arm, but he wasn’t letting go of her. Despite her brave tone, Didi thought any minute she was going to get hysterical.
He said coolly, ‘Why don’t we make our first little rule, okay? You leave my wife out of this.’
‘I’m sorry, all right?’ Didi said, in a pathetic low voice. ‘Listen – I’m going to have a baby.’
He let go her arm and said, ‘Don’t worry. I just want to take you for a ride, like I said.’
Didi could do nothing to stop herself from sinking to the ground. She was shaking her head and saying, ‘I’m not watching, I’m not watching.’
‘What are you doing?’ he said, pulling her by her arm. Didi dropped to the ground between the cars.
‘What are you doing?’ He yanked her again, careful not to raise his voice. Clearing his throat, he said huskily, ‘Could you get up, please, ma’am?’
‘I can’t.’ She panted. ‘I can’t stand. Just leave me alone. I won’t tell anyone. Just leave me alone. My belly hurts. My husband is waiting for me. Just leave me alone.’
‘Get up, I said.’
If Didi could have gotten up, she would have. But she couldn’t move. She was still clutching the shopping bags. Letting go, she fumbled to get to her purse. Keys, keys, keys.
‘I said, get up!’ he said, bending down over her.
Didi opened her mouth to scream but didn’t have the breath. It was as if she had just run a mile at full speed and was gasping for air. She bit her lip shut trying to breathe through her nose.
‘Get up!’
She shook her head slowly.
No one could see them. Didi was still on the ground. Feeling herself about to cry, she covered her face with the white pretzel bag. She didn’t want him to see her weakness. Then she tasted something salty in her mouth. There was blood from her bitten lip.
Knocking the pretzel bag out of her hands, the man grabbed her under her arms and lifted her to her feet. Didi had a second to feel his strength. This late in her pregnancy, even her husband had trouble helping her off the couch or up from the bed. If she was on the floor, forget it. Rich would need a car jack.
Didi’s legs weren’t making it easy for him, yet he yanked her up as if she were a stubborn weed. As soon as she got to her feet, she started to sink down again.
‘Let’s go,’ he snapped, shoving her lightly with his body. ‘Come on now. You may be pregnant, but you’re not crippled. Not five minutes ago you were breezing through the mall, not a care in the world, bags and all. You can go ten feet now, can’t you?’ Staring at her, he said, ‘What did you do to yourself? Look.’ He wiped her mouth with his hand and showed her the blood. ‘Say something.’
Didi tried to talk, but the words wouldn’t come. Fear for her life, fear for her baby, fear for her family – all the fear in the world was in her mouth, and her mouth was bloody and mute. She felt as if her throat were filling with cement. Nothing was moving except her tongue, which labored to help her breathe. She felt nearly paralyzed when she thought of leaving what she perceived as the safety of her own car. She was at her unlocked door. If only she’d hit the panic button instead of the unlock. Maybe it would have scared him off. Maybe it would have. Is that what it all came down to? Hitting the wrong damn button on her key ring?
He shoved her again. Didi moved. She took a few tentative steps and walked out into the main row. A car drove by.
Suddenly hope sprang up inside her. Between cars she had no chance, but here in the open, maybe someone would see her. Maybe someone would see her running –
Running? Who was she kidding? Hadn’t she just sunk to the ground faster than an anchor into water? She couldn’t run, hadn’t run in months. With the baby’s head between her legs, pressing down on the blood vessels in her pelvis, she had to take stairs one at a time. She couldn’t even pretend-run after her girls.
My girls. Didi gasped and dropped the bags.
‘Could you pick those up, please, ma’am?’ he asked.
‘I can’t,’ Didi panted. ‘They’re too heavy for me.’ She wanted to leave a trace of herself behind.
‘Pick them up, please,’ he said.
Shaking her head, Didi said, ‘I can’t. Let’s just leave them.’
Bending his head to look at her sideways, he said, ‘Now, you know that we can’t leave your bags in the middle of the parking lot.’
‘Forget it,’ she said, pretending not to understand him. She was trying to fight the fear that was pulling her down to the ground again. What could he do in the middle of a sunny parking lot, a hundred feet away from Central Expressway, in broad daylight?
She didn’t think he’d do much, and that gave her a little bit of courage. She thought, he seems pretty calm. He is being reasonable, therefore he can’t be crazy.
Bravely, Didi repeated, ‘Forget it. I don’t want them. Really. If you can’t carry them, just leave them.’
‘Oh, shit,’ he mumbled under his breath. He grabbed all the bags off the ground with his left hand, keeping his right hand on her. ‘I’ll take your bags. Happy now? Come on, let’s try to walk a little faster.’
The man hurried, but she dragged her feet. ‘It’s only a little further. Then you can sit down,’ he said kindly.
But Didi wouldn’t hurry. She wanted to walk, to crawl, slower and slower, until she stopped and sat down, and had a drink and maybe some food, and stopped hyperventilating, and had her baby and woke up from a bad dream.
She promised herself she would never go to NorthPark again. Or any mall again without her husband, without a friend, or without a gun. A whole lot of good a gun would have done her here. Excuse me for a second while I ransack through my handbag so I can shoot you.
How long had it been? How was it possible that in the minutes since he had approached her, Didi had not seen anyone in the parking lot? Where was everybody?
She nearly yelped with joy and hope when she saw two women in the next row getting out of a car.
Didi didn’t know if any sound would come out when she opened her mouth, but the terror that had made her weaker a minute ago when she saw no way out made her stronger now when she saw a chance for escape.
‘Help! Help me!’ she screamed, moving away from the man. He was fast. He dug his fingers into her arm.
Didi flung her free arm and hit him across the face. ‘Help!’ she screamed. ‘He’s –’
The women turned and looked at them.
And then he let go of her arm for a split second, just long enough to grab her around the neck, pull her to him, and kiss her hard on the mouth.
He pressed his lips to hers, blowing air into her throat and sticking his tongue into her mouth. All the while he never stopped walking. She tried to pull away from his face, but he was too strong. He held her painfully
