David led me along the street to the car. He dangled a small paper bag in front of me as I shaded my eyes.
The chocolates rattled and jumbled in the crisp, brown paper bag, producing a sound that was not musical by any means, but produced just as much happiness, if not more.
He shook it teasingly in my face and I giggled. I reached for it, but he pulled it out of reach at the last second.
Oh his face was maddening! Smacking his chest I rose up on my tip-toes, but I was no match for his height.
“David…!” I laughed.
“These were kind of expensive…,” he said, popping one into his mouth, out of my reach.
“You got them for me! You’re terrible. Absolutely terrible!” He was still using his stature against me.
“This sure is good. Tell you what; you’ll get as many as you pay for in a different currency.” The corner of his mouth upturned in mischief.
“What do I have to pay?” I said softly, coaxingly, with big sad eyes.
“Oh no- don’t do that.” He laughed, trying to get away from my face. We scuffled playfully, laughing. I tried to tickle him, but he grabbed my hand before any real damage could be done.
“You have to give me a kiss before you get a chocolate.” His face was solemn, but his eyes- his eyes would always betray him.
“Alright…” I smiled winningly. That was one payment I had no problem with.
We walked hand in hand to the corner, and were pleasantly surprised by a spray-paint artist, creating space-scapes of planets and supernovas on the sprawling sidewalk and walls of the tear-down that marred the lot next to the confection shop. He had a covering over his mouth and nose and worked with both hands, spraying with the left and holding the canvas edge with his right. A sign offered cheap portraits.
I tugged David’s shirt to ask if he wanted one of us, but when he looked down at me I could tell he was far away.
I wondered if we even inhabited the same planet sometimes. I shook my head and gave him a peck on the cheek, letting him go back to his search, his eyes scanning the crowd, his fingers drumming away on my shoulder. Something was bothering him, but I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t say. Wouldn’t be able to or just didn’t feel like it? I didn’t know, but I disliked feeling a world away when we were supposed to be enjoying being together on a self-day afternoon. No academe for me and no work for him. It was one of those moments that should have been perfect, but for some unaccountable reason it wasn’t.
I squeezed his hand but it didn’t make much difference. He was still preoccupied. We stepped up lightly to the car, my sandals ready for a break from walking across hot pavement that sank into the material and singed the edges of my feet. Cornish streets were made with a cheap amalgamation of tar and red soil and could be sticky.
Once I twisted an ankle here, when I was 17. I had been wearing some ridiculous heels at the time, so no pity for me. I should have known better- so ever after that I wore flats. As I related the story to David, he didn’t seem to hear me. Hmmm. A lot of that going on lately. I tried to brush it off with a laugh, but in truth, it was starting to really bother me. What was wrong? And why wouldn’t he tell me about it?
He opened the door for me and I sat within, buckling myself and pulling the door closed. These old contraptions scared me more than a little, but I would never tell David. He liked danger and I liked him, so it seemed a fair trade.
I glanced up and frowned.
He leaned against the hood of the car and pulling a lighter out, proceeded to play with it flicking it on again and off again.
What…? He didn’t smoke- at least I didn’t think he did.
A guy in a t-shirt and flip-flops and messed up sandy hair sauntered over his way, bearing a brown paper sack that could be from any of the small retail shops on the corner. Concern and confusion gripped my stomach- hard. I knew nothing about this situation, but it was beginning to freak me out. Sandy-hair looked kind of half-baked, just like the hapless mystic from the academe. Like he’d been herbaciated past the point of coherent thought long ago.
I rifled through my satchel and found a brochure of some sort to browse while glancing discreetly at the two of them every so often. This couldn’t get any weirder, could it? Oh yes it can, a small voice in my head said. I should have known. Everything can get loads weirder, Natalie.
I wanted to laugh. Here I was, sitting in the car of a man who I really didn’t know much about. And waiting for him to finish this, whatever it was, so we could go “take a drive” to Tera knows where. It was ludicrous. It dawned on me just how much I didn’t know about this man in front of me- I mean, he might not even be “David”.
The seat belt tightened around my waist as I strained forward.
“Krivving antique,” I mumbled.
The car door slammed and I jumped, frightened. I thought I would have a few more seconds to make my escape…
David was in the driver’s seat, starting the engine.
“Where are we going?”
He smiled at me and tossed the bag into the back seat. “For a drive, babe. No hassle.”
I gulped. Should I jump out of the car? Should I stay and figure out what was happening? Should I confront him? I sat very still. I didn’t really know what was in the bag or how deep David was in on this. I had no idea what was in that bag, not really.
“More goodies for the road?” I spoke airily, gesturing to the back seat and stretching out, faking carelessness. My chest felt tight.
He chuckled. “Manner of speaking. Want some music?” He turned up the radio without another word and we drove out of town.
~
I started to feel a thrill tingling up my spine. Was this the way spies felt? A rush of excitement flooded my body and I felt like I could fly- out of fear, of course. We were out a ways, I couldn’t tell where, but near some dilapidated houses and some dried up beach. It was an eyesore.
We parked. I gripped the arm rest, fighting the desperate urge to flee. I stifled it, realizing that my safest bet was to stay inside the car and unnoticed.
David gave me some ear buds. “Entertain yourself until I get back, sweetheart?” He gave me a kiss on the forehead and leaned over to get the package. It all seemed so normal.
“You might want to look busy if anybody comes around.”
Fear gripped my stomach again. What was I doing here? By now it seemed obvious that he had brought me along on an illegal deal of some sort. Was he a messenger? Or… was he more important than that?
My head was spinning. I wanted out. Out of this car; out of this reality. This just wasn’t happening.
David got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. I tried to catch his eye, to see what he was feeling, but his face had turned into an expression that I had never seen before. Gone were the laughing and mocking eyes, the easy-going saunter. He was still himself of course, but I was just superstitious enough to believe that he had morphed into a strange new creature. It was like glimpsing two completely different men side by side.
I nestled the buds in and curled into the seat, acting like I was asleep. I was shaking inside, keeping my lids open a slit. David had reached the house and walked around behind it, seemingly to greet somebody. I lay there, unwilling to think about the future. Just take each moment as it comes. I didn’t want to feel like a spy anymore. The clammy realization that I could be killed at any moment rose to an operatic strain in my head, seeming to blow all reasonable thought out the window. I closed my eyes; I didn’t want to see anymore. Just in time too- a shadow loomed across my lidded eyes and I could feel the dayshine being obstructed from my window.
Someone was there, looking at me.
I wanted to squirm- but I didn’t dare. He simply must think that I’m asleep and pose no threat. If he doesn’t… I didn’t want to think what might happen in the next few minutes if I was found to be too intelligent and prone to curiosity. But I was here, wasn’t I? That said a whole lot about my intelligence in this matter so fa
r. Oh, Natalie. You really need to be more discerning…
Through the empty buds, I could hear every sound, every movement of clothing brushing up against the car. I could hear the squawking sea gulls far away on the dead shore, and the slight sound of vehicles on the freeway we had left behind us when we turned onto the ill-kempt pebbly road that wound up here. The sounds of nature were always comforting to me, but this place was eerie and dangerous. Finally, the shadow left and the dayshine once more shone brightly upon me. I felt loads better, but did not risk opening my eyes. I had a feeling that person was still there, keeping an eye on me.
Finally, I heard David’s voice. It wasn’t discernible, though I knew it was his. He was too far away for a clear sound. My ears strained to pick up any words that might make this trip make more sense.
They came into closer range.
“No, no I can handle it. On the tenth day, right after dawn. Just like we agreed.”
Something muffled was spoken- this voice seemed to be in charge.
“Sure; I’ll take care of his, too. And then the boat will be at the dock for me, under cover of darkness.”
“Right.”
“Right.”
The trunk was opened; the whole car shook a little. A sizeable weight was lifted from the back, I cracked an eye and barely caught a glimpse of a black mesh bag supporting about six or eight clear pouches full with a liquid of some sort. My eyes flew back shut. What was the significance of the clear fluid?
“Okay. See you later, then.”
The mixed sand and gravel driveway crunched as David made his way back to the car.
My heart dropped. So he was involved. Up to his neck, it seemed. The tenth day of this week at dawn on the dock. What happened at dawn? At which dock?
I lay there, wondering. At least I was safe for the moment. I almost had a heart attack when I sensed another shadow looming over me, but nobody was interested in questioning me. I breathed a tiny sigh of relief.
At that moment, I wondered how many others David had brought along before me. A sick feeling began to squirm around inside me. This whole business was frightening and I didn’t know what to do about it.
David got in the car and the leather seat creaked as he shifted to back up. He started it up and we left that awful place. Thank Tera, I felt so relieved as we pulled away. I slit my eyes open and glanced around without moving my head. There were three of them. Two in black shirts with tinted glasses and one in a suit with some fancy rings on his fingers, his eyes covered with shades as well.
And then my heart caught in my throat as we were waved back down by the guy in the suit. David obediently stopped. I saw guns peeking out of shirts and forced my eyelids to relax shut again.
There was some murmuring and then David said, “Yeah, she’s cool with it. But she’s not paying much attention anyway.”
“Just another girlfriend of yours, eh David? How long has this lasted?”
“Just a couple of months.”
“Serious?”
“Maybe. Things are good so far.” I could hear his hands as they came back to rest on his steering wheel. He never could keep them still, always had to be doing something
with them.
“You know protocol. Well, good luck with it.” I shivered.
“Thanks.”
Gravel crunched. David’s tires spun and the gravel flew and the vehicle shot out of the driveway. And finally, we were gone. Once on the road, I could let myself breathe
without terror.
What in Tera had I gotten into?
~
I spent the rest of that car ride in silence, pondering what I was going to do about the scene I had just witnessed. My poor brain wasn’t ready to compute anything and I was scarcely in a mood to figure this out.
We parked at the beach, got out of the car, and jumped in the cool ocean spray.
It was like it had never happened- David and I played in the surf like children and teased each other and he picked me up and swung me around and I felt like crying because I knew I would miss it. I had already made my decision. Whatever David was involved in, he lied about to me and kept all knowledge of what was really happening from me. It was time to go to the patrols. I hoped against hope that it was just a prank, that it didn’t mean anything out of the ordinary, that tenth day at dawn meant they were having a surprise party for a work colleague or something… But I knew the truth.
This was my last day in paradise, so I enjoyed it to the full extent that I could. I laughed and splashed him and the day was gone before I knew it. He walked me home and we sat out on the steps for a few minutes, not talking. Then he abruptly leaned over and kissed my forehead and said he’d see me in a few days, he had some business to attend to. “I love you, Natalie Pryce,” he called over his shoulder.
“Love you too.” I smiled and waved at him until he passed the sand dune and was lost to my sight. Then I stepped inside and crumpled to a heap on the cold floor and cried.
He doesn’t mean a word of it.
~
4811/4/2/3
I walked into the precinct office. I would like to say that the previous night I cried myself out, but I found that the next day my heart was still full and dangerously close to spilling over again.
The building was bigger than I expected it to be for such an old town as Cornish. I encountered a rather motley crew of donut and coffee imbibers.
What they all had in common was the disadvantage of being portly upholders of the law. None of them will ever be able to outrun David. An image of David sprinting across the beach played in my mind. And another of him at our first dinner together, how we could sense what the other was feeling and thinking. That was something that didn’t happen often and probably would never happen again. A pang of loss stabbed through me, and I tried to shrug it off. He was never mine to begin with.
A stout, friendly officer greeted me and offered to take a statement. His thick jowls became him well and added an air of mystery to his unadorned and somewhat cold surroundings.
“Um, yeah. I guess that’s why I’m here.” I nervously rubbed my neck. “So, I’m here because of my boyfriend, actually.” It felt so strange to say the word. “He- he isn’t exactly who I thought he was. Oh Tera…” I took a deep breath. “Okay. So I think he’s mixed up with some kind of high-end drug dealer or whatever.”
Phew. I’d said it aloud. That was a start, wasn’t it?
“How long have you known him?” The nice patroller wasn’t writing anything down.
Hmm. So he didn’t believe me. “I’ve known him for about two months. I guess he felt pretty comfortable if he took me to the guy’s place.”
The patroller’s ears noticeably perked up. Lt. Sandy-face Jowls.
Ha.
“Do you know where this place is? You weren’t blind-folded?”
“No. I wasn’t.” Surprisingly enough. I don’t know if that should make me feel scared or fortunate? “It’s hidden pretty well, but it’s really accessible right off the main highway leading out of town and into the landlocked part of the state.”
“That would make it Northeast,” the man muttered, scribbling as I continued, undeterred.
“It was extremely low tide, and about midday with the dayshine really hot and high in the sky. But there were green marshes nearby- actual reeds and grasses that were growing out there on the beach area, so I guess that means it’s a place that always experiences low tides, no matter what the main beach is dealing with. So it must be some kind of inlet or bay area- an estuary type of zone. The shack was up on stilts like every other beach house interested in self-preservation.” I paused. “The major problem is that I can’t seem to pinpoint where the place is- it’s obviously not on the island because of how far and long we drove, plus I know Cornish and all of Myceania Shores and we weren’t driving in any of the places I’m familiar with.”
“When did you start to suspect him? When did this all begin?”
“Well…” I laughed an
xiously. I was really close to tears and I didn’t want to be here, making a statement on the man I loved. “I haven’t known him for very long so I assumed that this was just the way he was- and I was totally fine with that. But then, just, odd things seemed to happen, one after the other. Pretty soon it started to feel like a game. David is a wonderful guy, but there really is more to him that I can’t figure out. He’s hiding something. And I didn’t feel comfortable around those guys he met and exchanged bags with.”
Fortune's Detour: Prequel of the Deka Series by Abigail Schwaig Page 4