Adelaide Confused (13 page)

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.

So I set about cutting Reed
free from his chair. He kept a wary eye on our captor but didn’t
attempt to touch him.

“
Well should we,” I waved
vaguely at the body, “I don’t know... kill him, or maybe call the
police?”

Reed stared at the inert form while rubbing
the blood back into his wrists. “Kill him or call the police? Those
options don’t fit in the same sentence.”

“
Well we can’t just leave
him!”

Reed turned, heading for the door. “I’ll take
care of it.”

I hated being dismissed.
Obviously I had more to say, but for the moment I was willing to
shut up and get the hell out of there.

I followed Reed out the
door and up a flight of stairs. They were plain concrete, solid and
sterile. I couldn’t decide if that room was meant for shelter or
storage. The stairs spit us out on the first floor of a farmer’s
barn. It was filled with hay and everything. The town car was
outside. Reed found the keys in the ignition, I found my shoes and
purse in the backseat, and together we left.

A persistent scuffing sound
woke me. I very much wished it hadn’t. I had an ache for every
muscle, my joints protesting any and all movement. Was this what it
felt like to be old? If so, I hoped to die young. Maybe I was meant
to have died yesterday.

The scuffing droned into a
dull scraping. My mind cleared instantly, pushing away the sleepy
daze of first wake. Unexplainable noises were irregular in my home.
Suitably alarmed, I lurched from bed.

It was Gap-tooth, it must
be. My heartbeat picked up its pace as I glanced around for some
sort of weapon. Cursing myself for not having killed him when he
was unconscious, I grabbed the slim glass thigh-high vase I’d never
gotten around to filling. Yesterday I wasn’t capable of killing
anyone. Today I thought I’d give it a try. Hefting the vase, I held
it by its narrow top like a baseball bat.

Reed and his bullshit about
taking care of it, he never did explain. Even after the adrenaline
had worn away and I’d stopped feeling strung out and shaky I’d
continued to scream a bit, demanding answers. He had ignored me,
leaving me clueless beside my car.

I lowered the vase, feeling
like a jackass. If Gap-tooth really was coming then he’d already
know I was waiting for him, vase in hand. Damn it! I couldn’t even
defend myself. If Reed was any kind of man, he’d have killed
Gap-tooth when he had the chance. Calling the police hadn’t seemed
like a permanent enough solution. And he hadn’t even done
that!

The sound continued, odd
though, it didn’t seem to come from inside the house. Cautiously I
walked to the window, using the vase to push the curtain
aside.

Lucas sat on the lip of my
roof, a leg dangling over. He scraped at the gutter, scooping up a
handful of sludge, the wilted, wet leaves clumped in his gloved
fist. I watched his arms and back flex, mesmerized. There was
something bold about him; maybe it was just his masculinity. I
didn’t deal with men like him often, and I found he intimidated me
in a way others couldn’t, not even the charming Reed
Wallace.