It was a while before he noticed me, and a bit guilty-like he tried to tamp down his emotions. It was a futile gesture, he lacked my emotional control. “That was inconsiderate of me.”
“You understood what they were speaking of.”
He turned, pacing with his back to me. “Yes.”
“Well?” I prompted.
“You don’t need to know,” he said coolly.
I scoffed, but I wasn’t surprised. Throwing up my arms, I said, “The party’s over. Can I go?”
“In a moment. First I’d like you to stay while I interview Karen.” He began to unfold chairs.
“Uh, that’s not appropriate.”
“You’ll stay out of sight. She won’t know you’re behind the partition.”
“That’s even less appropriate.”
“Yes I know, but I feel it’s necessary. You see Karen in an unflattering light, and I’d like to dispel the image from your mind once and for all.”
“That’s ridiculous! What does my opinion matter?”
He arranged the chairs so they faced each other. “When you’re done suspecting Karen you can focus on the truly guilty party.” He took up his cell phone once more and began to dial. “Close yourself behind that section.”
I didn’t want to, but I did as he instructed. Unhooking first one side and then the other, I pulled the partition closed. I could hear Reed’s half of the phone conversation and then his pacing.
When the door opened I assumed it was Crazy Karen, though I could never have guessed by her emotions as she wasn’t being hateful. But I doubted being alone with Reed stirred that feeling.
“Hello, Karen. Please, won’t you have a seat,” I heard Reed offer graciously.
She was thrilled to. “Is everything alright?”
I heard him move, guessing he’d taken the chair across from her like a good therapist would. “That’s actually what I wanted to speak with you about. You didn’t seem yourself this evening. How are you?”
She was both ecstatic and ashamed. I’d like to say this made her crazy, but it didn’t. Everybody feels in contradictions. “I’m surprised you noticed,” she said. “You were so busy with the speech and that... and your date.” She was angry again.
“Have I said something to upset you?” Reed asked.
“No! No, of course not,” she rushed to assure. “You could never say anything to upset me.”
“Well something obviously has.”
“I... I made a mistake, I...” Her voice cracked. She began to cry softly.
I could hear Reed moving closer to comfort her. She began to feel a longing desire, and I began to feel uncomfortable. “Tell me what happened,” Reed coaxed.
I waited a bit breathless to hear the dirty deed that was filling us both with guilt and shame. “I slept with Rich Addler!” she sobbed. “I’m sorry... I don’t know why... I’m sorry!” She was babbling through her tears.
Perplexed, Reed asked, “Sorry—whatever for?” She kept crying, but from hopelessness, not guilt. She had hoped that he would care, be jealous or something. Any reaction would have been better than his indifference. Obtuse as ever, he continued, “Seeing someone from the office is usually discouraged, but I’m certainly not going to penalize you for it.”
“No, I didn’t think you would, but... but if you tell me not to see him again, then I won’t!” I assumed this was her last ditch effort to force a reaction.
Reed had none. “That’s not for me to say. You may see whomever you like.”
I found his last statement ironic as the ‘whomever she liked’ was currently giving her the letdown. Eventually she stopped crying. Reed talked business for a little while, giving her time to collect herself. And when she finally left she took her disappointment with her.
I pushed open the partition. “That was a great idea,” I said sarcastically.
He glared, feeling slightly irritated. “It served its purpose. Now you won’t waste time suspecting her of deceit.”
“It wasn’t my intention to prove she was guilty of deceit, only of being crazy. And I think she more than proved that all by herself just now.”
He began to fold the chairs back up, ignoring me. But I couldn’t ignore his frustration. “I’ll be waiting out front,” I said as I strode out.
He met me in the foyer, it was nearly empty then. Most of the guests had cleared out while we were meeting with Crazy Karen. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t meet her as she was leaving. Reed’s town car waited out front, its strange driver standing at attention like a soldier.
Reed stopped walking to stare at something. I followed his gaze to the figure of a man. “Who is that?” I asked, watching the man get into his car.
“Richard Addler,” he said grimly.
I did a double take then, interested to see. The lamps offered little light, but I could just make out a dark head of hair and fair skin, maybe handsome. Crazy Karen probably chose him for the features he had in common with Reed. There was an obvious resemblance, though Rich paled in comparison.
After watching him go we continued to walk along the circular drive. Reed asked, “Why did she sleep with him if only to cry after?”
I shrugged. “She’s crazy.”
“And why did he do it?”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “He’s a man, what other reason do you need?”
“Cynic,” he accused lightly.
To my surprise he took my wrist, pulling me to stop. Around us the oak trees made a soft rushing noise as the wind blew slowly, pushing the moss until it swayed. The cicadas sang their shrill song, the sound carrying over the open space. Behind us the club sat, lit like a hulking silent beast, empty and white. It felt as if we were the last two people alive.
His thumb stroked the inside of my wrist. “Thank you for coming.”
I wanted to lean into him, to encourage him. He was attentive, and I recognized the interest he felt. But all I had to do was picture Crazy Karen to be myself again, pushing away the lazy comfort of his charm. I tugged my wrist free. “You blackmailed me into coming, but I was under the impression that the coercion didn’t extend to sleeping with you.”
I riled him into an angry state, reveling in how easy it was. “Must you always be so difficult?”
Wishing the conversation would end, I refused to reply. I’d pricked his pride again, effectively ending the evening stroll. He nearly rushed to the car after that, with me following in his angry wake.
The driver had the back door open, anticipating our arrival. Reed moved to slide in first.
I muttered, “I’m just glad this night is over.”
I spoke too soon.
The driver lifted his arm, swinging a small round cudgel. It met Reed’s flesh at the base of his skull. It was unexpected and abrupt. I stood stock still, eyes wide in shock. Just like a deer in headlights.
I watched in helpless horror as the driver stooped down to shove Reed’s crumpled body inside the car, sliding it along the backseat. And when he turned to me, I barely had time to say “Oh shit!” before the flash of pain and swallow of darkness.
Chapter 15
My mouth felt dry and mossy as I came to, but small discomforts were soon drowned out by the pain above my ear. It was a throbbing ache, consistent as a beating drum, but sharp like a lightning strike.
I wanted to touch it, needing to reassure myself it wasn’t serious, but I couldn’t. My hands were bound. I jerked a little, and then a little more frantically. Wrenching my shoulders forward didn’t help either, my hands wouldn’t budge.
My mind was catching up with my emotions as reality set in. At first I was merely alarmed, but a look around made me afraid.
I was restrained in a concrete room. It was perfectly square in shape and somewhat small. Each ankle was tied to a chair leg, my arms pulled back, and hands secured behind me. Reed Wallace, tied likewise, sat in the middle of the room facing me
, watching me.
“I guess there’s no point in screaming for help,” I said miserably.
“We’re most likely in an isolated location or he would have gagged us.” Reed spoke calmly, but I could feel everything that boiled beneath the layers.
“I’m going to have a panic attack.”
“Calm down, Adelaide. Breathe,” he said sternly.
He should have told me not to breathe because I’d already started to hyperventilate, taking in desperate, gulping breaths. The trembling began in my fingers and worked its way up my arms and down my torso until I was nothing more than a shaking mess. It felt like I had heartburn, but even that couldn’t compete with the dominate ache in my head. But worse than that, worse than any pain, was the fact that I couldn’t move.
I was overwhelmed by the fight-or-flight response, needing to get away, to protect myself. But I couldn’t move, could barely struggle, though I tried.
“Calm down!” Reed hollered, the sound of his voice ringing against the cool bare walls.
“Calm!” I shrieked. “How can I be calm while you’re dumping all your distress on me?” I began to cry, a hysterical sobbing that made Crazy Karen look placid.
From experience I knew I would come to regret the crying. Logically my fit did nothing to help, but logic had little to do with emotions, and the fear was all consuming, eating away reason. “This is your fault!” I screamed at Reed.
The door behind him opened and he had to turn his head to watch our captor enter. The gap-toothed driver moved his weighty bulk through the door, carrying a leather bundle. Behind him was a puffing cloud. It was swirling and streaming in agitation.
Without thinking I said, “Thank goodness.” Pleading “Rescue me!” to my ghost.
Gap-tooth thought I was talking to him and laughed. “Sorry, darlin’, but you aren’t going anywhere.” The bastard wasn’t sorry.
He knelt, setting his bundle where Reed and I could see, and unfolded the leather gently, slowly, like a horrid striptease. I caught a glimpse of smooth metal and glinting blades, but quickly turned away.
“You must be the gifted soldier Lars has been boasting about,” Reed said with pretended equanimity. “But I must admit, this is very unlike Lars. He didn’t order the kidnapping, did he?”
From the corner of my eye I could see Gap-tooth fondling his blades. “Nope, he didn’t, but I doubt he’ll mind when I bring him the book.”
“I’m surprised Lars appreciates such initiative in his employees. He’s usually the controlling sort.”
Gap-tooth grunted noncommittally.
I could tell Reed was up to something by the way he carefully continued. “I’ll bet you have more combat training than all his other employees combined.” He tsked in disapproval. “It’s a shame you have to sneak around trying to prove yourself. Lars should be asking you for advice.”
Personally, I thought he was laying it on a little thick, but Gap-tooth had stopped polishing his knives and was almost nodding in agreement, a dull look on his face.
“He doesn’t appreciate the gifts of others, never has. If he had any sense at all, he’d put you in charge.”
Reed continued to flatter Gap-tooth in the most outlandish fashion, and unbelievably, Gap-tooth bought it. The longer Reed talked the more hypnotic he became, addictive even. I found myself drawn in as well, unable to look away, wishing Reed was mine. But then he ruined it by speaking the wrong words too soon.
“Why don’t you just let us go and we’ll sort this out together.”
Gap-tooth shook his head as if trying to dislodge a distasteful thought. His own feelings had been suppressed by Reed’s little speech, overlaid by the desire to please this larger than life man he’d tied to a chair. But now his cartoonish features scrunched unpleasantly as he waded out of the mental fog Reed had cast with his charm.
I felt it all and knew Reed had pushed too soon. He’d grown impatient, and Gap-tooth was now shrugging off his influence. Reed saw it too and hurried to coax him further, but Gap-tooth jerked upright, eyes flashing. “Lars warned me about your bullshit. Try that again and it’ll be the last thing you do.”
Reed grew frustrated, biting out, “Kidnapping me won’t help you. I don’t have the book nor do I know where it is. Theodore Dunn was the last person to have it and you killed him.”
I watched the wispy smoke settle over the floor, condensing into the transparent man. He was staring intently at a small knife that had a nasty curving blade.
“I expected you to say that, but soon you’ll talk.” Gap-tooth selected something from the bunch and stood gripping it lightly. I refused to turn my head to see. Apparently I didn’t need to. He came to stand behind me, resting the blade gently on my shoulder where its tips touched my cheek. It was pronged, which I didn’t think was practical, but it had the desired effect. I was scared out of my mind.
On the floor in front of me the ghost’s hand shifted just below the wrist, going from transparent to opaque. In that instant he lashed out, swatting at the little knife. But it was too late, his body had misted from the effort before he could even touch the blade.
Something came to rest on my head. I jerked unintentionally, forcing a prong deep into my cheek. The only thing I could do was hold perfectly still while he caressed me, letting down my hair to run his fingers through it. “I’ll give her a go,” he said. “And if you haven’t told me the location of the book by the time I’m finished, then you’ll know exactly what I’m going to do to you.” My breath hissed out as he yanked my hair back sharply, angling my face up at him.
But I didn’t look, my eyes rested on the ghost. His hand had gone gray, the sickly solid gray. He swiped at the knife, and with a snick it came skittering across the floor toward me.
I stopped it with my bare foot, not bothering to wonder where my shoes had gone. I looked up hesitantly, hoping Gap-tooth hadn’t seen. But he wasn’t paying any attention to me. He was staring at Reed, daring him to speak.
Slowly he began to drag the prong across my cheek. I whimpered as it bit, feeling a warm trickle slip down my face.
“Stop!” Reed barked. “She has no part in this. She’s just the latest slut I’m seeing!”
Gap-tooth let go, walking around my chair toward Reed. The instant his back was to us the ghost misted straight through me. I imagined him trying to turn solid behind my chair, so I pushed the knife back with my foot as far as it would go, hoping he could reach it.
“You don’t date sluts, Wallace, and you don’t date poor young women that work at cheap motels either. I don’t know what she is to you, but I’m sure you don’t want to see me cut her into tiny pieces.”
Behind me I heard a light scuff. The knife was moving. He must be solid. I pulled my hands apart as far as they would go just as he dragged the knife down through the rope. I gave an involuntary cry as the blade snagged the skin below my thumb.
They didn’t notice. I imagine Reed was desperate just to keep Gap-tooth talking. I heard them arguing, but I no longer heard the words. I was focused entirely on the ropes restricting my ankles.
My fingers were stiff, almost numb, and I was clumsy. The knots seemed impossible, they wouldn’t budge. It felt as if minutes passed, but I didn’t allow myself to look up. I heard their voices and kept going as quietly as I could. At the first sign of slack I began to hope. In seconds the rope slid off and I went to work on my other ankle.
When I was completely free of my restraints I finally looked at the pair in front of me. Gap-tooth was whispering something into Reed’s ear, and Reed looked green.
I crouched down, my intention to grab a knife and stab the bad guy in the back. He stiffened suddenly and I paused, my hand outstretched toward the leather bundle. “Would you like to know my gift, girl?” he asked without turning around. “It’s called combat sense, the ability to know my opponent’s move the moment they decide to make it. So go ahead and pick your weapon. I’ll
know the instant you do, just as I’ll know the instant you move to use it.”
I would have sat there like the stupid deer if it hadn’t been for the ghost. His hologram form was flickering in and out, but I could tell he was pointing at something. I almost looked. Almost. But it wouldn’t do to give Gap-tooth unnecessary information.
With a deep breath I lunged forward, groping to curl my fingers around whatever weapon the ghost wanted me to have. I sprang upright, lurching at Gap-tooth with the weapon raised.
He turned slowly, almost casually, with a smile. Stepping forward, he moved to block my blow, throwing up his arm so my weapon would glance harmlessly away.
Using both hands, I swung downward with all my strength, feeling the blade cut deep. Gap-tooth let out a bloodcurdling scream, pulling away from me and stumbling back. The machete went with him, stuck in his arm, embedded to the bone.
I scrambled around looking for anything to beat him with. If I didn’t knock him out he would surely kill me. I grabbed a hooked torture-thingy because its handle seemed to be made of a strong, sturdy wood. Holding it backwards, I crept up to Gap-tooth, knowing he knew I was preparing to beam him.
He was afraid, raw with fear I realized as I shuffled closer. He stood half-turned away, fingers gently touching and probing his grotesque wound like a confused child, as if he’d never seen his own blood before. And maybe he hadn’t.
I aimed for the spot above his neck and swung. He raised his good hand as if to sweep dust from his shoulder. He flicked his wrist and knocked the hook from my hand as easily as one might bat a fly.
His fear became anger, and he rounded on me. I stumbled back, knocking my ass into Reed’s chair. I skirted around trying to hide behind it as Gap-tooth lunged, his meaty hand reaching for my ankle. I screamed as he tore the hem of my dress and held on to the chair to keep from falling. It tipped backwards from my weight, Reed spilling with it. The chair’s legs whipped up most unexpectedly, one catching Gap-tooth right between the eyes. He grunted and fell over.
It couldn’t be that easy, it simply couldn’t. I expected it to be like in the movies where the bad guy pulls the knife from his throat and just keeps coming. He didn’t move, didn’t twitch, and I didn’t feel a twinge of emotion either.