The Girl With the Bad Dreams

Chapter 12

Hank waves to the doorman of his swank downtown condo as he steps out of the stairwell. "How's the lady?" asks the doorman.

Hank smiles at his concern. "Sleeping like a baby."

"Very good, very good," nods the doorman as he holds open the door.

Hank steps out into the street where he parked his BMW. He presses the button on his key fob to unlock it but it doesn't beep – he left it open when he picked up Carlin and carried her from the vehicle. So he just slides into the driver's seat and starts the car.

He doesn't notice the man crouched in his back seat wearing a ski mask. At least not until the man places a handgun next to Hank's head rest. "Where's the girl?"

Hank, startled, glances in the rear view mirror and immediately notices both the gun and the mask. He glances to either side and realizes his BMW's expensive tinted windows prevent anyone on the street from seeing the masked man. That's when he really starts to panic. But he still tries to protect Carlin. "How should I know?"

"Don't bullshit me," the man tells him. "I saw you carry her inside."

"Then why did you need to ask?"

"Just answer the question."

Hank searches his mind for a lie but he's too panicked to come up with one. "She's sleeping."

"Show me," insists the masked man. "Prove it to me."

"Fuck you!" Hank swings open the door and chucks his keys – both car keys and apartment key – as far as he can across the street.

The masked man grabs Hank's shoulder and pulls him back against his seat before he can get out of the car. "That was stupid."

"Was it?" replies Hank, defiant.

The masked man glances out the window. Sure enough, Hank's odd behavior, in broad daylight, has attracted the attention of passers-by. One leans down across the street and picks up the ring of keys. Another points at the BMW. "God-damnit!" screams the masked man in frustration. He pushes open the passenger-side door and runs into the street.

That causes more bystanders to react. They grab their phones and take pictures of fleeing man in the ski mask.

An old woman walks up to Hank's car. "Are you all right, young man?"

"Yes, thank you," Hank assures her, steeping out of his car and dodging traffic as he crosses the street. He holds out his hand to the bystander who picked up his keys. "Thanks, those are mine."

The bystander returns the keys and Hank hurries back to his condo, this time making sure to lock his car's doors. "Don't let anyone up," he commands the doorman as he rushes back to his apartment.

Hanks unlocks his door and steps inside, relieved to find Carlin still sleeping, safe and sound. He puts down his keys, locks the door behind him, and quietly barricades it with a chair just to be sure.

Then he sits down and waits patiently for Carlin to wake up.

Meanwhile, the man with the ski mask is breathing hard as he ducks down first one alley and then another. Finally, convinced he is alone, he pulls off his ski mask.

He's Detective Warabowski. He quickly dials his phone.

Valquez picks up. "She safe?"

"I don't know for sure. He claims she was just sleeping."

"You wanna bust in and make sure?"