Slumbered to Death

by Vanessa Gray Bartal

  “We can’t get enough Sadie; she’s our lifeblood. If he knows her at all, he’ll understand.”

  “It’s all we’ve got, so I guess we’ll go with it,” Luke said.

  “We’ll be polite but firm. We need to see Sadie, and we won’t take no for an answer,” Hal said. He knocked on the door. Ben White opened it with a smile.

  “Hi, we were wondering if we might see Sadie,” Hal said. “We were in the area and needed to talk to her. I’m her Dad’s doctor, and it’s important that I get in touch with her. I see her car. Is she here?”

  “Of course. Come in,” Ben said. He stepped aside and granted access to the living room. “She’s right there.”

  Sadie sat on the couch, looking perfectly normal. Luke began to feel silly until he realized the expression on her face wasn’t irritation with him. Instead she was staring, clearly trying to send him a message. What was it?

  “Sadie, sweets, everything okay?” Hal asked.

  “Everything is fine. I’ll check on Dad later. You guys can go.” She smiled and sent Luke a few significant blinks. Something was off about her, but what?

  “Why don’t you come with us?” Luke suggested. “You must be hungry.”

  “Ben took good care of me, and I really can’t get away. We’re all tied up here.”

  Ding, ding, ding! Though she practically hit him over the head with it, Luke finally got it. Where were her hands? They were tied behind her. Hal should get out of the house and call the police. He would stay to keep an eye on Sadie until help arrived. “On second thought, maybe I’ll stay. You go ahead, Hal. Tell Gideon we’ll see him soon.”

  “I’m not sure about this, but I think the gig is up,” Hal said. Luke turned to look at him and saw the barrel of a gun pressed to his temple. With a rush, he relived all the jealousy of the past few weeks and regretted it. He loved Hal. How had he let Sadie almost come between them?

  “Ben,” Sadie said. “Don’t do this. Please put down the gun.”

  How did she remain so calm? Luke had no air. He couldn’t have uttered a peep if he wanted to, yet Sadie sounded like they were discussing the weather.

  “But, Sadie, think how much fun it will be to have them as part of the game,” Ben said. “An interesting twist, don’t you think?”

  “No, I do not think,” Sadie said. “I don’t approve of this at all. You said it was between you and me. This is unfair. I thought you were fair, Ben.”

  “I am fair,” Ben said. He seemed genuinely hurt by the accusation. “But I am also the creator of this game. The creator gets to change whatever he wants; that’s the rule.”

  “That is not a nice rule,” Sadie said.

  “Be that as it may, it stands. Now, how best to have fun with these two?”

  “I’m a little behind,” Hal said. “Can someone catch me up? I thought Vic Hutchens was the bad guy.”

  “Sadie, do you want to explain? You do it so beautifully,” Ben said. He turned to smile at her with the pride of a collector bestowing affection on a long-sought artifact.

  “Ben has been having some fun with us,” Sadie said.

  “Start at the beginning,” Ben prompted. “In Nebraska.”

  “You knew him in Nebraska?” Luke finally found his voice.

  “No, but he knew me,” Sadie said. “He asked for my hair.”

  “And you didn’t give it to him?” Hal said. Thankfully Ben didn’t pick up on his sarcasm.

  “No, she didn’t.”

  “Would any of this have happened if I had?” Sadie asked.

  “Of course. This ending was inevitable, but it would have been the polite thing to do,” Ben said. “I give so much and ask so little in return. Then you left without a word, without warning. Imagine my surprise when I showed up in your apartment that night and found it empty.”

  Sadie swallowed. She would need a long time to come to terms with the fact that he had been watching her sleep for months. “So Ben followed me here and concocted his story about needing help.”

  “You were never in the army,” Luke said.

  “No, I was. That part was true. I wasn’t a ranger, though. I tried to be. My father wanted me to be. But I failed the psychological exam.”

  “Shocking,” Hal said.

  “I thought so,” Ben said.

  “Edmond Hankins was never in the army,” Luke said. “He was Canadian.”

  “I don’t like you,” Ben said.

  “Really?” Hal said. “He told me he thinks you’re keen.”

  Ben pressed the barrel farther into Hal’s temple. “I’m starting not to like you, either.”

  “Let’s focus on the conversation at hand,” Sadie said. She shot Hal a warning glare. Did he have a death wish? Why was he provoking the crazy out of Ben? He pressed his lips together in an apparent attempt to stop talking. “Ben killed Edmond Hankins to further his story. He gave me a phony list of old army buddies and that led me to two more names. Of course Ben, being the smart man he is, had already pre-selected these men as targets and led me to them on purpose. He killed Roy Mueller, kidnapped Vic Hutchens, and planted my music box at his house.”

  “Don’t forget the notes,” Ben said.

  “Yes, the notes. He also left me the army patch and sneaked into my room. While we were downstairs. He’s very good at sneaking around.”

  Ben beamed. “You’re so sweet, Sadie.”

  “Earlier, Vic Hutchins broke free of his bindings and tried to escape. Ben made it seem as if Vic had broken into the house. He knocked him out and tied him up again. That’s when I noticed the hair.”

  Fearing that Hal would say something like, “Yes, Ben does have luxuriant hair,” she hurried on, “Apparently Ben keeps a hair reminder of all his victims.”

  Ben clucked his tongue. “Sadie, I don’t like that word.”

  “Opponents,” Sadie amended.

  “Better,” Ben said. “I knew from the first moment I saw you on television that you were my next worthy adversary. People think you’re dumb because you’re pretty, but you’re smart. This has been some of the most fun I’ve ever had. Thank you.”

  Sadie refused to say, “You’re welcome.” Her lack provoked him. He turned his attention to Hal and Luke.

  “Now, for the fun. You like both these men. Not as well as you like me because they could never understand or love you like I do. You and I are meant to be; I think we can agree on that. But you seem to have some sort of affection for these two, and for that reason I’m going to let you choose which one lives and which one dies.” He lifted the gun from Hal’s temple, but her relief was short lived because he positioned himself in the center of the room, facing the two men, Sadie to his back. “You have precisely sixty seconds to choose. And because of what we mean to each other, I’ll take the kill shot with one bullet. I won’t let the loser suffer.”

  “Like Santa with a gun,” Hal said.

  Ben’s gun zeroed in on him.

  “You said I could choose,” Sadie reminded him.

  “You choose this one?” The gun switched to Luke. “I thought you’ve been friends since you were kids, not that I’m disparaging your choice. I’m simply trying to follow your reasoning.”

  “I would like to talk it through, if you don’t mind. Hal and I are new friends, but I like him. Yes, Luke and I have been friends since we were babies. The thing about childhood friends is that they share all of your experiences. Luke and I used to do everything together. My dad took us camping; he taught us how to shoot. He was really into teaching us how to take care of ourselves. If you want my opinion, he was a little paranoid. Do you remember, Luke, how much we loved to play cops and robbers with him?”

  She paused and smiled. Another message, but what? He flashed back to playing cops and robbers with Gideon. The reason it had been so much fun was because Gideon had made it seem real. He hadn’t gone easy on them because they were kids. He had wanted them to figure out how to extricate themselves from tight situations in case they ever got in trouble. S
ometimes the game had felt so real that Luke had felt a little afraid. Not Sadie, though. She had thrived. There was nothing Gideon threw at them that she couldn’t handle, and suddenly he understood what she was trying to say.

  “Yes, I remember,” he said. Stall, stall, stall. “You would have loved it, Ben. In fact, it’s probably because of those games that Sadie became worthy of your attention now. Her dad taught us all kinds of stuff; how to start fires in the wilderness, how to find our way home when we were lost. It was like our personal version of the scouts, like being an army ranger for kids.” That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Ben’s look turned from placid to incensed.

  “Nothing is like being a ranger,” Ben said. “They’re the most elite fighters on the planet. They can get in or out of any situation. They think of everything. They’re the strongest, the bravest, the best. Two kids playing some dumb game isn’t the same at all.” The hand holding the gun began to tremble.

  “Of course it isn’t,” Sadie soothed. “I’m sure Luke was simply trying to find a comparison you could relate to.”

  “Your sixty seconds are long gone. You know I hate being late and off schedule. Choose now.”

  “I don’t think I will,” Sadie said.

  “Then I’ll choose for you,” Ben said. The gun was already pointed at Luke. His fingers twitched, but before he could fire, Sadie leapt. The extra stalling from Luke had given her enough time to wriggle free of the ziptie. She lunged for Ben and knocked him to the ground. The gun tumbled from his hand. Luke and Hal leapt for it, knocked heads, and slumped into a collective heap on the floor. Sadie couldn’t tell if they were really unconscious or just dazed because Ben was fighting back, and he seemed to be enjoying it.

  “I knew you were worthy,” he repeated over and over again.

  Sadie wanted to pound him, to pummel his face until he stopped talking. But he was winning the fight. Like Luke, he was bigger and stronger by virtue of being a man. But he also had the added benefits of training and insanity. He rolled her over and pinned her. She wanted to scream with frustration. But that would be akin to giving up, and that she would never do. So she took a page from her earlier playbook. Mustering her courage and drowning her revulsion, she kissed him.

  His reaction was as shocked as Luke’s had been, with a faster recovery time. He reached for her and returned the kiss with enthusiasm. Now was the time to get in more blows. She could take him this time; she knew it.

  You always want to win; normal people get a foothold, and they run away. Luke was right. She couldn’t win against Ben; she could only get away, she could only get reinforcements. She gave a mighty shove and gained enough space to wriggle free. He gave chase immediately, but Sadie was fast. She dashed toward the door and flung it open, Ben hot on her heels.

  “Saaddiiiee Coooppeerr,” he called, drawing out her name in an eerie, ghostlike chant. “Saaaddiiee Coooppeerr, you can run, but you can’t hide. I’m coming, Saaddddiiie.” And he was. Sadie could smell him, he was so close. He reached out his hand. His fingers skimmed her back. A shot went off and landed in the dirt beside them. Sadie dropped and rolled. As she turned she saw Luke pluck the gun from Hal’s hand and take aim. Another shot went off. This one struck Ben in the right shoulder, but he didn’t go down. He simply changed directions and began coming at Sadie again. She began scrambling away, scraping her knees raw on the rocks and twigs beneath her. Ben was too close. She had to gain some distance so Luke could take another short or else he might hit her.

  A car crunched on the rocks. Sadie didn’t know if it was someone coming or going; the world was a blurry haze of noise, activity, and adrenaline. Ben’s fingers tightened around her shoulder, and then he was gone, shoved to the ground by Detective Jenks who wrenched his arms behind his back and applied cuffs in one fluid motion.

  “You okay?” Jenks asked.

  Sadie nodded. “I’m fine. Thanks for that.”

  “You have poor taste in clients,” Jenks said.

  “The worst,” Sadie agreed. “He’s been shot.”

  “He has?” Jenks said as he inspected Ben. “Hmm, look at that. I bet it hurts.” He jabbed the wound. Ben had no reaction, no flinching, groaning, or screaming. For all the attention he paid his injury, it might as well not exist. “Is your elevator stuck between floors, boy?” Jenks said.

  Ben ignored him and focused on Sadie. “We didn’t get to finish our game, Sadie. Some other time, perhaps.”

  “I don’t think so, Mary Todd Lincoln. You have a date with Dr. Lobotomy. Consider me your ambulance,” Jenks said. He pulled him up and dragged him toward the cruiser.

  “Saaadddiiieee Cooopppeeer,” Ben called, grinning so hard that all of his teeth showed. “I’ll find you, Saaadddiiiieee. Wait for me.”

  “Shut up, Cracker Jack,” Jenks said as he shoved him none too gently into the back of the patrol car and slammed the door.

  “Too bad he had to go. He seemed nice,” Hal said. He sidled up and rested his arm on Sadie’s shoulders.

  “How’s your head?” she reached up to touch the giant knot above his temple.

  “Better than my pride. Can we not tell anyone that I knocked myself unconscious and then shot dirt in my attempt to rescue you?”

  “I’ve already forgotten,” Sadie said. “Besides, it’s the thought that counts.” Luke eased up on her other side. She slipped her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. “How are you?”

  “A really good shot, apparently,” Hal muttered. “You think you know a guy, and then he turns out to be Frank James in geek camo.”

  “Relieved. That was without a doubt the most scared I’ve ever been. How are you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  He searched her face for signs of strain and found none, but then Sadie was a good actress. One thing he knew for certain: there was no way anyone could be fine after what just happened. Maybe she didn’t want to talk about it in front of Hal. A few more patrol cars arrived before he could contemplate what to do next. They spent the next couple of hours rehashing the event with a dozen officers. An ambulance was called for Vic Hutchens. Jenks returned after about an hour and took over the investigation. At some point Abby and Gideon arrived. Gideon was affecting a walk somewhere between a hobble and a waddle. Sadie guessed he was in a lot of pain, but he had on his stoic “chief” face. Many of the men on the scene recognized him and tried to look busier than they already were. Gideon had that effect on people. He stopped short in front of Sadie.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  “I’m fine, Dad. How are you? You shouldn’t be out of bed.”

  He ignored her and focused on Luke. “How is she?”

  Luke shrugged.

  “I’m fine,” Sadie reiterated.

  “Sadie’s right,” Hal said. “You shouldn’t be up and about. How’s the infection? Do you want me to take a look?”

  “I’m beginning to think your obsession with my backside is unhealthy, son,” Gideon said. Hal gave him an impish grin, and Gideon shook his head. “I suppose I should get Abby out of this mess before she decides to do something to turn the attention on herself.” Contrary to his words, Abby stood quietly to the sidelines, watching the mayhem with studied interest. Sadie didn’t comment, however. She was too relieved that Abby and Gideon had made up.

  Detective Jenks ambled over. He and Gideon faced off. Sadie was reminded of two male lions circling for battle. Alpha males, she thought. “You’re the old chief,” Jenks said.

  “I’m the former chief,” Gideon said. “You’re the Chicago recruit.” Jenks nodded. “Usually when someone comes to a tiny place from a big city, it’s because they screwed up royally.”

  “Usually when someone retires as young as you, it’s because they were incompetent and pressured out,” Jenks replied. “Heard about your butt. Too bad. But at least you can say your daughter’s a crack shot.” He winked at Sadie and walked away.

  “I see you’ve added another to your list of admirers,” Gideon said.
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br />   “Dad, he’s like your age. Gross.”

  “Exactly,” Gideon said. “Abby, leave them alone,” he called. Sadie, Hal and Luke looked to find Abby in the middle of a cluster of officers, taking notes on a pad as she asked them questions. “Daft woman. I’d better get her out of here.” He hobble/waddled away to drag Abby out of the fray. Sadie breathed a sigh of relief knowing they were safe and together. In fact, everyone she cared most about was safe. What more could she want?

  When the officers were finished taking their statements for what felt like the hundredth time, they were allowed to leave. Luke tossed his keys to Hal and held out his palm to Sadie. “You want me to give you a five?” she guessed.