“Okay… anything I can help with?”
She hesitated before finally saying, “It’s probably silly of me to ask, but… I can trust you, right?”
“Trust me? Yes, of course.”
“Okay. I only ask because I did come out here for a reason, but I didn’t...” Her words fell apart but Liam understood.
“I get it. You wanted to make sure I wasn’t like”—he nodded toward the store—“them in there.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“I see. Well, thank you for trusting me.”
“What I want to ask you—this isn’t easy to talk about, by the way. There’s a very good chance it will not work, so if you say no, that’s a perfectly acceptable answer. Okay?”
He laughed nervously. “Okay. I get it. Now ask me.”
He could tell she was conflicted. What she was about to ask was clearly a big deal for her, and the fact she was about to share something of such apparent severity after having conversed so little in the past both excited and unnerved him.
Shelly told Liam about the woman from the hut. She told him about the diary, and the things the woman had written about Roy and what he had told her about the mountain. She mentioned Robert’s plan to ‘dispose’ of the woman lest she become a liability. She then told him of her plan to help the woman escape.
“Wow…” he said when she was done.
“I know,” she said. “It’s a lot. Believe me, I know.”
“But how?” he asked. “Robert’s in there interrogating her right now.”
Shelly mentioned her idea of a person ‘planted’ on the mountain somewhere, which was the only reason the woman was still alive at this moment.
“Really? That worked?”
“It almost didn’t, but it was all I had. So I embellished a few things.”
“Like what?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters right now is I need to figure out a way to get her out of that room before he starts questioning her about it and they both realize none of it is true.”
Liam considered this.
“Okay,” he said. “If Robert is as stubborn as I remember, he’ll probably think she’s stalling when she really has no idea what he’s talking about. He’ll probably think she’s lying.”
“Right. But for how long?” Shelly raised her hands up in a helpless gesture.
“I see. You didn’t get that far, huh?” She let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s okay. We can figure this out. Where is the diary now?”
She motioned toward the pocket of her cargo pants. “I have it.”
“Good. And you’re sure he hasn’t read any of it?”
She shook her head.
That was critical, Liam thought. Shelly was pulling all the strings for now, but it was only a matter of time, maybe only minutes, until Robert figured it out. Granted, he was stubborn, but Liam knew he was not a fool. The longer Robert was in there with the woman, the sooner he would realize she was not lying and then he would only have one person to look to for answers: Shelly. He would discover this misdirection was all her doing, and he would probably end her.
It was then Liam accepted the possibility he might never leave the mountain again. He couldn’t say No to Shelly, though, not now. Even if they failed, Liam would rather die doing one final bit of good than survive knowing he had only contributed to such an atrocity.
“It’s you,” Liam finally said.
“Huh?”
“You have to talk to her, it’s the only way.”
“No, no… you have to talk to her. I can’t. I’ll fall apart, I won’t fool anyone.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder without even realizing it was the first time in his life he’d had any physical contact with Shelly Smith.
“You already did fool someone. You fooled Robert. And of everyone here, he’s probably the one who knows you best. If anyone would have seen through you, it would have been him, and he didn’t.”
Her eyes drifted away from his.
“You know I’m right. Now, I don’t know what happened in that hut between the two of you or what you said to him, but somehow it worked. If he was going to see through you, he would have seen through you then. You wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
“Yeah, but I was pissed and didn’t look at other options. I’m not sure if I have any nerve left.”
“Oh, I’d say we’re completely out of options, Shelly. We owe it to this woman to do the right thing. We owe it to ourselves.”
Her eyes finally came back to his and he saw the tiniest bit of faith.
“You have it in you, you know. It’s what made you come out here and ask me. You can’t give up now. You still have an opportunity to go in there and try. Otherwise we both wait until he comes out here and…” He didn’t finish the last part but he didn’t have to, either.
Her voice broke a little when she said, “Okay.”
“Okay?” he asked, unconvinced, and demanded more resolve from her.
This time she stood straight and stared hard into Liam’s eyes.
“Yeah. I have to get into that fucking room.”
Chapter 26
Robert stared at her from across the table. She watched his dirtied fingers tap impatiently against the surface and her mind became lost in its repetitive cadence.
Ba-rump. Ba-rump. Ba-rump.
She thought about the other people in the store. Between Robert’s demands for information, she would hear slight commotion: people walking, chairs being pushed around… she believed she even heard someone sobbing. A grown man. Likely someone had died, she thought.
What was most surprising was the lack of noise she heard on the other side. Based on what Roy had told her about the people who protect the secret, she expected to hear an army of feet in and out of this place, but it seemed to her that the army consisted of only a few.
“Let’s go over this again,” Robert said. He slouched in the chair and his voice sounded exhausted. The tenacity he had exhibited earlier was long gone. He probably still meant to kill her, Grace thought, but his frustration was showing, which likely meant the others would soon grow frustrated with him.
“Go over what?” she asked.
“We know Roy told you things. Now just tell us what we need to know.”
By now even Grace was tired of the same tact he’d been using for over an hour. There was nothing more to tell, but she didn’t know any other way to express it. She began to wonder how much longer he would keep her hostage in this room before he finally gave up.
“I’ve got nothing else,” she said.
“I want to hear how you got from the summit back to the hut.”
She rolled her eyes. “What for? I already told you twice.”
Robert slammed his hand down on the tabletop.
“Goddammit! Because I said so!”
Grace’s face became red with nervous heat. It was best to keep Robert from losing his temper, so she recapitulated her journey to the hut to appease him.
“I found a car and drove it down.”
“Right, with the keys from the dying man in the cafeteria. Now this was before or after your husband died?” He emphasized the word ‘died’ as if Grace’s husband was not dead and somehow hiding somewhere on the mountain.
“Yes. Then I tried to call for help--”
“Uh huh.”
“--and I hit a huge boulder or something and passed out.”
“Right, right… super convenient.”
Robert leaned forward and rested his chin against his hand. He attempted to search her eyes for any untruths and Grace let him—the sooner he realized there was nobody left on the summit, the sooner they could move forward from this discussion.
“No,” he said. “There’s something else. You let him out somewhere… on the way down.”
“How? I told you he was already dead when I left.”
“No, he wasn’t. You let him out before you went back to the hut.”
“Why would I ever do that?�
��
Robert rubbed his eyes and verbally worked out his theory.
“Because… you were afraid… someone would be at the hut… and you wanted to separate just in case you needed to play this card!”
Grace knew he was reaching, she just didn’t know if he knew how much.
“What card? My husband is dead. Isn’t that enough for you?”
“No!” He slammed his fist again. “You will fucking tell me or I will kill you right now!”
He stood up and drew a small revolver from his side. He then walked around the table, grabbed Grace by the hair and pulled her close. He pressed the barrel of the gun against her head.
“You will tell me,” he said softly. “I know what you wrote in that journal. All you have to do is tell me and this will all be over. Just tell me.” Then he said through gritted teeth, “Please.”
Grace held back her emotion.
“Just kill me now and save us both the aggravation.”
“Tell me!”
There was a knock at the door.
Robert shoved her back into the chair. His head hung and his shoulders rolled forward.
“Who is it?” he barked.
“It’s me,” said a woman on the other side of the door.
***
Robert walked to the door, twisted the handle swiftly, and pushed his face into the opening.
“What is it?” he asked while wearing his best Jack Torrance grin.
“How’s it going in there?” Shelly asked.
“You mean you can’t hear? These doors aren’t soundproof, Shel.”
“I know, I know. Um, listen. I have a crazy idea… why don’t you give me a shot?”
Robert opened the door wide enough to squeeze the rest of his body through. He then closed the door tightly and spoke quietly.
“What? Why?”
“You’ve been in there a while, Robert. I know you’re good at this, but this woman has been through more hell than you or I will ever know. I doubt she’s going to break with the, um… traditional method. ‘Ya know?”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying give me a chance. I think I can get it out of her. Woman to woman. I’ll appeal to her.”
Robert stared at her, unblinking and skeptical.
“I’m serious, Robert! All she’s gotten since she was dragged in here is a bunch of men yelling at her. You could change your approach now, but she’ll never believe you.”
He folded his arms, ticked his head to the side and appeared to challenge her to come up with a better reason.
“Let me try, Robert. That’s all I’m asking. And if I can’t get through to her”—she looked around as if what she was about to say next was too horrible for anyone else to hear—“we’ll burn her body on this mountain.”
Robert shifted and his posture finally began to relax.
Then she said, “We’ll burn her after we let her turn into one of those fucking monsters.”
The words, spoken with complete insincerity, still tasted terrible as they left her lips, but Shelly knew she had to be dark. Pretending was not an option. She had gained Robert’s trust back at the hut, but Shelly had to be as corrupt as he in order to keep it.
“Fine,” he said, like a brat who had just been told to share his toys. “She’s all yours. I’ll tell my dad… I don’t know. I’ll think of something.”
Without hesitation, Shelly moved past him and closed her hand around the door handle. As she turned it, Robert grabbed her arm.
“You have ten minutes to make this work. After that,” he showed her his pistol, “I’m going to put her down.”
Chapter 27
The door opened again and this time a woman entered the room. Deeper in the store, Grace heard a male voice ask, “Hey, where’s she go--” but the woman closed the door before Grace could hear the rest of the question.
The woman turned toward Grace but kept her eyes on the ground as she moved to the empty seat recently vacated by Robert. Grace studied the woman as she picked at her fingers and wondered if she was truly nervous or if she simply played the interrogation game with a much better poker face than either of the men. Either way, it was a new approach and Grace felt she would need to keep a sharp eye on the newcomer.
She sat up straighter, planted her feet firmly on the floor and relaxed her shoulders. This caught the woman’s attention and she was the first to speak.
“Am I making you nervous?”
What? That’s an interesting way to begin.
The woman must have noticed Grace’s confusion because the next thing she said was, “I’m sorry, that’s an awkward thing to say.”
You’re telling me?
The woman breathed slowly, separated her hands and placed them on the table, as if to reset herself.
“Let me start over. My name is Shelly.”
Grace offered no response.
“I remember you from the hut,” Shelly continued, “where Robert and I found you.”
Grace found her voice to be strange in how it was controlled yet soft and trembled slightly. If it was an act, it was already a very good one, and it annoyed Grace how cunning this woman seemingly was.
Rather than allow the woman to control the conversation any longer, Grace spoke.
“Found me?” she finally said. “I didn’t realize I was lost or hiding.”
“I’m sorry,” Shelly said. “I… that’s not what I meant to say.”
Grace was puzzled by Shelly. Her stumbling and lack of focus felt incredibly genuine, but Grace tried not to let the woman’s behavior influence her opinion of her.
The woman continued:
“I can’t even begin to imagine what you have gone through.”
“No, you can’t!” Grace blurted. The words startled the woman—Grace saw her body shake in her chair—and she was immediately ashamed at herself for revealing any emotion this early in the conversation. She had been far more composed with the men, but somehow the woman achieved more without saying much at all. Grace breathed deeply and tried to settle herself.
Shelly’s eyes darted around again, as if she, too, was trying to regroup, to think of something else to say, something better and more thoughtful.
Jesus, Grace thought. She’s good. They should have started with her.
Finally, Shelly said, “I’m sorry that you’re in here. You must hate us.”
Grace snorted.
“I get it,” Shelly continued. “I’d hate us, too. In fact, I’m not really…” her voice trailed off.
She stood up and started to pace the room. She softly clapped her hands together, another indication of her unsettled nerves and lack of preparedness. It was then that Grace began to consider this was not an act, that there was something on this woman’s mind. She would need to be direct.
“Why are you here?” Grace asked. “You look like you don’t want to be here.” Then as an afterthought, Grace said, “And you don’t seem like an asshole like those other two. Unless that’s the idea? Part of the show you’re all putting on? Good cop, bad cop?”
Shelly stopped. She squinted at Grace for what felt like an hour.
“I read your diary,” Shelly said.
“Oh,” Grace said. She leaned back in her chair. What was that supposed to mean? The woman read what Grace wrote. Big deal. “Well… good for you.”
“I know you lost someone important to you,” Shelly said. She then held her hands over her heart. “I want you know I am truly sorry.”
“No,” Grace said, even though she felt the woman’s words and wanted to believe they were real. “No, you’re not. And don’t talk to me about my husband. Only I can talk about him.” She felt her throat start to close and her eyes began to burn.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Shelly said.
“Sure you are,” was all Grace could manage.
Shelly then looked past her, seemingly to another time, and Grace took this opportunity to dab at her eyes.
“I lost someo
ne, too,” Shelly said. “A long time ago.”
“Well… I’m sorry,” Grace quietly proffered.
“He didn’t die,” Shelly said matter-of-factly, “but I definitely lost him and I’ll never get him back.”
Grace nodded and started to speculate on where this was going.
“Listen, I appreciate the nice words, even if they happen to be empty gestures, but I know what’s going to happen to me. I don’t know what that other guy wants, but I can assure you I don’t have any more information. There’s nobody else here.”
Shelly sat back down.
“I know.”
“Wait… you know?”
Shelly tapped a finger against the table and chewed on her lip. It was as though there was something she wanted to tell Grace, perhaps something private, but was otherwise unsure about doing so.
“Let me explain.”
Grace was confused. What was this woman doing here, and what else did she know about her?
Shelly’s voice became much quieter, no louder than a whisper.
“I heard about all of this shit a long time ago. I never believed it until yesterday. Not until I saw Roy.”
Grace’s eyebrows raised. The mention of Roy’s name caused her to reflect on what he did for her, how he saved her.
“Roy was wonderful,” Grace said. “He--”
“You don’t have to explain,” Shelly cut her off gently. “Remember, I read it in your diary.”
Grace understood.
“I knew Roy well,” Shelly continued. “I always knew he was a nice man, but I didn’t realize how great he was until I found out what he did for you.”
Grace’s burning eyes now gave way and she surrendered her emotions to this woman. Maybe it was because she had held her guard too tightly for too long in front of Robert and his father; maybe it was because she was starting to trust Shelly. One thing Grace knew for certain: she was unraveling, coming apart in front of this stranger. And for the first time today, she didn’t care.
“Roy was one of those guys,” Shelly thumbed behind her. “One of the people who swore to protect this place. But ultimately, he wasn’t like them at all. Know what I mean?”
Grace nodded. She wiped at her eyes with the bottom of her shirt.
Dead Summit: Containment Page 13