Nocturne

by Heather McKenzie

  We lay together, like we had so many times, for so many years, and I knew she was exactly where she should be. I just wished she knew it, too.

  “Sleep now. Everything is going to be all right,” I said. “I know what I’m up against. And no way am I opting out.”

  Eighteen hours had gone by since Luke had been taken.

  I pried myself away from the warmth of the bed. Oliver was asleep now, and I tried not to wake him as I groaned with the ache in every muscle. The floor was ice cold on my bare feet. I clicked on a lamp and the view of the stark, dingy motel room intensified my pains with a sudden sense of despair. How was I going to get Luke back?

  “Hey, Kaya,” Thomas said sleepily—the light must have woken him.

  “It’s after twelve,” I said. “In the afternoon.” I was unable to hide the shakiness in my voice. “We could have been halfway to—”

  “To where?” Thomas said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and wincing. “Listen, I know you’re worried about Luke, but think logically. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off isn’t going to get him back.”

  We’d woken Oliver. He stood and then stumbled past me on his way to the bathroom—I caught a whiff of the scotch we’d shared. “Shower first. Then plan,” was all he said.

  The bathroom door shut. I remained glued to the threadbare carpet.

  “Man, I could use a shower, too,” Thomas said when the sound of the pipes opening squeaked through the ancient building.

  “Who cares about showering!” I was unable to contain the sound of panic in my voice. “We need to put our heads together and figure out where Henry could have taken Luke… and how to get him back.” I felt anxiety coming full on when I realized I didn’t even know what town I was in. “Car… do we have a car? And money? Ha! Here I am, a billionaire, and I don’t even have a dollar to spend. Or clothes even. Damn it, Thomas, I have no clothes, again. Just those ripped and filthy things on that chair. I have nothing. Nothing!”

  Thomas was standing in front of me now, and a light smile played upon his beautiful face. It halted my meltdown. “Luckily, you’d look hot in a garbage bag. And you don’t have nothing… you have me. Now, deep breaths…” He patted my arm and tugged up the sleeve of Oliver’s shirt falling off my shoulder. “I mean, you are super cute with the oversized shirt-off-the-shoulder eighties’ vibe. But you could use something a little more in style. Personally, I would have you in a little black dress and high heels—or nothing at all.”

  He gave me a wink that made me blush.

  “But…” he continued as the rush of water from Oliver showering could be heard. “That might be a little inappropriate for the current situation. Hey, maybe that blonde chick could help you with the clothing issue? What’s her name… Lisa?”

  Within minutes, Lisa was in our room with the contents of her duffel bag strewn across one of the beds. She was helpful, finding me something that would fit over my ample chest. With eyes bruised from lack of sleep and hands shaking with worry, she produced a sweater, soft and black, and it stretched just right across my hips. So did a pair of jeans, long enough when I rolled them down at the ankles. I was grateful for the full coverage and clean smell. Beyond grateful to have a girlfriend in the room.

  Lisa shoved everything back in her bag, then started fidgeting with her honey-blonde hair, twisting and coiling it nervously.

  “We’ll get him back,” I said, recognizing her anxiety and trying to be the one doing the comforting.

  She only nodded, all yelled out from the night before. She looked beaten. Overcome with worry. But a bit of light came back on in her eyes when Oliver emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam. She watched him dig through his bag before pulling a shirt over his head. I was close to reminding her to pick her jaw up off the floor; Oliver’s body was incredible, and it was almost comical to see the reaction it caused.

  “The shower is all yours, Thomas,” Oliver said, completely oblivious to the fact he was being ogled. “Be careful with that wound of yours, though.”

  “Yeah, no kidding,” Thomas said, standing and groaning. “My staples might rust. Why did you and Kaya take me to a veterinarian anyway?”

  Oliver laughed. It seemed so odd. “Because that’s where most people take their pets.”

  “Pets?” Thomas said, only slightly offended. He was muttering as he headed for the shower. “Is that what I am? A pet?”

  Lisa’s eyes remained wide. “I think I’ll have breakfast in here,” she said softly, cheeks very pink. “You seem to have the room with the view.”

  My ‘room with the view’ quickly became a soap-scented meeting place with more boxes of pizza than five people needed in a lifetime. Seth joined us, and the debate over what to do was heated. It seemed everyone had a different opinion, and emotions were escalating. I stayed quiet, trying not to be disgusted by the food; the last thing I wanted to do was eat.

  Seth talked between mouthfuls. Thomas and Lisa picked at the cheese. Oliver practically inhaled four pieces in record time. “You better eat something, too,” he said to me.

  Mine lay flat and untouched in my hand. Grease dripped through my fingers. “I’m not really all that hungry.”

  Oliver nodded understandably. “Right. You’re just like Luke—he can’t eat when he’s worried either.”

  It was a nonchalant comment, but it hit both Lisa and I powerfully. The affection he had for the golden-haired love of our lives wasn’t lost on either of us.

  “What?” he said, catching us both staring at him.

  The new Oliver was being painted in a very flattering light. It suited him so well Lisa couldn’t look away. “Uh… there’s just a little cheese grease on your chin,” she said, and then reached across the space between the two beds to dab at him with her napkin.

  Seth irritably dropped his half-eaten slice in the garbage can and got back to business. “Well, ladies and gents, I stand firm in my opinion. We know Luke won’t be harmed so we have lots of time. I say we get Kaya as far as possible from any place Henry could be, then we gather up some assistance and systematically search for the boy.”

  This didn’t sit well with Lisa. “You have no idea what Luke’s going through. Henry is using him as bait to get Kaya back, and if he doesn’t get her, Luke will be expendable. We have to contact Henry and barter some sort of exchange. Take Kaya to that estate or—”

  “Nope,” Oliver said, practically springing from the bed. “We aren’t using Kaya for anything. Seth has it right. Our top priority is getting her to a safe place. She can’t go anywhere near the estate. It’s way too dangerous. We need back up, firepower, and a plan. And that is only after we have Kaya hidden and as far as possible from her father.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Thomas said. “I’ll look after her.”

  Oliver nodded agreeably. “Ah, yes, the loyal guard dog. I’ve no doubt of your commitment.” It wasn’t an insult. “Then it’s settled.”

  My stomach rolled.

  Lisa stood, her face fierce, her hands in fists. “Since when do the women in this room not have a say in things?” Any affection she’d previously shown for Oliver was gone. Now she bristled like she might scratch his eyes out.

  “You do have a say, Lisa,” Oliver said calmly, “but this is a man’s mission. I’m sure Luke would much rather you be with Louisa May, anyway. That’s where you are needed. With us, you would just be—I hate to say it—in the way.”

  Her eyes widened, and the room grew silent. “Oh, really? You realize it was me who took you out of the Death Race, right? Me and an eighty-year-old man named Wilbur I paid twenty bucks to make sure you got a metal cleat to the chest. Remember that? Me. A girl. I drugged you. I seemed to somehow figure out how to kidnap your precious Kaya right out from under your nose. It was me who made that plan. Yeah. A girl.”

  Oliver’s reaction was not what I expected. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I meant no disrespect.”

  Whoa… he really had changed.

&n
bsp; “Saying I would be in the way? Damn, you can be such an asshole,” Lisa shot back.

  “Me? I’m trying to apologize and you’re—”

  “You’re all assholes!” Thomas said, suddenly angry, standing now with his hand protecting his wounded stomach. “Yeah, that’s right. You’re all a bunch of stinking assholes—well, not you, Kaya—But you…” He pointed at Oliver, and I felt worried for his finger for a moment. “You are a chauvinistic asshole. I mean, thanks for saving my life and all, but honestly… what the hell is your deal with women? And you two…” He pointed at Lisa and then Seth. “You are kidnappers! You took a girl against her will, drugged her, and dragged her through hell and back… Assholes. I think y’all should just shut up and let Kaya decide what to do.”

  Seth, with who knew how many guns strapped to his body, was gobsmacked, and Lisa, for once, had nothing to say, either. Oliver blinked, and his forehead creased in utter awe of the cowboy who had the guts to stand up to him—and I thought he might have smiled. And me? I snickered. I couldn’t help it, but the slightest snort came from my nose. And it was followed by another. The tension was so thick I could see it wave through the room like heat rising from the asphalt on a scorching summer day. And, because laughter was the only emotion I hadn’t let surface in a while, it was unstoppable. The giggles came. I tried to suppress them, and the glare I got from Lisa made them even worse.

  Then Oliver grinned, too. There was the slightest sound of a laugh coming from his throat. It reminded me of the lake, of the bears and stomping up the logging road with the entire Lowen army at our sides in their ridiculous camo outfits and army boots… trying not to laugh at them, but not wanting to stop because then all there was to do was cry…

  Lisa fumed. “I don’t get it. What’s so damn funny?”

  “Nothing… nothing is funny at all… that’s why it’s—”

  “Funny,” Oliver said for me.

  He and I shared a memory that would forever bond us together in some way. And it suddenly made me feel stronger than ever. His understanding of me, and his love, fueled me up. I realized that even though I was stronger than I’d ever been it was okay to need him. We all needed someone. That was simply part of being human.

  Seth had grown impatient. “Well, girlie,” he said. “You haven’t given us your opinion yet. So, what is it? What do you think we should do?”

  Gone were the giggles. “Well—” A ringing cell phone cut me off.

  “Hold that thought,” Seth said. “It’s Regan. I’ll put him on speaker.”

  The phone was placed on the bed so we all could hear; there wasn’t a pleasant hello. “What the hell is going on there?” the redheaded Englishman barked into the phone.

  “Well, hello to you, too, Regan,” Seth said casually. “We’ve got Kaya. She is okay, but—”

  Regan cut Seth off and was practically yelling. “No, I mean, what the hell is going on? Where the hell is Luke? Why did I just see his face on television? Huh? Louisa came flying into my room this morning, telling me her brother is a TV star now. That she saw him after an orange juice commercial. Well, I thought the kid was delusional, but I just saw Luke in a cold medication ad before the hockey game. So tell me, right now, what the hell is going on? Where is he?”

  We were all stunned. Lisa was the only one able to talk. “Luke… was on television?”

  Regan roared. “Yeah. That’s what I said! And he doesn’t look so hot.”

  “Henry has him,” Lisa muttered.

  It sounded for a moment like Regan had thrown his phone to the floor. The clamber and crashing were so great we all sat in stunned silence until it stopped. He spoke again, sounding as if struggling to stay calm. “Bloody hell. If Henry Lowen touches one more hair on that boy’s head, I will slice and dice him… I will hunt him down and—”

  “Regan,” Lisa said. “What do you mean by ‘one more hair’?”

  “Oh, you’ll know when you see the commercial. Search ‘HOME RX’ cold medicine on a laptop or something. Damn it! I can’t believe you dumbasses let this happen!”

  “Hey,” Seth said. “We’re not idiots. Luke was protecting Kaya and—”

  “Of course he was,” Regan interjected bitterly, clearing his throat. “You all better just get back here, like… now. By the time your feet are in this door, I will have figured out something. Kaya, you can hear me, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “It doesn`t matter what any of those idiots you are with decide to do. Got it? You have to come here, to me. All right? I’m way smarter than all of them. I know how to get Luke back. I know what we have to do.”

  “I do, too,” I said.

  Seth lunged for the phone on the bed and took it off the speaker. Placing the device to his ear, he wandered out the door to start an argument with Regan. I could hear him yelling, going on about my safety this, and my safety that…

  “Find that commercial,” I said to Lisa.

  She was scrambling for her phone and typing ‘Home RX’ into the YouTube search button. As if in a dream, I went to sit beside her. In moments, there was Luke, his picture frozen on the screen in Lisa’s hands. His eyes were rimmed with heavy red, his lip swollen, and he seemed to be in pain.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” Lisa said, her hand shaking as her fingertip hovered over the play button. “I’ve seen him at his worse, but this… I have a feeling that this…”

  “Just do it.”

  ‘What if he’s—?”

  “Just goddamn push that play button, Lisa,” I hissed, and the ice-cold tone of my voice was a shock, even to me.

  She pushed play.

  A smiley man in a lab coat was standing next to Luke, the wall behind them an obviously fake scene of lush green meadow. Luke was standing awkwardly, his feet bare. Beige-colored pants and a clean white button-up shirt perfectly fit his lean body. The man with the lab coat had a yard stick, and used it to point at Luke as he spoke to the camera.

  “Colds. Everyone gets them. Luke here is practically dying of one—stuffy nose, swollen eyes, sore throat, and pounding headache—and it all could have been preventable with ‘Home RX’.” The man used the yard stick to give Luke a tap to the abdomen, and this made Luke double over slightly. “Even that pesky nausea will take a hike! One dose a day is all you need so you never have to end up looking like poor Luke here. So, hurry. Don’t waste any time, run like your life depends on it to your nearest pharmacy, and get Home RX right away! Right, Luke?”

  The camera zoomed in on Luke’s beautiful face. He nodded. He had been beaten, badly. He could barely hold up his head and his eyes were swimming in their sockets. The scar over his cheekbone was gone, so that meant he had on makeup—which was probably to cover up bruises. “Get Home right away,” Luke repeated.

  “What’s that, Luke?” asked the man.

  “Get Home RX,” Luke said in a detached voice. It did sound like he had a cold…

  “That’s right, get Home RX. Listen to Luke! Quantities are limited, so don’t tempt fate. If you wait two days, it will be too late!”

  Luke coughed as if on cue, and a disclaimer flashed across the screen while a male voice narrated the small text as fast as possible: “Home RX is an Eronel product. Medicine for your family that you can trust. Don’t take if you have nut allergies, glaucoma, heart disease, diabetes, eczema, psoriasis, trouble sleeping or difficulty with urination, or a history of cancer in your family or cancer yourself. Emotional unbalances may be enhanced, and risk of infection increased in those with a low immune system. Do not take if you have had the measles or chicken pox or have had pneumonia or…”

  I didn’t need to hear the rest. Neither did Lisa. She dropped her phone, and her body started to vibrate with anger. “Apparently, your pal Sindra doesn’t keep her word.”

  Seth had returned to the room. Oliver and Thomas moved toward me, no doubt expecting a complete freak out. I put my hands up and backed away, so I could stand my ground.

  “The message is pretty
clear,” I said, completely in control. “I have to get to the estate or Luke dies. They’ve beaten him—we know he doesn’t look like that because of a cold—and Henry is giving me two days max. I know my father. He doesn’t make idle threats.”

  “How could he even assume you would see that commercial?” Thomas asked.

  “And when did the commercial come out? How do we know exactly how much time we have?” Lisa asked.

  “None of that matters,” Seth roared. “He wants Kaya, and I’ll be damned if he’s going to get her!”

  “Since when are you in charge?” Oliver yelled back.

  Conflict broke out around me. I headed for the door. I stepped outside into the bitterly cold air, and didn’t feel the sting of a single tear. I was worried for Luke. Rattled right to my very core. But I knew what I had to do. I knew what poured into me, fueling me up, charging all my cells and taking over my emotionally ravaged mind, would keep me going forward—hatred, revenge, and love. I would seek retribution on Luke’s behalf. For his mother. For Regan’s sister and Anne. For Angela and Ben, and Dustin, Rusty, and Marie… even for Rayna. I would do whatever it took to get back at my father for what he’d done. I knew my part in this, but Oliver was right… it was bigger than me.

  “Kaya?”

  He’d come into the waning afternoon to stand next to me under the motel lamp. Snowflakes as brilliant as the whites of his eyes drifted through the air and fluttered around him. He had that determined look on his face, and I knew what he was about to say. He wanted to drag me off somewhere to hide me so he could look after everything, just like he always had. I turned to face him and swallowed hard, but this time, I didn’t have to dig too deep for the courage to speak my mind. This was my life—I was the one in charge.

  “Listen,” I said, staring into his deep brown eyes as steadily as I could. “If you think I’m going to bury my head in the sand and wait for you and Seth to come up with some game plan, you’re wrong. I am not going into hiding. I am not running to keep myself safe. No matter what your opinion is, no matter what anyone’s opinion is, I don’t care. I am making my own decisions and following my own plan, even if that means doing it all by myself. I am going to face this tiger head on. Because if Luke dies, my life is meaningless and Henry will have won—and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that happen.” I felt my heart speed up, but only slightly. “I am going to the estate because nothing, and I mean nothing, matters to me more than Luke. I refuse to live in a world without him in it.”