When I came to again, we were still in the locker with the light on. We were both sitting on the floor. Well, Rick was sitting on the floor, I was lying with half of me curled up in his arms. He was stroking my hair softly, speaking to me in soft, soothing tones. When he saw my eyes flutter open, he stopped. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Looking around, I realized where we were. And I remembered. I stiffened, fighting against his grip, feeling the bile welling up inside me again.
He didn’t let me break free. “It’s all right, Danni. It’s all right.”
“But ...” I craned my neck. I could see the last gurney just behind us, and I shuddered at the sight. Then I saw that the sheet was pulled back into its original position, and I felt myself relax a little. Rick pushed me up into a sitting position, then got to his feet. Taking both of my hands, he pulled me up to stand beside him. Then he reached down, picked up the duplicate pouch, and slipped it on my shoulder. I kept my head averted away from the gurney.
“Danni,” he said, “listen to me. I need to show you something. And I need you to be strong. It’s not what you think. But we don’t have much time. Okay?”
I managed a sickly nod. How many times was he going to expect me to be strong today? When he stepped forward and reached for the sheet, my hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. “No, Rick! I can’t bear to look.”
“Yes, you can. This is important.”
He pulled the sheet away from my face. Then, to my further horror, he bent over, peering closely at my face. His one hand came up, index finger extended.
“Don’t touch me!”
He jumped, then whirled. “Geez, Danni! Get a grip. This isn’t you!”
That was easy for him to say. It was me. And I was losing much more than my grip at this point. Looking down at a dead me was seriously freaking me out. I was beginning to wonder which one of us was the real Danni McAllister.
His finger came down and softly touched my cheek. I had to look away. And then I had to look back. As I did so, I saw him press harder against the flesh on the dead Danni’s cheek. It didn’t give. He gave a soft “Ah,” as if something had just been confirmed to him. “Touch it, Danni. Touch the face.”
“No!” A shiver shot through my entire body and I tried to pull free, but his grip only tightened.
“You have to, Danni.” Then he took my face in his hands, peering into my eyes. “You have to. Trust me.”
“No,” I whispered, but I stopped resisting. And in a moment, he pressed my fingers against the cheek. My eyes flew open and my head jerked up. I stared at him, my mouth forming a big O. Then, of my own choice now, I laid my hand on my cheek. “But ...”
“That’s right,” Rick said. “It’s not flesh. Not even dead flesh.”
“What is it, then? Why is it so stiff and hard?”
“Because it’s wax.”
My jaw must have dropped down about a foot and a half. I had no answer to that.
“Remember when your family went to Las Vegas? You told me how you went and saw all those wax statues of famous people at that place—what’s it called?”
“Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.”
“Yeah, that’s it. Well. This is a wax duplicate of you.”
They say that the symptoms of a concussion, which result from a severe blow to the head, are headache, confusion, dizziness, and nausea. I had every one of them, even though there had been no physical blow. If you had asked me right then what day of the week it was, or to give you my full name, I’m not sure I could have done it.
Rick was watching me with a most peculiar look.
“What?” I said.
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
He just shook his head, but now, strangely, he seemed pleased with something. “I think we’d better check the others.”
Suddenly my whole body flooded with light. My breath caught in my throat. “Are you saying ... ?”
He nodded and took my hand. “I think so. Let’s go check.”
We moved to Mom’s gurney. I stood back as he pulled the sheet down, both hands pressed to my mouth, not daring to hope. He laid a hand on her cheek, then turned to me. “Wax. No question about it. This is definitely not your mother.”
Tears burst from my eyes as I realized what that meant. I choked back a sob, feeling suddenly light-headed. “Check the others.”
He did so in quick succession, shaking his head as he touched the faces of Cody, Dad, and Grandpère, muttering each time, “Wax. Wax. Wax.”
Putting my back against the wall, I slid slowly down until I was sitting on the floor. Then I buried my face in the folds of the duplicate pouch and once again began to weep. And with every wrenching cry, the pain receded and light moved in to fill its place.
Rick didn’t let me revel in this euphoria for very long. He sat down beside me and took both of my hands. “Danni, we need to talk, and our time is short. As soon as they finish securing the perimeter of the estate, they’ll be coming back. And the first thing they’ll do is come looking for us.”
“What do you mean, securing the perimeter?”
“Okay, just listen. I’ll fill you in on what’s been happening. I think after the shock of seeing Cody Tasered—and thinking he had been killed—you finally fell asleep for a while.”
“I think they drugged me again, Rick. They left a cup of water for me.”
“Me too, only I think mine was in my food. I was out for a while as well.” Then he shook his head as if that didn’t matter. “Anyway, Niklas and Jean-Claude came and took me out of my cell. I thought they were going to get you too, but they didn’t.”
“Was that when they hurt you?”
He shot me a puzzled look. “I wasn’t hurt.”
“Yes you were. I saw the blood on the floor of your cell.”
“What are you talking about? They didn’t hurt me in any way. They just took me back to the library to talk to Gisela.”
“Then—there was blood there, Rick. I saw it. That’s why I thought you were dead.”
“I don’t know about that. I just know they took me up to see Gisela. It was just her, Niklas, and Jean-Claude. She started interrogating me about the pouch and how you made it work. She also said that I had to persuade you not to fight her.” He gave me a quick look. “For your own safety.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“I told them everything I knew.” He threw up a hand as I started to protest. “Come on, Danni, she has a copy of your journal, remember? And Niklas went to the prison and had a long interview with El Cobra shortly after he was arrested. You think I told her something she didn’t already know? I decided that if I was cooperative, they might relax their guard.”
“Go on.”
“Well, right in the middle of them hammering at me, suddenly Gisela jerked forward. She was looking at the phone on her desk. She turned to Niklas and asked him if he had used it.”
My hand shot to my mouth. “Oh, no. I called Clay.”
“Well, you evidently didn’t put it back exactly as it was before, and she saw that. When she checked the last number dialed and saw that it was a U.S. number, she dialed it. When Clay answered, she went ballistic. Started screaming orders. Got on the radio to warn the guards outside.”
“To secure the perimeter,” I added, understanding now.
“Yes. If you had been there, I think she would have shot you on the spot. That really rattled her. I mean, she was seething.”
“Good,” I said. “I hope they run right smack into Clay and his men.”
“She told me to stay where I was and not move; then they all ran out to put out the word.”
“She left you alone?”
“Yeah. I’m telling you, she was so livid, she wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Rick?” The sick feeling in the pit of my s
tomach was suddenly back. “I don’t care how livid she was. She wouldn’t leave you alone.”
“Well, she did. When I went to the windows and saw everyone running around outside like someone had just kicked over the anthill, I went looking for you. I stopped at the other cell block first, to see if I could find your mom and dad. There was nothing. I was on my way to our cell block to find you when I saw this food locker. I remembered what Gisela said about keeping Grandpère’s body cool, so I came in here. That’s when I found all of this.” He looked away. “I couldn’t believe it. There you were, all dead. I ...” He had to look away.
I reached out, took his hand, and pressed the back of it against my cheek.
He sniffed back the tears—yes, tears, from Rick! I started to cry again, just like that.
“I was shattered, of course. I thought I was the only one left. After a minute or two, I decided I had better get back to the library before they discovered I was gone. I went back. There was still no one there. But as I sat there, things started coming into my head.”
His eyes were filled with wonder. “You had told me how Le Gardien sometimes kind of flooded your mind with clarity. Well, that’s what happened to me. Everything started making sense all of a sudden.”
“Yes, that’s it exactly.”
“My first thought was about Grandpère and how his body supposedly hadn’t yet been found. Then I thought about Cody. He’s not a little boy. He’s a pretty hefty kid, really a full adult physically. Occasionally you hear about Tasers killing people, but it’s pretty rare.”
He took another quick breath. “So I came back to take another look. And that’s when I found you here.”
I was pumped. There was no question about that. I had been to the depths. Now I was riding the heights. I jumped to my feet and went quickly over to Grandpère’s body.
“What are you doing?”
“Seeing if by any chance they left Grandpère’s phone on him.”
He gave a soft hoot. “Danni, this isn’t Grandpère. He went into the river. This is just a ...” His voice trailed off as I pulled the sheet back, lifted Grandpère’s jacket, and revealed his old cell phone clipped to his belt. Then he gave a low cry. “That’s not possible. This isn’t his body. And in the second place, Clay gave us all satellite phones, remember?”
“Except for Grandpère. He said he wanted to keep his old one. Liked it better. As for how his phone got here, go figure,” I went on. “But remember, this is the phone that works even when it’s turned off. That isn’t affected by being dunked in water. That can text messages even when Grandpère doesn’t have it in his possession.”
Rick said nothing. So I turned it on, gave it a moment to power up, then brought up his “Favorites” list and hit Clay Zabriskie’s number.
Grandpère answered on the first ring. “Hello, ma chérie. So you found it.”
I squealed so loudly, I probably woke up half of Bern. “You’re alive?”
“I think so,” he said, sounding puzzled. “Just a moment. Let me check.”
“Stop it,” I said, half laughing, half crying. “They said you slid off the road and the van went into the river.”
“I did and it did.”
“You did it deliberately?” I gasped.
“But of course.” He paused for a moment, then, “Ah, now you offend me. I am old, but I still know how to drive.”
“They said they couldn’t find the body.”
“Well, of course not. I’m still using it.” His voice became solemn. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. Rick’s with me.”
“Good. What about Angelique and Mack and Cody?”
“Not sure. No time to explain fully, but we think they’re alive.”
“So you’ve found the ‘bodies’?” He spoke the last word with disgust.
“You know about the wax dummies?”
“Danni, I’m going to let you go now. I’ve got to call Clay and tell him you and Rick are all right. But listen carefully. Do not underestimate Gisela. She is absolutely brilliant, which makes her only that much more dangerous. Be careful how you push her. And Niklas too. He’s in it for the money and for the game, so he has none of his mother’s scruples.”
“Then come help us,” I cried.
“Sorry. I can’t do that. You have Rick, and that’s all for now.”
“We need you.”
“I have to go, Danni. It’s critical I call Clay. You and Rick have each other. Trust that. Be wise. Be safe. Be brave. I love you.”
“We can’t do it alone,” I cried, weeping openly now.
“Sometimes that is the only choice.”
“Grandpère, please.” I was sobbing harder and harder. “Help us.”
“Au revoir, my dearest.”
Stricken, I turned to Rick. “I heard,” he said softly. “But, Danni, he’s alive! Grandpère is alive!”
He was right, but somehow I was finding it hard to celebrate. But just as I was about to answer him, it was like someone had suddenly opened an outside window and a blast of ice-cold air swept the room. I shoved the phone in my pants pocket. “Rick! Someone’s coming. We’ve got to get out of here. We’ve got to get back to our cells.”
He leaped to his feet and pulled me up. “You go back. Lock the door. I have to go back to the library. That’s where they left me.”
He jumped to the door and turned off the lights. Easing it open he cocked his head. There wasn’t a sound. He grabbed my arm and shoved me out in the hall. “Go, Danni! Go! Go! I’ll talk to you as soon as it’s okay.”
As quickly as I broke into a run, I instantly slid to a halt. Doc and Jean-Claude stepped out from the door to the kitchen. Both had Tasers pointing at me.
“Hello, Chiquita,” Doc said with a sneering smile. “How good to see you again.”
“Rick!” Jean-Claude hollered. “Come out. Keep your hands where we can see them.”
CHAPTER 36
“Rick?” I called in my head.
“Yeah?”
I was in the lead, with Doc gripping my elbow tightly. We had started down the hallway toward the stairwell. Rick was behind Doc with Jean-Claude guarding him. “We don’t have much time. There are some things you ought to know.”
“Like what?”
“Me getting the pouch was a setup.”
“A setup? How do you figure that?”
“She wanted us to see Niklas leave the key card in the drawer. She wanted me to know where the pouch was. And when I first came to the library, the door was locked. When everyone went outside looking for Cody, I went back, and the door had been left open.”
He considered that. “I’m not sure that’s conclusive. She would never give up the pouch.”
“She would if it was not the real Le Gardien.”
“What? Are you telling me that—”
“Yes! She gave me the old duplicate pouch. And why leave you alone in the library? I’m telling you, she is manipulating us like we were a couple of puppets on strings.”
We had reached the stairs that led up to the main floor. As we started up, I pretended to miss the second step so that I almost went down face-first. The pouch slipped half off my shoulder. Doc jerked me back up, causing me to cry out. I took a moment to catch my breath. And to stall for time. “But not everything went exactly as planned,” I continued telling Rick in my mind. “Knocking out the CCTV system caught them by surprise. They thought they were prepared for invisibility by having night goggles, but then Cody—or what appeared to be Cody—went out the upper balcony window.”
“And your call to the FBI really threw her a curve. I don’t think she was faking that.”
All of a sudden a thought came zinging in with such swiftness and such clarity that this time I really did catch my toe on the top step. I went down hard, jerking free of Doc’s grasp. I
yelled as I felt my knee scrape on the marble. “Stop pushing me!” I yelled at Doc, stalling for time. “Now look what you’ve done.” There was a circle of raw flesh just below my knee already turning an angry red. But I was barely aware of it. My mind was still racing.
“And that whole thing with Cody was staged. I mean, I know they really Tasered him, but them making me believe he was dead was fake.” I had to rush to keep up with my thoughts. “In our presence, she told the guards to put Grandpère’s body in the cooler. They didn’t take my key card, even though they had to know I had one. They wanted me to get out. To see your ‘blood.’ And when I started looking for you, no one was around. The hallways were empty. Allowing me to reach the food locker with a sign on the door warning people to keep the door closed. And the sign was written in English. Even though the staff is German.”
“Yeah,” he said in wonder. “That’s why I looked inside.”
“She wanted us to find those bodies. It was more terrible than any physical blow.”
He thought for a moment. “So you think this is all just messing with our heads?”
“Yes! Mind games. Psychological warfare. And it worked perfectly. I was utterly crushed.”
I felt something hard dig into my ribs. “Come on,” Doc growled. “You’re not that hurt.”
I got up. A moment later we were upstairs and headed for the great entry hall. I went on with the conversation in my head. “Do you know how long it takes to make a high-quality wax replica of a person, Rick? Four months. That’s what they told us at Madame Tussaud’s museum. And each figure costs about a hundred and twenty-five thousand to make. They insert every strand of hair individually.”
“Four months?” he cried. “But that would mean—” “Exactly,” I cried. “They planned all of this before El Cobra ever kidnapped my family.”
To Run With the Swift Page 47