Shades of Deception

by Piper Dow

  “What do you mean, the room he keeps them in until the exchange? What are you talking about?” Sam was gripping the arms of the chair so tightly her knuckles were white. The IV line taped to the back of her hand looked ready to split her skin stretched tight around it.

  “Sam, do you remember ever seeing Tessa? Tall, thin woman, really short haircut?” David motioned with his hands near his temples, then dropped them as Sam nodded. “Tessa works with Mark. She’s not a coyote - she’s actually an owl, but that’s not what’s important, at the moment. She has been working with my team to try to take the ring out. Mark is not just dealing with drugs, he’s also smuggling bears, which means bears - including werebears - are being killed, supposedly to use the bears’ gallbladders and paws medicinally. But on top of the drugs and bears, he’s also moving people. I’m not sure where they end up, Tessa’s been working that end. She is better equipped to follow those leads than I am.”

  He had taken a few steps, allowing himself a small space to pace while still trying to minimize the threat Sam felt from him. He glanced at the girls, then shook his head slowly and resumed pacing. “I’m sorry, about the cactus juice he’s been slipping you. I honestly thought you were safer with him playing his games with your mind than you would be if he decided he needed you gone - Jill is the first person he’s turned over that he actually had a relationship established with. Tessa thinks he’s been finding people who have conveniently gotten themselves too wasted to be social because it buys a few days before anyone really starts worrying about them not being around. I don’t know, except that he’d been using Jill the same as he has used other girls - as a front to show he’s a nice guy - but she was starting to give him trouble. I thought, as Jill’s roommate, that the front would extend to you, too. I guess I didn’t fully realize how destabilized he’s become already.”

  Kelly, who was sitting next to Sam with one hand on her shoulder, could feel the fine tremors in the taut muscles. She gently squeezed until Sam turned her gaze to her face. “Sam, I know how scary this is. I watched him turn into a beast right in front of me, in the Humanities Building at school. I know that we,” Kelly broke off as Sam reached up and grabbed the hand still squeezing her shoulder.

  “If Jill is still alive, we have to help her! Oh, God, I thought she was dead!” Tears slipped out of the corners of Sam’s eyes and rolled unheeded down her cheeks.

  “I would never have left if I thought she needed help.” The last words were whispered anguish.

  Kelly reached across with her other arm and gathered Sam in a crushing hug. “There was nothing you could do, Sam - not with the drugs he kept giving you. The best thing you could have done for her was to leave - that gave you time for the drugs to leave your system, and it gave David an opening so that, hopefully, he can bring him down before more people get hurt!”

  The three of them jumped as the door swung open. Wayne pulled earbuds from his hood and glanced up from his phone as he came through the door, freezing at the sight of Kelly and Sam clutching each other in the chair with David standing in front of them.

  “What the?” he trailed off, then turned and lunged for the door.

  David grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back into the room, slamming the door. He shoved Wayne toward the girls, then backed against the door with his hands raised to hold him off. Kelly was on her feet. She reached out for Wayne, urging him to listen.

  “Wayne! It’s okay! We’re okay, Wayne,” she said, stepping between her brother and David, holding a hand up to each to motion them to stop.

  Wayne looked from Kelly’s face to David’s and back, then to Sam and back at Kelly. Anger and confusion rolled across his face. “What’s going on?” He bit out.

  Kelly blew out a breath, then put her hands down. “Wayne, this is David. David, Wayne,” she motioned between them as she made the introduction. “David is trying to take out Mark’s smuggling ring, and we,” she motioned to herself and Sam, “are going to help him.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Standing to the side of the window in the hardware store two doors from the coffee shop he was supposed to meet her in, Mark watched Kelly walk down the sidewalk toward the crosswalk, a small canvas tote bag loosely hung over one shoulder. She shivered slightly in her jacket and glanced at her watch. She chanced a quick look behind her. Turning back to face the street, she stepped onto the crosswalk and in front of the oncoming car.

  The squeal of brakes broke through the cold air. Mark watched Kelly’s body roll up on the hood of the car, hit the windshield, and drop off the side of the gray Toyota. The driver of the car, wearing a hoodie sweatshirt and sunglasses, hit the gas and sped away from campus. The driver tapped the brakes as he hung a right on the main road and was soon lost around the next corner.

  Mark stayed behind a display of shovels, eyes narrowed as he watched the students getting out of classes in buildings closest to the sidewalk rush toward Kelly’s body, crumpled on the sidewalk. He saw that David was among the first to reach her. Within minutes a police cruiser and ambulance were rolling up to the area. Mark watched as David and the other students backed away, waved back by the police officer. Paramedics jumped out of the ambulance and approached the body. One of them knelt on the grass near Kelly’s body and reached to touch her neck, then began performing chest compressions while the other man grabbed the police officer to help bring the stretcher over.

  David separated himself from the gathered crowd and started toward the coffee shop, a canvas bag in one hand. Walking to the front of the hardware store, Mark opened the door and stepped out as David crossed the street.

  “How bad is she hurt?” Mark asked, holding out his hand for the bag.

  David grimaced as he passed the bag to Mark and looked at the blood on his hand. Wiping his hand on his jeans, he shook his head. “I don’t know, man. There’s a lot of blood, and I think her neck might be broken. She’s unconscious.”

  The two turned and watched, unabashed, as the medic performing CPR paused long enough to help work a backboard under the body and move it to the stretcher. The second paramedic and the officer went to either end of the stretcher and lifted, while the first paramedic resumed CPR in an awkward side along position. They moved the stretcher quickly to the back of the ambulance and loaded it into the back, with the first paramedic jumping in and continuing chest compressions. The second medic slammed the doors closed and ran around to the driver’s seat. The vehicle rolled into motion a minute later.

  Mark glanced down at the bag in his hand. He gingerly shook it open, then reached in with his other hand and withdrew a notebook. Inspecting the bottom corner, which had started to stain with the blood that had soaked through the bag, he dropped the bag to the sidewalk. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. He smiled. Opening his eyes, he met David’s gaze.

  “Well, isn’t that tidy. I’ve got to get back - I’ve scheduled the shipment for tomorrow night, but there are a few things I need to tie up, first. I’d like it if you could stay here and follow up on this, make sure there are no loose ends. I’ll catch up with you for the bus fare,” he said.

  His gaze traveled the street behind David, watching the ambulance turn the corner, lights flashing, then he glanced back at the crowd. The police officer was talking with a couple of students who were gesturing at the blood on the sidewalk, then pointing the direction the car had driven. Another student was looking around on the ground, and they heard the word, “bag” float across the street. David glanced down as Mark gave a small, shuffling kick and the fabric bag landed under a shrub at the corner of the store.

  “Yeah, I can follow up. If she doesn’t make it, I may even get back tonight,” David said.

  Mark nodded. “Yeah, man. If they do manage to revive her, give me a call. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the shop. Hey,” his split-second pause was barely noticeable. “If you get back tonight, come to the warehouse. There’s something I’d like you to see.”

  David nodded, then turned toward the c
offee shop. “I’m going to get a coffee first and warm up. It feels like it’s getting ready to rain.” He held up his blood-smeared hand. “I want to wash this off, too.”

  Mark gave a low chuckle. “It’s intoxicating! But you go ahead, wash it off. I’m heading out.” He lifted a hand in farewell and struck off for the parking lot.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  The ambulance took the left turn onto the main street and headed toward town, following the hospital signs. Tyler counted out loud to keep his rhythm for chest compressions, but his hands were no longer centered on Kelly’s sternum, but braced on the side of the stretcher, instead. Kelly blew out a loud breath and opened her eyes. “Where are we? Is anyone following us?”

  Tyler glanced back out the window. “Nah, nobody following us. Man, that was awesome! John just said to play this like a real fatal, he didn’t say the whole freakin’ school was going to be there!” He was interrupted by the chime on Kelly’s phone. He reached forward to unclick the buckle strapping Kelly to the stretcher so that she could reach her phone and sat back on the bench to give his arms a rest.

  Kelly flicked to the message that had come through. “OK, we’ve got to keep it up for a few more minutes - the guy just left the parking lot. Keep an eye out for a gray car.” She set the phone down on her chest and glanced up at Tyler’s face. “You weren’t kidding when you said the CPR wouldn’t feel good!”

  “John said it needed to be believable! I was only partially compressing - just enough to make it look real, hopefully not enough to hurt you. You okay?” He reached forward and grabbed her wrist, assessing her pulse as she nodded.

  Kelly closed her eyes and prayed their ruse would work. She could feel the blood soaking her t-shirt against her skin and tried not to breathe in the metallic smell. David had been insistent that they had to use real blood in the blood squibs secured under her jacket to make the scene realistic because Mark would be able to smell the difference. He had scoured the area looking for a “vampire bank,” but then realized that even if he could locate it, he wouldn’t be able to make contact with anyone to be vetted, so wouldn’t be able to make the necessary purchase anyway.

  “Vampires are not exactly welcome guests, you know? So, they don’t usually advertise themselves. If they sold to any Joe who walked off the street, the banks wouldn’t be able to maintain cover for long,” he had said, before finally settling on a butcher’s shop in the North End that sold internal organs. Apparently, meat from the grocery store had already been bled, and the red liquid that seeped out when she cut her steak wasn’t really blood, after all, but “cellular fluid,” whatever that was. He’d called the shop to see if he could buy blood to make blood pudding. After several redirections, he’d found a store he could get the blood at, but it had taken nearly two hours to make the round trip. The results filled more than enough little baggies with blood to fill the hidden pockets in the jacket Kelly borrowed from the costume closet, designed to allow the squibs to burst with sudden contact and release their contents as though her body had truly broken.

  Kelly concentrated on taking shallow breaths through her mouth, trying to calm her gag reflex from reacting to the odor and the thought of being coated in some poor animal’s blood.

  “Dude, you said a gray car? A gray Honda is coming up behind us,” Matt called from the driver’s seat.

  “OK, guys, just stay on point. Drive right up to the hospital like you’re bringing in a real victim,” Kelly urged, then fell quiet, feverishly praying for God’s protection. She could hear Tyler moving on the bench next to her as he resumed compressions on the edge of the stretcher, and prayed that the ruse would be enough to convince Mark of the reality of her death.

  She felt the ambulance slow and round a corner, then pick up speed again.

  “If you had a real victim of a car crash you thought was dead, you would do CPR the whole way to the hospital?” Kelly asked.

  “The whole way,” Tyler said. “Once we start, unless the person starts breathing on their own, we don’t stop until a doc tells us to.” He paused and squeezed an airbag near her face, then resumed his position and started compressing the stretcher again. After a minute, he slumped back in his seat. “OK, so the gray car took the left to head toward the highway. I vote we pull in near the ambulance bay, park at the side, and get a coffee. Sound good? Matt?”

  “Sounds good! We’ll have to be quick, though, I told Jim I thought the training exercise would take less than two hours, and we’re over an hour already. We have to have the bus back and ready to roll again.”

  Kelly’s phone pinged again. She unlocked the screen and checked the text.

  “Coffee’s on me, guys, but I need help with one more thing. I need a picture of me, dead. Where would a body be after the person was declared dead?”

  “In the morgue, but I can’t see them letting us in there just to take a picture. That definitely tips the wacko scale,” Tyler said. He was sitting back on the seat again, looking at Kelly with a quizzical expression. “I thought this was for a movie?”

  “Oh, yeah - it’s for the movie poster,” Kelly improvised. “It doesn’t have to be in the morgue, that would be a little creepy, actually. Can we just take it on a stretcher in a quiet hallway, though? I mean, I could wait for one of the film guys to show up, but this is gross.” She gestured at her bloody torso. “If I don’t have to wait, I can get cleaned up faster.”

  Tyler smiled at her wrinkled nose. “How’d you manage to get roped into doing one of John’s movies, anyway? I thought you were usually putting the costumes on other people?”

  Kelly smiled ruefully. “I used to think I wanted to be a stunt actress. I learned how to stage a few stunts, like getting hit by a car. My lucky day, right?”

  They pulled in the ambulance entrance to the hospital, drove around the side of the building, and cut the engine. At Kelly’s request, Tyler grabbed a backpack that had ridden on the floor between the front seats and handed it to her. She quickly pulled out a mirror and a small kit with sponges and make-up and began dabbing on some gray and pale blues. “It won’t be perfect, but if I’m dead I can’t have flushed cheeks, right?”

  Tyler watched as she transformed herself. “You’re good. I would never think of all those colors being used for skin, especially dead skin.”

  Kelly peered closely in the mirror to ensure all the edges blended well, then sprayed her face with a finishing spray to make sure the colors didn’t smudge. She’d left spatters of blood on her face and added a bruise on one temple to increase the plausibility that she would have died from her injuries. She shoved the makeup kit back into the bag and lay back down on the stretcher.

  Tyler reached forward and refastened the belts on the stretcher. “Sorry, but I don’t want you falling off while we’re moving. I’m going to cover you with this blanket, just to get into the building; otherwise, we’ll get hit with a ton of questions. John cleared the movie as a training exercise with our Captain, but I doubt he cleared it with the hospital.”

  Kelly shook her head. “I’m sure you’re right. Let’s just get the picture taken, and you guys can scoot.”

  Kelly felt the stretcher bouncing and jostling as they dropped the wheels and rolled it across the parking lot. Matt kept up a steady stream of instructions for Tyler, using his time to give hints on passing the certification Tyler was studying for. Kelly kept her eyes closed. She heard the doors open automatically as they approached, and the bustle of the emergency room beyond. Matt raised his voice in greeting to someone in the room but steered the stretcher down a hallway instead of into the hive of noise. It took a few minutes and a few turns before they stopped.

  “This should work,” Matt said.

  Kelly opened her eyes. They were in a quiet corridor next to a bathroom door. Bulletin boards on the opposite wall held job postings and safety bulletins. The overhead lights cast a dull yellow glow that didn’t quite manage to drive the darkness from the corners of the hallway.

  “Perfect! C
ould you guys use my phone, and take a few shots from different angles? That way we have a better chance at getting something they’ll be happy with, and I won’t have to redo this make-up,” she said.

  She handed Tyler the phone after unlocking it and closed her eyes. They quickly flew open again as she felt her hair move.

  “Sorry,” said Matt, pulling the blanket smooth across her collarbone. “I just thought we should try to get it right.”

  Kelly nodded and closed her eyes again. After a quiet minute that felt like ten, Tyler was handing her her phone. She swiped to see the photos.

  “Yes! These should work! Thank you guys, so much - now can you let me out, and I’ll change? Let me give you money for coffee.” She fumbled at the bag Tyler had tucked at her feet and pulled out some money.

  “Nah, we’re good,” Matt said, grinning. “I just want to see the movie when he finishes it.” He piled the sheets and blanket onto the middle of the stretcher and pushed it back into the main hallway, motioning for Tyler to steer it back up the hall.

  Kelly ducked into the bathroom with her bag to change out of the bloodied clothes. Washing her hands, she took out her phone and swiped carefully through the photos, zooming in to make sure that what they sent would be believable. She cropped one picture closer to remove Matt’s leg and tweaked the warmth on a couple of them to give more credence to the image of a corpse. Finally satisfied, she sent two pictures to David. While she waited for him to get back to her, she cleaned her face with wet paper towels, doing her best to remove the stage makeup and dried blood. She stripped off her clothes and used more wet paper towels to scrub at her skin, trying to erase the feel of the blood they had used before dressing in Wayne’s jeans and baggy sweatshirt she pulled from her backpack. Before leaving the bathroom, she used more paper towels to wipe the sink and floor. It wouldn’t do to leave traces of blood around, or she’d cause a panic at the hospital when it was discovered.