by CELENE CAREY
“Not feeling well baby?” I asked him softly. He sat up and guzzled the drink before I could warn him to take it slowly. He vomited it back up over the blankets and sheets.
“Oh Ty, easy baby.” I said, soothing my son, rubbing his hot little back. I carried him out to the bathroom where I stripped his clothes and took off my robe. I put him in the shower, running it cooler than I normally would have, trying to help ease his fever and clean up the mess. I had vomit on my skin and in my hair from where I had brushed a few errant strands back.
Ty was sick in the shower again, I knew it wasn’t the roast, as I often had problems with undercooked food and I wasn’t ill, nor, to my knowledge, was Mack, so I had nothing else but the fever to put it down to. I took my boy out of the shower and towelled him dry
Sal opened the door, he had obviously been looking for us. His sleepy face took in the vomit covered bedding that I had taken off Ty’s bed and our soiled clothing. I looked up from rubbing Ty’s damp hair. “Hey.” I said softly, “Can you get Ty some clean jammies and underwear, please? He’s been a bit sick.” Sal grunted and left, returning shortly with clean clothes for Ty.
“How you feeling Pal?” Sal asked Ty as he put the clothes on the counter in the bathroom. Ty coughed a few times. I put my hand on his forehead.
“Well, your fever has come down a little, but it will probably rise again…” I said as I helped him to dress. I looked up at Sal. “I’m going to settle him down again once I change the sheets on his bed then I’ll be back in.” Sal nodded and returned to the bedroom. I helped Ty to dress and then took him out to the living room.
I put on one of his DVDs and lay him down on the couch, grabbing a clean blanket and a bucket form the small laundry in case he needed to be sick again. Heading back to the bedroom where Sal snored away, I grabbed some clean clothes and had a quick shower before going back to Ty. I snuggled up on the couch behind him, resting my head on my hand as we watched the movie. I felt his fever rising again when he went to sleep. Leaving Ty on the couch I set the washing machine going with our soiled clothes, finding some tea-tree oil in the small laundry. I took some clean sheets back to Ty’s room to ready his bed for when I would bring him back in.
I noticed the desk light was on in Sal’s office, the door opened a crack and the soft light spilling over the carpet. Curious as to who would be in there at this time of night I crept up to the door. Mack was leaning over the computer. The blue LED on a flash drive was blinking as he loaded something onto it. I watched for about thirty seconds as Mack took out some files from Sal’s filing cabinet, taking great pains to open the drawer quietly. The then took out a small camera, no bigger than an eraser and snapped a couple of pictures. I pulled away, my mind racing.
As I moved, the can of disinfectant spray rolled off the top of the sheets and clattered to the floor, hitting the polished boards, bouncing once and then rolling onto the rug that ran down the length of the hallway. I turned and made as if I had been facing the other way when the can rolled off the sheets. I noticed the dim light from Sal’s office now lit up the small part of the hallway. I turned when Mack’s shadow darkened the hall.
“Mack, you’re up late.” I said, conversationally.
“Yes, just finishing up something for Sal.” He said, noncommittally.
I nodded. “What are you doing up?” he asked, then eyed the sheets.
“Ty’s not well, he was a bit sick on the bedding.” I explained.
He nodded. “Need to see a doctor?” he asked. I thought for a moment,
“I’ll see how he is in the morning, but I might need to get some kids paracetamol and cough syrup, he has a bit of a chesty thing going on as well as the puking.”
“Sal would probably have his doctor visit here, he won’t let you go out on your own you know.” Mack said, leaning up against the door. It made sense to me, keeping his prized bitch in her kennel. Away from anyone who might help me escape the collar that tightened around my neck every day.
“Well, I’ll talk to you in the morning, let me know if you need the doctor.”
“I think he’ll be ok, but I’ll keep an eye on him anyway, it might just be one of those twenty-four hour flus, one of the mums said that there was one making the rounds of the schools.”
Mack nodded and went back into the office, turning off the lights and locking the door when he came out. I flicked the clean sheets over Ty’s bed and made it up ready for my little boy to sleep in. I went back out to the living room. One look at my poor sick boy laying on the couch was enough for me to simply give up and I snugged back in behind him. Wrapping my arm protectively around him I closed my eyes, listening to his chesty, congested breathing and occasional cough.
CHAPTER 4
I awoke to find Sal watching us from the armchair to the left of the couch. He was putting on his socks. I yawned and stretched. Ty was still sleeping, his fever had broken but he was still pale and sickly looking while his body fought off the virus.
“How’s the kid?” he asked, as he pulled on his shoes. I got up, slipping out from behind Ty, he rolled on to his back and coughed, so I rolled him back over onto his side.
“He’ll be okay. His fever has broken, and I am hoping he’ll be able to eat something this morning and keep it down.” I said worriedly as I looked down on my boy. Sal smiled and got to his feet. He placed a kiss against my lips. I still hated him despite his concern over my child. If he sold young girls and women to the sex slave trade, what was stopping him from selling me or, heaven forbid, Ty? I knew in my heart that this was a threat that he had given me, unspoken. But the hand was shown last night, and so help me, I feared it more than I feared death.
Sal left to go and do whatever the hell was on his agenda today and Mack came in. he looked tired and stressed. I wondered again what he was doing last night in the office. I got up to my feet and went to the kitchen to make coffee. I brought some out to Mack and headed back to the kitchen to make some toast and juice for Ty while Mack watched him.
I gently woke my son up and watched him like a mama hen while he ate and slowly drank. Mack watched us, his gaze calculating. He was tense, something was definitely up. A few hours later, after trying to read the paper but bending the pages to look at Ty and me while we watched movies all morning, he stood up and began to pace the lounge room. I could see he was struggling with something.
“Mack…” I said, getting up from the floor beside the couch. “What is it?” I stood watching him in my PJ bottoms and a tank top, more comfortable for me to wear when my son was unwell, rather than the skimpy negligee that Sal had me wearing.
Mack looked at me. “I’m getting you out of here, away from Sal.” He said.
Hope flared and then died to a small ember. “Don’t you fuck with me Mack.” I said my voice hissing my disbelief and anger. “Don’t you dare fuck with me.” My mouth went dry with the hope burning back into existence as Mack came up and took me in his arms.
“I’m getting you both out of here.” He promised.
“When?” I asked.
“Today, now, as soon as possible.” He looked around. “Get what you need together now. We can use Ty’s sickness as an excuse to get you out, Sal will be here for a while down in the Slip before he has to go conduct business elsewhere.” He said as he checked his phone. “It will give us time to get the hell out of here if he thinks we are at the emergency department of the hospital.”
I nodded. “Let me get dressed, and get some stuff together.” I said, feeling the need to get the hell out of his gilded prison as soon as possible. I ran through the penthouse, gathering up all of our clothes, making sure to leave anything that Sal had given us here. While Mack called Sal and told him that Ty had gotten worse, and I was begging to take him to the hospital. Mack was a damned good actor.
I paled when Mack held the phone to me. “Sal wants to talk.”
I took a few deep breaths and put on my best ‘panicking mother’ act.
“Sal?” I said, my vo
ice trembling
“What’s up? I thought you said the kid was going to be okay?” he sounded agitated.
“I did too.” I said, with a little fake sob, “But he’s burning up Sal, oh God, I don’t know what else to do, I got to get him to the hospital, the doctors there can help, I’ll have Mack with me, don’t worry, He’ll take care of us, but Sal I have to get Ty to the hospital, please.” I said begging as desperately as my acting skills would allow.
I heard a sigh of exasperation on the other end. “Okay, but you tell me which hospital you are going to be at, I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
“Yes Sal. Absolutely, thank you, baby.” I said, thanking whichever god or goddess that was on duty and listening that he was taking the bait. I handed the phone back to Mack.
“Yes Sal, got it. She won’t be out of my sight, either one of them. I’ll stick to them like shit to a blanket.” He listened for a few more seconds. “I think it’s the Children’s Hospital on Blight Street, Okay, see you there.” Mack hung up the phone. “Right, we don’t have much time.” He said turning to me. He went over to Ty.
“Hey buddy,” he said, “We’re gonna go for a drive, think you’re up for it?”
I smiled with pride as my brave little boy nodded and Mack picked him up. I grabbed the two bags I was allowing myself, one for me and one for Ty. Mack nodded to the garbage chute in the small laundry
“Throw the bags down there, it will look suspicious if we are seen carrying them on camera, we’ll get them when we get the car.”
I quickly dumped the bags. Thankfully there were only clothes and everyday shoes in the bags, nothing breakable. I ran back to Mack. Ty snuggled against him in his blanket. We rode the elevator down to the ground level in silence, I kept my worried look on my face, and occasionally reaching over to tuck a strand of Ty’s hair behind his ear, or to adjust the blanket around him Mack moves us quickly to the nearest elevator to the underground car park. He bundled Ty into the back seat, I followed my son to the back while Mack got in the front and drove out. He stopped at the garbage chute and grabbed the bags from the dumpster.
We drove through the streets “Tess, get up the front here, I need you to find something.”
“What is it?” I said, scrambling over the middle console to the front passenger seat of the Mercedes.
“Under the glove compartment, there is a GPS tracking device. Sal can track us if we still have it in the car.” Mack explained as he turned a corner “It’s one of those battery powered ones, so it’s just stuck to the plastic of the console.”
I found the device “Got it…” I said as I gently pulled the little square box with a small black wire aerial sticking out of it. The sound of something sticky separating came as the box and the console were parted.
“Good.” Mack said as he looked at the box in my hand “That’s it.” He returned his attention to the road. “Right, I’ll be slowing right down as we come by the children’s hospital, can you throw that in the bushes in the front as we pass?” he asked me.
I nodded, lowering the window. “Ok, ready.” I said, feeling the cool breeze as it flew in through the window. It felt like freedom. Sweet freedom. But part of me knew that it was foolish to hope, for we were far from being out of the woods yet. Still, I felt liberated as I tossed the black box in the bushes, hearing it rustle through the leaves as it hit and clattered through the branches.
I started to weep as I put the window back up, Mack driving on and heading towards the freeway out of the city.
CHAPTER 5
Mack stopped the car at a roadhouse outside the city, I slipped in and paid for the fuel and got some children’s strength paracetamol for Tyler, who was still not well, but getting better. He hadn’t vomited in the car but had been quite happy to sleep more. Now he was awake and we were all a bit hungry. Mack sat us all down in the diner of the roadhouse, while Ty munched on his chicken nuggets and chips doused in tomato sauce, I asked Mack to tell me his story.
“It’s complicated…” He said.
“Well, Mack.” I said, taking a sip of my coffee. “As grateful as I am for getting us out of there. You’ve got us in this now as well. So I might as well know what’s going on here.” I put the coffee down on the table.
Mack sighed, running a hand over his face.
“I’m an undercover federal agent.” He said, stirring more sugar into his coffee. “I’ve been in deep undercover for about two, maybe three years now, gathering evidence against Sal to prosecution. There’s more shit that he is involved in than you know Tess.” He looked around, constantly on the lookout for anyone who might be familiar. His phone buzzed. “Fuck, it’s him.” Mack left it to buzz on silent, eventually it stopped, buzzing once when a message came through. Mack picked up the phone and checked the message.
Where the fuck are you asshole? I’m at the hospital. No woman, no kid, no you.
Another message came through just as I was reading it.
You fucker, I’ll hunt you down, you and the bitch, I’ll strangle the kid myself while you and she watch and then I’ll have her, and the rest of my men will fuck her until she wishes for death.
My hands began to shake so badly that Mack took the phone from me and looked over the messages. He scowled and turned it off, slipping it into his pocket.
“I have a place that I can take you. It’s not all that fancy, it might be a bit shabby but it’s clean, and safe.” Mack said, taking my hands. I felt the genuine warmth that flowed from his caring nature bring my shaking under control. I fought back the tears that came with the memories of what Sal had promised.
“Got your phone on you?” he asked me. I nodded, taking it out of my bag. There were several messages from Sal on it.
I’m at the hospital.
Where are you?
Call me NOW
I’m not fucking around, if you even think you can get away from me…
Get your ass back now!
Fucking bitch, just wait till I get my hands on you, you’ll never see your son again.
If you go to the cops, Haynes will bring you right back to me.
You can’t escape me Tess. Come back and I’ll forgive you.
I shuddered and handed Mack the phone. Mack looked over the messages before he turned it off and slipped it into his pocket. Ty had finished his plate of food and was looking sleepy again. I knew that sleep and lots of drinks were the best thing for him right now. Mack bought some bottles of water and some snack foods for the trip and we got back in the Mercedes.
I must have dozed for a while because I woke to find we were on a dirt road. The stones kicking up under the car brought me to a quick wakefulness. Checking to make sure that Ty was ok, I turned to Mack.
“Almost there.” He said, with a tired smile.
I shifted to get more comfortable in the seat. My muscles complained with the inactivity of the past few hours. Mack slowed down to turn a corner at an intersection of dirt roads, finally pulling off into a rough track that must have been hell on the luxury car’s suspension. He pulled up at an old fibro board hut. I got out and stretched, putting my hands into my back and straining a little bit to get the muscles back into working order. I looked around, we were in the middle of nowhere, which was good enough for me at the moment.
The hut was little more than a square, squat building. Sitting on stumps and with a small porch out the back. Another small walled off room sat on the porch. I opened the door, it was a bathroom, complete with tub that had started to rust where the enamel had chipped.
I heard Mack flipping some switches on the other side of the wall and a humming began in the water heater beside me. It seemed we had some power out here. I turned the faucet on in the bathroom sink, brown water spluttered out before it ran clear. Power and plumbing, everything a girl could want.
Mack unlocked the door with an old skeleton key and went back to grab Ty. He carried my now-awake boy over the dry grass and onto the porch, where I took his hand and led him inside.
The place was dusty as all hell. I put Ty on the couch with a few books to read while I got to work, hunting down a brook and cleaning stuff. The cupboards were filled with mouse droppings, and I opened up all the windows and began to clear their mess while Mack brought the car around behind the hut to hide it. He came in and checked in on s.
“I have to go into town to make a few calls, and check in with my commander.” He said. He pointed to an old style rotary phone sitting on the wall. “That should still work.” He said, picking up the receiver and listening to the dial tone. “Yep, still good, good ol’ analogue.” He smirked. “If you need me, call this number.” He said, pulling out a card with a new phone number crawled on it.
I nodded.
“When will you be back?” I asked him, my eyes showing my fear at being left alone out here with my son and no way to protect him.
“I’ll be back before nightfall.” He promised. Mack took me in his arms and held me close. “You’ll be ok out here, He doesn’t know who I am or anything about this place.” He pulled back from me and reached up to push some hair out of my face.
“Okay Mack.” I said, softly. I turned away, feeling strangely unsettled by his embrace, and yet strangely excited from it too. I watched from the window in the tiny kitchen that had no oven, but a portable electric hotplate, as he got into the car and drove away. I busied myself with cleaning the kitchen and getting something ready for Ty to eat from our meagre supplies. I poured a bottle of water into a freshly cleaned pot and put it to the boil before I put some 2-minute noodles in the boiling water.
CHAPTER 6
I fed Ty and then resumed cleaning, taking the sheets off the old double bed and giving them a wash in the bath tub before I hung them over an old rope to dry in the sunshine. There wasn’t much else I could do other than clean and cook.
By the time Mack got back, there was a clean house and a hot meal, even if it was just one of those tinned braised meals that were favoured by lazy bachelors. He came back in looking tired and beaten. I served him his dinner and he just picked at it.