never wanted to be with Macs. He’s got bad breath, and he limps. Why would I want him?”
“Okay, so maybe you don’t, but if I shoot the shrink and get caught, they’ll lock me up for life. What if they give me a death sentence?”
Velna’s tone was full of irritation. “They won’t. That’s why killing her here is perfect. This state doesn’t have the death penalty. I looked it up.”
