No Regrets

car?”
    “It’s mine,” Kari said.
    Gradually, John’s arm, still holding her against the chair, relaxed, but John continued to bark out orders. “Close the drapes.”
    She tensed. What were the men going to do to them once no one outside could see what was going on? She and Shelly couldn’t hope for help if no one knew they were in trouble. She knew that the Sheriff’s Department were about to come to the end of their shift; chances were they were filling out paperwork, too, and probably weren’t out on the road. That meant they wouldn’t be bringing anyone into Sancho Panza soon.
    Kari got up slowly and went to the front windows where she pulled the drapery cords. Shut inside now with two armed men, Kari and Shelly felt even more foreboding.
    “Now,” John said to Kari, “I want you to tear the last pages out of your log—anything that mentions we were here. And don’t move too quickly or your throat will be cut.”
    She did as he said, handing the pages to him. He stuffed them in his pocket. She could see that the other man— Mike—had Shelly on the floor, tied up.
    She wondered if they were both about to be killed.
    No. John was asking for money. “Tell me where your purses are.”
    Kari told him, and he ordered her to get them from the closet. “And your car keys, too,” he added.
    Despite her training, Kari began to cry. She had dealt with a lot of tense situations, but this was beyond anythingshe had imagined—except for her dream the night before. She wondered now if she had dreamed that because she was going to die soon—if it was some kind of warning.
Why
hadn’t she paid more attention?
    “I’ll get the purses,” she said, “but please don’t hurt me.”
    “I won’t hesitate to kill you if you cry or get hysterical,” John answered in a voice as cold as ice.
    Again, Kari begged the men not to hurt her. “You can have the keys to my car, anything—just don’t hurt us.”
    “I’ve never hurt anyone in my life,” John said in a steely voice, “and I don’t want to hurt you. We’re just going to take you out to a field and let you go.”
    She didn’t believe him, but at that point, Kari pulled herself together. She knew he was right on the edge, and that she had to stay strong or she would set him off. She had no doubt at all that he would just as soon kill them. By sheer force of will she stopped herself from crying.
    “OK,” she said. “I will do whatever you say.”
    That was, apparently, the right answer—and Kari could see John breathe easier.
    “Go get your purses out of the closet and your car keys,” he ordered. “I want you to take the keys out of your purse for me.” Kari moved to the closet, grabbed her purse and Shelly’s, and dropped them on the floor. John picked them up.
    “You,” he said, pointing at Kari, “you are going with us.”
    At least she and Shelly weren’t going to be killed right here. But they were going to be separated. Shelly couldn’t move, hog-tied as she was. And John still held the knife point against the skin of Kari’s neck.
    John turned to Shelly, “What time is the next shift coming in?”
    “Seven.”
    “You’d better be right. If you value your friend’s life, don’t call the sheriff, police, or anyone.”
    “Shelly,” Kari pleaded,
“please
don’t call anyone.”
    “I won’t,” Shelly said. “I promise.”
    “I don’t want you to call anybody, or answer the phone, or wake anyone up until after seven o’clock,” John said again, more forcefully this time.
“Or Kari will be dead. I’ll kill her for sure!”
    And then the two men and Kari were gone, and Shelly was alone in the silent office, tied up so tightly that it felt as if her hands and feet were going numb. Her attempts at getting free only sent her muscles into spasms.
    Outside, Kari unlocked her four-year-old Ford Granada with shaking hands. John forced her into the backseat, and then crawled in beside her. Mike got behind the wheel of her car.
    “You know we’re going to kill you,” John said flatly. “But first, we need three hundred dollars.”
    Kari believed him. She was more frightened than she had ever been in her life. But she saw that her captors were extremely nervous, too, and suspected they were under the influence of some kind of drug. She had to go along with them while she figured out a way to survive.
    Now John asked her more questions about the shift changes and residents at Sancho Panza. “How many residents live