INK: Abstraction (15 page)

"You can't do
this," I yell as loud as I can. Hysteria takes me over and I
start screaming and punching him wildly until he's cowering on the
ground.

The two security guards
and Carl rush in, creating even more confusion and chaos. "Shay?"
he yells, rushing to me.

Bailey grabs onto me as
Carl tries to pull me off of him. He whispers in my ear, low so only
I can hear him, "I will have you, you will be mine, Shay."

I watch as his eyes
grow smaller as Carl lifts me back to the bed. His gaze is still
penetrating and there is something hauntingly familiar about his
voice, his breath and the words he whispered. "Let go of me,"
I yell.

One of the security
guards picks Bailey up off the floor. Bailey brushes himself off and
looks up at me then Carl. "I was just bringing in those flowers.
Whoever sent them should have sent chocolates."

Carl looks at me,
confused, and oddly enough I guess the polo shirt and baseball cap is
enough of a disguise to fool him. Carl squints hard at Bailey again
and his demeanor changes as he realizes who it is. He takes Bailey
by the arm, leading him toward the door. "Look kid, you've got
to stop this." Carl stops short, looking hard at Bailey and
peering into his eyes with a puzzled yet determined expression. He
inhales a deep breath then grabs Bailey by the collar. "If you
come around her again I'll rip your fucking head off."

Bailey puts his arms up
in surrender. “Hey man, I was just bringing the flowers.”

“I know exactly
what you were doing. There won’t be another warning, son.”
Carl shoves him out the door. He turns to the two security guards
with an intense anger in his eyes. “What part of 'must be on
the approved list to get in' did you not understand?”

“Sorry, he was
just bringing flowers, we thought it was okay,” one of the
guards defends.

“Approved list
only, are we clear?” He towers over both of them and you can
see the dread in their eyes.

“Clear,”
they both answer, heading for the door.

Carl sees me staring at
the flowers and picks them up. “And take these with you.”

I stand beside my bed
feeling afraid and weak. I can’t blink, I can’t move. I
can only stare blankly at the sheets as though there’s some
sort of answer in them.

Carl joins me in
staring at the bed. He doesn’t say anything at all. I can’t
care how weird this must seem or how awkward it is. He picks up my
arm and examines the new markings Bailey put on me. “Blue ink.”

“Yeah.” I’m
not exactly sure what the significance is there, I just want to get
it off.

He holds my arm a
little tighter. We both look at the ink and see it start to move.

“Holy shit, Carl.
What the actual fuck?” I retract my arm quickly, trying to hide
it as though it will make it stop.

“This is the
same ink from the drawings that were delivered to Eli’s.”

“Well, all I know
is I want it off me.” I get some alcohol swabs out of one of
the drawers and start cleaning it off. The burning on my cuts barely
fazes me; I just want this shit off of me.

We go back to staring
silently at one another then down at the pile of blue-stained alcohol
swabs, waiting for some amazing breakthrough that will kill the
tension. We barely notice Doctor Green standing in the room. He’s
watching us, probably trying to figure out what we’re looking
at. I don’t react to his presence, I don’t react to
anything.

What the fuck is he
doing?
I think to myself for Carl to hear.

“
I was just
wondering the same thing,
” he answers, but not out loud.

Do you think he’s
trying to figure out what
we’re
doing?

“
Probably,
shrinks can be weird.
” Carl’s voice in my head has a
slight upbeat to it, like he may laugh.

What the fuck
are
we doing, Carl?
I’ve forgotten what I was doing and
really hope he remembers.

“
Not sure, I
was just going to ask you.
”

I lift my head slowly
from the bed to look at Carl and say out loud, “Fuck if I
know.”

Doctor Green is
startled by me speaking. “Excuse me?”

Carl and I share a
laugh. He takes the alcohol swabs and places them in a bag. I climb
into bed. “We were just sharing a moment.”

“Well it would
seem as though I may have missed all of the excitement…”
Dr. Green keeps speaking, but I can’t really hear what he’s
saying. It’s as if his voice is coming through a long tunnel
and I can’t quite make out the words. Everything in the room
feels fuzzy and unclear. But I can hear Carl’s voice loud and
clear. “She’s got some moves, I’ll give her that.
She had him on the ground. Shay might have hurt him if I hadn’t
come in.”

“Thanks,” I
say out loud with a prideful smile. Maybe I did know what to do with
all those years of training.

Carl and Dr. Green both
look at me confused. Carl asks, completely bewildered, “What?”

“Thanks for the
compliment about my
moves
.” I make a dynamic little
karate chop move.

Carl gives me a good
long stare, squinting one eye, then nods his head toward Dr. Green
when he says, “Miss Baynes?”

“Oh, sorry about
that, I was just lost in thought,” I answer, as Carl continues
to eyeball me suspiciously. I don’t quite understand, but I’m
sure he'll explain later.

Eli

Wow,
Glass really lives way the hell out in the boondocks. Although, he
did used to say he wanted to live somewhere he couldn’t hear
the hum of the city. The GPS in the car alerts me that my destination
is up ahead on the right. There’s a mailbox, but there’s
no house, at least not that I can see. Coming to a stop I take a look
at the drawings Shay did.

There’s a long
driveway just like the drawing indicates. The car rocks when the
wheels make contact with the dirt road. No one's here, Glass lives
alone and is at work today. My car bottoms out on a huge bump, which
pisses me off. “Damn it!”

I get closer to the
house and stop at the end of the driveway. Stepping out, I slide my
sunglasses up my nose. The sun is hot and beating down on me like a
drum. You’ve got to love May in Florida, it’s only going
to get hotter.

Around the back of the
house my feet are frozen momentarily when the shed comes into view.
The drawings are a match. Either she’s psychic or she was here.
I walk closer and contemplate opening the door. First I listen, then
I notice there’s a heavy scent of industrial cleaners and
gasoline. I rest my hand on the door handle and see the padlock.
“Shit.”

Shay's picture
indicates a window on the left side, and sure enough there it is.
It’s very clean, so I have no trouble peeking inside. Cupping
my hands around my eyes to shield the light reveals that it’s
completely empty. I don’t know what to make of it. Really, who
has an empty shed that’s padlocked? Who has a shed that’s
so clean you could eat off the floor? Someone who’s guilty,
that’s who.

“I sure would
like to know what you’re doing trespassing on private
property.” Glass’ voice travels through the yard. He’s
not calm, though he sounds like he’s definitely feeling the
pinch of panic.

“Hey Glass.”
I’m caught.

“Answer my
question, what are you doing here?” He walks toward me at a
quickened pace with his hand on his service weapon.

“Whoa, easy! I
was just checking out a lead that came in.” I put my hands up
in surrender, hoping to diffuse him.

“What lead?”
he asks, still resting his hand on the gun.

“Just something
someone called into the law office. Did you get the same lead? Is
that why you’re here?” I’m hoping to throw him off;
if he thinks that I don’t know this is his house I could
possibly walk away from this.

“I didn’t
get a
lead
and you know damn well why I’m here,”
he says, flipping the snap on his holster. Holy shit, I think he
intends to shoot me.

“No, I really
don’t. You have me at a loss.” How do I diffuse this?

“This is my house
and you know it.” He squints at me.

“I had no idea
this was your place.”

“Well you know
now, so why are you still standing here?” I’m not quite
sure if it’s safe for me to move, he’s very sketchy. My
cell phone rings. Saved by the bell…maybe.

“I’m going
to answer this.” I don’t allow him time to give
permission. I touch my earpiece. “Eli Walker.”

“Hey, are you
okay?” It’s Shay and she sounds very concerned.

“Yeah, I’m
fine. I was about to head back to the hospital,” I answer,
trying to sound very casual.

“Did you find it?
Did you find the shed at Glass’?” She asks eagerly since
she knows it’s here.

“It was a bogus
lead, turns out this is Detective Glass’ place.”

“Oh God, he’s
there, isn’t he?” She sounds like she’s whispering
to control her fear.

“Yeah, but I’m
heading back. I’d rather be doing something useful. How are
things there?” I continue to make conversation and start to
walk toward my car. Glass doesn’t know who’s on the other
end and I doubt he’d shoot me while I was on the phone with
someone. “Hold on a sec.” I turn to Glass. “Hey,
I’ll catch up with you later. I’d like to compare notes,
but I’ve got to get back. Call me.”

He nods slowly and I
get to my car as quickly as possible without seeming alarmed. Once
the door is closed I start the engine and get out of there.

“You’re in
the car?” she asks anxiously.

“Yes, I’m
backing down the driveway.” What I don’t mention is Glass
standing with his gun drawn pointed toward the ground watching me
until I’m out of sight.

“Oh thank God.”
She expels a breath. “Tell me when you are on the road; I’ll
feel better when you are away from that place.”

“I’m on the
road now and heading back. I’m okay.” Now that I believe
it I can say it.

“It was there,
wasn’t it?” there's a hint of terror in her voice, like
she still isn't sure what she remembers is true.

“Yes, there was a
shed in the back yard.” I say it simply.

“Did it look like
the drawing?” she demands.

“The outside did,
but the inside…well it was empty.” I hesitate to tell
her, but I know I have to.

“Empty?”
She says it in a whisper.

“Yeah, empty as
in nothing was in it.” There are two possibilities. One, it’s
not the same shed, or two, he cleaned it to get rid of all the
physical evidence.

“He’s
trying to cover it up, Eli,” she says in anger.

“We’ll get
to the bottom of it, I promise you that. I’ve got to go. I’m
going to call Jason and get back to the hospital.”

“Okay, I’ll
see you soon?” Her tone is childlike.

“Yes, very soon.”

“Good.”

“I love you.”
I can’t stop the words from spilling out.

She inhales a deep
breath, sounding relieved. Her answer, though small, makes me feel
like the luckiest man alive. It’s like I’m taking my
first breath, tasting life for the first time. “I love you
too.” Feeling her love, hearing her say those words, means
everything.

I hang up and tell my
phone to make the next call. “Call Jason Eddins.”

“This is Jason,”
he answers, sounding somewhat preoccupied.

“Hey Jason, we’ve
got a problem.” I get right down to it.

“Eli? What’s
up, is Shay okay?” I have his attention.

“She’s
alright. But I went out to check Glass’ yard for a shed.”
I know he's going to be upset. I honestly had no business going out
there. I did it for her, I had to, and now I’m glad I did since
getting confirmation that she’s not crazy, well at least not
about this. Knowing that she still is dealing in reality is important
to what our next steps will be.

“Okay, well what
did you find?” Thankfully his curiosity outweighs his
disapproval.

“I found the
shed,” I answer simply.

“Okay, well
having a shed in your yard isn’t going to convict anyone,”
he says with a huff.

“I know.”

“Did you find
anything in it that could incriminate him?” Jason asks the
obvious.

“Yes and no.”

“It’s
either yes or no, Eli, it can’t be both. Is there something
that indicates he was the one holding Shay?” His irritation
rides heavy on his tone.

“The shed was
completely empty, and clean.”

“Empty?”

“Yeah, empty. And
locked.” I remain silent, letting him process what I said.

“What do you
mean?” he asks. It would seem I’ve rekindled his
interest.

“There was a
padlock on the shed. Who padlocks an empty shed?” I ask. “And
the window was clean, the floors were spotless and it smelled of
industrial cleaners.”

“Holy Christ,
this is bad.” Jason breathes into the phone.

“Yeah, I know
it’s bad. They’ve put Filson on the case, but we all know
he’s dirty.” Past experience with him as an ADA has shown
me how willing he is to bend the truth to wrap things up neatly. He’s
dirty, and I never liked him.

“Dirtier than a
two dollar whore,” Jason inhales a breath. “Okay, we need
to come up with a game plan. When are you going to be able to come
into the office?”

“I’ll
probably be able to get some time away tomorrow, but Shay’s
pretty fragile and I want to be easy with her.” The sorrow
hitches in my voice.

“How is she
doing?” he asks cautiously.

“I don’t
know. As well as can be expected, she’s trying to put on a good
front part of the time.” I search for the right words to
describe her state. “She needs a gentle approach, I’m
always afraid that the smallest thing could set her off.” But
then again, that could be more my issue than hers.

“They send the
shrink up yet?” He sounds a little preoccupied again.