by Kunego, Chad
“But that is a mystery for another day. Let’s celebrate the fine battle we just witnessed!” Joe said, still bouncing around in excitement.
The three of them looked at each other before nodding, walking back toward the rest of the crowd.
Chapter 15
Cora drove around the city aimlessly, going over what had happened at the library in her head. She knew that the librarian was hiding something, but what was she hiding exactly? She felt sure that the librarian had recognized the picture of Samuel, but was she protecting him, or was she just one of those people who felt strongly about not helping law enforcement? It was hard to tell with how tight-lipped she’d been during the conversation.
And what about that guy she had talked to? As far as she could tell, he was dressed nearly identical to Sybil. Plus he’d had the ability to vanish the same way. Were they following her, or was the library an important location for them and she just happened to stumble upon it? She pulled over and turned the car off before pulling out her map, going over the different locations again. As she studied it, she realized that the library was nearly at the center of the city. So it was slightly more likely that it was the location, and not her being followed, that accounted for that guy being there.
As she sat there, her driver side door swung open unexpectedly. Before she had a chance to react, a hand slid down the left side of her body, yanking her gun out of it’s cross-draw holster.. Trying to grab the hand that took her gun, she got stuck in her seatbelt. She heard a slight tap on the roof of her car before the passenger door swung open. Spinning her head back, she came face-to-face with her own gun pointed at her face.
“Go ahead and close your door and get situated.”
Cora moved very slowly and deliberately, closing the driver side door before getting adjusted behind the wheel. She started to glance to her right, but the barrel of the gun flicked.
“Hey, no peeking just yet. Let’s just go for a nice little drive instead, shall we?” the voice said.
Cora started the car and gently pulled into traffic. As she merged in, she asked, “Where are we going?”
“Oh, no place in particular detective Blanchett. Oh, and don’t worry, I’m not going to shoot you. That was just to get your attention before you tried something stupid. I’m just here to offer my suggestion a little more, how shall I phrase it, forcefully than I did last time,” the voice said as she lowered the barrel of the gun.
“YOU!” Cora exclaimed, her face hardening into a mask as she started grinding her teeth.
“Oh, there’s no need for all that. Now while I don’t particularly care, and your dentist will absolutely love to bill you for it, the only one who’s going to suffer is you if you keep grinding them like that. Now where was I? Oh yes, your continued insistence on trying to track down Samuel. You’re sorely ill-equipped to deal with him or anyone who might be after him. If I was able to get the drop on you so easily, you don’t stand a chance against any of the others.”
“How about I pull this car over and I show you how capable I am of handling you.”
Sybil’s voice sounded like fine crystal as she laughed.
“Oh detective Blanchett, if there was time, I would take you up on that offer. I honestly find your bravado very refreshing. But there’s something coming that our group needs to deal with and we can’t have you interfering with us. A lot of people are going to die if we can’t correct it quickly, and Samuel is the key to it all.”
Cora risked a glance over at Sybil. She noticed she was holding her gun casually in her right hand. More importantly, she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. The other woman continued talking, apparently unaware that Cora had glanced at her.
“Once this crisis is over, I might pay you a visit again and maybe, just maybe, fill you in on some of the things that go bump in the night that your kind are so blissfully unaware of.”
“Our kind?” she asked, a puzzled look on her face.
“Oops, I do believe I’ve said too much, I’m afraid. Be that as it may, please listen to me this time when I tell you to stop looking into this matter. Otherwise, I can’t be held responsible for what might happen to you.”
While Sybil had been talking, Cora had gradually been speeding up. Looking over at the woman, she asked, “is that a threat?”
“Oh no dear, that’s actually what one would usually consider a warning. A threat would imply an outcome our group would possibly enforce. A warning indicates a probable outcome that has nothing to do with us.”
Cora looked over at Sybil. As she stared, she saw out of the corner of her eye the on-ramp to the expressway, including the barrels of water lined up to help slow vehicles that missed the ramp entrance. Taking a deep breath, she stomped the gas pedal.
“I don’t take kindly to threats OR warnings,” she snarled, pulling her seatbelt tight just before the impact.
“Seriously detective?”
She vaguely felt the impact. Instead, she heard a loud explosion and then blackness. She came to, the airbag pressing against her face as she struggled to maintain consciousness, willing herself to recover faster than Sybil. For some reason, she was having difficulty moving. With a start, she realized she was having problems breathing as well. As she fought to recover, she heard the other woman talking from a distance.
“My poor dear… That was really uncalled for. I was getting ready to leave anyway, but your gesture as to how far you’re willing to go hasn’t gone unnoticed. I suspect that I’ll be seeing you again soon, regardless of anything I say to you.”
Cora heard the sound of tearing metal and snapping plastic before she felt the woman’s hands on her face and neck. It felt like she was doing a quick check to make sure she was okay. Then she felt the other woman’s hands on both sides of her face. A feeling of warmth spread out from her hands, soothing the cuts and scrapes she had sustained in the accident. The warmth built up to a scalding intensity in her neck before fading away, flowing through the rest of her body. The splitting headache she had started to subside. Without warning, she reflexively sucked in a huge gasp of air.
“That should hold you until the paramedics can get here, my dear. Ta ta for now.”
Sybil touched the side of her face again.
“Sleep…”
Suddenly, an overpowering wave of exhausting rolled over her. She fought hard against it, but she could feel herself losing the battle this time. As she started to drift off, her head rolled to the right. She heard the screech of tortured metal again as she watched the other woman force the passenger door open. It reminded her of the sound the jaws of life made when tearing into a vehicle. She blacked out for a second before her door was ripped open to the same deafening screech of metal being force beyond it’s capabilities. Then the noise was gone, leaving her in silence. As the blackness finally overtook her, her eyes focused on two things that left her puzzled. One was her gun neatly disassembled and unloaded on her passenger seat. What was more baffling was the left hand print that was embedded almost an inch deep into the dashboard.
Chapter 16
The next thing Cora became aware of was the steady beep of something to her left. As she struggled to make sense of it, she tried to reach for the sound to make it stop. Moving her arm caused a spasm to travel up her arm, leaving a trail of fire in it’s wake. Becoming more fully aware, she realized her whole body ached. The sudden return of pain caused her to groan.
“Cora? Cora, can you hear me?” she heard the voice and knew it was familiar, but she was having trouble thinking. She distantly heard the voice yelling in the distance.
“Nurse! Get the doctor, I think she’s starting to come to.”
She felt someone grip her hand gently.
“Cora, just lie still, the doctor’s on his way.”
Cora tried to make sense of that. Doctor? Why was a doctor coming for her? What was going on? Why did she hurt so much?
Suddenly, the accident snapped into focus in her mind’s eye. The pain… the confusion… her d
ifficulty breathing… and that woman. Sybil had been in the car with her and was the entire reason she risked crashing her car. A car accident… She’d been in a car accident. That’s why she was in so much pain, and why a doctor was coming. She struggled to open her eyes to see who was talking to her.
“…Frank?” she croaked out. Her throat felt like she’d been crossing a desert for the past week.
“Shhhh. Just relax. You’re lucky to be alive.”
“Water…?” she croaked out hopefully, closing her eyes as the effort to hold them open became too much.
She felt a straw touch her lips. She weakly sucked on the straw, cold water dribbling as much down her throat as it was down the front of her chin. Trying again, she was able to get a much larger swallow of water down her throat, easing the scratchiness. As she continued to sip, she felt her strength starting to return. She let go of the straw before opening her eyes again.
“How long have I been out?” she asked, her voice slowly becoming stronger. She looked up at Frank as she asked, seeing the concern etched on his face.
“They brought you in about four hours ago,” he said softly, “from all the damage your clothes and your car sustained, they thought you were in critical condition. It wasn’t until they cut you out of your clothes that they could tell that you were practically unscathed. They were at a loss to explain where all the blood came from, though. They’re saying you’re lucky to be—”
He paused as he heard someone clear their throat behind him.
Dr. Greene stood in the doorway, visually examining her before approaching the bed.
“Ah… Ms Blanchett, so good to see you conscious again. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been gargling sand while crawling across an electric fence.”
“Well, now. I quite expected you to be doing much worse, truthfully. You gave us all a fright when you came in earlier, but it looks like you might actually be able to leave as early as tomorrow. Honestly, we’re just keeping you overnight for observation and make sure you get rehydrated. I must advise you though, once you get out of here, remember to drink more fluids. With as dehydrated as you were, I’m not surprised you passed out and crashed. You’re lucky to be alive.”
Cora laid quietly while the doctor gave her a quick examination. She responded quietly when he asked the standard questions, like if that hurt, or could she feel this poke or prod. Finally, he stepped back away from her, scratching a few notes on her chart before looking back at her.
“Everything seems to be in working order still. I’m frankly still amazed at how well you’re doing. I’ve seen people pulled out of minor fender-benders have worse injuries than you. You must have had a guardian angel riding shotgun tonight. Anyway, we should have the rest of the results back shortly. Try and get some rest if you can.”
Frank glanced at her when she involuntarily clenched his hand at the mentioned of a guardian angel.
Dr. Greene turned around and headed toward the door. Before he left, he paused and turned back toward her.
“Do you need anything more for the pain?”
Cora though about it for a moment. She realized that, other than the initial pain she had upon waking up, she didn’t hurt anywhere.
“No. Thank you. I think I’ll be fine for now.”
“Really…?” he trailed off. Turning around, he headed out the door while mumbling to himself.
“Remarkable…”
Cora watched Frank stare at the door before getting up. He walked over to the door, looked both ways, then shut it behind him as he came back over to the bedside.
“Okay, spill it. What the hell happened out there?”
“Huh?” she asked, confusion spreading across her face.
“The good doctor there might believe you passed out at the wheel, but I’m not buying it. I was only a few blocks away when the call came in, so I was the first one on the scene. Your car looked like it was ripped open by the hulk or something. I could actually make out the hand prints on the driver side door where someone had grabbed the door and pulled it back like a sardine can while pressing their other hand against the side for leverage. I also saw your gun sitting neatly disassembled on the passenger seat and another hand print crushed into the dashboard. It looked like a bomb had gone off in there with all the damage, so don’t give me a ‘Huh?’ when I ask what happened. So talk.”
Cora was taken aback by the anger tinging his voice as he spoke. In all the years he’d been her partner, she’d never heard that level of concern or anger in his voice, especially directed at her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to put the events in order.
“It was her again. She was in the car with me. She’d gotten the drop on me and was holding me at gunpoint, with my own gun.”
Frank dropped down heavily into the chair as she continued.
“How did she get your gun away from you? Where were you?”
“That’s just it. I was sitting in my car. Frank, she moves like he does, possibly faster. I had pulled off the road to look at a map I’ve been plotting everything on. The next thing I knew, the car door had been yanked open and my piece pulled out of its holster. By the time I had turned my head to the left, she was already in the passenger seat with the gun pointed at my face. I heard a slight tap on the roof, so I’m pretty sure she somehow jumped over the car…”
Cora took another sip of water before continuing.
“She started telling me again about how outclassed we were and basically threatened me this time if I didn’t back off. She also mentioned something bad happening soon, something that Samuel was a key part of. That’s about when I rammed the barrels, hoping it’d either kill or at least incapacitate her enough to arrest. Apparently it didn’t turn out so well. The last thing I remember before passing out was being unable to breath, her touching the sided of my face, a burning sensation in my neck, then her telling me to sleep. I vaguely remember seeing my gun and the hand print, but I thought it was just a dream. Next thing I know, I’m waking up here.”
As she finished her story, she glanced over at Frank. He had a really weird expression on his face, but she was at a loss to understand why.
“What’s that look for…?”
“Cora, don’t take this the wrong way, but let me ask you a question… Have you ever broken your neck or back in the past?”
Cora looked at him like he’d grown an extra ear.
“Why on earth would you ask me such a bizarre question? Of course I’ve never broken my neck. Do you think I’d be standing,” she paused to look down at herself, “Okay, laying here if I’d broken my neck sometime in the past? If I’d had, I’d be sucking food through a straw right now. Why?”
Frank rubbed the back of his neck before responding.
“That’s kinda what I thought, but I didn’t want to say anything to the doctors until I had a chance to talk to you first. The crime scene techs stated there was a catastrophic failure of the seatbelt locking mechanism, along with a delayed deployment of the airbags. From the evidence they’ve collected, you had been snapped forward at the waist, which should have dislocated the L4 and L5 vertebrae. As you whipped forward, your neck was slammed against the steering wheel, deforming it by at least five inches. You can actually see the shape of your neck bent into it. That impact should have shattered your C3-C5 vertebrae and crushed your windpipe.”
“Instead, everything is fine. The odd thing is, the X-rays show that those same areas appear to have sustained extensive damage in the past. The doctor is guessing, based on the level of fusion, that it happened around six to ten years ago. He’s at a loss as to how those vertebrae fused back together so perfectly. As far as he could tell, those vertebrae were shattered into chunks the size of marbles at one point, but there’s no signs of pins or surgical fusion to account for the repairs and healing. There’s even less explanation as to how they were able to hold together after the significant trauma you exerted on them again today during the accident. So my question to you is, if you n
ever broke your neck or back, then how do you account for injuries that appear to have been healed nearly a decade ago?”
“I… I can’t. Or at least I can’t explain it without getting myself locked up for a seventy-two hour psych hold. The only thing I can come up with, no matter how implausible, is that Sybil somehow healed me. As for the rest of it, I’m at a complete loss.”
“That’s about what I suspected. It’s why I told the Chief that we wanted off this case. It’s just getting too dangerous, and after your accident tonight, he agreed.”
Frank paused to take a deep breath.
“As of right now, we’re officially off this nightmare.”
Chapter 17
“LIKE HELL WE ARE!” she yelled, bolting up in bed before vertigo forced her to flop back, the throbbing behind her eyes from the sudden movement accentuating the point.
“Yes, we are. Even though your body doesn’t bear out the evidence, you should have died tonight. There’s no other way to look at it. It’s either lottery-winning level of luck, cosmic intervention, or some other form of miracle that you’re still able to suck air, let alone being able to get up under your own power without any injuries to show for it.”
“Well, you can tuck tail and run, but I’m not giving up on this case. Even if I have to work it in my off-time, or do the Hollywood cop cliché of taking vacation days to investigate, I’m not going to stop. I’m so—”
“Damn it Cora! I lost way too many friends fighting over there. I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose another one right here if I can help it!”
Cora stared at Frank. She was at a loss for words. Before she could open her mouth, she saw him wipe a tear away.
“Cora,” he said in a softer tone, “I care for you. A lot. It’s kinda scary, actually. The thought of you getting killed trying to find this Samuel guy is more than I can take. For the first time in a long time, when I saw you unconscious in a nearly shredded car, I was at a complete loss for what to do. I don’t like that feeling. I’ve spent a long time, and a lot of effort, trying to build up routines that’ll let me have some semblance of order no matter how hairy the situation becomes.”