Pitfall

by Cameron Bane

  “Hey,” I rasped.

  His eyes snapped open. Jumping to his feet, he hustled over. “You’re awake.”

  “And he’s sharp, too. I could use a drink of water.”

  “No can do, John. I found out, doctor’s orders. But how ‘bout some fresh, delicious ice chips? Mighty tasty.”

  “Whatever …”

  Grabbing the cup, he fed me a few from it. “Better?”

  “Not much.” But what about the girl? Was she safe? “Tell me about Sarah.”

  “Not much to tell. She’s all right. You’ll see her soon.”

  Relief flooded me as I found myself steadily becoming more alert and aware of my surroundings. And what was this? In the corners of the room, filling them up, I spied several large bunches of flowers, topped by brightly colored Mylar balloons. Some kind of writing filled their sides, but I couldn’t make it out.

  I motioned with my bandaged right hand. “What’s all that?”

  “You mean the flowers and stuff? It’s been coming in for days.”

  “What did you say? From who?”

  “You won’t believe this.” Picking them up off the nightstand, his mitts held a double handful of envelopes. “Thank you cards. I opened them already, seeing’s how you can’t. One is from the kids on the football team; the whole bunch signed it.”

  The kids had sent me a card. They didn’t have to do that.

  “Another card is from the Cahills. Over the past few days the news broke about that GeneSys ring you broke up. And some of the cards are from the parents of the runaways you rescued. Looks like the country dodged a bullet, thanks to you.” Seth grinned. “Seems you’re a popular dude.”

  I didn’t respond. The thick gauzy webs were parting more and more. Silently I pondered all that had transpired, the deaths I’d caused. Boneless I could have cared less about: a useless torturer of women, he’d dealt his own play. I was equally unconcerned about … what was that guard’s name? Albert Trask, now with only half a head. He should have believed me. No way was I going to let him kill Sarah.

  Speaking of which, where was she? My mind swam and swirled. It was like trying to reach into a dark fissure and put together the jumbled pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that had no edges.

  Closing my eyes, in sudden anguish I remembered another woman I’d failed. Shelly. Her face came to the forefront of my memory. And her little boy Ronnie. He was only four. They both were dead because of my carelessness.

  The look of fear and desperation on her face would haunt me forever. I was furious for having failed her—all of them—and shuddered involuntarily from a weight that had nothing to do with my injuries. A strange but familiar lethargy crept through me, settling like a shroud. I knew what this was; I’d felt it before. It was as if my soul had been freshly ripped away.

  Seth knew nothing of Shelly and Ronnie, of course. I knew I’d be a long time getting over that mistake. If ever. Their blood was on my hands.

  Buying time, once more I took inventory. My torso and head hurt like fire, and try as I might, I just couldn’t keep things in focus all the time. I was still nauseous and found it difficult to talk much above a hoarse, croaking whisper.

  And as Seth had pointed out, my hands were swaddled like big white mittens. My fingers felt restricted by hard objects, and I couldn’t move any of them. I couldn’t budge my left arm either. It was wrapped tight up against me in a sling of some sort. A huge white bandage had been placed over my shoulder wound. My gauze-covered burns stung, and I could feel tape or something halfway around my ribcage, making every breath a chore.

  And what was up with my stomach? My insides hurt like a mother. An oxygen line had been taped to my face, going up into my broken nose; that was all-out annoying. I could also see a bandage partially covering my left cheek, and felt the stick of stitches and tape as I talked.

  As a final fillip, it seemed my aching head was resting on a lump of something; uncomfortable, to say the least. Couldn’t they fix that? Seth was wrong: “a real mess” didn’t even begin to cover it. I must have looked like a train wreck victim. I sure felt like one.

  “Why can’t I move these fingers?” I grew increasingly frustrated as I lifted my right hand, like it didn’t belong to me.

  “The joints were overextended, and they set all the fractures. It must have happened from the pressure of my keeping your heavy butt out of that pit. You’re too big for your own good, John. Maybe you need to cut down. Too much pie.”

  Shivering, I harked back to the hallway shoot-out. “Yeah, I already thought of that.”

  He picked up the cup. “More ice?”

  “No way, I’m freezing already. Get me an extra blanket, would you? And screw the doctor, I want a drink of water. And some aspirin. Help me sit up.”

  Before he could respond an older nurse came storming in, all starch and business. “I see we’re awake, Mr. Brenner.”

  “We?” What is it with these medical types? “You got a mouse in your pocket?”

  She ignored my jibe. “Are we feeling better?”

  “Jim dandy. Wanna dance?” She didn’t bat an eye. “Here’s what I want, and I want them now. I want to sit up, and I want some water, and I want an extra blanket. I’m cold, dammit. And get this thing out of my face.” I was referring to the oxygen line.

  She volleyed back a tough look as she checked the tubes and wires and all. “The blanket’s not a problem, and we’ll raise you up just a little bit. I’ll check to see when you can have water. For now the tube stays.” After pressing a button on the bed’s side, sending me to a half-sitting position, she walked over and pulled an extra blanket from the storage bin in the wall. Tucking it in over and around me, she asked, “How’s that?”

  I tried a little charm. “That’s great, thanks. Now, please, about that water? And this oxygen line?”

  “We’ll see.” Turning to Seth, she eyed the cup in his hand. “How much ice has he had?”

  “A whole one of these, a little at a time.” He held it up for her to see and shook it. “This is the second one.”

  “That’s enough.” Taking the cup from him, she whisked out of the room.

  Seth just shrugged. “I guess she told you, huh?”

  “Battleaxe.” My thoughts were dark as I watched her go. I’ve had more productive conversations with my parrot. It’s no wonder I hate hospitals. Their businesslike detachment always gets to me; the Marquis de Sade had nothing on these people.

  Speaking of torture, I returned my attention to Seth. It was time for a few answers. “What happened that night? Where were you? And why did it take you so long to get there? I called your cell, your landline, the hanger, everywhere I could think of.”

  “About the landline, Janine might have been on the phone with her mom’s nurse, while I was in the shower. And there was a storm here while you were gone. Knocked out the phone lines at the hangar.”

  “Good to know.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “You complainin’?”

  “Just asking.”

  He glanced out the window. “But as far as my cell phone … you’re gonna be ticked at why I didn’t answer.”

  “Maybe. Tell me anyway.”

  Turning back to me, he rubbed his nose, his ebony face growing even darker. “Well, the truth is … Kenny swiped my Blackberry.”

  I gave him a blank look. That took a moment to process. “Your kid Kenny? He swiped it?”

  “Yeah, I’d laid it on my dresser when I took a quick shower. So I could hear it, you know? While I was in there the little buzzard ran off with it. Said he was playing commando, like Uncle John.” He gave me a wry look. “Remember, he’s your godson. And he’s just turned six. So I figure we both can cut him some slack.”

  I stared, not knowing whether to be upset or not. Suppressing a laugh—I did not want to laugh, not in this shape—I said to him, “Pretty careless, First Sergeant. If we were still in the service I’d have you busted down to an E-1 for a stunt like that.”

  “Listen,
don’t rub it in, all right? He and it were both gone. When I finally found him at the neighbor’s, Kenny said he didn’t know where he’d left it during his ‘mission. ’ The two of us looked high and low. Three hours later we finally found it up in his tree house.”

  “Tree house,” I repeated slowly.

  “Yeah. First thing I did was check messages, voicemail and text, before I squeezed down out of there. When I heard the tone of your voice, and the code word, that was it. I scrambled, grabbed my guns, and ran, making some calls on the way. It’s a miracle I didn’t get stopped.”

  “Unbelievable.” I slowly shook my throbbing head. Mistake. I really needed to stop doing that. “Here I almost get myself dissolved in an acid bath because your kid swiped your Blackberry. So how’d you find us down in that room, anyway?”

  “Easy.” His reply was blunt. “I just followed your blood trail. But it was the craziest thing. Somehow that elevator worked without me having one of those key cards. How do you figure that?” I couldn’t; maybe Marsh’s magic, maybe … that Someone again. “At any rate, I made it. You’re here, right?”

  “That’s not entirely all your doing.” Sheriff Hardesty’s booming voice broke in as he pushed open the door, reentering the room. I guess he’d hung around all day.

  “You again,” Seth frowned. “Eavesdropping were we?”

  Hardesty’s words were concise. “You had some help, Mr. Delacroix. I received a call from Captain Steven Bovard, over at the Ohio State police barracks, regarding the call you made to him.” Pulling a small tape recorder from his shirt pocket, he clicked it on and held it close to my mouth. “Since you can’t write, I’ll use this for your statement. You are ready now, aren’t you?”

  My reply was a grunt. “I suppose.”

  “Let’s start with those guards’ bodies we found. You were a busy boy that night.”

  “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

  “Did you find anything incriminating before all hell broke loose?”

  “Yeah.” I paused. “I got evidence.”

  “You did?” he frowned. “What?”

  “I didn’t know if I was going to make it out of there alive or not, so I managed to lift a couple of Eli’s DVDs.” I looked at my friend. “You told him about them, right?”

  Seth furrowed his brows. “What evidence? What are you talking about?”

  “It was on that second message I left you. When I was calling from the landline.”

  He grew agitated. “I never got that.”

  “Not your fault. The line there was bad.” I turned my attention back to the sheriff. “Hopefully those discs will have something you can use for Eli Cross’s arraignment and conviction. I’m not sure what’s on them, maybe nothing; I didn’t have the luxury of time to check. But I hope it’s enough.”

  “They weren’t on you when you were brought in,” Hardesty said gruffly.

  “You’ll find them on Level Six, in a plastic box at the nurse’s station, mixed in with some others. I managed to slip them in there after I was tortured.”

  Shock and anger flooded Seth’s face. “Tortured?”

  “Yeah. They might have recorded the session. I’m not sure.”

  Hardesty’s visage darkened. “Who tortured you?”

  “Eli and Charles Cross. Charles did the deed, but Eli gave the orders.”

  In staccato sentences they asked me about the particulars. I filled them in. When I finished, Seth said, “I guess that explains your other hand, and the third-degree burns on your chest.”

  “This all makes sense now.” Hardesty clicked off the recorder. “That night you beat up Blakey Sinclair and Chet D’Angelo in the Time Out bar, I was so tickled they’d been handled, and by a government geek no less, that I never bothered checking your credentials; your badge and driver’s license seemed proof enough. By the time I got around to it and found out there was no EPA employee going by the name of John Fields, it was too late. You’d disappeared. Now I know you were trapped inside that rat hole.” He grew brisk. “From what you’ve just said, it looks like we’ll be adding even more charges to Mr. Cross.”

  “You’d better,” Seth growled. “I hope he’s in jail so long his face rots off.”

  “You could say I’ve been real busy the last couple of days with that nest of snakes you unearthed. There’ve been a ton of arrests. I’ve hardly had time to eat, but I finally got the chance to ask the staties to run a make on you, Mr. Brenner.”

  “Really.” I cocked my head. “Find anything interesting?”

  “I did. It seems I underestimated you. Badly. When all this craziness broke, I received a call about you; several calls actually.”

  “From who?” But I knew.

  “Friends of yours. High-placed, I take it. They urged me to consider the idea you used reasonable force in dealing with the threat.”

  “I’ll just bet they did.”

  “But I needed no coercion; in my opinion you did exactly what you had to do. No more and no less. So no charges will be filed against you. The Feds won’t either.”

  That was good news.

  “And I’m sure whatever evidence you managed to secure will help. I’ll let the Feds know what to look for right away, as they’ve already found other evidence at Cross’s home. They asked me to let them know when you woke up, but I wanted first crack.”

  Seth sounded harsh. “There’s no way he can skate on any of this, right?”

  Hardesty puffed out a short grim laugh. “No, he’s behind bars, and not surprisingly has been denied bail despite his expensive lawyers. That poor dead girl’s hollowed-out body on the operating table pretty much sealed it for him.”

  Seth’s look was amazed and horrified. He hadn’t seen that part in his search for me.

  “Plus don’t forget about your own testimony, Mr. Brenner,” Hardesty said. “We hope the other men and women held prisoner will testify, but you’re our star witness. And after Mr. Cross gets done answering federal and state charges, if there’s anything left of him he’ll find himself in Judge Sanders’ courtroom. And I promise him an experience there he’ll long remember. But that’s enough for the time being.” The sheriff tilted his head. “Anybody tell you you look really bad?”

  “Yes, but I never tire of hearing it.”

  “Got some other news you might like,” Hardesty said. “Earlier when I was told you were waking up, I took the liberty of making a call downstairs to the lobby. You up for it?”

  “Up for what?”

  “You’ll find out. I don’t think you’ll mind. Might even make you feel better.” I must have looked totally lost as he said, “There’s somebody here who’s been mighty worried about you. They’ve been checking on you every day, and chomping at the bit to see you.”

  “Who, already?”

  Hardesty’s eyes filled with barely suppressed humor; who’d have figured him for such a scamp? Stepping over to the door he opened it, and cocked a thumb. “Her.”

  Into the room walked Shelly Thornhill along with a shy and towheaded little boy holding her hand.

  Astonished, my sandpaper voice filled with shock. “Shelly?”

  One hand flew to her mouth as she gasped at my appearance, her eyes shining with barely controlled tears. When she spoke, her voice was weak. “Hi.” Forcing a smile, she put her hand on the boy’s head. “I’d … like you to meet my son. Ronnie, say hello to Mr. Brenner.”

  He muttered a hello, grinning in embarrassment, and buried his face in her side.

  I had difficulty in believing what I was seeing as they slowly began walking closer. Relief and joy flooded me.

  “You’re alive.” I barely managed to get it out. “But Boneless said you were—”

  “Dead?” She shook her head, cutting me off. “It wasn’t for his lack of trying.”

  “What do you mean?” My voice lowered to a rumble. “What did he do to you?” I could feel my old friend rage starting to rise.

  Stepping over to a wooden chair against the fa
r wall, she rooted around in her purse. “Just a minute, please. I’m sorry. All of this has been very hard on Ronnie.”

  I didn’t doubt that a bit.

  “I just wanted you to see he’s okay.” Pulling out a coloring book and crayons, once more she smiled down at her boy. “Aunt Rachel is outside, baby. She’ll take you down to the cafeteria. You can get a Coke there and some chips, and color in your book until I come to get you. Okay, sweetheart?”

  Nodding, he started to go toward the door, his hand in Shelly’s, when suddenly he stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. Then turning abruptly, he broke loose from his mom and ran back to me.

  Leaning up and over, he carefully hugged my right arm. “Thanks for not letting that bad man come and get us, Mr. Brenner. I hope you feel all better, real soon.” Grinning shyly, he ran back to his mom.

  Everyone in the room was speechless. At last I managed, “You’re welcome.”

  Shelly reached over his head, opened the door, and spoke a few words to someone in the hall. As he left it shut silently behind him. She walked back to the foot of the bed. “I hope you didn’t mind that.”

  “No, not a bit. I love kids. And who’s Aunt Rachel?”

  “My sister-in-law. She’s been really great with all this. With everything that’s happened, Ronnie’s been having bad dreams …”

  He wasn’t the only one. “Tell me what happened. All of it.”

  She paused, and then said, “That night after I left you, I went home. I’d already gotten the car’s trunk packed earlier that afternoon. I only had a few last minute things to do, and then it was just a matter of the two of us getting out of Harrisville before Eli knew it.”

  Getting out of Dodge was more like it.

  “I was in the living room, shoving our picture albums in a box, when I heard our dog barking. She never does that unless a stranger comes around. I pulled back the curtain. A GeneSys staff car had just parked in our drive, and two of Boneless’s probationary troops got out, dressed in civvies. I knew we were in trouble when I saw them carrying some P-90s they’d been issued cocked and locked. Somebody must have tipped them off that you and I had been speaking.” She shook her head. “Maybe Alicia Bancroft saw me slip you the paper. I don’t know. But now they were here, and it was like they didn’t care who saw them.”