Ill-Fated (Ill-Fated Series Book 1)

by S. C. McMurray

  Chapter Nineteen

  How long did it take to fall in love with someone? Minutes? Hours? Days? As Evelyn sat on that kitchen stool, soaking in what Rillian had just told her, she thought she just might love him. She felt a warming sensation rise like a spring of hot water inside her, coercing her lips to curl into a smile.

  She wanted to say something and I looked like he did, too, but, before she or Rillian could get a word out, Vander came rushing into the kitchen.

  “I’ve connected to the other device.” He seemed more excited about that development then the young co-ed waiting for him upstairs.

  Rillian turned to him. “Where is it?”

  “Lexington,” he said without taking a breath. “I have have an address.”

  He handed a piece of paper to Rillian who skimmed it then said somberly, “That’s in Satrapy 11. We’ll never be able to get her past the checkpoint.”

  Evelyn thought about the overzealous Sergeant with the robotic eye and squirmed. She didn’t want to meet him again.

  “Ahh,” Vander dotted the air with his finger like he was about to make a point to a lecture hall full of students, “I can get you past the checkpoint to Lexington.”

  “Really?” Evelyn asked, desperate to stay as far away from that check point as possible.

  “I’m not just a pretty face, my dear,” he responded off the cuff.

  Evelyn retreated a bit. She wondered what the co-eds saw in him.

  He continued, “Just before dawn, a taxi will arrive to take you to a small local airport. From there you will be flown to Lexington.”

  “This has already been arranged?” Rillian asked.

  “Yes,” he answered sharply, “and it’s best if you don’t ask questions.”

  Evelyn glanced down at the locket wedged tightly in Vander’s right hand. “Thanks Dr. Vander…umm can I have my locket back now?”

  “Yes.” He smiled, a strange, unsettling smile. “After you keep your end of the bargain.”

  Evelyn had hoped he’d forgotten. It was a fool’s hope. She extended her left arm toward him apprehensively. He produced a syringe from a pocket of his pajamas and pressed it to a vein on the inside of her wrist. There was a pinch and she watched the small vile attached to the syringe fill with red.

  Vander drew the needle away then handed the locket back to Evelyn.

  “Thank you, my dear.” He popped the vile out of the syringe and sealed it in a plastic bag. He slipped the bag into the pocket of his pajamas then clapped his hands together.

  “Now, my company is waiting for me. You may eat what you would like but I would get some rest. You’re going to need it.”

  The good professor disappeared upstairs, leaving Evelyn and Rillian alone in the kitchen. The awkwardness that Vander had interrupted settled back in like it never left.

  “Evelyn…” Rillian said.

  Evelyn suddenly felt butterflies swirling around in her stomach.

  Rillian continued, “Do you want me to make you a sandwich?”

  The butterflies fell dead, but Evelyn was thankful, she wasn’t sure she wanted to finish what they’d started earlier.

  “Sure,” she said as she rubbed her stomach, “I’m starving.”

  Rillian made her a sandwich and they ate under the dull yellow light in the kitchen. When they finished they went to the living room where Rillian threw himself down on the couch. He was asleep in seconds. Evelyn wondered how he could just doze off like that with everything that was going on. She lay curled up in a leather love seat across the room from him. She watched his chest rise and fall in a steady, gentle rhythm. The fierceness rarely left his face; even as he slumbered. He looked like he was determined to do something at all times.

  Maybe he was. She thought of a thick tree in the midst of a mighty storm, bending in the wind but refusing to break, steadfast, relentless. That was Rillian and she loved that about him.

  The plane came to an easy stop on a lonely strip just north of Lexington in what used to be Kentucky. Evelyn sat, like she had the whole flight, with her knees pulled up against her chest. Rillian was next to her, but they hadn’t said a word to each other. The ear numbing drone of the plane’s dual propellers prevented any of that.

  Vander had awoken them just minutes before the taxi had pulled up outside. He’d given Rillian some cash and directions to pay the cabbie and the pilot. Evelyn didn’t get a great look, but there appeared to have been more than a few large bills. Their plane ride was expensive.

  Vander had given Evelyn a holophone that he’d programmed, using her locket, to lead them to the exact location of her parents. Briefly, he’d instruction her how to use it. She held the device in her hand the entire flight.

  The engines whined to a stop and moments later the back cargo bay door opened, splashing Evelyn and Rillian with early morning sunlight. A silhouette appeared in the light and approached them.

  After Evelyn’s eyes adjusted, she saw that it was a transit official with a large belly that bulged against the buttons of his shirt. Like most government authority figures, he wore dark sunglasses. Her eyes were drawn immediately to the gun he had holstered on his belt. He rested his right hand on it like he was a sheriff in the Wild West she’d read about when she was young.

  The official stood over them for a second, then took off his sunglasses. His eyes hovered from Rillian to Evelyn and she felt a lump forming in her throat. Was he one of them? He tapped the gun with his fingers as if he was waiting for her to make a move. Then, unexpectedly, he reached out a hand and smiled.

  “Let me help you up.” Evelyn let out a sigh of relief and took his hand. He pulled her to her feet, then did the same for Rillian.

  “Are you Riggs?” Rillian asked.

  The man nodded, “Yes and you must be Rillian,” he turned to Evelyn, “and this is?”

  Evelyn reached out her hand, “Evelyn.”

  He shook it. “So you’re the reason that Eddie woke me up in the middle of the night.”

  “Eddie?” Rillian asked.

  Riggs chuckled. “You know, Dr. Vander. Mr. Fancy pants was a college buddy of mine. He drank like a fiend and was as neurotic as all get out.”

  He nudged Rillian with his elbow. “He always had a way with the ladies, though.”

  How? Evelyn grimaced.

  Rillian didn’t even crack a smile. “Are you taking us to Lexington?”

  “That depends.” He held out his hand and rubbed his fingers together.

  Rillian reached into his pocket and handed him a bill. “Half now and half when we get there.”

  Riggs snatched up the bill and sniffed it. “I love the smell of a fresh bill…smells green.”

  “Do we have a deal?” Rillian asked, his hard face unchanged.

  “Yes. Yes.” Riggs shrugged. “What’s got you so bent out of shape?”

  Evelyn was wondering the same thing.

  Rillian ignored his question. “Take us then.”

  Riggs motioned for them to follow him and they did. They climbed into the back of his transit authority car. It was similar to UPA Police cars with its oval shape and tinted windows but with a starkly different paint job. Green and white, instead of the furtive black used by the UPA Police Force.

  There was a glass partition separating them from Riggs, who was patting the steering wheel as he sang along to a song on the radio as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Evelyn couldn’t say the same thing. The air in the back seat was palpable. Rillian was quiet, gazing out the window as the old Kentucky country side passed by and Evelyn wasn’t sure why. He’d barely said a word to her since their conversation was interrupted by Vander the night before. Evelyn nudged him on the arm.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He glanced at her then resumed gazing out the window. “Nothing.”

  “Rillian, something is wrong, why don’t you just tell me?”

  He glanced down as if contemplating something. “It’s nothing really.”

  Evelyn sighed in frustr
ation. “Are all guys like you?”

  “What do you mean, like me?”

  “Have to act tough all the time, like nothing bothers them, when something clearly does.”

  Evelyn was expecting some witty comment about how there is no other guy like him or something to that affect.

  Instead, he said seriously, “There’s nothing bothering me.”

  Evelyn looked at him skeptically. “What is then?”

  “I…,” he paused, “you wouldn’t understand.”

  “You don’t know that.” Evelyn responded. “Try me.”

  Rillian glanced out the window, inhaled deeply, then turned back to her. “I…I just have a feeling.”

  “A feeling?” Evelyn said. “That’s it?”

  He looked grave. “Not a good feeling.”

  “Why do you feel that way?”

  “I don’t know exactly. I….I sometimes get these feelings.”

  “Are they ever right?” Evelyn asked, her stomach once again beginning to churn.

  He inhaled deeply again as if to calm his own nerves. Evelyn had never seen him that way before.

  “Most times,” he answered.

  “There is a chance your feeling could be wrong.” Evelyn was trying to persuade herself as much as him.

  He looked doubtfully at her, but at least he didn’t say no. “This feeling is different…more intense.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  He stared at her and his hard face softened to the point that he actually looked vulnerable. “I think I know why.” He reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Because now I actually have something to lose.”

  Her hand gripped his as if she didn’t have control of it. “No matter what happens, you won’t lose me.”

  He smiled, but it wasn’t his normal confident smile. “I hope you’re right.”

  They sat in silence until the holophone Vander had given her suddenly turned on. It projected an address, then an image of a shabby looking diner.

  “That must be where my dad is,” Evelyn said. “Maybe they didn’t capture him after all. But, why would he be in Lexington?”

  Rillian knocked on the glass partition.

  Riggs pressed a button and a portion of the partition retracted. “What’s up?” he asked.

  Rillian took the holophone from Evelyn and reached it through the opening in the partition. “Do you recognize this place?”

  Riggs scoffed, “Of course I do. I was born and raised in this town. That’s Burnie’s, been around for years.”

  “Who eats there?” Rillian asked.

  Riggs glanced over at Rillian like he was crazy. “What do you mean?”

  “Is it a place that cops frequent on their breaks?”

  “Oh. Not really. Mostly old men who come to talk about nonsense.” Riggs chuckled. “That’s why there’s a euthanasia clinic just across the street.”

  “Takes us there.” Rillian ordered.

  “To the clinic? I know you might have gotten yourselves into trouble, but you’re too young to give up that easy.”

  Rillian wasn’t in a jovial mood, he responded simply, “To the diner.”

  Riggs nodded. “You’re money’s the boss.”

  Rillian gave the holophone back to Evelyn. She studied the image as she thought about her father.

  Why here?

  The whole thing puzzled her. The person she thought she knew best now seemed to be a mystery. She told herself that despite the past few days, she had to trust the man she knew as her father, trust that he must have known what he was doing.

  He did give me the locket. Maybe this was all part of his plan.

  But there was one question she couldn’t escape. Why Lexington? He’d made no mention of that place before.

  Nonetheless, she trusted him because she knew that there was no one who loved her more.

  A storm seemed to follow them into Lexington turning the morning dull and gray one.

  Rillian was anxious. His knee was bouncing up and down. They were holding hands and his was clammy. Evelyn tried her best to put on a brave face but her stomach was in knots.

  There was a loud clap of thunder and the sky erupted with a brilliant flash of lighting as Riggs pulled his transit car to a stop in front of a decrepit looking building that matched the image from the holophone. Riggs pressed a button and the glass partition retracted.

  “Here we are, Burnie’s Diner.”

  Evelyn looked across the street. There was a euthanasia clinic just as Riggs had said.

  “Sure there’s no cops?” Rillian asked.

  Riggs glanced around, “I don’t see any. I’ll tell you what. Throw in an extra twenty and I’ll go inside and scope the place out for you.”

  Rillian didn’t hesitate. “Deal.”

  Riggs opened the door. “I’ll be back in a few.”

  The rain began just as Riggs stepped out of the car. He cursed the sky and covered his head with his hands as he hurried inside the diner. Evelyn peered through the windows of the diner. The heavy rain made it hard to see, but she thought she saw the silhouette of a man that fit her father’s profile sitting in a booth by himself. She didn’t recognize anyone else.

  A few minutes later, Riggs returned carrying a Styrofoam cup full of coffee. He opened the door and climbed back inside.

  “Well?” Rillian asked.

  “It’s clear, no cops, just some old guys like I said.”

  Evelyn leaned forward. “Anyone else?”

  “There was a man, probably middle aged, sitting in a booth reading the paper and some broad in a corner booth. But I don’t think they were cops.”

  Evelyn’s heart leapt as the words burst out of her mouth, “It’s my dad!”

  Riggs chuckled. “Whatever kid.” He looked over his shoulder at Rillian. “My money, please.”

  Rillian gave him the rest of his cash, plus the extra twenty. Riggs snatched it up and smelled it like last time. “Better than my grandmother’s apple pie.”

  “One more thing, Riggs,” Rillian added. “Where’s a safe place to lay low around here?”

  “Chancy’s Motel on New Market. They take cash and they don’t ask questions.”

  Rillian tossed him another five. “Thanks.”

  Riggs bobbled it before trapping the bill between his palms. “Don’t mention it. Now I’ve gotta get to work before people start asking me questions.”

  Evelyn grabbed her bag and she and Rillian climbed out of the car. Riggs wasted no time in speeding away from them and they wasted no time in getting under the worn awning of the diner.

  “Do you think he is SPC?” Evelyn asked.

  “Not a chance,” Rillian answered, “just another government employee who prefers money to a moral sense of duty.”

  Evelyn nodded in agreement then motioned with her arm. “Come on, I want you to meet my father.”

  Evelyn was so excited she basically ran to the door of the diner. Rillian followed.

  She opened the door and stepped inside, the drops of rain still dripping off her clothes. She looked to her left. There was a group of gray-haired old men arguing about something. She whipped her head to the right and saw what she thought was her father sitting in a booth reading a newspaper with his back to her.

  She whispered to Rillian, “Come on,” and approached the man.

  Unable to contain herself, she grinned as she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head and her heart sank. He wasn’t her father. The man looked at her strangely.

  Evelyn was speechless. She’d been sure that he would be there.

  Rillian stepped in. “Sorry sir, my friend here thought you were someone else.”

  The man nodded and returned to his newspaper. Evelyn took a step back, she felt like she might faint but Rillian steadied her by wrapping his right arm around her shoulders.

  “I’m sorry, Rillian, I thought he would be here.”

  “Me too,” Rillian said, trying to make her feel better. “Maybe Vander was wrong about t
he locket.”

  Evelyn grabbed the locket and whispered the inscription to herself. “Whenever you are lost, you will find that we are not far away.” She tucked the locket beneath the collar of her shirt. “I feel more lost than ever…”

  Rillian squeezed her shoulders tightly. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  Fighting off tears, she nodded and walked with Rillian toward the door. Her disappointment turned to anger and she felt like running, to get away from the diner, to get away from everything. She was about to do just that when suddenly a voice came from the corner booth of the diner.

  “Evelyn…”

  Evelyn, recognizing the voice immediately, stopped in her tracks, turned around slowly and said in disbelief, “Mom?”

  Chapter Twenty

  Helen’s head was wrapped in a scarf and she was wearing sunglasses which she promptly removed.

  “Yes. It’s me.” She said, barely above a whisper. Evelyn blinked as if she couldn’t believe that it was her mother talking to her and not her father.

  Helen motioned to Evelyn and Rillian. “Come sit down.”

  Evelyn didn’t budge until Rillian nudged her forward. The two of them slid into the booth across from her mother.

  Her mother took a sip of coffee. “I’m so glad you are alright.”

  “Where’s Dad?”

  She dropped her head a bit. “They have him.”

  “Why don’t they have you?” Evelyn asked.

  “I was shopping when they came.”

  “Did you know they were coming,” Evelyn snapped, “is that why you weren’t there?”

  “I love your father, I would never do that to him.” She looked gravely at Evelyn. “I know that you wish it was him sitting across from you but you will have to settle for me.”

  Evelyn sighed. Despite the front she was throwing up, she was happy to see her mother.

  “Why are you in Lexington?” She lessened her tone.

  “This is where my brother lives.”

  “You have a brother?”

  “Yes and a sister.” She took a sip of coffee. “I never told you about them because they disowned me when I married your father.”

  “They disowned you?”