by Dylan Keefer
There was a silence on the phone. All Raine heard was his breathing. Then there was a small laugh. “You're right,” he said. “I'll see you soon.”
The line disconnected. Raine felt the darkness before she realized it was coming. She was out before she hit the ground.
Chapter Seven
Micah closed the door behind him. He sighed and sat down across from the girl sat tensely in her seat. For a moment, Micah just stared at her while he tapped the edge of the folder in his hand against the edge of the table. Naia shifted nervously in her seat.
“I'm trying to figure this out,” Micah said finally.
“Figure what out?” Naia asked timidly. She knew that whatever was in that envelope, it was enough to destroy any chances of her being proven innocent.
“I'm trying to figure out how you perfected this act,” he responded. “Your college friends think you're this mean girl who gets any guy she wants and digs up dirt on people to make sure she can keep them in her back pocket. Your family, Alex's family, Alex—they all think you are a reformed saint. Your job thinks you're some sort of genius. You know what I think?”
He slapped the file on the table causing Naia to jump. She whispered, “What?”
"I think that—you knew Alex would figure out that you aren't the angel he really wanted to marry." He opened the folder. It showed all the information on her dad's charges. "I think that you were never the party girl, but always the investigator." There were several pictures of her standing with Janice Land's son at a party. One of them going into a room together. Micah wasn't finished. "I think that you were never a mean girl—just a wannabe vigilante journalist. That got caught in the middle of something she couldn’t handle." The last photo was of her and Alex at a funeral.
"It looks like you know everything," Naia said staring at the contents of the folder. She looked up at Micah with tears forming in her eyes. "I've made some bad choices, and I lied about a lot. But I didn't do anything to Alex. I promise you! I love Alex!"
"Naia, C'mon!" Micah yelled. "You've been living a lie every day. What happened? Did you get something on him? Did you force him to stay with you so you would rat on him about something?"
“No!” Naia cried.
Micah leaned forward. “Was he blackmailing you? Did he find out and make you stay with him or else he would tell everyone your little secret?”
“Stop it!” Naia cried.
The door flew open, and Tai burst into the room. Micah whipped his head around and glared at Tai, who looked at him apologetically and then turned to the sobbing girl.
"I got something you needa see," Tai said. Micah blew out a rush of air from his mouth as he looked at Naia. Scooting his chair back from the table, he mumbled to Tai.
“This better be good.”
Tai closed the door behind them, and the two of them walked back to the office. "You needa look at dis photo dat was just sent to me. It's from a traffic camera about three miles from where Alex's car was found wit Naia in it." He pulled up the photo on his computer, and Micah stared at it.
"Damn," Micah said. The time stamp was the night of the abduction. The car was Alex White's. There was a driver wearing all black, but it was clearly not Naia. She was sitting in the passenger's seat. Unconscious. A rag over her mouth and nose.
Micah shook his head. Tai shrugged. “I know she done a lot of tings, but she innocent of dat.”
“I don't know what to believe anymore,” Micah said sitting on the edge of the desk. Tai shuffled his feet on the floor.
“I get you upset, and I really don't want to make you mo' upset bout dis, but...”
Micah groaned. “What is it now?”
Tai closed his eyes. “Raine.”
“Raine?” Micah questioned.
Naia's head jerked up when Micah came bursting through the door. “You wanna tell me why you have Raine Michelson involved in this case!” Naia was wide-eyed at the fury that the Lieutenant displayed. She could feel his breath as he leaned in close. “Tell me!”
“Okay! Please!” Naia jumped again. “A guy name Eli Samuels wanted me to research her and expose her past and stuff so that she would be ruined and her reputation would be squashed. I was going to do it, but I chickened out. He said he would make me pay. I think he's the one doing all of this. He took Alex and set it up to look like I was involved. I turned to Raine because I knew she would help me and—I didn't want my secrets exposed.”
Micah swore and turned to Tai. “Eli Samuels!”
Tai shrugged. “I ain't know bout dat. Raine just told me dat Naia reached out to her fo help.”
Micah sat on the edge of the table. He reached for his cell phone and stared at it for a moment. Dammit, Raine. You couldn't even trust me with this.
“I'm sorry!” Naia cried. “It's all my fault. I—I just didn't want to lose the people that I love, and I was scared!”
Micah looked up at Tai. "You got that printout from the traffic camera?" Tai nodded and handed it to Micah, who slammed it down in front of Naia. "This proves that you were telling the truth about being knocked out and the abduction. But Naia, no matter how this turns out, you're not going to escape the consequences of your choices. We need to know everything if we're going to find your fiancé. Everything, you understand?"
Naia stared at the still in front of her. Her expression turned from one of confusion to one of complete horror.
“Hey, you good?” Tai said to her. Micah stood up and looked from her to the photo.
“Naia, talk to me,” he said. She swallowed hard and pointed to the photo with a shaky finger.
“The dr-dr-driver in—th—the photo. He has a br—br--bracelet on his wrist.”
Micah looked at the photo. He hadn't noticed it the first time, but there was a bracelet on the right wrist of the driver in the car. “You recognize that bracelet, Naia?”
Naia nodded slowly as she started to shudder. “You n—n—need to c—call Raine.”
***
The quiet rumble of the car along the road slowly brought Raine to consciousness. Everything seemed a little blurry at first, but she could tell that she was in a car, and she was in the passenger's seat. Also, her hip was vibrating. My phone! She reached down to grab it. Raine frowned. She tried to reach down and grab it. Her arms weren't working.
“You're not going to get free. I would just save my energy on that.”
She looked up. The driver was focused on the road ahead, but there was a confident grin on his face. Raine groaned and let her head fall back against the seat.
“You really didn't know?” Mano asked glancing at her.
“It crossed my mind, but...”
“I told him that you wouldn't figure it out.”
“This wasn't about me figuring it out though, was it?” She asked. “If it was, then you would have just let me call the police. There isn't anything tying you to this, and Eli wouldn't let himself get caught that easily. You really wanted to hurt her.”
Mano shrugged, but gripped the steering wheel tighter as he drove. “You want to know how it went down?” Raine could figure it out, but she let him talk. “Naia thought it was all about her. She thought Eli was the one that came to her. He came to me. He came to me because I have been there for Naia every step of the way. I loved her no matter what, and she goes after this guy and acts like he has changed her. Alex didn't even know her.”
“You tested her, and you found out that she had changed,” Raine said softly. “Alex did what you couldn't do, and that was make her a better person. That made you mad.”
“Damn right!” Mano growled. “Naia wouldn't go after you. So, Alex and everyone needed to know just how much of a liar she is.”
“Tell me about that night, Mano.”
Mano smiled. “It was simple. Naia thought that Alex had come up with the engagement dinner idea. The restaurant was perfect because it was by the lake. Eli was in my car when I walked out with Alex and Naia. He got out when I got in, and I drove off. He knocked out N
aia with a blow to the head, and then took Alex down. That was a little bit hard. Alex actually cut his head open in the fight, but that worked to our advantage. He shoved Alex in the trunk of his car, and drove the car out of the lot.”
"Then you met up. You switched vehicles. You got in the car with Naia, and he took Alex. You kept a rag over her mouth which you dosed with enough chloroform to keep her asleep until Eli picked you up, and you dropped him off back at the restaurant."
“Too bad that you didn't catch on to this sooner, huh?”
Raine's phone began to vibrate again. She shifted as much as she could in her seat, but her arms were fully asleep.
“I'm sorry,” Raine said.
Mano frowned. “Why?”
“I'm sorry that you are so hurt because you couldn't get the girl you pined over for years. I'm sorry that you couldn't make her love you the way that you loved her, and that caused you to want to destroy her life. I'm sorry that she and Alex love each other.”
"They don't love each other!" Mano laughed. "Don't you get it? Alex loves who he thinks she is because he thinks he changed her. Naia loves him out of guilt and knows that if she loses him, she has no one."
"Except you," Raine said. Mano shot her a look, but Raine knew she had hit a nerve. "She always had you, and still she chose to live a lie. That has to suck."
Mano didn't say anything. He kept his eyes on the road, and Raine knew that she was catching on.
“The thing is that with Naia accused of criminal charges, you would have no one. Roping me into this was Eli's idea. He wanted to torture me by making sure that I kept re-visiting my past.”
“He wanted you to choose between protecting a liar and protecting the innocent. You chose the liar. Liars stick together.” Raine noticed that they were driving down some familiar streets. “Eli taught me that I was never going to get the love that I wanted from Naia. So, I had to give her up. Just like he gave you up.”
"Eli never gave me up, Mano," Raine said. "Look at me. He is still trying to ease his pain by torturing me. He is consumed by it. His wife in jail. He murdered a girl's father. He is using you and lying to you."
“No. I just have to do one more thing to hurt Naia, and you're going to help me.”
They were traveling through neighborhoods, and Raine was trying to remember how she knew these streets. Then it hit her. Right before Mano pulled into the driveway, Raine felt her heartbeat pick up.
“Recognize this place?” Mano said. “This is my place. I actually rent this out from the guy who bought it a few years ago.”
Her mouth was dry. She couldn't even hide the pain she felt at seeing her home—her and Donnie's home again. Nothing had really changed. The yard around it was still the same. There were some new additions to the outside of the house itself, but Raine recognized it. She recognized everything that it brought back to her as well.
Mano opened his door and then came around the car and opened her door.
"Now, I don't want you to do anything stupid. Cause Alex is in that house, and he doesn't have long to live. You—you could potentially save him." Mano looked at her. Raine kept her eyes glued to the house. She heard everything he said, but at the moment, her fear of going into that house was all that she could see. "Right, so I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. You're going to love it. Eli helped me set it up. It's a little game, and you just have to complete everything to save Alex's life. Okay?"
Mano reached across Raine's waist and into the center console. He grabbed a spray bottle and rag.
“Mano, don't do this!” Raine pleaded. “Eli is wrong. You will not solve anything by doing this!”
Mano nodded. “I guess we'll see.”
Chapter Eight
“Raine.”
The voice echoed in her head like it was from far away. Still, all she saw was darkness. She wanted to open her eyes and escape from this nightmare, but …
“Raine.”
The voice sounded closer this time. C'mon. Wake up! She could see a little glimmer of light trying to reach out to her, and she reached back. Suddenly, the light flooded into her line of sight as she opened her eyes and gasped.
“There you are. Welcome back.” Raine squinted in the brightness of the direct light in her face. She glanced around quickly and then down to see that her wrists were fastened to the arms of the chair she was sitting in.
“Are you ready for your first task?” Eli's voice was coming from some sort of speaker system that seemed to come from all around her. The light dimmed, and she finally saw a camera lens facing her. A red light blinked on the camera, and beside it, there was a blank TV screen. “All you have to do is read the words as they appear on the TV, and you will be free from your chair. Ready?”
Raine struggled to get out of the chair as the words began to scroll on the screen. She only caught a few before she shook her head.
“I'm not doing this?”
Eli's voice sounded frustrated. "I figured you were going to cause some problems. Here. Listen." A blood-curdling scream sounded over the speakers. The man who was screaming had to be in horrible pain. Alex! Mano mentioned that she could save him—maybe.
“Okay! I'll read it. I'll do it.”
“Good. Your audience is waiting.”
The words began to flow on the screen, and Raine swallowed the sick feeling in her stomach before starting. “I, Dr. Raine Michelson, am a fraud. I am a liar, and I am a murderer.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “My fiancé, Donnie, loved me even though I cheated on him, lied to him, and selfishly only thought about myself. He died—because of me. I am a fraud because I've told so many people how to live honest lives and search for truth when I have not done that. Even recently, I had the opportunity to choose whether a criminal got what she deserved or if an innocent man's life was saved. I chose the criminal, and that is why I'm here now. I deserve a life of loneliness and pain for who am I and what I've done.”
As soon as the last word was read, the clasps around her wrists were opened. The lights turned off, and house lights came on. Raine recognized the front hallway of the house. The door was directly behind her. She stood up on wobbly legs.
“Take of your shoes and your pants. Then slip your bra off and place everything on the floor.”
"What? Why?" she asked the voice. There was no answer. It didn't matter, Raine knew the answer. Ever since she could remember, once she got home and was alone, Raine would always take off her shoes, pants, and bra and leave them at the door. She felt more comfortable like that around the house. Reluctantly, she did what she was told, trying to forget about the camera that was still focused on her. Were they people watching? What did Eli have planned?
“Kitchen.”
Raine shivered as she walked passed the camera to the kitchen. Her bare feet padded the floor. He had to be enjoying the show. The light above the stove was on, and on the table, in the middle, she saw several red solo cups set up. Each of them were filled with beer.
“Here is the game of truth, Dr. Michelson. At the bottom of each red cup is a fact and a number. You need to drink each cup in order to get them. No cheating. You've already done that.”
Raine knew that she would not be able to handle the alcohol and be able to function, but Eli had mentioned the numbers for a reason. She had to drink. She took the first cup and chugged the contents before being able to see the number 6 and the fact the number of guys you cheated on Donnie with. So, this was how the game worked. Raine crushed the cup in her hands. She desperately just wanted to give up. She wanted to beg Eli to end her misery, but she knew that he wouldn't. More importantly, she knew that Alex still needed her to come through. Cup two had the number 2. Two years of being addicted to antidepressants after Donnie died. There were five more cups. She gulped down the liquid one after one. She felt like throwing up. When she finally finished, Eli gave a cheer. Raine felt like she could barely stand or keep straight as she gripped the counter's edge.
“Well, done! Good job!” He praised
.
"I hate you so much," she muttered under her breath. "You're not going to destroy me, Eli."
"We will see. Now go upstairs into the bedroom."
She got to the stairs and started up them slowly. She held onto the railing and finally just fell down to her knees and began to crawl up the stairs.
“Pitiful,” the voice said. “But that is where you belong—on your knees. Ready to beg yet?”
Raine didn't answer but finally made it to the bedroom where she saw the predicament ahead. In the center of the room was a cardboard cutout of Micah. He stood with a piece of paper attached to his chest.
“You're going to need that paper,” Eli said. “Go get it.”
Raine didn't move. The bare floor ahead was covered in glass. Raine grabbed the door jam and pulled herself to her feet.
"This is what you really want! Do you want to hurt me? Eli, if you were a real man, you would come and face me! Why do you come out!"
“Raine, play the game.”
“Just tell me where Alex is!” She was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. There was no answer from Eli. Rain felt tears come to her eyes. She should just give up. Alex might not even be here. For all I know, Eli won't let both of us get out of here. Raine closed her eyes and began to walk across the floor to the cutout. The pain in her feet felt like several needles being pushed into her skin. She tried in vain not to slip as her nerves sent desperate messages to her brain telling her to stop.
“Ahhh!” She cried. As quickly as possible, she made it to the cardboard Micah and grabbed the paper. When she got out of the room, Raine collapsed. She could admit it now. She was broken.
“There. There. My poor defeated Raine. You aren't done. I think you know where to go from here,” Eli said. Raine picked her head up. This. This was the exact path she took around the house the night Donnie died. Take off clothes, kitchen, this room, and—the attic. Raine let out a cry as she struggled to her feet to get to the laundry room. The hatch in the ceiling was already opened, and she knew that there was no way she could climb in her condition.