The Caledonian Inheritance (The Athena Effect) (23 page)

She entered the restaurant to find Teddy seated alone at the table nearest the door. He was back to his dapper self, neatly attired in a
formal shirt and tie topped with a tailored vest, casually reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of tea. A pair of sunglasses and a teapot sat on the table before him. He looked up and folded his newspaper with a smile.

“
Layla,” he gestured to a chair opposite him, set with an empty teacup. Intense violet relief pulsed with crimson excitement as he stood to greet her. He took a sip of his tea casually, but she could see his mounting anticipation. The odd thought crossed her mind that he was as excited as Poddy was just before you gave him a treat.

She slipped into the chair cautiously, looking around the restaurant. “Well? Where is he?” she asked.

“He’ll be here any minute,” Professor Reed said, pouring her a cup from the pot. “Have a cup of tea with me while we wait.”

She sipped her
tea nervously, looking at the door every time someone new walked in.

“Are you here alone?” he asked casually, looking out the window
to the parking lot. “I almost expected Caledonia to accompany you.”

“Why would you say that?” she asked.
“Caledonia has nothing to do with this.”

“I assumed
you were in touch with her… You being up in this neck of the woods and all…”

“She wants nothing to do with you,” Layla said truthfully.

“What about Michael?” he asked.

“He
feels the same way,” she frowned.

He smiled, looking more and more like the cat that just ate the canary.
A waitress came by to take their order, but the Professor waved her off. “Well just be having some tea for now. We’re waiting for a third party.”

“When
exactly do you expect him?” Layla asked, her mouth suddenly dry. “What did he say?”

“
Relax,” he said condescendingly, nodding with approval when she finished her tea.

He got a faraway look in his eye as he mused, “You know Layla, I now believe that everything that happened was meant to be.
I was going in the wrong direction after all, but now that I’m aware your special skills are purely genetic my research has entered a completely new and exciting arena… And it’s all coming together brilliantly.”

Layla blinked, her vision suddenly blurring. “What are you talking about?”

He watched her closely. “You’ve provided me with the means to continue… For that I’d like to thank you.”

“Wha?” her tongue felt thick in her mouth.

A phone rang, and the professor reached into his breast pocket to extract it. Funny, Layla thought, he said that he had no phone.

“Are you absolutely positive that no one followed her? Excellent. We’re in business then. Wait for my signal.”

Layla tried to blink away the dizziness that was overcoming her. “Was that him? What did he say? Tell me!” She set her cup down on its saucer with a clatter of china on china, her hands suddenly clumsy.

The professor slid her cup out of reach as she watched numbly. “Layla, do you understand what collateral damage is?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?” she rubbed her temples with both of her hands. Professor Reed twisted in his seat and waved out the window to someone. Within a minute a man came in the door and slid into the chair next to her. Layla looked over at him, shock cutting through the fog that was enveloping her brain. “Is he my father?”

“Oh no, my dear,” Teddy’s voice sounded like it was coming from very far away. “I’m sorry to say that I lied about that. It seems as though your mother took that little secret to the grave with her.”

A black veil started creeping into the edges of her vision as she reached inside her handbag, groping for her phone. She watched numbly as the man took it from her, and before she could protest she felt her limbs go leaden. He tore her phone open, stripping the battery out of it and stuffing it back into her bag.

Professor Reed’s muffled voice was the last thing she heard. “You must understand, it’s all for the best. Thanks to you, this golden opportunity won’t be lost. I knew that taking you in would turn out
to be for the best someday.”

“What are you doing to me?” she tried to scream, but all that came out of her mouth was a low moan.

When she started to slump the man in the seat next to her snaked his arm around her, propping her up. The smell of tobacco and sweat made her nauseous, but she could no longer hold her head up. The last thing she saw before her eyelids drifted shut was the worn lapel of his crumpled jacket.

The private detective looked down at the girl whose head now rested on his shoulder, surprised. “Are you sure she’s the one?”

Professor Reed was already getting up from his chair, his eyes darting all around. “I’ll go pay the tab. Take her to the stairwell while I intercept the waitress.”

The man looked down at the unconscious girl. Her smooth cheeks were peppered with freckles, and she smelled clean and fresh, like an apple orchard in the rain. He had expected some kind of sexpot vixen, and this girl seemed so innocent and… so young. He almost felt guilty.

Then he thought about the money.

He clamped her to his side and stood with her as though they were two lovers locked in an embrace, sweeping her out the front door and around the corner into a secluded alcove. The professor distracted the waitress by overpaying for the bill with an ingratiating smile, turning back around to see that they were gone. A triumphant smile rose on his wrinkled face. Nobody seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

He straightened his tie and jauntily strolled out of the restaurant, making a sharp turn to join the man holding Layla’s limp form up against a wall.  The hotel’s stairwell door had been propped open with a matchbook, and he swung it wide, checking inside.

“Clear,” he said, holding the door open for the man to haul Layla in and carry her up the stairs. The private detective was huffing and puffing by the time they made it to the fourth floor, where the professor again checked for witnesses before opening a room door with a card key and ushering the man and his burden inside.

It was a good-sized hotel suite, a corner room with a balcony facing out onto the busy roadway below. Generic artwork hung on beige walls, and a small couch faced a television and mini bar set opposite a queen sized bed. In fact, it was completely ordinary aside from the fact that the dresser was laid out with enough whips and chains to stock a good-sized sex shop.

The man heaved Layla’s body onto the bed and sat down to catch his breath.

Professor Reed looked around the room with distaste, eager to leave and collect the rest of his funding. “Excuse me,” he said, stepping out onto the balcony to make a phone call.

The private detective pulled out a cigarette and lit it, drawing the smoke deep into his lungs. He’d done a lot of things outside of the law, but now he was having some serious misgivings. Getting a job working for Senator Blackwell
had been like grabbing the brass ring. The man was rich beyond his wildest dreams, and a client whose secrets he could eat off for a long time– Only he never expected those secrets to bother him so much.

The old man came in from the terrace, waving at the smoke that hung in the air and scowling at the private detective with distain. “He wants her restrained, and you’re to wait here until he arrives.”

Layla moaned, her head rolling to the side as she fought to regain consciousness. The professor looked at the private eye in alarm. “Well… Hurry it up!”

The private detective looked at the leather straps attached to the legs of the bed and frowned. When he agreed to locate the girl he didn’t realize how quickly this whole thing would escalate. Now he was party to a drugging and kidnapping. He sighed, reminded of something his grandmother used to say.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

~

Layla felt like she was floating, trapped in a feverish nightmare. She struggled to lift her head, drifting in and out of consciousness. A sudden pinprick jarred her back to consciousness, and she fought to open her eyes, blinking up blurry images of Professor Reed bending over her, his face coming in and out of focus.

“Teddy?” her voice was rough, and her tongue felt thick in her mouth.

“I’m just taking some fresh blood samples before I bid you farewell, my dear,” he said cheerfully. “It’s a shame it had to end this way, but it’s all for the best.” He stood up straight, and she watched him fill several vials with blood from an enormous syringe, her mind a fog of confusion. He packed everything away neatly, slipping it into the inside pocket of a crisp new sportcoat. He reached for a something on the dresser.

Like a father tucking his child into bed he bent down to kiss her on the forehead. “Goodbye,” he said, slipping a blindfold over her eyes.

“You’re going to want to keep her eyes covered at all times,” he told the detective, who was now pacing at the foot of the bed. The man looked over at the dazed girl nervously, wondering how good of a look she got at him before she passed out.

Professor Reed straightened his coat, tugging once at each sleeve as he walked towards the door. “I’m warning you
Mister Stewart… Do not under any circumstances take that blindfold off. I’ve already spoken to the senator about this.”

“Teddy?” Layla croaked from the bed, “Why are you doing this to me?
Who are you talking to?”

“Do not talk to her. She can be extremely persuasive,” the old man warned him just before he slipped out of the room.

The detective locked the door behind him, going over to settle down on the couch. He clicked through the channels until he found a basketball game.

“Who’s here?” Layla asked. “What do you want with me?”

He turned the television up, wishing he had some more of whatever the professor had knocked her out with in the first place.

As the minutes slowly ticked by Layla gradually came to full consciousness, tugging at the restraints that held her immobile, spread out across a bed. She started trembling as the helplessness of her situation occurred to her. She’d known that Teddy wanted her back, but it wasn’t like him to make such an irrational move. He could never make her
embezzle money for him again, and the next person who dared look her in the eye was going to be in some serious trouble.

She heard someone shift on the couch. “Who are you?” she asked the stranger in the room.
“I have money,” she tried to reason with him, “I can pay you double what Professor Reed is paying you.”

“Be quiet and no one will hurt you,” an unfamiliar voice replied.

Layla’s mind was racing, trying to make some sense out of what was happening. She could not. All she knew for certain was that this was all her fault, and by trusting Professor Reed she had just made an incredibly dumb move. She should have listened to Cali… She should have told her about her plans this morning… She thought about how brave little Amy had been in an even worse circumstance, and she willed herself to relax.

She coughed. “Can I have a drink of water?” she asked the stranger in her most pathetic voice. “Please?”

She strained to hear footsteps shuffling on the carpet, tensing up when a weight shifted one side of the bed down. She flinched when a hand slipped under her neck, propping up her head and holding a water bottle to her lips. She took a few sips, gasping, “Thank you.”

When he
got up to leave she called out, “Wait! Tell me what he’s up to… You have to understand… The professor is crazy! He doesn’t care about anything but his experiments! You can’t trust him!”

He frowned, thinking
that she was probably right about that. He went back to the minibar that he’d gotten the water from and pulled out a couple of miniature liquor bottles. He drained one right away, pouring another into a glass and topping it with a splash of soda.

Now Layla started to get angry, thinking how foolish she’d been. The professor knew her well, and he’d gone straight for her Achilles heel
. He knew that she was desperate for information about her mother, and he’d managed to play her like a fiddle.

“Listen…
Sir… You need to let me go… My boyfriend is a cop, and he’s going to be here any minute.”

He didn’t reply, and she heard a door open as he stepped out onto the balcony with his drink, squinting into the long rays of the setting sun.

“Hey! “Help!” she screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone from outside could hear her.

The man rushed back inside, slamming the door, “Shut up!”

“Help!” she screamed even louder. “Someone help me!”

He turned the television up as high as it would go,
pacing at the foot of the bed in desperation, but her screams only got louder. “Ahhhh!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs, the cords of her neck straining.

He rushed to the dresser, picking up a piece of equipment with a grimace. The next thing Layla knew, a rubber ball was shoved into her open mouth, cutting off her airway. She sucked in a breath through her nose, thrashing her head from side to side in a futile attempt to escape as he fastened the gag tightly around her head.