Andrew Vachss - Down in the Zero

"Yes."

I slapped her again.

"Yes sir," she said that time, in the zone where she wanted to be— somewhere between turned on and scared— but maybe just a little too close to the far edge.

I grabbed her shoulders, spun her around, pushed her forward until she was bent over the bed. I pulled her skirt up roughly. "Don't you move," I warned her, unthreading the belt from my slacks, doubling it up in my hand.

It took a long time before I was through. Then I stood in the corner, my shoulders past the shadow box's camera–eye, watching Fancy, her wrists lashed to each corner of the bed, her bottom elevated by a couple of pillows stuffed under her pelvis, harsh red stripes from the belt standing in bold relief for the camera's eye.

I smoked a cigarette all the way through. Then I untied her. I opened her purse, stuffed her bra and panties inside, told her to put her dress on. Then I walked her out of the room holding the back of her neck.

Outside, I waited till she locked the back door.

"Follow me in your car. Don't say another word. Don't get out of your car, understand?"

"Yes sir."

I found a pay phone on the highway, dialed the Mole.

"It's me. Was it there?"

"Yes."

"Everything worked?"

"Yes."

"They're still around?"

"Yes."

"I did them a favor. A big one. There's something they could do for me. That's fair, right?"

He didn't answer. I told him what I needed. "Can you get them in now?"

"Soon," he said.

I told him where to leave the package.

We drove back to the apartment in a two–car caravan. Fancy pulled in behind me. I got out, gestured for her to come to me. I held the door to the Lexus open for her, watched while she fastened her seat belt. Then I pulled off again.

She didn't say a word on the drive, but her face registered surprise when I turned off into the grove by the creek. I hit the power window switch, watched the glass whisper its way down the track into the door. I pushed another button and the seat slid back. Satisfied, I got out, went around to her door and opened it. I held out my hand. She took it, hesitating, still not meeting my eyes. I led her gently around the back of the car down to a soft patch of grass. I took off my jacket, spread it on the ground for her. "Sit, honey," I said. "It's okay now."

She sat down placidly. I sat next to her, my arm around her waist. We didn't say anything for a while, looking out at the gently moving water, taking the calm.

She slumped against me. I kissed the top of her head. "Lie down, baby," I told her.

She rolled across my lap, face down, pulling at her skirt. I grabbed her hand, pulled the skirt back down. I reached up to her shoulders, held her in place as I slid along the grass so her face was in my lap. I stroked her back until she relaxed.

"Close your eyes, girl. Just let it go…it's over, now."

It took a while, but finally I felt the muscles in her back unclench, heard her breathing smooth out. She nuzzled at the base of my cock through my pants, then turned her head. "Can I…?"

"Turn over," I told her.

She did it, lying on her back, face up, gray eyes open and alert in the shade my upper body cast.

"Why did you…do it like that?" she finally asked.

"Like what?"

"Just…whip me. No sex. I thought you…didn't like that."

"There was a good reason, little girl. I promise you."

"What reason?"

"Ssshh, baby. You'll see."

"What reason, honey? Please tell me. I mean, I didn't…mind. But I thought…"

"Fancy, remember what you asked me before? About your mystery?"

"Yes."

"That was part of it. I can't tell you any more now, but real soon, okay? Will you trust me that far?"

"I'd trust you with anything, Burke."

"Close your eyes," I told her.

I watched the brook's current as she slept, watched as it broke over the rocks into a white froth, smoothed out again. Fancy went down deep, the heavy muscles at the backs of her calves relaxing. She turned her head to the side, snuggled into a better position, breath rattling sweetly through her one open nostril. My fingers played with her hair. She made a high–pitched sound I couldn't place, put her thumb into her mouth, sucked deeply, content.

It was just starting to get dark when she stirred.

"Wha…Burke?"

"I'm right here, girl."

"I must have fallen out."

"It's okay."

She shivered, rolled into a sitting position, hugging herself. "I'm cold."

"Okay. Come on." I helped her to her feet, walked her back to the car, my arm around her.

"Where are we going?"

"Just come on, Miss Motormouth. That's enough questions for one day."

I found a good spot in the parking lot of the mall. Told Fancy to get us some take–out. Instead of waiting in the car, I walked over to an outside phone.

"It's me. They do it?"

"Yes."

"Would anyone know they'd been there?"

"No."

"They left it where I said."

"Yes. They said to tell you— it triggers off a sensor when anyone goes in there."

I rung off. Pulled out the cellular, dialed.

"Hello?" Sonny answered.

"It's me," I said. "Where are you?"

"At the diner. Remember where— "

I could hear the noise in the background. "Yeah. You headed back to the house?"

"No, not for a while. We were gonna— "

"Do that. Whatever. Understand? Can you stay past midnight, stay away from the house?"

"Sure."

"Okay, champ. See you tomorrow morning."

By the time Fancy came back with her arms full of take–out, I was watching her through the windshield of the Lexus.

It was dark when we got back. I sent Fancy over to the big house, told her what to do. I went upstairs to the apartment, turned on the radio and a couple of lights. Then I came back out, walked over to the house. No lights on in the kitchen. I kept going through to the living room. Fancy had the floor set up like a picnic, the glow from some candles casting murky shadows.

"It looks great," I said, sitting down on the floor.

"How come you didn't want any lights, honey?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I told her.

"But my mouth isn't full. I didn't start to eat— I waited for you."

"Now I'm here," I said, helping myself to what looked like a deli plate: chunky tuna, potato salad, cole slaw.

We ate quietly, in companionable silence. I complimented Fancy on her choice of food, listened with half an ear as she ran through all the mall choices she'd had to make, why she settled on deli instead of Chinese, how it wasn't good to eat a heavy meal so late, something about cholesterol…

It was nearing ten o'clock by the time we finished the meal and cleaned it up. Fancy insisted on wrapping whatever we didn't eat, putting it away in the refrigerator. "Maybe Sonny'll want a snack when he comes home," she said.

While she was bustling around, I looked under the pillows in the living room couch. I found the videocassette, turned on the VCR, shoved in the cassette, started it running and hit the Pause button. The screen was all visual static, like dirty snow.

Fancy came back in. "Blow out the candles and come over here, girl."

She did it quick enough, sitting next to me expectantly.

"What, honey?"

"Watch," I said.

I hit the Play button on the remote. A brief flicker and it snapped into life. Fancy walking across the threshold of the white room.

"Burke! What is this? Where— ?"

"Just watch for a minute," I said, holding her hand tight.

The whole scene played out from a few hours ago. Now that I knew how it worked, I could see the camera shots were mechanical, the zooms unplanned. The tape ran back into gray trailer right after we exited the room. Fancy burst into sobs, trying to pull away from me.