MADRIGAL

Chapter 4

Over the next week, Jane filed her resignation with the department and met with a prestige lawyer to establish a trust for the winnings. Her first goal was finding her mother a new residence, somewhere with fine views and good security, but in close proximity to the hospital. Her mother resisted relocating when her home was perfectly fine and blanched at the idea of a maid or a caretaker, but Jane stated that now free of job restraints, she would feel obligated to stay with her mother until she was better. Her mother did not want that, so she consented to having someone come in a few hours a day to check her well-being and shoo dust from the spacious new house.

At the same time, Jane took a new apartment as well. During the move, Jane received an anonymous text on her phone. A call was now a rare occurrence. The few friends she had before her problems arose drifted away immediately after, and even the windfall of millions of dollars did not cleanse her toxic status. The message read: KEEP THIS PHONE AND A GOLDEN DOLLAR ON YOU AT ALL TIMES. Jane rolled her eyes at the thought of impending theatrics, but she did some shopping and made a request at the supermarket's customer service desk. She picked up two coins and kept one in each front pocket.

She didn't have to wait long for contact. Her lawyers called for an early morning meeting. She found a spot in their building's garage and exited her car when a black van screeched to a stop behind her vehicle. The driver emerged and opened the side panel door. She wore a green business suit complete with tie, leather gloves, and a ski mask that did nothing by way of a disguise.

"Get in," Deanna said.

"You're serious."

Though the mask, there was enough expression to see bafflement. "Uh, yeah. Get in. I'm kidnapping you."

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I have a meeting."

"No, you don't." Deanna smiled. "The call wasn't from your lawyers. Now, if you don't want to meet the big boss, that's fine, but this is a one-time offer."

Jane sighed, shook her head and stepped to the van. Deanna stuck out her hand. "Phone. Hand it over."

"Why?"

"You can't have it where we're going."

"Aren't you the one who told me to bring it?"
Deanna kept grinning. "Tell someone not to bring a phone, and they may hide an extra one, and then you gotta search them. If you don't say anything, a person might say they aren't carrying one, and then you gotta search them. Tell someone to bring one, and they can't say they don't have it. Hand it over."

Jane removed the sim card before passing her phone to the woman. Deanna nodded. "Fair enough. Did you bring the coin?"

Jane tapped her pants pocket as she peered into the back of the van. It was a Mercedes Benz Sprinter van with a plush chair facing a television screen that divided the front seats and the back. Computer keyboards and mice were available in pouches on the chair's sides, along with video game controllers. There was a larger reclining chair further back and the rest of the interior displayed cabinets of varying sizes. "Lie down, relax. It's a long drive."

Her final sentence seemed more as if to question Jane's desire or resolve. Instead of hesitating, Jane stepped inside, and the door slammed behind her. She anticipated instant darkness, but LED lighting clicked on and the interior flushed with a soft pink glow. Jane sat before the engine started and leaned back against the cushions. She decided to sleep and not to worry about what the psychopath behind the wheel had planned. Whether she was heading to a new life or her death, Jane could not care less as to what the future held.

Jane didn't remember much about the trip. The rocking of the van combined with the soft chair and the dim lighting allowed her to drift away between soothing relaxation and small dreams of shadowy unshaped forms. Were it not for the intermittent wails of sirens and horns outside, this could have been the perfect peace for which Jane had hoped. The serenity ended as all movement ceased and the engine purr desisted. Jane straightened up before the door reopened to another alleyway, and she stepped out.