by Crin Claxton
Maya’s flesh crawled. Suni was talking about Jade like she was a lab rat.
Anita shut the wood stove door and got up.
“Jade was an interesting subject,” Suni said. “She was stable when we started. It took a bit of digging to find her weaknesses. She’s trusting, and she’s suggestible. And of course, like everyone, she had ancient pain we could unleash.” Suni sat forward. “You don’t want to do that too early, Maya. It can work against you. You need to work on the confusion until your subject’s reality is distorted. If you do it right, she won’t know if it’s night or day.”
Anita walked to Maya’s chair and sat on the arm. “It’s not hard.”
“I love how everyone thinks technology’s their friend,” Suni said. “Tell me this, Maya, what’s Tony’s cell number?”
Maya frowned. She didn’t know.
“You wouldn’t be able to tell if I went in and edited your contacts, would you? Poor Jade was so disappointed that Tony never replied to her. And she was driven mad by all the texts and calls from people she didn’t know. She smashed her own phone in the end.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this,” Maya said.
Anita leaned in. “I love the dark recesses of the mind. Some people enjoy physical torture, but it doesn’t interest me. I like to see all the twists and turns. I love seeing how uncomfortable you are right now. I love that you’re trying to hide it.”
“We’ve made a study of the human psyche under pressure,” Suni said.
Anita smiled at Maya. “Where’s Tony?” she asked.
Maya tensed.
“You don’t know, do you?” Anita laughed in a way that chilled Maya to the bone.
Suni reached down beside the sofa. “We read your texts. Before we did this to your phone.” She held up the remnants of a cell phone. She tossed the pieces into Maya’s lap.
Maya stared down at them. The phone had been smashed into so many pieces it was hard to tell if it was hers or not. The case, or what was left of it, looked familiar.
“Is it kinder to leave someone with a ray of hope?” Suni asked her sister.
Anita watched Maya’s face carefully. “No, Suni, I don’t think so. Maya, you can stop worrying about your miserable excuse for a girlfriend. Tony isn’t coming to rescue you anytime soon.”
The words hit Maya like a blow to the chest.
Anita stood up. “I’ll put this with the other contraband,” she said, brandishing the poker at Suni.
Maya palmed several pieces of her phone and then let her arms go slack. She wanted the twins to think she was overcome by despair. She didn’t have to act that hard. Despair threatened to overwhelm her.
“You see that, right there. That’s your vulnerability, Maya, your terrible fear about what’s happened to Tony.” Suni wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. “That’s currency to us.”
Maya clenched her teeth. “Where are your moral boundaries? Do you have any empathy?”
“Now you’re thinking like a scientist, Maya.” Suni looked at her coldly. “Or to be more precise, like a psychiatrist. Next you’ll be asking if we’re a sociopath.” She shared a smile with her sister. “You single people are very single minded. That’s your limitation.”
“I’m not single. I’m with Tony.” Or I was. God, make Tony still be alive.
“Not single like that,” Suni said. “I mean you single unit people. You people that don’t have a twin. You irrelevant people. You arrogantly treat us like we’re the strange ones. I never wanted to have a bond with any of you, except for mamaji, our mother. Tell me, when did you stop caring about your dolls’ feelings?”
Maya blinked in confusion. “I…I can’t remember.”
“When you realized your dolls were unimportant. When our mother passed away we lost interest in you people altogether. Except for studying you. Your feelings are interesting but insignificant. They’re nothing compared to what we can achieve with our bond, are they, Anita?”
Anita pursed her lips. “If you say so, Suni.”
“But isn’t it all about our bond? About us, separate from the world?” Suni asked.
“If you like,” Anita said quietly.
“We need to talk later. We’re coming back to this conversation,” Suni said. Then she turned to Maya. “You disappoint me. I’d hoped for more from you, what with your degree in psychology.”
“How do you know about that?” Maya asked.
Suni and Anita laughed. “We checked you out, all of you. We checked everyone out at that sad little clinic. As soon as I met Jade, we checked her out too, and Tony. How long did it take you to look into my background, Maya? Two months?” Suni said.
Maya didn’t say anything.
“I’d completely forgotten about that award Telitha won,” Anita grumbled from the corner.
“Yeah, but hurray for Facebook. Thank God she got cold feet about maligning my good name.” Suni grinned at Maya. “She sent me the sweetest message. Gave us just enough time to leave before you caught up with us. You found the address then?”
Maya stared at her.
“It was a bit of a risk, getting you to come up here.” Anita stood up.
“But less of a risk than leaving you in London, armed with information,” Suni said.
“But I don’t have much information,” Maya said. “I don’t really know anything. Listen, why don’t you both just go? We’re miles from anywhere. By the time someone found us, you could have completely disappeared.”
The twins stared at her.
“Surely that’s the easiest way out,” Maya said quietly.
Suni looked like she was considering the idea.
“Yeah, but what would be the fun in that?” she said.
Anita shook her head again. “That was sad. See, Sunita, she’s not that interesting. We might as well drug her.”
“I don’t want to drug her,” Suni said sharply. “I’m enjoying the conversation. I want to talk about her uncle.” Suni watched for Maya’s reaction.
Anita sighed. She went through into the kitchen area. There was the sound of a kettle boiling.
A shuffling noise came from the other side of the room.
Suni and Maya turned toward the bedroom. Jade was swaying in the doorway.
Suni leapt up.
It was just the distraction Maya needed. She slipped all the pieces of plastic and metal in her hand into the front pocket of her jeans.
Anita rushed through from the kitchen. “For God’s sake, Suni. I told you to cuff her.”
“I didn’t think I needed to. I’m amazed she can stand, let alone walk,” Suni snapped.
Maya quickly felt along the sides of the chair.
“I need some water,” Jade said. Her voice was rough.
Suni steered Jade back into the bedroom.
Maya’s fingers wrapped around a slim object under the seat cushion. She shoved it into her jeans pocket quickly.
Anita turned back.
Maya prayed she hadn’t seen her hand move.
Anita pointed the pistol at her. “Get in there with Jade.”
Maya walked cautiously past Anita and then into the bedroom.
Jade was lying back down on the bed. Suni was fastening a pair of handcuffs onto her wrists.
Anita waved the gun at the second single bed. “If you don’t mind,” she said tersely.
Maya went to the bed.
“We need to speed this up,” Anita muttered to Suni.
Suni clipped another set of handcuffs over Maya’s wrists.
Maya stared coldly at her.
“Why don’t you relax? We won’t keep you long,” Suni said, then she followed her sister out of the door.
The door shut.
The key was turned.
*
Tony floored the accelerator. The small hire car responded briskly. Tony drove as fast as she dared in the rainy conditions. Misty purple mountains rose in the far distance. Forested hills flanked either side of the two-lane Scott
ish A-road. The scenery was a blur of green and gray through steady drizzle that fell from the blanketed sky. The car had inbuilt satellite navigation, so Tony didn’t have to think about which route to take. Unfortunately, that left her plenty of headspace to worry herself sick.
Felicia buzzed into the front passenger seat. “I think I’ve just helped your girlfriend.”
“Maya?” Tony asked.
“If that’s her name. Jade isn’t coherent. I can’t get a proper handle on what’s going on in the cabin.”
“You can’t see for yourself?”
“That’s what I just said, didn’t I?”
Deirdre shifted in the backseat. “Jade can’t see ghosts, so most ghosts that connect through her won’t get any visuals, just sounds.”
Tony glared at her in the rearview mirror. She was annoyed with her spirit guide.
“How did you help Maya? What’s going on at the cabin?” Tony asked Felicia.
“I nagged at Jade until she went and interrupted Suni. That bought Maya a few minutes to stick her hands down the chair cushions.”
Tony frowned. “How does that help exactly?”
“There’s a tiny screwdriver there. It fell out of a cracker last Christmas.”
Tony grunted. “How on earth do you know that?” she asked.
Felicia shrugged. “I think I’m psychic now that I’m dead. I didn’t used to be.”
“Our connections with the world of the living are random,” Deirdre chipped in. “You never know what you’re going to get. I wanted to be assigned to a cultured Simon Templar kind of medium. Instead I get Bruce Willis in a vest, but with less muscles.”
The rain was coming down harder. Tony flipped the headlights on.
“Why does she need a little screwdriver?” Tony said. Sometimes talking to ghosts was like pulling teeth.
“I’m not sure exactly. I think Suni has a gun, though.”
Tony tensed. She didn’t bother asking what use a tiny screwdriver would be against a gun; she was too busy keeping herself from screaming. “I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to them. I can’t believe I let my phone battery run down. Why didn’t I go see Jade? I’m so damn selfish. I should have listened to Maya. She tried to tell me.”
Deirdre took a deep breath. “Calm down, Toots. You were off saving Rose. She’d probably be sitting next to me in the back of this sardine can if you hadn’t rushed off to help her.”
Tony narrowed her eyes at Deirdre. “Thanks, but I’m still cross with you.”
Deirdre screwed up her forehead. “Why?”
“You didn’t warn me about Jade.”
“I didn’t know. I wouldn’t let anything happen to Jade. Well, not if I was allowed to intervene.”
“What does that mean?”
“Never you mind. Anyway, I’m a spirit guide not an angel. You need to take charge of your own destiny.” Deirdre’s voice was as matter-of-fact as usual, but there was a slight edge to it. Tony suspected Deirdre was worried.
Tony filed the spirit guide not angel comment away to think about later. “Are you sure Suni has a gun?” she asked Felicia.
“No,” Felicia said casually. She was avidly watching the road ahead. “I’ve never seen such a cold, wet place. Everything they said about England is true.”
“This is Scotland. And sometimes it’s sunny in Scotland,” Tony muttered.
Felicia didn’t look like she believed Tony for a minute. “I’ve got a strong feeling there’s a gun, that’s all. It’s foggy back there.”
“God, really? That won’t help. The rain’s bad enough.”
“She means the connection’s foggy. She can’t see, remember? Just hear.” Deirdre spoke up over the sat nav’s spoken commands. It was indicating a turnoff onto another A-road, one mile ahead.
“It’s like a bad phone connection. Drifts in and out. Jade’s doped up. I had to shout and shout in your girlfriend’s direction so she would find the screwdriver.”
Tony took a deep breath. She was frantic, and ridiculous talk about stupid objects wasn’t helping. “What if I don’t get there in time? I don’t know whether to phone the police or not.” She peered at the mile counter on the sat nav. “I’m still thirty miles away.”
“Why don’t you phone Sergeant Pepper-Spray? She bats for the Sapphic All-Stars, didn’t you say?”
Tony thought for a minute. “That’s not a bad idea. She’ll think even less of me, but that doesn’t matter. Deirdre, can you read the number? It’s on a screwed up piece of paper in my back pocket.”
A second later, Tony felt a tingle in the pocket area.
“Carol Lewis: 06849 338461,” Deirdre said in a muffled voice.
Tony didn’t want to think about Deirdre’s muffled voice too hard. Instead, she activated her Bluetooth voice command and recited the number. There was a ringing tone before the call was picked up.
“Is that Sergeant Carol? I mean is that Sergeant Lewis?”
“Who is this?”
“Tony Carson, the private investigator. We met last night. Well, this morning really. I was the—”
“I know who you are. I didn’t expect to hear from you so quickly. Are you driving?”
“Yes.”
The sat nav interrupted with a command. “Left turn ahead onto the A811.”
“Are you on a hands-free phone?” Sergeant Lewis asked.
“Yes, Sergeant. A Bluetooth one.” Tony felt like she was talking to her school headmistress. She remembered Mrs. Tennyson fondly. She was attractive in a strict kind of way.
“Okay. It’s better not to talk on the phone at all when driving. Can you pull over?”
“Um. I’ve got an emergency situation. That’s why I’m calling.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My girlfriend and my best friend might be in danger,” Tony said.
“In danger how?”
“They’re in a wood cabin in Scotland, well, Jade is. That’s my best friend. She went there with her girlfriend. Or she may have been abducted there. My girlfriend Maya thinks Jade’s been taken there against her will. Maya’s gone to help her, but I haven’t heard from her, and I’m getting unobtainable from her phone now.”
There was silence from the other end of the line. Then Sergeant Lewis cleared her throat. “But why do you think they’re in danger?”
“Suni might have a gun.”
“So why haven’t you dialed 999?”
“Because…I’m not sure.” Tony realized she couldn’t tell Sergeant Lewis how she knew about the possible gun. “Maya got one last text out before her phone went dead. She said she thought Suni had a gun.”
“Is she unstable?”
“Maya? No. She had a nasty shock earlier in the year, and she’s been a bit quiet lately, but she’s all right—”
“I meant this Suni woman. Who is she anyway?”
“Jade’s girlfriend. A very new girlfriend that none of us know. Her last girlfriend committed suicide so she probably is unstable, and she was caught trying to slip drugs into another girlfriend’s drink.”
“How do you know this?”
God, why did she have to ask so many questions? “Maya found out,” Tony said. She had listened to all the messages Maya had left on her phone, detailing the very worrying information about Suni. Tony slowed to take the left turn. She glanced quickly at the sign to make sure it was the right road, even though the sat nav was telling her to turn.
“Is she in your detective agency?” Sergeant Lewis asked.
“Maya?” Tony thought for a moment. Maya wasn’t, but she should be. “Yes.”
The line went quiet. Presumably Sergeant Lewis was thinking. The rain picked up. Tony flipped the wipers to the faster setting. She was driving along a densely forested area. The rain and the closed space either side of the road made visibility poor.
“Okay, I see your dilemma about bringing the proper authorities into the situation at present,” Sergeant Lewis said. “What is the location?”
&
nbsp; Tony gave her the address.
“What’s Suni’s last name?”
Tony thought. “I don’t know. She’s an acupuncturist and a masseuse. She works at the Blue Water Clinic in Stoke Newington.”
“Okay. Description?”
“It’s a small building just off Church Street.”
Sergeant Lewis grunted. “Of the woman, Tony. I need a description of Suni, and as there may be a firearm involved you’d better describe your friend and girlfriend as well.”
“I’ve never met Suni.”
“Oh for God’s sake.”
Tony thought that Sergeant Lewis could use a bit more patience. “Well, Jade’s only just met her. And she went off the radar. I should have made more effort to see her. I can’t help feeling this is all my fault.”
“There’s no time for your self-indulgent guilt. You’re supposed to be a private investigator. Pull yourself together and think.”
Tony swallowed. “She’s Indian, she’s got short hair. She’s gorgeous, apparently. She’s boyish or soft butch, or at least she must be if Jade fancies her.”
Sergeant Lewis made an exasperated sound. “Not sure what I can do with a description like that, but it’s better than nothing I suppose. There may be a photo of her on the clinic website. I’ll look. What about your friends?”
As Tony described Maya and Jade, she eased out a deep breath. Giving the information to Sergeant Lewis was reassuring. Tony felt much better with someone else, someone living, involved. And someone who could really help if it all went horribly wrong.
“Right. Leave this with me. I’ve got a mate in the Scottish Police. I’ll run this past her. Meantime you go to the cabin and assess the situation. Hopefully, you’ll get there and they’ll all be sitting on the porch, having a chat and a cup of tea.”
A deer leapt out of nowhere in front of the car.
Tony hit the brakes.
There was a horrible screech. The car slid on the wet road.