Chapter 89 first quarter

"God, Decker, you're crazy. If you're not careful, you'll end up killing yourself," Esperanza mumbled nervously, lower than a whisper, "or you'll give McGee Trick a chance and tell him to kill you." For the past hour they had been arguing about Decker's plan, and Decker had made his determination clear.That's how McKittrick hoped it would turn out, and that's how it's going. Decker felt Esperanza lean into the back seat of the Oldsmobile, grab his shoulders and drag him outside into the rain.His orders to Esperanza were not to be softhearted, to be as brutal as possible, to do what a thug usually does when he kills someone and disposes of a corpse.

Esperanza complied, doing nothing to soften the impact of Decker's body as he threw him to the ground.Esperanza dragged him across the puddle.His whole body was hurting, but he didn't show it, and remained limp.He squeezed his eyes shut, but he could picture the oldsmobile parked next to the food store on the observation deck after being run over.It was fast approaching midnight and it was raining again, making it impossible for anyone to stop to enjoy the view of the rock face.When the weather is good, the lights of ships on the Hudson River and the brilliant lights of Hastings and Yonkers on the other side can be seen from the viewing platform.But in such bad weather, all you can see is darkness.Just in case a driver stops here for a few minutes to rest, Esperanza pulls the Oldsmobile diagonally across from the entrance to the observation deck, out of the way, in case anyone on the interstate sees it, What appears to be a corpse is dragged towards the back of the grocery store.

Decker heard Esperanza grunt, then felt himself thrown into a mud puddle with a plop.He let his body roll limply, lying on the left side in the mud puddle.He half opened his eyes and saw something dark in the dark behind the house that looked like a dumpster.He heard Esperanza run across the mud puddles to the car and back again.He saw Esperanza lean the briefcase against the back wall of the house, then disappear in a flash.Then he heard the doors close and the car start.The tires splashed and the car drove away.The sound of the engine faded until Decker could only hear the distant hum of traffic on the interstate and the sound of rain on the clear plastic bag wrapped tightly around his head.

"The deal Giordano and McKittrick made was money and my body," Decker insisted.He and Esperanza were driving anxiously from town to town, looking for a convenience store, lest they were too late.They started looking for it at 10:30.Then it was 11 o'clock, and it was 11:15. "We have to get there by midnight." Twice they found stores that were still open, but they didn't have all the materials Decker needed. At 11:30, they finally bought all the things they wanted.Esperanza parked the car on a deserted road in the wild and did what he had to do. "Why can't I leave a note with the money? Pretend it's from Giordano and say he won't kill you until McKittrick keeps his word." Esperanza Decker's ankles were tied with a clothesline.

"Because I don't want him to be suspicious. Make sure you tie the knot where you can see it. It must be dark behind the house, and I want him to see that I'm bound." "But that way, if he doesn't believe you're dead, you've got no chance to defend yourself." Esperanza tied Decker's arms behind him. "I hope this will convince him. He will never believe that I will voluntarily surrender myself to him, to be at his disposal." "Does this knot hurt?" "It doesn't matter if it hurts or not. Make it real. Make it look like there's absolutely no way I'm alive, like I'm not responding to the bondage. Make him believe I'm dead."

"You might as well be dead when he sees you. Decker, this plastic bag just freaks me out." "That's right, it'll startle him too. I'll do it as a last resort. Color me. Hurry up." Decker needed something that looked like blood, and a pathologist had told him how to disguise bloodstains with the easiest materials to find, and that's what he used this time—colorless corn syrup and red edibles. pigment. "Make it look like they used to have fun beating me," Decker insisted. "They smashed your lip and beat your jaw to a bloody mess," Esperanza camouflaged with mixed materials.

"Hurry up. We have to be at the delivery location in 15 minutes." Esperanza quickly slid the bag around Decker's neck.Decker took a breath and sucked the bag over his head.The plastic bag clung to his face, stuck to his skin, lodged in his nostrils and mouth.Esperanza muttered a prayer in Spanish, quickly poked a small hole in the bag that was stuck in Decker's mouth, and quickly inserted a small piece of straw.Decker clamped the straw between his teeth so he could breathe without breaking the vacuum that held the plastic bag against his face. "My God, Decker, will it work, can you have enough air?"

Decker nodded slightly. "You really look like a corpse with the bag on your face like that." Good, Decker thought.Now he was lying in the mud puddle behind the food store, listening to the sound of heavy rain on the plastic bags, all around him in darkness.The little air he got through the straw was enough to keep him alive as long as he breathed shallowly, slowly, and calmly.But every time he took a little breath, a sense of panic set in, trying to overwhelm his unwavering determination.Every time he exhaled slightly, his heart wanted to beat faster to get more oxygen.The string that held the plastic bag around his neck was tied so tightly that it sank into the skin—something Decker insisted Esperanza do.Everything had to look absolutely convincing, and feel convincing too—the icy rain would lower Decker's surface temperature, making his skin feel like a slowly cooling corpse.If for a moment McKittrick doubted that Decker was still alive, he would have shot Decker in the head and done it.

The danger was that McKittrick might shoot him anyway, but Decker was counting on the strangeness of his face to convince McKittrick that force was unnecessary.If McKittrick felt for the pulse on Decker's wrist, he couldn't.The tightly bound rope has greatly reduced the blood flow.McKittrick could also try to feel for the pulse in Decker's neck, but to do so he'd have to untie the string that held the plastic bag -- time-consuming and disgusting.The only way he could do it was to put his palm on the side above Decker's heart, but it was unlikely that he would do that because Decker was lying on his left side - to touch the side of Decker's heart. side, McKittrick had to roll over and press his hands into the nasty mud that stuck to Decker's clothes.

The risks are still great. "You're crazy," as Esperanza kept telling him. "You'll kill yourself." But is there another way?If things hadn't gone exactly as McKittrick had requested, if Decker's body hadn't been dumped there as Giordano had promised, McKittrick might have gotten suspicious and hadn't taken the money. There might be fears of traps in the briefcase, and Decker's plan revolves entirely around that money: the money and the seeker that Decker hid inside the bill.If McKittrick didn't take the money, Decker couldn't follow him to where Beth was being held.No matter how Decker analyzed the matter, he couldn't think of any other way.McKittrick had to see Decker's body.

"Do you love Beth that much?" Esperanza asked Decker before putting the plastic bag over his head. "So wholeheartedly risking your life to save her?" "I'd go to hell for her." "Is it to find out if she has true feelings for you?" Esperanza looked at him in surprise. "It's not love. It's self-esteem." "It's hope. If I don't believe in love, then I don't care about anything. Put the straw in my mouth. Tie the bag." "Decker, you are the most amazing person I have ever met." "No, I'm a fool." Decker lay in the mud puddle, breathing lightly, suppressing panic, mustering all the control he had, trying not to imagine what was going to happen to him.His lungs need more air.Maybe, he thought, there was another way.Maybe he just wanted Beth to know how much he loved her and what he would do for her. Needing to distract himself, he thought back to the first time he saw her two months ago...has it been such a short time?It seemed so long ago...in the foyer of the real estate agency—she turned to him, and his heart rate changed.Never in his life had he felt such a strong pull.He pictured her beautifully, with thick blond-brown hair glossy, tanned skin with a healthy radiance, a gymnast's body, and her curvaceous breasts and buttocks that made his heart skip a beat.He was completely mesmerized by her graceful chin, high cheekbones and model forehead.He imagined himself approaching her.Suddenly his thoughts turned to the night they had made love for the first time, her blue-gray eyes and sexy lips so close to him they blurred.He kissed her neck, licked her skin, tasted salt and sun and something primal.He felt as though he had been only half a man in his past life, and now he was whole at last, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually.He felt a sense of joy in his body, that he finally had a purpose—to build a new life with her, to share with her, to become one with her. His consciousness suddenly returned to reality - because, amidst the hum of traffic and the sound of rain in the distance, he heard a sound from the steep slope behind him.Although the plastic bag hindered his hearing, worrying enhanced his perception.He heard heavy breathing, slipping footsteps, and snapping branches. God, Decker thought.He had been waiting to hear a car come off the interstate and into the Observatory area.But McKittrick was already there, hidden on the slope below the guardrail.Decker told himself that Esperanza must have seen me when he dragged me to the back of the house.He must have seen Esperanza throw me into the puddle, leave the briefcase behind, and drive off.If Esperanza had said a word to me then, or if he had tried to throw me softer, McKittrick would have known right away it was a trap.He would have shot us. Decker shuddered as he realized how close he had been to death.The cold rain also made him shiver, and he immediately tensed his muscles to restrain his body's reaction, and he dared not move.He had to look lifeless.In the past, whenever he embarked on a dangerous mission, he used to meditate to calm himself down.Now he's doing it again.He focused his thoughts, trying to put his feelings, fears, longings, worries, and needs behind him. But he couldn't restrain his imagination.He pictured McKittrick gazing wide-eyed into the darkness from the top of the rain-soaked slope.McKittrick must have been nervous, wet and cold, rushing to get this done and get away.He must have a gun in his hand and would shoot if anything went wrong.He probably still has a flashlight.Perhaps, at the risk of exposing himself, he would shine a flashlight on the ropes that bound Decker's arms and legs.If that was the case, he would have let the beam land on the plastic bag covering Decker's head. Footsteps sounded on the wet gravel, as if McKittrick had stepped over the guardrail.It was a pinch, and Decker knew that if McKittrick was going to shoot to make sure he was really dead, it would be this time.To keep his chest from heaving, Decker held his breath.Immediately, his lungs began to starve of air.The suffocating pressure in his chest grew stronger, and the oxygen-deprived muscles ached from their ever-increasing need for oxygen. The footsteps stopped near him.Decker was prepared, so when a shoe kicked him in the shoulder and knocked him on his back, he didn't show any reaction.Although Decker's eyes are closed, he can still feel the glare of his flashlight shining through the plastic bag McKittrick is scrutinizing the plastic covering his face.Decker had already moved the end of the straw to the corner of his mouth, and took another slight breath so that the bag sank even further into his mouth.He felt dizzy, and he desperately needed to breathe.So he concentrated on imagining himself kissing Beth; he had only her on his mind.He felt dizzy, feeling himself being swallowed by her. McKittrick snorted, perhaps out of contentment.The flashlight then went off.Decker's lungs looked like they were about to explode.He heard footsteps passing quickly through the rain, and he must have been McKittrick walking quickly towards the briefcase.But then there were other voices, and Decker was confused.Click, click.He was getting more and more worried.What is this sound?What is McKittrick doing? Suddenly, he understood.McKittrick was pouring the money into another bag, afraid that Giordano would leave the seeker in the briefcase.The instinct was fine, but Decker had anticipated it.The seeker is not hidden in the briefcase.Decker cut a hole in a bundle of bills with a knife, inserted the seeker, and reattached the bundle with a rubber band so that it looked indistinguishable from any other bundle. Decker heard McKittrick snort again, this time harder.Something flew through the air and rattled downhill.Decker understood, it was the briefcase, and McKittrick threw the briefcase away.He didn't want to leave any traces that the area behind the grocery store had been used as a delivery point, but if he threw away the briefcase— God, he's going to do the same to me.McKittrick grabbed Decker by the shoulders, dragged him back violently, and lifted him roughly onto the railing just in time to hold his oxygen-deprived body back from showing panic.No!cried Decker inwardly.Immediately afterwards, he felt himself weightless.His body hit something.He tumbled off the thing, feeling weightless again.His bound arms touched something beneath his body.Unable to restrain his impulse, he groaned in pain.Did McKittrick hear him moan?He tumbled and hit something again.He thought he was about to roll down the slope of the rock face and into the Hudson River.This distance is so long, I will definitely fall to my death.Suddenly, he jerked a few times and stopped, his whole body aching unbearably.His head hit something. He was knocked dizzy and felt liquid in the plastic bag.I'm bleeding!Warm, sticky fluid gushes from the cut on his forehead and begins to fill the plastic bag.No!He didn't care if McKittrick could see himself moving now.He has no choice.He has to breathe.His original plan was that McKittrick took the money and left him.As soon as he was gone, Decker reinserted the length of straw into the hole in the bag and breathed as hard as he could until Esperanza—the needle on the receiver would start moving when the money was taken, and he would know — come back and let him go.But it never occurred to Decker that McKittrick might dispose of the body.If Decker had expected this, he would never have attempted this plan, it was horrible.The rope that tied the plastic bag to his head tightened around his neck and sank into his skin.He felt that he was about to be strangled. He needed air so badly that he was frantic.He moved the length of straw from the corner of his mouth and tried to insert it into the small hole in the bag, but he couldn't find the hole.Unable to control his body, he exhaled forcefully, causing the bag to inflate, and then took a forceful breath in completely involuntarily.Now the bag filled his nose and mouth, clinging to his skin like a living thing.Camouflage paint and blood stuck to the bag.Esperanza can't find me in time! He rolled over in the rain, facing what he had fallen on, and whatever was holding him up, he rubbed his face against it, looking for something sharp: a branch, a protruding rocks, anything that can catch and tear through a plastic bag.His body was wet and slippery underneath.He hit his head on something, probably a rock.He continued to move despite the pain.However, his movements slowed down.The blood on his face continued to flow, pouring into the plastic bag, giving him the feeling that he was about to be submerged.Maybe I'm about to tumble off a cliff, but that wouldn't make a difference.I am already dead, if not... A stake-like object caught the plastic bag.His consciousness was fading, and he turned his head feebly to the left, feeling the bag being torn open.With the last of his strength, he turned his head to the left again.The rift grew wider.He felt a cold wind on his forehead, and icy rain hit his forehead.But the plastic bag was still tightly attached to his nostrils and mouth.He tried to breathe through the small hole near his mouth, but his struggle had twisted the plastic bag and the hole was blocked.He felt like he was going to suffocate to death with the piece of straw in his mouth.I have to get this bag off my head!He felt as if something was about to explode in his body, as if he was about to fall into a dark pit.The last time he tried to hook the bag with the pointy thing, his right cheek was scratched, but the bag finally tore open whole. The wind seemed to rush down his throat screaming as he exhaled through the straw to breathe.The cool air rushing into his lungs was unbelievably sweet.His chest heaved convulsively.He lay on his back, trembling all over, gasping for air, gradually believing that he was really alive.