Final Breath

anyway. A harmless lunch was one thing, but this was different. After two Tanqueray and tonics, he turned into an utter creep. He was rude to their waiter. He made two calls on his cell phone while she just sat there, bored to smithereens: one to a buddy to schedule a racquetball game and the other to someone about scoring tickets to a White Sox game. The White Sox? It would have been bad enough if her Cubs-crazy family ever found out she was seeing a married guy--but a White Sox fan? They'd have disowned her.

The last straw had been when Kent--with a smarmy grin--had made an innuendo about checking out the view from one of the upper-floor suites in the Hyatt down the street. After that, Angela had tried to leave, but he'd insisted she stay for just one more drink. She'd waited ten more minutes before saying she had to hit the ladies' room, excusing herself, and then slipping out of the restaurant.

Hurrying into the lobby of her office building, Angela figured she had about five more minutes before Kent caught on that she'd ditched him. She didn't see the night guard on duty as she hurried through the lobby to the garage elevator. She jabbed the button, and the door opened immediately. The building was older--with only three underground parking levels. Angela pressed C, leaned against the elevator wall, and caught her breath. The elevator let out a groan as it made its descent.

She'd get the 'I told you so' look from her friends when she let them know about tonight with Kent. Well, she had it coming. After all, the guy was married. What was she thinking? His poor wife...

The overhead light in the elevator flickered for a second, and a little panic swept through her. She could feel the elevator still moving. It was just the light, and it was okay now. Still, that flickering unnerved her for a moment. She was grateful when the elevator stopped and the door whooshed open on Parking Level C. She stepped out of the elevator and started to hunt through her purse for her keys.

Whenever Angela went for drinks with friends after work, she always volunteered to drive people home-- partly out of kindness, but also because she hated venturing down to this creepy garage alone late at night. It wasn't so bad in the morning and at quitting time, because there were other people around. But at this hour, she was the only one down here--at least she hoped she was the only one down here. There was no garage attendant on duty, just an emergency phone and a keypad device near the exit for a code that opened the garage door.

Angela found the car keys, and had them out and ready--even though she was still quite a ways from her car.

She'd never been in a submarine, but Angela was pretty certain it would be a lot like this gloomy, old parking garage--the low ceilings with so many exposed pipes, the gray walls and floor, little wire cages around the lights overhead--and yet it was still dark with shadowy nooks everywhere. A click, click, click from her high heels on the concrete floor echoed as she made her way to her Toyota Camry. She saw only two other cars on this level, and they looked as if they'd been there for weeks.

Angela quickened her pace as she approached her car. While unlocking the door, she glanced through the window into the backseat. No one. It was okay.

Climbing inside the car, she shut the door, locked it, and started up the ignition. She sighed. She wasn't usually this nervous, but that flickering light in the elevator had disturbed her--and then she couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. That jerk, Kent, certainly wasn't worth all this angst. It was what she got for succumbing to his 'you're so beautiful' line.

Angela shifted to Drive and pressed on the accelerator.

The car started to move, but then it lurched forward. All at once, the left rear side slammed down on the garage floor with a loud bang. Angela gasped at the sudden jolt. The car's left underside scraped across the concrete, and a severe grating noise reverberated through the garage.

Panic-stricken, she stomped on the brake. The car skidded for a second, then stopped.

Angela's heart pounded furiously, and she tried to catch her breath. She heard a tinny clattering sound. Out her window, she saw her hubcap rolling across the garage floor--five spaces over. She glanced in her side mirror. 'Jesus Mary Joseph,' she gasped.

The back tire had fallen off. A thin haze of smoke crept up from beneath the car. Angela quickly switched off the ignition.

'Okay, Angie, calm down,' she murmured to herself. Unlocking the door, she stepped out of the Camry. She was a little shaky on her feet. She stared at her crippled, lopsided car--at all the mangled steel and structural damage around where the tire used to be. 'What the hell?' she said under her breath.

She pulled her wallet from her purse, and found her AAA card. Then she took out her cell phone and dialed. No answer. She couldn't get through, and realized there wasn't any reception down here on the garage's bottom level.

She remembered the emergency phone by the garage door. But that was three floors up, and she wanted to get out of this creepy garage. Angela decided to try AAA again from the lobby. She was still shaking. She took a deep breath and started toward the elevator bay.

But she heard something, and stopped. The elevator let out a ding, and the door whooshed open.

Angela couldn't quite see the elevator from where she stood--only part of the annex. She waited for someone to emerge from that alcove. She listened for footsteps. But there was nothing.

'Hello?' she called. 'Is anyone there? I could use some help. Hello?'

No reply.

Angela was afraid to take another step. Paralyzed, she gazed at the alcove and saw a shadow moving.

'Who's there?' she called.

The shadow swept across the gray wall by the elevator area, then disappeared.

'Who's there?' she repeated, louder this time. But her voice quivered.

Again, no response.

Unnerved, Angela retreated back to her disabled car. She ducked inside and quickly locked the door. She couldn't quite see the elevator bay from the front seat of her car, but she kept her gaze fixed in that direction. She was still trembling as she pulled out her cell phone again and dialed Triple-A. No luck. She gave her brother's number a shot. Nothing. She even tried Kent's cell, figuring at least he was close. But her phone just wasn't working.

All of the sudden, she caught sight of someone out of the corner of her eye--just as he tapped on her window. Angela let out a startled yelp. A hand over her heart, she gaped at the handsome janitor standing on the other side of her window. He gave her a sheepish smile. 'Looks like you could use some help!' he said loudly--so she could hear him inside the car.

Angela immediately felt embarrassed for gasping. Still, she didn't roll her window down more than a few inches to talk to him. 'Ah, yeah. I was trying to call Triple-A, but my cell phone doesn't work down here.'

He walked over toward the back of her car and collected some articles from the garage floor. 'Lug nuts,' he said, studying them in his hand. 'They couldn't have all gotten loose at the same time. I don't mean to scare you, but it looks like someone sabotaged your car.'

Angela sighed. 'Well, I'm pretty scared enough already. That's why I'm sitting in here with the door locked.'

He nodded. 'Smart. The kook who did this could still be hanging around here.' He stepped back and took another look at the left rear side of her Camry. Then he returned to her window. 'If you have a jack in the trunk, I'll raise her up and put the tire back on for you. But I think you're better off getting a tow. Looks like a lot of damage back there.'

Angela just nodded. She still kept the door locked and the window up most of the way. She'd never seen this janitor before, and it was strange how he'd shown up just when he had. Still, he was friendly enough--and quite attractive. And there was no one else offering to help her.

'We can go up to the lobby, and I'll keep you company until the tow arrives,' he offered. 'I don't know the night watchman very well. I'm new here. But he strikes me as kind of squirrelly. I wouldn't trust him if I were you.'

She hesitated. 'Well, if it's not too much trouble...'

'Trouble?' he said. 'Are you kidding me? I know this is a nightmare for you, but it's a lonely night janitor's