Programmed for Peril

the tube mshed first desperate breaths, then a frightened babble. In the rush of words he sieved out the beginnings of sincere pleading. Progress. To the thumb again.
    The dirt stirred, heavy as it was. She had the biblical strength of ten. Panic, adrenaline. Further progress. He listened again. She mentioned God, several saints, her mother even. Ah, yes... Only at the most desperate moment would any woman call upon the name of her mother.
    To the credit of her stubbornness and strong character, it took six more near-smotherings before she cracked. Wild, she promised anything, even things he didn’t want. He interrupted her disjointed ravings with a shout. “I need your promise, Samantha. Your most sincere, irrevocable promise. You will resign your job, leave PC-Pros, and never return. Do I have it?”
    Still she hesitated. Even now, though he knew she was a broken woman.
    He closed the hose, watching the sweep hand of his Rolex Day-Date. Nearly a minute passed. He opened the hose and shouted, “Do I have your promise?”
    A long rush of desperate, panting breaths. “Yes! Oh, God, Lord, yes!”
    “Your sincere promise?”
    Affirmative.
    He let her breathe undisturbed for a short while. “Your promise must be sincere, Samantha. Because if it isn’t, I’ll find you wherever you are and kill you. Do you believe me?”
    “Yes, oh, yes, Carson. Yes!” She wept, well into the hysteria that, if she wasn’t careful, could smother her accidentally.
    “You will resign from PC-Pros as soon as you can?”
    “Yes!”
    He offered gentlemanly encouragement toward calm. An accident now would be a senseless tragedy. He rose and put the spade and shovel over his shoulder. The satisfaction he felt was that of any honest laborer leaving the work site. He hummed. I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night...
    “Carson!”
    “Be patient!” he shouted toward the mounded earth. “Someone will be along sooner or later to dig you out.”
    “Carson, Carson. No. Dig me out now!” Surprising volume of sound she could generate through such a narrow aperture. Fitting that her last words to him should call upon the name of his master. Or was he his own master after all?
    He trotted away, her wailing fading finally. Bird songs took its place. Down the hill he strode, step light as a filly’s in her paddock. Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s home from work we go!
    He drove Samantha’s car back to the Blandmobile. At the nearby Dunkin Donuts he ordered a Big One and a half-dozen chocolate croissants. He was nothing if not a man of elegant tastes. He ate three, then phoned the police and told them Samantha’s condition and just where she was. He hung up. The last three croissants disappeared in grand gulps. He ate whatever he wanted, in massive amounts. His stomach processed anything. And he greeted each day with grand energy. Hear the Bard! Now good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both.
     

21
     
    TRISH REALIZED SHE WAS SLOWLY PANICKING. LIKE a wall above an earthquake her resolve suddenly was shot through with cracks. While she struggled to feel connected with her small support group of friends, Carson’s powers threatened to separate her from them. Then he would fall upon her like a wolf on a flock straggler....
    It had been Samantha’s phone call that completed the illumination of Trish’s desperate mind. Sam’s voice! It had been harsh as a crow’s cry. She said she was resigning from PC-Pros at once. Trish was shocked to silence. Before she could respond Samantha hung up. Trish phoned her repeatedly through the day. No answer. What was going on? Her evening call was answered by a woman with a stiff telephone voice. She announced herself as Alexis, Samantha’s sister. Samantha wasn’t taking any calls. She wouldn’t tell Trish anything.
    Samantha’s resignation stole Trish’s sleep. She tossed and fretted. Without the assertive woman next year’s marketing plan was down the tube. How could she just up and quit now? What had happened to her? Trish ground her teeth with anxiety. Intuition’s voice told her that whatever agent of Carson had phoned her had done as he threatened.
    It took twenty minutes of persuasion the next morning to convince Alexis to allow her to talk to Samantha for a few minutes. Only after making Trish promise that she wouldn’t try to talk her into changing her mind did Sam agree to meet her the next day.
    Trish found her former employee sitting in a bedroom chair. She wore a light blue robe and a