The Territory of Lies

by Ana Stone

  "I require an answer," Monotone Man repeated. "What do you want, Sydney Forrest?"

  The man's shape swam in her eyes, shifting and distorting. "I−" she looked at the other men, seeing one transform to a creature with the head of a frog and the body of a goat and the other seem to dissolve into nothingness. "I want...I want to be saved."

  "And who will save you, Sydney Forrest?"

  She started to say Blake's name. She had cried his name many times. Each time it was a mistake. Each time she had heard his voice saying things that brought her no comfort, no hope. He condemned her, accusing her of betraying him by listening to Senator Tyler. He told her that she should have left things alone and then they could have been rich beyond their wildest dreams and could have gone away together. But she wouldn’t so she had to be punished.

  Sydney didn’t know what to say. Who was there that could save her from this hell?

  "Tell me the name of your savior, Sydney Forrest."

  She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, trying to think through the effects of the drugs. A face appeared in her mind and she spoke without thinking. "Adrian," she mumbled. "Adrian Zayne."

  Monotone Man smiled and let the cattle prod fall to the floor. Sydney felt the knot in her throat start to ease in relief then screamed as a current caused her body to arch and spasm convulsively.

  Monotone Man nodded to the man with the jumper cables then leaned over close to Sydney's face as the pain subsided. "Are you quite sure, Sydney Forrest? Is Adrian Zayne your salvation?"

  She was too afraid to answer; too afraid of the pain. But her words would have been just as effective as her silence. Another spasm wracked her while Monotone Man smiled into her face. "Are you sure?" he had to lean down and speak into her ear. "Is Adrian Zayne your deliverance?"

  Sydney heard him through the sound of her own tortured screams. "You need only answer the question, Sydney Forrest and the pain will cease. Is Adrian Zayne the man you wish to save you?"

  "Yes!" she screamed.

  The cables were removed and she twitched spasmodically for several seconds then fell limp, staring in horror at Monotone Man's cold eyes and white teeth; the only features visible in the white ski mask that covered his face.

  "I do not believe you are sincere, Sydney Forrest. Do you truly believe that Adrian Zayne is your deliverer? Is he the answer to the question?"

  Another bout of pain consumed her, this one more intense than the last. "What do you want, Sydney Forrest?" the question was shouted in her ear.

  "Adrian!" she screamed. "Adriiiiiaaan!"

  Before she could find out if she had answered correctly pain sent her catapulting into blackness.

  Monday, May 1

  Washington, D.C.

  Blake spotted Weasel sitting at a table in the back of the cafe as he entered. With Weasel were two of the men from the surveillance team. "What's up?" he asked as he reached the table and took a seat beside Weasel.

  Ray Peters, one of the surveillance men answered his question. "We wanted to talk - away from the office, sir."

  "I'm listening."

  "It's the tapes, sir." Peters cut a look at the man seated next to him, John Turner. "From Senator Forrest's house."

  "What about them?"

  Peters cut his eyes at Weasel, which didn’t go unnoticed by Blake. He turned his attention back towards Blake and cleared his throat. "It seems that the tapes were defective, sir. We have video but the audio is worthless - it's nothing but garble."

  Blake looked at John Turner. "If I remember correctly, you can almost walk on water when it comes to this stuff. You sure they're worthless?"

  "Yes sir." Turner nodded. "Completely,"

  "Well, " Blake sat back in his seat and regarded the three men for a few moments. "How fortunate for me."

  Weasel rolled his eyes while Turner turned bright pink and Peters stared at the table top. Blake leaned his elbows on the table and looked at the two men. "Listen, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but there's no need. I don't have anything to hide. I didn't do anything to Syd−to the Senator's daughter, so you don't have to do this. File your reports."

  "We can't do that, sir." Peters looked up with a set to his jaw. "There's no way we're going to let Zayne do this to you. We all know he's a scumbag and we all want to see his ass nailed to the wall. And we can't do that if your butt's in a sling because of some trumped up allegations he made just to turn up the heat and get you off his ass."

  Blake was surprised at how much it meant to him that his team had that kind of faith in him. It made him feel a little self-conscious because of the emotion it invoked. "I appreciate that," he said simply then smiled. "So, what are you doing sitting here? We have a job to do, so let's get at it."

  "Yes, sir!" Peters grinned and stood.

  Turner stood and extended his hand to Blake. "Thank you, Mr. Edwards."

  "For what?" Blake looked up as he took Turner's hand and shook it.

  "For being one of the good guys. That's why I joined the bureau, to work with people like you."

  "Thanks." Blake smiled. "Now get out there and get me something on Zayne."

  Blake moved to the opposite side of the table and looked across it at Weasel. "Was that your doings?"

  "No way, man." Weasel shook his head. "They came to me and I just went along with it. Besides, you know me. Company man through and through. I'd have left you swinging in the breeze."

  Blake chuckled, letting go of a little of the tension he had been carrying. "Yeah, I forget. It wasn't you that convinced Forrest not to run to the Director screaming about me kidnapping his baby."

  Weasel laughed but the cheer was short-lived. "Man, I'm really getting worried," he said as his smile vanished. "There's no trace of her. I've put feelers out everywhere and I've called everyone she knows and nothing. It's like she just disappeared into thin air."

  Blake felt a hard knot form in his throat. He was beginning to think that they weren’t going to find Sydney. He had called in every favor he had coming from the bureau to the local police and so far there had been no leads.

  "I wish I could disagree with you," he said finally, making no attempt to hide the despondency that colored his words. "But I can't and I don't know what to do at this point besides list her as a missing person."

  "Jack will never go for that," Weasel responded. "He won't even let anyone mention the idea that she's−that she's not coming back." His eyes blinked rapidly a few times, but not before Blake saw the tears that gathered in them.

  "We'll find her," Blake tried to sound confident.

  "What if we don't?"

  Blake shook his head and looked away. He could not even think about that.

  

  The sounds of children laughing brought Sydney to consciousness. She started as her eyes opened and she looked around. Instead of white concrete surrounding her on all sides, the sight and smell of blooming flowers assaulted her senses.

  She was sitting on a path that wound through plants with her back propped against a low planter. Two little girls, about five-years-old appeared on the path, pointing at her and giggling. "Mommy, mommy!" One of them turned around and called out. "Look, mommy! A lady's sleeping in the flowers."

  Sydney pushed herself up, noticing that her suitcases and purse were sitting a few feet away. She looped the shoulder strap of her purse over her right shoulder and picked one of the suitcases up in each hand to hurry down the path in the opposite direction of the children who were jumping up and down, calling to their mothers about the lady who was sleeping in the flowers. She recognized where she was; the National Arboretum. How she had gotten there was a mystery. The last thing she remembered was pain.

  As she hurried to the exit, she tried to think. How did I get here? And why did they let me go? She had no answers to her own questions and the more she thought about it the more afraid she became. Suppose this is some kind of trick? What if they’re toying with me and planning on grabbing me and taking me back to that room
?

  The thought of going back was enough to make her break out into a run. She ran to the exit on Maryland Avenue and M Street NE and looked around fearfully. She didn’t see anyone looking at her but she was still scared. She flagged down a taxi, threw her suitcases in and climbed into the back seat.

  "Where to?" the driver asked over his shoulder.

  His question sent another spike of panic through her. Suddenly she realized that she didn’t know where to go. She couldn’t go to Blake and didn’t understand why. She felt like he was the enemy, someone she could not trust. If she couldn’t go to him for help then where?

  She heard herself giving the driver Adrian's address before she realized that she’d started speaking. She stopped in mid-sentence and the driver turned to give her an odd look. She stammered nervously, wondering why she had been giving Adrian's address but managed to squeak out her own address. The driver shrugged and pulled out into traffic. Sydney looked out the window, wondering why she was suddenly filled with an overwhelming need to be with Adrian. Somehow just the sound of his name made her feel safer.

  She leaned her head back and she tried to push all thought out of her mind as she watched the scenery pass by. She was too tired and scared to think about anything at the moment. She would figure it all out later, when she reached safety.

  Chapter Eleven

  Monday, May 1, 2006

  Washington, D.C.

  Sydney set the lock on the doorknob of the front door of her apartment then engaged the deadbolt and the security chain. She leaned back against the door and looked around warily. Everything looked the same as when she left but somehow it felt different.

  After a minute, she eased away from the door and slowly walked through the apartment, stopping here and there to pick up some personal item. It's like I'm not even the same person who lived here, she thought as she looked at the picture of her mother and father sitting on her desk in the study. What did those people do to me?

  Intellectually she realized that more had happened during her imprisonment than she realized. Her memory was fragmented; the only clear memories were of the pain and that was not something she wanted to remember. The rest was hazy, like a dream you try to remember upon waking that slips away like morning fog in sunshine.

  She walked into the bedroom and stopped, staring at the bed and feeling her heart suddenly race and a cold sweat break out on her body. Images of Blake flitted through her mind; of him walking towards her as she waited on him in bed, of the way his eyes darkened with desire as he looked at her. She felt the memories swell within her like a flower blooming. With the memories feelings began to assert themselves on her. She moved to the bed and picked up one of the pillows, putting it to her face. She could smell the scent of his aftershave.

  As fast as a serpent's strike, fear suddenly consumed her. She threw the pillow away as if it was tainted. Thoughts of Blake now filled her with an overwhelming fear. He is the enemy, a low voice seemed to chant in her head. He is the one Tyler was protecting. The one who wants you dead for what you know. He cannot let you live with the knowledge you possess.

  Sydney cried out, pressing her palms against her ears in an attempt to still the voice in her mind that refused to be silenced. She fell to her knees and sobbed quietly as the voice relentlessly went on and on.

  

  As he neared his office door, Blake could hear the persistent ring of the phone from within. He rushed to his desk and snatched up the receiver. "Special Agent Edwards."

  "She's been spotted!" Weasel's excitement caused his voice to have a higher pitch than normal.

  "Where?" Blake felt his own pulse accelerate.

  "Getting out of a taxi in front of her apartment."

  "I'm leaving now." Blake didn’t wait for Weasel to reply, but hung up the phone and ran out of his office at full tilt, headed through the building like it was on fire.

  He drove like someone possessed all the way to the Watergate Apartments, his attention entirely on getting to Sydney and making sure she was all right. When he arrived at her door he rang the bell several times then knocked impatiently on the door. "Syd? Are you in there? Can you hear me?"

  He heard the clink of the deadbolt being unlocked and a moment later the door opened a crack. Sydney peered out with a terrified expression on her face. "W−wh−what do you want?" she stammered.

  Blake could not have been more surprised if she had just turned green in front of his eyes. "What do I want? What's wrong? Syd, open the door."

  She shook her head and started to push the door closed but Blake put his hand against it. "What's wrong?" he repeated. "Will you just let me in and tell me?"

  "Go away!" She whispered like she was scared to death.

  "Open the door!" Blake's anxiety was getting the best of him, making his voice rise in timbre and volume.

  Sydney backed away from the door, shaking her head and Blake drew back and gave it a swift kick. The chain snapped and he rushed in. "Syd, what−"

  "Stay away from me." Her words were a frightened plea.

  Blake moved toward her and she backed away, pressing herself against the wall of the entrance and watching him like he was a monster. "Please." Her voice came out in a choked whisper. "Leave me alone. Please!"

  "Syd!" Blake grabbed her by the arms and tried to pull her up against him. He was beginning to panic. Something was very wrong with her.

  "Nooooooo!" She screamed like a tortured animal and fought to get away from him.

  Blake struggled to hold her still without hurting her, trying to calm her down. She was like something wild, screaming and fighting like her life depended on it. "Please, Syd. Just - try and - listen. I'm . . . not going to . . . hurt . . . you." His words were oddly spaced and accented due to the struggle.

  She didn’t ease in her efforts and he started to think that she had simply lost her mind. "Stop it!" He shouted to be heard above her screams.

  "What is the meaning of this?" A male voice came from behind him.

  Blake turned and saw Adrian Zayne coming toward him. A split second later Sydney saw Zayne and tore free from Blake.

  "Adrian!" She ran into his arms. "Oh, thank God, you're here."

  Adrian wrapped his arms around Sydney and glared over her head at Blake. "Would you care to explain why you are here, assaulting my fiancé?"

  "Your…" Blake could not bring himself to say the word. "Just what are you doing here, Zayne?"

  "That is none of your concern, I am sure," Adrian replied haughtily.

  "Adrian, please get me out of here." Sydney whispered urgently. "Please!"

  "Yes, of course, my darling," he crooned and kissed the top of her head.

  "You're not taking her anywhere!" Blake made a move to block the way.

  "Is that so?" Adrian's tone turned to ice. "Well, perhaps you'd rather I called the authorities and let my fiancé tell them how you broke into her apartment and attacked her? Would that be to your liking, Mr. Edwards?"

  Blake's eye narrowed into slits. He would have liked nothing better than to grab Zayne around the throat and squeeze the life out of him but he knew Zayne had him in a corner. With Sydney in the condition she was, there was no telling what she would tell the authorities and he couldn’t afford the hassle. So, he did the only thing he could do. He stepped aside.

  Adrian smiled coldly and led Sydney out of the apartment. Blake watched them leave then went to the phone. "We've got big trouble," he said as soon as Weasel answered the phone.

  "You want to be more specific?"

  "I'll tell you everything when I get back, but in the meantime, I want surveillance stepped up on Zayne. I want him followed twenty-four hours a day and we're not going to be discrete about it. Get the guy staking out Syd's apartment on the horn and have him follow Zayne. He's leaving Sydney's apartment now."

  "Is Syd there?"

  "Not anymore. Just hang on, I'll fill you in with all I know when I get there."

  He hung up the phone and sat down on the arm o
f the couch. "What the hell’s going on?" he asked aloud. There was no reply; only the silence of an empty room.

  

  Sydney woke to find herself in unfamiliar surroundings. She sat up straight, clutching the sheet to her chest as she looked around wildly. Adrian stood from where he sat in a chair by the window and walked to the bed. "Adrian!" she breathed in relief. "I...I didn't know where I was."

  "Everything is fine," he assured her as he sat down facing her and took her hands in his. "You're safe, now. You don't have to be afraid."

  She nodded mutely. Part of her felt it was wrong to be there. An almost indistinguishable little voice inside her mind was whispering to her but she couldn’t understand what it was saying.

  "Darling, do you think you're strong enough to tell me what happened?" he asked softly. "I was so terrified when you didn’t show up Friday at the yacht. I had people looking for you everywhere. Where were you?"

  Sydney opened her mouth to speak then closed it and shook her head. She wasn’t ready to talk about what she had been through. First, she had to make sense of things that were happening now. Like why she was suddenly so scared of Blake. Before she had been sure he was the man she loved. She could remember trusting him and loving him but now she couldn’t seem to grasp those feelings.

  It was all so confusing. She could remember everything and how she had felt before she had been taken to that room but nothing seemed real anymore. All the feelings were gone; replaced with new ones that she didn’t understand.

  Such as how she felt about Adrian. She knew she wasn’t supposed to trust him; that she hadn’t trusted him. He was supposed to be the enemy, an evil man who had caused pain and suffering. But she couldn’t find the hatred that had once been inside her. Instead, being with him made her feel safe and loved and she was afraid to let go of that.

  "What time is it?" She noticed that it was dark outside as she looked at the window.