by Linda Verji
“Damn it,” he cussed under his breath before lapsing into an angry silence. The smoldering silence was accompanied by a continuous rise in the car’s speed. He was driving so fast that if she wasn’t so scared she would’ve asked him to slow down. Breaking his silence, he asked, “Are you part of them?”
It took a moment for her to work out that he was talking about Ryang and whoever else was after him. “No. I don’t even who them is.”
He glanced towards her as if to verify her words. The narrow-eyed look he gave her didn’t bode well, but all he did was turn his attention back to the road. A few miles later, he slowed down and pulled off the road.
“Get out,” he ordered.
For a moment Aiko thought he was about to kick her out of the car and race away with Seraphina, and her heart lurched. Her fear was, fortunately, unfounded. Lincoln grabbed the snack bag from the backseat, the gun from the door panel then pushed his own door open. “We need to get off this road. We’ll walk from here.”
Utter fear pulsing through her, Aiko got out of the car. Lincoln circled the car and reached for Seraphina.
“No.” Aiko’s voice rung with terrified desperation as she tightened her hold on the little girl. For a few seconds the two adults battled for possession of the now crying Seraphina. That battle ended when Lincoln pointed his gun at Aiko. No more words were needed. Feeling tears collecting at the back of her throat, Aiko let go of their daughter.
“Mommy, no,” Seraphina wept pitifully as she struggled to get out of Lincoln’s hold.
An avalanche of tears pouring down her face, Aiko managed to speak. “It- it’s okay, hon-”
“That way,” Lincoln cut into her words. Using the gun to point to a forest on the opposite side of the road, he barked, “You ahead of us.”
Aiko had never prayed so hard for a car to come hurtling down the highway and see them. Unfortunately, none came, and she found herself crossing the road. For a man with a bum leg and a crying child in his arms, Lincoln could move really fast. He shuffled behind her hurriedly as she climbed the small mound that led into the forest.
At the edge of the forest, she hesitated for a moment and peered in. All that met her was trees clustered together and leading into pitch blackness – and it spelt danger. There was every chance that she and Seraphina would disappear into that deep darkness, never to be seen again. Panic fluttered like a butterfly in her chest at the thought and she took a step back, right into the mouth of Lincoln’s gun.
“In,” he pushed the gun into her spine. “Hurry.”
Hopelessness filling her, Aiko dragged in a short, too shallow breath then led the way into the abiding darkness.
DAMIÁN AND THE police were closer than either Lincoln or Aiko knew. With the help of the police department’s tech team, they’d tracked Lincoln’s car. Unfortunately, they were several minutes behind them and had found the car abandoned. Several people, cop cars, an ambulance and the helicopter that had carried Damián, were gathered closely around the black Honda.
“This is definitely the car,” the police chief peered into the abandoned car. “The gas-station attendant described it as a black Honda.”
Damián, who had been the first to spot the car parked on the side of the road while they were in the helicopter, said impatiently, “Great. Now that that’s confirmed can we get into that damn forest and look for them.”
“We don’t know that they went into the forest,” one of the numerous detectives milling around offered. “They could’ve hitched a ride or stolen another car.”
“Yes, they could have,” the police chief answered before Damián could bite off the man’s head. “But there’s a road block a couple of miles ahead so someone would’ve spotted them.”
“Well, what are we waiting for then?” Archie, who’d been standing a distance away nursing his swollen jaw, ordered, “Let’s go.”
Damián didn’t even know what his father was still doing here. The fact that he’d punched the man should’ve been clue enough that he didn’t want him anywhere near him. But apparently, clueless was Archie’s middle name. He’d pushed his way into the helicopter even after getting punched.
Choosing to ignore his father, Damián focused on the police chief and said, “We should be in there searching for them.”
“We’re waiting for the dogs,” the police chief said. “This place is too large for us to search without some guidance.”
Damián hated the wait – no, loathed the wait. It only increased the anxiety fluttering in the pit of his stomach. Femi’s call a couple of minutes later to find out the status of the search certainly didn’t help either. Especially when Lincoln’s mother snatched the phone from her.
“Damián, he didn’t mean to do it,” Brenda wailed. “He didn’t mean to do it. Please, please don’t let them kill my son.”
It was obvious the woman was worried about the safety of her son, and Damián wanted to give her some kind of reassurance, but how could he? How could he tell the woman that he’d keep Lincoln’s safe when her son had kidnapped his family – at gunpoint no less? Right now, Lincoln’s safety was at the bottom of Damián’s worries. Right now, all he could think of was getting Aiko and Seraphina back in his arms safe and sound.
Damian cut off the conversation with a curt, “Brenda, I have to go. The search dogs are here.”
Thankfully the dogs arrived just a few minutes after he ended the conversation. After a few quick sniffs of the car, the dogs bounded across the road and into the woods. Damián and the search party plunged into the forest after them. Hurrying as fast as he was able, he prayed he wasn’t – wouldn’t be – too late.
IT FELT AS if the forest had swallowed them. The trees loomed high above them, their large leaves swallowing all but a few streaks of sunlight. The narrow path between the trees led on and on into shadowy nothingness, making it even harder to tell where they were or where they were going.
Her breath coming in fast wheezes, Aiko asked, “Lincoln, where are we going?”
“You forfeited the right to any information when you gave them our location,” he shot back angrily. “Just keep moving straight ahead.”
Blood pounding in her ear-drums, she followed his instructions. Her pumps were not made for this type of walking. They kept on sinking into the uneven, moist ground and a couple of times Aiko almost sprained her ankles. But they were the least of her worries.
Top on her thoughts was how to get Seraphina away from Lincoln and/or disarm him. She couldn’t just keep trudging in this forest and hoping that Lincoln didn’t hurt them. At any moment he could turn on them. She had to do something before that happened..
Wait. Wait. Wait. A sudden thought switched on the light-bulb in her brain. Her shoes. She glanced at the black pumps, at the heels caked in mud. The light in her brain brightened. These shoes were the key to hers and Seraphina’s escape. She swiftly worked out a plan. Okay – not a plan. This was a Hail Mary at best, but in her present situation it was the all she had.
Please let this work. With that prayer on her lips, Aiko went into action. She collapsed to the grass with a sharp cry. “Aaah. Aaah. Aaah.”
“What? What’s wrong?” Concern crossing his features, Lincoln moved to stand in front of her.
“My leg. Ow. Ow.”She winced in faux-pain as she clutched her leg. “Ow.”
“Let me see.” Lincoln set Seraphina down then crouched down beside Aiko.
In an instant, Aiko swung her arm and brought it down on his wrist hard. Grunting in pain, Lincoln let the gun go and it toppled to the ground. Before he could reach for it again, Aiko coiled her legs and kicked at his chest with all her might sending him sprawling backwards. Her heart almost stopped when his body almost hit Seraphina as he fell. Luckily, Seraphina skittered to the right narrowly escaping getting crushed by her father’s weight. The little girl ran towards her mother just as Lincoln started to sit up.
A second faster than he, Aiko grabbed the gun from the ground and pointed it directly a
t his chest. “Don’t move.”
Stunned, Lincoln lurched forward. “Aiko-”
“Don’t. Move.” Aiko ordered, her voice quivering just as much as her gun-hand.
Something in her eyes must’ve told him she was serious, because he put his hands up.
Keeping the gun trained on him, she set her free hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Phia, behind me.”
Seraphina quickly scrambled behind her. An enormous wave of relief washed over Aiko then. Her relief swelled when she felt her daughter grab her skirt and press her little body against her thigh. Finally, she was in control of this situation. Finally.
“So what now?” Lincoln glared at her with so much hate in his eyes that it chilled her blood. “Kill me and Seraphina? Hand us to your partner, Ryang?”
“I told you, I don’t even know who Ryang is,” she insisted, “and I’m not one of them.”
But he had posed a relevant question. What now? Fortunately, she didn’t have to answer the question because a moment later she heard the dogs.
Lincoln glared at her in sullen silence as the barking dogs closed in on them. In his eyes, she saw hatred and accusation glittering wildly. She wished she knew what to say to make him believe that she hadn’t betrayed him – that she had only done what she had to do to protect herself and her daughter. But in his current state she knew he would not believe a word from her mouth.
The search party took longer than she hoped to find them – but finally they did. Most of what happened after that was a blur; dogs surrounding her, someone shouting for Lincoln to lie on the ground, the gun being tugged from her hold - but she would never forget the relief that flooded her senses when she saw Damián.
How she and Seraphina ended up in his arms was a mystery. But somehow they were there, and he was cradling them to his chest and whispering into her ear, “You’re safe now. You’re safe.”
CHAPTER 26
Leaving the police to deal with Lincoln, Damián ushered Aiko and Seraphina out of the forest using the path they’d all come through. On the outside, he was calm and the face of strength. On the inside, he was a knot of feelings. It was hard to identify all the emotions had rushed through him when they’d found Aiko holding Lincoln hostage, and when she’d finally walked into his arms.
Relief. Happiness. Calm. All that and more.
Finally he could breathe again.
But it wasn’t an easy breath. Even though he now had Seraphina in his arms and was holding onto Aiko’s hand, Damián still couldn’t get rid of the anxiety that had gripped him before they’d found them. The fear that his wife and daughter might not live through this day. The terror that he might not get there in time. What would he have done if he had lost them?
Almost as if she knew what he was thinking, Aiko squeezed his hand and murmured, “We’re okay.”
“Are you sure?” he asked for what had to be the hundredth time in the space of the thirty minutes since they’d found them. Had this whole ordeal really lasted for just over two hours? It felt like it’d lasted longer than that, and like he’d aged ten years in the space of those few hours.
“We’re okay.” Aiko gave him a tired smile that didn’t quite reach her tear-reddened eyes.
“Are you sure?” he asked again as his eyes lowered to Seraphina. Apart from the grubby clothes and the red eyes from crying, the little girl seemed physically fine. But just seeing those teary eyes was enough to make Damián’s heart hurt. He bent his head to kiss her forehead even as she clung more forcefully to his neck.
“I promise we’re okay. He didn’t hurt us.” Aiko edged closer to stroke Seraphina’s back and kiss Damián’s cheek. A moment later, she turned her head, glancing back the way they’d come. When her gaze returned to Damián, it was troubled. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
Damián wanted to reassure her that Lincoln would be fine, but he just couldn’t. Lincoln had been calm, albeit furious, when they’d found them. The man had followed the cops’ orders to lie on his stomach without much fuss, but the moment he’d seen Archie all that calm had gone up in smoke. He’d lost it completely. He kept trying to attack Archie, calling him Ryang and claiming that Archie was going to kill him and Seraphina.
From the genuine fear in his eyes, it was evident that Lincoln really believed that Archie was the devil incarnate. Not even Aiko could calm him down, and in fact he kept insisting that she was part of Ryang’s plan. Eventually, the paramedics who’d come with the search team had been forced to sedate him. He was now laid out on a stretcher just a few feet behind Damián and Aiko.
“I don’t know if he’ll be fine,” Damián answered honestly. His eyes meeting Aiko’s, he added, “But they’re taking him to All Saints Memorial in Talladega to get checked up before they transfer him to Montgomery.”
“Do you think we can go with him?” she asked. “He shouldn’t be alone right now.”
Damián’s first instinct was to say No. Lincoln had already put Aiko and Seraphina through enough for one day and what they needed was to relax. But after seeing how Lincoln had gone crazy, he was worried about the man too. The worry was accompanied by a healthy dose of guilt because he knew that his father was partially, if not completely, responsible for the man’s breakdown.
“Okay.” Damián nodded. “But we’ll have to follow in a different car.”
The ride to the hospital was not as restful as Damián would’ve liked it to be. People kept calling him for updates on the situation; from Femi to Josiah to Zoe to Carmen to Brenda – he even got a phone-call from a journalist. Of all of those calls, Brenda’s was the worst because she kept wailing as if Lincoln was dead, not just arrested. All of Aiko’s reassurances that everything was under control fell on deaf ears. After insisting that she was on her way to Talladega to take care of her son herself, Brenda abruptly ended the call.
“Well, that went well.” Aiko sighed as she handed Damián his cell-phone.
“Hopefully, she’ll be calmer by the time she gets to the hospital.” Damián drew her closer to him with the arm that wasn’t holding onto the sleeping Seraphina.
“Are you kidding?” Aiko snorted as she set her head on his shoulder. “They’ll need to rebuild the hospital once Hurricane Brenda is done with them.”
At the hospital, they ended up in the waiting room waiting for word on Lincoln’s condition. Though Archie turned up there too, he kept his distance likely because of the sharp looks both Damián and Aiko kept throwing his way. It took a while but finally a nurse led them into the offices of one Doctor Berlin.
“Please, come in.” The doctor rose at their entrance. A short, thickset, balding man, Doctor Berlin greeted them affably before offering them seats on the other side of his desk.
After quick introductions, Aiko asked, “Doctor, how is Lincoln?”
“Well…” Doctor Berlin’s eyes were serious as he revealed, “Mr. Ware is experiencing a full-blown psychotic episode.”
“What?” Aiko inhaled sharply, her shock mirroring Damián’s.
Even though he’d expected some bad news, Damián hadn’t expected it to be this bad. He asked, “Psychotic? It can’t be that bad.”
“I’m afraid it is.” The doctor pursed his lips. “He’s been sedated and transferred to our locked psychiatric floor. We’re hoping that once he’s calmed down a bit we can figure out what triggered him so that we can decide how to treat him. But any information you might have about the situation would be a great help.”
Aiko traded looks with Damián before she said, “All we know is that he was fine when he left Montgomery, but when he-”
Her breath caught suddenly and she bit her lip as if trying to hold back tears.
Reaching between them to hold her hand, Damián squeezed her fingers before turning back to the doctor. “Lincoln seemed fine up until he left for San Diego.”
“Do you know what he was doing in San Diego?” the doctor asked.
Damián shook his head. “We hired a private investigator but Lincol
n lost him.”
“I think it was something dangerous though.” Aiko finally found her voice again. “When he appeared today, his face was swollen and his limp was more pronounced as if he’d been beaten up.”
“Yes, we noticed his injuries.” His forehead creased in thought, Doctor Berlin asked, “When did he leave for San Diego?”
“Um… about five days ago?” Damián looked at Aiko for confirmation.
She nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“Okay, that tells me that he hasn’t been in this state for too long,” said the doctor.
“Is that good?” Aiko watched him expectantly.
“Maybe. I can’t really be certain about anything at this point because I haven’t done a full assessment on him. We’ll know more after that’s done.” Doctor Berlin frowned. “I just wish we knew more about what happened in San Diego.”
There was a brief silence in the room, and then Aiko suddenly turned to Damián and said, “Your dad.”
“Of course.” Damián gave himself a mental slap. How could he have forgotten?
“Your father knows something about this situation?” the doctor asked.
“You could say that.” Damián handed Seraphina to Aiko then stood. “Give me a minute.”
With long strides, he made his way across the hallway and back to the waiting room. Archie was surprisingly still there. When he saw Damián, he quickly rose from his position on the couch.
Damián launched in without preamble. “Do you know what happened to Lincoln in San Diego?”
Archie’s eyes clouded with immediate wariness and Damián expected him to try to hedge his way out of the question again. But to his credit he nodded. “Yes.”
Though he already knew what his father’s answer would be, the confirmation was enough to squeeze the air out of Damián’s lungs as well as flood his thoughts with questions. How did Archie know what had happened in San Diego? What part had he played in the whole saga? Was any of the information Archie had fed him even true? So many questions. But he wasn’t the only one who deserved answers.